ESPN wrote on Sunday to tell me it is not at all happy with me. To that, I said “great.” Because the sports network and I now feel exactly the same about each other.
Like a lot of you, I attempted to tune into Saturday night’s Oregon-Washington State game to see what was happening in Eugene. It was a big Pac-12 game and Oregon won 38-24. During the game I tweaked the television settings, fiddled with the cables, rebooted it all and then checked social media where I learned we were all getting a low-definition broadcast that would have made 1988 proud.
ESPN didn’t like my column about it.
All I did was write a Sunday piece headlined, “Pac-12 deserves better than ESPN’s fuzzy, low-budget broadcast.” Multiple sources told me ESPN sent a sub-standard production truck to Eugene and had only six cameras working the game. It also employed a back-up spotter with the on-air crew and didn’t have a stage manager present.
An ESPN spokesperson read my column and wrote in bold to tell me, “The notion that we are doing Pac-12 games on the cheap is patently false.”
Just wait until ESPN reads this column. It may never speak to me again. Because I made some calls and reached one of the camera operators who was working Saturday’s game in Eugene. Bill Rice told me, “All of that gear that we were using is old and wore out. It’s their ‘E’ show. That truck is a long way from home. That’s ESPN’s ‘E-level’ show.
“You know... A.. B... C... D... E.”
More on that in a bit.
First know that in the last 24 hours the ESPN spokesperson and I exchanged ideas on a variety of topics related to the network’s Pac-12 football broadcasts. ESPN insisted there were seven cameras at the game -- not six, as I initially reported. Rice, a camera operator with 30 years of experience, told me there were only six “hard” cameras trained on the football action. ESPN is counting a hand-held camera that gets close-ups of players and coaches on the sideline as a seventh camera.
Seven? Six? Decide how significant that detail is. I like seven better than six. But some football broadcasts by the Pac-12 Network, ESPN/ABC and FOX in recent years have used as many as 12 cameras. We know this because the crew in the instant-replay command center uses the camera feeds and they’ll tell you they’ve had a dozen cameras on some games. More angles make their job easier and that’s the point here.
Viewers and readers may be relieved to know ESPN did acknowledge on Monday that it’s having technical issues with some Pac-12 games this season. You’re not crazy. You’re not losing your vision. ESPN confirmed that it had similar broadcast-quality issues for the UCLA-Arizona game (Oct. 9) and Utah-UCLA (Oct. 30) -- all while using that same “E crew” truck.
Said the spokesperson, “One of our crews has experienced some isolated technical issues this season that we are actively working to fix.”
Rice, who has worked in the business for more than 30 years operating cameras, said the communication in his headset on Saturday at Autzen Stadium was a lot of, “‘Tighten it up’... ‘Tighten it up’... it’s almost like a back-focus problem.”
When I told him ESPN called it an isolated technical issue, Rice didn’t hesitate. He said, “It’s the truck. It’s the truck. That truck is from the 20th century.”
It needs to be pointed out that the spokesperson is a middle man here. Not his fault he has to deal with me on a Sunday and Monday. He didn’t buy the trucks or assign the equipment and crew. Disney is a massive operation and he ends up an unfortunate messenger. The spokesperson confirm that ESPN sends its best truck and equipment to wherever Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit happen to be broadcasting on a given weekend. That makes sense because it’s the most-watched game. But the presence of one of the other trucks should never result in a poor viewing experience.
I did some poking around. The Oregonian/OregonLive obtained the information sheet that was distributed to crew working for ESPN in front of the Oregon-WSU game. The truck itself was built in 2012, but the key equipment inside was manufactured 10-25 years years ago. The document verifies there were, in fact, six “hard” cameras at the game and a seventh handheld camera present. It also lists the names of crew working the game. I researched them and they’re all highly qualified and experienced television production experts.
That production sheet also notes that there would be no “set day” in front of the game. That detail caught my eye. Turns out that’s a day-before-event opportunity for the crew to work out bugs and stage equipment. It feels like the perfect time to rectify a lingering broadcast issue.
I asked Rice about the absence of a set day on a broadcast and he said, “In my 30 years it was the first time ever for me representing Disney that we didn’t have a set day.”
That dovetails with the narrative I’ve heard in the last 24 hours from other ESPN/ABC contractors working sporting events. They believe Disney is hyper-focused on cost cutting and is especially aggressive with low-priority events. Saturday’s game at Autzen Stadium didn’t utilize a stage manager, for example. It also used a back-up spotter. The spokesperson pushed back at that “low budget broadcast” comment, but that’s a logical conclusion for any of us to make when we tune in and see an underwhelming broadcast.
It’s why I think Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff needs to utilize TV production experts when he negotiates again with ESPN in the coming months. The Pac-12 doesn’t just need to get more money out of the next deal. It needs more respect and the guarantee of a better broadcast. The conference fans deserve a high-quality broadcast. The players and coaches deserve enough camera angles to ensure a competent instant-replay process. And the ESPN spokesperson deserves to never have to deal with this columnist again.
The Oregon-WSU game lasted exactly 3 hours and 22 minutes with commercials. From 2:04 left in the third quarter to the end of the game there were six commercial breaks that lasted more than three minutes each. Disney made its money. The question is, why isn’t the company re-investing more of it in the broadcast itself?
That brings us to some late-developing good news.
ESPN’s spokesperson told me Monday morning it is providing the “E crew” new equipment this week. Arizona State and Oregon State fans will be pleased to know that the network is swapping out the truck equipment for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. PT broadcast, which should alleviate the viewing issues.
Also, Oregon’s game at Utah on ABC on Saturday is going to have one of the network’s top crews present in Salt Lake City. Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge and Molly McGrath will call what is now the biggest game in the Pac-12 so far this season. The spokesperson told me the Ducks-Utes telecast is expected to include a Skycam as part of the complement.
Don’t know about you, but I liked hearing that.
I’ll like seeing it in focus even more.
---
Email: John@JohnCanzano.com
Subscribe to the John Canzano weekly email newsletter.
Tweet me: @JohnCanzanoBFT and find me on Facebook: BaldFacedTruth