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Awful Announcing asked sports media watchers (including yours truly) to speculate on landing spots for Bill Simmons, Keith Olberman, and Colin Cowherd. Here’s what I wrote on Simmons:
It is interesting to note that the BS Report podcasts still are being featured on his Grantland site. Wherever he goes, I don’t think he ever will have the level of reach ESPN gave him with its many platforms. However, the Simmons brand does carry considerable weight, and he will have followers at his ultimate landing spot. Best bet would seem to be Turner and Bleacher Report creating a site for him. The Turner connection would allow him to stay connected with his first love, the NBA.
On Olbermann:
It is hard to say where he will land, although it is safe to eliminate Fox. Best bet might be some sort of role at MLB Network, linking him with his passion for baseball. I could see him being an essayist, lending a different voice and perspective to the network.
On Cowherd:
If I’m Cowherd, I’m staying at ESPN. The network gives him the most exposure at many different levels. He would make a mistake to go elsewhere. Perhaps he could bring in Jim Harbaugh as his new sidekick.
Jason McIntyre of Big Lead writes on how ESPN president John Skipper is playing the money game with recent moves.
It’s probably a combination of things – talent doesn’t really matter as much as it used to at a time when ESPN is tripling down on SportsCenter; in hindsight, Skipper made a few panicked moves in 2013 as FS1 was getting ready to launch, borne out of fear of the unknown; and finally, perhaps there is dissension among the ranks in Bristol between their vision and that of Skipper, a notorious risk-taker.
The most popular theory among ESPN’ers: ESPN President John Skipper is not in control. He’s in a vulnerable spot.
Richard Deitsch of SI.com had high marks for Fox Sports’ coverage of the Women’s World Cup.
Matt Zemek of Awful Announcing has an interesting piece on ESPN’s coverage of Wimbledon and what it says about modern sports media.
Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing writes on how the rising costs of rights fees could force sports networks to make cuts elsewhere.
Wright Thompson is the subject of Deitsch’s latest SI Media podcast.
Grantland’s Katie Baker discusses the U.S. women’s victory in the latest Sports-Casters podcast.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News does a Q/A with Bob Ley.
John Walters at Newsweek.com examines the bizarre interview Jim Harbaugh had with Colin Cowherd.
The Povich Center for Sports Journalism at Maryland assembled quite a schedule of guest speakers for its summer camp.