Posts for csn

So I’ve been thinking a lot about CSN’s dismissal of Tim Panaccio and Dei Lynam (such is my current existence), which follows drastic, similar changes at ESPN and FOX Sports. The common thread throughout all of these moves, among several more impactful business factors, is that the traditional team reporter or talking head has no place in the modern sports media climate.

Think about it: When Tim Panaccio came up through the ranks, there was no Internet, no cable news, and certainly no social media. He was part of a generation of newspaper beat reporters whose job it was to attend practices, games and press conferences, and then recount to a wide audience what happened. Not only was there not a need to provide further analysis or unique content, but that sort of thing would’ve also worked against the reporter’s role as impartial observer and stenographer.

Fast-forward to today, where no one outlet (or even handful of outlets) is responsible for disseminating news and information, and most of the interesting stuff is surfaced, rather quickly, by social media. In sports, teams can perform the role of the old-school beat writer themselves, and often do so in a much more thorough and interactive way. Video highlights are way better than written accounts. Live press conferences remove the secrecy and reveal the extremely hollow nature of most comments made to the press by increasingly well-coached athletes who are taught exactly what to say and how to say it. Sure, there is the occasional situation where only an impartial observer can extract the truth, but let’s be honest, this is sports we’re talking about and those instances are usually unnecessary.

That all makes the role of the traditional beat writer – the Tim Panaccios of the world – redundant at best, and completely unnecessary at worst. Some – many, even – have evolved to provide their own unique and at times indispensable slant on coverage. Tim McManus and Sheil Kapadia pioneered this tactic locally when they started Birds 24/7 for Philly Mag (they’re now with ESPN). Eagles reporters, specifically, have done a good job of adding value to their coverage of the games and press conferences that everyone sees anyway. But when it comes to the other three teams, the slack has mostly been picked up by blogs and new media. Derek Bodner covers the Sixers better than anyone on the planet, and as such he has commanded over $6,000 per month from 2,000 paying subscribers (which is more than most beat writers make). Bill Meltzer provides Flyers fans with in-depth coverage and analysis. Corey Seidman, at CSN, a 20-something kid with no notable industry experience with which to speak, has risen to become the best Phillies analyst on a network filled with former players and coaches. Sites like this one, which work around the fringes of teams, provide daily commentary and aggregation of the most interesting stories and topics. As such, the role of guys like Panaccio and most of his Flyers compadres, who failed to evolve, is relatively useless. Panaccio was LAPPED by online writers providing more in-depth and interesting Flyers reporting and commentary, all without contempt for fans. Readers were given a choice, and they almost always chose something else. The notion of competition – differentiating yourself – was largely lost on Panaccio and his cohorts. In fact, the Core 4 of Flyers beat writers seemingly kept each other in check by banding together in the name of preservation. Their poolside complaint is one of my favorite things ever. They shunned outsiders, like Frank Seravalli, who dared to be different (Seravalli now works for TSN). So, really, it’s natural selection that cost guys like Panaccio. In an increasingly cost-conscience sports media environment, one that was built atop the massive profits of cable networks in the late 90s and early 2000s, Panaccio and others failed to provide value, and that made them dispensable. They just continually performed a function that was no longer necessary. Continue Reading

The Breakfast on Broad fallout continues.

Sarah Baicker announced last night on Facebook that she’s leaving CSN and heading to New York. Portions:

It broke my heart when Breakfast on Broad was canceled earlier this year. That show was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done, and I worked with an amazing group of people who believed in what we were doing. We won a freakin’ Emmy! But, hey, plenty of great TV gets canceled before it ought to be. It happens.

I learned of the show’s fate back on Jan. 31, and I’ve done *a lot* of thinking since then. That’s an understatement. But what has become clear to me in the weeks since is that it’s time to move on. CSN has been great to me, and great for me. I will miss a lot about this place — the people, the access, the crazy stuff only people who have worked in sports will understand. But it’s time to take a leap. So I’m gonna do that. Tomorrow’s Phillies postgame show will be the last time you’ll see me on CSN.

This is not particularly surprising. The on-air BOB talent was thrust into awkward roles once the show was canceled. Jillian Mele quickly left for FOX News. Rob Ellis is currently a roving on-air personality who, for Opening Day, was sent to Xfinity Live! to taste drinks made by the Phanatic (that is quite possibly the worst use of Ellis imaginable). Barrett Brooks makes a bit more sense as a traditional analyst. And Baicker, who had done mostly online Flyers stuff prior to the show, was cast as an analyst slash web guru whom the network typically relied upon, including during her time on BOB, to read Tweets so they could pay lip service to doing social media. It didn’t seem like an ideal spot.

I’ve heard that Baicker is leaving on her own, opting not to renew her contract, and does have a yet-unknown gig lined up in New York, where her boyfriend also lives.

In a statement, CSN thanked Sarah for her contributions: “We thank Sarah Baicker for her contributions to our networks, and wish her the best in her future endeavors.”

Some thoughts: The awful local sports teams have murdered the Philly sports media space. Just decimated it. What was a lively and exciting corner of the industry just a few years ago following consecutive Phillies World Series runs, a Flyers Stanley Cup run, and even several highly controversial or discussable Eagles moments (Vick, Cooper, Chip), has become a wasteland of unsustainable dreck. Would BOB still exist if it had a championship run to discuss every morning? I think the format was doomed from the start, but I suspect the runway would’ve been longer. Sports talk radio is dreadful right now, but I can’t even bring myself to keep making fun of it because I am acutely aware that there is so little to work with. And ditto for CSN, which already exists in an industry going through rapid change– the lack of a quality sports team to cover just piles on the misery.

I’m not implying that Baicker is leaving because sports are terrible. But, in just the last year or so, Philly Mag has laid off their (HIGHLY POPULAR) Eagles and Sixers reporters. CSN has parted ways with Neil Hartman, (CB Phillies reporter) Leslie Gudel and Ron Burke. John Gonzalez left the network to go sit on the beach in LA. And now Mele and Baicker are leaving on their own. Sports talk radio is at times unlistenable. Michael Barkann and Josh Innes were pushed out of WIP (for different reasons). And even the blogosphere kind of blows right now. Everyone is trying something, but it’s damn near impossible to get anything to stick because the interest just isn’t there, relatively speaking. The brief Sixers surge in January seemed to signal an end to all that… but then Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons were declared out for the season, Nerlens Noel was traded, and Jahlil Okafor something something meniscus. There’s just not the market for Philly sports coverage right now that everyone thinks there is, and that, combined with other factors, is impacting many careers.