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ESPN No. 1 for 16th Consecutive Year in Annual Beta Cable Operator Study

For the 16th consecutive year, operators named ESPN the no. 1 network with the most average perceived value among all networks measured in Beta Research Corp’s annual Cable Operator Evaluation Study.  ESPN was also ranked the no. 1 most important network in their cable systems for the 12th straight year – and 15 of the past 16 years – with 94 percent of operators describing the network as “very important” for subscriber retention and acquisition.  Other findings among operators include:

• ESPN2 ranked second in average perceived value for the 11th consecutive year.
• Disney Channel ranked second in importance of network (tied with Discovery Channel), and fifth in perceived value.

Among unaided mentions, operators voted ESPN and Disney and ESPN Media Networks as the no. 1 network and organization most helpful in driving VOD or SVOD efforts and most creative in providing new online content delivery options. Both the network and group were also voted most helpful in marketing support, high-definition programming and TV Everywhere efforts in providing programs on multi-platforms such as tablets/smartphones.

Further, in the Beta Local Ad Sales Executive study – also released today – ESPN ranked no. 1 among unaided mentions for the 12th straight year as the network with the most valuable programming to help create local ad sales revenue among major networks.  Additionally, Disney and ESPN Media Networks ranked no. 1 in the study for the following:

• Most appealing demographics (12th straight year).
• Percent of local ad sales executives who visit the network group’s affiliate site (eight consecutive year).
• Percent of site visitors rating the site very good or excellent (second consecutive year).
• Providing original research (second consecutive year).

The Beta Cable Operator study conducted 100 telephone interviews with a range of representatives from individual cable systems between August and October 2015. The purpose of the study was to determine operator perceptions of basic cable networks/organizations.

The Beta Local Ad Sales Executive study was conducted between October and November 2015 among local ad sales executives from local cable systems to determine their perceptions of basic cable network organizations.

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