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ESPN Practices Less Than Aboveboard Journalism? Say it Ain’t So!

December 12, 2011 by

Awful Announcing last week was the latest to take ESPN to task for its well known practice of piggybacking on someone else’s’ news stories and either portraying them as being broken by the WWL or as revealed by “anonymous sources.”

It is becoming an increasingly common complaint among non-ESPN sports reporters that after they break a story ESPN will run with a similar story and attribute it to sources. ESPN then might later credit the proper source, but not always.

The article notes two recent cases where this has happened. Tim Brown of Yahoo broke the Albert Pujols to the Angels and quickly afterward ESPN’s Buster Olney has “sources” that confirm the trade. The second was Brett McMurphy at CBS broke the Big East expansion story and again ESPN missed the boat crediting sources for its version.

In the past it has been noted that reporters such as Fox’s Jay Glazer often break big football stories that are then shown on ESPN’s Mort Report unattributed. But now it seems that more and more people are speaking out against the practice, including a number of ex-ESPN people who certainly must have some insider information on the topic.

The article goes on to provide some pretty funny comments from rivals that show what they think of the practice. One from Greg Doyle notes that “Someday I hope to break a story so big that ESPN credits me, even if it does misspell “Doyel” as “sources”

While this might just seem to be petty sniping, breaking news is hard, and someone that is out in front of the pack on news stories deserves to be credited for their work. I am sure many people have been incensed when someone at their work gets or takes credit for something that you did, ESPN just plays on a bigger stage.

In the rush to get news out quickly it is always possible to forget to properly credit the original source, and no doubt everybody that has done any amount of reporting has probably been guilty of this at least once, but it does seem that it is a fairly common occurrence in Bristol.

Filed Under: Awful Announcing, ESPN, Fox Sports, Jay Glazer, SportsCenter Tagged With: ,

Mobile Sports Report TechWatch: Barnes & Noble Enhances Nook Color

December 12, 2011 by

OnLine’s new apps mean Tablets can be gaming consoles
Cloud gaming developer OnLive has developed a set of apps that bring console gaming to tablet and mobile (i.e smartphones) platforms. The company said that this will open up top ranked, high performance games that were once only available on consoles to a market that is at least 500 million strong.

The Universal OnLive Wireless Controller enable a player to use a Wi-Fi network to play a program that is stored in the cloud and streamed live to the tablet, phone, PC or Mac. A user must own the program and once purchased it can be used on any device.

OnLive currently has a stable of 25 games that have been adapted to work with touch screen devices including L.A. Noire, Batman: Arkham City, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Lord of the Rings: War in the North, and Defense Grid Gold. The Universal OnLive Wireless Controller uses technology that the company is expected to be available soon for a list price of $49.99.

Barnes & Noble enhances Nook software
Barnes & Noble has released a software upgrade for its Nook Color, a move that brings the low cost device closer in features and capabilities to its more expensive Nook Tablet as well as rivals from other developers.

Among the new found features is access to Barnes & Noble’s huge Marvel graphic novel collection via Nook Comic, streaming movies and TV shows via Netflix as well as the Flixster app for on-the-go access to digital streaming media.

In all the company said that it added 100 enhancements that ranged from increased font size to the ability to read books in either landscape or portrait mode. Head over to Cnet for a fuller listing of features as well as some issues with the product.

Microsoft to offer Open Source Apps for Windows 8
ExtreameTech has reported that the advocates for Open Source software have won an unexpected ally with the announcement that Microsoft will allow open source apps at its Windows 8 app store.

Microsoft has long been a foe of the open source movement, but entering the app space much later than rivals Apple and the Android lineup it needs a boost and it appears it is taking a chance that one of its rivals is willing to take.

While Apple prohibits open source apps for its iOS in its store Microsoft has stated that it will allow apps developed under a license from the Open Source Initiative and that the OSI license will trump the Microsoft Standard Application License Terms that have tough sharing provisions.

The lack of open source apps has not seemed to hurt Apple yet as it just reported that it just had its 100 millionth app downloaded from its Mac App Store.

The Patent wars heat up
Motorola won an important ruling in German courts last week that could shackle Apple and force the company to pay out royalties and make changes to its technology. The court ruled that Apple has failed to license one of Motorola Mobility’s patent technologies.

Motorola could seek an injunction preventing Apple from selling products that contain the technology in dispute, which basically means no iPhone or iPad sales in Germany if granted. Apple said that t will appeal the ruling.
If Motorola wishes to have a sales injunction enforced against Apple it will need to post a $133 million bond to cover costs in case Apple later prevails in court. Motorola has licensed the technology in question to others but wanted to charge Apple at a higher rate.

Looking for an Android to call your own?
Not exactly what Harrison Ford was in a search and destroy mode in “Blade Runner”, but not like any phone you have used before, a strange new communications technology is emerging from the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) .

Called the Elfoid P1, it is a prototype tele-operated android that will, in the future, mimic motion and appearance of that of the users, hopefully conveying a more human sense to phone conversations.

Sadly it is not a machine that you can send to work in your place but rather a pint sized device that stands in as a phone and resembles, well here is a photo you can decide for yourself what it resembles. Not sure I would want to whip one of these out of my pocket at a business meeting to update my calendar.

CES
If you have an interesting product or app showing at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show that you think we might be interested in drop us a line.

Filed Under: Amazon, Android, Apps, iPad, iPhone, Live sports via mobile, Motorola, OnLive, Tablets, Wi-Fi Video Streaming Tagged With: , , , , ,

Frookie Speaks Out: NBA Should Sell Hornets to Telco Consortium

December 9, 2011 by

The solution to the National Basketball Association’s most pressing problems, its ownership of the New Orleans Hornets and the disparity of balance among small market and large market teams, is in the palm of David Stern’s hand.

When he’s holding a smartphone or iPhone.

Today the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors were sold for $1.3 billion, and 37.5 percent went to rival Canadian telecommunications companies Rogers Communications and BCE Inc., according to an Associated Press report. As MobileSportsReport.com founder Paul Kapustka points up, the deal is driven by the desire of the telecommunications companies to secure exclusive content for its mobile-phone customers. In a similar way, the NBA could more than bail out the New Orleans Hornets by putting together a telco-centric ownership base. In fact, such a deal could make them competitive. What’s required is a wholly interactive mobile sports broadcast business model.  And, it would ensure that small-market New Orleans sports fans would enjoy the same great product and ownership stability that fans in Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia, Miami and Houston get.

The beauty of the solution is it becomes more powerful the more broadly it is applied. We’re talking about an interactive sports network, and the power of a network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users or the system, according to Metcalfe’s Law. Telco ownership of more than one franchise, not just the Hornets, becomes more powerful with each team added. If each team is operated under independent management and makes decisions based on the best interests of the sports fans, teleco ownership would provide the ultimate solution to the NBA’s pressing issues — small-market solvency and competitiveness.

Here’s what would need to happen:

Sell interests in troubled small-market teams to telecommunications companies. Include provisions that call for them to make an earnest attempt to buy out current television broadcast and cable television agreements, and stipulate that the telecos must automatically take over local broadcast and cable agreements at a floor price that matches the current market value of broadcast television and cable deals at the time of expiration if buy-out attempts are unsuccessful. When advertising dollars exceed anticipated broadcast and cable revenues, revenue-sharing bonuses go directly to the clubs. Instead of milking consumers for subscriptions, all local games — not covered by a national broadcast agreement — are aired to consumers for free.

Then:

  • Each broadcast begins with opt-in direct marketing.
  • The first tier of privacy, where the consumer shares the least information about themselves, may or may not include standard commercials during game breaks.
  • Additional tiers of privacy, including opt-in sharing of Facebook, Twitter and other data, gives advertisers the ability to conduct one-to-one or one-to-many interactive direct marketing campaigns.
  • The highest level of opt-in calls for fans to provide very specific data about themselves, and can even call on them to pledge attendance at upcoming live events, in exchange for participation in contests, free tickets and other incentives.

For sure, this kind of structure wouldn’t solve the issue of star players wanting to play on the big stage, but it could certainly help small-market teams capable of paying star players the market rate if they were willing to stay. So, it is simplified solution. But Frookie is a simple man, and never claims to be anything else.

The real point is this: It is the real-time, interactive, data-driven marketing opportunity that differentiates the mobile sports viewing opportunity from the traditional sports broadcast. Through experimentation and innovation, telecommunications ownership of a single team can make the commercial portion of any sports broadcast a far more efficient market, and the leading thinkers at Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T know it. The real beauty of the solution is that it becomes more powerful the more teams a telco participates in, because it opens up the possibility to aggregated user data, and broadly distributed direct marketing campaigns. Give telcos the opportunity to build broadcast revenue streams that match those the already rich Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks enjoy, and you are well on your way to parity and stability. David Stern and company just needs to get the guts to dial the solution up.

And hey, if it didn’t work? You could always scotch the marketing plans and just sell viewing access to games at a per diem basis because the home viewing experience — by virtue of tablets, smartphones, iPhones, advanced sports information services, in-running gambling, in-running fantasy sports and social media applications — is increasingly competitive with the game experience, anyway.

Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: , ,

Canadian Phone Companies Buy Maple Leafs — In Search of Mobile Content?

December 9, 2011 by

Reading through the BusinessWeek account of the purchase of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs by two of Canada’s big phone companies I was struck by a quote that seems to signal that part of the motivation behind the purchase was to secure exclusive content for the carriers’ mobile-phone customers.

Here’s a couple nut grafs from the story which spell this strategy out:

The acquisition fits with what BCE Chief Executive Officer George Cope has called his strategy to make more money by adding content he can sell to subscribers on smartphones, tablets and computers. In addition to the NHL’s Maple Leafs, which have won the Stanley Cup championship 11 times, Maple Leaf Sports owns the National Basketball Association’s Raptors.

“Now you’re getting to people with so many more devices and outlets and ability to access content, the value of that content is going to be more valuable, and that’s what this seems to be a play for,” said Jeff Young, chief investment officer at NexGen Financial Corp., which oversees C$900 million including shares of BCE and Rogers.

So instead of buying teams and then trying to reap rewards from broadcasters, it seems like the Canadian telcos are going straight to the source — and are putting up more than a billion dollars to do so. Again, cribbing from the BW story, the meat of the deal:

Rogers committed C$533 million in cash for a 37.5 percent stake in Maple Leaf Sports, according to a company statement. BCE and its pension fund will also contribute C$533 million for an equal stake. The transaction is expected to close in mid 2012. It gives Maple Leaf Sports, also owner of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer, an enterprise value of C$2 billion.

Zang! If that doesn’t convince you that there’s money at the intersection of mobile and sports, what else will?

Filed Under: Live sports via mobile, NHL Tagged With:

Friday Grab Bag: New Windy City Sports Blog This Spring

December 9, 2011 by

New Chicago focused Web site launches with solid cast
While the review might be a bit over the top, Robert Feder in his column points out a new entrant to the world of sports blogging, and one focused on Chicago that will go by the name of ChicagoSide that is slated to officially launch on baseball opening day in 2012.

Author and columnist Jonathan Eig is helping lead the charge. If you are unfamiliar with his name you may have seen some of his books in the sports sections- such as Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson’s First Season.

The web site will have three dozen writers, something that in this day and age is almost mind blowing. Among the initial lineup will be Lou Carlozo, George Castle, James Finn Garner, Jim Coffman, Lauren Etter, Elliott Harris, Noah Isackson, Billy Lombardo, Amy Merrick, Joel Reese, and Alan Solomon,. Theo Epstein might find himself missing the Boston press corps.

Will Tim Tebow slay ESPN’s QB rating system?
Rating systems are always a lot of fun, often hard to figure out, great source of bar arguments and rarely do they provide any insight if rating an individual in a team sport. ESPN happily entered the market this year with its QBR.

The Washington Post’s Achenblog takes a good poke at the system noting that winning is not one of the metrics and that Tebow fares poorly in the QBR. He says that it does not measure heart, leadership and desire.

While those are often the lead in anti-stat diatribes this one is not really that. He also notes that rating systems do not take into consideration the changes in rules in the NFL that allows QBs and receivers to run free to a degree that players a generation earlier would have loved. Also would you trust any rating system that puts Philip Rivers as a better QB that Joe Montana?

Control your Xbox from your Windows Phone
Microsoft has released its Xbox Companion App for its Windows Phone 7.5 operating system. With the app a user can control select services on their Xbox as well as consume any content that they might have stored on the device. In addition Microsoft has added search capabilities to examine the entire Xmox catalog and find games, apps, movies and movies.

The phone enables users to learn additional details about the objects of a search as well as select and launch a search result movie, video game TV show or app on the console as well as play, rewind and pause music and video. The App is free from Microsoft.

Will the Kindle Fire be 50% of Android Tablet Market in 2012?
That is the thought of Evercore Partners’ Robert Cihra who believes that the tablet from Amazon will have a major impact in the Android space, carving out a huge niche for itself and creating barriers for rivals to enter and profit from the space.

The Kindle Fire, which many have estimated Amazon sells for cost, and possibly just a hair under, in the old razor/razor blade business model, could “Vaporize” the for profit Android tablet OEM business according to Cihra.

He notes that Apple will remain the dominate player in this space with its iPad and that it will continue to dominate the most profitable segment of the market. The Kindle talking 50% of the Android market would represent a drop in the bucket of the overall market which Apple is expected to have a market share of as much as 70% in 2012 depending on the source.


Twitter claims iOS integration boosts signups by 25%
The redesign of Twitter appears to have struck a chord with one segment of the market, the Apple iOS users. The redesign, for those of you who have not noticed, includes a consistent menu across desktop and mobile platforms, the ability to track what has happened with an individual post and a Discovery section that recommends new areas based on previous history, among other changes.

So where does the iOS come in? Well it actually started helping the micro blogging site earlier when it integrated the service into its mobile OS. Users can tweet photos directly from the camera, for instance. Since the integration Twitter has seen a notable uptick in status updates, according to MACNN.

Filed Under: Android, Apps, Baseball, iPad, Major League Baseball, Sports Social Media, Twitter

ESPN’s NFL32 Turns to Social Media for Topics With ‘Facebook Faceoff’

December 8, 2011 by

ESPN will enable Fans to determine some discussion topics

ESPN, Looking to increase the level of interactivity with its and the NFL’s fans, has developed a segment in one of its new NFL programs, NFL32, that will allow fans to submit questions via Facebook — questions that will hopefully help the ESPN show create feisty debate in a segment called Facebook Faceoff.

NFL32 is designed to be a yearlong one-hour show that features ESPN’s Suzy Kolber and Chris Mortenson as hosts and includes a variety of the network’s other NFL analysts. It uses a free-flowing format that the company touts as being highly interactive.

Now the show is taking interactivity to a new level by soliciting input from members of its Facebook friends. On its Facebook page NFL32 has posted the following:

Want to help stir things up on our NFL32 panel? Thursday we debut a new segment called “Facebook Faceoff”. Submit topics you want to see us debate on TV, and we’ll see which ones cause the biggest differences of opinion.

I have to say I like this plan on many levels. It helps bring broadcasting out of its shell and enable it to more directly interact with fans. I often turn on a sports program and find that it just seems to be a regurgitation of what I have heard on every other sports program. While there is always the danger that ESPN will select issues that cater to this mindset, at least there is a chance that it will open new avenues of conversation.

Broadcast sports programming often seems to talk down to sports fans. On the other hand I find on a variety of sites around the Internet where fans who can intelligently talk about issues that go much deeper than Brady vs. Tebow but about the impact of losing an offensive line coach or the lack of blocking issues from a tight end.

I doubt that the new show will dig down to this level of detail since those topics are not controversial, but it does open the door to more fan interactivity on sports shows. In the past it seemed that the only interaction that ESPN and others had was the annoying Twitter feed at the bottom of the page. If I want to read a Twitter feed my TV is not the place I want to do so.

A quick look at some of the first topics offered for “Facebook Faceoff” include Tebow, Raiders and Tebow, coaching changes in Chicago (Paul did you submit that?) and should the Lions draft another cornerback or a left tackle. Not earth shattering but it is a start.

Just the start for social media
It seems that networks and even news sites are starting to embrace social media and the ability to interact instantaneously with fans. The growth and popularity of Twitter, especially among athletes is just one example.

ESPN struck Twitter gold earlier this week with its hour mostly devoted to Tim Tebow. The show was the most popular on Twitter during its broadcast and was picked up and rerun on several sites. We expect that ESPN will use that program as a template in the future to boost ratings during off-peak viewing times.

Another use of social; media is CBS Sports live “5th Quarter with Gary Danielson” chat which has been running after SEC football games. You do hear regional baseball broadcasts that also will answer select Twitter questions but it always seems canned. Maybe we will start seeing a segment in pregame and postgame shows that enables fans to directly interact with either athletes or the broadcasters as they talk with the athletes.

Filed Under: Athlete to Follow, CBS Sports, ESPN, Facebook, NFL, Tim Tebow, Twitter Tagged With: , , ,
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