More from a busy first day at the Sports Media & Technology Conference in New York … The heads of digital operations for some of the largest media companies – David Katz, Yahoo; Larry Kramer, CBS Digital Medial; Jeff Price, SI Digital – discussed the evolving role of new media in the sports business model.
— On the NFL taking their Internet properties in-house: Kramer, whose company lost the NFL as an online partner, said that given the success of MLBAM, it wasn’t a big leap of faith for the NFL to build an asset that they can own and control. But there are a lot of young consumers spending a ton of time online who might not ever make it to NFL.com. If all the content resides on NFL.com, there is the potential you’re only appealing to the hardcore fan.
— On the biggest shifts in marketplace: Katz: Giving users the opportunity to express themselves is key; the role of social networking and community will be Yahoo’s focus over the next year. Kramer: The ability for people to see video online is a huge shift. Streaming March Madness online free to consumers was a watershed moment for CBS. Price: SI’s big epiphany is that you cannot control today’s consumer. You can only hope to engage them and keep them engaged.
— On why ESPN Mobile failed: Kramer: “It was a bad idea.” ESPN is a media company not a telephone equipment company. Kramer thinks having the ESPN service on cell phones is great. But the thought that ESPN would dominate a user’s decision on what phone to buy was crazy from the beginning, the demand from hardcore sports fans just wasn’t there. ESPN gets points for trying: “In this industry if you haven’t failed, you’re not trying hard enough.”
— On what one website they recommend to the audience as must-visit (it’s unanimous):Price: “paidContent.org.” Katz: “Yes, paidContent.org. That’s my favorite.” Kramer: “I’d say paidContent, they are the best glimpse into what’s going on within the industry.” (Ed. Note: Wow. Thanks for the shout outs.)
David Eckoff is vice president, new products at Turner Broadcasting. The opinions expressed in his guest blogging are his own and not those of Turner Broadcasting. You can contact David via his blog at www.davideckoff.com
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