Good News: Finebaum's Leaving Birmingham. Bad News...

[AUChizad]

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324102604578497362969635942.html

Finebaum Ends His Silence

By RACHEL BACHMAN

Paul Finebaum is headed to Charlotte, N.C., and a national forum: ESPN.

Paul Finebaum's radio silence has an end date: Aug. 1.

Finebaum, the polarizing personality of college football's signature call-in show, is leaving the Birmingham, Ala., market where his contract expired in January, for Charlotte, N.C., and a national forum: ESPN. His multi-tiered platform will include a radio program on ESPN networks, 100 televised appearances annually on ESPN and a TV simulcast of his radio show on the ESPN-owned SEC Network launching in August 2014.

"It would be the understatement of my life to say I wasn't thrilled," Finebaum said. "It is incredibly exciting to be part of a new adventure, particularly one that involves the premiere brand in sports along with the pre-eminent conference in sports." Finebaum has a five-year contract. Neither he nor ESPN would give financial details.

To non-sports fans, Finebaum's name might be as foreign as the wishbone offense. But in the burgeoning world of sports media, particularly in the South, he is a superstar. His four-hour daily show was syndicated on nearly 30 stations across the South and revolved around legions of listeners who called in daily to hail a team, blast a foe or even confess a crime: An Alabama fan once revealed on the show how he poisoned beloved trees on Auburn's campus. As the Southeastern Conference's dominance grew—the SEC has won the past seven major-college football national championships—Finebaum's show became the laundry-strewn palace balcony from which to crow.

"What is striking is he is such a great moderator-slash-provocateur of the emotion that lives within the fan base," said Justin Connolly, the senior vice president for programming who will oversee the SEC Network for ESPN. "To be able to bring him aboard onto the team here is significant."

As broadcast-rights fees rise to more than $250 million annually per conference, college football is transitioning from a largely regional sport to a national one, with the first-ever postseason playoff starting after the 2014 season. The question is whether Finebaum can retain the distinctly southern feel of the show in a slick, nationally packaged product.

"The show has become successful for a lot of reasons, but it's always been a caller show and the audience has been able to become the star," Finebaum said. "I don't really see that changing in the immediate future."

Finebaum's radio show at first will air primarily in the Southeast, ESPN's Connolly said. Finebaum also will appear on a range of ESPN TV programs that relate to college football before the debut of the SEC Network.

After Finebaum's contract expired in January, he said nothing publicly about his future but said he was asked about it constantly. One man approached him at a gas station, tearfully said he missed him and hugged him, Finebaum said. Based on fans' Twitter posts, it seems that the only thing worse than Finebaum is his absence. One tweet read, "Please @finebaum save us from this misery. Sorry for any and every bad thing I've ever said about u or your show." Another tweet summed up many listeners' feelings: "All I am saying is that listening to Finebaum is like coming upon a bad wreck on the highway! You don't want to look, but YOU JUST HAVE TO!"

During his four-month layoff from radio hosting, Finebaum also reached a $650,000 deal with HarperCollins to write a book, due out in August 2014.

[wesfau2]

He won't last.  The national audience won't stomach him for long.

[Snaggletiger]

He won't last.  The national audience won't stomach him for long.

Please let this be so.

[Snaggletiger]

Now to be somewhat fair, when he goes this route, the overwhelming majority of his callers will most likely be people other than the unwashed masses.  He shouldn't have to cater to them or lick Lord Saybinz' knob on an hourly basis.  He knew exactly who buttered his bread in the Ham and he made sure they stayed happy.  One sure fire way to do that......

[WiregrassTiger]

He won't last.  The national audience won't stomach him for long.

Did you say the same thing about Howard Stern?

[wesfau2]

Did you say the same thing about Howard Stern?

That flash in the pan?  Pffffft.

[The Prowler]

So, the RESPN hired another guy that likes to make shit up, in hopes of causing controversy. Guess I still won't be watching RESPN unless they have a football game on that I care about.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

He won't last.  The national audience won't stomach him for long.

I disagree with you.

Signed,

Skip Bayless
Stephen A Jackson

[Kaos]

Wha...?

http://www.examiner.com/article/espn-layoffs-announced-400-to-lose-jobs?cid=rss

ESPN layoffs are coming, the sports reporting network announced on May 21. Deadline covered the details, and it would seem this is part of the expanding plan by Disney to cut costs along with jobs. Disney owns 80 percent of ESPN.

As many as 400 jobs could be lost as part of the ESPN layoffs, which is just the latest round of job cuts to hit Disney-owned entities. ESPN has about 7,000 total employees and is said to be quite profitable, but the network says it is cutting jobs “to enhance our continued growth while smartlly managing costs.”

The network has been spending money lately in moves like taking on the U.S. Open tennis pact and a partnership on an SEC network. ESPN says it is striving to become more “competitive, innovative and productive.” Unfortunately, it seems that also means that 400 employees will be seeking work elsewhere.

Makes no sense to add an idiot and get rid of four hundred.

[GH2001]

He won't last.  The national audience won't stomach him for long.

Spot on. It's just that simple.

[GH2001]

I disagree with you.

Signed,

Skip Bayless
Stephen A Jackson

But the national audience doesn't stomach those two. It's beyond me why Espn continues to fill space with those two idiots.

But going along with your joke, you can also add Chris Berman and Jemelle Hill to that signature.

[WiregrassTiger]

But the national audience doesn't stomach those two. It's beyond me why Espn continues to fill space with those two idiots.

But going along with your joke, you can also add Chris Berman and Jemelle Hill to that signature.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in keeping with the network sports folks that don't belong on the air, I present to you Brent Muskrat, Lee Corso, Verne Lundquist, Desmond Howard, Mark May, and every girl reporter that's graced the sideline. The worst of the bad are in bold.

[AUownsU]

Now to be somewhat fair, when he goes this route, the overwhelming majority of his callers will most likely be people other than the unwashed masses.  He shouldn't have to cater to them or lick Lord Saybinz' knob on an hourly basis.  He knew exactly who buttered his bread in the Ham and he made sure they stayed happy.  One sure fire way to do that......

Yeah because BSPN doesn't do that at all.

[AWK]

He won't last.  The national audience won't stomach him for long.

Have to agree.  He had the perfect niche' in Birmingham.  Shit won't fly elsewhere.

[JR4AU]

He won't last.  The national audience won't stomach him for long.

The national audience digs on the "shock jock" schtick too.  What won't play is his one dimentional SEC football/Alabama Football slant.  Outside of the southeast and this state, nobody gives near the shit about it or Saban that the local crimson hoard does.  To make it, he'll have to soften on that and diversify his topic base greatly.  He can't do it.  He knows next to nothing about sports in general, and even less about what the rest of the country wants to hear about it.

[Snaggletiger]

It will be interesting to see if his schtick makes it in that kind of forum. I've long maintained that PF knows very little about actual sports.  His chop...err, format... has always been to throw out a topic and let the deranged callers run the show.  Of course, he's always focused on SEC football with Alabama and Auburn talk being the predominant discussion.  But any time he's ever been asked by the rare level-headed caller who just wanted to get his take on a real sports subject, he deflects and immediately moves on to Travis D in Scottsboro.

Hey Paul, thanks for taking my call.  Paul, a lot of the experts feel that FSU will be a serious contender for the national championship this year.  I have my doubts with the huge quarterback controversy going on.  Do you think they have a chance if they go with a 2 QB system?

Oh....I think they're doing a decent job down there.  Let's go to Jim in Tuscaloosa.

I'm telling you, the guy schlobs the Lord Saybinz knob every 5 minutes, but he honestly couldn't tell you the names of 2 starting defensive linemen.  He just doesn't know.  Point is, if he actually has to talk real sports without his program being dominated by knuckle draggers talking smack, I doubt he makes it. 

[Townhallsavoy]

EDIT - Nevermind.  I thought Snaggle's post was the OP. 

[Townhallsavoy]

Wha...?

Makes no sense to add an idiot and get rid of four hundred.

Have you checked out the music scene lately?

Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kei$ha, Drake, and all the other fucktard "artists" that millions upon millions of fucktards follow with more fervency than the twelve apostles followed Jesus Christ post-resurrection. 

ESPN knows what they're doing.  It's why their prime morning show involves Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith yelling at each other.  It's why Colin Cowherd is one of their biggest radio hosts. 

They know dumb fucks (peasants in the old world) have money and will following anything ESPN does blindly as long as they can follow along. 

Finebaum is the king of radio for retards.  I guarantee you he is a huge success. 

[AUChizad]

Have you checked out the music scene lately?

Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kei$ha, Drake, and all the other fucktard "artists" that millions upon millions of fucktards follow with more fervency than the twelve apostles followed Jesus Christ post-resurrection. 

ESPN knows what they're doing.  It's why their prime morning show involves Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith yelling at each other.  It's why Colin Cowherd is one of their biggest radio hosts. 

They know dumb fucks (peasants in the old world) have money and will following anything ESPN does blindly as long as they can follow along. 

Finebaum is the king of radio for retards.  I guarantee you he is a huge success.

I'm afraid you're right. Everyone else here has way too much faith in humanity.

[Kaos]

Have you checked out the music scene lately?

Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kei$ha, Drake, and all the other fudgetard "artists" that millions upon millions of fudgetards follow with more fervency than the twelve apostles followed Jesus Christ post-resurrection. 

ESPN knows what they're doing.  It's why their prime morning show involves Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith yelling at each other.  It's why Colin Cowherd is one of their biggest radio hosts. 

They know dumb fudges (peasants in the old world) have money and will following anything ESPN does blindly as long as they can follow along. 

Finebaum is the king of radio for retards.  I guarantee you he is a huge success.

Frankly I don't care if he is a success on that stage.  If going "national" forces him to abandon the herpes snacking he did on "Legend's" feces-stained weiner and the bowing and scraping he did for utter blowhard retards like DeadShane, Darryl, Tammy etc. then I'm okay with whatever he does. 

Going "national" means he has to put most of the Bama partisanship aside and bury a lot of the anti-Auburn rhetoric. 

It has nothing to do with human nature, really.  He can't sustain a national show if douchebags like Legend in his own 12 IQ mind, K-Dumb, any of the facile Jims, and that horde of barely functioning dipsticks have regular call in times every single day. 

Yeah, he'll stir the pot but it has to be a MUCH bigger pot and he won't have time to give Tammy 15 minutes a day to bellow like a drunk meth whore. 

Honestly? ESPN didn't hire him to take the AU/UA fight national.  They hired him to expand that fight to a bunch of other combatants.

If I read him right he's all about himself (always has been) and he'll leave those Legend-like cretins wallowing in his dust as he reinvents himself.  He'll fish for a national bunch of idiots who will call up and scream about Ohio State and Michigan, USC and UCLA, etc.  Of course he'll still have the show on the SEC network, but he will have to stray from the safety of the AU/AL brawl for even that to fly. 

Count me as one who's glad for the move.  He's all about promoting himself and with a bigger scope now, he'll find other targets to blast.  AU will move off his radar.