12-14-2017, 01:37 PM
With the Disney acquisition of FOX assets ESPN will acquire 22 Regional Sports Networks. From Yahoo Finance article it looks like the Tigers are an afterthought still in TN. Here is the excerpt and linked article...
ESPN did not have RSNs before now. It’s about to get 22 of them. So while some analysts say this dumps too much of a burden on Disney—air time it will have to fill with programming—clearly Iger sees the value and has a plan for them. Many of these channels still get very high ratings, from fans that watch a high number of games per year of their local hometown team.
Expect Disney to swiftly rebrand the Fox RSNs as ESPN channels.
ESPN can use the RSNs to bring new life to the SportsCenter franchise, which it has sought to reinvent with digital-first “SportsCenter Right Now” segments, a Snapchat version of SportsCenter, and a new anchor lineup at a time when many sports fans no longer see the need to sit down and watch a full episode of SportsCenter when they can get news and scores on social media as it happens.
Imagine regional versions of SportsCenter, like a SportsCenter Tennessee that airs on the ESPN Tennessee channel, covering only news about the Titans, Grizzlies, Predators, Volunteers, and Commodores. And vice-versa: Disney can pull some of the local content from RSNs into national ESPN broadcasts.
In other words: this is a bet on local, live sports television, but it can also build the reach of ESPN.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/disney-es...19773.html
ESPN did not have RSNs before now. It’s about to get 22 of them. So while some analysts say this dumps too much of a burden on Disney—air time it will have to fill with programming—clearly Iger sees the value and has a plan for them. Many of these channels still get very high ratings, from fans that watch a high number of games per year of their local hometown team.
Expect Disney to swiftly rebrand the Fox RSNs as ESPN channels.
ESPN can use the RSNs to bring new life to the SportsCenter franchise, which it has sought to reinvent with digital-first “SportsCenter Right Now” segments, a Snapchat version of SportsCenter, and a new anchor lineup at a time when many sports fans no longer see the need to sit down and watch a full episode of SportsCenter when they can get news and scores on social media as it happens.
Imagine regional versions of SportsCenter, like a SportsCenter Tennessee that airs on the ESPN Tennessee channel, covering only news about the Titans, Grizzlies, Predators, Volunteers, and Commodores. And vice-versa: Disney can pull some of the local content from RSNs into national ESPN broadcasts.
In other words: this is a bet on local, live sports television, but it can also build the reach of ESPN.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/disney-es...19773.html