ESPN’s research and analytics division will launch ESPN XP, a research initiative designed to measure consumer viewing preferences during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, in June. Using a collection of research companies and the Wharton Business School Interactive Media Department, ESPN XP will measure media usage and advertiser effects during the network’s World Cup coverage across its TV, radio, Internet, mobile and print platforms.
The goal is to create a flexible research plan to measure crossmedia audiences for all of its telecasts 12 months out of the year by 2012.
“We have learned a lot about crossmedia behavior since we began work in this field in 2002,” said Artie Bulgrin, senior vice president of research and analytics for ESPN. “ESPN XP represents a major step forward in our commitment to further advance our knowledge about multimedia use and the total and incremental impact it has on our clients’ media campaigns.”
Companies joining ESPN in this initiative include the Keller Fay Group, Knowledge Networks, the Media Behavior Institute, Nielsen and the Wharton Interactive Media Initiative (WIMI). More members will be announced.
ESPN XP is designed as an ongoing initiative, measuring not only the World Cup but also a series of quarterly projects to fall under the ESPN XP umbrella. ESPN will take the best of what is learned from the World Cup and apply it to football in the fall and other sports during 2011.
“This is about the future of crossmedia measurement,” said Glenn Enoch, vice president of ESPN’s integrated media research. “We are working with these companies to help develop a model for the industry, to advance knowledge about crossmedia research and behavior, to find techniques that work and discard ones that don't. We want to bring work in this area closer to currency measures and bring the industry closer to a day when measuring crossplatform behavior is a standard practice instead of a special project.”
