RIP: ESPN Classic?

[Batman]

I have Comcast and noticed that they've quietly removed ESPN Classic from the lineup. A little digging reveals that it was ESPN that has phased the channel out of its normal lineup, and into a streaming on-demand service like ESPN3.

So I guess it's still around in zombie form, but I wonder what this says about the state of ESPN as a whole. Are things getting so dire that they can't afford to have a rerun channel? It couldn't have been a rights thing, since even if they just showed the games they broadcast themselves they'd have an endless supply of content. Is it an attempt to target cord cutters or an experiment to get ahead of the curve on streaming services?

The digging revealed what happened, but not the why behind it.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

I had it in my hotel room at the Luxor in Vegas when I was out there a couple of weeks ago. It was nice to go to sleep with old Big East games from the 1980s each night. Also replayed the 1995 Rose Bowl and, two minutes into my viewing, they showed Jerry Sandusky on the sidelines.

 

[tapintoamerica]

That spot is expected to become the ACC Network.

 

[Donny in his element]

HD killed ESPN Classic. The hi-def of today makes pretty much all pre-2008 recorded live television almost unwatchable. Blurry, grainy, like watching VHS home movies.

 

[playthrough]

HD killed ESPN Classic. The hi-def of today makes pretty much all pre-2008 recorded live television almost unwatchable. Blurry, grainy, like watching VHS home movies.

Great point. We all say we'd watch the lumberjack races and Home Run Derby, but in reality we'd watch five minutes of 'em. And if you really need a fix, a lot of that stuff is on YouTube.

 

[mpcincal]

Yeah, ESPN Classic is one of those things where I go "What, they're taking that off? How can they do that, those bastards?" And then two seconds later I realize I haven't even watched that channel in ages.

 

[jr/shotglass]

We still have it, right next to ESPN and ESPN2 in the channel lineup. I would not be adverse to it being replaced by the ACC Network.

You can only watch so many 15-year-old bowl games where you already know the result.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

I think I still have a stash of VCR tapes of old games I recorded when we first got the satellite and it was just Classic Sports Network.

 

[Rhody31]

I remember putting in on during college house parties in March and betting girls on who would win. Plenty of $5 bets won. Some girl was beside herself that Michigan came back to beat Seton Hall.
"How did you know?"
"Because they played like 15 years ago."

 

[User 149557]

I remember putting in on during college house parties in March and betting girls on who would win. Plenty of $5 bets won. Some girl was beside herself that Michigan came back to beat Seton Hall.
"How did you know?"
"Because they played like 15 years ago."

And that's how it works
It's how you don't get the girl, girl, oh

 

[Donny in his element]

I remember putting in on during college house parties in March and betting girls on who would win. Plenty of $5 bets won. Some girl was beside herself that Michigan came back to beat Seton Hall.
"How did you know?"
"Because they played like 15 years ago."

The shorts weren't a giveaway?

 

[goalmouth]

Classic used to show **** Enberg's sports quiz show, with his awesome 70s wardrobe. /crossthread/

 

[Stoney]

HD killed ESPN Classic. The hi-def of today makes pretty much all pre-2008 recorded live television almost unwatchable. Blurry, grainy, like watching VHS home movies.

Youtube did far more to kill it than HD.

We can now re-live favorite sports moments whenever we want just by typing words in a search engine. No need to wait for them on some TV channel.

 

[wicked]

I'd read years ago that they were moving Classic to premium and plugging ESPNU in that standard tier spot instead.

 

[Meren]

Just got phased out with Uverse and Spectrum recently too. at least with Uverse it said the Broadcast rights expired this happened to my knowledge a few days ago.

 

[Meren]

Youtube did far more to kill it than HD.

We can now re-live favorite sports moments whenever we want just by typing words in a search engine. No need to wait for them on some TV channel.

Not true not everything is on youtube like the Games you actually are searching for. Old NFL, Old NBA. I have no problem watching old footage in 480 or even 360 still comes out okay when you download it.

 

[Meren]

We still have it, right next to ESPN and ESPN2 in the channel lineup. I would not be adverse to it being replaced by the ACC Network.

You can only watch so many 15-year-old bowl games where you already know the result.

Yeah but people would rather watch the even older bowl games. most of the recent stuff in unwatchable. I for one would rather see games from the 70s and 80s. ESPN Classic hated to show Cleveland Teams actually winning. Same with NBA TV. or they would show too recent games. Instead of games from the Miracle of Richfield Era with the Cavs. I miss Sports Channel. It is impossible to get High School Sports in Ohio because the OHSAA basically gave the rights to Spectrum over Sportime Ohio. pretty much everyone has Sporttime Ohio. What I don't get is an Ohio TV Station showing more Pennsylvania and ACC Games then anything else. Other then the Indians. and why does Major League Baseball blackout the Cinci Reds. The NHL does not blackout the Blue Jackets. the MLS does not blackout the Crew.

 

[exmediahack]

Great point. We all say we'd watch the lumberjack races and Home Run Derby, but in reality we'd watch five minutes of 'em. And if you really need a fix, a lot of that stuff is on YouTube.

I also wanted the really obscure crap, too. Classic Sports Network was a brilliant idea in 1997 and I'd watch it most mornings.

Since YouTube got past the ten-minute time limit, complete games are everywhere. It's so, so damn good.

 

[BTExpress]

Somebody got really inventive with Super Bowl V.

Only three quarters of complete game footage are available. But the complete fourth-quarter audio was found, and now there's a link that includes the fourth-quarter audio with snippets of NFL Films highlights. Where there are no highlights, there is simply a message that says "next video picture at 3:12:14", etc.

 

[Huggy]

I almost lost a job and a marriage to that incredible YouTube channel - long gone now - that had hundreds of complete college football games, all sorted by school, going way back