ESPN Cancels Grantland
ESPN has decided to cancel Grantland.
Seth's Tweet summarizes my feelings...
The monopolistic boondoggle by which we forced the market to consume our trash is crumbling. Cancel the good stuff!
https://t.co/sYVP8OGdxc
— Seth M. Fisher (@Misopogon) October 30, 2015
October 30th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
Wow. This is really depressing. Gone too soon.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:23 PM ^
It's moves like this that will seal ESPN's fate.
Hopefully the value in the ESPN asset called "Grantland" will be revived under another name by another patron/owner.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
ZACH LOWE!!!!!!!
October 30th, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
October 30th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^
It may have been a bitter marriage, bad divorce, but I don't know where else he would've had opportunities to do some of the things he's done and continues to do. There may be no HBO venture without his relationship to ESPN.
October 30th, 2015 at 9:56 PM ^
Prior to ESPN he had actually amassed a pretty big and loyal following in the late 90's while writing for AOL's Boston site. At the time, his humorous merging of pop culture and sports was unique. He was for sure the up and coming writer and would've landed somewhere if not for ESPN. That said, there were a lot of opportunities by working for ESPN/Disney including the 30 for 30 series and writing for Jimmy Kimmel's show that he might not have been so available to him without ESPN.
October 30th, 2015 at 4:00 PM ^
October 30th, 2015 at 4:09 PM ^
Too bad that there isn't a MGoBlog webiste out there for all of sports. Ideally Lowe would jump over there and just get into the weeds (great new podacst by the way on policy, not politics) of basketball. Even at Grantland he had to dumb down (a bit) his content.
The interviews and content Lowe can get on his podcasts are amazing. Getting a breakdown of SVG's takeover of the Pistons (no real trade possibilities for Monrow) and the whole Jordan play by play with Reddick were great this summer. I loved his interview with Chris Hayes where they just reminisced on the great 80's/90's battles of their favorite teams was fun.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
That's a damn shame. I actually enjoyed some of the non-sports writing and the Hollywood Prospectus podcast.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:36 PM ^
While I liked the hollywood prospectus, they tended to nut ride Game of Thrones and Walking dead. While I like both shows, I do feel like they could have spread the love around a little more to other shows. I did like their Mr Robot coverage though.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:40 PM ^
They definitely had shows that they were instructed to follow - Breaking Bad, The Americans (for a while). Mad Men. But they helped me uncover a couple I might not have otherwise watched: Broadchurch, Top of the Lake, Deutchland 83, etc.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^
I'm pretty sure that list includes ABC (Disney) shows such as the Bachelor/Bachelorette
October 30th, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
has long been a Bachelor/Bachelorette fan. Also why they had a RealWorld/ Road Rules Gauntlet article series.
But, lets not let the facts get in the way of a good story. Damn you corporate interests. BIG MEDIA is ruining our lives.
Anyhow, the good news is Simmons will get a lot ofo these writers back together under the HBO umbrella. Some have already gotten new jobs, and Im not sure if there are non-competes or anything, so some may get lost in the shuffle, but I expect something similar sometime soon. I dont think Simmons will be as hands on as he had to be at Grantland though. He will be more of an EIC Emeritus, rather than the day to day Chief Cook and Bottle Washer. That way he has more time for podcasts and his new show.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:22 PM ^
How can a non-compete be enforced when someone is fired? Unless there are severance packages, which I couldn't imagine would run for more than, say, 3 months.
Anyways, I am excited to see if this allows Simmons to start another similarly-themed website under the HBO umbrella. Judging by their TV programming, HBO execs seem to have much more of a proclivity to support and have patience with well-written content that doesn't necessarily achieve immediately commercial success.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^
my point about non competes may have been a bit vague. What I meant was if they dont have non compete clauses with whatever place they land next, so they could do some moonlighting at Simmons new site. I know some (like Rembert) have already started their new non-Simmonsy jobs
October 30th, 2015 at 4:12 PM ^
Judges are really starting to question the legality and validity of these rules. Basically have realized that forcing someone to sign a non-compete in order to get/keep job is illegal. Judges have said recently that employees must be at a job for X number of years before a non-compete is signed or a bonus/perk must be included with non-compete to make it a real trade (rights for $) and isn't a hostage situation with your job in the balance.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:15 PM ^
Instructed to follow is a little harsh. Any site that wanted to be taken seriously as a spot for TV criticism was going to cover 3 of the best shows in the medium, including 2 all time greats.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:32 PM ^
Broadchurch and Top of the Lake were some of the best shows I saw last year and that was all in thanks to the Hollywood Prospectus podcast.
To the poster above. Chris Ryan watched and sorta enjoyed TWD, Andy Greeenwald not so much.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
to despise ESPN. Ass clowns.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:11 PM ^
This has got to be part of the cost cutting move of non-core assets. Apparently Stephen A and Skip are core assets. I wonder if Nate Silver is safe
October 30th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 30th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
October 30th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
The page hits for 538 will probably increase as the election gets closer. I suspect ESPN will try to sell high and wait a few more months, but I would be looking at other opportunities if I was Nate.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:20 PM ^
Yep, eletions has always been Silver's bread and butter. Some of the other 538 stuff is interesting, but it just doesn't drive the same traffic. That's why I thought 538 was good couched within a bigger platform, like the Times. It didn't need to be a star 365 days a year.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:11 PM ^
instead of investing in the one decent thing they have going, prepare for more Skip and Steven Smith. They are the empty calories of sports media. Ugh.
October 30th, 2015 at 6:24 PM ^
Unfortunately, those two morons spewing crap equals more views which equals more expensive ads which equals more money.
It makes financial sense for ESPN to support those morons and I hate it
October 30th, 2015 at 2:11 PM ^
Should be able to stand on it's own no? It featured the best content ESPN could put out there.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:14 PM ^
Didn't it fail to make money or attract a substantial base that wasn't following links from ESPN.com? I recall reading that it never got the views or growth it was expected to
October 30th, 2015 at 2:21 PM ^
in terms of making $$$ and growing views.
STILL ..... I thought it was something ESPN would keep around. To use a word from the political sphere, Grantland added some "gravitas" or seriousness to their organization.
Guess they don't value that.
Kind of figures they'd announce this at 2 PM on a Friday too. Friday news dumps.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:21 PM ^
Yeah and ESPN was really bad about directing traffic its way from the mother site.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:10 PM ^
Simmons stated that they were only featured on the ESPN main page an average of 2x per month, and toward the end it was less than that. he also said (I believe, dont have the time to scroll through the podcast to fact check) that something like 65% of their traffic was unique and not from ESPN's main page. It appears ESPN's main page was not the conduit many expected it to be, and yet the honchos at ESPN tried to use those smaller traffic numbers (versus projections based on the full on ESPN firehose treatment) as fodder for their argument that Grantalnd (and by association, Simmons) were not worth what he was asking
October 30th, 2015 at 3:38 PM ^
He also said that they told him that could not monetize the BS Report with sponsorship. He was shocked that he was able to get sponsors for his new podcast, with less manpower than that of ESPN's ad team.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:41 PM ^
he makes a point to mention it in every one of his podcasts so far. E.g "Hey House, did you know you could make money by giving corporations airtime on a podcast? It's a new concept"
October 30th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^
I'm enjoying his new podcast. I don't even gamble, but the banter between him and Cousin Sal/House is entertaining.
Looking forward to what he does with his show on HBO.
October 30th, 2015 at 4:05 PM ^
myself, but that podcast is appointment listening
October 30th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^
I think they are happy with their choice.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
October 30th, 2015 at 2:18 PM ^
Inevitable after they canned Bill Simmons. The site never made any money, I believe. Hopefully they can at least keep the sports based writers around. Almost nothing else on ESPN.com is worth reading.
Imagine 538 will also be gone after the election.
Edit: I'll also add that it's interesting that they said nothing about the individual contributors. I wonder if their contracts were with ESPN or Grantland specifically.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:41 PM ^
Looks like some didn't have contracts at all.
I'm not on contract. So not *all* the writers. https://t.co/El6NvSx0Wj
— Michael Baumann (@MJ_Baumann) October 30, 2015
October 30th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
October 30th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
What a bizarre announcement. Grantland was a tremendous source of journalism and provided some fantastic content, especially since the ESPN channel has become borderline unwatachable.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:14 PM ^
October 30th, 2015 at 2:14 PM ^
I read 100 times more Grantland than ESPN.com. Espn's website is just awful. They have great big videos or photos separating everything, nothing is organized, it takes forever to find anything. I stopped going to ESPN.com and I don't miss it. I will miss Grantland. They had some good writers and good analysis. I guess I'm down to just MGoBlog. The rest of the interenet is irrelevant.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:31 PM ^
Where do you go now to look up schedules for the week, standings, etc.?
I never read ESPN articles any more, but it has been my "go to" site for information.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^
Loved Grantland, but don't like the rest of ESPN's hot-take writers. However, for looking up scores, stats, etc, there's noone better than ESPN. Would love to be able to cut the cord, but haven't found a site that gives you all of the basic sports info ESPN does that's any better.
October 30th, 2015 at 3:53 PM ^
Google believe it or not does it for me.
For example, just type in NFL week 8 schdule or NFL standings and it is right there.
Other than that, I go to reddit for info.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:15 PM ^
Grantland puts out 95% of the worthwhile content on ESPN, at least. I am not very happy about this. Lots of great writers that other outlets should be chomping at the bit to grab. Hopefully, they land on their feet.
October 30th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
probably did too much reporting and actual news gathering for ESPN to handle.
October 31st, 2015 at 4:11 PM ^
Like when they plan obsolescence into products?
Apple does this too. They have a iProduct available at every iPrice-point. Every $50 iDollars.
I could see that happening with content as well. If your organizations offerings start to become too disparate the operating mission, and management styles, organizing priniciples will be stretched too far.
They should have the employees switch places! All Grantland members please report to ESPN, all ESPN members please report to Grantland! Commence!!!!
October 30th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
Thankfully for michigan fans we have mgoblog. However, most outlets that report on sports have turned into a soap opera of preconcieved notions being applied over and over agian to different teams. In my opinion we need more analysis of the strategy withing games and less analysis of the emotional state of players and coaches.