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ESPN 3D Isn't Profitable, But Will Still Broadcast in 2011

by Caleb Johnson on November 1, 2010 at 04:55 PM

Despite broadcasting a variety of sports in its first six months, ESPN 3D has been a flop. Jonathan Pannaman, senior director of technology at the network, said the company doesn't know what direction to take the channel or how to make money with it, according to TVB Europe. "We're still not sure what makes sense for 3-D TV, and we don't yet see a proven ROI [return on investment]," Pannaman said at the Sports Broadcast Europe conference. In other words, ESPN has no idea how to get back the piles of money that it's piped into 3-D technology.

ESPN 3D will continue to broadcast in 2011 -- but, after that, the future isn't clear. ESPN will reevaluate the channel's viability early next year, and determine how to move forward. This means that the channel's programming, which is currently event-based, could turn into 24/7 live coverage (not likely) or some kind of video-on-demand service -- or it could just be axed. Those are just a few guesses, but it's obvious that ESPN needs to restructure its 3-D model. If we had to guess why the channel isn't profitable, we'd wager that the technology is just too expensive for the average sports fan -- which is something ESPN should have considered before taking the 3-D plunge earlier this summer.

Tags: 3-d, 3-d tv, 3-dTv, 3D, 3dTv, ESPN, espn 3d, Espn3d, money, sports, top, tv

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