Interesting to see a slice of the PR version of trash talk.
Last week, CBS announced it will launch a new 24/7 sports talk radio network, beginning in 2013. NBC previously announced plans to increase its presence in sports talk radio.
ESPN obviously took notice. On its Front Row site, David Scott, who handles PR for ESPN’s various audio outlets, compiled a long list of what the WWL is doing on that front.
The timing wasn’t a coincidence. For ESPN, it was a not subtle reminder to everyone, including CBS and NBC, that they’ve done this radio thing for a long time.
It’s not exactly classic playground in-your-face trash talk, but the Front Row post basically says, “We’re so far ahead of you, it’s not even funny.”
From Front Row:
ESPN Audio is the country’s largest sports radio network and launched over 20 years ago.
ESPN Audio is available in every conceivable way: desktop, mobile devices, car and satellite radios and personal radio platforms.
ESPN Audio is featured event programming.
ESPN Audio is personality-driven studio programming. ESPN Audio is ESPN Deportes.*
ESPN Audio is ESPNRadio.com.
* ESPN Audio is the creator of the award-winning ESPN Radio App.*
ESPN Audio is ESPN Podcasts.* *see below
ESPN Audio is, in part, made up of 700 nationwide stations under the ESPN Radio banner:
ESPN Radio is the provider of more than 9,000 hours of talk and event content annually.
ESPN Radio is currently reaching 24 million listeners a week.
ESPN Radio is the owner and operator of FM stations in New York and Dallas, and AM signals in Chicago and Los Angeles.
ESPN Radio is comprised of more than 300 full-time affiliates.
ESPN Radio is the exclusive national home of marquee event programming including: the NBA regular season, playoffs and Finals; MLB regular season, playoffs and World Series; the BCS (with a full slate of regular season college football); the USGA’s U.S. Open; the 2014 FIFA World Cup; and the Open Championship.
ESPN Radio is the home of national weekday studio programming including: Mike and Mike in the Morning (Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic), 6-10 a.m. ET; The Herd with Colin Cowherd, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; The Scott Van Pelt Show (with Ryen Russillo), 1-4 p.m.; The Doug Gottlieb Show, 4-7 p.m.; Hill & Schlereth (Mike Hill and Mark Schlereth), 7-10 p.m.
ESPN Radio is the home of national weekend programming including: the Emmy Award-winning Sporting Life with Jeremy Schaap (10-11 p.m. Friday); Dari & Mel (Dari Nowkhah and Mel Kiper Jr.), 8 a.m.-noon Saturday; Coach & Coleman (Jonathan Coachman and Freddie Coleman), noon-4 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday; The John Kincade Show, 7-10 a.m. Sunday; The V Show (Bob Valvano), overnight Saturday, Sunday; and SportsCenter updates.
*ESPN Deportes is the only all-sports Spanish radio network, and has 45 affiliates with stations in all ten of the Top 10 Hispanic markets.
*ESPNRadio.com is the most listened to live stream of any terrestrial broadcaster in the world — reaching more than 1.7 million unique listeners per month (source: Ando Media).
*The ESPN Radio app is one of the top paid sports apps since its debut in September 2009, and it was named Best Radio App by Radio Ink Magazine at the Digital Convergence Awards in 2011.
*ESPN Podcasts are reaching 358 million downloads through the ESPN PodCenter and iTunes (a year-to-year increase of more than 129 percent), including its most popular podcast The BS Report with Bill Simmons, which logged more than 92 million downloads (up 120 percent). For the third consecutive year, ESPN was awarded Best in Sports at the 7th Annual Podcast Awards.
Ed, having inquired about affiliation with ESPN Radio, some of the same things come to mind as what cable operators complain about. They are expensive and they are arrogant. You get a couple of big names to anchor one of these new networks, maybe steal someone like Dan Patrick from Premiere, and fill the other slots with young and hungry talent and you will do okay. But, still, one of the obstacles will be, many of these affiliates are the second sports station in town, thus with inferior signals, etc. As for the rest of the stuff, anyone can write a phone app, who’s to say they won’t partner with someone like Yahoo, or USA Today as a high traffic website and in the case of NBC, they have a pretty significant web presence already, plus both have deep pockets to make this happen. Will it be easy? No. But it can be done, especially if paired with a significant local element.