Media companies today have become giant, often nameless and faceless corporate enterprises. We don’t seek out a TV shows just because they are on Fox or NBC. We don't go to a movies because they were financed or distributed by Universal or Paramount. One of the rare exceptions to all of this is ESPN. It has become not only the dominant player in sports journalism, but one of the most singularly powerful brands in the media today. Its on air personalities have become almost as well know at t...
Media companies today have become giant, often nameless and faceless corporate enterprises. We don’t seek out a TV shows just because they are on Fox or NBC. We don't go to a movies because they were financed or distributed by Universal or Paramount. One of the rare exceptions to all of this is ESPN. It has become not only the dominant player in sports journalism, but one of the most singularly powerful brands in the media today. Its on air personalities have become almost as well know at the people they cover. It has grown so large and powerful, like the business it covers, that the barriers to entry for any competitors are almost insurmountable.
How did this happen? What were the moments, who were the players that created this media, social, cultural and journalistic phenomenon? The answers lie in a new oral history of ESPN, getting huge attention coauthored by James Andrew Miller.
The book is Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN. Here's my conversation with James Andrew Miller:
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