While ESPN (DIS) still commands the highest cable prices - charging over $3.26 for each monthly subscriber, which will increase to $3.65 in 2008 - it has suffered in viewership, with the average number of households tuning into the channel during primetime hours dropping by 10.2 percent in 2007, and 5 percent for the full day.
In the past the ability to draw viewers through its video bites has been challenged by the innumerable places on the Internet sports fans can check in to see their favorite athletes or sports teams. In other words, they can no longer count on that as a differentiation point in the minds of sports fans.
How the sports network has responded, is to go looking throughout the media world for sports journalists who can add indepth analysis and insight into the coverage. It's far more than simply trying to get people from their competitors, it's an attempt at reinventing the entire network across all its platforms.
"As more money moves towards the Internet, you're going to have to have talent," says John Skipper, ESPN's executive vice president for content. "The talent is going to have to come from traditional media. Content is increasingly valuable, particularly differentiating content. There just are not that many guys who can provide that."
What has made it easier to attract the right people is the declining print industry, which is struggling to keep quality journalists, and who are able to be offered much more from ESPN because of their stronger financial position.
The idea is to build up their stable of writers and create content that is very difficult to duplicate. From there they can offer fans up-to-date stories and breaking news, while serving up expert analysis from their talented writers across any media platform a sports fan uses.
An added incentive is to give the writers the opportunity to become nationally known through offering them time on the TV channels.
ESPN is basically saying their brand alone isn't able to carry them any longer. While that will always be an attractant of fans, for growth they have to go beyond that to hire writers that are already their own brands, or can eventually become a brand.
The new media world is those able to offer up the most indepth coverage, along with building individual brands within the corporate brand, will be those with the most potential to generate significant growth in the years ahead. ESPN is taking the steps to become that in an extraordinarly highly competitive marketplace.
If a strong brand like ESPN must take these types of steps for growth, it speaks to others needing to as well.
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