Joe Hass wrote... ESPN has effectively given the hour to James, allowed James to dictate who will interview him and what commercials will be sold. But why mention all that in any of their ads?
http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=144826 On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 7:39 AM, Bob in Jersey <[email protected]>wrote: > > As to LeBron: > Don't expect this to set precedents in the nonsports world. The media > are not THAT stupid. > > As to YES: > MLB Network spares us the silliness of Kay if/when it does the Yanks > (not that some people really like, f'rinstance, Harold Reynolds any > better) > The ship sailed on ESPN's journalistic credibility a long time ago. But I think adage is missing the point of this decision with their focus on lost ad revenue. ESPN is not just doing this to get the "exclusive" on the James signing story - the entire highly rated hour (though I will be surprised if it really gets a higher rating than Game 7) is one big commercial for the NBA, which is covered by ESPN. Indeed this entire free agent soap opera is in part designed to keep interest in the NBA alive into the summer - and who benefits from that? ESPN (among others of course). I don't think this is an example of a big sports star manipulating a sports network. It is a case of a sports network using a big sports star to manipulate a story into self promotion. This has long been the ethical dilemma for ESPN (well, it stopped being a dilemma a long time ago I guess) - since they both cover and profit from sports, they are always tempted (and ALWAYS surrender to the temptation) to cover sports stories that generate their own profit, and downplay stories they do not directly profit from. And yes, I do expect to see this in the nonsports world soon. The media is that stupid, and greedy. Nine months from now, when Sarah Palin is set to announce whether or not she is officially a candidate for the Republican nomination for President, I can easily see her booking an hour on a news network to make the announcement, and get asked questions by a friendly interviewer. And I don't mean that only Fox would do this - I am sure CNN would jump at it if they had a chance. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
