When ESPN aired WNBA star Caitlin Clark’s interview on The Pat McAfee Show, they cut to a commercial midway through one of Clark’s answers, much to the frustration of fans.
On the YouTube version, viewers could hear Clark’s full response about learning curves in the WNBA.
“Yeah, there will definitely be some be some learning curves and some challenges, but also … I think my passing translates, and like, people always want to talk about the logo of threes, the scoring and whatever …” Clark said before being cut off.
ESPN just went to a commercial in the middle of one of Caitlin Clark's answers on 'The Pat McAfee Show.' pic.twitter.com/IiGvkEuhGw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 17, 2024
Sports sites noted ESPN should want to maximize viewership of such a high-profile interview.
While ad breaks are standard, putting one in the middle of a guest response was puzzling.
It continued perceptions that ESPN has targeted McAfee’s show, despite its large viewership.
Fans argued outdated linear TV rules don’t apply and it only pushes more to watch the uncensored YouTube version.
“They do this every single show because Pat let’s it go full on YouTube and doesn’t really care as much about linear television rules that are outdated and too predicated on people thinking it’s 1980 need to tune it at this exact second to see it,” one X user wrote.
Another wrote that “This is why the real ones watch the YouTube stream.”
“That’s why we watch on YouTube,” another said.
The move undermined ESPN’s ability to bring viewers back from platforms like YouTube that don’t impose similar interruptions.
