Cable Network Analysis Paper

I chose to do my cable network analysis paper on ESPN. I chose this network because I use ESPN’s services more than five times a day through the media channels of television, internet, or radio. ESPN stands for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network and is the self proclaimed “Worldwide Leader in Sports”. ESPN is based in Bristol, Connecticut and was launched in 1979 and now ranks second in the top cable networks with over 90 million subscribers (ESPN.com). ESPN since its beginning has created 12 daughter national cable channels which operate under ESPN and the Disney corporation. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc. which is an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company or otherwise known as the Disney-ABC Television group.
Although ESPN is not just a cable network for men, this seems to be the main demographic that ESPN reaches and where they use their niche marketing. ESPN has been ranked the #1 favorite network among men for the last 7 years, and Sportscenter, ESPN’s signature show is the favorite ad supported program among men (ESPN.com). ESPN has an audience of 75% male and is the leader in that category and they boast more high income male viewers than any other ad-supported network (Campbell). From watching ESPN one can infer that it is a cable channel focused towards men. One of the most played commercials on ESPN right now is an advertisement for Schick razors which features sports athletes Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, and Roger Federer participating in their respectable sports and then coming together to promote Schick’s new razor. This is obviously a commercial designed to reach the market of men who are concerned with sports and who know who these athletes are because their names are not mentioned in the
I would argue in my experience that ESPN tends to promote their Sportscenter program the most because it is their signature program. One of the reasons that they promote the program is because it is on many times during the late evening, early morning and afternoon. During a baseball game you will see a lot of commercials saying: “Stay tuned for Sportscenter after the game”. I believe they do this because people have a tendency to change the channel after a program or game is over and they are trying to remind the viewer that you do not have to wait until tomorrow to catch up on all the sports scores but can get them directly after the game. Another advertisement that you see quite often is for ABC sports. Since this is who ESPN is owned by, ABC gets free advertising for their sports programs. A lot of these have to do with NASCAR racing or Golf. As we talked about in class this is a perfect example of vertical integration. I also do see a lot of local advertisements on ESPN which is made possible by the local cable carriers. Since ESPN is such an expensive subscription for the local cable carriers, there is a good possibility that an agreement is made to allow for so many local