ESPN Executive Summary

In order to provide the best price measures to its distributers and ad sales, ESPN has to partner with other technological companies that analyze “how well” ESPN channels perform in the market. They are partnered with companies such as IBOP/Nielsen, which is a television people meter that focuses on using different technologies and statistical models to give an accurate representation of how many people are watching their channels, from day ratings to individual sports and live events. Nielsen, focuses its strategy on continuing to develop the way it can accurately analyze the television market: how it is consumed, where it is consumed, the different affinities and how many people are watching. There more accurate this information is, the better

Live television, specifically live sports, is the most valuable television today. Live sports are one of the few times that consumers will tune in at a certain time and date to watch an event and it can give real time advertisers an opportunity to target a specific group to promote its product for them. Therefore, ESPN, is aware that in order to maintain relevant in the market it must pay billions of dollars to acquire rights for live sports. ESPN’s latest deal was with the NBA, one which changed the dynamic of NBA’s revenue model and allowed for a collective agreement that increased the distribution of money paid to athletes and NBA employees. By holding those rights, ESPN is then able to make the most revenue off its advertisement inventory

Television is going through a large change in the way people are consuming it. With the breakthrough of the internet and the world of Wi-Fi, people are beginning to consume channels via the internet live stream. This is something ESPN has to work with because it has to be able to stay affront this change and also maintain its relationship with its affiliates, which is where a big part of its revenue comes from. Millennials are being called the “cord-cutters” of the television world. As time goes by, less and less people are paying for traditional cable packages and this is supposed to continue happening. This is of big concern to ESPN because it must change its strategy on how it delivers its content. Lately, the number of subscribers for ESPN has decreased dramatically, directly affecting its price in the market. The younger population, “millennials”, no longer watches as much television or it has started to consume it through a digital platform. This means that ESPN must be looking for a way to test new technologies that allow a direct to consumer environment and be in constant communication with Nielsen and its affiliates to make sure that those relationships are not lost. Now a days, the amount of television content available is very large and all television networks are fighting for a minute fraction of consumers times. This means that not only does ESPN need to test new technologies