Upfront News and Views: Storytelling Rocks and Kenny Mayne Rolls at ESPN

Venueamp160 Minskoff Theater between W 44th and 45th Streets home to this showcase for five yearsamp160runningamp160 Cheerleaders greeted attendees at the bottom of the escalators to the main lobby and college and pro team mascots mingledamp160with the lobby crowd as all present grabbed breakfast before entering the theateramp160 A wide screen on stage and monitors outside rolled out the quotESPN Hall of Firstsquot a tape of milestones in the network39s history both notable and trivialamp160 One eyecatching standout Gatorade launching ESPN the Flavor looks like raspberry in 2004amp160 More than a few recounted advertiser involvementsamp160from Budweiser39s precedentsetting sponsorship before ESPN39s 1979 launch to American Express39 charter ad participation in ESPNamp160amp160Grade 35 JacksPresentationamp160 Using a mix of executive and onair talent segments led by new ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro pictured at top the constant theme was repositioning the company as the home for brandfriendly sports storytelling whether the form is live event coverage daily reporting and analysis on SportsCenter and other programs or indepth material presented through 30 for 30 E60 and other ongoing franchisesamp160 The storytelling mantra exists regardless of distribution mode linear channel digital mobile or smart TV set Pitaro and executive colleagues stressedamp160 quotNo one has our unique combination of strengthsquot he assertedamp160 quotBut we39re not resting on our laurelsamp160 ESPN is the beginning of a whole new era for usquotamp160 There were more exciting new things from an appearance by the new Monday Night Football onair team led by solid playbyplay caller Joe Tessitoreamp160to documentation of the new multitactic campaign relationships with Northwestern Mutual and DXL Men39s Apparel storesamp160 However no ESPN Upfront presentation would be complete without a generous round of humor from SportsCenter anchor and grand Upfront pundit Kenny Mayneamp160 Instead of incessantly riffing on one topic like big data or cordcutting an instnatclassic highlight last year Mayne played disruptor in the opening sequence then reappeared for some moments of zen with a variety of topics on his skeweramp160 Examples quotFewer ads for 70 percent more money is a good thingamp160 It cost 1700 to make these stupid things cannons shooting off dollar bills into the audiencequotamp160amp160Grade 4 Jacks overall 45 Jacks for Mayne39s double dipNewsamp160amp160In a firstever series collaboration with Netflix ESPN will put together The Last Dance a multipart miniseries chronicling basketball superstar Michael Jordan39s final championship run with the Chicago Bulls in 199798amp160amp160Dance will debut next year no determination yet on whether ESPN or Netflix gets the premiere windowamp160 Basketball A Love Story a collection ofamp160more than 60 shortform features involving iconic talent on all levels of the sport will run throughout the network39s schedule this Octoberamp160 New Sunday Night Baseball coanalyst Alex Rodriguez will executive produceamp160and host Pivot a fourpart exploration of how athletes deal with crisis points in their livesamp160 Episodes will run on both ESPN and ESPN Deportes this summeramp160 Deportes also will carry live Spanishlanguage coverage of the Super Bowl for the second time through an arrangement with CBS Grade 4 JacksHostamp160 Pitaro came off cool and collected in one of his first public appearances as ESPN president Note He also did a 20minute meet with reporters immediately after the eventamp160 Good contributions from Tessitore College Gameday host Rece Davis First Take commentator Stephen A Smith and SportsCenter anchorperson Elle Duncanamp160amp160Grade 35 JacksStar Timeamp160 Kobe Bryant was especially personable at the start discussing his ESPN series Detailamp160 Other notables making conversation on stage included Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones speaking to new MNF commentator and justretired Cowboys receiver Jason Witten and coming off a Super Bowl win Philadelphia Eagles player Jason Kelce with brotherKansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelchamp160amp160Grade 3 5 JacksCuisineamp160 A variety of breakfast nibbles spaced throughout the main lobbyamp160 Best eats lemon poppy and banana chocolate chip minimuffinsamp160 Worst eat ham and eggs on a bun with gruyere cheeseamp160 Too little ham too much eggamp160amp160Grade 35 Jacksamp160 Note Cuisine ratings doamp160not figure in the overall Jacks scoreData Insightamp160 Ninetyeight percent of ESPN39s audience sees ads within five minutes of their viewing timeamp160amp160Grade 35 JacksInnovative Opportunityamp160 Using a new virtual reality solutions studio where products and brand information can be integrated with a number of live event and sports news coverage options such as stat boxesamp160 Talent can appear in virtualgenerated environments or show up at a remote site Grade 4 JacksOverall Gradeamp160 4 Jacksamp160 Solid overviews of the general multiplatform direction ESPN is takingamp160 Kenny Mayne remains at the top of his satirical gameOur Jacks scorecardamp160 5 Jacks amp160Excellent 4 Jacks Very Good 3 Jacks amp160Good 2 Jacks amp160Fair 1 Jack amp160Poor 0 Jacks Donamp8217t go thereClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Upfront News and Views: Storytelling Rocks and Kenny Mayne Rolls at ESPN

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