Monday Night Football is about to undergo another facelift. (And a hair implant.) Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden will replace noted bald man and flying phobe Tony Kornheiser (Pardon the Interruption) in the ESPN booth, beginning this August. Kornheiser, an award-winning newspaper columnist who routinely half-joked about his on-air shortcomings since joining the program in 2006, cited his fear of flying as the reason for his resignation.
But the shakeup continues a long exercise in broadcast-booth Sudoku, as jumpy networks pursue creative casting to win higher ratings. (Remember Dennis Miller?) Kornheiser never really seemed comfortable in a crowded booth with Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski, and the Gruden hire is the anti-gimmick. Though he has no major experience in broadcasting, Gruden is photogenic, articulate, and he knows his stuff, having led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the NFL title in 2002-03. But unless he regularly puts Jaworski in a headlock to stifle his analysis, Gruden should have no impact on ESPN’s ratings.
Really, who’s ever watched or not watched a sporting event based on the announcer? Especially a telecast as ritualistic as Monday Night Football. Seems obvious, right? The only people who seem not to understand this are the network execs tasked with wringing one more dollar from their broadcasts. They’re doomed to a quixotic quest to recapture the 1970s ratings juggernaut when Howard Cosell and Don Meredith routinely jousted in the press box. But those days of (three-network) television are long gone. If they really want to increase ratings, maybe ESPN and NBC, which airs Sunday Night Football, should start thinking outside the box again. (Since the NFL switched its marquee game from Monday to Sunday night in 2006, the games have collectively drawn an additional three million viewers each week, according to Nielsen.) My suggestion this time: No commercials in the fourth quarter. Think that’s crazy? Heck, World Cup soccer eschews commercial breaks altogether. Substitute the endless breaks with a small Budweiser icon in the top-left corner of the TV screen, and let the big uglies play. People just might stay up and tune in.
Of course, I could be wrong. Will Gruden-for-Kornheiser make any impact on your football viewing? Are there any sports announcers that compel you to turn off your favorite team? Would a commercial-free last quarter encourage you to stay up for the end of games? PopWatchers, you are on the clock!
You asked: who’s ever watched or not watched a sporting event based on the announcer?
Answer: Me, for one reason and one reason only-John Madden
Since he left, I don’t care two hoots who’s in the booth.
I really looked forward to Tony’s commentary each week. He is a top sports writer, and brought a nice touch of educated humor to the MNF show. Well let’s see if Gruden is any good.
What matters to me is not so much who is in the booth but the chemistry between the people who are there. It seems like it’s an all or nothing situation…a deal breaker of sorts. When the 2 or 3 guys don’t get along, watching a game becomes intolerable.
The announcer can definitely make a difference. When ESPN does the booth of Mike (Greenberg) and Mike (Golic) and Mike (Ditka) in the opening week, it’s just unbearable to watch. A bad announcer will make me turn the channel hours before a bad game will.
Cris Collingsworth drives me insane. I was not happy when they announced that he would be replacing John Madden. I’m so not looking forward to listening to him during Sunday Night Football.
The announcers make a huge difference in my decision to tune in. And good announcers can keep me watching a game I would otherwise turn off. For example, Al Michaels will keep me entertained even during a blowout.
If Mr. Tony comes back to radio, then it’s a great move. Re: announcers – the team of figure skating announcers on NBC makes me want to turn the channel…
As you mentioned, the days when viewers – even non-football fans – would tune in just to see if Howard Cosell or Dandy Don [or Frank Gifford, too, actually] would say something memorable are long gone. These days no one tunes in to a sports telecast because of the announcers, but people often TUNE OUT because of the announcers. Everyone’s got their faves and/or non-faves [frankly I can't stand listening to Chris Berman . . .]. It will interesting to see how Gruden does.
Totally agree AJ! I adore my SPEED announcers (Steve Hobbs) that announce the GT races, they have several championships and just get into the racing. They are fun. A good announcer can make a boring game, or race fun. I do not watch football but miss John Madden-I believe he appealed to everyone.
@Kaiulani- Really? You don’t like Collinsworth? Wow. I love him! He reminds me of Joe Morgan on ESPN’s baseball coverage. Every time I hear him do a game, I feel like I’ve learned something new. He just has a great football mind.
I love Tony on on the radio and on PTI, but he was never very good in the MNF booth. He was way too fixated on “storylines” in the NFL and on the field–just tell us what’s happening in the game! I think Gruden will be good as long as he and Jaws don’t talk too much. You’d better be on PTI 5 days a week this fall, Kornheiser!
Madden was getting to be kind of a caricature of himself, and I think Collinsworth will be an excellent replacement.
They could put a monkey on a rock in the booth and I’d still watch MNF. It’s a ritual. And, for me, it’s all about the game and not about the commentators (although, I’m really not sure about Gruden in the booth…). While I lived in Miami, I couldn’t afford season tickets, but whenever there was a MNF game in town, I did my darndest to get a ticket – MNF games rock!
Also, I’m a total nerd because I watch poker on TV, but I cannot handle the WPT coverage because the announcers are so bad. They act like every move is life or death and the one guy uses a really fake “announcer voice” that drives me nuts.
You’re talking about football, but if you caught last night’s Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, you would have been subjected to three innings of the most inane casuistry between Steve Philips and Joe Morgan on the topic of the Mets and “leadership” that prevented any comment or description of what was happening on the field. And then you would have known that yes, announcers make or break a game broadcast.
For the casual observer, that might be the case (announcers making or breaking a game broadcast), but for diehard fans of the game, I don’t think it really matters who is in the booth. I couldn’t stand Madden forever and a day, but there was no way I would miss an MNF game. There are ways around it – turn the sound down and dial up the radio announcers.