The Cable Show 2014 welcomed several writers from Grantland this past Wednesday afternoon at Imagine Park, the live events stage in the center of the exhibit show floor. Superbly blending sports and pop culture into one platform, Grantland's popularity has exploded by offering readers, among other coverage, an in-depth analysis behind what they’re watching and why they love or leave certain shows. Chris Ryan, who covers television and sports for the outlet, discussed not only the resurgence of drama in primetime programming, but the increasing drama behind sports – partially a bi-product of the changing viewer experience. NCTA had the opportunity to go back stage with Chris Ryan to ask him a bit more about his thoughts on the evolution of sports coverage and how he manages following Game of Thrones while sweating over Game 7. Read the full interview below and for the video of the entire panel discussion, visit NCTA's YouTube page.
We have to kickoff here. What is your earliest sports TV memory?
“Jim Palmer and the Orioles beating Philadelphia and my dad kicking the TV off of the table. I’m from Philadelphia originally and that was a big moment.”
Are you compelled to watch assigned games live? And if so, how do you manage balancing a rubber match and a season finale during the same time slot?
“This is my job. I do have one of the coolest jobs in the world that way. But, I do feel compelled to keep up. A lot of stuff goes in a box. So, if it’s watching The New Girl or Mindy Project or sitcoms, maybe I’ll bank those and come back to them later.”
Why is socializing around sports programming so popular?
“It’s already a ready-made thing to talk about. There’s always a result to talk about. You can watch an episode of television and nothing will happen. There’s never a game where nothing will happen. And there’s rarely a game where the athletes you’re cheering for or cheering against doesn’t demand expression. So, I think that’s really where the tribal loyalty comes out – on that platform.”
How has social media impacted the reporting that goes on outside of the lines?
“I think you’re just expected to be doing your job 24-hours now. I think that more and more – especially with what you’ve seen over the last couple of days with this Donald Sterling stuff – pretty much everyone is expected to have an opinion and respond to news developments at all times. That’s true for the analysts now. Even if it’s not their sport – they’re expected to weigh in on the politics or entertainment value – it’s just one of the demands of the culture right now… When Reggie Miller tweets, I would guess that it’s because he received 50 to 100 tweets asking him his thoughts on something.”
We’re starting to see more and more Red Zone-esque type programs. Do you think we’ll see this highlight format blend into other programming?
“I think you’re seeing that already. Whenever Game of Thrones comes back, HBO runs a 25-minute, 40-minute recap of an entire season. I think you can start seeing those things happening each Monday morning. Here’s the Red Zone for these shows.”
People love drama. People love sports. Why aren’t there more drama series or sitcoms about sports?
“I think because people feel like they know the Heat. They don’t need to see a show about it. I don’t know anybody that works in an advertising agency and I don’t anybody who’s in Game of Thrones. But, I know enough about the guys on the Heat that a show almost would seem like it wasn’t coming up big enough. I think that you just get into a situation where the reality is actually compelling enough.”
You mentioned earlier that programming feels different based on its network. Are you partial to any sports coverage – be it a network or a particular program?
“When I first came to Grantland, I was brought on as the soccer writer. I happened to really love watching the English soccer shows, the studio shows they have. They have one in particular that you can sometimes watch on SKY Network. It’s Soccer Saturday and they don’t have the rights to show the games. So, they just have four guys freaking out about soccer all day long in the studio. If someone scores a great goal, the coverage is just a guy watching TV yelling, ‘This is amazing!’”
What would you like to see in the way of future sports coverage?
“I think that we’re getting away from the binary culture of ‘Is this guy good enough?’ or ‘What does this guy have to lose?’ and sort of starting these arguments. We’re getting more into storytelling. I think as an audience member, I like that. I recognize one of the demands of having television beyond 24-hours a day is you have to fill the air. But, I think we’re finding more and more that people are interested in cool stories as much as they are about having an argument about that story. If we can delve deeper and find more interesting ways to tell athlete or team stories, that there’s a whole other universe out there of people that might be interested in sports, instead of shouting at each other, or following more traditional sports-talk programming.” – This session, “Grantland and the Internet's Beautiful Blurring of Culture,” was part of this past Wednesday’s Imagine Park Sessions at The Cable Show 2014 in Los Angeles