ESPN's Struggles

I came across an item in the sports website www.awfulannouncing.com where it was revealed that the popular sports network ESPN is set to downsize this year.

Several on-cam talents are going to be displaced in all ESPN branches due reportedly to low earnings resulting from many viewers either switching to other sports networks like Fox Sports or watching live streaming through Facebook Live.

ESPN started laying off employees in 2015 and this could affect the future of the network whose headquarters is in Bristol, Massachusetts with branches in New York and Los Angeles.

Since last year, many ESPN talents have moved to other networks like Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd who are now with Fox Sports.

Bayless is best remembered for his frequent verbal jousts with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN's morning sports debate show First Take. Bayless has since topbilled Undisputed on Fox with his new partner, former NFL player Shannon Sharpe.

Smith, on the other hand, has a new partner on First Take in Max Kellerman who is known more for his boxing coverages on HBO especially when Manny Pacquiao is on the card.

ESPN has introduced major changes this year because of many viewers tired of seeing too many highlights. Michael Smith and Jemele Hill now host the primetime SportsCenter at 6 pm Eastern time, which is the network's flagship sports news program.

Smith and Hill's new SportsCenter sees them discussing the issues behind the sports news while also expanding their interviews with well-known sports personalities, an offshoot of their old show His & Hers which ended in January this year.

The late night SportsCenter, which is shown at 10 pm California time, is hosted by Scott Van Pelt and focuses more on his humorous take on sports issues just like other comedy talk show hosts like Jimmy Fallon and James Corden.

Aside from this, many ESPN2 shows were moved to the main ESPN network even as the former was relegated to being a rerun network. These shows include The Jump, SportsNation (now one hour), Highly Questionable, Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption.

The Jump is familiar to NBA fans because it is shown in the Philippines through NBA Premium. It features former CNN sports reporter Rachel Nichols as host. Nichols initially worked with ESPN before moving to CNN in 2013. She then returned to ESPN last year and in The Jump, she is paired with former NBA players turned analysts like Jalen Rose, Tracy McGrady and Stephen Jackson.

This problem facing ESPN here in the US confirms the main reason why it is no longer existent in the Philippines. Actually, the Star Group of Networks based in Hong Kong initially held the rights to ESPN in Asia which included Philippine cable operators like Sky and Destiny Cable.

However, when the Walt Disney Company bought ESPN and the ABC television networks in 2013, Disney decided to focus more on the North American market so it sold its shares of ESPN to NewsCorp which owns Fox so ESPN became Fox Sports Asia while Star Sports became Fox Sports 2.

Despite the fold-up of ESPN in Asia, its programming is still evident in the Philippines as many ESPN NBA games are shown on NBA Premium while others are aired on Fox Sports and ABS-CBN Sports+Action 23.

Fox Sports Asia also put up a sports show for its Filipino viewers, The GOAT which is hosted by radio DJs Mo Twister, KC Montero, Suzy Gamboa, Nikko Ramos and Riki Flores. The Thursday night show specializes in occasional debate and interviews with Philippine sports personalities but not as intense as here in the US.

The only time The GOAT was a little too raunchy was when Mo Twister called fellow radio DJ Rico Robles a narcissist for always tweeting about himself. Well, Mo Twister isn't a loudmouth for nothing.

The rivalry between ESPN and Fox Sports in the US is expected to intensify further as both networks claim that they are outrating the other especially in the sports debate shows in the morning. For now ESPN has the advantage if you're an NBA fan while Fox has its NFL, UFC and college basketball.