The end of Mike and Mike

[Vegas Halo Fan]

After 18 years, ESPN is pulling the plug on their popular radio show, Mike and Mike. Reports have surfaced that Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic barely speak to each other off set and during breaks, and that this has been going on for about a year. Greenberg will host his own television show beginning January 1, while Mike Golic will pair with Trey Wingo for essentially the show that he is doing now. People close to the situation say that Mike and Mike may well end before its contractual end, which is believed to be December 31. Golic in particular has been critical of ESPN for the way the show has been handled for the past two years.

The tense, deteriorating relationship between ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic

[Angel Oracle]

Sounds like sour grapes on Golic's part?

[Vegas Halo Fan]

From what I have read, ESPN decided (and rightfully so, IMO) that Greenberg is a lot more marketable and versatile than Golic. A lot of the friction apparently comes from Greenberg not discussing with Golic what ESPN was talking with him about - and it could be that he was under instructions not to.

[Adam]

ESPN is such a shit show right now. Crazy

[nate]

I met the fat one in a bar in Hartford earlier this year.  Really nice dude actually.

[Jason]

I couldn't tell you the last time I watched a show on ESPN.

[Brandon]

did anyone ever watch or listen to them?

if memory serves correct, i believe they were the east coast morning show at 7am which is 4am here.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I listen to them all the time on the way to work. It just won't be the same.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

On 6/6/2017 at 2:18 PM, Adam said:

ESPN is such a shit show right now. Crazy

It has been a shit show for a while. A sports network that televises poker (which isn't a sport by any stretch of the imagination) and now drone racing.

[Inside Pitch]

On 6/17/2017 at 2:20 PM, Jason said:

I couldn't tell you the last time I watched a show on ESPN.

This is where I've been for a long long time.   In truth, once MLB Network happened, that became my preferred sports channel.   These days I'll watch individual events on whatever network but I don't pay attention to their other programming.   ESPN became less about sports and more about promoting their own brand and their on air personalities -- it became really difficult to go back once I got a taste of sports programming that was actually about the sport and not some lame attempt to be hip.

ESPN could go off the air tomorrow and I wouldn't miss it -- had someone told me that in 1995, I'd have laughed at them.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Like a lot of other networks (The Weather Channel and MTV come to mind), ESPN lost sight of their primary mission. There is a lot of garbage programming, trash sports and things that aren't even sports that they televise. They were so self-assured of their dominance in sports that they believed that all they had to do was show up and viewers would come in droves. At one point, it appeared that they might be right - but that was 15-20 years ago. There are now viable competitors. I won't even discuss their website, where you can't read half the content without paying extra to be an "Insider". I dumped their website years ago for Fox Sports, where nothing is extra cost.

[Inside Pitch]

Just to follow up on this....   Tried watching some ESPN ...  My lord it's become even worse than I remember it....   It's like watching a bad local morning show only it runs 24/7. 

[Tank]

yep. i occasionally make the mistake of thinking the morning sportscaster will have all of last night's highlights on it. when i find all of the endless commentary on it instead of highlights, i kick myself and turn to HGTV instead.

it's just endless hours of commentary and opinion, none of which is interesting. they've taken a great concept and turned it into a big steaming pile of crappy gibberish.

[Brandon]

i've been on vacation for about three months and usually have espn on as i really only care about sports and ever since i was a kid i just always watched sporscenter first thing in the morning. i usually just keep it on in the background while i do things around the house.

what. the. fuck.

i absolutely don't understand the amount of talk shows and why everyone is yelling or talking over each other. as i'm typing this i'm watching pti and even a show like this that i used to like these dudes are yelling for no reason. plus, it's kind of weird how every 30 minutes it's the exact same topics, just different people saying what you watched before ....there is this run of dan lebetard show, around the horn, pti, sportscenter where all the shows have the exact same topics and even the format is the same.

plus tank kind of hit the nail on the head, what the hell is up with non-stop opinions? it's like they are more interested in creating controversy with different opinions than just showing highlights and giving facts. while i used to not mind it so much when they brought on a former player or coach for their opinion, why the hell are they brining on dudes like michael wilbon or stephen a. smith, who to my knowledge, never played pro sports to give "expert" insight to trades, rumors, or potential moves. it really is tmz for sports.

it's like taking the most annoying people on twitter or some of the numbnuts here that constantly argue with each other and making a tv show of it.

that said, i don't even know of another option. tried fox sports, but it's way worse and they are just copying all of espn's shows.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Somewhere along the way, ESPN decided that their "personalities" transcended sports news, and that they are more important than the story itself. That is when they began to lose the plot. I also don't give a damn about the X Games, poker tournaments, drone racing or any of the other tripe that they foist on us in the name of entertainment. I understand that there are times of the year when sports news is slim, but don't assume that I am going to watch anything that you put on just because it has the ESPN name on it.

[AngelsFanSince86]

I like Mike and Mike, but hardly ever listen to it.  It's far and away the highest commercial to show ratio among sports radio shows.  

[Inside Pitch]

59 minutes ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

Somewhere along the way, ESPN decided that their "personalities" transcended sports news, and that they are more important than the story itself. 

This is it in a nutshell for me .... they really think people are tuning in to see their on air peeps instead of looking for sports coverage..   Watching it today was painful..  

Adding to what others have said -- it's just the same tired topics over and over with a new set of wannabes talking over each other...   I laughed my ass off when one of the shows was ESPN Nacion, which was the same exact thing only with two people with Spanish-ish accents trying to be edgy... It's just so awful.  

What makes it worse is guys like Jayson Stark and Ed Werder were both fired -- and these are the people they chose to keep.  Outside of the 30 on 30 series ESPN is a total wasteland... 

[eaterfan]

On 6/24/2017 at 10:46 PM, Vegas Halo Fan said:

Like a lot of other networks (The Weather Channel and MTV come to mind), ESPN lost sight of their primary mission. There is a lot of garbage programming, trash sports and things that aren't even sports that they televise. They were so self-assured of their dominance in sports that they believed that all they had to do was show up and viewers would come in droves. At one point, it appeared that they might be right - but that was 15-20 years ago. There are now viable competitors. I won't even discuss their website, where you can't read half the content without paying extra to be an "Insider". I dumped their website years ago for Fox Sports, where nothing is extra cost.

I think your theory is off. Fox Sports 1 is getting crushed in ratings. And they just announced they are downsizing their website writing staff significantly. The competition isn't what is killing them. Not only that, but the one Fox Sports 1 show that does well is "Garbage Time" and that's a personality driven show.

ESPN is dying because

1. People are cutting cable

2. People are cutting cable

3. People are cutting cable

4. People can get their sports highlights on the internet

5. People want regional coverage or coverage of a particular sport.

 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

2 hours ago, eaterfan said:

The competition isn't what is killing them.

Not in and of itself. ESPN became such a dominant force on the sports landscape that they became a victim of their own arrogance. They reached a point when they believed that it didn't matter who, or what, they put on the airwaves, as long as it said ESPN on it. They have found out that even the mighty can fall, and they are going to have to adjust to a new reality.

[Brandon]

i don't think you are correct there either. they have always shown things like x games, poker, etc. they wouldn't keep doing it every year if it wasn't a hit for them.

people are cutting the cord and tv rights are exponentially going up. they need to show shows that move the needle. it just so happens that they are catering to a new social media world and shows like first take where people argue....like people on the internet....are absolute garbage.

they aren't arrogant or just throwing shit out there willy nilly. it's a disney company with a shitload of money and info on what will work. they have to be diverse because of the two options i gave above, but also people are simply going to youtube or all these other sites instead of traditional tv now.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I'm sure that they are cleaning up on drone racing.

[Brandon]

it does. and this was when it was in the 10-midnight time slot, it still beat everything on fox sports:

https://sportstvratings.com/ravens-patriots-sportscenter-wwe-raw-top-cable-sports-ish-tv-ratings-for-monday-december-12-2016/7078/

now i have been seeing it on the weekends and more primetime.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I noticed that four of the top seven programs on that list were from Fox News, showing that there is no accounting for taste. Doubling down, WWE outranked SportsCenter.

[Tank]

i'm looking forward to them covering the first world fidget spinner games later this summer.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

1 hour ago, Tank said:

i'm looking forward to them covering the first world fidget spinner games later this summer.

They just paid $2B for the rights to televise the playoffs.