ESPN VP & Managing Editor Bob Eaton, CNN/SI Managing
Editor Steve Robinson and FSN Exec Producer Scott Ackerson
discussed May's "SportsWatch" with THE DAILY. In reviewing
the data, Eaton said, "It was pretty much what I would
expect it would be." Robinson added, "I think in terms of
the hierarchy of news, we're all more or less on the same
page for the month of May in terms of what we give time to."
Ackerson, however, was surprised at some of the numbers:
"There's not enough NASCAR coverage in our show. ... To do
less than 1% of your show on NASCAR, I know that there are
more than that 1% of the viewers that want NASCAR. Not only
for us, but for ESPN and for CNN/SI, for all of us to be
under 2% is an embarrassment" (THE DAILY).
MLB -- VOLUME OR STORIES? Despite May being only the
second month of the MLB season, coverage of MLB outranked
the NBA and NHL playoffs. Eaton explained the emphasis on
MLB by saying there "were some pretty good stories," and
"just by volume of the games to cover, it's going to take
more time." Robinson: "Obviously, you've got to weigh early
regular season baseball against the importance of postseason
NBA and NHL, but I think we struck a pretty good balance in
terms of presenting the news." Ackerson said, "With
baseball, numbers have actually gone up this year in terms
of what we've been doing and what we're doing both on the
net (FSN) and the network (Fox Sports). I think there is a
little more interest in baseball than in the past."
PLAYOFF COVERAGE: The NHL averaged 7.69% of total
coverage among the networks for May, ranking third behind
MLB and the NBA. NHL playoff-rights holder ESPN had about
3% more coverage than FSN or CNN/SI, and Eaton attributes
that to the fact that "hockey is a growing sport." Eaton
added, "The fact that we covered [the NHL] more than the
others, I think, is just our feeling of its importance."
But Robinson questions hockey's mass appeal: "Hockey has a
passionate audience, but it's a small audience. I think
that it just doesn't have the numbers, the following that
[MLB], the NBA -- particularly in the NBA's postseason --
and the NFL, even in its off-season, have."
NEWS OFF THE FIELD: Coverage of off-the-field issues,
including the murder trial of Ravens LB Ray Lewis and IN
Univ.'s investigation of men's basketball coach Bobby
Knight, continued to be featured prominently on all the
sports news shows. Robinson, on the placement of such
stories on "Sports Tonight": "If it's news, if we feel it's
important for people to know, we'll play it more
prominently. ... We felt obviously that the Ray Lewis story
was a pretty important story. Bob Knight, we broke that
story, and we're probably following it more aggressively
than our competitors." Ackerson: "If people care about
something, we're going to cover it and we're going to cover
it big-time. ... I'm just going to go by what we saw when we
did Bobby Knight, and in the span of 2 hours, we got 15,000
votes on whether or not he should be hired or fired. That
tells me there's a lot of people that care about it."
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? All three execs were asked
how viewer demographics impact their decision-making process
in determining their daily news. ESPN's Eaton: "Clearly,
we're interested in the demographics because everybody's
interested from a sales angle as to what they are, but we're
really looking at what's the most important news." FSN's
Ackerson: "I just go by what people are watching and what I
think they're going to want to watch and what I think
they're going to sit through. ... Don't bore me. I do not
want to be bored. If I am bored, my people hear about it."
CNN/SI's Robinson: "We don't think about our demographic
when we're putting together our rundown. We're looking at
what the news of the day is. ... Our producers are not told
to visualize who's sitting out there in their living rooms
and how old they are, how affluent or not affluent they are.
It's not the marching orders we give to our producers."
GETTING WIRED: All three TV execs stressed the
importance for increasing viewer interactivity with their
shows. ESPN's Eaton said the network has been looking to
integrate the Internet more heavily into "SportsCenter" for
"two or three years in terms of promoting chat sessions, and
our anchors and analysts doing chat sessions." Eaton added
with more of the ESPN Internet Ventures Group staff in
Bristol, CT, there "is much closer communication. ... One of
the things we are doing is sharing more resources with
[ESPN.com]. ... [SportsCenter] is certainly going to be more
integrated." Robinson said "Sports Tonight" is "really
going to move to pushing a little bit more interactivity
with our broadcast, and that's across the board." FSN's
Ackerson said the Internet's prominence "effects everybody's
show." Ackerson: "Depending on what research you look at,
between 25% and 33% of the people that are watching our
show, or may watch our show, already get their sports news
and information from the Internet. ... To me, it's a
challenge for all of us to figure out ways to take advantage
of the Internet. ... That's why -- not only with the
Internet -- but that's why I brought more analysis on the
show. I'm sure you've probably noticed that ESPN is now
including their baseball analysis people in 'SportsCenter,'
they're bringing their Fred Carter and their basketball
analysts inside 'SportsCenter' a lot more than they ever did
before. Even though they may deny it, it's a fact. A lot of
that was because of what we're doing here."
LOOK TO THE FUTURE: Asked how "SportsCenter" will
differ one year from now, Eaton said, "It will look
different than it does today. ... We do a reasonable amount
of audience research, and we listen to the people that watch
our program because tastes change and ideas change." For
"Sports Tonight," Robinson said, "You might see a little
more interactivity, ... and I think you will see a growing
together more and more of [TV and the Internet]. That's
something we're going to aggressively pursue." FSN's
Ackerson said, "Network features may go up a hair. NASCAR
should be significantly higher. Baseball, NBA, NHL numbers
are pretty much in line with what I think the viewers are
watching and what they're not watching. ... The only other
thing that might increase could be the PGA. ... Maybe a
little less on baseball and a little less in NBA, in
proportion. ... I do know that we're going to have to do a
better job on NASCAR" (THE DAILY).
