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ESPN announced it is launching a new daily sports show, which will be a short-form version of the company’s flagship SportsCenter program, on Snapchat.
SportsCenter is one of ESPN’s biggest brands, and the Snapchat version of the program will feature sports highlights as well as breaking stories. The show will be broadcast two times per weekday, at 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, and once at 5 p.m. on weekends. ESPN’s announcement didn’t specify whether the show would be broadcast globally or only in the US.
The release of a SportsCenter show on Snapchat can help ESPN in three key areas:
- Expand viewership reach. Snapchat reported 178 daily million users globally and 77 million in North America in Q3 2017. This extra reach is important for ESPN as the network is dealing with declining viewership — ESPN is now subscribed to by just 87 million homes, down from 100 million in 2010, according to Nielsen data, per Los Angeles Times. Additionally, average ESPN viewership dropped 7% and 11% YoY in 2015 and 2016, respectively, according to Forbes.
- Appeal to younger audiences. The median age of the television audience for every live sport on US TV has increased since 2000, according to a report by Magna Global. On the other hand, SportsCenter on Snapchat allows ESPN to reach a young audience — 75% of viewers of Snapchat Shows are aged 13-24. Reaching younger viewers is important as they present potential long-term customers.
- Grow ad revenue. ESPN can diversify its ad revenue streams with its new SportsCenter show as Snapchat will share ad revenue generated from the program with the sports network. This is important as ESPN faced a single-digit decline in ad revenue in the most recent quarter.
Robert Elder, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has put together a detailed report on social video that:
- Assesses the evolving social video landscape, with attention to Facebook, YouTube, Snap, and Instagram.
- Analyzes the relative strengths of each platform from a product, distribution, audience, and monetization perspective.
- Looks at what’s next for the industry, so that media creators and brands can invest for the future.
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