Another Reason Why
I Hate Television

© David Burton 2018

     In previous writings, I’ve railed against cable television – too many commercials, inaccurate and/or biased news coverage, irrelevant statistics on sports broadcasts, and numerous other irritants foisted on their captive audiences. (Ref.'s 1, 2 and 3) Now, I have found still one more reason to hate television.

     A few nights back, the Boston Red Sox were playing the New York Yankees down in New York. For the past two months, the two teams have been fighting for first place in the East Division of the American League. Also, there is always an air of excitement when these two teams play each other. Most televised Red Sox games are carried on the local New England Sports Network (NESN) channel. But tonight, the game was carried nationally on the Entertainment and Sports Network (ESPN). ESPN was utilizing some talking heads to cover the game and these baseball “experts” simply could not keep their mouths shut. They continually rambled on with all sorts of uninteresting talk and numerous irrelevant and obscure baseball statistics. They simply would not shut up with their boring running commentary.

     After four or five innings of the unending pap from the broadcasters/commentators, I had enough and decided to turn off the television sound and listen to local Red Sox radio broadcast while watching the TV picture. I tuned into the game on the local Red Sox FM radio station and was happily listening to the broadcast when I realized that something was wrong - the television broadcast was delayed by about fifteen seconds! Consequently, I could not listen to the game on the radio and watch the game simultaneously on television. I was thus stuck with one of three undesirable choices if I wanted to watch the game:

1. I could watch the game on television while listening to the incessant babble coming over the TV channel

2. I could watch the game on television while listening to a reasonable amount of interesting comment on the radio, but with a 15 second delay between the two.

3. I could watch the game on television, shut off the sound and watch the game with no commentary at all.

     There was one more alternative, for which I opted for the rest of the game – I listened to the game on the radio and didn’t watch the game on television.

     Why couldn’t the TV executives get some decent broadcasters and commentators on this nationally televised sports program? Why couldn’t they synchronize the TV and radio coverage to provide a simulcast - one where the fans could choose to listen to local or national broadcast personnel? Does sponsorship control the airwaves to the extent that the public is forced to put up with limited and poor choices?

     “Sports are about love and fun: sitting back and basking in the pure joy of watching {and listening to} the game. Unfortunately, that bliss is often interrupted by the obnoxious drone of a terrible sports announcer.
     “Some sportscasters, like the immortal John Madden and Harry Caray, manage{d} to combine interesting commentary with a love of sports that actually enhance{d} the fan's experience. Sadly, those announcers are few and far between {today}.” (Ref. 4)

     Some of the mistakes that have soured sports fans include[4] :

• Trying to adapt a comedian to sports broadcasting, resulting in an announcer who tried too hard with every line and was just not funny
• Announcers who simply fail to provide anything new or interesting to fans
• Color commentators who showcase themselves when they are on screen and think they are the centerpiece of the game
• An announcer who can be hard to stand, is quite loud, often drowning out his co-broadcaster, and over-using his own knowledge by commenting on and analyzing every single aspect of a game
• The announcer without a middle ground - the announcer either goes on a long, praising rant of a team and its players, or else goes after them for the entire game
• Utilizing former players who rate as a "great players, but terrible sportscasters". The former great always seems to compare players to his era and carries grudges from three decades back
• Using analysts who are always talking, but whose analysis never leads to genuine insight
• Over-analysis makes bad sports announcers and during the game, the mix of constant analysis of everything going on, feeble attempts at wry humor, and a tendency toward grandiose verbiage that makes the eyes roll, is enough to push viewers to turn off the television
• Using announcers who lack enthusiasm.