• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Colin Cowherd Is Leaving ESPN

longhorn2004 said:
http://www.eonline.com/news/676916/...d-major-star-to-exit-sports-network-since-may

Kind of a shock. But if he is moving to Fox Sports Radio, who is most likely getting the boot? He is on at the same time as Dan Patrick now, do you have him follow DP, boot Jay Moore and move RE to the afternoon spot?
Click to expand...

Not Fox Sports Radio, at least not yet. That's an iHateRadio operation, not actually owned by Fox. He will be on the various Fox TV channels.

But, since he was their #2 personality behind Mike & Mike, I wonder if this is the beginning of the end for ESPN Radio? It's no secret that The Mickey Mouse Outfit has told ESPN to cut costs, and is in the middle of selling off its Radio Disney stations. I wonder if their ESPN stations are next. And outside of Mike & Mike, the departing Cowherd, and the live games, everything else on ESPN Radio is strictly filler.
 
I don't think ESPN Radio is going anywhere, I think it's a still profitable extension of one of The Mouse's premier brands. Cowherd may have gotten a feeler for more money and ESPN was looking for a flat to lower contract. He's not the first, I mean Dan Patrick and Jim Rome have left in recent years. Fox will likely give him his own show on FS1 and hope he pulls some of his audience over.
 
I saw a report on Deadspin that Cowherd is heading to Fox Sports Radio. Clay Travis even welcomed Cowherd to Fox in a tweet. Even being an ESPN affiliate is more prestigious than any of the other networks, does Cowherd have enough of a brand to cause some stations to make a move to FSR or whatever network he lands?
 
golden eagles97 said:
I saw a report on Deadspin that Cowherd is heading to Fox Sports Radio. Clay Travis even welcomed Cowherd to Fox in a tweet. Even being an ESPN affiliate is more prestigious than any of the other networks, does Cowherd have enough of a brand to cause some stations to make a move to FSR or whatever network he lands?
Click to expand...

Will truly be a test of the ESPN brand. They are loosing their talent. I listen for the talent, not the brand. In many market Rome was beating ESPN before he went to a smaller radio network.
 
longhorn2004 said:
Will truly be a test of the ESPN brand. They are loosing their talent. I listen for the talent, not the brand.
Click to expand...

For ESPN, the brand is more important than the talent. The anchors for SportsCenter are interchangeable. They spend money to get the rights to major events. People watch those events. The rest is gravy.
 
TheBigA said:
For ESPN, the brand is more important than the talent. The anchors for SportsCenter are interchangeable. They spend money to get the rights to major events. People watch those events. The rest is gravy.
Click to expand...

They make 90% of their subscriber fees from people who never or rarely watch ESPN. That's the problem -- those people are starting to cut the cord. I read that about 3 million people did so in the last year, which comes out to over $200M a year in lost revenue. Even a behemoth like The Mickey Mouse Outfit notices that kind of money.
 
Here's a reality: Pro sports like the NFL and Wimbledon are not going to take LESS money for their rights. If ESPN wants to be the network that has major events like that, they need to be able to pay for them. If that means letting go of a radio host, then that's what it means. They'll plug someone else, someone who's a bit more hungry, who wants the platform more than Cowheard, and send him out to pasture.
 
I don't know if Colin is going to FSR or Fox Sports 1, but he didn't move his family to Los Angeles for nothing. That's where those networks are based. Plus, he's a West Coast guy, having grown up in Washington and always talking about places like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Las Vegas.

BTW, is it possible that Jorge Sedano will be the permanent replacement for Colin? Nine out of ten times, Jorge fills in for Colin. I believe Jorge was being groomed to take over the midday spot at some point.
 
Last edited:
HBO just agreed to a deal with Bill Simmons for a decent amount of money. So there is a market for these ESPN nomads.

Cowherd will likely have a setup akin to what Jim Rome has where Rome does a radio show for CBS Sports Radio, a Westwood One owned product, and has a TV show on Showtime. Cowherd will likely be on the radio on FSR, a Premiere owned product, and have TV on FS1.

http://www.si.com/more-sports/2015/07/19/colin-cowherd-fox-sports-espn-radio

I wonder who will get removed from FSR to make room for Cowherd? Certainly not Dan Patrick, but Rich Eisen might be moved or let go.
 
Last edited:
golden eagles97 said:
Cowherd's been fired over controversial statement made about Dominican baseball players. He's made his last appearance with ESPN today.

http://collegespun.com/extra-credit...nts-mlb-baseball-dominican-repulic-fox-sports
Click to expand...

He basically insulted an entire country, calling Dominicans stupid.

“It’s too complex? I’ve never bought into that ‘baseball is too complex.’ Really? A third of the sport is from the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic has not been known in my lifetime as having world class academic abilities. A lot of those kids come from rough backgrounds and have not had opportunities academically that other kids from other countries have. Baseball is like any sport. It’s mostly instincts. A sportswriter who covers baseball could go up to Tony La Russa and make an argument and Tony would listen and it would seem reasonable. There’s not a single NFL writer in the country who could diagram a play for Bill Belichick. You know, we get caught up in this whole ‘thinking-man’s game.’ Is it in the same family? Most people could do it. It’s not being a concert pianist. It’s in the same family.”
Click to expand...

For the record, only about 10% of the players are from the DR.
 
KeithE4 said:
He basically insulted an entire country, calling Dominicans stupid.
Click to expand...

In the same way, he's calling all athletes stupid. Interesting position for a sports host to take.

But from the quote you posted, he seemed to couch it in a way that was politically correct, saying they don't have academic opportunities, which would seem to be true, given a 60 Minutes story a couple years ago about Dominican baseball. There's a difference between "academic abilities" and being smart.
 
TheBigA said:
In the same way, he's calling all athletes stupid. Interesting position for a sports host to take.

But from the quote you posted, he seemed to couch it in a way that was politically correct, saying they don't have academic opportunities, which would seem to be true, given a 60 Minutes story a couple years ago about Dominican baseball. There's a difference between "academic abilities" and being smart.
Click to expand...

If he said "abilities" but really meant "opportunities," that is one hell of a misstatement. They are not synonymous. Actually, "facilities" works better than either "abilities" or "opportunities" in that statement about the country, and dovetails nicely with his follow-up statement about kids there not having opportunities. Now I'm wondering if he misspoke or someone misheard. Abilities, facilities ... they sound very much alike and I can see how, if Cowherd was talking fast and not enunciating clearly, one could be misheard as the other.
 
If he hasn't inked a contract with Fox yet, I wonder if this will reduce the amount, or even possibly have Fox say 'no thanks'........

If either happens, it'll be one of the biggest broadcasting blunders by a talent in recent memory.
 
TheBigA said:
If you read the quote in post 12, he said both.
Click to expand...

Yes, but he used "abilities" oddly. Countries aren't often described as having "academic abilities." People are. A country with substandard schools, or not enough good schools for its population, would be said not to have, or not to offer, world-class academic opportunities, or facilities. Either way, if what came out of his mouth was "abilities," there's only one way to interpret that, as clumsy as the usage may seem coming from someone who makes his living with the spoken word.
 
How convenient, Cowherd states he is leaving the network and ESPN finds a way to fire him, wander how much did they save themselves. Sorry folks, I have been listening to Cowherd for years and he has stated much more edgier and controversial statements. How pathetic ESPN. The talent makes brand stronger.
 
longhorn2004 said:
How convenient, Cowherd states he is leaving the network and ESPN finds a way to fire him, wander how much did they save themselves. Sorry folks, I have been listening to Cowherd for years and he has stated much more edgier and controversial statements. How pathetic ESPN. The talent makes brand stronger.
Click to expand...

We live in an age of real and manufactured outrage, and Corporate America quivers in its presence. An apology would have sufficed 20 years ago, but now Disney was looking at advertisers bailing and a possible reason for MLB to take at least a portion of its business elsewhere. No media corporation can afford to keep personalities who dare to tread even softly on the toes of non-Caucasian male Americans -- especially if those personalities are Caucasian male Americans. Cowherd never had a chance. The exception to the rule, to a large extent, is News Corporation (Fox). Its audience has no tolerance for ethnic/racial outrage, nor do its personalities. Some advertisers won't touch Fox, but enough will put up with the non-PC attitude that the bosses there can allow their air talent a lot more leeway.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom