Turner's David Levy on ELeague, the NBA, MLB and More

As expected ELeague largely appealed to Millennial males with the Friday night telecast windows registering 97 growth among men 1834 Engagement with ELeague content across social platforms included nearly 60 million impressions on Twitter and FacebookNumbers aside Levy pictured at top was encouraged on other fronts as he had some concerns about how a big media company like Turner would be accepted as quotauthentic by the entrenched passionate gaming communityquot He said the reaction has been quot95 positivequot among gamers in terms of liking the product and the network39s presentationELeague39s roster of advertisers extending beyond endemic game and console manufacturers included Buffalo Wild Wings Arby39s Credit Karma Domino39s and movieamp160studiosTurner will continue its commitment to this burgeoning sport by airing a second season with a new game challenge beginning in SeptemberElsewhere in the Turner Sports universe with lightning and rain suspending thirdround play on Saturday TNT moved the start time for the PGA Championship toamp1609 am this past Sundayamp160At this stage the fourth major is the only tourney in Turner39s golf bagamp160quotWe don39t own a 247 sports network we39re in the premium sports businessquot Levy said explaining how the PGA Championship and other sports properties meet Turner39s four criteria of having quotto work for consumersviewers advertisers and distributors The company must also get a financial returnquotWe have an 18yearamp160relationship with the PGAamp160Championshipamp160and hope to have a lot longer onequot he continuedamp160Turner and CBS39 rights deal expires after the 2019 eventOn the diamond TBS is heading into the final two months of the regular season with its Sunday afternoon telecasts Under Major League Baseball39s alternating format with Fox MLB Network and ESPN TBS amp160after scoring well with the National League playoffs in 2015 amp160will telecastamp160the American League Wild Card game two Division Series and the junior circuit39s championship series in 2016quotMLB39s popularity is on the risequot Levy noted quotThere is interest in a lot of different teams and the excitement of the trade deadlinequot He added that Cleveland which is looking to end a World Series drought dating back to 1948 and Boston are playing well quotIt39s always good to have the Boston franchise in the postseason huntquot he explainedTurner on April 4 crowned its first champion in mainstream sports with TBS39 coverage of Villanova39s buzzerbeater over North Carolina in the men39s basketball final which marked an exciting climax to the sixth year of a 14year 108amp160 billion shared multimedia rights deal with CBSThe relationship with CBS and NCAA Levyamp160said has been successful with myriad metrics ad sales ratings social media and distribution on aamp160growing number of platforms including tablets and mobilequotThere are fans who love the tournament and others who tune in to watch their alma materquot he said noting that the Turner and CBS partnership leverages the tournament beyond strictly advertisingamp160via sponsorship sales premium integrations and crossplatform opportunities as well licensing and event marketing gambits through onsite exposure around concerts and other events at the Final FourFor those reasons and more Turner and CBS in April announced an eight year 88 billion extension giving the media teammates rights to March Madness through 2032quotThere was an opportunity to lock up the tournament very longtermquot Levy recalled quotWhy notquotamp160Come fall TNT along with ESPNABC will tip off a new nineyear 24 billion multimedia rights agreement with the NBA TNT is coming off a strong playoff performance crescendoing with 159 million viewers for Game 7 between Golden State and Oklahoma City That was the biggest audience in TNT39s 28year history and for a nonfinals NBA game in 16 years which helped make the matchup the top Western Conference Finals from a ratings perspective in cable historyLevy said TNT39s new Monday night NBA package should interest a lot of fansamp160when it bows in 2017 quotI think there will be strong appeal on Mondayamp160nights among fans who are accustomed to watching 39Monday Night Football39 on ESPNquot he saidLevy asserted that the Bleacher Report the company39s website proffering video and print content has playedamp160an integral role in Turner39s success with sports programming quotYou need to have a 24hour destination for sports and sports newsquot he said quotWe wouldn39t be as successful without itquotTurner enjoyed a successful Upfront Levy said securing quottop of the market CPM gains in the low doubledigitsquot He added thatamp160the company39s strategies with audience targeting programs and a reduced inventory load which are designed to lead to a better viewer experience were wellreceived And the early returns from TNT39s summer drama Animal Kingdom which is running fewer spots has been solidamp160quotWe39re pleased in terms of ad effectiveness and ad recall and the ratings seem to be in line with expectationsquot he saidThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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Turner's David Levy on ELeague, the NBA, MLB and More

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