ESPN America Carries U.S. Games In Europe, But Not Many U.S. Ads

ESPN America airs "all the major North American professional and college sports" on cable TV in Europe and the Middle East, but the network "carries only a handful of income-producing commercials," according to Samuel Abt of the N.Y. TIMES. ESPN's Paul Melvin noted that most commercials "shown during sports programs in the United States did not make it across the Atlantic." Melvin said, "Ads need to be relevant. Some multinationals might be interested in appearing on our programs, but we sell the network as such -- for an audience in Europe." Abt notes ESPN America sells time to "local and regional advertisers as well." The net to fill ad space often provides a "rarely changing loop of plugs for its own programming." During a single NFL game in November, ESPN America ran 21 ads for its own coverage of upcoming NFL games; 18 "promoting about five individual" players; six for NHL games; six for MLB; and 12 for college football. Meanwhile, Melvin, who will assume the ESPN Int'l Dir of Communications job next month in London, noted the network is "in more than 40 countries now, mainly in the European Union." He added, "We're reaching 16 million homes, an increase of 15 percent in the year since rebranding" from NASN (N.Y. TIMES, 1/25). 

WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND: In Manchester, Martin Kelner notes ESPN "offered free access on a non-Premier League weekend, begging the question: why?" ESPN "gave away its output for free at the weekend, which seemed rather odd timing, given that this was one weekend when most of the action was taking place elsewhere -- Australian Open tennis on BBC2 and Eurosport, the FA Cup on ITV." Kelner suggests the free weekend "was just an opportunity for British viewers to acquaint themselves with the cult" of soccer announcer Tommy Smyth. Smyth's "brand of total bollocks ... cheerily delivered has been a feature of soccer coverage [in the U.S.] for some years, driving to distraction ex-pats who take their football seriously" (GUARDIAN.co.uk, 1/25).

TWIN PEAKS: In St. Paul, Charley Walters reported ESPN is "paying thousands of dollars to have snow removed from rooftops" at Cretin-Derham Hall High School so the network can "get its satellite and broadcast equipment set up for Wednesday's filming of a Joe Mauer homecoming special" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 1/24).