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Featuring Ivan Trembow's Self-Important, Random Rants on Mixed Martial Arts, Video Games, Pro Wrestling, Television, Politics, Sports, and High-Quality Wool Socks Ivan's Blog Main Page Archives September 2002 November 2002 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 June 2003 October 2003 August 2004 October 2004 November 2004 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 October 2007 December 2007 January 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010 March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 |
Friday, November 10, 2006
Mixed Martial Arts--- ESPN Re-Affirms UFC Commercial Ban by Ivan Trembow Originally Published on MMAWeekly The Disney-owned ESPN has re-affirmed its ban on all UFC-related advertisements from appearing on any Disney-owned network, which includes the ABC and ESPN family of networks. The UFC commercials that had been appearing frequently on ESPN and ESPNews were already a violation Disney's company policy, which expressly prohibits advertisements or promotions of any sports program that does not air on a Disney-owned television network. This is not limited to the UFC. It would also be against the Disney/ESPN corporate policy for a Disney-owned network to advertise a sports program that airs on USA Network, or a sports program that airs on Fox Sports Net, or a sports program that airs on any other non-Disney-owned network. Despite this policy being in place, the UFC was previously able to place its commercials on Disney-owned networks such as ESPN and ESPNews by purchasing the commercials via local advertising affiliates throughout the country. As a result of this, Disney/ESPN sent a memo, which has been obtained by MMAWeekly, to all of its local advertising affiliates. After being reminded by Disney/ESPN that the UFC commercials are "a direct violation of our Affiliate agreements," the memo goes on to state, "Please contact your programming colleagues for complete advertising restrictions. ESPN is not accepting these ads on a national level, and the same restrictions apply for our local Affiliates. Thank you for your cooperation and immediate attention to this matter." With ESPN or any other television network, there's the programming on the network (the actual shows), and then there's the advertising. This news does not affect programming in any way. ESPN hasn't devoted many news segments to the UFC in the past, but there is nothing that would prevent them from doing so in the future. The same goes for UFC fighters appearing on Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith, Cold Pizza, or any other actual show. Advertising, on the other hand, is a completely separate matter. The Disney/ESPN corporate policy is, and has been, that you can't buy ads to promote sports shows that air on any non-Disney-owned network. This is not a new policy, but some local ESPN advertising affiliates were selling UFC commercials anyway. The memo from Disney/ESPN makes it clear that they are going to start enforcing the policy more strictly, so local advertising affiliates will no longer be able to violate the policy by selling UFC commercials. Labels: Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), UFC News, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Send your feedback, questions, or hate mail to ivan@ivansblog.com If you're looking for all of the content from my other site, Master Gamer, you can find it here. |