ESPN360.com will adopt a new programming strategy this fall, becoming a live sports-driven programming service. Under the new programming strategy, the ESPN Digital Media and ESPN Programming units will collaborate to present more than 2000 live events on ESPN360.com in the next 12 months, dramatically growing the service's programming and delivering to fans live, multi-sport broadband action.

If you've already experienced ESPN360 or visit Find Internet TV for live online event listings, you'll know that ESPN360 already features many events online. Some of the most notable were the World Cup and UEFA Soccer/Football Games. According to ESPN, ESPN360.com delivered more than 200 live online sports events in 2006, and through July 2007, had featured more than 500 live events.

Unlike sites offering pay-per-view Internet packages, ESPN360 has a rather unique approach and forms partnerships with broadband providers. Some of the largest providers, including Time Warner, Cox and Comcast, have not reached agreements with ESPN360 so anyone using their services will be unable to view programming on ESPN360.com. For those with a high-speed Internet connection from Charter Communications, Verizon, AT&T, or another afiliated provider, ESPN360.com is free. The service has more than doubled its distribution since August 2006 and will expand again this fall when it will become available to all RCN high speed Internet service subscribers.

"We do not like the current business model that ESPN is using for ESPN360," said Scott Hightower, vice president of data product development and support at Cox Communications. He said the ESPN360 model would force Cox to add additional fees onto customers for paying for a service they may not want when they sign up for broadband.

Verizon and AT&T feel differently. "It is sort of like an arms race" right now in the video-online world, said Bill Heilig, Verizon's executive director for portal and content services. They view ESPN360's exclusive live World Cup coverage as an advantage that gave Verizon another weapon toward winning more customers.

Along with a new strategy, a new user interface for ESPN360.com is in development and scheduled to launch in fall 2007.

With ESPN360.com's shift to live programming, ESPN.com will become the home for ESPN's extensive library of daily on-demand online video.

"With the new programming approach for ESPN360.com we are creating the leading online destination for live sports," said John Kosner, senior vice president and general manager, digital media. "This is a tremendously exciting development for sports fans. If the game is not on one of ESPN's TV networks, fans will check ESPN360.com – and in certain cases go there first."

As the first full-time, multi-sport, live sports-driven broadband channel, ESPN360.com will feature a broad array of live sports events and programming every day, delivering multiple live events at a time, spanning a global lineup of sports programming including (but not limited to):

• Hundreds of college football and basketball games (including many out-of-market games);
• NBA games;
• NASCAR Nextel and Busch Series races;
• College baseball, softball, hockey and lacrosse;
• International rugby;
• Tennis (including the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon);
• Arena Football League games;
• U.S. and International soccer;
• Open wheel racing; international baseball;
• Sports-related press conferences.

ESPN360.com currently serves tens of thousands of streams for many of its live online events. Recent programming successes include more than 500,000 streams served for UEFA Champions League soccer matches; nearly 320,000 for the 2007 UEFA Under-21 soccer tournament; more than 250,000 for both the FIFA Under-20 World Cup and the 2007 Wimbledon tennis tournament; nearly 250,000 for both college football and college basketball (not including the March ESPN360.com Championships Week All-Access trial period); nearly 85,000 for NASCAR Busch series races; and more than three million for the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament (the service's most-viewed event).


To date, ESPN360.com's programming has combined live events with on-demand content – both original and from ESPN's television networks. With the shift to live online programming, much of the on-demand programming previously available on ESPN360.com will now be available on ESPN.com and it's network of sites, including ESPN.com, ESPNSoccernet.com, ESPNdeportes.com, ESPNRadio.com, EXPN.com and more. ESPN's on-demand, online video is typically shorter video clips (30 seconds – 8 minutes) – including highlights, analysis, news, and original content – and is viewed by fans tens of millions of times in an average week. ESPN.com's library of online video includes original content such as SportsCenter Minute, Fantasy Focus, ESPNSoccernet SportsCenter, as well as sports highlights, news, and content from signature, branded ESPN programs such as Pardon The Interruption, Around The Horn, NASCAR Now, The Sports Reporters, ESPNEWS' Hotlist, ESPN Deportes and more.

To implement the day-to-day operation of ESPN360.com's new programming strategy, Jeff Cravens has been named the vice president & general manager of ESPN360.com. In this role, he will guide the strategic product vision, overseeing the programming, production and day-to-day operations of ESPN360.com, reporting to both John Zehr, senior vice president, digital media production and to John Papa, vice president, Strategic Program Planning.

In addition to managing the programming and operations staff for ESPN360.com, he will work closely with ESPN's Digital Media, Programming Acquisition and Development and Affiliate Sales and Marketing teams to identify and implement programming, consistently enhance the sports fan experience with live online sports events, and create value for affiliated high-speed providers.

Cravens joined ESPN in June 2006 from Triple Play Consulting as a senior director of New Media. Prior to joining ESPN he served as President and General Manager of FANSonly/Official College Sports Network from 1999-2004. During his tenure, the company provided content delivery and Internet business solutions to 150 university athletic departments and launched a successful online multimedia subscription service centered on live sports. He began his career in collegiate and Olympic sports, first at the University of Kansas (1986-88) and then moving to the United States Olympic Committee (1988-94). He was a senior manager of the Torch Relay for the Atlanta Olympic Games from 1994-96 and moved to Turner Sports in 1997, where he was involved with strategic planning, sales, programming and marketing for the Turner networks. Cravens received a bachelor of science degree from the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas in 1985.