What should, or could, a sports highlights show be?

Noel Murray of The AV Club praises NBC Sports Network's The 'Lights and MLB Network's Quick Pitch as steps in the right direction — away from ESPN — but still clinging to the traditional.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/what-should-a-sports-recap-show-be-in-2012,84328/

He has many good points, well beyond the quoted midsection, but he doesn't address the fundamental question: Would a high-brow sports highlight show work, financially?

 

Give me the score, key plays, perhaps something interesting that happened and any relevant news that occurred (injuries, disputed calls) That's all I need.
Things I don't need fantasy stats (unless some record was broken), a "breakdown," or tweets.
Go into and out of breaks with updated standings and maybe cap it with a good play/blooper reel.

I used to make a point to watch SportsCenters plays of the week/month on Sundays until they butchered it so much you couldn't figure out why what they showed was so great.

 

I discovered Quick Pitch during the 2010 season and it's my go-to show for baseball news soon as I get home. I want to see that great catch, or close play at the plate, or whatever happened off the field that affected the game(s). Start off with the big game of the night, rather than the Yankees or Red Sox every effing night. Can it be done on a one-size-fits-all show like SC? Yes ... once upon a time, they did exactly that.

 

That blog post was all over the place. Does he want graphics crowding the screen or does he want NFL Films? And what does Howard Cosell have to do with any of that?

It's harder to tell a story with a set of highlights these days because everybody knows the result.

I like Quick Pitch, too. It has an almost throwback appeal.

 

Say what you will of Berman, but NFL Primetime was a smash hit when it began and the best sports highlights show ever made.
And with all the crap now choking the network, it is sorely missed.

 

You knew your team was having a bad season if Pidto was doing your highlights.

30, you are correct, that was a great show.

I want to see results, highlights, stats and standings. I also want to see every game played the night before.

 

As a kid, I used to tape NFL Primetime every week back in the VCR, pre-DVD world. It was the hour of the TV week I looked forward to most. I think some of that's lost now, with fantasy tickers scrolling on the bottom and video highlights online minutes after a big play has happened. That was how you found out who did what -- the 100-yard receivers and rushers at the end of the show actually broke that news to football fans that didn't see more than a few games 20 years ago.

 

No MLB Network here in southern Illinois. I miss Quick Pitch very much. As HanSenSE said, it shows all the games, not just non-stop Yankee or Red Sox coverage like Northeast Baseball Tonight.

 

Yes. It takes time, efficiency, consistency, sharp, sublime hosts of both genders and the right kind of advertising plan.

 

My RA in college used to watch football with black tape covering the scroll at the bottom and two squares where the scoreboxes would pop on on his TV specifically so he could be surprised for Primetime.

 

That's an amazing story.

That show was truly the gold standard of highlight shows.

 

I didn't go that far, but when I was younger I used to try and avoid scores of the games I wasn't watching for the same reason. I loved Primetime.