ESPN Launches Short-Form Content on AOL Video

NEW YORK/DULLES, April 8:
ESPN is making short-form online video content from ESPN.com accessible through
AOL Video and AOL Sports, marking the first time the network has offered its
video content through an Internet portal.

ESPN will show highlights
from games and major sporting events as well as video clips from ESPN’s
original programming via an embedded AOL video player. The embedded player will
launch in early April.

Users will be able to
access the ESPN content through AOL Video’s channel tab located on the
homepage. In addition, ESPN’s videos can be found through AOL’s video search,
which is powered by Truveo.

Content available through
ESPN’s embedded video player on AOL will include SportsCenter Right Now, a twice-daily capsule of top sports stories,
highlights and breaking news; clips
from ESPN programs such as Mike and Mike in the Morning, Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn; and breaking news and game clips from major
professional and college teams and sporting events. The multi-sport video
player will also offer links to ESPN.com content related to the video topics.

“ESPN.com video is second
to none, and we are excited by the expanded reach afforded us through this
syndication agreement,” said Matt Murphy, the senior VP of digital video
distribution at ESPN. “Working with AOL allows us to offer new benefits to fans
and advertisers—viewers can now access the programming they want, whether
they are on ESPN.com or AOL’s portal, while our advertisers benefit from a
larger online video audience than ever before. The potential is tremendous and
we hope fans will be seeing more syndicated video from ESPN.com in the
future.”

“We are very pleased that
ESPN has chosen to collaborate with AOL Video in the rapidly evolving world of
online content distribution,” said Kevin Conroy, the executive VP of AOL. “ESPN
is joining an impressive roster of partners on AOL Video that includes all four
major networks and a myriad of cable channels. This agreement further
demonstrates our on-going commitment to providing consumers with easy access to
the best and most relevant video content on the web.”

—By Ned Berke