Twitter Aiming High in Content Partnerships

Image via CrunchBase

San Francisco-based social networker Twitter has blossomed from microblogging to serving as a multimedia platform, forging relationships with Weather Channel, LLC, ESPN and Turner Broadcasting Network, sharing ad revenues as it streams video content from those networks.

Now comes word from TechCrunch that Twitter has Viacom and Comcast's NBCUniversal in its sites, and may soon be a vehicle for sharing video clips from one or both of those media giants in return for a piece of the ad revenue action. TechCrunch reports that Twitter may have an agreement in place with one or both of Viacom and Comcast as early as next month.

Twitter continues to expand opportunities for its 140-character devotees to share content.

ESPN Sues OSU Over Public Records Request in NCAA Probe

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeIn State ex rel. ESPN, Inc. v. The Ohio State University (Case No. 11-1177), a complaint for writ of mandamus filed this week in the Supreme Court of Ohio, the sports broadcaster is seeking records from the football powerhouse concerning an NCAA probe into alleged sales by OSU players of game memorabilia that caused Coach Jim Tressel and star QB Terrelle Pryor to leave the university.

ESPN sued under the Buckeye State's public records law [Ohio Rev. Code sec. 149.43], after producer Justine Gubar's April 20, 2011, requests for documents concerning the alleged NCAA violations were rejected by OSU on May 27, on the grounds that producing the information would violate students' privacy rights set forth in the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") [20 U.S.C. sec. 1232g].

ESPN was turned away by OSU after it asked for Email correspondence and other internal and external documents regarding the NCAA's inquiry into alleged actions by Tressel, Pryor, and other team members, including Devier Posey, Daniel Herron, Mike Adams and Solomon Thomas. According to an article in The Columbus Dispatch, ESPN also has its eye on correspondence from Tressel to Jeannette, Pennsylvania-based Ted Sarniak, purportedly Pryor's mentor.

OSU has 21 days to respond to the Complaint once it is served.

Cable Operators Survey: FNC Cable MVP

Image via WikipediaSports networks aside, Fox News Channel ("FNC") is the network cable operators crave the most, according to an article in the latest Broadcasting & Cable magazine.

A Beta Research-conducted survey of 110 cable operators between August and November 2010, 42 percent of whose systems boasted more than 200,000 subscribers, estimated FNC's value at 58 cents per subscriber per month. Fox News finished ahead of the Disney Channel and USA Network and was worth a dime more than rival CNN.

The cable operators principally embrace sports outlets, with  ESPN and ESPN2 assigned perceived values of $1.16 and 71 cents per subscriber per month, respectively. The NFL Network and TNT, which hosts NBA contests and will air the NCAA tournament this year, also are considered valuable stations.

In its quest to remain the darling of cable moguls, Fox News coverage will continue to reflect the no-holds barred, bare-knuckle approach of the NFL Network and the fantasy world of the Disney Channel.

ESPN Gives Legitimate Sports Journalism the Boot

Image via WikipediaDuring her stint as sideline reporter at the Rose Bowl New Year's Day, ESPN's Erin Andrews commented on  incidents of Texas Christian University players slipping on the turf, which she attributed to the poor traction of the Nike Zoom Alpha Talon Cleats the TCU players were wearing.

Intrepid reporting by an ESPN journalist, going the extra yard reporting on feet? Maybe not, according to an article in The Oregonian, that notes Andrews is a celebrity endorser of Canton, Mass.-based Reebok's ZigTech exercise sneaker.  Sounds like a conflict of interest afoot.

It's fair game for journalists to comment on the quality of products unless they are accepting money to endorse the products at issue or those of a competitor.  The latest "Don't bee" example of sports journalism comes on the heels of, as it were, ESPN suspending anchor Will Salva for plagiarism (see "TUOL" post 12/30/10) and giving NBA star LeBron James the keys to the studio by allowing him to call the shots on "The Decision" broadcast in which he revealed he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat (See "TUOL" post 7/8/10).

Hey ESPN ("Everyone Shills & Plagiarizes, No?")--if you listen carefully, you can hear the ghosts of  sports writers Red Smith, Damon Runyon & Heywood Hale Broun whimpering.

ESPN Drops Anchor for Plagiarism; Hears a Ding

Image via WikipediaESPN anchor Will Selva has been suspended indefinitely for failing to attribute his on-air evaluation of  an upcoming Los Angeles Lakers contest to Orange County Register sportswriter Kevin Ding, whose column contained a passage recited nearly verbatim by Selva.

Selva, a 15-year veteran of broadcast journalism, apologized for appropriating Ding's assessment of the upcoming Lakers/Spurs game, and for not adhering to ESPN's "high standards."  Apparently, Selva didn't watch ESPN's broadcast of The Decision (See "TUOL" post 7/8/10).

A spokesperson for ESPN ("Everyone Stop Plagiarizing Now"?) said the Disney-owned network took the matter seriously, but concluded the anchor made a sloppy mistake, rather than an intentional attempt to infringe on someone else's work.

ESPN Allows 'Chosen One' to Choose Everything

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Okay, "TUOL" concedes we're not talking about Walter Cronkite surrendering control of the content on the CBS Evening News or Ted Koppel allowing Nightline to air a 30-minute infomerical.

Still, ESPN has lowered the bar with l'affaire LeBron James, as chronicled by Ad Age and The New York Times.  For the NBA-challenged among you, LeBron James, a/k/a the "Chosen One," is one of the best pro basketball players on the planet and a free agent.  His long-time team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, has been desperately trying to re-sign him to a megadeal, as have suitors, including the New York Knicks, NJ Nets, Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls.

James will decide which team's barrel of money he will accept this evening, but it's how the public will learn of his choice that rubs "TUOL" the wrong way.  An hour-long special, cleverly called "The Decision," will air on Disney-owned ESPN this evening at 9 and is sure to be a cable ratings monster.

On the positive side of the ledger, the ad revenues generated by the show will be given over to the Boys & Girls Club of America. Otherwise, it's a dark day for sports journalism.  ESPN has also allowed James to choose the journalist to whom he will make his grand pronouncement. James will share the scoop (but not his money) with freelance journalist and former ESPN reporter Jim Gray, though ESPN NBA analyst Michael Wilbon will also be on-hand to ask a question or two.

ESPN apparently now stands for "Every Superstar Prescribes News." Imagine the influence James would exert if he ever managed an NBA championship as Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan have done so many times.

Fla. Appeals Court: ESPN Wins Don King Libel Suit by a TKO

Image via Wikipedia

In Don King Productions, Inc. v. The Walt Disney Co. et al. (Case No. 4D-08-3704), Judge Dorian Damoorgian of the District Court of Appeal of Florida, 4th District, last week upheld the trial court's 2005 dismissal of boxing impresario Don King's defamation suit against ESPN, Inc., ESPN Productions, Inc., ESPN Classic, Inc. and parent company, The Walt Disney Co., on the grounds that King failed to prove the alleged defamatory statements were false or made by the defendants with actual malice.

ESPN's Sports Century devoted a 2004 episode to the life and career of  the boxing promoter. King alleged that the program contained false statements that harmed his reputation, including allegations that a charitable boxing exhibition featuring Muhammed Ali arranged by King cheated a Cleveland hospital out of ticket proceeds, that King purportedly threatened the life of the author of a book about him that was critical, and that he owed money to a boxer in his stable of fighters.

Judge Damoogian's decision  noted that to sustain his defamation claim as a public figure, King had to prove that the defendants made the statements at issue with actual malice, that is, knowledge that they were false or with reckless disregard whether they were true or false.  A mere failure to investigate the statements at issue before the defendants aired them, without more, does not rise to the level of actual malice, according to the appeals court.

The 79-year-old boxing impresario who promoted Ali's "Rumble in the Jungle" and "Thrilla in Manila" fights can add his own "Horror in Florida" hair-raising litigation experience to his list of achievements.

Kraft-ESPN Relationship Too Pat?

Image via Wikipedia

The Kraft Sports Group, owners of the NFL New England Patriots and New England Revolution soccer franchises, has lent its sales force to sports broadcasting giant ESPN, which is promoting its new Web site,  www.ESPNBoston.com.

ESPN has launched Web sites in Chicago and Boston and plans to enter other major metro markets, including Los Angeles, Dallas and New York. Kraft selling local advertising to benefit ESPN, which often broadcasts games involving the NFL powerhouse Patriots and their photogenic QB Tom Brady, has inspired a blitz by media analysts and journalism profs. screaming "conflict of interest."

Time to call an audible on this partnership.

ESPN Bans NY Post Reporters Over Andrews Nude Pix

Image via Wikipedia

ESPN, which last night finally gave permission to its on-air reporters to acknowledge a lawsuit against Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger brought by a female former executive casino host at Harrah's Lake Tahoe that includes accusations of sexual assault and battery, false imprisonment, and defamation among the 12-count, 36-page complaint arising from an alleged incident in July 2008, has banned reporters from The New York Post from appearing on its programming because of the tabloid's coverage of the Peeping Tom who illegally videotaped ESPN reporter Erin Andrews while she stood nude in front of her hotel room mirror.

The Post, which usually doesn't turn up on the paragons of print journalism lists alongside Le Monde and The New York Times, ran, along with its news account of the invasion of Andrews' privacy, nude photo stills from the voyeuristic video.

Okay, now that you've looked at the Post Website, ESPN officials said New York Post employees will not be appearing on its programs because reproducing the nude images of Andrews "went well beyond the boundaries of common decency in the interest of sensationalism."

Meanwhile, ESPN has been criticized in the news media and accused of attempting to shield the reputation of the Super-Bowl winning quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, and trying to curry favor with the National Football League, whose games are regularly broadcast on ESPN, by not reporting on the lawsuit (Docket No. cv09-02222, 2d Judicial District Court of Washoe County, Nevada) when it was filed, other than allowing its Pittsburgh affiliate to mention it.