Those other channels of alternatives are dead and have been for years. ESPN2 is literally just reruns of what's shown on ESPN for the day including reruns of FT.One thing you cannot say about Stephen A is that people watch him just because he is on. He has earned everything he has at this point, starting all the way at the bottom.
ESPN has 3 channels of alternatives people can tune into if they don’t like Stephen A. They have put plenty of people in positions to succeed over the years and none of them rose to the occasion.
It's a reason why they moved FT from ESPN2 to ESPN years ago.