A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM NBC SPORTS NETWORK

Cynopsis: Sports
06.24.13

Good morning. It’s Monday, June 24, 2013, and this is your first early morning Sports briefing. 

Recently, Universal Sports Network saw a change at the top when Scott Brown was named President of the year-round Olympic and endurance sports programming channel. Right now, the outlet showcases over 30 sports a year, including 25 World Championships with events that range from the Boston Marathon to the Alpine Skiing World Cup to the Rugby Sevens World Cup. Cynopsis Sports asked Brown about his goals for the network, approaching the 2013 Boston Marathon and the Winter Olympics.

Brown on his top priority: Ensuring that our network is available to everyone who wants it is our most important challenge and goal. Our top priority is to increase our distribution so that more fans have access to their favorite sports and world-class events. The industry’s current environment can be challenging for independent networks, especially given the recent explosion in the number of new sports networks competing for space and the limited dollars and bandwidth available amongst distributors. However, we love the value proposition that Universal Sports Network represents. We are unique and are confident that we will ultimately get where we need to be. We recognize this process is a marathon and not a sprint.

On the road to the Winter Games: As winter sports competitions get underway this fall, Universal Sports will feature coverage of Grand Prix Figure Skating, Bobsled and Skeleton World Cup and the Alpine Ski World Cup and additional events in snowboarding, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping and speed skating. Our viewers will see many of the U.S. athletes that figure to find success in Sochi including teen figure skater Gracie Gold and skiing sensation Mikaela Shiffin; veteran skier Ted Ligety who had an outstanding 2013 season; Lindsey Vonn as she comes back from injury and Lolo Jones as she strives for an Olympic medal in her new sport of bobsledding. In addition to live events, we will premiere Countdown to Sochi, our original 14-week studio news show on October 30 that will showcase the latest news and most compelling storylines heading into the 2014 Winter Games.

On the Boston Marathon: The annual Boston Marathon is already one of the most anticipated international events within the running community, and in 2014 the eyes of the world, runners and non-runners alike, will be on the city of Boston. Next year’s marathon is more than a foot race, it will be a national event. We have already begun our planning, and will be working closely with the Boston Athletic Association to ensure the race is given the coverage it deserves and is sensitive to the victims and others affected by this year’s tragic events. Next year, we want to extend our coverage beyond the elite athletes competing in this race in order to recognize, support and tell the stories of those affected by this year’s bombings. We want to allow the 2014 Boston Marathon to shine for what it is and not be overshadowed by the events of 2013. Marathons are about perseverance and the triumph of the human spirit. The 2014 Boston Marathon will be a crowning example of that.

On driving digital audiences: Universal Sports is the first and only network dedicated to covering Olympic and endurance sports all year long, and we find that our online viewership reflects that year-round focus. Traffic on universalsports.com is driven by our core audience who visit our site on a regular basis to follow their favorite athletes and sports. We have found that certain athletes and events transcend this core fan base and bring in more casual viewers resulting in new visitors to the site. Athletes like Gabby Douglass, Ryan Lochte, Lolo Jones, Lindsey Vonn and Usain Bolt are examples of athletes who appeal to a broader audience. Two weeks ago, Bolt lost to Justin Gatlin in the 100 meters at a Diamond League event in Rome. That highlight had hundreds of thousands of views within 24 hours of the finish of the race. Video of Lindsay Vonn’s season-ending crash at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in February saw similar traffic. We show more than 25 World Championships over the course of a year both on-air and online, and find that these marquee events also create spikes in our online traffic and social media channels.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Cynopsis Sports Webinar
Sports & Second Screen:  Driving fan engagement and brand ROI
Thursday * July 25 * 1:30-3:00p.m. ET

Moderated by: Chris Pursell, Director of Sports Content,
Cynopsis: Sports along with:
Chris Lencheski, President, Front Row Marketing Services
Rob Shaw, VP, Content/Media, Bloomberg Sports
Gus Weber, Sr. Director of Digital Products, ESPN with Special Guest
Hall of Fame Coach, Barry Switzer
Register here: http://www.cynopsis.com/webinars/sports-and-second-screen.

On the Air

Game 7 of the NBA Finals created blazing heat for ABC, with the tight thriller delivering 26,319,000 viewers to the network. That marks the second biggest audience ever for an NBA game on ABC, according to Nielsen, with a final national household rating of 15.3. Overall the network’s carriage of the NBA Finals averaged 17,667,000 viewers to rank the second-highest figure since 2004 and a 5% uptick over the 2012 with a seven game ratings average of 10.5. ESPN is now set to carry the 2013 NBA Draft presented by State Farmon Thursday at 7:30p.

ABC wasn’t the only winner from running Game 7, ESPN Deportes notched the most-watched, highest-rated NBA game ever on Spanish Language TV with a 2.8 Hispanic household coverage rating and an audience of 268,700 viewers. Overall, a total of 14,994,000 Hispanics tuned-in to ESPN Deportes and ABC’s telecasts of The Finals over the first six games, and 1,215,000 Hispanics watched exclusively on ESPN Deportes.

The CFL announced that NBCSN will carry 17 football games this season with coverage set to begin on Thursday with the Montreal Alouettes visiting the Winnipeg BlueBombers. Grey cup champions the Toronto Argonauts will get five games on the network.

In some good news for Olympic hockey, the NHL and International Olympic Committee agreed to have the IOC cover the cost of players’ insurance for games next year in Sochi, according to CBC’s Elliotte Friedman. That removes a big hurdle preventing NHL players from participating in the Games.

Val Ackerman, the first president of the WNBA, has emerged as the top contender to fill the vacancy for commissioner of the (new) Big East, according to ESPN.com. The report says that league, consisting of basketball schools that broke away from what is now the AAC, is set to begin on July 1 and league offices will be based in New York.

On Thursday, the National Association of Basketball Coaches will honor CBS Sports’ pillar Jim Nantz at its fourth Court of Honor Gala. The Award is presented to an individual who has roots in college basketball and goes on to distinguish themselves in their profession.

Longtime Redskins radio announcer Sam Huff is retiring after 38 years in the broadcast booth. The team’s flagship station WTEN (980 AM) made the announcement, with Huff working with former teammate Sonny Jurgensen since 1981. Huff turns 79 this fall.

Commissioners, CMOs and Sportscasters, oh my! The annual Cynopsis: Sports Business Summit is set to take place on Aug. 14 in NY, and will feature some of the biggest names driving sports today. In addition, we are holding our Women of Action cocktail event celebrating and discussing the impact women are having in the sports industry on Aug. 13.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Sponsorship & Promotion

FOX Sports debuted its double box ad format in baseball on Saturday night with two double box pods that ran during the Red Sox/Tigers game. The first pod appeared between the third and fourth innings while the second ran after the bottom of the fifth. Both pods held four 30-second spots. Sponsors who took part in the executions includes T-Mobile, General Motors, American Express and AT&T.

Digital & Production

Game 7 of the NBA Finals logged the largest NBA game ever on ESPN3 with more than 32 million total minutes and an average minute audience of 189,000 across computers, smartphones, tablets, Xbox and Apple TV, according to Adobe SiteCatalyst.

Action at Wimbledon will be available for the first time on YouTube starting today, you can catch all the action live on YouTube for the first time via the Wimbledon YouTube supported by Rolex. While the channel has lived on YouTube since 2006, this will mark the first year that matches will be live streamed. The channel will also offer interviews and press conference throughout the Wimbledon fortnight.

Roster Moves

Outdoor Channel tapped the services of veteran programming executive Jim Liberatore to serve as the new CEO under new owners Kroenke Sports and Entertainment. Liberatore replaces the outgoing Tom Hornish and most recently served as president of SportsTime Ohio.

The Main Event, the featured game of the day sponsored by Thuuz, real-time sports discovery for mobile & connected TV platforms

Blackhawks vs. Bruins Tonight, 8p. Thuuz rating: 96
Chi raises Stanley with a win. Boston came back two years ago. Can they do it again? On NBC.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

ON THIS DAY in 1992: MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent bans Steve Howe.

In The Know: Who was known as the Galloping Ghost? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Pat Riley was drafted out of what school? Answer: Kentucky. Kudos: Pete Gautieri-A&E Networks/NY; John Totaro-Totaro Communications/NY; Mike Dittelman-CCM Marketing/NY; Ivette Herrera-Dial Global/NY; Ken Nice-Yoh/Silver Spring; Keith Allo-Golf Channel/NBC Sports/Orlando; Matthew Meachem-Tribune Media Services/Queensbury; Jeff Miller-W69WUPA-TV/Atlanta; Rob Dustin-Red Brick Entertainment/Nashville; Ron Salcedo-Zimmerman/Nashville; Will Allmendinger-Captivate Network/Chicago; Bill Robertson-Tunheim Partners/Minneapolis; David Hauptman/Denver; Jack Simmons-Fox Sports/LA; Patrick Reynolds-Reynolds Media Consulting/Los Angeles; Miriam Aardahl-OMD/LA; Paul Gygli-NBCUniversal Television Distribution/Universal City.

Later — Chris
Chris Pursell for Cynopsis | Sports
06.24.13

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