Some Thoughts on NBC Sports Philadelphia's Revamped "Eagles Postgame Live"
Welcome to the third and (I think) final installment of our mini Eagles postgame show review series. With the influx of new offerings, and a revamped NBC Sports Philadelphia Eagles Postgame Live, we thought it would make sense to go over each of these shows one at a time to give people an idea of what’s available out there.
We have previously reviewed the:
JAKIB Media postgame show w/ Devan Kaney, Mike Missanelli, Derrick Gunn, and Seth Joyner
Inside the Birds postgame show w/ Geoff Mosher, Adam Caplan, and Tra Thomas
This week we’re taking a look at what NBCSP is giving you in the post-Ray Didinger era. With Ray retiring, and Seth Joyner departing for JAKIB, the new crew is Michael Barkann, Barrett Brooks, Ron Jaworski, and Reuben Frank:
Thoughts:
- NBCSP has a very obvious edge in the resources department. They’ve got professional graphics with a professional set, a live camera in the tunnel, and then a full production team running chyrons and directing the show. Michael Barkann narrating over a live shot is just something that other outlets aren’t able to do. They can cut to one-shots on each individual guy and they’re rolling animation on the large background graphic.
- Seems like everybody has an opinion on Barkann and/or his blue glasses. I’ll say that I like him better doing Eagles postgame vs. Phillies postgame because with three other guys up there he can be more of a conductor and steer the conversation, if that makes sense.
- They went to a fullscreen graphic this past Sunday showing 3-0 starts for the Eagles going back to 1980. That’s super-relevant and adds to the discussion. They throw a ton of FS graphics up there, which is really nice producing and directing from that crew. It complements the discussion so well.
- It’s a new group of guys up there, so it’ll take some time for them to get used to each other. It did seem to me like they were talking over each other at times, especially early in the show, but it got a lot better as the discussion slowed down later.
- Zero issues with credibility here. You can’t replace Ray Didinger, but with this setup you’ve got two former NFL players and a guy in Reuben Frank who is an encyclopedia of Eagles knowledge.
- For the Minnesota home game, they had John Clark reporting live from the locker room area. Same thing in Washington, where he first appeared on screen with a DeVonta Smith 1v1 interview. That is huge for NBCSP, to have someone on site and then get exclusive video out of it.
- You get your 20-30 minutes of talk and introductory stuff, then they’ll cut live to the players speaking. Another victory there in the resources department, to be able to show those interviews live.
- Not sure if this changes from game to game, but I like that they went 20+ minutes before going to their first commercial break.
- No overload with sponsors. Cure Auto Insurance sponsors the show and it looks like they have exclusivity on all of the branding.
Overall, this is largely the same show you watched in previous years, just with some different talent. Programming wise, the formula is the same, and I think that’s smart. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Just hammer home your bread and butter of reasonable analysis and use your resources to give you an advantage over the competition. The show is really well produced and directed so you can tell they’ve got grizzled TV veterans behind the scenes.
Ultimately, if you’re making a choice about which show to watch after a game, I think it comes down to how much you like the individual talent. Not a Seth Joyner guy? Watch NBCSP. Can’t stand Barkann? Go to JAKIB instead. Looking for something straightforward? Try Inside the Birds. They used to tell us in television that you could produce the greatest show of all time and put together a great rundown, but at the end of the day, people tune in to watch the anchors that they like. Jim Gardner, Cecily Tynan, etc. I imagine that’s the same for sports as well, because aside from the superior resource advantage NBCSP has, I didn’t find the discussion from show to show to be that much different. All three of these shows are worth watching, imo, unless you’re one of those people who just flips to Red Zone or another football game,