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ESPN Adding Live Morning Sports Centers
BRISTOL, CT (ESPN) - SportsCenter, ESPN’s flagship news, highlights and information program, will go live 6 a.m.-3 p.m. ET Monday-Friday starting August 11, the opening week of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, replacing the current wheel of re-aired SportsCenters. ESPN’s morning programming has consisted of encore presentations of SportsCenter since January 1996.
The new nine-hour block of live SportsCenters will feature three teams of two main show anchors, an update anchor, and production personnel split into three-hour shifts. Shows will generally reset every hour and SportsCenter Right Now updates will be presented every 20 minutes throughout the block.
SportsCenter will evolve throughout the day, originally putting more emphasis on reviewing the previous night’s news and events, then shifting that emphasis to the news of the day, that night’s events, and the current “buzz” via fan interactivity through a new SportsCenter.com site. Shows (available on ESPNHD) will consist of highlights, breaking news, expert analysis, commentary and debate, plus interviews, live coverage of press conferences, and more.
ESPN, Inc.’s multi-platform presentation of live news now provides fans several options in the morning, including live morning SportsCenters on ESPN which complement differentiated live programming on ESPN2 (ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning 6-10 a.m. and First Take 10-noon live, noon-2 p.m. encore), ESPNEWS’ ability to present live breaking news as warranted within the network’s 30-minute blocks, ESPN Radio (and ESPNRadio.com), SportsCenter Right Now updates on ESPN.com and ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN Mobile text and video alerts.
“These live SportsCenters will answer fans’ call for greater immediacy and interactivity,” Norby Williamson, executive vice president, production, said. “Going live will allow us to put a fresh perspective on the previous night’s games and cover breaking news during the day, all within the traditional SportsCenter approach, which focuses on highlights, scores and news.”
New Elements Complementing Live (6 a.m.-3 p.m.) SportsCenter
SportsCenter.com: SportsCenter.com will launch in August and provide users greater access to interact with SportsCenter and its commentators and other fans via chats, blogs, e-mails, instant polls and more.
Continuous Bottom Line: Viewers will receive a continuous Bottom Line that will graphically present the latest news and scores throughout the show and during commercials.
Rundown: The vertical list of upcoming stories will be updated live throughout the nine-hour block.
ESPN Day Programming Effective August 11, 2008
6 a.m.-3 p.m. ET SportsCenter
3-3:30 p.m. Outside the Lines First Report
3:30-4 p.m. College Football Live
4-4:30 p.m. NFL Live
4:30-5 p.m. Rome is Burning
5-5:30 p.m. Around the Horn
5:30-6 p.m. Pardon the Interruption
6-7:30 p.m. SportsCenter
WHITE PLAINS, New York (Ticker) -- A longtime staple of the USA Network, the U.S. Open will be carried by ESPN and the Tennis Channel beginning next year. The United States Tennis Association and the pair of cable networks announced a six-year partnership on Monday. USA Network, the primary cable television station for the event since 1984, will televise the Grand Slam for the last time this summer. CBS retains the broadcast network rights via its contract through 2011 with the USTA.
"This completes a five-year process of reinventing the television and digital landscape for the sport of tennis in North America," USTA CEO Arlen Kantarian said. "Tennis will now be prominently featured for eight straight weeks." ESPN2 will become the lead cable broadcaster for the U.S. Open and the U.S. Open Series in 2009, airing nearly 200 hours of tennis coverage during the eight-week North American summer tennis season.
Tennis Channel will continue as a U.S. Open Series broadcaster, but will now also broadcast more than 60 hours of live U.S. Open coverage. CBS Sports will continue to broadcast nearly 40 hours of live coverage of the fourth Grand Slam of the year. The two-week U.S. Open is annually played during the last week of August into early September in Queens, New York at Flushing Meadows.
BRISTOL, CT. (ESPN) - ESPN averaged 746,000 homes on a 24-hour basis, up 21 percent from April 2007 (617,000) and the most ever for the month. The network was boosted by larger audiences for the NBA playoffs, Major League Baseball and SportsCenter, as well as the addition of The Masters, which provided cable’s most-watched golf telecast in history.
ESPN2 averaged 255,000 homes, its best ever for April and up nine percent from last year (233,000). The network also set marks in Men 18-49 and 25-54. The live weekday morning lineup – ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning (6 – 10 a.m. ET) and FirstTake (10 a.m. – noon) – continues to grow its audience. That six-hour block averaged 201,000 homes, up 41 percent from April a year ago (143,000)
In April, ESPNEWS averaged a record 62,000 homes, up 11 percent from a year ago (56,000). It was the 24th consecutive month of household growth for ESPNEWS. The network debuted in high definition March 30 with a new set, graphics and music.
INSIDE SPORTS MEDIA: ESPN Dominates the Sports Landscape
Source: ESPN
ESPN – 96.7 Million Households
* Posted highs for the most-watched August, September, December (the most-viewed month ever), third quarter and fourth quarter (the most-viewed quarter ever).
* Monday Night Football – generated 16 of cable’s top 20 household audiences in 2007, topped by the New England – Baltimore game, cable’s biggest audience ever (12.5 million homes, 17.5 million viewers). The 17 NFL games included those ranked first, second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th in household delivery.
* SportsCenter – grew its audience to an average of 83.5 million viewers per month, peaking at 106 million in December.
* NASCAR – ESPN posts five of its biggest six household audiences for motorsports, including the top three. In just three months (August 27 – November 18), 127 million people (45% of Americans) watched NASCAR on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.
* New highs for average audience for college football, College GameDay, Sunday NFL Countdown and the weekday pairing Around the Horn/Pardon the Interruption.
* Overall, the network posted its second-best year ever, behind only 2006 which was boosted by the tremendous debut of Monday Night Football, plus the World Baseball Challenge and FIFA World Cup, events that did not take place in 2007.
ESPN2 – 96.3 Million Households
* ESPN2 enjoyed its most-watched year, averaging 272,000 households on a 24-hour basis.
* The network set a record for the month’s audience seven times, with September ranking as the best month ever, helping make third quarter its most-viewed quarter in history, followed by the network’s best fourth quarter in history.
* Season-long coverage of NASCAR’s Busch Series debuted as ESPN2’s highest-rated series ever, with three of its six biggest motorsports audiences ever, and the three all ranked in the network’s top nine for the year overall.
* ESPN2’s morning lineup – Mike & Mike at 6 a.m. followed by FirstTake at 10 a.m. – debuted in HD in May and for the year increased the audience 32%.
* Set records for average audience for Major League Baseball, college football, women’s college basketball and MLS.
ESPN Classic – 62.8 Million Households
* Post highs for audience in January, February, March and April, as well as its most-watched first quarter.
* The network posted a record rating for the September 15 Louisville – Kentucky live college football game. The game earned a 17.1 rating in Louisville, the market’s third-highest-rated ad-supported cable telecast of the year.
ESPNEWS - 63 Million Households
* Set a new mark for 24-hour audience for the year, 63,000, up 27% over last year.
* Five times the network set a record as its best month ever (most recent: December).
* Each quarter set a record for that quarter, with second, then third, topping all quarters ever.
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