For years, NFL fans who wanted to watch a Monday Night Football pregame show had their pick of two different options. Now? Not.
Monday Night Countdown, ESPN’s longtime pregame show, is now shown on both ESPN and NFL Network, as a result of the deal that made ESPN the owner of NFL Media and the NFL a 10 percent owner of ESPN.
It’s easy to see why ESPN and the NFL see this as a good thing, a cost-cutting move that means they’re only producing one show instead of two.
For fans, however, fewer choices is a bad thing. Some fans preferred the NFL Network pregame show, which is now gone. And even for viewers who were watching Monday Night Countdown anyway, there are legitimate concerns that the stronger ties between ESPN and the NFL will mean even less independence in the coverage of the sport. More propaganda, less journalism.
Ultimately, the ESPN-NFL Media merger wasn’t done for the fans. It was done for the bottom lines of ESPN and NFL Media, who can save money on production costs when putting one show on two channels.