The Rise and Fall of Jason Wilde

[Harlan Huckleby]

Two years ago Jason Wilde had a weekly radio show with Aaron Rodgers. Wilde was the man, his show was widely referenced in the media. Then AROD bugged out.

Wilde had a webpage with ESPN-Wisconsin with blogs and articles several times a week. That disappeared, AFAIK.

Now this season they aren't friggin paying for him to see the games live. How does a Packer beat reporter not see the games in person? Who did Wilde piss off?

Rob Demovsky seems to write all the PAcker coverage for ESPN, and he is no great shakes.

Don't get me started on how ESPN has ruined local talk radio by removing nearly all the podcasts for Homer, In the Trenches, etc. (Ya, they still give you a tiny sample.)

Screw ESPN.

[arcilite]

I wish we could get Tyler Dunne back

[Patler]

Two years ago Jason Wilde had a weekly radio show with Aaron Rodgers. Wilde was the man, his show was widely referenced in the media. Then AROD bugged out.

Wilde had a webpage with ESPN-Wisconsin with blogs and articles several times a week. That disappeared, AFAIK.

Now this season they aren't friggin paying for him to see the games live. How does a Packer beat reporter not see the games in person? Who did Wilde piss off?

Rob Demovsky seems to write all the PAcker coverage for ESPN, and he is no great shakes.

Don't get me started on how ESPN has ruined local talk radio by removing nearly all the podcasts for Homer, In the Trenches, etc. (Ya, they still give you a tiny sample.)

Screw ESPN.

Is Rodgers doing a show with someone else?
Any idea why he left Wilde?

[vince]

Wilde hosts "Wilde and Tausch" every day and I think it's pretty good. He writes for ESPN national as a Packer beat guy rather than the local ESPN Milwaukee and ESPN Madison. My guess is they were forced to take some cost-cutting measures so he caught on with the national beat. I think he's much better than Demovsky although Demovsky was there before Wilde. I wasn't aware he didn't travel but it's not too surprising that the social media budget only allows one to travel. Wilde doesn't write as prolifically about Packer news like Demovsky does. He's more of a columnist than a reporter I'd say. His work is definitely more thoughtful for what it's worth.

[HarveyWallbangers]

Wilde is working for the big boys at ESPN now. Not just the local affiliate. Kind of a strange arrangement though. Demovsky does the blogs and Wilde does the podcasts.

[vince]

Is Rodgers doing a show with someone else?
Any idea why he left Wilde?

Rodgers stopped doing a weekly show altogether. I'm not sure why but I think it has something to do with his desire for privacy and getting out of the tabloid journalism arena. Everything he'd say on the show got quoted everywhere. I'm guessing it got to be more demanding to deal with than he liked.

[Harlan Huckleby]

My guess is they were forced to take some cost-cutting measures so he caught on with the national beat. I think he's much better than Demovsky although Demovsky was there before Wilde. I wasn't aware he didn't travel but it's not too surprising that the social media budget only allows one to travel.

It just seems like a given that the established sports journalists attend the games. I was listening to Homer ask Wilde about the situation, and Wilde was very uncomfortable for obvious reasons. It's got to be a kick in nuts to cover a team for 20 years then lose your seat at the table. Even as a podcast cowboy, you need to see the game live to report on the full sense of the game.

[vince]

It just seems like a given that the established sports journalists attend the games. I was listening to Homer ask Wilde about the situation, and Wilde was very uncomfortable for obvious reasons. It's got to be a kick in nuts to cover a team for 20 years then lose your seat at the table. Even as a podcast cowboy, you need to see the game live to report on the full sense of the game.

Times are changing in the world of sports journalism. No readers in print. No money in digital.

[pbmax]

I wish we could get Tyler Dunne back

Agree with this entirely. He went home to Buffalo, then got pink slipped. Now he is with Bleacher Report.

[pbmax]

ESPN clamped down on content outside their own website so Wilde wasn't going to be able to write for a radio network's web site for much longer (even though they branded it ESPN). They stripped some good stuff out of Madison too. Might be all tied up with negotiations over how much network programming to carry. ESPN wants ESPN programs 24/7. Milwaukee runs 3 or 4 shows of their own origin (or did). I think it cost them their lunch show the D List. Drew Olsen is on their competitor now.

If you don't carry more programs, you get less flexibility with the ESPN branding.

But Wilde gets a two hour show instead of one hour of green and gold.And he gets Tauscher instead of Bill Johnson, which is a plus 6 in life quality.

I bet he is doing just fine. However, he writes fewer and shorter posts. He does get to do topics the beat guys don't get to do. He covered the Vikes GM for a profile a while back.

[vince]

Yeah I agree on Tyler Dunne too. He played QB at a small college if I remember right.

Peissero was good too I thought going back a bit further. He jumped ship to the Vikes and Star Tribune. Not sure what he's up to these days.

[pbmax]

Yeah I agree on Tyler Dunne too. He played QB at a small college if I remember right.

Peissero was good too I thought going back a bit further. He jumped ship to the Vikes and Star Tribune. Not sure what he's up to these days.

USAToday.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Agree with this entirely. He went home to Buffalo, then got pink slipped. Now he is with Bleacher Report.

Holy shit. Lots of kicks in the nuts going round for sports journalists. I find it a little odd that his replacement, Michael Cohen, won the job from a field of 80 applicants or some such thing. Cohen is a fine writer, but his presentation on those podcasts leaves much to be desired. You'd think the crème de la crème of that contest would be uniformly excellent - like Tyler Dunne.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I started using the ESPN app on my $50 android tablet to access ESPN content. It does make it easier to organize and access their snippets of podcast content.

ESPN has screwed things up badly by bullying the local affiliates, at least from a fan's perspective.

I can't listen to sports talk on the radio anymore. Too many commercials for my tender ears. I'll make an exception to listen to Homer fulminate after the games on Pack Attack. Oh ya, I'll also listen to a bit of IN THE TRENCHES on thursday nights to catch up on the Badgers.

That sports radio tends to annoy the cats. Did I tell you the cute things they did yesterday? Wait... I'll upload the pictures...

[KYPack]

Where's Chewey?

Local talk?

Podcasts?