Time was, tube-gazing was what ESPN and television were all about, but computers, the Internet, cellphones, digital video recorders and iPods have transformed how and when people view television, regardless of the set's size.
Manish Jha, the senior vice president of Mobile ESPN, said, "The idea is to create an immersive experience" that looks and sounds like ESPN, that offers familiar content, music and personalities in a hand-held form.
The ESPN experience is reachable through one click on the phone, and advances into an easy-to-navigate sports universe of colorful graphics and clear video clips created in ESPN's digital center in Bristol, Conn. Close-ups are preferable to long shots on the small screen to enhance the clarity of video that currently transmits at about half the speed of regular television.
"We wanted a total sports ecosystem," Jha said.
Rarely has television been described in terms more suited for Jacques Cousteau. But sports fans have for decades made ESPN one of their natural habitats. ESPN estimates that 97 million people "touch" (for at least 10 minutes) one of its services each week.
Mobile ESPN is simply the latest way to expand its well-used ecosystem while simultaneously serving the traditional sofa and barstool set.
Expecting people to watch three-hour games on a 2.1-inch screen is not a major concern or an opening strategy for the cellular ESPN. Officials believe that users will usually dip in and out for a few minutes at a time, and that long-form live events will in time attract an audience.
ESPN has been amassing wireless rights to games for several years, but it is working on the technology required to transmit the games from cell towers to phones.
"I think some customers will watch, but who will and how many?" Mehta said. "And what's the right package?" Whether users will pay extra to watch Monday Night Football or Sunday Night Baseball has not been decided.
Robert J. Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, said that in pursuing the mobile option, ESPN has recognized the portability of sports content.
"In an age when we're offered bigger, wider, more definition screens, sports works perfectly in airports, doctors' waiting rooms and commuting on trains," he said. "Fans want wider screens to watch sports in all their glory, but it's not a contradiction that they can watch wherever they are."
It will be costly to watch, or touch, Mobile ESPN. It is selling at Best Buy stores in four test markets for US$399.99 after a US$100 rebate; monthly service costs from US$64.99 to US$224.99. Sometime before Christmas, the phone is expected to be sold on ESPN.com; soon after Best Buy's full retail beginning in February, lower-priced handsets will be available.
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