By Michael Hiestand, USA TODAY
Selling ESPN specifically to women might not seem sensible. But ESPN, always on the prowl for spinoffs, wants to target women with espnW. As ESPN vice president Laura Gentile notes, ESPN's own research finds "women see us as an admirable brand that has authority. But they see us as their father's brand, or husband's brand, or boyfriend's brand. They recognize it's not theirs"
No wonder. Men account for 76% of ESPN's overall viewership. And just two types of programming it produces draws majority-female audiences: The National Spelling Bee on ABC (63% female) and cheerleading shows on ESPN2 (52%) — with ESPN2's Wimbledon coverage in third place with 48%.
Read the rest of the article here: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2010-09-30-espnW-baseball-tv-playoffs_N.htm?csp=usat.me
In a 2 paragraph response (a minimum of 5 sentences for each paragraph), answer the following questions. In paragraph # 1, discuss your thoughts on this innovative idea. Do you think the idea could ultimately develop into a network channel? Why or why not? Be specific with your thoughts.
According to this news story, men account for 76% of ESPN's overall viewership and just two types of programming draws majority-female audiences: The National Spelling Bee on ABC (63% female) and cheerleading shows on ESPN2 (52%). In paragraph # 2, address the following scenario. If you were a marketing professional at the network charged with the task of attracting more female viewers, what would your strategy be? Be specific with your thoughts.
Please sign your name to the bottom of your blog entry.
Creating espnW is not a good idea. If you want to watch a women’s sports team, then just wait until they come on T.V. Making a channel just for women is a huge waste of time and money. For one thing, I assume that a majority of the women like the men’s sports teams. The other half might want to watch espnW, but that still will not be enough views to keep this channel running. I believe that this channel would shut down in about half a year. The reason that the women’s sports games, such as football, aren’t on as much, is because the majority of the United States find the NFL much more entertaining.
ReplyDeleteIf I were in charge of getting more female viewers to watch ESPN, I would do stuff that wouldn’t waste as much money, such as having more women sports programs on. For instance, since they say that women like to watch cheerleading so much, I would just add more shows involving this. This would also attract male viewers, because come on, what guy doesn’t like watching cheerleading? Also, I would add more male-dominant sports, such as volleyball. Volleyball is probably one of the largest sports for females. One more sport would probably be field hockey, because females love this sport. These types of women’s sports programs would save a lot more money, and also attract much more viewers, including men.
-Jack O'Donnell
i think its a good idea for women to be in the ESPN. if the women looks good or has a good reputation than it would attract viewers. i also think its a bad idea for men. if more women start getting invlove in the ESPN than their would be no job opportunity for men. but turning ESPN into a network is a good idea because of the viewers and viewers attract the money.
ReplyDeleteif i wanted to attract women on my show i would put more women on my television show. when reporters interview athletes i would put a women to interview them. i would also like for women athletes to get interviewed as well. Their not a lot of WNBA chat occuring nowadays. i would get into WNBA more so that more viewers would look at my shows.
oscar chicas
I believe that ESPNW is a good idea. However I don’t think that it would get enough success to make a network channel. A lot of women watch ESPN for the football and other men sports. Most ladies that are into sports do not like to watch girl sports. For instance a know a Lacrosse player that is a girl and she hates watching girls lacrosse but she is in love with guys lacrosse. For this reason I do not think that having a channel for women would really be beneficial.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I find it hard to believe that the only two types of “sports” shows that attract women are the spelling bee and the cheer competition. All of the women in my family love to watch football and my mom is a huge NBA fan. Never in a minuet would they watch a spelling bee. But if I was a marketing person I would have get more sponsors for the other sports that gear towards the women that only like girly things. Like have a Victoria Secret sponsor or something like that.
ESPN is a very well known company. If only 24% of women are watching it the task to get more viewers will be difficult. To attract more women I would advertise more products that women like. The idea of ESPNw might also work. Some women don’t really like watching women’s sports but it would be interesting to see.
ReplyDeleteOther ways to attract more women viewers is hard to tell. ESPN does not want to change just for women but wants to be able to appeal to them. A whole channel targeted at women would be awesome but studies should be conducted before to see if it is worth it. You don’t want to make a whole new branch if it is not going to be successful.
ESPNw
ReplyDeleteESPN has announced it will start a subdivision network for women called ESPNw. It will start out as a blog, and many female athletes are meeting at a retreat to talk about it. ESPN has a rather low women audience and wants to improve on those numbers by creating something women can get involved with. They say there are no current plans to make it a network, but it sounds like they are sincere in making it easier for women to relate to sports and enjoy them.
I think it is good for ESPN to take initiative and address certain issues that are affecting the network. If ESPN had a stronger female audience, then advertisers for women’s brands might start paying ESPN to show their products. ESPN can make money off of this if it becomes a network, but most importantly they can improve the outlook of the public to a point where they are not just a man’s brand, but an admirable network globally.
JOEY DOLAN
I do think espnW is a good idea, I think some women want to be able to connect with their own sports channel. Guys can already connect with all the other ESPN channels but women, according to this article, don’t view ESPN as a channel for girls. It will definitely cost ESPN some money but, this idea could pay off big time if it branches off into its own network. Brands and products will be able to advertise and target women who are interested in sports.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to attract women to my own network, I personally wouldn’t waste my money on a whole new network. I would most likely have a segment or a day for women on my network; “Girl’s Night” or something where women can spend time connecting with my network. Advertising space would fill fast with ads targeting women, and I would profit.
Luke G
I think that espn coming out with this new channel will only appeal to a small crowd. I think that if a girl doesn’t like sports espn coming out with a new channel isn’t going to make them like it anymore than they already did. What is them coming out with a new channel have to do with women coming out with a new sub-channel have to do with women watching it? I think that eventually the channel will fail. These are my thoughts on the topic.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a marketing manager for espn I would do a couple of things differently. I would try to include women in more advertisement for there channel. Because if they see other girls being included in sports they may want to get involved too. Another thing I would do is include more feminine commercials during sports events. Because if they see something they like during a commercial they may want to watch that channel again. That is what I would do if I was a marketing manager for espn.
Abel Henok
I think that it is a good idea. Also it is good because they can show just women stuff on that channel. I think that it would Immediately turn into a network channel. They should have an espn for women because some of them like to watch sports and espn stuff. I would Probably show girls stuff and a very little bit of boys stuff on that channel. Also I would make sure that they would like the channel. I would have a talk show just like the regular espn and all the other stuff just with different people and probably have girls talk about that stuff.
ReplyDelete-Daniel smith
I think from an ESPN employee this is a smart idea it’ll help expand the company to a different group of people but it will also represent ESPN in a friendlier form. I think that the way ESPN is going about it is good but I don’t like how they are moving away from the general idea of all sports all the time, to sort of sports and life. That’s a change for ESPN but I think it can benefit them in many ways. The only thing I disagree with in this idea is that woman are always going to like sports to such an extent. Also male sports are the main sports in the world today and those are the sports that woman are going to be watching. So it doesn’t matter if you televise the WNBA instead of the NBA it doesn’t really make a difference because the NBA is the more popular league and they are better marketed and televised so they will be the one that the fans watch regardless of the gender of the viewers.
ReplyDeleteIf I was an employee for ESPN first of all my idea would not be to make a whole new branch of the organization just for woman. I would start with televising more woman sports on ESPN or ESPN 2 but the problem with that is that so many woman sports are less known about then men sports so when woman sports are taking up a time slot on ESPN that will lose viewers because men make up more of the company’s viewers than woman do. Something that is possible would be a section on the ESPN website for woman. Like a “What’s new in the Woman World” or something of that sort. I would not go ahead and create this whole big new branch for woman, especially cause it’s not even strictly about woman sports it’s about just woman life in general and that gets away from what ESPN really is. If you want to talk about self-esteem and pedicures, E! is the station for you not ESPN.
-Thomas Baird
I think this is a great idea. At this current stage I don’t think it can be its own channel, maybe just a segment on regular ESPN or something, as well as the blog that was mentioned in the article. But after gaining the attention of women for awhile, after gaining some customer loyalty and major views they may be able to start a new channel with it. Again, it’s a great idea. It can only make ESPN more money.
ReplyDeleteWomen are always concerned about health and fitness, that’s why shows like The Doctors and Dr. Oz get so much female viewers. ESPN is a sports network, and sports are all about health and fitness. The connection is obvious. They should make shows relating to how women can get involved in sports to improve their “figure,” because that will really get them hyped. All the female athletes are really healthy so they could show women how they can be like the athletes too, by getting involved in sports, and that may also entice them to watch women’s sports.
Dil said it, so it must be true.
Amerkhail out.
I don’t think that this channel would be a good idea. I think that it will only attract a small audience. Since that the men are 76% of the viewers watching espn the channel would only attract 24 present of espns viewers. This means there will be very few viewers.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a marketing professional then the only way I could think of getting more views to watch the channel is by advertizing it all over the internet. This way women who don’t normally watch espn will see it is a channel for women and try the channel out. Maybe this will draw enough viewers. Overall I don’t think that the channel will be very profitable.
Tommy Sklopan
EspnW
ReplyDeleteEspn came out and said that they will have network for women soon and it will be called Espnw. On espn woman mainly watch the spelling bee and the cheerleading shows. I think that this a good idea for woman to have there own espn so they can have sports on there that they appeal to instead of watching what the men watch on the other espn. I think it could develop into a network if the woman really do watch it a lot and find it appealing to them if not so what not like the men care about the network I would not watch it if I saw it on. There will probably be a lot of woman that will watch it I know some woman that would watch it since they like to watch sports.
If I had a stagery I would I would get some commercial like the other espn so that woman can then find more out about this espnw. Then on Espn I would have like a 5 minute behind the scenes so that the woman that watches espn can find out about espnw. Also they could have posters up all over the United States like by stores since woman like to shop a lot. They could also have some pop ups on the internet sice everyone uses the internet. Those are my stagey.
Keith Krause
I do not think that this channel would be successful. Woman sports viewers are already watching sports now, in fewer numbers than men. If ESPN wanted to create a channel about “women finding self esteem” and “pedicures” it would ruin the image of the network. How does women’s self esteem and pedicures relate to sports? It doesn’t! There are enough stay at home mom self help shows out there already. Don’t bother creating a channel to give women another opportunity to voice their opinion on the latest rage in fashion and how to better help themselves. Save it for another network. All in all ESPNW sounds like the next biggest flop on television.
ReplyDeleteI would create more publicity for these “woman friendly” shows. These shows are already attracting woman making them successful ideas. By promoting these shows to the woman population it would attract more females to the network. ESPN already has women sports analysts showing that women can be in the realm of sports. It would be best to put any new shows or ideas on ESPNU or one of the fewer watched ESPN networks so as not to get in the way of the now successful ESPN routine.
I think the idea of women having their own ESPN show is dumb. It wouldn’t work out at all. Most women don’t even watch sports. It’s just another idea so women can be on the same level as men, they just rant and complain. You don’t see men wanting a soap opera channel just for guys do you? No, it’s ridiculous and not needed. It would barely get any viewings compared to the regular ESPN network.
ReplyDeleteIf I wanted to attract more women to the ESPN network, I would start by advertising more girls’ products in the commercial instead of beer or other stuff for men. I would also advertise the girls’ sports more often and display what’s going on in women’s sports. You can’t do much more though because its not a show designed for women. You don’t see us men trying to advertise our stuff on reality tv shows like desperate housewives and all that.
Jeremy Wagner
ESPN is hiring more women. In my opinion this is a good thing because men will probably be more in tuned to watch and listen if it is a women speaking on the show. Men account for more than women on ESPN and this is about to change. Another reason this can be good is that more women will be in tuned to watch ESPN if a women is telling you what’s going on in sports. I believe that the idea can eventually develop into a network channel because it has a lot of promise and show.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a marketing executer to attract females I would put more female sports on ESPN and have more discrete discussions about those sports. Thus female viewers would be more in tuned to listen to what is going on!
I think that idea for an ESPN channel just for woman is a good idea. The reason would be because a lot of women do like to watch sports. They also have their own league which is field hockey and girl’s lacrosse. So they would probably like to watch their favorite college’s women teams.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to think about a strategy it would be making a survey and see what other sports do women like to watch. I would also just see how the percentage of other T.V shows that are sports related the females like to watch.
I honestly don’t favor this idea at all. I think it would be a total waste of time and effort, and eventually money (which is what they really care about). It’s great to have programs and channels that both males and females can enjoy, but for the most part, we do share different interests. Men will always like to follow sports, and women will always like their soap operas and reality TV shows. I’m not saying that some girls can’t like sports, and that some guys can’t like reality shows, but as a big picture, it just does not work out like that. I have high doubts in this ever becoming a successful channel.
ReplyDeleteMy strategy would be to not try and make something for women on a channel mostly viewed by men. If I had to though, I would just focus it around female athletes. Behind the scenes shows about how cheerleaders get along or something like that, because after all, girls just like gossip and such. I would also include a section that focuses on the male athletes but not for their athletic skills, because females don’t really care about those accomplishments anyway, nor do they really understand what a safety is and why you receive 2 points out of it, or what traveling is in basketball, or what the crease is in lacrosse. I don’t think this would ever work, it’s like trying to include game highlights on Oprah.
Luis Reyes
I think this idea for espnW is a good idea in many ways. I think it has a good way to start, instead of just making a channel and hoping for women to find it, they are advertising a new blog that will help women learn to do many things that are more common for men such as riding motorcycles. I think it will develop into a network channel at some point because it seems like a good idea that could attract many women who specifically are looking for female activities and sports. While on the downside some people may take it differently and wonder why women need a special channel.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a marketing manager I would do it find information on the most female attended sport or event. One thing I would do is hand out cards and ballots to all customers at this event with a specific gender selection and then ideas for improvement for ESPN. By doing this we would gain ideas for ESPN overall while at the same time gaining ideas from the female population. While a channel might not be able to fill time all day with the lack of female sports to cover the channel may get off topic and have some odd shows that do not have to do with sports, leading to a lack of channel viewers leading to the channel with a grim outcome.
Andrew Frawley
I think this a great idea, because women as much as men have the right to watch whatever they wish to watch. ESPN is a huge company that can do many more things for women as well as men. I think that with this idea, it could become a big network channel just like ESPN (regular). Athletic women would be very interested in watching it, because it would talk about how the professional women athletes and the women teams are doing. If the network channel works, it could attract more women to watch, because it could become a huge success just like ESPN.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a marketing professional at the network trying to attract more females, I would make an announcement on TV telling everyone about the product for women. An idea I would have would be, announcing at sporting events and having a huge advertisement in the stadium, because many women come to sporting events with their boyfriends, brother, family, or husband to watch the game and get to see all these different advertisements. Another idea I would have would be posting an announcement on the internet, on websites that attract many women. There are many ideas to attract women, but I think that these would be the main one.
Anna Vallejo
I would not waste my time and money in creating Espnw. I think the idea is good enough for a blog, but not good enough for a network. Espn will lose a lot of money in a network that will most likely shut down in the first couple of months. If women don’t watch espn is because they have their reasons. Even the VP of Espn, Laura Gentile does not think the idea is good enough to for a network, is just too risky.
ReplyDeleteWhat I would do to attract more women to watch espn is put shows that they would most likely watch. If women like to watch spelling bees and cheerleading, then I would put more of those shows on tv. Another of my strategies is put those kind of shows that women like on primetime. That is because not only women will watch those shows, but also because everyone watches tv on primetime hours. I will have a bigger audience because both men and women will watch the same show.
Jaime Avila
I think that if ESPN markets this idea right, that they will have a very interesting idea on their hands. Even though women do think that ESPN is more of a male program, I think that with the help of espnW they can bring in more female viewers. By adding events like the National spelling bee and the National cheerleading event and many more programs, woman should start to become interested in ESPN more frequently. But, even though they are adding this program to the ESPN programming line, I don’t think that all women will follow suit and tune into ESPN. I think that some woman don’t watch ESPN because they just don’t find it interesting, not because there is nothing on the program to watch.
ReplyDeleteIf I were a lead program director for the ESPN programming, I would try and put more stories about female athletes. And also I think that if they show more women at these events, and involve them in more things with ESPN that they might be more interested in watching it. I think that there are so many ideas that the ESPN program can follow and if they follow through with it, it could be a profitable marketing idea.
-Brandon Smith
Yes, I think that this would become a network channel eventually. It could become ESPN w 1 and get a ton of coverage and followers. Start sort of small, with only girl-related sports such as tennis and basketball at first, and then maybe even branch off and do some health related shows. Grey’s Anatomy is the most feminine related show I know besides The View. That probably gets more hits than an NFL game altogether. I think that they might need to invent a whole new sport for women just to give them something to be focused on, because no average girl is going to want to watch normal shows, as shown by the statistics.
ReplyDeleteI think that I could design an all female network. Just have health and fitness shows in between sporting events like women’s basketball. There are tons of possibilities. Eventually it could even rival the fan base of a normal ESPN channel. It can be done! Also, having a network like that would get the women to talk about other than the men’s secrets. That’s not cool to gossip about us all the time. Just saying. Health and fitness is the way to go.
Danny Thuggin Marcinek
If the ESPN ends up creating a channel, it will be a waste of money. Not everybody likes cheerleading or spelling bee not even close. Probably only girls for tcheerleading and not only that but its not a sport! They even banned it from some schoola already. Then the spelling bee I it should be on abc or something similar because its a contest not really a sport. Only kids and maybe some teens interested in that will watch it thats all. It wouldnt have enough views for both shows.
ReplyDeleteI think its ovious females dont have a high percentage for espn because not every girl/famale is interested in sports. What I would do to get more famale viewers is get the football league for women and have it showing on espn now men and female would love watching that. If espn does that the percentage would increase quickly. With the cheerleading and spelling bee it shouldnt even be on tv. They have basketball, tennis, golf, swimming, volleyball and softball showing on espn but girls and boys. What they need to add is the womens football league!
dagmawe teklu
ReplyDeleteI think the network is not going to change because the man side of the sport is the biggest like NFL. Dose the women’s got a big football league just the soccer team. So I don’t support it because the network is going to change. The percentage for the men who view espn is way bigger than the women’s side. To attract more girls I would put a lot of pink staff and thing that women like to do like volleyball but I I don’t know a lots so staff but they like a lots of things.
I think that ESPNW is an amazing idea that would soon have its own network channel. Women over populate men in the world and there are professional women sports in the world too. Having a channel that mainly focuses on women sports would be one of the smartest things ESPN has ever done. Women sports are never taken over men’s sports which is why they are almost never on national television. I also think that more women would be Interested in playing sports after seeing a sports channel that has all women’s sports.
ReplyDeleteIf I had only two types of programs that draws mediocre attention from females, I would make changes ASAP. I would allow more programs that interest women to show on national television. Programs like the National Spelling Bee, Wimbledon and Cheerleading would be on television a lot more for women to watch. Having women also be interested in ESPN, along with men, would be very beneficial to ESPN.
ESPN new idea to target women is a great opportunity to boost followers. It seems ESPN already has most of the male audiences following targeting a new group of people is for the better. Most of ESPN viewers are men so getting women involved will only increase the viewing rate and also make a lot more money for ESPN. I personally think this a genius decision of behalf of ESPN because they are thinking outside of box by trying new things.
ReplyDeleteESPN’s strategy is very clever and well thought out plan. If I was the owner of ESPN and I went about trying to get female supporters I would first off show a lot of women professional sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball even more physical sports like wrestling and boxing. I would promote women’s professional sports and televise only that.