Upfront Sports Rundown: ESPN, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, Fox and Turner

NBCTelemundoNBCSNNBCU opened Upfront week with a broad presentation at Radio City Music Hall that touched on many aspects of its vast holdings amp160During Telemundoamp8217s segment the Spanishlanguage broadcaster touted the remake of what has been its mostwatched program La Reina Del Sur a miniseries about the last day of late singer Selena Quintanilla and the little event known as the 2018 FIFA World Cup from RussiaFrankly given the significance of Telemundo wresting the rights from rival Univision not enough time was devoted to presenting FIFAamp8217s famed event although the futbol tourney was saluted again when NBC Sports chairman Mark Lazarus took the stage to conclude the presentationSuper Bowl LII and the Winter Olympics were also lauded and rightly so Their presence all but ensures that NBC again will take the 201718 season among adults 1849 and should close the gap in total viewers against perennial winner CBSWith a lineup that includes two NFL primetime packages Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football the National Hockey League and the Premier League the UKamp8217s topflight soccer circuit Lazarus said amp160amp8220I would not trade our portfolio with anyone else in the industryamp8221 Hard to argue with thatFox Fox Sports 1Sports were more than front and center at Foxamp8217s Upfront accounting for at least 30 minutes of the presentation at the Beacon Theater on May 15amp160The event included a musical number featuring Fox NFL Sunday members Terry Bradshaw Jimmy Johnson Howie Long Michael Strahan and Jay Glaser dressed up as rappers amp160Think blingThere was also a video message from Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh to hammer home the point that Fox Sports is now the lead player when it comes to Big 10 football which joins its Big 12 and Pac 12 college football packagesThe overall message was that Americans spend 300 billion more from September through December that the rest of the year and that Fox and Fox Sports 1 own the fall amp160The lineup is highlighted by Major League Baseballamp8217s postseason culminating with the World Series on the broadcast network its expanded college football slate that will include the Ohio StateMichigan matchup and pro football including Americaamp8217s Game of the Week which has been the mostwatched show on TV eight years running amp160The presence of Americaamp8217s Team on the schedule was repeated more than a few times amp160After gathering his breath from his rap antics Johnson summoned a amp8220How amp8216bout them Cowboysamp8221 for attendeesThere was also mention that FS1 would enter the weekday morning sports talkshow fray when it launches First Things First with Cris Carter and Nick Wright on Sept 5Alex Rodriguez Fox Sportsamp8217 recently minted studio and baseball game analyst made a brief appearance quipping amp8220I wish Fox paid as much as the Yankeesamp8221Fox Sportsamp8217 lead voice Joe Buck also offered up some jokes noting that he knows from the uptick in fall spending amp160amp8220In part we can thank my exwife for thatamp8221 he saidamp160 Before demonstrating his ability to shoot a Tshirt bazooka Buck asked about News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch amp160amp8220Whereamp8217s Rupert amp160Heamp8217s the only person I donamp8217t want to hitamp8221 he laughed before firingESPNESPN covered a lot of ground at its Upfront including touting new ad platforms and changes to its daytime lineup all the while showcasing an impressive array of talentamp160 This came just weeks after ESPN laid off 100 staffers many of them on airpersonalities and reportersJohn Skipper ESPN president and cochairman of Disney and ESPN Media Networks addressed the pinkslip elephant in the Minskoff Theater on May 16 stating that the amp8220current environment forces us to be realists as well as optimistsamp8221amp160 He said ESPN39s assorted outlets reached more than 210 million Americans per month last fall the most in its history with digital products reaching 100 million each monthamp160 Primetime ratings were up 15 in the first quarter he addedESPN executives were very effective in terms of pitching attendees on new ad products amp160According to Vikram Somaya Senior Vice President Global Data Officer the companyamp8217s LiveConnect sports analytics and fan data program can be a powerful tool for advertisers that offer multiple creative executions across its digital platforms based on fansamp8217 emotions amp160Somaya said ESPN informed Coors Light that users would respond best to ads that connect to the emotion amp8220anticipationamp8221 and the company saw a 16 brand consideration liftamp160 Dickamp8217s Sporting Goods meanwhile registered a 7 increase in retail sales when their ads played to amp8220triumphamp8221Eric Johnson ESPN Executive Vice President Global Ad Revenue and Sales Operations formally introduced the Total Live Audience platform which was developed in conjunction with Nielsenamp160 It can track live impressions from settop boxes for ESPN and ESPN2 as well as streaming and outofhome viewership into one combined number from which the company wants to transact business ESPNamp8217s emphasis on live impressions comes in contrast to the delayed viewing impressions that are driving more and more ad deals for entertainment fareLike his counterparts at other media companies during upfront week Ed Erhardt President of Global Sales and Marketing for ESPN took a swipe at the mistrust digital video purveyors have brought to the market relative to running ads next to objectionable content and measurement issuesamp160 amp8220At ESPN we have a confidence that is born from trustamp8221 he saidamp160 amp8220We can put brands wherever and whenever people access and engage with ESPN Weamp8217re focused on being open transparent and collaborativeamp8221amp160 He closed the presentation with a pitch for more business amp8220Weamp8217re facing a fundamental reset in the industry Itamp8217s time for us and you to reconsider recalibrate and reallocateamp8221Univision DeportesUnivisionamp8217s Upfront was titled amp8220Proof of Passionamp8221 and soccer was the first of five passion points news family music and dramas were the others that attract viewers to the Spanishlanguage media giant and around which it organized its May 16 presentation amp160Univision Deportes President Juan Carlos Rodriguez was a man on the move in a video that saw him at the companyamp8217s studio facility onsite for matches and at futbol practice facilitiesOver the course of the extended clip the Univision Deportes portfolio was touted Mexican national team rights Liga MX Mexicoamp8217s top futbol circuit and the mostviewed league in the US domestic circuit Major League Soccer and the upcoming competition that will kick off next year pitting the best clubs from the US and Mexico against one another amp160While Univision doesnamp8217t hold match rights for the 2018 FIFA World Cup the company still plans to amp8220be the home of the game around the gameamp8221Rodriguez bounded on to the stage at the Lyric Theater and informed media buyers that starting with the 201819 campaign Univision Deportes has the rights to Europeamp8217s top club completion the UEFA Champions League as well as the secondlevel UEFA Europa League and UEFA Nations League matches across its platforms amp160With the Champions League acquisition Rodriguez declared that Univision Deportes is quotthe undisputed home of socceramp8221Turner SportsTurner didnamp8217t spend a lot of time on sports during its May 17 presentation at the Theater at Madison Square Garden amp160The video presentation showcased clips from its portfolio The NCAA menamp8217s basketball tournament aka amp8220March Madnessamp8221 the MLB playoffs the NBA including its expansive postseason coverage and ELeague the gaming circuit joint venture with talent agency WMEIMG amp160The awardwinning Inside the NBA was prominently displayed with Ernie Johnson Charles Barkley Kenny Smith and Shaquille Oamp8217Neal shown walking in Times Square and interacting with folks at the crossroads of the world amp160Figures boasted of its social network followingsShaq did appear on stage with Conan Oamp8217Brien and the pair was nominally interviewed by CNNamp8217s Anderson Cooper amp160The laughs were loud and the banter drifted toward the redhead and the large man talking about man crushes on Tom Brady and Oamp8217Nealamp8217s former NBA teammate and now broadcaster Rick Fox amp160Shaq and Conan agreed that they and their dream guys would double date amp160amp8220You want in on thisamp8221 Conan asked Cooper amp160amp8220No Iamp8217m goodamp8221 Cooper replied amp160This talkfest could go straight to seriesAfter Univision announced the UEFA Champions League addition to its lineup there was some expectation that Turner would follow suit as it has reportedly gained the Englishlanguage rights in the US to Europeamp8217s top club soccer competition amp160But Turner officials maintain the deal is not yet finishedClick the social buttons above or below to share this content 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 Sports Rundown: ESPN, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, Fox and Turner

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