ESPN Unveils Pandemic Programming Plans

Disney’s ESPN has released its first details on how it plans to fill programming on its networks with collegiate and professional sports canceled during the coronavirus outbreak, including airing classic games and “stunt event programming,” CNBC reports.

ESPN published a transcript of an interview between Burke Magnus, executive vice president of programming acquisitions and scheduling, and Front Row, a website dedicated to the internal workings of ESPN.

NY Post 3/13/20

Magnus explained ESPN has two goals for planning future programming: The first is to continue to cover the active sports world, such as coronavirus effects and NFL free agency. The second goal is “aimed at looking ahead to entertain fans through fun, compelling archival content and/or themed and stunt event programming that will provide a diversion at a time that there are virtually no other live sports to watch,” he said.

While ESPN hasn’t made decisions about what “stunt event programming” it has in mind, Magnus referred to “ESPN8: The Ocho,” an annual event ESPN has run on ESPN2 as a takeoff of the movie “Dodgeball,” where events such as “Acrobatic Pizza Trials” and “Cherry Pit Spitting” have been packaged together to create a makeshift tournament of oddball events.

Other ideas could include a marathon of consecutive games from a certain sport or team, perhaps tied to the day the games were actually played, or a collection of games and events tied to a certain holiday, such as best Memorial Day baseball games, according to people familiar with the matter.

ESPN is currently in discussions with leagues about the right to air classic games, Magnus said.

ESPN has been planning to broadcast its highly anticipated Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance” in June. While the network would like to move up “any original content project that we can,” Magnus said “The Last Dance” hasn’t been completed yet, so ESPN has to wait until the documentary is finished to set a new air date.