WHO'S NEXT?

(From Sports Business Daily)

ESPN almost certainly won't be doing its much-panned WHO'S NOW? SPORTSCENTER segments again, after the network's top executives identified mistakes during the month-long segment.

Though the executives at ESPN's MEDIA WORKSHOP held this week in Bristol did not definitively say it would not come back, they admitted that the segments did not compare well with other, lighter summer fare on ESPN's news program.

For example, ESPN Executive Vice President/Content JOHN SKIPPER said WHO'S NOW? was not as strong as 2006's MAKE-A-WISH series or 2005's 50 STATES IN 50 DAYS.

Skipper -- "It didn’t work as well. I'm willing to concede that."

ESPN President GEORGE BODENHEIMER added, "Perhaps we could have executed it differently."

Skipper said ESPN would try similar shows in the future, but only if they are more focused on sports.

Bodenheimer said that a viewer's age was the biggest determining factor in whether they liked the show or not. People under 25 generally liked it; people over 25 generally didn't.

"Probably, 15-20% of our audience is teenagers," he said. "Everything we do is a balancing act."

In place of WHO'S NOW? ESPN next year will roll out something called TITLE TOWN, where SPORTSCENTER will visit up to 25 towns that it considers TITLE TOWNS.
[So no stops in Connecticut then?]

Viewers can vote via polls on ESPN.COM and the network will solicit essays from viewers.

This type of programming fits in with ESPN's strategy of tying together ESPN's TV network and Web site.

"We are making a concerted effort to find places where you bring those two things together," Skipper said.

Executives say the TITLE TOWN concept has garnered interest from at least two sponsors already.