Jason McIntyre reports Charissa Thompson is leaving ESPN.
And here’s the key takeaway from McIntyre:
Sources tell me that Erin Andrews – who is close friends with Thompson – going to Fox last year and Michelle Beadle going to NBC, along with Rachel Nichols leaving ESPN for CNN this year, have sent salaries soaring for women on TV talking sports.
And with NBC and Fox trying to compete with ESPN, the easy move is to pluck its high profile talent. This backs ESPN into a corner: Does it try and match the rumored offers – I’ve heard anywhere from $600k a year to $800k for Andrews, Beadle and Nichols – to retain talent, or let them walk and find the next rising star? I think it’s clear from these four departures that ESPN has made a decision.
Obviously, ESPN is picking and choosing who they want to keep. Who is worth the big money?
Meanwhile, for those who left, the decision goes beyond money. They received expanded opportunities from their new networks.
Coming soon: Releases from ESPN on talent who stayed with network.
ESPN The Magazine celebrates its 15th anniversary this week, even if Robert Griffin III looks a bit underwhelmed.
That’s no small feat in a publishing climate that has seen the print versions of iconic magazines disappear. So long Newsweek and The Sporting News.
ESPN The Magazine still is big, bold, and can be out there at times. However, under Chad Millman, who took over at editor in 2011, it has sharpened its focus with each edition having a theme. Also, some of the loud bells and whistles that marked the early design have been toned down a bit.
Here’s my Q/A with Millman on the current state of the magazine and whether it will be around for a 30th anniversary in 2028.
How has the magazine (first cover) evolved since 1998?
We’re still very much about great storytelling. It’s in our DNA. We get phenomenal access and our photography can’t be matched because of the size of the magazine.
The conversation, though, has changed. What the magazine was good at in the beginning are what blogs are good at now. The front of the magazine used to be more in tune with pop culture. It’s less now because blogs do a better job of that. So we have made some changes to remain current and relevant.
Such as?
We decided to have a theme for every issue. We asked ourselves, ‘Why can’t we make every issue as good the “Body Issue?’ Once you get a rhythm, you find ideas that become a franchise, such as One Day/One Game. Teams really have bought into it. We had a picture of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade reading texts in a cold tub. You don’t normally get to those places in sports.
The strategy helps frame what we’re doing. It helps define the storytelling. It also galvanizes the stuff and gets everyone behind a big idea.
What is going on from a design standpoint? Initially, there was much criticism that the graphics and look were too over-the-top. It seems as if the volume, so to speak, has been turned down in recent years?
Yes, it has. In Oct., 2011, we hired John Korpics. He’s a legendary creative director. The magazine always is going to be known for its design. We still wanted a modern look, but we wanted to make it easier to navigate. Instead of saying we’re toned down, I would say we’re cleaner looking. There’s definitely a better marriage.
How do you view the Magazine in regards to Sports Illustrated?
I don’t think anyone around here thinks about what Sports Illustrated is going to do. I like to see what Sports Illustrated has done. I worked at Sports Illustrated for five years. I know (new managing editor Chris Stone). I like him a lot. He’s really smart. I think it is a healthy change with him taking over.
But I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how Sports Illustrated is going to cover something. I know there is a comparison. We have two different approaches. They often cover what just happened. We cover what’s going to happen.
You say you don’t think about SI from a competitive standpoint, and yet they broke a huge story this week with Jason Collins. How did you feel about that?
With SI and Collins, of course I wanted ESPN The Magazine, and ESPN in general, to be where an athlete chose to share that personal story. We had done similar pieces with Esera Tuaolo and John Amaechi and Sheryl Swoopes. But it isn’t a “gotcha” type piece and you can’t predict who is going to be comfortable with whom and when. SI did a nice job working with Jason and packaging his story.
Do people still read magazines these days?
We had a focus group two months ago. Guys everywhere from 18-35. We found that the group on the older end was skeptical about the future of the print press. However, the younger end said they still would rather read the actual magazine than on a tablet.
I know there’s a big difference when we ask an athlete to be on the cover of ESPN The Magazine than calling someone to be part of a digital product.
At the end of the day, who the hell knows? I don’t think the magazine has a readership problem right now.
The Magazine just celebrated its 15th anniversary. Given the way the publishing industry is going, what are the odds of a 30th anniversary?
That’s a great question. The interesting thing about working in Bristol is that you see how quickly things change. Three years ago, nobody was talking about apps and Twitter. Now they are huge parts of how ESPN engages fans.
It’s sort of feels like an exercise in folly to figure out if there will be a 30th anniversary. I’m just trying to make sure we’re relevant now. We want to be relevant five years from now. We want to adapt to different mediums and different ways we tell our stories.
Note: Here’s a link to my column on the Magazine at the National Sports Journalism Center site.
You might have went to bed last night, but the uproar over Chris Broussard didn’t.
Both Broussard and ESPN addressed the comments. Broussard did it in a tweet.
Today on OTL, as part of a larger, wide-ranging discussion on today’s news, I offered my personal opinion as it relates to Christianity, a point of view that I have expressed publicly before. I realize that some people disagree with my opinion and I accept and respect that. As has been the case in the past, my beliefs have not and will not impact my ability to report on the NBA. I believe Jason Collins displayed bravery with his announcement today and I have no objection to him or anyone else playing in the NBA.
ESPN, meanwhile, issued a statement shortly before 11 p.m. ET. Interestingly, Broussard’s name wasn’t mentioned.
We regret that a respectful discussion of personal viewpoints became a distraction from today’s news. ESPN is fully committed to diversity and welcomes Jason Collins’ announcement.
A year ago, Ozzie Guillen was in the first year of a four-year deal with the Miami Marlins. Even after a rocky start following his ill-advised comments on Fidel Castro, he had reason to be optimistic about his future with Miami. The Marlins actually were 30-23 at the beginning of June, only two games out of first.
Then it all imploded, and Guillen was fired after a dreadful season.
So what now?
While waiting to see if he gets a call from another team, Guillen has decided to go the TV route. Last week, the former White Sox and Marlins manager signed on as an analyst for baseball games on ESPN Deportes.
The deal, though, goes beyond games. Guillen will be making occasional appearances on First Take and other ESPN studio shows. He also will be heard on ESPN Deportes Radio Nueva York 1050 AM. Guillen is slated to make weekly appearances on the radio station’s local shows – Zona ESPN and Firma ESPN.
Guillen made his first appearance Monday on First Take. The discussion ranged from an umpire dispute involving David Price to the Red Sox and Yankees (what else?).
Guillen wasn’t asked to weigh in on Tim Tebow. Now that would have been interesting.
It remains to be seen if Guillen can resurrect his managerial career. At some point, you would think there will be a publicity-hungry team willing to take a chance on Guillen.
Until then, Guillen is doing the right thing by remaining visible on the TV side. The stopover has worked for plenty of other guys.
In the release, Guillen said:
“It’s an honor to join the ESPN Deportes family. ESPN’s baseball analysts are some of the best in the business and I’m looking forward to joining the conversation and providing my perspective on what’s happening this season.”
Just minutes before the beginning of the NFL draft, Adam Schefter sent out the following tweet:
As one GM texted Tuesday, “Going dark.” As requested, we’ll resume tweeting after 1st round is complete. Enjoy draft on ESPN or @ESPNNFL.
That was it. The NFL reporter with the largest Twitter following at 2.24 million people shut it down during perhaps the biggest Twitter night of the year.
I can almost guarantee that won’t happen in 2014. If you’re ESPN, you can’t allow the NFL to place restrictions on your reporters and muffle your No. 1 Twitter guy.
Last night reaffirmed for me that being on Twitter is an essential part of following the NFL draft. If you’re not on Twitter when those picks start flying, you’re missing out. The tweets don’t detract from the coverage; they enhance it.
As promised in an interview with me, La Canfora vowed to tweet out the upcoming pick (if he got it) before the official announcement on TV. Sure enough, beginning with Detroit’s pick of Ziggy Ansah at No. 5, La Canfora started tipping picks throughout the rest of the first round.
Did it ruin the drama for me? Hardly. In fact, there is something empowering knowing the upcoming pick before the analysts chirping on ESPN and NFL Network.
There was a point in ESPN’s telecast where they debated a Twitter question from a viewer asking if the New York Giants should take Manti Te’o at 19?
“I like this linebacker Manti Te’o for the Giants,” said Jon Gruden as only he can.
Meanwhile, those of us on Twitter learned several minutes earlier that the Giants already had taken Syracuse offensive tackle Justin Pugh. For once, the viewer knew more than Gruden.
Besides, what’s so special about hearing Roger Goodell announce the picks? He’s not that exciting. So you know a few minutes ahead of time? Big deal.
Where Twitter really shines with the NFL draft is in capturing the rapid-fire intensity of the event. There’s a real-time tick-tock of activity that has an even quicker pulse than what you see on TV. The ESPN and the NFL Network telecasts can’t keep up with all the possible trade scenarios that happen in an instant. Twitter is much better at giving you the behind-the-scenes.
For instance, if you were on Twitter, you learned Minnesota GM Rick Spielman was hastily called out of a press conference, presumably to complete a trade with New England.
Also, if you weren’t on Twitter, you missed out on the Onion Sports Network spoofing the draft. For example:
Manti Te’o Only Draft Attendee Sitting In Metropolitan Opera House
And perhaps Onion’s best of the night:
Bills Fans Actually Excited About Former Backup For Christian Ponder
While all this was happening, I almost could feel Schefter’s twitchy Twitter finger. It had to be killing him to be relegated to the Twitter sidelines last night as evidenced by this tweet shortly after the first round:
And as i was saying before I was so rudely interrupted at 8 pm….Bet Geno Smith, Manti Te’o and no RBs wind up going in round one.
Don’t worry, Adam, it won’t happen again. I’m betting you’ll be in full Twitter mode for next year’s NFL draft.
It really is amazing to see the current evolution of the NFL draft coverage on ESPN and NFL Network. These are mega productions with countless moving parts.
For a little perspective, it’s always good to see how ESPN covered the NFL draft in 1981. Thanks to Bob Ley for noting it was ESPN’s second draft.
It was all so primitive. Check out the guy who had to turn on Pete Rozelle’s microphone.
A favorite part is a young Chris Berman getting reaction from a restaurant in New York, complete with the checkered table cloth.
All in all, the whole thing seemed like a pointless exercise. Who would want to watch coverage of something as boring as the NFL draft? Right?
ESPN SportsCenter anchor Lindsay Czarniak has been named host for the telecast of the Indianapolis 500 on ABC on Sunday, May 26. ABC will be televising the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for the 49th consecutive year, extending one of the longest-running relationships between a sporting event and a TV network, and Czarniak will be the first woman ever to host the telecast.
Also, former Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever will expand his role as an analyst in ESPN’s coverage of the IZOD IndyCar Series to work in the broadcast booth for all six races that will air on ABC this season.
Czarniak, who co-anchors the 6 p.m. SportsCenter with John Anderson, joined ESPN in 2011. She has a background in motorsports, having served as a pit and feature reporter and host for TNT’s telecasts of NASCAR Sprint Cup races and a pit reporter for NBC Sports prior to moving to ESPN. She also has hosted ESPN’s NASCAR Now program.
She was as sports anchor and reporter at WRC-TV (NBC4) in Washington, D.C., from 2005-2011. During that time, she also worked for NBC covering the 2006 Winter and 2008 Summer Olympic Games as well as NASCAR.
Czarniak will be positioned on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s iconic Pagoda during ABC’s one-hour Indianapolis 500 pre-race show at 11 a.m. on May 26. She also will contribute to the race telecast.
Cheever, a former Formula One driver who won the 1998 Indianapolis 500, will join lap-by-lap announcer Marty Reid and analyst Scott Goodyear to call the six IndyCar Series races on ABC. Cheever has been an analyst for ESPN since 2008 but has primarily worked only on the Indianapolis 500 telecast.
The Arizona native made 132 starts in Formula One from 1978-89, the most by any American driver in the history of the sport. He returned to the United States in 1990 to pursue his dream of winning the Indy 500, racing in the former CART series and then in the IndyCar Series when it launched in 1996. He scored five wins in the IndyCar Series and last raced in 2006.
The Indianapolis 500 will be the first of the six races ESPN will be producing to air on ABC. Others will include a doubleheader at Detroit’s Belle Isle on June 1 and 2 and a Saturday night prime time race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on June 8. Races at Iowa Speedway (June 23) and the return of IndyCar racing to Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway (July 7) will complete ABC’s schedule.
The 2013 ESPYS will be hosted by actor Jon Hamm, widely celebrated for his role as Don Draper on AMC’s award-winning series Mad Men. The announcement was made during Hamm’s appearance this morning on LIVE with Kelly and Michael. Hamm has earned numerous accolades for his performance on the series including a Golden Globe Award, Television Critics Association Award and a Critics’ Choice Television Award, as well as multiple Emmy and Screen Actors Guild nominations. The 2013 ESPYS will be televised live Wednesday, July 17, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPNHD from Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.
Hamm will be joined by an all-star lineup of top athletes and entertainers to celebrate the best sports stories of the last year, leading fans through the year’s best plays, biggest upsets and most outstanding performances across all sports. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Hamm considers himself a passionate sports fan and he fervently follows the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Blues, as well as the NFL. Hamm played in the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Games in 2009 (St. Louis) and in 2012 (Kansas City), where he played third base next to his childhood idol Ozzie Smith.
“The ESPYS is designed to showcase the year’s best sports moments in a sharp, fun and entertaining manner and Jon’s the perfect host for this year’s show. His appearances on shows like 30 Rock and SNL show that humor and creativity are two of his main strengths,” said Maura Mandt, the show’s executive producer. “The combination of Jon’s dry wit with his passion for sports will give fans a unique and original view of the year in sports.”
“I’m very excited to be hosting the ESPYS. As a longtime sports fan and a marginally successful high school athlete I feel my skill-set jibes well with a host’s duties,” said Hamm. “I now have to figure out what cleats to wear with a tuxedo.”
This summer, Hamm will film the baseball drama Million Dollar Arm (Walt Disney Pictures and Mayhem Pictures) about a disillusioned sports agent who seeks professional pitching talent through the staging of a reality show in India. Last year, Hamm starred in and produced Friends with Kids for writer/director/star Jennifer Westfeldt. His previous film credits include Bridesmaids with Kristen Wiig, Ben Affleck’s The Town, Zack Snyder’s fantasy thriller Sucker Punch, Howl with James Franco, and Shrek Forever After, in which he voiced the character Brogan. On the television side, Hamm’s appearances on the comedy 30 Rock have earned him three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, and he has hosted Saturday Night Live three times to critical-acclaim.
As previously announced,The 2013 ESPYS will recognize the strength and courage of Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts by honoring her with this year’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award. The Arthur Ashe Courage Award is presented each year to individuals whose contributions transcend sports. A selection of past honorees include: Jim Valvano (1993); Howard Cosell (1995); Muhammad Ali (1997); Billie Jean King (1999); former president Nelson Mandela (2009) and women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt (2012).
I went to school and covered Tony Eason at Illinois. Good guy and started a Super Bowl for New England. Unfortunately for him, the ’85 Bears made it a most unpleasant experience.
Film airs at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times says the new 30 for 30 is excellent.
I have a feeling Robert Lipsyte will be a bit more feisty than his predecessors, the folks at The Poynter Institute.
The former New York Times columnist is known for being blunt and doesn’t suffer fools. So expect him to be outspoken when the mood strikes.
However, it also should be noted that Lipsyte is 75. How will he react to programming that is geared toward the young, male demographic, the coveted demo for ESPN and its advertisers? We’ll see.
All in all, it is an interesting choice. More to come.
Award-winning writer and Emmy recipient Robert Lipsyte has been appointed as ESPN’s fifth ombudsman.
Lipsyte, a native of Rego Park, N.Y. and graduate of Columbia University — where he also earned his Masters in journalism — will begin his 18-month term in June, offering independent examination, critique and analysis of ESPN. The role will include written pieces on ESPN.com, on-line chats and other multi-media interactions with fans.
“During his days at the New York Times, PBS and throughout his distinguished career, Robert Lipsyte has always been recognized as an impeccable journalist with a true gift for reporting, writing and analysis,” said ESPN President John Skipper. “His deep and thorough understanding of sports media will assuredly be an asset for ESPN and our users.”“We at ESPN have long admired Bob’s keen awareness of the sports world and how the media interact with the industry,” said ESPN Executive Vice President and Executive Editor, John Walsh. “During our interview with Bob, we agreed about a blueprint for the ESPN ombudsman in the digital age. So we will be looking at a multi-platform focus along with paying attention to the views of our audiences.
“We have always been interested in new ideas with the goal of making us better,” Walsh said. “Bob’s reputation as an independent thinker and fearless reporter and columnist will be important qualities.”
Lipsyte started as a copy boy at the New York Times in 1957 before becoming a sports reporter and then a sports columnist. The accomplished author left the paper in 1971 and continued his career as a freelance writer, television scriptwriter, journalism professor, radio commentator (for National Public Radio, 1976-82) and as a columnist for the New York Post (1977).
Lipsyte’s experience in TV included serving as a sports essayist for CBS Sunday Morning and as a correspondent for NBC. He hosted The Eleventh Hour on PBS in 1989, where he won an Emmy Award for On-Camera Achievement.
“Given the multitude of touchpoints we have with our audience, it’s imperative that the ESPN ombudsman have both the breadth of experience and cross-platform consumption to serve as an advocate for fans across mediums,” said Vice President and Editor-in-Chief, ESPN.com, Patrick Stiegman.
“This role is not about being a critic, per se, but instead helping demystify ESPN for fans, explaining our culture and standards, and commenting on journalism and programming decisions,” Stiegman said. “Bob’s decorated background in print, broadcast and digital is ideal for serving fans.”
In 1991, Lipsyte returned to the New York Times to write a sports column and a year later began penning a column in the magazine American Health. In 2002, he left the Times. Lipsyte wrote for ESPN.com periodically between 2003-2006. He was also a consultant for the network, a regular on Classic Sports Reporters and was part of the critically acclaimed SportsCentury series.
“I’m thrilled at the chance to help the ESPN audience — which means just about all sports fans — to understand how the decisions are made, or not made, that affect the presentation of its sports news and entertainment,” Lipsyte said. “Sports is an immensely important aspect of American social, moral and economic life and ESPN is the most important window on sports. My job is to keep that window transparent.”
Lipsyte’s books include The Contender, SportsWorld, Jock and Jill, One Fat Summer, Summer Rules, The Summerboy, The Brave, The Chief, The Chemo Kid, In the Country of Illness and his memoir, An Accidental Sportswriter. In 2001, Lispyte was honored with the Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring lifetime contribution in writing for young adults.
Lipsyte follows prior ESPN ombudsmen: George Solomon (2005-07); Le Anne Schreiber (2007-2008); Don Ohlmeyer (2009-2010) and The Poynter Institute (2011-2012
ESPN’s NFL reporter is on 24-hour call. He carries a Blackberry and iPhone, both of which are in constant overdrive.
Just from spending a few hours with him during Schefter’s recent visit to Northwestern, you can see it appears to be a manic existence.
“It’s constant,” Schefter said. “It never stops.”
In part 1, I talked to Schefter about his Twitter plans for the NFL draft. In today’s Q/A, he addresses Twitter; ESPN’s credit issues; the pressure to be No. 1; and the real reasons why he doesn’t take a vacation.
You have more than 2.2 million followers on Twitter. Is that amazing to you?
I like to say I paid off a bunch of people to follow me. I honestly can say I don’t even think about it. At some point, you get numb to it. It becomes just a number.
When I first started in 2009, you’d see these numbers: 50,000 followers, then 80,000. It used to blow me away. That doesn’t happen anymore.
I’m flattered that people take an interest in me. I’m not stupid enough to realize that people are there for football information. They are there for their fantasy football updates, injury updates. People thank me for helping them win their leagues. I didn’t even make the playoffs in one of my leagues.
It’s not me; it’s what I do.
How much is Twitter a part of what you do?
100 percent of my job is to report information for ESPN. Ninety-five percent of that gets posted on Twitter. Fortunately or unfortunately, Twitter has become a journalistic scorecard. Who has the story first? It’s absurd. It’s ridiculous.
Stories like the Mike Rice story are unique enough to where the credits last. But there also are so many trades, signings that are of the garden mill variety.
Does it matter if somebody reported something two minutes before someone else? Please, it’s so insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
But isn’t there pressure to be first with the story?
Nobody says, ‘You must get this.’ Yet having said that, nobody puts more pressure on myself than me. We’re all self-driven. If I miss a story, I don’t like it. I can’t stand the feeling. That’s what drives you to make that extra call, to send that extra text.
What about the criticism that ESPN doesn’t give enough credits to outside outlets who break news?
You don’t hear me asking for credit.
I will say this, and I want it stated clearly: ESPN does a great job of giving other people credit. ESPN gives more credit to other (outlets) than any other newspaper, network, blog site. By far. It really irks me when people accuse ESPN of not giving credit. I will defend my network to the hilt here.
We’re a big target. We’re under constant scrutiny. I had people tell me when I got there, it’s like playing for the Yankees. If anything goes slightly wrong, it draws more criticism than anything else. They were right.
Today, I did a podcast (at Northwestern). After I’m done, I look on my Blackberry and see Julian Edelman re-signed with the Patriots. So I put it on Twitter. I then found out USA Today reported it eight minutes ago. Damn.
So I erased the tweet and put up a new tweet that said the Patriots had signed Edelman as reported by Mike Garafolo of USA Today.
Why did you do that?
Mike has been very gracious to me. I wanted to reciprocate.
I don’t want to insult anybody. I don’t anyone to say, ‘ESPN is not giving someone proper credit.’
It’s the world we live in.
What is your world like? Even during this interview, you’re constantly checking your Blackberry and iPhone.
It’s constant. More people are vying for more information than ever before. There’s the need for speed. I’m so thankful I spent 16 years covering a newspaper beat (the Denver Broncos). Your story would appear on the doorstep at 6 a.m. and it would live for 24 hours. Now you get 24 seconds to rest up and we’re on to something else. It never stops. The news cycle is on steroids.
It’s not that Twitter overtakes your life. It’s the job that overtakes your life. It’s a challenge. I try to do my best when we’re out to dinner at a restaurant not to leave my phone on. But then if you’re 2-3 minutes late with a story, you’re late. People say, ‘Where were you?’
‘Well, I was eating a hamburger. Can I do that?’
It’s crazy.
You received some attention because you said you never take a vacation in a recent interview. Apparently, there is more to it. Can you elaborate?
We have two kids and five dogs. I wanted to stop at three dogs. My wife (Sharri) wanted four and five. So we compromised and got four and five.
My wife is uncomfortable leaving the kids and the dogs. She won’t put the dogs in a kennel. They are like our children.
Second, and most important, my wife is a 9/11 widow. She doesn’t like to fly. It’s not something she chooses to do.
Not taking a vacation is something I don’t choose to do. I wish we could take a vacation. I wish my wife wanted to fly more. It just happens that there are some extenuating circumstances involved here.
My boss, Seth Markman, has a mandate for me. He says I must take a one-week vacation during the off-season where I don’t bring the Blackberry and iPhone and cut myself off from civilization. As much as I would love to take him up on that, it’s just not going to happen.
Steve Carell recently visited Bristol and you did a bit with him. What was that like?
It was the coolest thing ever. We were in make-up, and he’s a big Patriots fan. I told him Wes Welker just signed with the Broncos. He had no idea.
We did the scene during commercials (of SportsCenter). You know what was amazing about it? He does the first take. He says, ‘Can we do it again?’ I thought it was very good, but it wasn’t good enough for him. So we did it again, and that’s the one we used.
