What do Americans care more about than anything else regarding the media? No, it's not the future of their country. No, it's not breaking news in their local communities. Their top concern regarding the media lies within the world of sports.
Sports media networks such as ESPN thrive on supplying news regarding this hot topic in American society better than anyone else. It's the most popular sports site in America and anyone who has ever looked at the site would understand why - there are articles and updates about nearly every single player on every single sports team in professional sports.
http://espn.go.com/
ESPN also generated a lot of traffic to their site with the creation of "Fantasy Sports." Fantasy Football is the most commonly played Fantasy sport on the site. The initial creation and coding of Fantasy Football most likely took a lot of work, costing a decent bit of money. The game was a huge hit and drew in a large following, allowing ESPN to charge internet advertisers more considering more people would see ads on the site.
ESPN has made it easy for newcomers to get involved, as well, providing a variety of "Beginner's Videos" hosted by ESPN Fantasy Footbal analyst, Matthew Berry.
http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/resources/help/content?name=introduction-videos
Fantasy Sports has become so popular, entire sections for "Fantasy-related News" were constructed and placed on ESPN's website.
http://games.espn.go.com/frontpage/
People are so involved with Fantasy sports and so competitive, everyone wants an edge over their opponent. As stated in a previous post, Fantasy sports has become a huge game of sports gambling. Everyone wants to win because most leagues have some kind of entry fee with payouts going to the top players at the end of the season and playoffs.
People are so determined to win, ESPN has even created "insider," a subscription-based guide to Fantasy sports. One can purchase "insider" by paying a membership fee, giving them a free subscription to ESPN magazine as well as, exclusive Fantasy tips and tricks.
http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/benefits
As a recap, ESPN tailored their news to cover a high-demand area, sports entertainment. They created a webpage, generating tons of internet traffic, allowing them to generate a higher profit from internet advertisers. In order to increase this traffic even more, ESPN created Fantasy Sports, which exploded and became a large part of sports gambling. Understanding people's desire to win, ESPN began providing "expert analysis" on a subscription-based method of payment.
ESPN tailored their product, sports news, to capitalize on a demand for sports news. ESPN generated internet traffic, generating revenue from internet advertisers. ESPN amplified those profits with the creation of Fantasy sports and even took that further by creating a "members club," providing the best news for those who pay extra. Checkmate. Well played, ESPN. Well played.
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