T-Up: Cox Offers ESPN360
A month after Comcast launched ESPN360.com, another top-5 cable operator is teeing up the service. Cox Communications will make the online sports hub available to 4 million broadband homes next week.
The addition pushes ESPN past another important down marker as it looks to make the site available in all U.S. broadband homes. Its Cox deal increases availability to about 46 million, approximately two-thirds of the total.
En route, however, ESPN has struggled to persuade leading cable operators to pay TV-like affiliate fees for rights to offer it. Cox joins Comcast as the only two among the top 5 to offer it across their entire footprints.
ESPN360.com is streaming hundreds of live college football games this fall, and Cox serves several markets with rabid fan bases, including Omaha (University of Nebraska), Baton Rouge, La. (LSU) and Gainesville, Fla. (University of Florida).
Competition could have at least partly prompted Cox, the third-largest cable provider, to ink the deal with ESPN. AT&T began offering ESPN360 in Baton Rouge on Sept. 8 as part of its U-verse service.
ESPN has been willing to make deals with operators allowing them to shift the ESPN Classic network to a sports tier, in exchange for both carriage of ESPN360 and wider distribution of the ESPNU and ESPN Deportes networks.
The Cox agreement dovetails with that strategy. The distributor will extend availability of Deportes in the Phoenix, San Diego and Las Vegas markets. It also gains rights to move Classic to a lesser-distributed tier. (Phoenix is the country's seventh-largest Hispanic DMA.)
ESPN says ESPN360 offers more than 3,500 live sports events a year, ranging from NBA playoff games to European rugby.
Comcast, the largest cable operator, began offering the service to its 17-plus million broadband customers on Aug. 3. Its deal with ESPN boosted distribution of the site by more than 70%.
Charter, the fourth-largest operator, offers ESPN360 in select markets.
ESPN has been unable to secure deals with Time Warner Cable, the second-largest operator, and Cablevision.
ESPN reportedly is charging operators a sub fee of 5 cents per month.
Recent MediaDailyNews Articles
-
Broadcasters Sue AereoKiller In DC May 24, 5:21 p.m.
Confirming their efforts to follow over-the-top TV services with legal filings in any market where they ... -
Cigarette Marketers Slice Mag Spending In 2011 May 24, 4:52 p.m.
The five major cigarette marketers nearly cut in half their collective magazine spending in 2011. The ... -
B2B Revenues Rises, Credits Events, Digital Ads May 24, 4:45 p.m.
Overall, business-to-business media revenues are growing, due to an upward trend in B2B trade shows which, ... -
Court Dismisses Defamation Suit Against WPP's Sorrell May 24, 3:31 p.m.
A New York Court has dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought against WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell.Sorrell ... -
MediaCom Races To Win FIA E Championship's AOR May 24, 12:37 p.m.
A start-up race car circuit, The FIA E Championship, has named WPP’s MediaCom as its agency ... -
Networks Tie For Last Month of the 2012-2013 Season, NBC Gains Ground May 24, 10:56 a.m.
The four major networks were in a virtual tie for the last month of the 2012-2013 ... -
Aereo Is Not Just For Cord-Cutters May 23, 6:34 p.m.
Are cord-cutters most likely to subscribe to Aereo? Not necessarily, according to early returns. CEO Chet ... -
Cars.com Drops Flag On NASCAR.com Sponsorship May 23, 6:25 p.m.
Cars.com has a need for speed. The site has a deal with Turner to sponsor a ... -
Worldwide Pay TV On The Rise, Big Growth In Asia May 23, 4:17 p.m.
North American pay TV subscribers may continue to show little or no growth for the first ... -
Activision Blizzard's Campaign Wins Grand Effie May 23, 4:12 p.m.
Video game marketer Activision Blizzards’ ad campaign “The Vet and the nOOb” for "Call of Duty: ...
Be the first to comment on "T-Up: Cox Offers ESPN360"
Leave a Comment