By Max Rayman
Turn on a sports network and more than likely it will be some type of debate format. ESPN’s First Take, which started to embrace that system in 2012, has become the poster child.
Now, most sports shows have the host in some capacity yelling at their co-host or the listeners for dramatic effect. Entertainment and sensationalism have started to take precedence over analysis and statistics, with more and more sports shows following suit.
Longtime CBS sports broadcaster Greg Gumbel was vocal in his disapproval of how sensationalism has taken over sports media.
“First of all, it’s not journalism. It’s sensational by all means,” Gumbel said. “It seems that someone in the genre comes up with something off the wall to say every day. After a while, you tend to realize that’s the point. The point is to be surprising and amazing and something you’ve never heard before. Then 24 hours later they take the complete opposite approach.”
Despite his displeasure with how the sports media landscape has begun to embrace sensationalism, viewership continues to increase for these programs. According to the Sports Business Journal, in December of 2023, First Take averaged 611,000 viewers, which was a 24% increase from the prior year.
Not to be outdone by their rival network, Fox Sports (FS1) posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that three of their shows all had record months in December of 2023. Both The Herd and First Things First recorded their most-watched month ever, while Speak had its second most-watched month ever.
But what exactly about these programs, is leading to viewers continuously tuning in? Why are spectators allowing sensationalism to take over the sports media landscape?
Gumbel is also baffled at how invested viewers have become.
“What is with the people who are listening in who feel that they are learning something?” Gumbel said. “That this is something they need to have and want to track and follow.”
Recently, during the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, the All-Star game was under heavy scrutiny due to a lack of effort from the player’s side. For the first time in NBA All-Star history, a team recorded over 200 points in the game. Stephen A. Smith, the host of ESPN’s First Take, on his show, called the lack of defense a “travesty”. Other sports hosts repeatedly agreed that the event was borderline unfixable, and few offered possible solutions.
Once again, sensationalism was present, which wasn’t necessary – but that has been the issue. How do sports hosts toe the line between being entertaining and not at the expense of compromising accuracy? Gumbel wasn’t sure if that was possible.
“Who’s toeing the line?”, Gumbel asked. “I don’t think hosts care if they are toeing the line or not. That means you would lean on their superiors to know if they are toeing the line or not and you know what, if they are getting ratings they don’t care if they are toeing the line. They are doing what they are supposed to do. It’s this wicked circle that comes back around looking for what you’re trying to accomplish. If that’s what you’re trying to accomplish and you know that’s what they’re trying to accomplish, then whose got room to argue?”
Sensationalism is growing and continuing to sneak its way into sports media, and sadly for now, there is no possible solution on the horizon.
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