ESPN's upfront features pitches to younger tastes: avocado toast and social media
ESPN's upfront presentation at New York's Minskoff Theater featured trays of avocado toast, salmon bagels and green juice smoothies - evidence that Disney is in touch with younger tastes and that this is a company that can still afford to pay for luxuries when it comes to wooing advertisers.
As the crowd of ad executives waited in the theater for ESPN's new president Jimmy Pitaro to make his debut on a stage, a DJ, aptly named Dilemma, provided the bass-heavy music to generate some excitement.
ESPN's dilemma, of course, is two-fold:
1) How to grow its direct-to-consumer business fast enough to compete for sports rights with tech rivals that have cash piles in the multi-billions.
2) How to encourage cable customers to stump for new services without them cutting the cord. Disney cable income is on the decline, according to its most recent earnings report.
About that new subscription service: in a post-show press conference, Pitaro declined to offer any numbers on the re-launched ESPN app, which hosts ESPN+. He did say that both engagement and reach are up, and that he's pleased with the conversion rates to the new service.
ESPN opened its upfront with the three stars of its new morning show, "Get Up" in a video on their way to work. The show has been seen as a major new effort for ESPN, but ratings haven't been great. Reporters at the post-event press conference wanted Pitaro's take: He said change is hard and that ratings are up since the network has been tweaking the show.
How's Pitaro's vision is different from predecessor John Skipper: Pitaro says he's been thinking a lot about ESPN's audience and that the company can't get too caught up in the idea of a "fanatic."
"I think we're doing a fantastic job of serving the sports fanatic. But as we think about expanding our audience, what about the casual sports customer" Pitaro said.
Best quote of the event: Kobe Bryant was on stage to promote his new ESPN+ show "Detail." Bryant said: "Determination wins games, details win championships."
Pitaro's top priority in two words: Audience expansion. "How do we become more relevant to more people, especially the younger generation?" Pitaro told reporters.
The press conference ended quickly as organizers were told to break down the set so the Minskoff Theater could get ready for another Disney production: "The Lion King."