ESPN Is Finally Taking a Lesson Viewers and Doing This…

It’s difficult nowadays to simply watch something without politics getting involved.

There are times when we want to ignore the political world and just let our minds rest. Sometimes we turn to sports for entertainment, but we all are sadly aware of how even the sports world has been influenced by politics.

Forbes reported on ESPN’s politics on TV,

ESPN brand sentiment has taken a major hit over the past month, as their anchors and staff, along with the sports world in general, have begun wading into testy political waters.

The network’s been losing customers for quite a while due to the cord-cutting movement, which has consumers cancelling their cable subscription in favor of a la carte offerings like Netflix and Amazon Prime. The last thing the network, and its parent company, Disney, needs right now is divisive commentary, but that seems to be all they are delivering this fall.

In late August, in the wake of violent clashes in Charlottesville between white supremacists and protestors, Robert Lee, an ESPN part-time employee, was pulled from calling a Virginia-William and Mary game because he shares a name with the Confederate general. ESPN executives and Mr. Lee had decided it was best for his safety to have him work on a different game. This decision proved immediately controversial.

Well, relief is finally on its way. It seems that ESPN has heard the people’s opinion about their politics on air and they’re finally going to do something about it.

According to The Daily Wire,

Buried deep in the profile — caught by National Review Online’s Jim Geraghty — is some welcome news for fans of ESPN who have turned off or turned down the network over its sudden and dramatic plunge into politics. Pitaro says he recognizes that ESPN viewers want sports coverage, not political commentary.

“Pitaro has also satisfied ESPN’s more traditional fans by steering commentators away from political discussions on-air and on social media, which heightened during President Trump’s criticism of NFL player protests against social injustice during the playing of the national anthem,” the LA Times reports.

“Without question our data tells us our fans do not want us to cover politics,”Pitaro told the outlet. “My job is to provide clarity. I really believe that some of our talent was confused on what was expected of them. If you fast-forward to today, I don’t believe they are confused.”

It’s even been reported that the network has lost around 15 million subscribers over the past couple years. Maybe actually pretending to have a neutral stance or just keeping their mouths shut about their political views will help the network regain popularity again.

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