ESPN Rules List of Execrable Sports Shows

Most sports fans have caught a whiff of ESPN’s non-live-sports programming at some point in the past decade—and the Worldwide Leader takes nine of 10 spots on Sports Media Watch’s list of the decade’s worst sports shows. (CNBC grabbed No. 8 with John McEnroe’s short-lived 2004 talk show, which one week finished next-to-last among Nielsen’s 834 rated cable shows.) Some ESPN low-lights:

• Mohr Sports (2002): Like many list-mates, this dog hosted by comic Jay Mohr involved “ESPN attempting to foray into other genres, like reality shows, scripted dramas—or in this case, late-night talk shows.”
• Quite Frankly With Stephen A. Smith (2005-07): Another brainchild of now-departed exec Mark Shapiro, this wasn’t so bad … except that the “loud, obnoxious and overexposed” host “no doubt kept many viewers away.”
• Around the Horn (2002-present): Sports Media Watch isn’t alone in putting this atop the list; it’s been called “the worst sports-panel show in history” and “30 minutes of hell, orchestrated by a blathering self-important loudmouth.” None of the panelists “are particularly likable or seem to particularly like each other. … Even after all these years, they have zero chemistry.”

For the full list, click the link at right. (More ESPN stories.)