ESPN and Harrah's Interactive Entertainment today announced they have reached a new seven-year agreement that will keep the World Series of Poker (WSOP) airing on ESPN through April '18. Under terms of the deal, ESPN will telecast a minimum of 32 hours of event coverage from the WSOP in Las Vegas annually, including WSOP gold bracelet events and the "November Nine" Championship. WSOP content will appear on ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN2, ESPN2 HD, ESPN Classic, ESPN.com, ESPN360.com, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN Int'l platforms outside the U.S. ESPN has broadcast WSOP events every year since '03 and was operating under an agreement set to expire after the '10 WSOP ( WSOP ). DEBUT TALLY : In Manchester, Leigh Holmwood reported ESPN's U.K. coverage of Saturday's Arsenal-Everton EPL match drew an average of 428,000 viewers between 5:30-7:30pm local time. The net's full coverage between 5:00-8:00pm locally, "including pre- and post-match comment and analysis, drew 360,000 viewers." Meanwhile, Sky Sports 1's coverage of Saturday's Hull City-Chelsea match, the net's first EPL telecast of the season, drew an average of 966,625 viewers. The BBC's Match of the Day, which aired at 10:00pm locally on BBC 1, averaged 4 million viewers ( GUARDIAN.co.uk, 8/17 ). The GUARDIAN's Owen Gibson compares the 428,000 average to the 355,000 viewers that "watched the first top flight match aired by its ill-fated predecessor Setanta" in '07. Gibson: "America 1-0 Ireland, you might think. But ESPN's figures were boosted by the fact that all Virgin cable customers can see the channel free until September" ( Manchester GUARDIAN, 8/18 ). STAND AT ATTENTION : In Maryland, Aaron Wilson noted Ravens coach John Harbaugh Sunday had a group of ESPN The Magazine employees that were "casually stretching out on the ground behind the end zone ... thrown out of practice by a public relations official." The ESPN The Magazine crew was thrown out under Harbaugh's "year-old policy that no one sits down or lays down at practice." Harbaugh said of the policy, "Nobody lays down at Ravens practice or sits. That was disrespectful to you guys" ( CARROLL COUNTY TIMES, 8/17 ). LOSING FOCUS : The L.A. TIMES listed ESPN's "SportsCenter" as Overrated among its list of things that are overrated and underrated. The L.A. TIMES: "We're not sure what happened to this network. ... After enduring endless waves of witless catch phrases, blowhard analysts and 'jacked-up' highlights, we'd rather retreat to a local Little League game. Quietly" ( LATIMES.com, 8/16 ).
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| ESPN Will Telecast A Minimum Of 32 Hours Of WSOP Coverage Annually Through '18 |
