Moving Jemele Hill and Michael Smith to the 6:00pm ET "SportsCenter" is the latest example of ESPN "morphing its bedrock non-live-event franchise into a creature of the 2010s that mostly assumes viewers know the news basics and want something more, especially personality," according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. Hill said, "The most frequent question we get is whether we’re going to change moving to 'SportsCenter.'" She added it is a "telling question, because it’s an indication of what people think 'SportsCenter' is." Best writes the most "visible illustration" of ESPN’s evolved approach to "SportsCenter" is Scott Van Pelt’s late-night version, which "incorporates elements designed for digital sharing with heavy doses of, well, Scott Van Pelt." However, because of the time slot, Van Pelt still must "cover the highlights-and-interviews basics." The 6:00pm edition always has had "more freedom because it is not built around highlights." That freedom is about to be "stretched further than ever." Hill: "It will not be a highlight-driven show at all." The show will "have the look of 'SportsCenter' and, if needed, the news-gathering power behind it." Smith said, "It wasn't broke, so we're not fixing it. But it doesn't mean we can't improve it." He added, "The show is going to be about us -- our conversations, our opinions, with a lot of friends and family coming over to visit." Smith: "We can switch gears at a moment’s notice. If there’s breaking news at 5:55 or within the show, if we need to throw it somewhere or turn into anchors, there’s not a hat we haven’t worn at ESPN" (NEWSDAY.com, 1/25).
HE SAID, SHE SAID: FS1’s Colin Cowherd yesterday said that he was "shocked" at ESPN targeting FS1 in a blog post on the same day "O.J.: Made in America" landed ESPN its first Oscar nomination. Cowherd: "I do know that really, really good people from my former employer were Oscar-nominated yesterday for 'O.J.: Made in America.' If I ran that company, I would be spending the next week lauding the effort of those people. That, I think, is one of the great moments and achievements in the history of my former employer. I am shocked they would spend, on that day, (time) taking shots at the new kid in town. That is remarkable." He later added, "You know what? Fire away. You know what? When the big guy, when the IBM punches down, the winner is who you’re punching" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 1/25).
