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SBJ Media: Split Decision On Production Costs


Hello from Cleveland. The city looks great this week. The atmosphere around the MLB All-Star festivities has been fantastic.

 

CAN BROADCAST RIVALS LEARN TO SHARE MORE PRODUCTION COSTS?

  • ESPN’s Norby Williamson had a vision of the future of TV production on June 29-30 when the Red Sox and Yankees played in London. Two competing networks -- ESPN and Fox -- shared production trucks, camera operators, graphics operators -- you name it -- during the weekend. A more formalized system of sharing resources could do a lot to cut down production costs, Williamson said. “It really opened a lot of peoples’ eyes on our side and I think on their side,” Williamson said.

  • As he talked from an ESPN production trailer, Williamson drew a contrast with the setup in Cleveland during the MLB All-Star break. Fox Sports' production compound is in the bowels of Progressive Field, complete with production trucks, trailers and lots of staffers. ESPN’s compound -- also with production trucks, trailers, etc. -- is across the street. “Look at this setup between Fox, ESPN and MLB Network starting with [yesterday's] Futures Game and Celebrity Softball,” Williamson said. “There’s a way to get more efficient.”

  • London was not the first time U.S. networks have shared production resources. It’s happened for NASCAR and golf telecasts, too. But ESPN execs believe the system would work on events that cost a lot to produce, like college basketball, which has a lot of games in a lot of markets. “It’s not like we’re totally reinventing the wheel,” Williamson said.

  • The idea is similar to the approach used during the World Cup and the Olympics -- where broadcasters can use a world feed and bring in their own enhancements like announcers or added cameras. “The way we do our second screen here is a perfect example,” said ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer Phil Orlins, pointing out that the network's second-screen coverage of the Home Run Derby has four added cameras.

  • The idea is intriguing, but it does not seem likely to gain much traction, at least not during MLB All-Star week, which generates some of the biggest TV audiences of the summer. Plus, Fox and ESPN produce studio shows throughout the day from the event, which means those production trucks are in near constant use. Still, Williamson said he hopes to see more cooperation among networks in this regard. “The segmented, standalone, silo-driven things -- whether it’s talent, production teams, facilities -- it’s old school thinking,” Williamson said. “Every time we do something like we did in London, we break down those walls.”

 

TIMING IS EVERYTHING FOR FOX WORLD CUP VIEWERSHIP

The World Cup finale marked the third-best viewership for any women's soccer match in U.S. history
  • After being in positive territory for much of the tournament, Fox Sports’ average viewership for the complete 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup was down 9% compared to 2015, when there were more favorable broadcast windows from the event in Canada, reports SBJ’s Austin Karp. This year’s event generated a total audience delivery of 1.66 million viewers, compared to 1.82 million four years ago. Still, this year’s tournament from France was up 10% from eight years ago in Germany (1.51 million).

  • The WWC was up around 6% headed into yesterday’s championship match, which saw the USWNT defeat the Netherlands. While that broadcast was good enough to rank as the third-best women’s soccer match in U.S. history, it was down 44% from the U.S.-Japan finale four years ago. That proved to be a game changer for Fox’s numbers. Fox saw a 6% gain compared to ESPN’s broadcast of the Japan-U.S. title match eight years ago from Germany.

  • While Fox saw much bigger numbers, Telemundo saw a gain for its coverage of both U.S.-Netherlands and the complete tourney. Yesterday’s match on the Spanish-language network (1.6 million viewers) was up 26% from four years ago, and up 148% from Univision eight years ago. Telemundo also averaged 301,000 viewers for the complete tourney, up 27% from Canada four years ago.

  • Should people expect a post-World Cup bounce for women's soccer in the U.S.? Maybe not. Four years ago, Fox Sports picked up a few post-World Cup games for the NWSL. Most were available on streaming only. The first match on linear TV after that 2015 win was over a month after the tourney ended. That Chicago Red Stars-Portland Thorns match averaged 91,000 viewers in primetime on FS1. That year's NWSL championship on Oct. 1 also drew only 167,000 viewers on FS1. This year, it's ESPN networks that have picked up NWSL rights after the World Cup. ESPNews will carry the Thorns hosting Alex Morgan and Orlando Pride on July 14. There will be several more matches on ESPNews and ESPN2 before a finale on Oct. 27 on ESPN2. No matches are planned for ESPN itself.


 

THIS WEEK IN SBJ 

 


SPEED READS

  • Let me make this clear -- I am not in any way crediting Fox Sports execs with helping the USWNT win the World Cup. But when the team was tied with France at halftime of the quarterfinal match on June 28, Fox execs Eric Shanks, David Neal and Brad Zager and consultant Ben Grossman switched where they were sitting. Megan Rapinoe scored moments later. After a scoreless first half in the World Cup final, the group was close to switching seats again when Rapinoe scored. Who knew TV execs were so superstitious?

  • Coco Gauff may have lost at Wimbledon today, but her social media following took off during the run to the Round of 16. Following a shocking first round win over Venus Williams last week, the 15-year-old Gauff had just under 40,000 Instagram followers, and just over 6,000 on Twitter. From that time through today's match, there was a 758% increase on Instagram, and she also now has over 121,000 Twitter followers. An Instagram comparison? Gauff's 344,000 followers are still a far cry from fellow teenager and Gold Medal-winning U.S. snowboarder Chloe Kim (688,000).

  • Something that's caught my eye in recent weeks: ESPN going the extra mile to experiment with different viewing experiences. For the NBA Summer League coverage from Las Vegas, the ESPN app is offering games featuring a "Group Textcast" feature and "Courtside Experience," among others. Tomorrow night will feature a "Dueling Homers" broadcast with local analysts competing head-to-head through in-game challenges. The new offerings aren't limited to basketball either. ESPN2 tonight is running an alternate Statcast-like feed for the Home Run Derby, complete with 3D spray charts and exit velocity. Jason Benetti will handle play-by-play, while Eduardo Perez and Mike Petriello will be analysts.

  • My Twitter feed seemed to be having fun today with an oral history of the film "Blue Chips" via SI.com's Tim Rohan. There isn't enough space here to list all of the great cameos from the 1994 film (the one scene that comes to mind is Bob Cousy sinking free throws one after another). One tidbit I didn't know? Ron Shelton, who wrote the film, had the script ready to go for years waiting on a green light from a studio. In the meantime, he took one pickup basketball scene and turned it into the 1992 classic, "White Men Can't Jump."

  • Now that there is some serious NBA star power competition in the City of Angels, what can we expect from the competing RSNs in the market next season? The Lakers' local figure for 2018-19 was 316% higher than than Clippers (who were 28th among 30 teams), due in large part to LeBron James coming to town. That gap should close with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George joining the Clips, but how close can the Clips actually get to their Staples Center roommates?
LOCAL RATINGS TREND IN THE L.A. MARKET
RSN
TEAM
2018-2019
2017-2018
2016-17
2015-16
2014-15
Spectrum SportsNet
Lakers
2.33
1.78
1.51
1.51
1.56
FS Prime Ticket
Clippers
0.56
0.54
0.91
1.04
1.04
Download the
Los Angeles NBA RSN ratings trend

 

 

Enjoying this newsletter? We've got more! Check out SBJ College with Michael Smith on Tuesdays and Thursdays for insights into all the latest news around the world of college sports.

Something on the Media beat catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to either me (jourand@sportsbusinessjournal.com) or Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessdaily.com) and we'll share the best of it. Also contributing to this newsletter is Thomas Leary (tleary@sportsbusinessdaily.com).