Don’t blame Disney’s ESPN for that super-sized monthly cable bill — blame the RSNs, or regional sports networks. That’s the word from Disney CEO Bob Iger, whose No. 1 cable sports channel has long been under fire for being the most expensive channel on the dial and the main reason households pay so much for TV.
ESPN would consider including its WatchESPN application on Apple Inc.’s television device as long as users authenticate they are pay TV customers, network executive Sean Bratches says.
At ESPN’s upfront presentation today, the sports network announced a strategic relationship with Twitter to co-produce unique social experiences around larger sports events. Advertisers will be able to buy into both ESPN’s properties and the Twitter components in a single integrated buy.
The contract extension through 2027 comes ahead of the planned additions of Pittsburgh and Syracuse from the Big East and would represent a 33% increase in TV money for each league school from the previous deal unveiled nearly two years ago.
Exclusives
ESPN drew 6.66 million total viewers for Thursday’s first-round coverage, according to Nielsen, up 16 percent over last year and the second-best tally ever, behind only 2010.
The NBA lockout delayed the opening of the playoffs by a few weeks, but that may be the only lingering effect of the five-month work stoppage. With the postseason beginning Saturday, the three NBA playoff carriers seem poised for very strong ratings after yet another record-setting season.
CBS and Turner may own exclusive broadcast rights to the NCAA basketball tournament, but ESPN is pulling in March Madness-crazed fans on mobile devices.
The Big 12 is on the verge of a blockbuster TV contract that will put its media revenue among the top tier of college conferences, despite losing several marquee programs in the last two years. The Big 12 and ESPN are nearing an extension that will earn the conference — combined with its Fox TV contract — $2.5 billion over the next 13 years, according to industry sources. The ESPN extension would run through 2025 and sync up with Fox’s deal.
Michael Bayle, VP-GM of ESPN Mobile, said the sports giant sees mobile as the starting point for its programming: “What’s taking preference now is to try to get as ubiquitous as possible. Program and design from the mobile standpoint first, then extrapolate what could be applied for the PC, television and print experience.”
ESPN has the exclusive rights to 24 championships across various college sports.
Such sharply rising costs — including in a recent deal already agreed between the National Football League and ESPN — are producing a vocal backlash from some media companies, which are afraid customers will drop services as prices escalate.
George Bodenheimer will step down as president of ESPN and ABC Sports and co-chair of Disney Media Networks, effective Jan. 1, and will become executive chairman of ESPN. John Skipper, executive vice president-content at ESPN, will succeed him.
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — ESPN pulled Hank Williams Jr.’s classic intro song from its broadcast of Monday night’s NFL game after the country singer famous for the line “Are you […]
ESPN is answering critics who publicly accused the media company of wild, indiscriminate spending with its eight-year, $15.2 billion deal to extend its rights to Monday Night Football.
The National Football League and ESPN have agreed to a deal that will keep Monday Night Football on the cable sports network through 2021, extending the current contract by eight years, the two sides said on Thursday.
In the latest example of corporate cousins sharing resources, ABC O&O WABC New York is incorporating sportscasts from ESPN Radio into its morning news. The spots, which air in the 5 and 6 a.m. hours, update viewers on the latest sports news and highlights.
Today, fans who tune in to watch the World Series of Poker on ESPN won’t see ads from two big sponsors that long bought commercials for the tournament. That’s because their top executives are under indictment. The ripple effects show how crucial a handful of online companies operating at the edge of the law were to a recent boom in televised poker games, which in some cases act as infomercials for the poker-playing industry.
ESPN has signed a comprehensive 12-year deal for the rights to Wimbledon beginning with next year’s tournament, the company announced today. ESPN will air the event live on ESPN and ESPN2 while ABC will air a re-run of the finals on the same day. The coverage plan makes the finals available live on U.S. television for the first time in decades.
ESPN is close to finalizing a deal with Wimbledon that would end NBC’s 43-year association with the event, according to sources privy to the talks. The deal has not been signed yet and specific contract details are not known. But sources say that the All England Club has decided to sell its full rights package to ESPN. An announcement could come as soon as this week.
ESPN/ABC Sports and TNT stand to lose as much as $1.25 billion in ad sales revenue if the labor dispute negates the entire 2011-12 NBA campaign. Indeed, the NBA audience has become so valuable that the postseason inventory alone accounts for nearly a fifth of the full-season take.
