Bill Simmons and Pat McAfee are still engaged in a feud that began when Simmons imitated McAfee on his podcast. In their most recent exchange, Simmons took a dig at McAfee’s television ratings on ESPN.
During his show on Monday, Simmons rhetorically questioned the increase in sports ratings on TV. He found it peculiar that even with the abundance of alternative media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and various streaming services, television ratings were on the rise. Simmons pointed out that ESPN and Fox boasted about their record-breaking ratings for shows like “Get Up,” while the NBA and the replacement for the 12 p.m. “SportsCenter” failed to see the same success.
It is worth noting that “The Pat McAfee Show” took over the 12 p.m. “SportsCenter” slot last September. Unfortunately, the show has experienced significant year-over-year declines, losing around 50 percent of its lead-in audience from “First Take.” McAfee’s struggles have allowed Colin Cowherd to narrow the gap between FS1 and ESPN when they go head-to-head.
Simmons is not incorrect in pointing out that sports ratings have generally increased, except for the NBA and McAfee’s program. However, it is ironic that Simmons is the one making this observation. Both Simmons and McAfee share a commonality in their difficulties transitioning from online stardom to traditional television.
Simmons fired the latest shot in the ongoing war of words between him and McAfee. In 2014, Simmons hosted the highest-rated sports podcast, and ESPN attempted to capitalize on his success by creating a television show called “The Grantland Basketball Hour.” Unfortunately, the show failed to attract an audience and became one of ESPN’s least-watched talk shows.
Following his departure from ESPN, Simmons signed with HBO and hosted a weekly sports show called “Any Given Wednesday.” However, the show struggled to attract viewers, averaging only 200,000 viewers per episode, which fell well below HBO’s expectations. As a result, HBO canceled the show after just one season.
Despite his television setbacks, Simmons has found success outside of traditional broadcasting. In 2020, he sold The Ringer to Spotify for over $100 million. While he may never return to television, his television legacy remains a low point in his career.
Considering Simmons’ intelligence, it is surprising that he would make a ratings-related comment, as it provides McAfee with ammunition to reference Simmons’ own failures in television. This seems like a miscalculation on Simmons’ part and makes him appear hypocritical.
According to the Source outkick.com