Starcraft II on ESPN 2? - Page 30
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ThyHate
240 Posts
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Deleted User 124618
1142 Posts
On October 01 2011 17:57 Jakkerr wrote: I voted No. Starcraft doesn't have enough viewers by far to make it interesting for a tv company. Example: Last MLG had 250k consequetive viewers if I recall correctly. Let's say 150k watched Starcraft. Out of those 150k people there's only a certain % American, probably like 50%, so 75k American viewers. Out of those 75k not every1 will watch ESPN2, so let's say 50k people that will watch it on TV. That would get cancelled after 10 minutes. Don't think millions of people are gonna tune in just because a random game they have never heard of is on TV. Whatever the numbers were, 3 million hours of video was consumed or so. I am exited for the idea of SC2 in tv! Even though I am not sure how it would work properly. | ||
justinpal
United States3810 Posts
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j0ker
275 Posts
Loving the armchair TV execs discussing programming length and commercial timing. Lets be realistic, this isn't going to get a primetime slot. Espn2 has a long history of covering niche "sports", and even has a history with Mlg. They also have a history of poker, which EXPLODED in popularity and spread like wildfire across the television medium and all over the internet. Poker coverage started on espn(2) as niche programming to fill in slots that were taken up by the 80th rerun of sportscenter. From espn's perspective, they are looking at a game/"esport" that is currently experiencing pretty incredible growth in the U.S.(and to a slightly lesser extent in Europe), and has a decade-long history of extreme popularity in South Korea. They are also very reminiscent of the explosion of poker, of which they were a very big helping hand. They see this as an opportunity to grab Starcraft 2 first, and to nurture it and help it explode like they did with poker. From the perspective of a Starcraft 2 fan, this has to be viewed as nothing other than a huge opportunity. I think we all agree that SC2 doesn't NEED to be shown on TV, the internet is the ideal medium and currently works best. But one has to realize that, despite programming becoming more and more popular online, there are ALWAYS going to be people that want to lay down on their couch and flip channels. And there are a lot more of those people than internet streamers like ourselves. A LOT more. Furthermore, ESPN leveraging their gigantic viewership and powerful advertising and self-promotion infrastructure on a game we all love is nothing but a good thing. We all know how addicting this game is to watch and we all know or know of dozens of people who have played little more than 5 games in bronze yet set their alarms to 2:10 AM to watch tastosis cover the GSL. It is naive to think that this addictive game isn't going to gain a pretty significant bump with exposure to MILLIONS of new sets of eyes. Logistically, SC2 tourneys are not ideal for programming and SC2 games are not ideal for commerical timings. Concessions can be made though, from both sides. Initially this is almost certainly going to be a late night time slot, therefore not live considering MLG is the tournament being discussed. I know we all prefer our sc2 as live as can be, but remember that this isn't necessarily targeted at you specifically, but targeted at your classmate who doesn't know he likes SC2 yet(although you bet your ass you will end up tuning in as well). An edited 2-3 hour program could cover the late bracket stages of an MLG with minimal downtime between games. TV likes its commercials short and frequent, but sports on TV are given flexibility in this regard. Soccer is a nightmare for commercials but is shown on TV. Keep in mind that most SC2 games average around 15 minutes or shorter. The format would probably look quite a bit like it does for baseball. (3 hour MLG final day condensed): Intro/casters/bracket rundown Commercial Game 1 Commercial after each game Double commercial after each match, with commentary and bracket stuff filled in Pretty doable to be honest. Any nightmare 45 minute+ games would be an issue, but these are quite rare and a quick commercial could even be added in if the coverage was not live. Live coverage would be a good deal more difficult logistically, but realistically the overall popularity would be so high at that point that they could work things out without much legitimate whining from the community. In closing, this would be an amazing opportunity for SC2 to grow and best of luck to Sundance and his staff. | ||
Azzur
Australia6259 Posts
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Termit
Sweden3466 Posts
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Azera
3800 Posts
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Jakkerr
Netherlands2549 Posts
On October 01 2011 19:39 Termit wrote: Hahaha I can only imagine how the production would look like it they show VOD's and not live games. Let's say there is 40-50+ min game. I bet they would squeeze in some commercial in the middle of the game when there is some downtime and both players are just macroing without any action happening. It's american TV we are talking about, they will squeeze in 4 commericals in that time. | ||
ZaaaaaM
Netherlands1828 Posts
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MGN
France383 Posts
Oh wait i dont even know wtf is ESPN | ||
Termit
Sweden3466 Posts
On October 01 2011 19:41 Jakkerr wrote: It's american TV we are talking about, they will squeeze in 4 commericals in that time. Yeah probably. I tried to watch some NFL the other night when I laid in bed and holy shit how can people stand the fucking production? Maybe 5-10 seconds gameplay into like 3 commercial and then repeat over and over again. T_T | ||
Tantaburs
Canada1825 Posts
I think that GSL would be a good fit though. Run Commercials during the breaks and its on at 2-5 so its not really prime advertising hours. | ||
jazzminkey
United States53 Posts
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leveller
Sweden1840 Posts
On October 01 2011 19:54 Tantaburs wrote: I don't think we could realistically get MLG on ESPN at least not live. I think that GSL would be a good fit though. Run Commercials during the breaks and its on at 2-5 so its not really prime advertising hours. Of course they would want to partner with a tournament that functions in america and that has a lot of americans attending, not gsl with 31 koreans and huk. | ||
ondik
Czech Republic2908 Posts
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Kira__
Sweden2672 Posts
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crappen
Norway1546 Posts
On October 01 2011 19:01 Joey Wheeler wrote: bigger is better progamers get more money streams get more viewers blizzard takes more of an interest in their game I mean honestly, how would it being mainstream not be a good thing? I guess you think Brood War was "too mainstream"? And I also lol at the retards complaining about how TV is outdated. It's still the #1 media outlet. Are you saying that the fact Brood War was on 2 channels in Korea didn't help its popularity? Some people just can't think for themselves... Not sure why you are believe that bigger is better. Would classical music suddenly become better if it pops up at the mainstream radio? I dont think having a shitty channel with commercials all the time would do us viewers any good. Do you really think popularity is always a good thing? Blizzard is taking a good amount of interest in their game already, dont get greedy. Just throwing money at SC2 won't just magically make everything for the better. I dont see WoW with its huge population doing so much better then SC2 in terms of quality, do you? Cause I sure as hell dont. Or how about CoD? | ||
Vinland
Argentina136 Posts
On October 01 2011 20:16 crappen wrote: Just throwing money at SC2 won't just magically make everything for the better. Yeah the game wont change magically in two days. But money is always an incentive to people, specialy on "e-sports" where going pro is still a huuuge risk one has to take. I mean, a lot of these proplayers that we see every that sacrificed a lot to get where they are.. some of them didnt even finish school to start practicing. If SC2 had more money moving around, better sponsors and stuff, we would eventually see a couple more team houses and people trying to get better, and that would lead to better games. Is this a first good step or is it too soon? Not sure. But MLG finals seem more interesting than Darts anyway. | ||
Milvus
Switzerland400 Posts
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Milvus
Switzerland400 Posts
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