ESPN, as it is "facing new competition in the sports-TV world," on Saturday "began airing a new advertising campaign" for "SportsCenter," according to Suzanne Vranica of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. This is the "first time in about a decade" ESPN will pay for "SportsCenter" ads to "air on other media outlets." The new campaign "could help bolster the show's ratings." "SportsCenter" this year "averaged 828,000 viewers through Sept. 8," a drop from 1 million in the year-ago period. FS1's "Fox Sports Live"
averaged about 100,000 viewers "on weeknights and 160,000 viewers on weekends during the Aug. 17-Sept. 18 period. ESPN's ad push "includes TV, outdoor and digital advertising." It will "show professional athletes and sports fans evoking the familiar 'DaDaDa' SportsCenter theme song in the midst of their activities." The net "declined to comment on how much they would be spending on the pitch." ESPN said that the ads will run on DirecTV, Time Warner's Adult Swim and channels owned by Viacom such as Spike and Comedy Central (
WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/21).
