Cold Pizza goes Nutmeg

ESPN’s Cold Pizza is moving its studios from Manhattan to Bristol, Conn.

What does it all mean?

When CP was launched in the fall of 2003, the show was designed as an alternative to Sports Center. People who had already seen Sports Center the previous evening didn’t want to watch repeats of the show in the morning. Cold Pizza offered live, in-studio interviews instead of stale highlights.

You’re probably thinking, “Then why call the show Cold Pizza?” Nobody knows, except that it was show-creator Jim Cohen’s daughter’s idea.

Now that Cold Pizza is moving back to Bristol, you can bet that it will mean the end of the show’s in-studio interviews. After all, how many athletes are going to make the trip to Bristol (which is in the middle of NOWHERE), so that they can do an early morning chat? None, that’s how many.

Instead, the show will probably just use more satellite interviews, which are not as intimate or personal, but may ultimately be cheaper. Also, if ESPN wants to cancel the show, as it has done with ALL of former VP Mark Shapiro’s creations, it won’t be as big a hassle.

Full disclosure: I’m a former CP intern. Those, my friends, were the good old days. Start work at 3 a.m., get home at 7 p.m. Fun, fun, fun.