New ‘Sports Business Journal’ reader survey cites ESPN as industry leader in several categories
Sports network with the highest production values:
ESPN 28.9%
Fox 16.7%
NBC 15.1%
CBS 14.5%
Turner 2.8%
They are basically the same 17.5%
Network that does the best job covering the NFL:
ESPN 26.7%
Fox 22.2%
CBS 16.8%
NBC 13.8%
NFL Network 13.0%
Favorite sports-related mobile app:
ESPN ScoreCenter 25.6%
MLB.com At Bat 18.0%
WatchESPN 10.5%
CBS Sports Mobile 9.0%
TV network that has been the most innovative in the deployment of its live content on digital platforms:
ESPN 46.1%
MLB Network 13.3%
CBS Sports 11.0%
NBC Sports Group 9.2%
Fox Sports Group 7.1%
Afternoon studio program you watch the most:
“Pardon the Interruption” 37.9%
“Around the Horn” 8.2%
“The Jim Rome Show” 6.5%
“Fox Football Daily” 2.1%
“Pro Football Talk” 1.3%
“Crowd Goes Wild” 0.5%
Don’t watch any 43.4%
Family of networks best positioned to help leagues and sponsors reach Hispanic males:
Univision Deportes 39.0%
ESPN 25.9%
NBC Universal 11.3%
Fox 8.6%
Most influential person in sports business:
Roger Goodell 38.1%
John Skipper 16.6%
Bud Selig 7.9%
David Stern 5.8%
Sean McManus 5.5%
In its quest to serve sports fans, ESPN strives to be the cross-platform industry leader. A new poll of more than 1,700 Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily readers confirms the company’s position as the pacesetter among its peers.
The “9th Annual SBJ/SBD Reader Survey,” published Monday morning, cited ESPN as a leader in various media categories.
“ESPN easily garnered the most votes when readers were asked to select the network that has been the most innovative in deploying live content on digital platforms,” the publication concluded.
ESPN netted more than 46 percent of the vote in that category, more than the next four entities combined. Nearly 29 percent of the readers surveyed consider ESPN to have the highest production values, better than any of the other sports television networks listed.
ESPN’s ScoreCenter app — now relaunched as the SportsCenter app — and WatchESPN finished first and third, respectively, in the category of favorite “sports-related mobile app.”
ESPN was cited as the network that covers the NFL best with nearly 27 percent of the vote. ESPN President John Skipper (16.6 percent) ranked behind only NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (38.1) in the category of “most influential person in sports business.”
Survey takers voted Pardon The Interruption and Around The Horn first and second, respectively, among the most-watched afternoon studio programs. ESPN rated second only to Univision Deportes in the poll question asking which “family of networks [is] best positioned to help leagues and sponsors reach Hispanic males.”
