ESPN synegry ... It's true, man

There's been enough complaining over the years about how ABC/ESPN does this synergy thing to perfection -- cross promoting its own stuff to a point where everything else in the outside (real) world doesn't exist.

Le Anne Schreiber has apparently had enough of it.

The ESPN ombudsman (that's code word for "employee asked to critique her own company and then let everyone know they have an ally if there's something that really irks them") says in her latest piece (linked here) that this synergy business has to cool its jets, lest it suffocates those it proports to serve.

"(It happens) so often and relentlessly ... viewers start feeling trapped in the sports equivalent of 'The Truman Show,' she said.

Duh. It's something we, and plenty of others, have been writing for years. And have been told to knock it off. Now, she says it, and it's legit?

Schreiber quotes ESPN Senior VP & Dir of News Vince Doria as saying: "We do carpet bomb you with information about what you can see here. ... But most of the time, the promotion is quick, doesn't terribly interrupt your viewing and provides information that is actually useful to somebody. When viewers complain, do they make legitimate points about interrupted viewing?"

Yes, especially when it's a promotion for ABC's "Wipeout" (hosted by ESPN's John Anderson).

"The problem might not be the cross-promotion itself," Schreiber continues, "which does have its uses for viewers, but a degree of multiplatform corporate synergy that often feels so relentless and all-encompassing that ESPN's heaviest viewers go berserk from time to time. ... (it) can drain the fun out of sports."

Her advice: "Lighten up on the synergy. Don't expend all your creativity devising new ways to drive viewers into the corrals of your biggest business partners. Viewers will flock there on their own."