Fang's Bites

ESPN Radio Launches New App For Apple iOS Platforms

Here’s another piece of news that was released during today’s ESPN Upfront Presentation. ESPN Radio will be launching a new app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. This will be the first time ESPN Radio has optimized for the iPad. Not only will you be able to listen to ESPN Radio live at all times, you can download podcasts and get material for offline listening when you’re away from a Wifi connection.

ESPN says the app will be free for a limited time and a limited time only. When the limited time ends, the app will carry a hefty $4.99 pricetag.

Android and Windows 7 phones will have access to the new app later this year.

Check it out.

New ESPN Radio App Launches for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Now optimized for iPad and includes “build your sports station” personalization feature
Launch on Android and Windows 7 smartphones later this summer

ESPN Radio today unveils its single, most definitive ESPN Radio App optimized for iPhone, iPod touch and – for the first time – iPad. The app creates a seamless, personalized sports listening experience both live and on demand and includes a new feature that allows fans to build their own sports stations. Additionally, fans now have the option to rewind live audio streams, including ESPN Deportes Radio. Versions for Android and Windows 7 smartphones are slated to launch later this summer.

“This latest version of the ESPN Radio App builds on our promise to deliver the best sports audio content across any device,” said Marc Horine, Vice President, ESPN Digital and Print Media. “With this update, fans now have complete control over their listening experience as the app provides the functionality to customize specifically by sports, teams and athletes they care most about.”

The app is free to download and includes:

• Podcasts: Popular shows that include The BS Report with Bill Simmons, Pardon The Interruption, Around The Horn and Fantasy Focus;
• SportsCenter: The latest updates every 20 minutes;
• Offline Listening: The ability for fans to download on-demand audio content to listen offline.

Beginning today, fans can download the premium version of the app at no cost for a limited time.  After that, for a one-time fee of $4.99, fans can access the full experience of the app, complete with the new personalization features and enhancements.  These include:

• Custom Station or Playlist: Users can search tens of thousands of audio clips by a specific topic and create a station or playlist of their favorite shows, teams, players and sports;
• Live Audio Functionality: Pause and rewind up to an hour of live audio;
• myESPN Personalization: Customized audio automatically pulled into the app based on favorites;
• Top Searches: Shows popular searches and trends for easy one-click access to top audio;
• Recommendation Engine: Related audio content suggestions;
• Alerts and Push Notifications: For MLB broadcasts, breaking news and more.

Additionally, the premium app will continue to give millions of ESPN Radio listeners access to live, crystal clear radio streams from over 35 ESPN Radio stations, fan favorite shows like Mike & Mike in the Morning, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Waddle & Silvy (Chicago), The Michael Kay Show (New York) and more, select play-by-play broadcasts, live scores and text messaging.  Additional features include integrated news content from ESPN’s five local sites in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Dallas, and social media integrations via Facebook and Twitter.

ESPN Radio launched its first app in September 2009 and has since been one of the top paid sports apps in the marketplace.  Additionally, it was named Best Radio App by Radio Ink Magazine at the Digital Convergence Awards in May 2011.  The ESPN Radio App is available from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

The ESPN Radio app is the latest product from ESPN’s digital audio portfolio.  In March, ESPNRadio.com logged its best month ever since it first launched 11 years ago.  The site generated nearly 1.51 million page views from users listening between 30-60 minutes of digital audio through the ESPN Audio NOW Player, a 511 percent increase compared to the same month last year (source: Adobe/Omniture).  It also generated more than 3.22 million unique visitors (up 10.75 percent) and nearly 27 million total page views (up 35.8 percent).  Additionally, ESPN Podcasts recorded its own best month ever in March, logging 49 million downloads, up 73 percent compared to the same month last year.

That’s it.

Turner Launches New NCAA Sports Mobile App

Just announced by Turner Sports, a new NCAA Sports mobile app that will be made available for the iPhone and Android platforms. This will give mobile phone users the opportunity to see over 60 NCAA Championships.

The live game streaming will begin with finals coverage of Divisions I-III field hockey and Division II and III soccer.

Turner has also optimized the NCAA.com site for mobile users. Here’s the press release from Turner Sports on the new NCAA Sports app.

NCAA Digital Launches NCAA® Sports, a Year-round College Sports iPhone App to Feature Exclusive Live Video Streaming of More Than 60 NCAA Championship Events

NCAA.com also launches new mobile website for touchscreen mobile devices

Turner Sports and the NCAA announced today the launch of NCAA Sports, a new iPhone app that provides in-depth regular season coverage of college football and basketball, as well as NCAA championship coverage of all NCAA sports.  In addition, NCAA Sports offers fans exclusive live video streaming of more than 60 NCAA championship events including Division II football, Divisions II and III wrestling, Divisions I, II and III field hockey, Divisions II and III men’s and women’s soccer,  and Divisions II and III women’s volleyball. Turner-hosted NCAA.com is also unveiling a new mobile website for touchscreen phones (iPhone, Android, etc.), accessible via your mobile browser. The new mobile website will allow fans to get live scores, schedules, news, rankings and video recaps suitable for the mobile screen.

For fans on the go, NCAA Sports provides college sports news and scores throughout the year, with live and on-demand video coverage of NCAA championships. Users also will be able to virtually check into games and chat with friends via Facebook and Twitter. NCAA Sports is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod Touch.

Click to here to access NCAA Sports

“With the launch of the NCAA Sports iPhone app and the new NCAA.com mobile website, we’re giving  college sports fans greater access to NCAA championship and regular season content than ever before,” said Mark Johnson, vice-president of Turner Sports’ NCAA Digital group. “College sports content is underserved in the mobile space right now and we’re excited to offer fans mobile products that are 100% dedicated to college sports.”

“NCAA Sports is the next step in providing fans with more convenient digital access to many NCAA championships. We’ve seen the success with March Madness on Demand and other NCAA.com initiatives over the years and are excited to launch these new features for fans of our other NCAA championships,” said Greg Shaheen, NCAA interim executive vice president for championships and alliances.

“The NCAA Sports mobile app will provide live game streaming, interactive opportunities and access to more championship information,” Shaheen added. “This new mobile capability also will broaden the NCAA audience and overall reach with messaging whether fans are at the championship or viewing from another location.”

To kick-off the live game streaming, NCAA Sports will feature live finals coverage of: Divisions I, II and III women’s field hockey, Divisions II and III men’s and women’s soccer, National Collegiate men’s water polo and Divisions II and III women’s volleyball. The live video streaming coverage also will include Division II football quarterfinal games on December 3.

Additionally, the NCAA.com mobile website is now available for touchscreen devices by typing ncaa.com in your address bar. Fans have the opportunity to follow their favorite NCAA sports and receive live scores, schedules, video recaps and interviews with the same feel as the home site – NCAA.com.

That’s it.

Some Quickie Tuesday Links

I’ve been away from the computer again today so it led to minimal blogging. Let’s provide some links now.

We begin with some breaking news from the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman who reports that TNT will air the NBA season opening game on Christmas Day between the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. ESPN/ABC usually airs the Christmas Day games, but TNT has the rights to the league’s first game and Turner Sports apparently won out here.

Jason Lisk at the Big Lead criticizes ESPN for sitting on the Bernie Fine Syracuse story for more than eight years.

Allen Barra of the Daily Beast talks about ESPN and the Syracuse Post-Standard sitting on the Bernie Fine story for way too long.

At ESPN Front Row, Vince Doria, network vice president for news content defends ESPN’s handling of the story.

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart announced on his annual Sirius XM show that the sport has extended its agreement with the satellite radio provider for another five years.

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Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that YES Network will premiere a new series providing viewers access to Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says CBS/Turner expect big bucks from ad sales in the multiple platforms showing the NCAA Tournament.

David Goetzl of MediaPost says Paramount Pictures will incorporate NHL footage into promos for the latest Mission: Impossible movie on both US and Canadian TV.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid notes that a Tampa-St. Petersburg TV station accidentally showed a man’s schlong during a report from the Buccaneers locker room.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group notes that Big Ten Network has launched a mobile app for the Apple iPhone, iPod and yes, the iPad.

Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant says ESPN has signed a deal with the America East conference for 47 basketball games on the network’s various platforms.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports on the feud between Los Angeles Dodgers Frank McCourt and Fox Sports over media rights for the team.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner notes the longevity of “Inside the NFL”.

Emily Adamson of NBCMontana says the NCAA is now encouraging ESPN to find a way to air the Division I Football playoff games involving Montana and Montana State in Big Sky country. The games are only available on ESPN3.com which is not readily available in Montana.

Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic talks with NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner about Tim Tebow.

I’ll try to get some more links later on.

RIP, Steve Jobs

There aren’t too many people who can say they changed the world. Steve Jobs could.

His influence to make our world better cannot be measured. Just think of the Macintosh computer, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. And he also revolutionized Super Bowl ads. Jobs got major buzz for Apple by running this ad only once for the launch of the Macintosh during Super Bowl XVIII on CBS.

After that, advertisers have been trying to copy the Apple formula for getting buzz. An amazing visionary.

You can send your condolences, thoughts and reflections on Steve Jobs to rememberingsteve@apple.com. He will be missed.

It’s A Slowly Getting Back To Normal After Irene Linkfest

Yesterday about 2 p.m., I got the power back at the Fang’s Bites abode and after walking around the neighborhood, I saw that I was quite lucky in not getting any tree limbs falling on my house or any leaks in the basement. So while Hurricane Irene was quite deadly and caused major damage up and down the East Coast, I consider myself very lucky in being able to get through the storm without any major interruptions and I thank National Grid for getting the power back to my house within a day after being knocked offline.

Let’s do some linkage. Already a couple of major sports media stories breaking today.

First, Bill Carter of the New York Times writes that NBC has tapped Today show Executive Producer Jim Bell and former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol protégé as the Executive Producer of the 2012 London Olympics.

Tim Malloy at The Wrap says NBC feels Bell is uniquely qualified to helm the Olympics for the network.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Bell will continue to oversee the Today show while working on the Olympics.

The lovely Rachel Cohen of the Associated Press writes that NBC will show all Olympic events live in one platform or another.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette is happy to see NBC airing events live.

In a related note, Meredith Galante of the Business Insider notes that the aforementioned former Emperor is selling his Colorado home for a huge pricetag.

And maybe this is why Ebersol is selling his house, Bill Carter and Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that the former Emperor is returning to NBC Sports as a senior adviser. You can’t make these things up.

Our other big sports media story involves the University of Kentucky revoking the school newspaper’s media credential for playing by its rules.

Scott Sloan of the Lexington Herald-Leader looks into why this occurred.

And from the Kentucky Kernel, the school newspaper’s managing editor Becca Clemons gives the publication’s response. This now is becoming a First Amendment issue and had the school’s Sports Information Department had handled this differently, this would not have blown up. Instead, the SID reacted poorly and this is the result.

To other stories now.

USA Today notes that there are a few changes coming to NFL Network including the hiring of Andrew Siciliano full-time and the shuffling of anchors for NFL Total Access.

Anthony Crupi at Adweek says advertisers are flocking to Fox’s UFC package knowing they can reach large numbers of young males.

To the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center and Jason Fry whose final column for the site provides sportswriters with the five changes in digital sports they need to look for in the very near future. Also, Jason has collected 19 of his National Sports Journalism Center columns into a eBook and it’s available for download at Amazon or at Smashwords. Jason has been a great resource here and I hope to let you know where he’ll be landing soon.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser says syndicated radio host Paul Finebaum will be writing a column for SI.com.

Glenn Davis in SportsGrid has the latest Alec Baldwin-John Krasinski Yankees-Red Sox rivalry New Era ad that premieres tonight. It’s very funny.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group looks at Big Ten Network’s programming schedule to reflect the new football season.

Brandon writes about the launch of Kansas State’s new KStateHD.TV.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch takes to TwitLonger to ask why ESPN’s new social media policy is not being applied equally.

David Whitely of AOL Sporting News wonders if airing the Little League World Series on TV is too much pressure on the kids.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the addition of Texas A&M to the SEC won’t add much value to its TV contracts.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post writes that the US Tennis Association is considering charging viewers for watching the U.S. Open online.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union wishes ESPN would lighten up.

David N. Dunkle of the Patriot-News (PA) writes a long-time Harrisville R&B radio station flips to ESPN Radio this week.

Mark Berman of the Roanoke (VA) Times says ESPN’s new contract with the ACC means more Virginia Tech sports on TV.

Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that former CNN/ESPN/YES/Fox Sports South host Fred Hickman has signed with a local TV station to become its sports director.

Susan Blaskovich of the Pegasus (TX) Times says Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban gets his chance to pick games on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday.

The Grand Rapids (MI) Press notes the passing of long-time Detroit Lions beat writer Tom “Killer” Kowalski.

The Ann Arbor News has reaction to Kowalski’s passing.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Sentinel looks at how WTMJ radio will handle conflicts between the Brewers, Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers.

Bob has some interesting tidbits from the NFL Films America’s Game documentary on the 2010 Packers that airs next week.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business feels the number of documentaries released now focusing on the Cubs is bad timing.

Mike Imrem of the Chicago Daily Herald says he might be part of the problem in ESPN’s airing of the Little League World Series.

Josie Becker of LA Galaxy Confidential suggests that NBC use the ESPN model for hiring announcers for MLS instead of the Fox Soccer way of doing things.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball says the MLB At Bat for iPhone and iPod Touch underwent a nice upgrade in time for the pennant races.

Brady Green at Awful Announcing enjoys Gus Johnson reenacting his famous Brandon Stokley call.

And I think that will do it for the links today.

Sounding Off On The Thursday Linkage

Let’s do the linkage on this Thursday morning. Some good stuff is already out.

The Financial Times has a look at how European TV money is now either catching up or surpassing US TV dollars for the bidding for certain global sports events.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News reports that ESPN has released a new app for the iPhone and iPod Touch which allows Time Warner and Verizon FiOS TV subscribers to watch live TV on their devices.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel notes that SNY is now taking shots at Dish Network after being dropped by the satellite provider.

Mike says YES Network and DirecTV continue their negotiations as a deadline that was extended to today is staring them in the face.

Lindsay Rubino from Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN’s E:60 is being nominated for an award that honors diversity in communications.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life writes that Tiger Woods appears to be an afterthought for ESPN’s and CBS’ coverage of The Masters^®.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, the St. Petersburg Times’ Eric Deggans feels Mark Cuban’s idea to ban all internet writers to improve sports coverage is quite silly.

Ronald Grover, Brian Womack and Andy Fixmer of Bloomberg report that YouTube is in talks with several Hollywood companies to provide original content including sports.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says DirecTV is all over The Masters^® this year.

Marcus says since ESPN’s Captain Blowhard promised not to tweet until the Red Sox won, an online betting site is taking wagers on whether he will indeed keep quiet.

Sports Video Group has provided a site that outlines how to produce live golf in the third dimension.

At the Biz of Baseball, Maury Brown says MLB isn’t serving its Extra Innings and MLB.TV subscribers well through its archaic blackout policies.

Dan Frommer of the Business Insider has a look at the new WatchESPN iPhone app.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union writes that a local sports TV anchor will be part of the online and DirecTV coverage of The Masters^®.

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tells us that NFL Films visited the Steelers last week to film several interviews.

CBS Radio Baltimore’s Jen Royle talks with the Baltimore Sun’s Simon Habtemariam.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says former Nationals analyst Rob Dibble has come out stating that it was a letter from the father of pitcher Stephen Strasburg that led to him being fired from MASN last year.

Dan talks to a local man who came close to winning ESPN.com’s NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says CBS and Augusta National Country Club have a unique partnership for The Masters^®.

Iliana Limon in the Orlando Sentinel talks with Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky about the future of the league.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman discusses online coverage of The Masters^®.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has an update on what happened with Fox Sports Ohio’s feed of the Astros-Reds game from earlier in the week.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Bucks will be pushed to another radio station due to conflicts with the Brewers.

Neal Justin of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says four cable and satellite providers are not carrying the full schedule of Twins games from Fox Sports North.

Tim Engstrom in the Albert Lea (MN) Tribune writes that Charter Communications is at an impasse with Fox Sports North over 45 Twins games that Fox Sports North picked up.

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times says while the Lakers will not bring back TV play-by-play man Joel Myers, they will bring back analyst Stu Lantz.

That’s where I’ll end it for now.

ESPN Launches New “WatchESPN” App For Apple Platforms

Do you want to watch ESPN on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch? Well, there’s an app for that! But only if you’re a Time Warner Cable, Verizion FiOS TV or Bright House Cable subscriber. Through this app, you’ll be able to see ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU as well as ESPN3.com programming. All this provided that you’re a subscriber to one of the aforementioned cable providers. Perhaps if ESPN makes more agreements with other cable and/or satellite providers, this service would be available to you, but as for now, it’s only applicable to those services above. Down the line, the app will be made available for other smartphones and tablets.

If you’re a high speed internet subscriber to Verizon, you can see ESPN3.com, but not the other three networks, but as a Verizon FiOS internet customer, that’s good news for me.

Here are details from ESPN.

ESPN Launches New ‘WatchESPN’ App for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch

App Gives Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV Subscribers Live Access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com content

NEW YORK, N.Y. – ESPN announced today its flagship network ESPN as well as ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com are now available to Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV subscribers via the new ‘WatchESPN’ App for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, now available on the App Store.

In time for the early rounds of the Masters, the NBA Playoffs and the beginning of the Major League Baseball season, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV subscribers who receive the linear networks as part of their video subscription can now watch the channels from the convenience of their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

“Innovation continues to drive ESPN,” said George Bodenheimer, president, ESPN, Inc. and ABC Sports. “When we launched in 1979, nobody envisioned a day when people would carry ESPN in their pockets.  But here we are.  And we’ve reached this watershed moment for the industry through tremendous collaboration with forward-thinking partners.”

The free WatchESPN App includes a simple user interface that takes the current online viewing experience to the high-resolution, Multi-Touch displays of iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Once a user downloads WatchESPN from the App Store, they will receive instructions to enter their cable subscriber credentials and access their favorite ESPN content on their device. A version of the application optimized for the Apple iPad will be available free to download in May.

Added Sean Bratches, executive vice president, sales and marketing for ESPN, “This represents the culmination of our efforts over the last five years. We strive to serve the sports fan wherever they consume sports, and I can’t think of a better way to do that than making our networks available to fans whenever and wherever they might be.”

The company first launched an online-accessible authenticated version of ESPN in October, 2010. Authenticated versions of ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line launched in January, 2011. Consumers can access the channels through a centralized website, ESPNnetworks.com.

The WatchESPN App is available for free from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

The App will be available on other smartphones and tablets in the near future.

That’s all.