They didn’t even win the streaming package that was being offered, as I had previously predicted (Being on Peacock guarantees promotion across NBC platforms including “Today” or during NFL games). Here are the five most interesting things I take away from the new agreement.Īmazon gets spurned again – Richard Deitsch of The Athletic reports Amazon was willing to pay more than CBS and NBC for a package of games in the 3:30 p.m. Each partner received an equitable fair share of content that will make the conference a cornerstone of each respective network for years to come. FOX, FS1, BTN, CBS, NBC, and Peacock will now be your exclusive homes for everything Big Ten for the foreseeable future. It’s been well known for weeks that the Big Ten was about to make television history but the official confirmation came on Thursday morning. A simple formula that I hope producers and directors at ESPN can consider making more frequent use of. There are just two hours of spectacular television, showcasing the best youth baseball players from around the country making lifelong memories. There aren’t manufactured storylines about what this specific game means for the tournament as a whole. No references to “our friends in the desert”. Karl Ravech, the always outstanding Kyle Peterson, and the often maligned but improving Jessica Mendoza have all been shining stars over the past week, and I think ESPN’s dedication to focused storytelling on the game is the chief reason why.
JENNIFER M CASSELBERRY FACEBOOF SERIES
This is what you get when ESPN covers the Little League World Series and, to me, is some of the network’s best work. The focus - the real, true, honest focus - of the broadcast should be centered on the game at hand. I, by no means, am saying the space inside a broadcast is wholly sacred to the action on the field during the time on the clock. If they wanted to be entertained by talk about the Heisman Trophy race, they’d seek out talk about the Heisman Trophy race. They’re tuning in to watch some football. But, more often than not, viewers aren’t tuning in to Buffalo versus Northern Illinois on a Wednesday night in November to listen to talk about whether Alabama or Georgia should be ranked at the top of the latest CFP rankings. “Play the hits!”, is something everyone working in radio or television has heard time and time again. Turn on a random NBA game, and you’ll hear plenty of discussion focused on Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and which player has “taken the league by storm” that month, mixed in with some focus on the game at hand. Tune into any non-primetime game, and you’ll find several hours of discussion on what the following week’s College Football Playoff rankings should be, what the preceding week’s College Football Playoff rankings were, and which players in the SEC should be at the top of the Heisman Trophy race, sprinkled in with the slightest attention paid to whatever game is happening on the screen at the given moment. In short, it’s virtually the antithesis of ESPN’s coverage of many events, especially college football. Production folks are focused on telling the stories of the teams involved, the announcers are focused on showcasing the excitement and fun had by the players, and the sideline reporters are focused on making sure they get interviews with family members and coaches to add to the broadcast. The main reason, at least in my estimation, is during the Little League World Series on ESPN, the focus is on the game.
Its Twitter, so there are negative thoughts, but you don’t see nearly the level of vitriol for the announcers or the production that you get with other ESPN events.
Look up the mentions on Twitter, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find negative thoughts. It’s truly the best of sports on display.Īnd that’s why I hope producers, directors, and executives at ESPN take note of how unpolarizing the coverage of the Little League World Series truly is. The excitement of the communities represented. Attending the event someday is on my somewhat short sports bucket list. I’ve made it a point to be tuned into the happenings of Williamsport for the last 20 years or so. I’ve long been a fan of the Little League World Series coverage on ESPN.