While there is a ton of money in college football for the NFL, that doesn’t seem to fix every problem, particularly in the TV industry. This was made very apparent when the NFL networks’ staple show, “NFL Total Access,” announced that it would no longer be running after May 17.
The NFL network went through major layoffs last month, resulting in many on-air talent personnel no longer having a job with non-bigger than pro football Hall of Famer Michael Irvin. According to an article by the Athletic, a new show named “Insiders” replaced NFL Total Access.
Michael Irving has been part of the NFL Network for 15 years. However, he will no longer be part of the program or with the NFL Network; he will only be featured on “Undisputed,” which airs on FS1.
On-Air Shows Still Struggle
There is a common belief that with the NFL and college football ratings being higher than ever, TV networks and talk shows would also be doing extremely well. However, this is not the case as more people can create their own media through YouTube, podcasting, and other social media platforms. Just a few months ago, Sports Illustrated laid off most of their team after their subscription number had dropped dramatically.
Also, with people now getting their news primarily on Twitter, people aren’t tuning in to talk shows as much as they used to. People will continue to tune in to live sports because there is no alternative way to absorb that entertainment; however, finding people who are wanting and willing to talk about a sports team or a sports topic is easier now more than ever.
Just as an example from Monday, “The Herd,” a show featuring Collin Cowherd, only brought in 117,000 viewers on May 1st. “The Pat McAfee Show” brought in 298,000 viewers and the “MLB Tonight Postgame Show” only brought in 168,000 viewers. For context, a bad college football game brings in about 500,000 viewers on a linear tv station.
Even ESPN has recently shown areas of struggle with keeping on-air talent. Steve Young, one of the most respected and well-known NFL TV commentators, was laid off by ESPN last year in their own series of layoffs.
What is the Future of Sports Broadcasting?
With the exception of a few programs such as ESPN SportsCenter, CBS Sports is the Jim Rome show, and Fox Sports is undisputed, very few programs feel safe from potential layoffs or complete cancellation. With streaming platforms like ESPN Plus, Peacock, and Amazon Prime, one has to wonder if linear sports channels will continue to exist in the future.
Having an on-air show or sports talk show is much cheaper on a streaming platform than it is to run on linear television. It would not be shocking at all if, in the next couple of years, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports One, Fox Sports Two, NFL Network, CBS Sports, and other channels were no longer on linear television and everything was now streaming (Don’t tell the Pac 12).