Quantcast




«

»

Jul
16
2015

Are We In For A Sports Commentary Revival? Look out for HBO!

HBOSports_logo2ESPN has lost 3.2 million subscribers in a year, according to Nielsen. To put that in perspective, Netflix added 3.3 million subscribers in three months. ESPN reaches 92.9 million households, but with streaming services becoming readily available, subscribers are finding it easier to cut the cord. As a result, ESPN has seen cuts to some of it’s more controversial personalities. First, it was Bill Simmons, then Scott Van Pelt exited, then Keith Olbermann, and now the latest victim: Colin Cowherd. With major networks shifting their approach to on-air talent, folks may wonder, where will Keith Olbermann and others end up next? Lets cross our fingers and hope they end up on HBO.

With their strong commentary and their “Outside the Lines” approach to sports, viewers have looked to anchors like Olbermann, Simmons, and Cowherd for a different sports news feel. Something similar in scope to “Last Week Tonight” hosted by John Oliver. Oliver was applauded in recent months after a FIFA Scandal broke; Oliver discussed FIFA’s practices in detail on his show.  In the footage, Oliver goes into detail about FIFA’s lack of ethics and the commentary triggered an investigation into FIFA and here we are!

These types of commentary are what guys like Olbermann and Simmons live for. Olbermann challenged NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell numerous times during his show and even criticized Penn State university students, calling them “pitiful”; Olbermann was suspended 4 days for his Penn State comments as well. Simmons is currently in talks with HBO for a show. In the era of challenging “the status quo” and promoting creative approaches to commentary, let’s hope HBO has been paying attention and can find a spot for Olbermann or Scott Van Pelt in their weekend lineup as well.



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>