LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- I was never a diehard Around the Horn guy. But I appreciated what it represented — a national platform for smart, diverse voices in sports media, many of whom I came up alongside in the business.
It introduced Louisville native Bill Plaschke to a larger stage, along with Denver columnist Woody Paige and plenty of other writers whose work I knew but who were suddenly in front of millions. The audience — and the industry — was better for it.
I've never met Around the Horn host Tony Reali, but I've always respected how he carries himself — especially the grace he's shown since ESPN announced the show will end its 23-year run Friday.
TV folks will tell you everything has a shelf life. That may be true. But shows like College GameDay and Pardon the Interruption aren't going anywhere. If any ESPN property feels endangered, it's SportsCenter. The audience no longer waits around for highlights. They get them instantly. And ESPN hasn't yet figured out how to evolve the format — or its flagship identity.
The network has tried new things. It reportedly floated a plan to expand PTI to an hour after canceling Around the Horn, but co-hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon weren't interested without a significant pay bump.
Instead, ESPN is investing in names that can anchor its coming direct-to-consumer app. Rich Eisen is back with a three-hour daily talk show. Pat McAfee remains a major draw. The goal is the same across the board: find content that works on TV, streaming, social — wherever the audience happens to be. Platform-agnostic is the name of the game.
If I've learned one thing in a journalism career that began before email — and long before smartphones — it's that leaning into change beats resisting it. You're better off making a hard pivot than trying to keep one foot in the old world.
HBO hesitated to embrace streaming because it didn't want to upset cable partners. Blockbuster laughed Netflix out of the room. I still remember the excitement when our newspaper installed brand-new printing presses in 2004. It felt like a moment of triumph — except I couldn't shake the feeling we were launching a sleeker horse-and-buggy at the dawn of the automobile age.
I got into this business to write. But even these morning columns — which I still love doing — don't carry the same weight unless paired with video, clips and conversation. (That's coming.)
Everyone in this business is trying to keep up with how you get your news — or if you even notice it at all. It's quite a scramble.
And as the end of Around the Horn reminds us, it's not without casualties.
Quick Sips
No Derby Winner, No Draw.
As expected, the Preakness tanked in the ratings without a Kentucky Derby winner in the field. The Triple Crown may have three races, but it's only one storyline — and when that breaks early, the sport pays the price. More on the Preakness ratings [here].New Top 25.
In its updated preseason rankings after the spring transfer portal, The Athletic moved Indiana up to No. 18 and put Louisville at No. 23. Full rundown [here].
The Last Drop
From The Washington Post, in a thoughtful piece on the end of Around the Horn:
Ten years ago, Reali recalled, someone asked whether he wanted to start a podcast.
'I laughed. I said: 'A podcast? I already have a TV show,'" he said.
Recently he has noted that podcasts are selling for tens of millions of dollars after, in some cases, only a few hundred episodes.
"We've done 4,900 episodes, and now the show goes away," he said. "I never want to be in that position again, of not being aware of the business."
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