After the appetizer that was Week Zero, college football gets into full swing this week. As a resident fan of a Big Ten school, who lives near the middle of the Big Ten’s heartland, I can’t help but ponder one question: Why hasn’t the Big Ten Network created their own Paul Finebaum?
I’ll turn on the Big Ten Network Saturday to watch North Dakota play Nebraska — just to see how long it takes bewilderment to come across Scott Frost’s face — and it will be the second time I’ve turned on the channel since Friday, March 11th and the Big Ten basketball tournament’s quarterfinals. The only other time the channel has been at the forefront of my mind was when USC and UCLA made the jump to the conference earlier this summer.
That’s it. Five and a half months without even entertaining the idea of turning on the channel, outside one of the largest college sports stories of all time.
In an ever-increasing “war” for college football media rights, marketability, notoriety, and publicity, I just can’t fathom why the Big Ten Network hasn’t tried to create their version of The Paul Finebaum Show. Having nothing of note on your television channel for five months, in a college sports landscape where your largest competition is programming relevant hours daily, seems like malpractice.
As just a general sports fan, I’ll turn on The Paul Finebaum Show on the SEC Network periodically just to see what the talk around the SEC is that day or week, hear what the callers believe, and generally enjoy the conversation. I’ll also dial up Marty & McGee, as fun as a radio/TV simulcast can be, which also airs on the SEC Network.
Meanwhile, on the Big Ten Network, they’re airing Big Ten Classics of Nebraska games that happened while the school was a member of the Big 8 and StudentU broadcasts of field hockey.
I understand the summer programming, to a point. There are 168 hours in a week you have to have some moving pictures on the screen, but it’s easy to take a nice 20 hours out of each week with a radio/TV simulcast that features strictly talk about your — now 16 — institutions.
I have a difficult time believing it wouldn’t benefit the conference, the cable network, and radio stations in the Midwest, and now both the Eastern and Western seaboards. I’d be hard pressed to think 101.7 The Hammer in West Lafayette or KXIC in Iowa City, or WLVN in Olney, Illinois wouldn’t love to air the Big Ten’s version of The Paul Finebaum Show.
Paul Finebaum, who Brady Quinn recently called an “SEC Thumper“, has been the sports radio show in the South for more than two decades. There are few radio stations in the south, sports or not, that wouldn’t love to have his show air on their station. It’s simply a matter of fact. And yet, the Big Ten Network, apparently, has no interest in building something similar.
Maybe I’ve misjudged demand. One of the biggest gripes Big Ten fans have with the SEC is their motto of “It Just Means More”. And it’s easy to see the grudge. 50% of all college football fans follow 16 schools. Four of those schools — Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, and Wisconsin — are in the top 16, according to a study commissioned by the NCAA. Now in full disclosure, seven of the 16 schools are in the SEC, but the point still stands. There’s obviously a demand for constant college football and basketball talk.
Maybe I’ve misjudged the lack of a slam dunk talent to host the show. An obvious choice doesn’t stand out to me at the moment (if Francois McGillicuddy is reading this, have your people get in touch with my people). Maybe the Big Ten East and Big Ten West are such drastically different divisions that a conference-wide show wouldn’t work 12 months out of the year.
Maybe I haven’t considered that FOX Sports — majority owner of the Big Ten Network — and iHeartMedia’s ability to work together to create a radio/tv simulcast that would air in Big Ten markets and also air on the cable network. They’ve worked together, obviously, in other areas. Why not this one?
Maybe I haven’t considered the Big Ten Network’s appetite for creating a relevant show. Maybe it’s just not something they want to add to their programming. Whether it be budget related, whether it be a behind-the-scenes effort they don’t want to undertake, or maybe they just don’t believe such a show would be profitable. That sounds like you don’t care about your audience or the programming you put together, but it’s their network. They can do as they please. But letting your chief rival own a portion of the media, and the all-important narrative, sure feels like a missed opportunity.
Or maybe, all things considered, the beauty of The Paul Finebaum Show is that it isn’t that easily recreated. Maybe it isn’t necessarily Paul Finebaum alone that makes the show great. Maybe it’s the listeners, the viewers, the callers, the coaches, the players, and Paul himself all in unison that make The Paul Finebaum Show what it is.
And maybe, just maybe, that’s the reason why the Big Ten Network hasn’t created their own Paul Finebaum.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
