Media Management of ESPN

ESPN is a well-known sports channel that is considered to be the worldwide leader in sports. ESPN was founded in 1979 by Bill and Scott Rasmussen and was formerly known as the Entertainment and Sports Programming network. Today, ESPN has many personnel types that play a major role in the success of media management including analysts, anchors, reporters, commentators, executives and others. During this era sports were seen as nothing. Bill starting up his own sports network was a bold move. Sports only appeared in newspapers and was staffed by semi pros. “The attention that many in society give to sports is not confined to on-field play or game-related statistics. Instead, the topics of interest to sport fans today—and the topics given attention by sport media—often stretch well beyond the game itself to intersect with other broader issues in society. While sports might once have been “just a game,” today the sporting world intersects with nearly every other part of social life.” (Schmidt, H. C. 2018). The study of sports analysts explores the notion that the availability and analysis of large datasets have the capacity to improve practice and change the nature of science in the sport and exercise setting. The increasing use of knowledge and data technology in sport is giving rise to the present amendment. Websites hold giant knowledge repositories, and therefore the development of wearable technology, itinerant applications, and connected instruments for observation physical activity, training, and competition give giant knowledge sets of extensive and detailed measurements. Innovative approaches conceived to more fully exploit these large data sets could provide a basis for more objective evaluation of coaching strategies and new approaches to how science is conducted. An emerging discipline, sports analytics, could help overcome some of the challenges involved in obtaining knowledge and wisdom from these large data sets. Examples of where large data sets have been analyzed, to evaluate the career development of elite cyclists and to characterize and optimize the training load of well-trained runners, are discussed. Careful verification of large data sets is time-consuming and imperative before useful conclusions can be drawn. Consequently, it is recommended that prospective studies be preferred over retrospective analyses of data. It is concluded that rigorous analysis of large data sets could enhance our knowledge in the sport and exercise sciences, inform competitive strategies, and allow innovative new research and findings.

Bill Rasmussen the founder of ESPN, first came up with the idea of a live sports cable channel in the summer of 1978. He didn’t have a formal business plan, when he proposed the idea many people thought it would be difficult to do because stations couldn’t afford the production costs of live events, but Bill was determined. He felt his proposal would be taken seriously if he had a name, so he met with his son Scott and began brainstorming. Rasmussen knew he wanted the words “Entertainment and “Sports” to be included in the title because he was thinking of incorporating talk-show programming. Eventually he came up with the “Entertainment and Sports Programming network.” Although Scott wasn’t too fond of the idea, he thought it was bland, they stuck with the idea. From that idea they decided to call their Connecticut sports channel ESP-TV, which along the years has transformed into what we now know as ESPN (American Psychological Assoc., p.53).

Media Management of a company is very important and can play a major role in the success of a company. ESPN has one of the best media entertainments today, it is important to consider the “company’s products across platforms, the discourses and marketing it generates, and commentary on the organization. They do so through considering a combination of texts, popular and trade discourses, archived material, and interviews with ESPN employees and other relevant sports media professionals” (Vogan, T., 2015).  ESPN hires nothing but the best

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Technology has advanced over the years making it easier to access large data regarding sports and exercise. Sport analytics contain important information such as relevant and historical statistics that can add an advantage to a team. Sports analyst gather the data and provide information that may be shared on websites which allow individuals or teams to monitor their performance. The sports analyst’s job is very important because the information gathered can be extremely meaningful to coaches and can provide opportunities to create new and innovative research (Passfield and Hopker, 2017).. The sports analysts is one of the most familiar roles out of the many jobs within ESPN. The quality of work of a male and female analyst were once debatable and women analysts were said to be not important. In an article written in 2002 entitled “A Level Playing Field? Audience Perceptions of Male and Female Sports Analysts” by Greer and Jones, it is said that “The mixed reaction on display in the forum reflects diverse U.S. societal views on female sports analysts among fans, athletes, media executives, and sportscasters themselves. While women have made some inroads into sports broadcasting in recent years, they typically are confined to the role of sideline or field reporter. In this role, critics say, they serve as cheerleaders and eye-candy for a largely male audience. As of 2018, there are just as many women analyst as there are men. One of the many achieved women analysts who has worked for ESPN is Doris Burke. Doris Burke is an NBA analyst and has worked for ESPN for 27 years and has become the first women to land a regular job as an NBA analyst on national television which many consider to be one of the ‘highest and hardest glass ceiling in broadcasting’ ( Scheiber, 2018). Doris Burke has become one of the most achieved sports analysts of all time. 

ESPN journalists have an important role in daily production. “While a Sports Journalist Job Description depends on your employer, specific positions and the type of media you are working in, there are some general duties typical of most sports journalism jobs.” (“Sports Journalist Job Description”). Being a journalist for ESPN means you have to write about different sports throughout the production. There are many journalist jobs, but sport reporters are the most common in the sport world. They report the information people write for TV or radio. Journalist meet with other sport writers and reporters to go over due dates, assignments, etc. on a daily and weekly basis. For production they have to research obsessively while having to partake in interviews and attend games. They don’t always collaborate with other journalists. There are times they work independently on a report and write articles themselves. As a sports journalist, the job description will vary and will heavily depend on the type of media being used. It can include newspapers, magazines, radio, tv, or even online media. Aside from working as a sports journalist, opportunities may arise to work as a media coordinator, announcer, and more. As they are asked to complete these tasks, they have to produce great quality work day in and day out. Being a sport reporter requires a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Getting an internship will help profoundly.

 Sport commentators also have an important job, “sport commentators are a unique media source as they blend objective, judgmental, and historical components with the purpose of not only reporting an event but also dramatizing the event”. (Parker, H., & Fink, J. 2008). Sport commentators attend games. They must know information about the players such as their name, school attended, height, weight, etc. During game time a commentator’s job is to make listeners feel like they are in the audience. The game is supposed to be descripted with mind opening imagery. Studies show that in the past people reacted to a game depending on if the commentator used violence when describing a play. There are two styles of play including “normal play” and “rough play”. Present ESPN commentators like Scott Van Pelt use a more playful way of commentating plays. All of ESPN’s commentators use this style and it is effective when showing highlights throughout the day.

ESPN executives run the company from top to bottom. There are different types of executives. Daryl Garvin is an executive director of the Hawaii Bowl. The Hawaii bowl is a postseason college football game. Daryl runs the show behind the scenes telling camera men, commentators, etc. what to do and when to do it. Daryl also directs the Hawaiian airlines diamond head classic. Executive directors make sure everything is running smoothly while also controlling the game. Executive director is the highest position at ESPN. There are plenty of positions that can lead to opportunities to become an executive director.

Camera men are needed in every production. Camera operators have to be good at using a camera, be able to take information from the director, and remain focused for hours on end. ESPN includes indoor and outdoor production covering sporting events. The camera operators are also a part of production back at the headquarters. Elaine Rom is a women camera operator who worked with ESPN for years. Elaine works the Sugar bowl. “On game day, we get in about six hours before the game starts, but for the Sugar Bowl, I’m actually here a day before most people. That’s because I set up the broadcast booth on Wednesday. For this game, I have about 30 boxes, cases of gear, monitors and lights. A robotic camera that shoots back at the announcer that the director can control. It’s a whole set. They put me in an empty room and we build the announce booth from scratch.” Elaine explains her job as being a camera operator having to build and tear down sets before and after games. There is more to be a camera operator than simply showing up and recording a game.

ESPN is the leading sport network solely because of their ability to be the only sport network to run their production constantly on multiple different channels. ESPN collaborates with other networks. ESPN and ABC broadcasted the special Olympics in 2016. “In addition, ESPN2 will feature highlights and interviews from the games each night of competition and segments will air on Sports Center and other ESPN shows during the week. The network said the games will also be highlighted through ESPN’s website and apps.” (Bits and Pieces. ABC, ESPN Sign on to Broadcast Special Olympics. 2016).  Although ESPN can easily run a production single handedly ESPN wanted broadcast with ABC to be the first to televise the special Olympics. ESPN correspondingly honored the founder of special Olympics Eunice Kennedy Shriver “The effort that Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her family have been displaying for these past five decades is truly remarkable, we are honored to celebrate Eunice’s work and the bravery of the athletes of Special Olympics, whose efforts and performances” (Bits and Pieces. ESPN Honored Special Olympics Founder. 2017). This was ESPN’s way of thanking the founder and the athletes on their own platform at the ESPY’s.

The ESPY’s is an award ceremony where they honor athletes, coach’s, staff members, and more. The ESPY’s air every July and is a huge production for ESPN. The ceremony last a couple hours. The ESPY’s change location every year, this year the ceremony was held at Microsoft theater. The production team of ESPN had to set up and tear down the set which is a lot of work giving the fact of how many cameras, cable cords, etc. had to be put in place for the production to run smooth as possible.

ESPN have a well-prepared marketing plan to furthermore expand their company to the worldwide dominance. Cable success have been on a downward spiral ever since streaming have come into play. ESPN markets using different services like YouTube, cable, mobile device, and more. “To promote ESPN+, ESPN is tapping its sprawling media network that includes cable TV channels, a massive social footprint, the largest digital audience of any sports publisher (67 million unique visitors in July, per comScore) and 2.1 million-circulation magazine, per the Alliance for Audited Media.” (Willens & Lucinda Southern, “How ESPN is marketing ESPN+”, 2018)

ESPN executives tried pushing ESPN+. ESPN+ is a steaming service in which ESPN is trying to promote with ads and magazines. The company also is using Disney to promote which Disney owns ESPN. Competing with YouTube is hard for any company trying to create a streaming service that’s better than YouTubes. While ESPN markets streaming services through them, their marketing strategy is to reach out to the audience who are watching them faithfully. ESPN+ launched April 12, 2018 and was founded the same date. The owner of ESPN and ESPN+ is The Walt Disney Company. To promote ESPN+, ESPN is creating network that includes cable TV channels, a massive social footprint, the largest digital audience of any sports publisher. The news ticker that sneaks on the bottom of its TV broadcasts displays the ESPN+ brand and its web site and mobile apps have modules promoting the merchandise and its content. ESPN executives have tried to create it as simple as achievable to add ESPN+ into content. Guides that designate the way to cite ESPN+ and distributed them to each producer at ESPN and Disney itself. ESPN also is putting what Young called spending into house ads and alternative inventory, with 14 totally different. That’s still a little slice of the promotions ESPN runs on TV for its frequent products. Subscription offers area unit being sent to the foremost engaged website guests and app users.

ESPN’s stage efforts to support complexity clarify how contemporary media merging. Along these lines, ESPN manipulates common stances that give meaning to the media it uses and the content they deliver. Media ethnographer Ilana Gershon terms these attitudes media ideologies, or Gershon argues that the media’s social meanings are relational. Attitudes about one intermediate shape viewpoints on others. ESPN’s expansion into different media exploits on their relative value. “For example, its forays into film use the medium’s stereotypical status as more artful than television and the Internet to brand its TV and online content as exceptional.” ESPN also manipulates media sorts’ ideologically organized value. It normally produces and programs documentary content. A variety of TV that addresses surrounding the intermediate what we might call basic beliefs to suggest are unusually educational. Like its confidence on film’s popular sense, it uses film’s relative representational hub to develop uprightness that is rare in sports media. In addition to engaging these high-toned media practices, ESPN builds alliances with other powerful symbols from canonical filmmakers to independent book publishers that signal refinement. By the time ESPN began these efforts, it had already established itself as a multifaceted culture, a framework through which sport is known, experienced and represented that, in former company president George Bodenheimer’s words, tried to these activities work to inflect this ESPN culture with culture. Beyond taming superiority, Bourdieu claims representative capital is Important. Though it often markets them as such, ESPN’s drives to create standing are not motivated by unbiased visual goals. They instead drive a perceptive effort to extricate ESPN from other sports media outlets, compete for market share, expand its demographic reach, promote its content, and even cut costs. Importantly, these engagements do not affect an elitist style that derides or dismisses popular forms far from it. Rather, they encourage an unintellectual sensibility that fulfils audiences seeking more urbane content without isolating those who simply want to know what is happening in the world of sports. Insistently tests how far its brand will prolong in virtually any bearing that might lead to revenue or constructive revelation.

Annotated bibliography

• A Day In The Life: Behind The Scenes With TV Camera Operator Elaine Rom. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/espnw/athletes-life/article/14474327/scenes-tv-camera-operator-elaine-rom
• Amelkin, V., Askarisichani, O., Kim, Y. J., Malone, T. W., & Singh, A. K. (2018). Dynamics of collective performance in collaboration networks. PLoS ONE, 13(10), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204547
• Bits and Pieces. Abc, Espn Sign on to Broadcast Special Olympics. (2016). Palaestra, 30(4), 55. Retrieved from https://proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=120591181&site=eds-live&scope=site
• Bits and Pieces. Espn Honored Special Olympics Founder. (2017). Palaestra, 31(3), 56. Retrieved from https://proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=125493503&site=eds-live&scope=site
• Freeman, M. (2001). ESPN : The Uncensored History. Lanham, Md: Taylor Trade Publishing. Retrieved from https://proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=545133&site=eds-live&scope=site
• Greer, J. D., & Jones, A. H. (2012). A Level Playing Field?: Audience Perceptions of Male and Female Sports Analysts. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 6(8), 67–79. Retrieved from https://proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=91821599&site=eds-live&scope=site
• Parker, H., & Fink, J. (2008). The Effect of Sport Commentator Framing on Viewer Attitudes. Sex Roles, 58(1–2), 116–126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9344-8
• Passfield, L., & Hopker, J. G. (2017). A Mine of Information: Can Sports Analytics Provide Wisdom From Your Data? International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance, 12(7), 851–855. Retrieved from https://proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=125553423&site=ehost-live&scope=site
• Schmidt, H. C. (2018). Sport Reporting in an Era of Activism: Examining the Intersection of Sport Media and Social Activism. International Journal of Sport Communication, 11(1), 2–17. Retrieved from https://proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=129331368&site=eds-live&scope=site
• Vogan, T. (2015). ESPN : The Making of a Sports Media Empire. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Retrieved from https://proxy-calu.klnpa.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e900xww&AN=1091866&site=eds-live&scope=site
• Willens, M., & Lucinda Southern. (2018, September 12). How ESPN is marketing ESPN. Retrieved from https://digiday.com/media/espn-marketing-espn/