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ESPN.com, coming to a metro near you...

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by DanOregon, Sep 15, 2009.

Page 6 of 7
  1. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    The only way a metro area can truly beat ESPN is with solid local coverage. And when I say local I mean from pro to tiddlywinks. Dallas took a pro-active measure but with that alienated so many readers, I think they're going to find themselves in a big battle on the internet.
     
    Drip, Sep 30, 2009
    #61
  2. lantaur

    lantaur Well-Known Member

    I just checked out ESPNChicago.com to see what it looks like. I can see why this is a threat to newspapers. Not only is it Chicago-centric (and it even has a preps page: http://espn.go.com/chicago/teams/preps, although I do wonder how much of the "other" sports will be there beyond football and basketball), but it also has its own video version of SportsCenter (Chicago style). And the video has an ad for Northwestern football tickets. I'm not sure my newspaper even knows how to sell video ads.

    Wonder how many markets ESPN is planning on doing this with down the line ... top 10, 20, 30, 40, etc.
     
    lantaur, Sep 30, 2009
    #62
  3. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    That preps page has a tennis feature and a soccer video. You better believe stuff like that is a threat to newspapers, even if it is just hit-and-run coverage.
     
    playthrough, Sep 30, 2009
    #63
  4. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    Looks like ESPN truly is the Wal Mart of journalism.
     
    Drip, Sep 30, 2009
    #64
  5. NightHawk112005

    NightHawk112005 Member

    I agree. There's no way this is a good thing.
     
    NightHawk112005, Sep 30, 2009
    #65
  6. lantaur

    lantaur Well-Known Member

    For whom, the industry or the consumer (or both)?
     
    lantaur, Sep 30, 2009
    #66
  7. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    Both. It's going to kill the industry in large cities. As for the consumer, they are going to get generic watered down efforts because the writers are going to cater to writing for a national audience. I think suburban papers will be able to survive because they will have already had their niche audience.
     
    Drip, Sep 30, 2009
    #67
  8. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    People in our business can be mad at ESPN all they want, but newspapers opened the door that ESPN is now barreling through. Consumers are probably happy that there's a media entity that wants to open a storefront in their town, since they have been watching their local paper shed staff and size in recent years.

    I don't work for ESPN, but I've heard rumblings that they might bring one of these dotcoms to my town in a couple years. I say bully for them.
     
    playthrough, Sep 30, 2009
    #68
  9. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    Agree. It's the right move for ESPN or any other entity to do it if they have the resources to pull it off.
     
    MileHigh, Sep 30, 2009
    #69
  10. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    What playthrough and MileHigh said. If it's not too late, newspapers can try to fend off ESPN by beefing up resources, up to and including staffing, for their sports sections. Or not.

    ESPN might not aim "high" enough in terms of quality, if that even matters anymore, but otherwise it is positioned to do a high-tech version of The National. So why should it not?
     
    Joe Williams, Sep 30, 2009
    #70
  11. Fran Curci

    Fran Curci Well-Known Member

    Anyone hear what city might be next now that Dallas and Boston are in the pipeline?
     
    Fran Curci, Sep 30, 2009
    #71
  12. SockPuppet

    SockPuppet Active Member

    LA and NYC.
     
    SockPuppet, Sep 30, 2009
    #72
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