Facebook stops fighting proposed California privacy law

Facebook has announced that it will stop opposing a proposed California ballot measure designed to protect the privacy of the state’s citizens. The California Consumer Privacy Act would, if enacted, force companies to be more open about the types of data they store about folks. Naturally, the usual cadre of businesses threw money to fight the project, including Google, Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and Facebook. But now the social network, which already donated $200,000 to defeat the proposition, has said it will bow out of the fight.

It’s obviously a bad look for Facebook, especially with its CEO being hauled in front of Congress for two days. Even if the questions he faced were pretty soft, images of Mark Zuckerberg looking somber in a suit defending Facebook’s rapacious consumption of data isn’t great. Consequently the company will, instead, focus its efforts on “supporting reasonable privacy measures in California,” according to a statement made to Variety.

Alastair Mactaggart, who proposed the bill, says that he’s “gratified that Facebook has dropped its opposition” and has seen “the error of their(sic) ways.” He also called for other companies to withdraw from the fight, saying that Comcast, AT&T and Verizon aren’t “selling our personal information,” why bother. Unfortunately, while Facebook won’t be directly fighting the ballot initiative, it’s still pretty down on the whole project. In a statement made to Gizmodo, a representative called the ballot measure “deeply flawed,” and added that it “will do enormous harm to the California economy while not protecting anyone’s privacy.”

Via: CNET

Source: PRNewsWire

Billy ‘King of Kong’ Mitchell’s ‘Donkey Kong’ scores were a lie

It’s over. Billy Mitchell (above, left), the “King of Kong,” has had his long-contested Donkey Kong high scores stripped from the Twin Galaxies leaderboards and the organization has notified Guinness World Records of its decision. More than that, all of his records have been removed from the forums and he’s banned from TG’s competitive leaderboards wholesale. TG ran an independent investigation, in addition to having “at least” two third-parties perform their own, with other experts weighing in on the dispute as well.

The investigation resulted in confirming long-held suspicions: the provided evidence tape of the King of Kong score didn’t come from actual arcade hardware. Same goes for his 1,050,200-point “Mortgage Brokers” score. TG said there wasn’t enough evidence to comfortably make a definitive judgment on a third score of 1,062,800.

Previously the claim was that Mitchell recorded these scores using emulation software, because original hardware doesn’t produce the board transition images that were recorded. But because proving emulation would be far more involved and take even more time, TG settled on proving that the scores weren’t the result of playing on an unmodified Donkey Kong PCB.

“Twin Galaxies has endeavored to provide a fair opportunity and reasonable amount of time for all sides and interests to present their thoughts and evidence as it has evaluated this dispute claim,” TG writes in a blog post. “Throughout every step of this investigation, Billy Mitchell had the opportunity to answer questions and contribute to the public dispute thread. However, he was under no obligation to participate in this dispute thread and as such he chose not to do so.”

When I spoke with TG’s custodian of records Jace Hall earlier this year, he said these types of investigations are proof of the verification system he helped build were working as intended. “This [scrutiny] is absolutely something that has been much needed and is part of our controlled process of making sure that the public can control and can trust the data that’s in our database,” he said.

After what seems like an eternity, Mitchell is no longer recognized as the first million-point Donkey Kong record holder. Now, that honor goes to long-time rival Steve Wiebe.

Source: Twin Galaxies

Google’s Gmail redesign will display your calendar or to-do list

Yesterday, Google warned G Suite administrators about an impending Gmail redesign. We weren’t expecting to hear much more about it for a few weeks, but The Verge has gotten their hands on screenshots of the new design.

The email yesterday revealed that Google plans to make G Suite apps, like Google Calendar, more accessible from the Gmail web interface. The screenshot below from The Verge confirms that — it shows a clean design, with a sidebar for Google Calendar at the left hand of the screen. The sidebar can actually be customized depending on what you use the most to show Google Calendar, Keep or Tasks.

Indeed, Google is apparently completely overhauling Google Tasks as a part of this refresh. It’s traditionally been a to-do list that was built into your Gmail window, and it still will be that. The user interface will just be much better, according to Android Authority.

When it comes to your inbox view, there will be three different options, according to The Verge. The default view will bring attachments front and center, while a “comfortable” view won’t highlight attachments. For those who like the existing Gmail design, the compact view will probably be your best bet. It will allow you to see more messages on a single page.

All in all, this redesign looks very streamlined and clean. It’s hard to adjust to change, but it sounds like Google made some really smart choices when it comes to how they redesigned Gmail. The sidebar feature will certainly make it easier to schedule meetings and manage your work day from a single page, which is probably Google’s goal with this redesign.

Image: The Verge

Source: The Verge

ESPN+ Streaming Service Launches in Redesigned ESPN App for iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV

Just over a week after first announcing the name and launch date of its new streaming service, ESPN today launched ESPN+, marking the first direct-to-consumer platform to debut from Disney. ESPN+ is available on ESPN.com and within a redesigned ESPN app for iOS and tvOS devices. For users of Apple’s TV app, ESPN+ content is supported in the TV app on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

The new app continues to offer free content, including sports scores, news, analysis clips, video highlights, and select live and on-demand sports audio content. “TV Everywhere” access is also still available for subscribers of pay-TV companies. Alongside these features is an area for ESPN+, which includes thousands of live sporting events, original tv shows and films, and more.

ESPN says that the app’s new design offers an “easy-to-use” interface with enhanced focus on personalization and discoverability. ESPN’s content is curated by each user’s favorite teams, sports, and leagues, sectioned into five primary navigation menus on iOS: Home, Scores, Watch, Listen, and Sports. ESPN+ is housed in the Watch tab, providing subscribers an “all-in-one digital sports platform,” according to the company.

ESPN+ is available only in the United States and costs subscribers $4.99/month (or $49.99/year), and a launch week promotion allows users to try the service for free for 30 days. ESPN+ subscribers will have access to HD streaming at 60 fps; live pause, rewind, and restart; limited advertising; and a sports marketplace to purchase additional premium streaming services like MLB.TV and NHL.TV.

The company says that there are four “key pillars” of ESPN+: live sports, original shows and films (“Draft Academy”), studio programs (Kobe Bryant’s “Detail”), and an on-demand library of content. Although the service includes “thousands of games and events” from professional leagues, it does not include live NFL or NBA games. Here’s a list of what is available on ESPN+ to watch live (which could change depending on local market blackouts):

MLB – A daily game, seven days per week, throughout the regular season, a total of more than 180 games that will include every MLB team.
NHL – Beginning with the 2018-19 season, a daily game throughout the regular season, a total of more than 180 hockey games.
MLS – the entire MLS LIVE out-of-market schedule with more than 250 games this season, as well as the local-market home for the Chicago Fire, exclusively bringing 23 Fire matches to fans in Chicago.
College Sports – Football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, track & field, gymnastics, swimming & diving, lacrosse, wrestling, volleyball, golf and more.
Top Rank Boxing – Hundreds of live boxing matches, including 18 ESPN+ exclusive Top Rank fight cards throughout the year, all Top Rank on ESPN undercard fights, re-airs of all Top Rank on ESPN and Top Rank on ESPN PPV bouts, plus weigh-ins and more.
PGA Tour Golf – 50 days of coverage from 20 PGA tour events, including the RBC Heritage, THE PLAYERS Championship, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the FedExCup Playoffs and more.
Grand Slam Tennis – Hundreds of men’s and women’s singles, doubles and other matches, from the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Cricket – Hundreds of Test, ODI and T20 format matches from New Zealand Cricket and Cricket Ireland.
Rugby – Hundreds of matches from SANZAAR Rugby, the HSBC World Rugby Sevens series, and Major League Rugby.
Canadian Football League – Nearly 200 games from Canada’s professional league.
English Football League – Approximately 200 total matches.
UEFA Nations League – Over 100 live matches from the newly created tournament.
United Soccer League – Approximately 450 USL matches this season.

ESPN+ is available beginning today in the new ESPN app on iOS [Direct Link] and tvOS. The service is also launching on Fire TV devices, Fire Tablets, Android phones, Android TV, and Chromecast. Disney’s next streaming service won’t launch until late 2019, and will include Disney’s own movies as well as Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm content.

Tag: ESPN
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FedEx will use smart glasses to help pilots land in emergencies

Smoke is understandably a serious danger for aircraft, and not just in life-threatening situations — the FAA notes that there’s typically one smoke-related landing per day. But how does the pilot land with a smoke-filled cockpit where they might not even see the instrument cluster, let alone the outside world? FedEx and the Osterhout Design Group have an idea. They’re showing off SAVED (Smoke Assured Vision Enhanced Display — yes, it’s a forced acronym), a hybrid smart glasses and oxygen mask system that provides data from the aircraft’s HUD and external cameras to help with emergency landings. Pilots won’t have to fly blind or risk passing out just to avoid a disaster.

The system is small, light and easy to install, Osterhout claims, and it’s easy to see as much from a quick glance. Smart glasses are usually bulky by themselves, but they’re relatively compact inside an oxygen mask.

Not surprisingly, FedEx is the first customer. It’s using SAVED for both training and real-world flights. There’s no mention of other customers just yet. However, it’s easy to see other couriers and airlines adopting wearable tech like this in the future when it could save lives and, in the best cases, avoid crash landings.

Source: ODG

Tesla insists Model X driver was at fault in fatal crash

When Tesla revealed that Autopilot was engaged during the March 23rd fatal Model X crash, it only said that the vehicle’s “logs show[ed] that no action was taken” even though the driver had time to react. Now, the automaker has issued another statement much stronger than that, saying that the only way the accident could have happened was if the driver (identified as Apple engineer Walter Huang) wasn’t paying attention.

“We are very sorry for the family’s loss,” the statement sent to ABC 7 News reporter Dan Noyes started. “According to the family, Mr. Huang was well aware that Autopilot was not perfect and, specifically, he told them it was not reliable in that exact location, yet he nonetheless engaged Autopilot at that location. The crash happened on a clear day with several hundred feet of visibility ahead, which means that the only way for this accident to have occurred is if Mr. Huang was not paying attention to the road, despite the car providing multiple warnings to do so.” (Emphasis ours.)

The family’s lawyer believes that the company is doubling down on putting the blame on Huang in order to distract from their concerns about his vehicle’s Autopilot. Mike Fong, one of their attorneys, told ABC 7 that the sensors in Huang’s car misread the road’s lane lines and that its braking system failed to detect a stationary object on its way. Those are presumably the reasons why, on several occasions, his car veered towards the barrier where he crashed. While it sounds like the family is gearing up to sue, Fong said he doesn’t expect to file a lawsuit until after the National Transportation Safety Board is fully done with its investigation.

As for the rest of Tesla’s statement, it stresses that Autopilot requires drivers to have their hands on the wheel:

“The fundamental premise of both moral and legal liability is a broken promise, and there was none here. Tesla is extremely clear that Autopilot requires the driver to be alert and have hands on the wheel. This reminder is made every single time Autopilot is engaged. If the system detects that hands are not on, it provides visual and auditory alerts. This happened several times on Mr. Huang’s drive that day.

We empathize with Mr. Huang’s family, who are understandably facing loss and grief, but the false impression that Autopilot is unsafe will cause harm to others on the road. NHTSA found that even the early version of Tesla Autopilot resulted in 40% fewer crashes and it has improved substantially since then. The reason that other families are not on TV is because their loved ones are still alive.”

The Autopilot section on Tesla’s website does state that “every driver is responsible for remaining alert and active… and must be prepared to take action at any time.” However, it also features a video showing a person in the driver’s seat with their hands on their lap instead of the wheel, as Twitter product manager Patrick Traughber points out:

“Tesla is extremely clear that Autopilot requires the driver to be alert and have hands on the wheel.” Tesla’s website features a person sitting in the driver’s seat without their hands on the wheel: pic.twitter.com/38dsPzbPH3

— Patrick Traughber (@ptraughber) April 12, 2018

It’s far from the first time the automaker defended its Autopilot technology after a fatal crash. Tesla eyed its braking system instead of its self-driving tech for the 2016 incident wherein a Model S collided with a truck. The NTSB, however, blamed both the drivers in the incident and Autopilot itself. It cited previous findings that Autopilot’s ability to monitor drivers’ actions was extremely limited. The agency asked automakers to do more to ensure drivers are paying attention, and according to Bloomberg, Tesla told the NTSB it had already incorporated features to make that happen.

Source: ABC 7 News, Bloomberg

ESPN+ is the sports-streaming cord cutters have been waiting for

After months of rumors and speculation about what it would look like or how much it would cost, ESPN’s standalone streaming service is finally launching today. It’s called ESPN+ and it’s priced at $5 per month, which will get you both live and on-demand content that, according to the company, is geared toward underserved sports fans. The first thing you should know about ESPN+ is that it isn’t meant to replace the traditional ESPN network, but rather is designed to be complimentary to it. With the new streaming offering, for instance, you won’t have access to ESPN’s flagship show, SportsCenter. Instead, ESPN+ will have its own original programming, including shows that will focus on news, scores and highlights about specific sports and leagues.

ESPN+ also won’t have a standalone app: It’s actually baked into the main ESPN app for iOS, Apple TV, Android, Amazon devices, as well as the web. The network says it decided to do this to create a single door to all of its digital products, a similar strategy to when it integrated WatchESPN into its namesake application in 2015. With the updated ESPN app, which arrives today as part of the ESPN+ debut, users will get access to existing features like news, scores and favorite teams, alongside content from the new streaming offering. Those who have a cable or satellite account will get the full experience, though, since they’ll be able to watch live and on-demand games intended for broadcast TV and shows such as SportsCenter.

That said, for $5 per month, ESPN+ does offer sports fans tremendous value, particularly the ones who have cut the cord and rely on over-the-air TV. The service will have more than 180 MLB and NHL games during the season, including one per day based on the league’s schedule. There’s going to to be over 250 MLS matches, as well, plus “thousands” of live college games and events from sports including baseball, basketball, football, golf, softball, soccer, wrestling and gymnastics. It’s worth noting that for leagues like MLB, NHL and MLS, ESPN+ will only be able to stream out-of-market games, and those will be picked by ESPN’s programming team. That means that if you’re, say, a Yankees fan living in New York, you won’t be able to watch your team on ESPN+ due to the blackouts.

As part of its efforts to reach “underserved sports fans,” ESPN+ will also feature a year-round boxing schedule thanks to a partnership with Top Rank Boxing, which will bring a “selection of exclusive main fights” to the app. And then there’s PGA Tour live golf, Grand Slam tennis matches from Wimbledon, US Open and the Australian Open, as well as rugby and cricket — the latter two are some of the most popular sports globally and will appeal to certain groups of people living in the US.

ESPN+ is only available in the States, and the company says there are no plans to expand to other countries right now, which makes sense considering it would be tough to get all of these license agreements elsewhere.

Beyond the live sports games, one of the main things about ESPN+ is that it will have exclusive original content, which subscribers will be able to watch live or on-demand. That includes 30 for 30 films like The Last Days of Knight, a documentary about the controversial college basketball coach Bob Knight. Not only that, but ESPN+ users are going to get access to the full 30 for 30 library, which consists of more than 100 movies. Detail, meanwhile, is a show created, written and hosted by NBA legend and Oscar winner (Dear Basketball) Kobe Bryant that’ll air exclusively on ESPN+. It’s a talk show where he’ll break down games during the 2017-2018 NBA playoffs.

ESPN’s “The Last Days of Knight.”

ESPN

The overhauled ESPN app was created in partnership with BAMTech, the streaming technology firm owned mostly by Disney, ESPN’s parent company. It comes with a clean, card-based UI with four main sections: Home, Scores, Watch and Listen. Home is where you’ll find information about your favorite teams, with Scores being the place where you can get results and schedules from leagues around the world. Watch is where you can view the videos we’ve mentioned above, including live games, highlights and replays. ESPN+ content has a small golden badge around the thumbnails, which helps it differentiate from those videos that can only be accessed by people with a pay-TV account. Listen, meanwhile, has podcasts and radio shows from the ESPN network.

If users of the ESPN app don’t have an ESPN+ account, they can sign up directly from their iOS or Android device using Apple Pay or Android Pay. The application works seamlessly and video looks crisp at 60fps; BAMTech says the video quality will adapt based what device you’re watching on or how much internet bandwidth you have. A great feature is when you’re watching a game and then you can pull up stats from it in real-time, and you can also pause or rewind even if a match is live. And ESPN+ doesn’t need a cloud DVR option, which streaming services like Sling TV charge extra for, because the app will have the games available on-demand after the fact.

We all know millennials love to share logins to services like Netflix or HBO Go, and ESPN says that although ESPN+ can handle up to five concurrent streams, it will be keeping an eye on “fraudulent activity.” That means if you want to give your best friend your ESPN+, do so at your own risk.

ESPN+ isn’t perfect, because it’s missing popular shows like SportsCenter and content from the world of eSports, to name a couple of things. But for $5 per month, the service is affordable enough that it will appeal to many sports fans in the US. If you combine it with over-the-air TV (where you can watch many of those primetime games that aren’t on ESPN+), it can be a great solution for cord-cutters who don’t need to watch every MLB, NHL or MLS game — ESPN says it’s actively working to bring content from other leagues, too.

Right now, there’s nothing similar to ESPN+ on the market, and that may be ESPN’s main advantage with its new streaming service. Other options for sports fans are services such as Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV or PlayStation Vue, but those cost upwards of $20. That’s a huge difference compared to the $5 for ESPN+, especially if ESPN keeps its promise to bring even more programming to it after launch.

Images: ESPN (All)

Hyperloop TT begins construction of its first test track

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has announced that it will begin building the first of two test tracks at its facility in France. In a statement, the company said that the first shipment of tubes has arrived at its R&D site in Toulouse. The first track, which is about to enter construction, is a ground-level setup running around 320 meters in length. It’s thought that the smaller run will be ready for testing at some point this year.

When completed, the company will turn its attention to its longer environment, which is expected to run to a kilometer (0.6). This route will, crucially, be sited on pylons at a height of 5.8 meters, mirroring the idea in Elon Musk’s original paper that Hyperloops will be held aloft. This track is expected to be completed in 2019, with testing on the longer track probably commencing soon after.

The statement adds that HTT is expecting to take delivery of its first test pod, which is currently being built by Carbures in Spain, this summer. It’s hoped that the pod will seat between 28 and 40 people and should reach speeds of 760 miles per hour, just skirting the sound barrier. It’s likely that both the pod and track will be shown off to the public for the first time before, during, or just after the pod as made its maiden voyage.

HTT has often been unfavorably compared to its immediate rival, Virgin Hyperloop One, which has had its own working test environment for almost a year. This announcement is a good opportunity to compare the two systems, since Hyperloop One’s test tube is only 3.3 meters in diameter. With a .7 meter wider tube, HTT’s system is likely to better mirror a real-world system, making it easier to demonstrate to investors. On the other hand, that extra volume will require the company to expend more energy to maintain a vacuum.

At a guess, the first, smaller tube will be used mainly for aerodynamic, airlock and other routine tests purely because of its length. Hyperloop One’s route is 500 meters long, and has managed to reach speeds of 240 miles per hour with its XP-1 test pod. Such speeds can only be maintained for seconds at a time, because of how long it takes to accelerate and decelerate, even with magnetically-levitated sleds. The second of HTT’s tracks, however, may earn some speed-record bragging rights when it’s working.

ESPN+ offers a first look at Disney’s big plans for streaming

Disney has been relatively open about its plans to carve out a name for itself in the video-streaming wars, as it readies to compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu. Although the company isn’t launching its flagship service until the end of 2019, we now have an idea of what it might look like. This is where ESPN+, the long-awaited standalone streaming service from Disney-owned ESPN, comes in. The new $5-per-month offering, which launches today featuring both live and on-demand content, is the first service to arrive from The Walt Disney Company’s direct-to-consumer division.

That division, which was created last month as part of a business restructure, is now in charge of leading the company’s digital efforts. And, you guessed it, that includes Disney’s own streaming service, which doesn’t have a name yet. “I can say that our plan on the Disney side is to price this substantially below where Netflix is.” Robert A. Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company said last November. “That is in part reflective of the fact that it will have substantially less volume.” Disney’s idea, it seems, is to bet on quality over quantity, a luxury that owning movie franchises like Star Wars and studios such as Pixar allows it to have.

With ESPN+, Disney is showing it can create a streaming service that’s easy to use, looks good and works seamlessly across different platforms. At launch, ESPN+ is available on iOS, Apple TV, Android, Android TV, Chromecast, Amazon devices and the web, with Roku support coming later. As for content, subscribers have access to thousands of live and on-demand events, including games from MLB, NHL, MLS and events in sports like boxing, cricket, rugby. The latter are important because ESPN says it wants ESPN+ to cater to “underserverved sports fans,” and the company feels this gives it the opportunity to do just that.

But ESPN didn’t create ESPN+ alone. The company worked with BAMTech, a video-streaming platform that has powered services like HBO Now. This is no coincidence, since Disney acquired majority ownership of BAMTech in 2017. BamTech was originaly an arm of Major League Baseball’s Advanced Media, but has since evolved to be one of the most prominent companies in the video-streaming space, and takes credit for being the first one to stream 4K at 60fps.

Matches on ESPN+ are streamed at 60fps in HD by default, and BAMTech’s job is to ensure that picture quality stays crisp regardless of device or bandwidth. That’s something Netflix has also been trying to perfect in-house, using proprietary compression methods to reduce video data without affecting quality.

Drew Angerer via Getty Images

“This is the first step down the path of digital direct-to-consumer for The Walt Disney Company,” said Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN’s president and co-chair of Disney Media Networks. He added that, while ESPN+ was built by the ESPN and BAMTech teams, they need to be thought of as one. Pitaro explained that Disney’s input was key to making a product that would appeal to anyone, not just sports fans. Part of that is offering subscribers access to the full library of 30 for 30, ESPN’s highly acclaimed original films.

ESPN+ will also feature exclusive content like Detail, a show created, written and hosted by basketball legend and Oscar winner Kobe Bryant that’ll air during the 2017-2018 NBA playoffs. “Our mission stays the same, which is serving the sports fan anytime, anywhere,” said Pitaro. “We will continue to protect the core fan, but we also need to expand our audience. And that means taking ESPN to where our customers are today and where we think they’re going, including the younger generation.”

At $5 per month, Pitaro’s hope is that ESPN+ will appeal to cord-cutters in the US, particularly millennials who want to combine the service with over-the-air TV. He emphasized that ESPN+ isn’t meant to replace ESPN, as it won’t feature shows like SportsCenter. Instead, it’s meant to be a complement to ESPN’s main network, with its own games, shows, documentaries and films.

The service isn’t perfect, since ESPN+ missed a huge opportunity by not including any eSports content. Especially considering that’s something the young viewers it seeks love deeply, and that Disney’s BAMTech has invested in licensing rights for competitions including League of Legends. But Pitaro did say that could be coming in the future, along with more content from other sports leagues. Still, it’s hard to ignore that ESPN+ is only $5 per month, and that alone will be enough to lure many in. It also helps that the service is polished and has a solid amount of programming to choose from, which sets a good precedent for the Netflix rival Disney has in the works.

ESPN missed a big eSports opportunity with its new streaming service

ESPN’s new, $5-a-month streaming service allows sports fans to watch games, access original programming and view scores, all without a cable subscription. ESPN+ is a tool for the digital age, and another attempt by the company to attract a younger, cord-cutting audience — which is why it’s so surprising to see the service doesn’t include eSports.

ESPN has a tumultuous relationship with professional gaming. Today, the sports-media giant has a digital vertical dedicated to eSports and it covers the industry in-depth, with player interviews, on-the-ground reporting from major tournaments, power rankings and analysis. ESPN has even aired a handful of eSports tournaments on its cable channels, and this year it signed a deal with Electronic Arts to host Madden NFL tournaments on Disney XD, ESPN2 and other stations.

However, just a few years ago, ESPN didn’t have any interest in professional gaming. Former ESPN president John Skipper made the following notorious statement about eSports in 2014: “It’s not a sport. It’s a competition. Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition. Mostly, I’m interested in doing real sports.”

Soon after, Skipper received a crash course in eSports. Other ESPN executives saw its business potential — the industry was expected to exceed $1 billion in revenue by 2018 — and they pushed for him to take it seriously. They made their case and took Skipper to the 2015 League of Legends world finals at Madison Square Garden. As Skipper looked over a stadium packed with 11,000 screaming, hyped-up gaming fans, he saw dollar signs.

“It was great fun and interesting to me,” Skipper told Recode in 2016. “I saw the crowd that was there and learned that the sport mattered to those people. Those were young, predominantly male consumers, and that’s what matters to us.”

“Those were young, predominantly male consumers, and that’s what matters to us.”

Young, male viewers are ESPN’s bread and butter, and they’re exactly the type of audience member dominating the eSports scene. Last year, in its first detailed report on the industry, Nielsen found 71 percent of the overall eSports audience was male, with the most engaged fans between the ages of 13 and 40. As an added bonus for ESPN specifically, these fans were into traditional sports as well. More than half of US-based respondents expressed interest in football and basketball, for instance.

These viewers were also big users of social media and streaming services, often tuned into the latest apps and websites. ESPN+ slides perfectly into this market, but it doesn’t offer any eSports — yet.

Skipper left ESPN in late 2017 and was replaced by Jimmy Pitaro, president of ESPN and co-chair of Disney Media Networks. ESPN’s subscriber numbers had been slipping for years — it lost 13 million between 2011 and 2017. Subscriber fees compose more than 60 percent of ESPN’s revenue feed, and today the network has 88 million US subscribers, its lowest figure since 2003. But the company is still making bank off of these viewers, charging more than $7 per subscriber, the most of any cable network. That fee has risen significantly since 2003, keeping revenue up year over year, even as subscribers flee.

“We do not think of eSports as a fad.”

Still, a shrinking userbase is rarely good for business, and while ESPN has dragged its feet on eSports streaming, other services have filled the void. Twitch, for one, boasts 15 million daily active users — 81 percent of who are male, while 55 percent are between the ages of 18 and 34. Disney CEO Bob Iger noted in 2017 that an online-only ESPN streaming service would be one of the potential saving graces for the network as it attempted to secure new (mostly young and male) viewers.

Pitaro, the new head of ESPN, told Engadget he’s “actively engaged in several conversations” about eSports, a goldmine of the network’s ideal viewers.

“We are going to continue to expand our investment in eSports and that includes within both the ESPN app and ESPN+,” Pitaro said. “We are believers in eSports and we see this as an opportunity for the ESPN business.”

This is a vastly different tone than the one established by Skipper, even though his tune changed once eSports’ revenue potential became impossible to ignore. For now, most of ESPN’s eSports coverage exists online, rather than on TV or as part of ESPN+. The industry isn’t going anywhere and ESPN now has its foot in the door — eSports are expected to crest $2 billion in revenue by 2021, according to SuperData Research. Under Pitaro, ESPN will eventually attempt to take part of that money for itself through ESPN+.

“We do not think of eSports as a fad, we cover eSports online and we are actively looking at various options to bring that content to ESPN+,” he said.

Images: ESPN (All)