Disney launched Mobile ESPN with much fanfare during the Super Bowl XL this year and supposedly did everything to create a rich user experience to differentiate itself from the operators. It is also very natural for one to think why Disney decided to pull a plug, given that the service offers good quality content, has an access to an established and paying customer base of sports lovers and is backed up by a strong brand. The disturbing truth is that Mobile ESPN was only able to build a consumer base of 10,000 after eight months of its launch. Thus the issue is not that of technology, content or application but that of poor adoption
 
Mobile ESPN is certainly not the last one to fold up for the lack of adoption, but many more are on their way. Poor adoption is the most serious issue faced by the mobile world today and if this keeps happening, we are not too far from a "dot mobile" crash, which is indeed a scary but a realistic thought.

I analyzed the business model of ESPN Mobile vis-à-vis a framework that I created to understand the adoption dynamics of the content, in conjunction with the Six Value Mantras that I have published and discussed in the past.

1. Every content is a killer in its own right, but what may not be a killer is its Media Model that drives its market positioning, access and delivery

2. A Media Model can add to or dilute the perceived value of the content – which in fact determines the speed and scale of adoption - hence success

3. Users knowingly or unknowingly look for better alternatives and migrate from one Media Model to another – this migration is very much driven by the perceived value of the Media Model

4. The two key aspects of the Media Model - technology and business model together help to differentiate one Media Model from another and also directly contribute to the success of the content in the market place.

My analysis yielded the following:

1. Though ESPN Mobile is positioned as a sports offering yet the uptake is driven by voice – in reality, the sports content is only a secondary service to mobile voice.    The two diverse services dilute each other's value proposition – significantly weakening the market focus created by Mobile ESPN branding.

2. Sport is a very popular lifestyle activity – tremendously enjoyed at stadiums or courts or on TV in living rooms, where people sit relaxed not compromising their lifestyle postures. Gazing a hand phone, hour after hour, firmly held between two hands at an arm's length is certainly not an enjoyable experience.     

3. The normally available sports content does not synergize with a small hand phone screen. The content for a small screen must be specifically designed to compensate for the lack of visibility, especially of fast moving objects. I generally recommend a strong focus on audio in content designed for small screens.

4. Mobile ESPN would have done well, if positioned as a car gadget. Sports content will well serve the role of an entertaining companion in a world, where loneliness is killing. This though limits the market but the focus builds up significant perceived value, which is critical to adoption.

5. A more judicious approach is to design a handheld for the application in mind. But then the question is – a sport often being a seasonal activity, would the sports lovers invest on a gadget that they can only use it for a few months in a year. Even at homes, most of us do not dedicate a TV to a sports channel   

6. I have not noticed any conscientious strategy on the part of Walt Disney to migrate people from paid TV sports channels or sports web portals to Mobile ESPN. This possibly limited the uptake to new sports enthusiasts.

7. I also not did not notice any attempt to disrupt the market or establish a "network effect" to encourage the service uptake

8. The value proposition of high technology consumer offerings should be first established in smaller and controllable markets before are offered in the mass consumer market, which could be mindlessly ruthless.

Mobile ESPN is yet another victim of the "value dilution syndrome" – sports content and voice diluting each other's value proposition and weakening the focus created by the strong branding. Disney would have done well offering sports content as a pointed solution on a firmly clamped car gadget. The sports content is more synergistic with a car environment if designed with a greater focus on audio to address the growing need for "entertaining companionship". This will indeed be a disruptive solution.