ESPN 2013

Upfront 2013: ESPN

ESPN presented its upcoming lineup of series and specials at its Upfront at Best Buy Theater in New York’s Times Square. The lines of buyers and planners waiting to have their pictures taken with the likes of Colin Kaepernick, Mariano Rivera, Victor Cruz, and Landon Donovan snaked around the lobby as soon as the presentation wrapped. Here are some of the highlights.

  • A new slate of 30 for 30 film series returns on October 1. The fall schedule will include the documentaries Big Shot, about con man John Spano’s attempt to buy the New York Islanders;Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau, about the famous surfing icon; and No Mas, about Roberto Duran and his rivalry with Sugar Ray Leonard.
  • The network will debut NFL Insiders, a new one-hour weekday pro football-themed show, in time for the 2013 season.
  • The launch of ESPN’s first daily, highlights-driven, soccer studio program in the US (Sundays- Fridays) on Aug.11.

ESPN laid out its upfront presentation yesterday, announcing a bevy of programming and digital initiatives for advertisers. Highlights included the return of the 30 for 30 Film Series that will debut on October 1; a huge new studio, bus and app for SportsCenter; the debut of NFL Insiders-a one-hour weekday series that replaces NFL32, hosted by Suzy Kolber and featuring Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter; a new daily show ESPNFC that will debut on Aug. 11; as well as a brand new ESPNFC.com and ESPN FC app.

On the sponsorship side, the company also revealed two new ad executions from its first internal Hackathon devoted to Ad Innovation. The initiatives will include GameBreak, a video ad innovation integrated into ESPN’s GameCast and ESPN Alerts, an ad execution that utilizes the 80 million alerts ESPN sends on a monthly basis.

Afterward, ESPN President John Skipper told reporters that he wasn’t concerned about Sen. John McCain’s legislation to have cable channels go a la carte. Skipper also said that he welcomed bids by NBC and FOX to challenge the ESPN networks, noting “It makes us better. It makes us sharper.”

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