This article analyzes what we term the “televised sport debate format” exemplified in shows such as Pardon the Interruption and First Take. This design borrows from established formats in political television such as Firing Line, Crossfire, and Hannity and Colmes, and is characterized by mostly male hosts debating a range of salient events, often with an animated, argumentative tone. This article identifies the convergence of factors influencing the growth of the televised sport debate by focusing on the industrial and political contexts in which these programs emerged. We examine the commercial and cultural realities that created the space for ESPN’s debate programs, and how ESPN (and then its competitors) sought to exploit that space. In the second half of the article, we explain the political context within and beyond sport that opened the cultural and ideological spaces for ESPN and its competitors to subtly reshape the televised sport debate format to appeal more directly to race- and gender-based grievances. We show how these realities, combined with ESPN’s presentational strategies, express deep-seated racial tensions, both within the institutional culture of ESPN and in the wider sphere of U.S. culture. We conclude by asking what these shifts mean for the future of sports television programming strategies, and the politics that both inform them and are informed by them.

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“体育是争论”：极化，种族紧张和电视转播体育辩论形式

本文分析了我们所说的“电视体育辩论形式”，这种形式在诸如《赦免》和《第一眼》等节目中得到了体现。这种设计借鉴了政治电视台的固定格式，例如《火线》，《交火》，《汉尼提和科尔姆斯》，其特点是男性主持人辩论一系列重要事件，通常带有生动，辩论性的语调。本文通过关注出现这些节目的产业和政治背景，确定影响电视体育辩论发展的因素的趋同。我们研究了为ESPN辩论计划创造空间的商业和文化现实，以及ESPN（及其竞争对手）如何试图开发该空间。在文章的后半部分，我们将说明体育运动之内和之外的政治背景，为ESPN及其竞争对手打开了文化和思想空间，从而巧妙地重塑了电视体育辩论的形式，以更直接地吸引基于种族和性别的不满。我们将展示这些现实与ESPN的展示策略相结合，如何在ESPN的机构文化内以及在美国文化的更广泛领域内表达深层次的种族紧张关系。最后，我们要问这些转变对体育电视节目编排策略的未来意味着什么，以及既为体育节目提供战略又由其提供信息的政治。结合ESPN的展示策略，既可以在ESPN的机构文化中，也可以在美国文化的更广泛领域中表达深层次的种族紧张关系。最后，我们要问这些转变对体育电视节目编排策略的未来意味着什么，以及既为体育节目提供战略又由其提供信息的政治。结合ESPN的展示策略，既可以在ESPN的机构文化中，也可以在美国文化的更广泛领域中表达深层次的种族紧张关系。最后，我们要问这些转变对体育电视节目编排策略的未来意味着什么，以及既为体育节目提供战略又由其提供信息的政治。