ESPN video note in USA Today
This is a good example of what we’re trying to do at OPUBCO. Video is not a set length or format. Use the medium of online to its strengths. More companies are, such as ESPN:
ESPN’s Kenny Mayne, known for droll humor, is finally getting his own series. It just won’t be on TV.
Instead, Mayne Street is one of at least six new ESPN series that will appear only online later this year. Another, featuring ESPN Radio’s Eric Kuselias, will be called Eric’s Got Issues, although he won’t have many issues with, say, viewers noticing he’s having a bad hair day — the series will only appear on cellphones.
Online shows, compared with regular TV series, has some advantages: They can be watched at any time and run any length — the new online shows might average 3-4 minutes.
John Zehr, senior vice president for ESPN Digital Media, says the new show “isn’t just TV moving to online.” But, he says, they could end up moving the other way: “Some may graduate up to TV.”
Like MMA Live, a weekly series on mixed martial arts that’s just been launched at a time when TV channels are warming to the sport. Other online series will include ESPN researchers in Stats Masters as well as The Talent Combine, where aspiring sportscasters will try to win viewers’ online votes. “It’s our version of American Idol to find the next digital talent,” Zehr says.
Don’t laugh. ESPN.com’s video views — measuring how many times video are accessed — increased from 250 million in 2004 to 1.2 billion last year and are up another 36% this year. In office cubicles, watching online videos beats working.
– Michael Hiestand
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