I remember years ago reading an interview with an exec from TSN, then Canada's only sports network. It was when specialty cable channels were new, and a lot of their programming was Aussie Rules Football and monster trucks. But he was outlining where he wanted the network to go, and he mentioned foreseeing a day when they had an array of "lifestyle" programming related to sports during the day, like exercise shows.
Of course, that didn't happen. Today that seems quite naive and old fashioned, reminding us of a time when: daytime television appealed to housewives, cable channels stayed on topic, and people cared about exercise.
I'm reminded of this because today's daytime sports programming is dominated by sports discussion shows. The people on them change from one hour to the next, but the format is mostly the same, with a relatively-rapid-fire succession of topics to be argued about briefly and discarded. And the shows are quick to apply the tropes of sports coverage, with time limits and on-screen lists of upcoming subjects.
Even in our divisive and sports-obsessed world, I can't believe anyone needs this much sports talk. Each show covers the same stories; how many people do we need to debate one day's sports news? Are you sure no one out there wouldn't rather watch an exercise program?
But somehow this is the most profitable programming for sports networks' daytimes. I guess that's not too surprising - with one set and no writers, they must be dirt-cheap to make. And that's the modern approach to specialty channel programming: find a type of show that will make you money, then crank out as many variations on it that you can get away with.
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