Re: NBC Late On McGwire's 62nd HR

[Shawn Mamros <mamros@MIT.EDU>]

>It gets worse.  I flipped over right after the home run and CNN, CNN Headline
>News, ESPN II, and ESPN News all had the Home Run on just seconds after
>McGwire rounded the bases.  Incredibly at that same moment ESPN was still
>running their pool show!  As far as I could tell, they did not cut away.
>Could their be some sour grapes involved since Fox ended up with the big
>moment?

If so, then why would ESPN II and ESPN News have cut away?  In fact, maybe
that explains it - their philosophy may be, "if you want breaking sports
news, go to ESPN News; ESPN is primarily for features now."  With all the
channels and the ever-increasing specialization/niche marketing that goes
along with that expansion, it does make some sense.

True, it might've been nice if ESPN popped up some corner graphic or
something directing people to tune to ESPN News at that moment.  Nobody's
perfect, and most likely whoever was calling the shots for the ESPN feed
last night might be getting an earful this morning for that particular
judgement call.  But given that the other ESPN channels did break away,
the "sour grapes" theory doesn't hold much water.

I'd be willing to bet that MTV, HBO and the Home & Garden Network most
likely didn't cut away. :-)  For that matter, what about most radio
stations?  Except for those actually carrying a baseball game, and the
true all-news outlets, I'll bet most radio stations never said word one
about it.

- -Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros@mit.edu

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