ESPN Deportes 2009-2010.

ESPN Deportes enters the 2009-2010 “Upfront” season with record ratings, continued focus on featuring the best sportscasters in the industry and serving fans via its multimedia platforms offerings. The network announced a series of initiatives at the company’s Upfront, highlighted by the addition of legendary sportscaster Jorge Ramos to the company’s television commentator team.

Ramos, who has served as the lead commentator for ESPN Deportes Radio for the past four years, will bring his considerable talent to ESPN Deportes TV, joining the network’s world-renown analysts and commentators. Ramos will make his debut on ESPN Deportes TV Monday, August, 2009 when the network begins to simulcast ESPN Deportes Radio’s daily soccer program Jorge Ramos y su banda.

“2008 was a great year for ESPN Deportes in many fronts,” said Lino Garcia, general manager, ESPN Deportes. “Becoming the highest-rated and most-watched sports network on Spanish-language cable in just our first year of Nielsen measurements reflects the power that ESPN Deportes has in delivering Hispanic viewers. It is also gratifying to see that much like ESPN, Hispanic sports fans are coming to ESPN Deportes not only for live sporting events, but also for news and information. Our ratings success has been in great part due to the credibility and journalistic integrity that our commentators bring to our telecasts. Jorge’s unique style will fit perfectly into our strategy of serving Spanish-speaking sports fans throughout the U.S. and further advance our leadership position in sports news and information.”

“I am thrilled about this new chapter of career,” said Ramos. “Over the past four years I’ve shared my passion for the sport of soccer with millions of listeners on ESPN Deportes Radio. I look forward to bringing the same passion and love for soccer to ESPN Deportes viewers.”

In his illustrious thirty-year career, Ramos has served as play-by-play commentator for over 2,600 soccer matches. He has covered four FIFA World Cups, the 2003 Women’s World Cup, two Copa Americas and two European Cups. One of the most gratifying moments in his career was providing play-by-play for the 1986 World Cup—the first-ever World Cup on Spanish-language radio in the U.S. Ramos comes to ESPN Deportes from Fox Sports En Español where he produced and co-hosted Jorge Ramos en Vivo, the network’s highest-rated studio show, alongside Hernán Pereyra.

On April 27, 2009, following the completion of its first full year of national Nielsen measurements, ESPN Deportes came in as the highest-rated and most-watched Spanish-language sports cable network, averaging a 0.5 Hispanic rating and delivering 20,000 Hispanic homes over the past 12 months. ESPN Deportes is on to a strong start in 2009, averaging a 0.7 Hispanic rating and 28,000 Hispanic households, 28% higher than the closest Spanish-language sports cable network competitor.

In addition to being the clear ratings driver on Spanish-language sports cable, ESPN Deportes also enjoyed tremendous distribution growth over the past twelve months. The network is currently available in 4.8 million Hispanic Nielsen homes, up 41 percent in the past 12 months and more than triples its distribution just 2 years ago (Nielsen May 2009).

Owning the game-around-the-game in 2010

ESPN Deportes has proven to be the place fans turn to for news and information. During its first year of measurements, ESPN Deportes’ news and information led the way for Spanish-language sports cable networks averaging a 0.5 Hispanic rating and 18,000 Hispanic homes and anchored by signature soccer show Fútbol Picante, which averaged a 1.1 Hispanic rating over the 12-month period.

World Cup 2010

News and information will continue to play an integral role in the company’s programming mix for the 2009/2010 season. In 2010, ESPN Deportes will embark on its most ambitious multimedia news and information initiative to date covering all the news around the most important sporting event in the world. ESPN Deportes TV will present approximately 140 hours of news and information, more than double the network’s news and information coverage for the 2006 Germany World Cup.

Dream Job: El Reportero II

The second installation of reality show Dream Job: El Reportero, the Spanish-language version of ESPN’s popular Dream Job, launches this fall. Aspiring sports broadcasters in to U.S. Hispanic markets will compete for a chance to win a job as a SportsCenter reporter for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Lost son of Havana: The home of baseball all-year-round, ESPN Deportes has acquired rights to The Lost Son of Havana, a documentary on Cuban pitcher Luis Tiant’s emotional return to his homeland after 46 years of exile and 19 seasons with the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Triant was an MLB All-Star, a record-setter, and ultimately, a Red Sox legend. Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Chris Cooper (Adaptation, Breach), The Lost Son of Havana offers a rare inside look Cuba as the 67-year-old Tiant returns to the place of his childhood and confronts his long-simmering feelings of love and loss for his family, his former teammates and the country he left behind.

ESPN Deportes Radio: fans of one platform are fans of others
ESPN Deportes Radio, the only around-the-clock national Spanish-language radio network in the U.S., exemplifies the strength of the ESPN Deportes brand. Over the past twelve months the radio network has added four new affiliates in Miami, Washington, San Diego and El Centro, CA and expects to expand its reach in the Dallas-Forth Worth area with the June 1 relaunch of 1540 AM.

ESPNdeportes.com: On May 12, 2009 ESPN Deportes unveiled a redesigned ESPNdeportes.com utilizing the latest technology in video, search, personalization and social media. ESPNdeportes.com also became the first ESPN Deportes-branded platform to go high def with its new HD widescreen (16:9) player.

Web site growth since May 2008:
Average total page views per month (May 2008 – April 2009) grew 43.6 percent and average monthly visits grew 27.6 percent compared to the same time period the previous year (Omniture/Hitbox);
More than 5.3 million unique users, up 23 percent year-over-year;
Over 15 million visits, up 22 percent year-over-year;
More than 191.7 million total minutes spent on the site, up 30 percent year-over-year.

ESPN Deportes La Revista: Earlier this year ESPN Deportes announced that it entered into an agreement with GW Publishing, a leading Spanish-language magazine publisher, to produce and distribute the Spanish-language monthly sports magazine ESPN Deportes La Revista http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/2008/mediakit/index.html> . The first GW published issue of ESPN Deportes La Revista hits newsstands this June.

ESPN Deportes Móvil: Relaunched October 2008, ESPN Deportes Móvil provides up-to-the-minute scores, stats, news headlines and mobile video content. Since re-launch, ESPN Deportes Móvil has seen strong growth, including a 25 percent increase in monthly in page views and impressions and 15 percent average monthly increase in visits.

In addition to the ESPN Upfront, ESPN Deportes is hosting a series of one-on-one client presentations in the top 15 U.S. Hispanic markets.