At ESPN, Play-by-Play Goes Virtual
September 5, 2008
LOS ANGELES — ESPN, the cable powerhouse that calls itself “Worldwide
Leader in Sports,” is looking to extend its domain in virtual worlds
by merging video game graphics with real-life sports anchors.
The
network, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company, has spent the
last year working on a new technology with Electronic Arts, the leading
game publisher, that would allow ESPN commentators to interact live
with realistic-looking, three-dimensional virtual players as they
pontificate about coming matches during broadcasts.
“It’s a way for us to remain relevant,” said John Skipper,
ESPN’s executive vice president for content. “We want to make sure
we remain connected to lots and lots of fans, and using the language
that gamers understand is one way.”
Boiled down, the complex technology, which will make
its debut this Sunday on ESPN’s popular “NFL Countdown” program, involves
using an Electronic Arts’ title — say Madden NFL 09 — with specialized
digital camera equipment in the studio. Presto: Both real and virtual
people move around the ESPN set to demonstrate plays and possible
situations.
And the sports behemoth has more ambitious plans down
the road. Instead of using the technology, called EA Sports Virtual
Playbook, to tell viewers what to look for before games, ESPN wants
to use it in reverse to play the ultimate Monday morning quarterback.
Using real information from a game, ESPN anchors could
reprogram an actual sequence to show, for example, what would have
happened had Peyton Manning thrown right instead of left.
Much is made about how various forms of media — television,
the Internet, radio — are all moving toward one another. And while
television content has converged into video games, Virtual Playbook
offers an example of convergence moving in the opposite direction.
ESPN is bringing the look and feel of a video game to television for
the sake of interactivity, flexibility and visual aid.
Television
and movie executives have struggled for years to attract young consumers
who play video games to more traditional forms of entertainment. At
the same time, ESPN is on a mission to tap new areas of growth as
it faces challenges in its core operations.
ESPN, three decades old, remains one of the media industry’s
biggest gold mines, with successful magazine and Internet operations
to complement its suite of cable channels. Analysts estimate that
ESPN represents about a quarter of Disney’s annual operating income.
But ESPN must also battle the ever-increasing number of Web sites
offering sports video and maintain growth as cable operators resist
paying higher subscription fees to carry its programming. ESPN charges
cable companies about $3.50 a month for each subscriber; the vast
majority of cable channels charge well under $1.
So far this year, ESPN’s household rating is up a modest
10 percent compared with the same period last year, largely because
of more interest in basketball and the X Games. But household ratings
for “Sunday NFL Countdown” have stagnated over the last two years.
Ratings for “Monday Night Football” dropped 13 percent in 2007 over
the year earlier, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
Among ESPN’s programming improvements are an expansion
of “SportsCenter,” the network’s flagship program, into daytime and
an ambitious push into high-definition programming. But the network
is also banking on technological advancements like Virtual Playbook.
“We think this will wow our viewers,” said Stephanie
Druley, a senior ESPN producer who oversees N.F.L. studio programming.
“No one has seen this before.”
EA Sports, a division of Electronic Arts, had a business
goal of its own in developing the technology. The unit is actively
moving toward a broader sports and entertainment enterprise to speed
up growth. Licensing technology is a main part of the strategy.
There is also the matter of increasing sales for the
division’s bread-and-butter products. Its longtime strategy of churning
out annual sequels for its Madden football game — the series is in
its 20th sequel — is showing strain. With heavy promotion on ESPN
via Virtual Playbook, sales might improve.
“We’ve got to keep swimming,” said Peter Moore, president
of EA Sports. “Part of that effort is to bring the consumer more into
our world. Virtual Playbook is going to give us a lot of opportunity
to talk to football fans.”
ESPN will also showcase Virtual Playbook on programs
like “Monday Night Countdown,” “NFL Live,” and, occasionally, “SportsCenter.”
The network hopes to expand the feature to analysis of other sports
like basketball and soccer, said Anthony Bailey, vice president for
emerging technology at ESPN.
In 2005, Electronic Arts reached a 15-year deal with
ESPN to publish sports games that use the ESPN brand name and content.
Analysts value the agreement at $850 million to ESPN over the contract’s
duration.
Neither ESPN nor EA Sports would say whether Virtual
Playbook was part of the 15-year contract or if the two companies
reached a new licensing agreement. An ESPN spokesman said current
contracts with the National Football League allow it to use the likenesses
of players to enhance its programming.
Integrating human anchors with virtual-reality players
might be new, but Virtual Playbook is likely to look familiar to avid
ESPN viewers. The network has sometimes shown video game simulations
of match-ups that look similar.
Still, new media analysts gave ESPN early praise for
the effort.
“If ESPN wants to gain more exposure to the gamer audience,
this seems like a smart way to go about it,” said Michael Dowling,
the chief executive of Interpret, a new media consultancy based in
Santa Monica, Calif. “It adds an element of coolness and realism that
gamers really want.”
ByBrooks
Barnes@www.nytimes.com
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