Colin Cowherd Says Lincoln Riley Hire at USC ‘Good for networks’

On November 30, 2021 By johnwilson21In News Media, Sports, TelevisionLeave a comment

Colin Cowherd is one of the biggest personalities in sports media. He works in Los Angeles, California, which is where the University of Southern California is located. With the recent hiring of USC Football Head Coach, Lincoln Riley, he is obviously very excited. He claims that the hiring is good for networks, in which I agree. He pointed out that networks want USC to be good because many people in Los Angeles are college football fans, but they have not been watching lately because of the lack of success from the program, but now that they have hired one of the best coaches in college football, people will begin watching again. While other programs on the west coast have had short term success, like Oregon or Stanford, they do not compare to the draw that USC will bring to televisions on the west coast, as well as throughout the country.

I agree with Cowherd’s take because as a big college football fan, I have not watched many USC games lately because they have not been good. Although, when I was a child, I watched them frequently, as they were one of the best teams in the country. USC not having a good football team does not feel right, as they are historically a great program who produces high quality talent. Networks will also be excited to once again show USC games and they will receive much higher ratings than they have in the past few years. Overall, the move was great and will be great for networks.

SEC Network to Devote 72 Hours of Coverage Towards Championship Game

On November 30, 2021 By johnwilson21In Cable, Sports, TelevisionLeave a comment

College Football is a huge deal in the Southeastern region of the United States. The SEC conference, arguably the best conference in college football, has its championship game coming up on Saturday, December 4^th. In preparation for this big matchup between Alabama and Georgia, the SEC Network is devoting 72 hours of coverage for the big game. This is a bold move by the network, as obviously it is a big matchup in the conference, but that is a great deal of coverage. Game coverage begins on the network on Thursday, December 2^nd, at 1:30 P.M, which will include press conferences, interviews.

This is a bold move by the network, but I believe it will pay off. This is their biggest game to this point in the season, with the two best teams matching up, with the winner being crowned the SEC Champion, and likely the #1 seed heading into the college football playoff. The article interested me because I will likely be tuning in to watch some of the pre and post-game coverage, and it let me know when each program will be aired and where I can watch it. This game is a huge deal in the southern part of the United States, and will interests people outside of that region, and the pregame content will likely receive tons of viewers.

ESPN Losing Cable Viewers

On November 30, 2021 By johnwilson21In Cable, Sports, Streaming, TelevisionLeave a comment

ESPN is known as “the worldwide leader in sports.” Some bad news for them is that they were in 8 million fewer homes in 2020, although there is some context to it that explains this statistic and lessens the blow. ESPN’s cable subscriptions dropped a substantial amount in 2020, but subscriptions to their exclusive access program, ESPN+, increased by almost 7 million subscribers. The ESPN+ subscription increase likely alludes to people getting rid of their cable packages and heading towards strictly streaming services. While ESPN is maintaining much of its audience, Disney, who owns ESPN, is not satisfied with the drop in cable subscribers, as there have been rumors that they may try and divert from ESPN.

This interests me because I am a huge sports fan, but over the last few years, I have favored other sports networks, such as Fox Sports or NBC Sports, rather than ESPN. ESPN’s quality of content and authenticity seems to be getting worse and many of the channel’s shows have become less entertaining than they used to be. The drop in cable subscriptions makes sense to me, as people are moving towards streaming services, or they are also observing the same things as I have. I will continue to watch ESPN when they show a product that interests me, but at this time, I do not envision myself purchasing a cable package with the network being part of it.

NFL Games Remain Popular on American Televisions

On November 29, 2021 By johnwilson21In Nielsen, Sports, TelevisionLeave a comment

Thanksgiving Day is well-known for two things in America, and they are eating and football. The NFL hosts three games each year on Thanksgiving, with the Dallas Cowboys being one of the teams who plays each year on the holiday. This year they hosted the Las Vegas Raiders, which turned out to be the most-watched regular season game since 1990. It was estimated that there were 38.5 million viewers tuned in for the big game, which is mightily impressive. Some factors that likely went into this large number are that the Cowboys are historically the league’s most watched team, as well as the Raiders also being a popular team, historically. Also, the game was highly competitive, as it was a narrow matchup and also went into overtime.

This story interests me because as a football fan, this was definitely an interesting matchup that I was excited for, but I was not aware of the amount of people that also thought it was an interesting matchup. There have been bigger games with interesting matchups in the past 31 years, but they were not able to draw in the same number of viewers. The face that it was Thanksgiving could have played a role because even people who are not interested in football may watch the games on Thanksgiving as part of the holiday tradition. While many people often ridicule the league for many of the things they do and even threaten to stop watching games, the league remains powerful and dominant across televisions in America.

USC Fills Their Head Coaching Vacancy

On November 29, 2021 By johnwilson21In SportsLeave a comment

The USC football team’s Head Coach vacancy has been a hot topic in the sports media world over the past couple months, with much speculation of who will fill the vacancy. The University of Southern California football program is historically one of the best in the country and is one of the best coaching jobs in college football, but as of late, they have struggled to remain a college football power, or even find consistent success. They have just hired one of the best coaches in college football, Lincoln Riley, who comes from a very successful Oklahoma football program, where he held a record of 55-10 in his five years there. This story is huge for sports media because it now makes college football return to relevancy in Los Angeles and brings USC to potentially become a national power again and gain more national media coverage.

This story interests me because I am a huge football fan and when I was growing up as a child, USC had great football teams, produced notable NFL players, and were an exciting program to follow and watch on TV. As of late, they have not played well, produced as much NFL talent, and do not get talked about as much in the sports media world. This move is great for the sports media landscape, as they have already been talked about a great deal because they have brought in one of the best available options, arguably the best, and many anticipate to program to return to being a contender within the next five years, which is great for football fans.

76ers Suspend Ben Simmons After Being Being Thrown Out of Practice

On November 2, 2021 By troypittman13In UncategorizedLeave a comment

Ben Simmons (Benjamin David Simmons) is an Australian professional basketball player for the NBA, who was drafted in 2017 by the 76ers. He is 6’10 with long arms and legs that were promising to the league. He was the first drafted pick in the NBA that year, making him one of the most sought after players in the organization. Shortly after his arrival to the league, 76er fans and NBA enthusiasts were not impressed by his performance. Besides a few spottings with his recent girlfriend, Kendall Jenner (2018), Ben Simmons was pretty quiet towards the press. He signed a 5-year $177,243,360 contract with the 76ers included with an annual average of $33 million dollars.

Philadelphia can be a tough crowd as it pertains to music, sports, entertainment, etc. But one thing they don’t play about, is their sports. Simmons has been criticized for “not showing up” or “getting cold feet” after starting his career in the NBA. He was passing the ball more than he was taking shots. He shoots 60% from the free-throw line, since the postseason. Since his addition to the 76ers his point average remained relatively 15-17 points per game, with around 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Which doesn’t mean he’s a horrible player. But definitely confuses 76ers fans and teammates who believed him to show why he was the #1 pick in the NBA draft (2017)).

After the last few years of pre-season practices, games, and post season politics, Simmons has publicly stated he no longer wants to play for the 76ers. On Monday, October 18th Simmons was thrown out of practice and later suspended. According to 76ers representatives and teammates Simmons “doesn’t want to play– or even practice– with the Philadelphia 76ers anymore”. Coach Doc Rivers was signed and hired as the 76ers head coach in 2020, hoping to salvage their legacy.

After season games, players spoke with the tabloids expressing their frustration with Ben Simmons performance. 76ers player Joel Embiid reportedly says “he has not spoken to Ben Simmons since he returned to the team”. Saying “it is not my job to babysit anyone on the team”. There were also videos capturing the team’s dynamic during practice. The video shows Simmons on the outside of the huddle, and later leaving to go back to the locker rooms, while his teammates disperse onto the court smiling and laughing. This type of behavior isn’t ideal for a great team dynamic on and off the court. Simmons expressed “If Philly doesn’t want me, I’ll play somewhere else”. And has actively been negotiating different trade deals, outside of his 76ers 5-year contract. (2021) Simmons will not play in the season opener game for the 76ers, and officials are waiting to see what direct impact this will have on the NBA.

The Commercial That Stole The Show On Football’s Biggest Night

On February 4, 2020February 4, 2020 By Kirsten BeachIn ads, Brand, Commercials, Data, Google, Marketing, Media Covergence, News Media, Search Engine, Social Media, Sports, UncategorizedLeave a comment

It’s quite evident that football’s biggest night is the perfect opportunity for companies to persuade all who are watching to utilize/buy their products through the use of captivating commercials. In saying that, this year’s Superbowl had commercials that ranged from happy, to humorous, to serious/emotional, to completely strange and seemingly pointless.

To get a professional opinion on these commercials, KDKA sat down with Shannon Baker–the president of a local ad agency to get her opinion on which spots were the winners and the losers on football’s biggest night. Baker is president of the Gatesman Agency in Pittsburgh and has 18 years of experience in the ad business (so she knows a good bit about how companies and clients can accurately convey a message that resonates with audiences and further persuades them to either adopt an idea, utilize a software, or buy a product.)

According to Baker, she believes that if you craft a story that is short, tight, and memorable, it is going to make people feel something–which is critical to the success of the commercial.

She says Google set the bar very high with its emotional “Loretta” ad, and many others would agree. Millions of people were raving about the heartfelt tearjerking ad that was based on a true story. For those who didn’t get to see the commercial, it begins with a man typing into Google “how to not forget,” and then asking his Google Assistant device to show him photos of his late wife named Loretta. The man continues to ask Google to remember certain things about her, like the fact that she hated his mustache, loved going to Alaska, and always snorted when she laughed. In the end, Google recites all of the things the man had asked the device to remember. It closed out with the man saying, “remember I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

Overall, Baker and many others believe that Google set the bar very high with their ‘Loretta’ ad because not only did it tug on the emotional heartstrings of audiences, but it also marketed the product in a simple yet compelling way.

Sources:

Pittsburgh Ad Agency Says Which Super Bowl Commercials Were The Most And Least Impressive

https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/unruly-ranks-google-tearjerker-loretta-as-the-most-effective-ad-of-super-bowl-2020/

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a30751020/super-bowl-google-commercial-ad-true-story/

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