Speech Summaries

Artie Bulgrin Senior Vice President, Research & Sales Development ESPN

Building A Cross-Channel Brand

Artie Bulgrin, Senior Vice President, Research & Sales Development, ESPN, began with a history of the development and evolution of ESPN. Its growth has paralleled the growth of sports in America. America is a nation of sports fans, with 65% of men and 41% of women watching ESPN. ESPN's mission in creating its brand begins with speaking the language and reflecting the attitudes, personalities, and cultures defined by athletes and fans, as well as adapting to the flow and frequency of the modern fan's life: defined as one who watches games and highlights on TV but keeps up with sports info throughout the day.

There are four key building blocks for the ESPN brand: events, news and information, original programming, and technology. ESPN has a wide distribution of coverage for events, including everything from NFL to bowling to tennis to college basketball. Events bring ESPN in contact with the real experiences fans have. ESPN has also taken a thorough approach to reaching its consumers via multiple forms of media, including TV, magazine, radio, and the Internet. ESPN fulfills its commitment to original programming by offering original movies and shows like "Sports Talk," ensuring that ESPN original entertainment, or EOE, continues to explore new ways to connect with sports fans. ESPN's commitment to innovation, including ESPN broadband and VOD offerings, helps it maintain its position as the most popular destination for American sports fans and a leader in technology.

In terms of cross-media integration, without sports, vertical integration would be bundling. ESPN has been true to a single genre for 21 years, and it is with this level of true vertical integration that it is able to measure value. To measure this value, ESPN uses the first single-source audience measurement for a single integrated media brand, based on Knowledge Network/SRI's MultiMedia Mentor. This system can measure the touch and time of its consumers and provides actual R/Fs for ESPN cross-media platforms. This system has been invaluable for keeping ESPN on the same page as its fans.

Questions And Answers

Q: How do you justify the high cost of ESPN for cable operators?

A: ESPN determines the monetary value of its television programming from the amount of time that people spend watching a program and how valuable the brand is. And ESPN can be used as a differentiator for cable operators like Comcast.

Q: Are you concerned that as you move to more non-immediate TV (playmakers, etc.), that you'll be in the same boat as other PVR-threatened networks?

A: There is concern with PVR issues, but the fact that they are about sports is a good factor in assessing the impact of PVR on ESPN. The research thus far suggests that sports and news are the type of programming that people want to view in real time.