Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 300-322). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 300-322). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Arthur A. Raney, Florida State University, College of Communication, Dept. of Communication. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 20, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 77 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Following the early days of the Internet and the World Wide Web, news media in Canada have gone on to develop their own news web sites with the intentions of meeting the on-line needs of media audiences, expanding their audience reach, and adding to revenue production and profitability on- and off-line. Web strategies have varied somewhat across the different media, but anecdotal evidence suggests that sports contents have been important for both print and television. This thesis focused on the latter, sports contents on television network websites, and was undertaken to evaluate how Canadian television stations are utilizing the Internet and web technologies to feature sports news and information. Only a few studies specific to sports television web sites have been done, and these have mainly focused on American news stations. The research objective of the thesis was to systematically examine the web presence of sports contents on Canadian television web sites by conducting a content analysis of identifiably unique sites in the Canadian context. A site analysis protocol was developed through an iterative process. An initial instrument was constructed drawing on past research in this area. In particular, prior work by Bates et al. (1996 & 1997), Pines (1999), Bucy, Lang, Potter & Grabe (1999), Sparks (2001) provided systematic measures for examiriirig the Web presence of television stations. Ha & James's definition of interactivity (1998) was also useful as was the work of Cho (1999), Rogers & Thorson (2000) on Internet advertising. The initial instrument was evaluated and modified during a series of trial scans. The final instrument focused on five areas: body of the home page, types of content, presentation mechanisms, interactivity and advertising. A systematic site analysis was conducted from August to October, 2003, and a total of twenty-one sports home pages were analyzed. Three web sites (TSN, Leafs TV and The Score) were found to have a good balance in the five areas evaluated in the study. The results of independent-samples t-tests showed that general television networks had more sports top news and hyperlinks to other news items than sport specialty networks. By comparison, sports specialty networks tended to have more sport-related search engines and greater efficiency of space. CBC's "Sports Forums" that were configured on its sports home page gave the public broadcaster the highest quotient for interactivity in comparison with the twenty private networks and stations in the study. Advertising was present in all of the sites, and the findings point to an increasing interest in the televisual and sport web site media in producing revenue through web-based advertising. / Education, Faculty of / Kinesiology, School of / Graduate

This experimental study was designed to test whether viewing a West Coast Athletic Conference Basketball Game in person had a significantly greater effect on spectators than watching the same event on television or listening to it on the radio. The literature revealed mixed opinions concerning this type of testing.

This case study evaluated Major League Baseball's (MLB) media product portfolio to identify how broadcast revenues have evolved over the past decade. This research looked back across baseball's long, dysfunctional history with broadcasters in order to recognize the significance of its ambitious use of online content. While MLB had failed to fully utilize the potential of broadcasting, the league's aggressive online strategy through its Advanced Media (MLBAM) division made it the industry leader in broadcasting live streaming sports video. MLBAM expanded its online streaming video to mobile phones and iPad, further expanding the distribution of its content. This research compared MLBAM revenue to traditional broadcast revenue while analyzing the online division's role in promoting the MLB brand. This case study concluded that while MLBAM had made a number of groundbreaking developments, the league could still improve its use of embedded, shared video clips, archived footage and international marketing in order to further extend the brand equity of the MLB, its thirty individual brands and its media product portfolio.

This thesis looks at the subject of sports television programming in two European markets, the UK, one of the biggest and most developed in the continent, and the Greek, one of the smallest in Europe. With the help of case studies over a period of eight years and qualitative interviews of television executives and professionals who are involved in sports television rights agreements, it analyses and compares the strategies and decision making of television organisations, the factors that affect their decisions and their success within the chosen markets. A distinction will be made between public service, commercial and pay-TV and the reasons why different sports may suit different channels and at different points in their development. The findings should help to appreciate that there is not one strategy that works universally better than another. Its outcome depends on the value of the content, the particular characteristics of the organisation and the external environment where it operates. Most importantly, the thesis highlights the importance and limitations of the TV sports content, its crucial role in the decision making process and the necessity of more academic research into the area of sports television by people in content-driven disciplines, i.e. journalism and the media.