ESPN is “planning a broad array of coverage" to celebrate Title IX's 40th anniversary on June 23, beginning with content on espnW.com later this month, according to Neil Best of NEWSDAY. The company will “include an issue of ESPN the Magazine dedicated to women's sports, television coverage that includes a countdown of the top 40 female athletes of the past 40 years, and nine documentaries by and about women.” ESPN President John Skipper said that the idea “grew from the espnW.com staff and was embraced as a companywide initiative” titled "The Power of IX." Skipper said that women’s sports in business terms “have earned their visibility.” Skipper: "We do very well, thank you, with the women's basketball tournament.'' He added, "It justifies its place. You've heard me preach the doctrine of live sports. We'd much rather have a live women's game on than be in studio or running some kind of taped product.'' ESPN estimates that 30% of its viewership is female. Still, Skipper said that the “correlation between women playing sports and watching sports is ‘somewhat developmental’'' (NEWSDAY, 3/13).
