I don't want to use this space to get into the Disney dispute with DirecTV that caused its networks to be blacked out on it service. We are in Day 4 of this showdown with no end in sight, causing 11.3 million viewers to be without Disney channels ... most notably ESPN.
For full disclosure, I am one of those viewers.
I'm not going to get into my frustration with this here -- I have vented elsewhere to people representing both sides. I will however point out one thing that is very evident in this battle. It's about the games, stupid.
The games.
When programming was pulled on Sunday night right before the LSU-USC college football game (and during the US Open), people were pissed. They've been pissed that they missed Boston College upsetting Florida State on Monday night. And they will be extremely pissed starting Friday when they will begin missing college football games. Then imagine what it will be like when we get to Monday night and the Jets-49ers Monday Night Football game is blacked out for DirecTV subscribers.
Which that's getting to my point ... and this is mainly pointed at ESPN.
No one is whining they are missing Stephen A. Smith shouting on First Take. No one is complaining that they can't get their daily update on the Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets or the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback situation on GetUp!. No one is upset they can't watch two curmudgeons groan on Pardon The Interruption or a bunch of "columnists" banter topics on Around The Horn. We want our games. We want the games you guys spend the hours of 1am to 7pm Eastern Time screaming about.
ESPN taught us that we don't really need SportsCenter anymore. They admitted that we can go to YouTube or somewhere else to find the big sports clips of the day and get our sports news in real time via Twitter or whatever just as they do. Aside from their overnight content, SportsCenter has been reduced to a rerun of all the stuff people are talking about on all their other shows. What was once sports fans most important times of the day has been reduced to goofy jokes with some sports background. Even NFL Primetime, a show that was my lifeblood on Sundays growing up, has been relegated to ESPN+ content. And I do watch it every single Sunday during the NFL season.
It is the games, stupid.
I'm sure that ESPN knows that since they've done everything they can to make sure they've gobbled up as much live sports content they can. NFL? They have Monday Night Football. NBA? They are the top tier and home of the NBA Finals. MLB? They've got plenty. College sports? They have the SEC, ACC and the College Football Playoff as well as the top place for big time college hoops matchups. They also have plenty of other sports and events, just like the US Open I'm now missing.
They know this, which is what sucks. This stalemate was going to last at least until this weekend. The game of chicken would play out while DirecTV customers are missing 19 college football games this weekend and, possibly, the Jets-49ers game on Monday night.
ESPN also knows that I don't have to watch Sunday NFL Countdown this Sunday morning before Week 1 of the NFL season. I can switch over to NFL Network's NFL Gameday Morning instead. I've already said I don't need them for highlight shows since they've moved away from caring about that. They know they've spent a lot of money on these broadcast rights and have spent the last several years retooling their books by letting go some big name talent while paying a ton for Mike Greenberg, Stephen A. Smith, Joe Buck, Pat McAfee and Troy Aikman.
They are aware that this is a game of chicken that could be costly for both sides, but are banking that people will drop DirecTV for another service (pssst. they do this to all those services, too) before they switch to another network for their sports. They just hope we don't get used to going other places for content, especially when FOX, Amazon and NBC have made huge moves taking some of these events back. Plus, ESPN has fumbled some opportunities (their NBA studio show is horrific and they've been destroyed for breaking up their top NBA broadcast team and then watch two replacements leave for coaching jobs) and made some unpopular decisions regarding their talent (hello, RG3!).
One thing ESPN does really well is the games. I can go all day not watching ESPN, but the games will always matter. Even if ESPN forgets that at times, the reality is that they entire thing is built on the actual competitions. Both ESPN and DirecTV are about to find out how important that is for their customers. Of course DirecTV's customers are its subscribers while ESPN's is its broadcast partners (like DirecTV) and its advertisers. If the advertisers who just paid boat loads of money to have their commercials and ads connected to ESPN events that are blacked out to 11.3 million people, the pressure will be on.
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