Cleaning out the notebook as, unbelievably, we approach the finish line for 2014:
I left our Sports Media & Technology conference earlier this month realizing again that the media business faces more disruption and dizzying challenges than any other segment we cover. At the end of the first day of the conference, members of our editorial team sat around a table and talked for nearly an hour about the complicated themes discussed, and we each had different interpretations of what they meant and their potential impact.
My colleague John Ourand does a better job trying to make sense of the major themes in his column this week, but here are a few things that stood out to me.
> THE WORLD WE LIVE IN: One of the most talked about speakers over the two days was Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who brings an incredibly smart, thoughtful presence and relates well to an audience. The theme of “unbundling the bundle” was prevalent throughout the event, and while Zaslav’s hesitation on the concept was understandable — no major network executive wants to see a la carte — what he said still resonated with me.
“The idea of loads of channels going directly to consumers is just not manageable — for the consumer,” he said. “There is a curation factor that has to happen for all of us. … People still only watch six to eight channels. We just cannot digest 26 channels. And so we curate on linear TV with our favorites, and they change. … The idea that any of us will have our phone and have a bunch of different apps for the channels we like is just very unlikely.” I’m rooted in routine, and that’s how I largely consume my content.
Zaslav also brought a global point of view to the conversation, as he discussed his strategy and approach with the company’s powerful Eurosport platform. He’s locally focused and expressed little desire for importing U.S. sports content to the European audience.
“Our first priority is local, local, local,” he exclaimed. “The game changer for us is going to be local content and big European content, whether it’s tennis or more soccer. And then we can bleed in, or maybe even nourish, some of the U.S. sports and build them up, but it’s not going to be the lead horse.”
If you get a chance to see Zaslav speak, do it.
> WATCHER OF THE SKIES: GOP pollster and media messenger Frank Luntz drew a buzz with his provocative look at fan allegiances and perceptions of today’s top sports. His view on whether the recent driver fights in NASCAR would help or hurt the sport drew divergent opinions.
“This is very dangerous,” he said. “This undercuts the family environment that NASCAR has always promoted and NASCAR has always experienced. I am hoping they are checking this. … If they are not, this could be a brand killer. … If the perception is that these drivers can fight and there is nothing wrong with it, watch what will happen in the stands in a year.”
Many told me they disagreed, saying this is exactly what NASCAR needed around its new format. Overall, Luntz’s comments sparked fun debate, which is what we wanted when we asked him to speak.
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Photo by: MARC BRYAN-BROWN
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> BROADWAY MELODY: Condé Nast Chief Digital Officer Fred Santarpia provided a compelling look at how the massive media company is creating and distributing video content across its titles. A key takeaway was his “dollar-for-dollar” strategy of spending on content and marketing. “[Many people have] a ‘build it and they will come’ mentality,” Santarpia said. “I just don’t believe in that. How can you expect to invest in content for the Web and not expect to have marketing to support that content to find your audience? Every single piece of content that you release needs to have a well-thought-out marketing and audience-development plan.” He was also asked about an ideal content length: “A couple years ago, Iwould have said shorter is better,” he said. “Audiences are getting [used to
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watching longer video now]. … They’ll watch a 15-minute video as long as the story is right.”… Another good conversation at the conference involved how teams and leagues are creating and selling social and digital content. “What every property in the country is wrestling with is, ‘How do you monetize social media?’” said
David Peart, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ senior vice president of sales and service. “There is that arm-wrestling match that’s going on between the content creator within your organization and the pristine nature of social media versus the wolf who wants to make money off of it.” NASCAR’s
Colin Smith added, “For the amount of time we all spend on social, you’d think there would be more monetization there. I think there will be, in time. Right now, there’s no real social standard currency of what is acceptable and what is a success.” … Three top media consultants all had the same sports media story they need to watch: whether DirecTV and AT&T will become more aggressive players in the RSN business. With the development of Roots Sports Houston, it now means the company controls RSNs in Denver, Pittsburgh, Seattle and, now, Houston. Will a merged company look to develop new ones in friendly markets? In this era of consolidation, teams — and consultants — want an active new bidder in the marketplace and hope a merged company will fit that bill.
> THE CINEMA SHOW: Keep an eye on virtual reality technologies like Oculus Rift. I’m hearing more and more about their interest in sports and the potential impact of the tech on sports industry. Dan Reed, Facebook’s new head of sports partnerships, discussed the company’s acquisition of the Oculus Rift technology, saying the “bet is that virtual reality will be the next major consumer media platform.” Reed added, “There’s the promise of billions of people being able to sit courtside and experience an NBA game through Oculus. And whether it’s a live game or a locker room experience, being able to sit alongside your dad or best friend — who may be on the other side of the world — we think that sort of experience could be very powerful. But we’re just in the early stages.”
■ WHICHEVER WAY YOUR PLEASURE TENDS: Our 10th annual Reader Survey to be released next week uncovers some fun facts — and here are a couple of sneak peeks. For the first time, we asked readers to think of the last 10 years and create the Mount Rushmore of Team Owners. Of the four choices, two represent franchises from the Northeast (one is the late George Steinbrenner) and two represent teams from Texas (one is Cowboys owner Jerry Jones). Can you guess the others? We also asked readers to think of the past 10 years for the Mount Rushmore of Sports Executives. Three of the top four are league commissioners (former NBA Commissioner David Stern leads the group), while the other founded and led one of the top sports brands in the world. Do you know the others?
■ TILL SATURDAY MORNING COMES: In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve launched our latest news feed delivered directly to your inbox every Saturday morning. SportsBusiness Saturday offers insight into the week that was, shows what’s trending and provides links to our most-read stories of the week across SportsBusiness Daily/Journal/Global. It also features My News Feed, which offers personalized news and allows you to read stories on your interests in one easy-to-view page whenever you’d like.
We launched this to give you a simple, quick look at some of the most important stories on a day when you may be able to catch up and review what you may have missed. We hope you enjoy it and would love any feedback.
Abraham D. Madkour can be reached at amadkour@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
