Chris Berman Welcomes You To ESPN Chicago

Tuesday, April 14, 2009


I mentioned a month or so ago, that ESPN was launching a city-specific website for Chicago, and it was launched yesterday. There is a column by Scoop Jackson featured, all Chicago-based news and even a complete Sports Center entirely devoted to the city. Oh and they even got Chris Berman to host it!




While the undertaking is certainly impressive, it makes you wonder even more about the state of newspapers in the Windy City, and why they couldn't pull something like this off. Obviously time will tell if people respond to it, but it doesn't look good for print in Chicago.

Posted by Awful Announcing at 1:14 PM

9 Comments:

I thought that Chris Berman usually greeted people at the Gates of Hell?

GMoney said...
Apr 14, 2009, 1:23:00 PM  

print will eventually die everywhere. Thank heaven I work with Internet news and sports because this is obviously the future, so say numerous broadcasters at KSL-Channel 5 in Salt Lake City, anyway.

Brad James said...
Apr 14, 2009, 1:35:00 PM  

Peter King would like to disagree with you, Brad.

walnuts said...
Apr 14, 2009, 2:02:00 PM  

I was afraid the new site would give more facetime for Marc Silverman. This is much worse.

Apr 14, 2009, 2:20:00 PM  

Print journalism in daily form is dead. The problem is you have massive media companies trying to whittle down their expenses and workforce to meet new media needs while an empire like ESPN just attack it fresh without being bogged down by the need to print everything.

Every newspaper in the country would save themsleves tomorrow if they just stopped printing. Or printed just a weekend edition. The need for a Tuesday newspaper is gone....except in big cities where people need something to read on the subway.

Sean OLeary said...
Apr 14, 2009, 2:56:00 PM  

The thing that kills me about newspaper sites is how now it seems I can't click on a link to a story without a video player popping up showing some crappy video that the writer/some intern did to go with the piece.

If I want video, I'll go to a different site. Yes I understand video can help tell a story but the quality is usually so poor.

Additionally whats the one thing big time newspapers have going for them over blogs? A team of the best photographers in the region. Now sure blogs pick up AP photos from newspapers etc. but newspapers still usually have the best photos, but when I go to a newspaper site what do I get? Some itty bitty picture of crappy quality. Then the "gallery" features three pictures.

When I read a recap of a game on the news site should be 30-40 hi res huge pictures.

FightingPike said...
Apr 14, 2009, 3:49:00 PM  

"It doesn't look good for print in Chicago"? ESPN routinely takes credit for stories that break in newspapers anywhere.

From what I gather, that is ESPN corporate policy.

Anonymous said...
Apr 14, 2009, 4:01:00 PM  

Most newspapers – daily and weekly – will have to develop some sort of new business model if they are to survive. The Rocky Mountain News did not ... the Denver Post is in some degree of trouble.
The papers that may survive unscathed are the weeklies – specialized audience for smaller towns (honor rolls, births, deaths, military news, prep sports) and far more accountability to the townspeople than a daily could ever dream.

Steve Smith said...
Apr 14, 2009, 5:49:00 PM  
Anonymous said...
Apr 15, 2009, 5:15:00 AM  

Post a Comment