ESPN

ESPN videos running on Bebo

Social network Bebo announced on Tuesday that it has made short-form video content from sports entertainment conglomerate ESPN available to its U.S. visitors. The programming available will include recap show SportsCenter Right Now, as well as clips from Mike and Mike in the Morning, Pardon the Interruption, Around the Horn, and select news and game footage.

It's a partnership that was first announced nearly a year ago but which has only now taken effect. The ESPN content will be incorporated into "Open Media," Bebo's project to provide more audio and video content to members of … Read more

Stream Hulu, YouTube, and more to 360 or PS3 with PlayOn

Continuing the trend of media servers that play nice with home video game consoles, PlayOn! has apparently raised the bar. With the new beta software released to the public yesterday, Windows XP and Vista users can now stream video from sites like Hulu and YouTube directly to their Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and HP MediaSmart TVs.

The technology is fairly simple; the software grabs RSS feeds from video content providers and pushes them through over your home network. With support already encompassing ESPN and CBS, it would appear that PlayOn! brings us a few steps closer to officially ditching our … Read more

NBC's Olympics: Separating half-baked from half-faked

Who would choose to be in NBC's PR Department this week?

I couldn't possibly accuse any of them of taking steroids, but could you blame them if they slipped something a little special into their noon smoothie just to deal with another sleepless night?

Many critics have been kvetching about technological fakery during the opening ceremony, when fireworked footprints were CGI'd for home consumption.

I'm not sure how the CGI increased our excitement.

However, the description from NBC's Matt Lauer was definitely breathtaking: "You're looking at a cinematic device employed by Zhang Yimou … Read more

The one question Mark Cuban should have to answer if he wants to buy the Chicago Cubs

Those nice people at ESPN reported this week that Mark Cuban, who I am told, was given a lot of money by Yahoo for some gizmoid or other, is one of the finalists in the bidding to buy baseball's most charming, unlucky, losersome team, the Chicago Cubs.

There will be those on the waggy side of humorous who will claim that he is the perfect person to own the Cubs as his Dallas Mavericks team is one of the most charming, unlucky, losersome teams in the NBA.

(My prejudices. One, I have Golden State Warriors hats and shirts and … Read more

Is ESPN's new Wi-Fi universal remote the ultimate?

We got an e-mail Tuesday announcing that ESPN's Wi-Fi remote was going on sale just in time for Father's Day. The remote is simply called ESPN The Ultimate Remote, which shouldn't be confused with another heady remote, Logitech's The One.

While The Ultimate Remote did make an appearance at CES in January, we really hadn't heard anything about it. It looks somewhat like one of Logitech's last-generation Harmony remotes, but it's apparently made by tvCompass, "a provider of digital media solutions."

On paper anyway, ESPN The Ultimate Remote looks like a … Read more

Sports fans boost ESPN traffic; top sites unfazed

Sports fans boosted ESPN's status in ComScore's latest measurements of Web site traffic, but the top sites kept their rankings unchanged during March.

ESPN jumped from 46th place with 17.8 million page views from U.S. visitors in February to 34th place with 22.4 million page views in March, the month of the March Madness college basketball tournament and the Major League Baseball season opening, ComScore said.

Sports-related online gambling sites also saw a surge, with Sportingbet's visitor tally jumping 35 percent to 975,000, ComScore said. Upickem.net and SportsBetting.com, while smaller, also … Read more

Where we are all children of men

EPISODE 66

Other than getting accosted by former reality stars, it's pretty much a regular day at The 404 ranch. George Clooney gets 2girls1cupped, MissBimbo scares Meridith Viera, Paramount is creating an awful studio to make low-budget horrible video games, and we talk about movies opening this weekend with special guest Karina Longworth.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

Two sides in ESPN's Web advertising broadside

MediaWeek has the scoop on a brewing revolt being orchestrated by ESPN against the use of ad networks. The report says that ESPN cut ties with Specific Media and other unnamed ad networks. If the story's accurate, you can bet other Web publishers will follow the sports giant's lead.

Publisher grumbling about advertising networks is nothing new. The critics will tell you that they diminish the value of their brands, and I suppose there's a measure of truth there. Algorithm-based ad selling isn't going to be for everyone. Of course, that hasn't stopped Internet publishers … Read more

Episode 597: Duh. Google phone.

ESPN Mobile resurrected for V Cast subscribers

Those with long memories in the mobile space might remember a little MVNO called Mobile ESPN that debuted some time in early 2006. The sports-based carrier catered especially to sports fanatics who wanted a cell phone that delivered real-time sports scores, sports videos, news stories, stats of favorite teams, and more, via an innovative ESPN-themed user interface. However, Mobile ESPN had to pull the plug only after a few short months, presumably due to lack of consumer interest.

Well, sports fans can now rejoice, because ESPN has partnered with Verizon to resurrect the Mobile ESPN experience via an ESPN MVP … Read more