For Sports Fans, A Plethora Of Platforms To Watch On

Published October 22, 2012 at 7:11 AM CDT

Phil Coke and Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers celebrate after beating the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Through the power of modern technology, fans could experience the game even if they weren't in front of a television screen.

While most American homes still have a television in the den, how we watch, and what we watch, is changing. Computers, tablets, smartphones, DVRs and video game consoles have redefined what television is.

Viewers have officially become a multiscreen culture. And that means the TV industry is changing, as well. Consider that 36 million Americans watch video on their phones, according to the Nielsen ratings company.

That's why we're examining How We Watch What We Watch this week on Morning Edition. Today, NPR's David Greene speaks with John Ourand, media reporter at the Sports Business Journal, about how new technologies are changing the viewing habits of sports fans — and the business models of broadcasters.

Interview Highlights

On the prevalence and spread of new technology

"Right now for [the] MLB app, 2.2 million people have bought Major League Baseball's At-Bat iPhone and iPad app and are able to watch it. So that's a pretty substantial number. And I think that what you're seeing is, you're seeing a lot more people watching ESPN online or ESPN via their phones or watching cable TV via their phones. And it's a big initiative within the cable industry — they call it 'TV Everywhere' — where if you buy one subscription, you should be able to watch that channel whether it's on TV or whether it's on an iPad or whether it's on an iPhone. It kind of gets to the question of: 'What is a TV?' "

On how cable companies can make money from new technology

"Cable companies are making money because this is something that keeps subscribers subscribing to cable. The idea is that the cable industry is saying, 'I bought this stream. I bought ESPN, it doesn't matter how people watch it.' Whether they're watching it on TV or on a tablet or on an iPhone. And, furthermore, it's all a screen — what makes the tablet not a TV screen?"

The iPhone version of MLB At Bat collects the most relevant information in one place.

On how important sports are to the cable industry

"The big fear in the cable industry is something called 'cord-cutting,' and that's where people just cut the cord and just watch via Netflix, DVDs and just general broadcast. The only thing that's really saving the cable industry, in my opinion, are big-time sports that ESPN provides, that Turner provides, that NBC's and CBS's cable channels provide. Because if you want to watch sports, you have to watch them live. You can't watch those via DVD. And you can't watch them after the series has already run."