[wonderwes]

ESPN has followed the trail of just about every other cable network there is. High amounts of promotion advertising, create new types of shows, and market the hell out of them. Seems a majority of networks only have a few good hits that they rely on to bring in viewers.

Take A&E. I would never watch them but now I always watch DOG the bounty hunter, and sometimes I'll watch the Airline shows. Same for Bravo, FX, hell even CNBC now has a lineup.

Well I look at the morphing of ESPN over the years. In the past couple it seems to me to have taken a downturn. First off the new reality shows or game shows they have come up with mostly are bad. There were few gameshows they created that actually lasted. The reality shows they have made, well, most of them are just boring material. Teammates? Well that one blew. Stump the Schwab didnt last. Its obvious there is a surplus of reality shows and only fitting that sports have their own. Just some of these are pointless. Who wants to watch the documentary about Dick Butkis going to coach his old H.S. team? Or a documentary on select NFL rookies? Also Steven A. Smith is a sportswriter, he doesn't need a full show. Oh yeah ESPN hollywood is pointless. And to finish my argument, Sportscenter is just getting a tad too overplayed. Now there are always new sports stories each week, but it just seems they take the same topic and recycle it over and over and over. Just endless discussion groups on topics that are dead. Examples? All the sponsor segments (Coors light 6 pack) about the upcoming NFL week. I mean if people want that much material on the nfl you would figure that target audience would watch more of the NFL network. Its to the point now I try to stop watching sportscenter, because it just bores me after 5min.

Oh yeah, Sean Salisbury was a bad player, and he is even a worse analyst.

Shows I still watch: PTI (always), Around the Horn is still good, WSOP coverage, College Gameday Final.

Shows I dont watch: just about everything else. including bass masters.