Over and above the fact that the only major (e.g. national or international) sporting event of note was golf’s Open Championship, a.k.a. The British Open, I noticed that all of the live coverage was only on ESPN. You got some mop-up “best of” coverage on ABC after the live coverage was over, but otherwise you were SOL. Is this the first “major” event that’s gone from at least some over-the-air to cable only?
If you don’t have cable or satellite (Internet?) and you’re a sports fan, things are looking increasingly grim.
But not to worry, suggests ESPN executive vice president John Wildhack: “The delineating between broadcast (TV) and cable is over. If you asked anyone under 40 the difference … you’d get a quizzical look.”
You might be able to get some local team games over the air, but even there much of the product has migrated onto cable. This applies to all sports. On broadcast today, in my market (DC with the Nationals and Orioles), you got FOX MLB on Saturday and a celebrity golf tournament on Sunday. That was your broadcast sports selection for the weekend!
Thumbs up. ESPN having close to comprehensive live coverage, despite the time difference and the wacky Friday weather.
Thumbs down. ESPN had way too many undifferentiated talking heads. I couldn’t tell the difference between Tom Watson and Tom Weiskopff. Actual stroke coverage seemed to suffer. Found their Open Championship fillers (voiced by Ian McShane) as overly pompous. On top of it all, they got a pretty undramatic final round. Yawn!