DAN PATRICK LEAVING ESPN RADIO & ESPN TELEVISION

[RadioZack]

Press Release from ESPN Radio:

For Immediate Release July 9, 2007

Dan Patrick To Depart ESPN

Long-time ESPN Voice To Pursue New Interests; Final ESPN Radio Show Aug. 17

Dan Patrick will be leaving ESPN, it was announced today by Patrick and Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production. Patrick’s final radio broadcast will be on Friday, Aug. 17. The mutual agreement will allow Patrick to pursue new interests outside of ESPN, and will bring to an end his involvement with ESPN’s radio, television and magazine outlets.

The week of Patrick’s final show, ESPN Radio will look back at memorable moments from the show, in addition to featuring special guest appearances and interviews.

Patrick said: “I’ve spent a third of my life at ESPN. All my children were born while I was employed here. I feel privileged to have had this opportunity and I have extremely mixed emotions about leaving. With that said, I told ESPN that I believe it’s time for me to try something different, something that will also be challenging and rewarding. While I’m not sure what that will be, I am grateful to ESPN for its willingness to allow me to pursue new endeavors.”

Williamson added, "Dan has accomplished so much over the past two decades at ESPN and fans and newsmakers have turned to him for his steady and trusted approach. We wish him the very best."

Patrick has hosted ESPN Radio’s Dan Patrick Show since 1999. He also recently served as host of the NBA studio program on ABC, NBA Countdown, and the network’s game broadcasts, including the NBA Finals. He was a SportsCenter anchor from 1989-2006, and has written ‘Outtakes’ for ESPN The Magazine. Patrick was named National Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA) in 2000, and received a Sports Emmy Award in the Studio Host category in 1998. Prior to ESPN, Patrick, a graduate of the University of Dayton, was a sports anchor/reporter for CNN (1983-89).

 

[Mainedude2007]

any word on a replacement on the radio side? without DP, ESPN Radio looks like any other sports radio network (I guess the face of ESPN/Radio is Mike & Mike)

 

[redrocket]

Wow. Not sure if I'm more floored that he's leaving, or that ESPN is making such a big deal out of it. He must have a pretty good non-compete for them to feel this safe about praising him to this level.

 

[RadioZack]

I'm hearing rumors that Dan Patrick has been offered to be the host of The Price Is Right twice and has turned it down twice, and that he's leaving ESPN to finally accept the position. But rumors are just rumors.

 

[BostonRandy]

I'm hearing rumors that Dan Patrick has been offered to be the host of The Price Is Right twice and has turned it down twice, and that he's leaving ESPN to finally accept the position. But rumors are just rumors.

If DP takes the gig at TPIR, will Harold Reynolds join him as the announcer?

 

[redrocket]

If DP takes the gig at TPIR, will Harold Reynolds join him as the announcer?

That's high quality humor right there, BR. Well played. Someone would have to pick up Barker's slack after all those years.

 

[PowerCow106]

Dan was probably the last really good talent in sports talk radio. Now, with his leaving, sports talk radio is left to be devoured by smarmy jagoffs like Colin Cowturd, John Kincaid, Doug Gottlieb, and irritating schtick guys like J.T. The Brick and Arnie Spanier.

Sports Talk Radio will officially become a desolate wasteland on August 18th.

 

[snoman]

It's gotta be something big. I remember the day he mentioned that he got the call from the folks at TPIR. He said it was nice to be wanted by them, but he was happy doing what he was doing and happy at ESPN. That was right after the NBA Finals, so it wasn't even a month ago. And, now he's actually leaving?!

I don't know if there's more to that than meets the eye. He may just be ready for a change after 18 years. He may want to move to the big city. A lot of people don't realize that ESPN is not done in New York or Los Angeles (some of their stuff is), but it's actually a small town in Central Connecticut called Bristol. A lot of them make references to "Bristol U" or the "ESPN Campus at Bristol". Bristol's about a half-hour West of Hartford, and it's about two hours to New York City and two hours to Boston (give or take the ridiculous amount of traffic on I-84 or I-91). There is nothing in Bristol, besides ESPN, a couple of hotels, a few fast food joints, and not much else. Dan's a midwest guy (he's from Ohio), maybe he wants to move closer to home. He's pretty much been the face of the network for awhile, so he may have more suitors than just "The Price Is Right" lined up at his door.

Another possible place for Dan could be mornings at WFAN/New York and syndicated by Westwood One. They still haven't found an Imus replacement. And, although WFAN has been silent on Imus' possible return, it's still a long shot. Patrick has name recognition and likeability. Stranger things have happened.

In any event, I just wonder who's going to take his place behind the mike at ESPN Radio? I hope it's not Eric Cassilias (sp?). I used to hate him on Sports Bash (the national show after Dan's). I was glad when they replaced him. Colin Cowherd would be a good choice. I like him. His show has been much better than Kornheiser's radio show (at least Cowherd talks Sports).

 

[RadioZack]

Dan was probably the last really good talent in sports talk radio.

Dan's show hasn't been good since the days when he had Rob Dibble and Sean Salisbury to act as sounding boards. That was good radio. Once Dan went solo, the quality of the show went downhill. Adding Olbermann once a week was a good step, but expanding that to a daily feature wasn't.

 

[yankeefan]

I think it is interesting that on his show he mentioned that he is interested in doing something else "in radio. As for television, we'll see." Dan has always been a radio guy at heart. He talks about it on all of the Sports Center specials. I have three ideas of what might happen.

1) He goes syndicated through Premier and does TNT's NBA studio show.

2) He takes over the morning show at WFAN, goes syndicated and does TNT's NBA studio show.

3) He goes to XM or Sirius, does the Price is Right and does TNT's NBA studio show.

 

[gcotton]

???Could he actually do play-by-play of a team??? Never heard him mention it? Also, wonder what this does to Oberman's contract. Going to be sad day on Aug 17, but should be a very good week of radio though. Think the'll let Dibs come back?

 

[PowerCow106]

(at least Cowherd talks Sports).

Colin devoted three seperate segments today to complaining about how Southwest doesn't have First Class seats, and an attempt to discuss "Gay Pride Day" at a San Diego Padres game ended up with him getting into an argument with a caller who claimed he was a minister and turned into Colin bashing Evangelicals.

 

[PowerCow106]

Dan was probably the last really good talent in sports talk radio.

Dan's show hasn't been good since the days when he had Rob Dibble and Sean Salisbury to act as sounding boards. That was good radio.

You and I apparently have VASTLY different opinions on what makes "good radio." Like I told Todd Wright the one night I worked a shift at Radio Disney in Orlando across the hall from Todd, most listeners could care less about what your cute kids did or what nightclub you partied at (Rob Dibble's forte), just talk about sports and break down games and the top stories of the day.

 

[redrocket]

Like I told Todd Wright the one night I worked a shift at Radio Disney in Orlando across the hall from Todd, most listeners could care less about what your cute kids did or what nightclub you partied at (Rob Dibble's forte), just talk about sports and break down games and the top stories of the day.

"Most listeners" is untrue. Sports talk that appeals to hardcore sports fans can't draw money, especially on a national level. That segregates your audience into small pockets of people who want to hear about the one big story of the day, and in most cases, it's not big enough to carry a national audience.

Talk radio, regardless of the general subject matter, is about conversation and entertainment. The best sports guys (and political guys) know this.

 

[jetfli]

"Most listeners" is untrue. Sports talk that appeals to hardcore sports fans can't draw money, especially on a national level. That segregates your audience into small pockets of people who want to hear about the one big story of the day, and in most cases, it's not big enough to carry a national audience. Talk radio, regardless of the general subject matter, is about conversation and entertainment. The best sports guys (and political guys) know this.

...and this opinion is exactly why I find very little to like on the national sports talk level. Give me my local stations' sports programming anytime, where they pretty much only talk about sports and sports-related subjects, and break down games. I turn the radio off when the likes of Cowherd, Rome, Czaban, and Brick are on, exactly because of the stuff PowerCow's talking about.

 

[bigtalkradiofan]

Dan was probably the last really good talent in sports talk radio.

Dan's show hasn't been good since the days when he had Rob Dibble and Sean Salisbury to act as sounding boards. That was good radio. Once Dan went solo, the quality of the show went downhill. Adding Olbermann once a week was a good step, but expanding that to a daily feature wasn't.

If you ask me, Colin Cowherd (ESPN Radio) is far and away heads-above all of the rest of the sports talk radio hosts:

A Level Talent
* Colin Cowherd (ESPN Radio)

B Level Talent
* Dan Patrick (ESPN Radio)
* Jim Rome (Premiere/Clear Channel)
* Mike & Mike (ESPN Radio).
* Tony Bruno (Sporting News Radio)

C Level Talent
* Chris Myers (Fox Sports Radio)
* JT The Brick (Fox Sports Radio)
* Todd Wright (Sporting News Radio)

I think Cowherd is funnier, more entertaining, intelligent, trendy and edgy, and more listenable than the rest of the bunch. Although Cowherd does tend to repeat arguments after while, but all talk show hosts do that to some extent, given that they have to come up with 3 hours of material every weekday to talk about.

Among afternoon sports talk radio show hosts (Dan Patrick or Jim Rome):
Dan Patrick's radio show bored me sometimes - especially all the NBA stuff.

But if I had to choose between the two (Dan Patrick or Jim Rome) - it is no contest - Dan Patrick is far more listenable than Jim Rome.

Dan Patrick's downsides were that he:
* Could be somewhat boring at times,
* Sometimes seems like he hasn't done much prep before the show, and
* Sometimes he thinks his segments are more interesting - than I think his listeners find them to be.

Jim Rome's downside is that he:
* Is arrogant, cocky, and condescending;
* Is always trying to drum up fake outrage over frivolous sports stuff, and
* Is just hard to listen to for an extended period of time (like fingernails on a chalk board).

 

[jetfli]

If you ask me, Colin Cowherd (ESPN Radio) is far and away heads-above all of the rest of the sports talk radio hosts:

A Level Talent, B Level Talent, etc.

...and if you ask me, Cowherd doesn't even rate:

A Level Talent
* Bob Costas (Costas on the Radio) -- but only when he sticks with sports and sports newsmakers, which hasn't been often enough lately.
* Ron Barr (Sports Byline)

B Level Talent
* Dan Patrick (ESPN Radio)
* Tony Bruno (Sporting News Radio)
* Bill Simonson (The Huge Show Sunday Edition)

C Level Talent
* Mike & Mike (ESPN Radio)

You can scrap every other "national" sports talk show host out there, especially Cowherd, Rome, and the ENTIRE Fox Sports Radio lineup as far as I'm concerned. So I guess every one has their own opinion?

 

[yankeefan]

This argument over what makes good sports radio is idiotic. Of course you have to talk sports, but the idea that sports talk radio should be dedicated exclusivley to breaking down games is an old school way of thinking. Everyone wants to grow their audience. Appealing to the hardcores should never be what radio (no matter the format) is about.

What makes guys like Collin Cowherd and Dan Patrick so good and appealing is that Collin talks about the friend that asks if he's gay. Dan talks about his wife taking the television away when the kids go back to school. Even Jim Rome does a really good job when it comes to telling stories and doing short comedy bits. I do agree, though, that his fake slang and outrage are unbareable.

ESPN Radio gets a bad image from guys like John Siebel and Freddy Coleman - boring guys who very rarely try to connect with their audience on a personal level, so that when they try to do so, they seem like idiots.

Guys that want to do nothing but breakdown games and talk about what the third string quarterback made on his chemistry mid term will always be relegated to local radio in Tuscaloosa, Lincoln, Ann Arbor, or whatever other college town is full of die hards. National sports talk has to evolve in order to keep listeners interested. It's already at a disadvantage because there's no way they can cover a team the way a local station does, so why not be a show that hits everything guys like (i.e. beer, movies, music, money) like Dan and Collin?

 

[snoman]

Remember the old saying, "Opinions are like A holes... everyone's got one." You can apply it to this. We're not all agreeing on who we think is the best Sports Host, because it's a matter of personal opinion... like everything else. I thought Dan was good. I agree with the other poster who said the show was better with Dibble and Salisbury. I prefer Sports shows with Mulitple Hosts and less listener interaction. The chemistry between the three of them seemed to work. I don't know what happened to break up that gang?! Even when Dan interacts with Phil "The Show Killer" it's better than listening to Dan asking rhetorical questions. The hour with Olbermann was always good, but not long enough.

 

[yankeefan]

Even when Dan interacts with Phil "The Show Killer" it's better than listening to Dan asking rhetorical questions. The hour with Olbermann was always good, but not long enough.

I agree with that. Now if only we can figure out how to put more minutes in an hour...