Online Viewers Flock to ESPN’s ‘Mayne Street’
Kenny Mayne's Scripted Online Series Draws 2.5 Million Views
By Larry Barrett -- Multichannel News, 11/14/2008 5:25:00 AM
ESPN said its new scripted online series Mayne Street was viewed almost 2.5 million times in the first 48 hours since it was posted on the network’s Web site Tuesday, making it the site’s most-viewed single video in the past six months.
The series, starring former on-air anchor and ESPN contributor Kenny Mayne, launched on ESPN.com on Tuesday and the second episode is now available on the site. The initial episode was also the most-viewed ESPN video on iPhones and the additional clips, promos and outtakes on ESPN.com accounted for another 1 million video views, network officials said.
“The great start for Mayne Street illustrates the huge opportunity that exists for creative content at ESPN, not just on TV but on any platform,” Keith Clinkscales, ESPN’s senior vice president of content development and enterprises, said in a statement. “Whether it’s online, on a phone, in a magazine on TV or any combination, creative and original content is at the heart of how we serve fans.”
ESPN.com averages more than 120 million video views each month. In the past year, the site logged more than 50% of the total minutes spent by users for the entire sports online video category, network officials said.
In the series, Mayne, a one-time contestant on Dancing With The Stars, plays himself in a fictionalized version of life at the center of sports television. The show’s executive producers are Josh Shelov and Todd Pellegrino through Pellegrino’s production company P3 Entertainment.
