Bleacher Report CEO Dave Finocchio wants his site to "step back from the stats and game stories that make up a lot of traditional sports coverage, and instead dig in on video series and documentaries that help connect the worlds most popular athletes to the culture they're helping to shape," according to Kurt Wagner of RE/CODE. Finocchio's goal is to "build the next MTV -- just without the whole TV part." Finocchio: "We probably talk about MTV the most. Not in the sense that we’re trying to emulate what MTV did in any particular way, but the extent to which MTV mattered to young people on a day-to-day basis in this country." When asked if content will change, Finocchio said, "We will probably do less traditional coverage of the X’s and O’s on a game by game basis. We’re not as focused on in-studio talking head content. ... Our content will often times be more nuanced and access-driven, and we’ll focus on telling interesting stories. It’ll be less focused on two people yelling at each other in front of a camera." Finocchio: "We want people thinking of Bleacher Report as being the heart of sports culture."
Finocchio also said his staff members "don't talk about" ESPN "a lot internally." Wagner noted a little more than a year ago, Turner injected $100M into turning Bleacher Report into a "video juggernaut." In that time, Finocchio has "launched a number of original online series, a feature length documentary, and is publishing daily on Snapchat." Finocchio: "We’re able to figure out what’s working and what’s not without betting the farm. Play that out for a couple more years and I think we’ll probably be ready for real prime time" (RECODE.net, 4/29). SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's John Ourand in this week's issue also discusses Turner President David Levy's recent comments on Bleacher Report's future, including the possibility of live streaming rights (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/1 issue).
