Digital Magazine News - November 20,2005
ESPN Scores With Switched-on Sports Fans
ESPN pulls magazine, tv and digital edition into an integrated media package
Publishers looking for a good model on how to deliver readers an integrated media package need look no further than ESPN. Not only does the media brand have broadcast, but also has the web, print and even a digital edition.
Managers a Disney Company-owned ESPN has cleverly figured out a way to market most of these products together. ESPN The Magazine, which was launched in 1998 and has grown to 1.9 million in circulation, is being promoted along with the magazine's new digital edition and ESPN Insider, which is premium editorial content on the web site.
the premium content includes access to blogs from expert staff writers who are paid extra for the editorial contributions as well as online updates for sports fans. It also includes an application that Editor-in-chief Gary Hoenig called the "most fun of all" fantasy football.
Online fantasy football
In the virtual world of football featured on ESPN's web site, fans can create fantasy teams made up of their favorite players and compete online with other sports fans. Hoenig said that frequent news developments among player's keeps fans coming back to the site for live updates so they can be better informed and score higher against online rivals. "The information is dynamic, you can learn about players that are injured or dropped, and this can give you an edge against your opponent," said Hoenig.
The premium content comes at a premium price. While a year's subscription to the biweekly ESPN costs $26.95, the premium version with its access to digital edition, which is delivered by Olive Software, comes at a price point of $44.95.
A current marketing promotion on ESPN.com offers subscribers the chance to upgrade to the premium package at no extra cost. new subscribers can sign up for a free trial of ESPN The Magazine and also get the digital edition and the premium online content bundled in.
ESPN launched the digital edition early this year, timed for the lead-in to the Super Bowl game on February 6. Hoenig said he has been "hearing anecdotal evidence: that reception to the digital edition has been "very positive," but he offered no specifics on circulation take-up to the digital issues.
The issues can be downloaded directly from the home page of ESPN.com after the PDF files for the print edition are converted in XML files for navigating the issue online.
He added that the focus at the cross-media company is on selling the package of ESPN offerings, not just the digital edition. Indeed, ESPN does not market or offer the digital edition alone.
The digital edition has not been treated as an orphan though. In addition to marketing alongside ESPN Insider promotional initiatives, it is pushed through online banner ads/placement, direct mail campaigns, e-mail campaigns, and ads in the magazine.
To help get a better understanding of how the digital edition is being perceived by its subscribers--the average demographic is male, 30 years old with a college education and a household income of $77,000 -- ESPN is currently exploring various research projects among both its readers and key advertisers.
There is no such lack of data for ESPN's web site, which is ranked first among sports web site according Media Matrix. Monthly unique web users number 14.9 million, while page views top out at 945 million, while page views top out at 945 million who spend an average 9 minutes each time they land on a page.
Digital edition sold as all-in-one
While these impressive numbers for the web site are marketed to potential online advertisers, at the moment, the digital edition is not specifically sold to advertisers. "We are simply marketing this as an added value to our advertisers to reach our consumers via another platform/media," said Hoenig. He acknowledged that advertisers' content would lend itself to the interactive editorial available through the digital edition. But so far, there have been no takers.
Likewise, while ESPN takes video clips from the cable network and gives readers access to them through a click on the web site, the media company has not yet incorporated video of its sports broadcasts into the digital edition. Perhaps that will be the next step for this progressive media company.