AT&T Senior Exec VP & CFO John Stephens said that DirecTV will "be the sole negotiator in reaching a content deal" with the NFL. He added that comments by league officials "regarding its relationship with DirecTV were positive." CABLEFAX DAILY notes making live NFL programming available on AT&T phones "could draw more mobile subs for the telco." The NFL "will be just the start of more live sports programming over AT&T’s wireless network" if a deal can be reached (CABLEFAX DAILY, 5/22).
NEED FOR SPEED: In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg noted three documentaries created by FS1 and NASCAR productions debut this week. The film "100,000 Cameras: The NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race" premieres tonight at 9:30pm ET. The 30-minute documentary will "combine fan-produced video clips chronicling the day from the track infield, while tailgating, watching at home and elsewhere." In addition to "using crowd-sourcing and fan and driver clips submitted through social media, the special will also include audio from team and driver scanners and footage from camera angles not shown on the race broadcast." The other docs "include a 30-minute show on the 1992 championship race and an hour-long history of the Coca-Cola 600" (CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/16 issue).
DA BEARS: ChicagoBears.com Draft Central reached record numbers during its five-day activation from May 8-12, generating over 5.7 million page views and 1 million video views across all of the Bears' digital assets. The team's desktop and mobile sites tallied over 3.5 million page views. The team's mobile app generated over 1.2 million sessions, an increase of over 100% from the previous year. Video views from the mobile app saw a 200% increase from '13. Content originated from the new Chicago Bears Network Studio at Halas Hall (Bears).
