Disney continues to increase awareness of its mighty network of cable channels during this year’s Winter X Games (WX14) brought to you by ESPN.
Winter X Games 14 is coming to Aspen, Colo., from Thursday, Jan. 28 to Sunday, Jan. 31. More than 200 of the best action sports athletes including past Olympians will compete in Skiing, Snowboard and Snowmobile.
The Winter X Games, the premier action sports event in the world, will be held January 28 through January 31, 2010 in Aspen, Colorado. Winter X Games 14 will be covered live on ESPN & ESPN2 as well as online through ESPN.com/Action and ESPN360
via The X Games Live – live streaming video powered by Livestream.
Disney will be sponsoring a competition for tomorrow’s X Gamers, similar to this summer’s Next X.
Boys-targeted Disney XD will air a daily, short-form reality competition series, dubbed Winter Next X, beginning Feb. 8.
via Disney XD To Air Winter X Games Reality Series – 2010-01-21 15:59:25 | Multichannel News.
Winter Next X is latest entry in live action programming Disney hopes will grow its male teen audience, following I’m in the Band and Pair of Kings. This time around they are getting help from the likes of
- Simon Dumont
- Andreas Wiig
- Sammy Carlson
- Chas Guldemond
They join the ranks of other action and anime stars that Disney brought into the family late last year.
Earlier this month, Disney announced their buyout of Marvel, which was most likely as much of an attempt to push forward with their young boy focus on the Disney XD channel as it was to make more money. The fact that they have sought after the hit anime Naruto Shippuden seems to only emphasize both of those reasons.
via Disney XD Snags Naruto Shippuden: First It’s Marvel, Now Disney Sets Sights on Popular Anime.
Before you get the wrong idea, WX14 is not just about ratings for sister Disney cable networks. The focus is still on winter sports and that is best demonstrated by the quality of the competition. And this year it has more Olympic caliber than ever.
Winter X Games 14 will welcome 250 world-class athletes, including 39 past and present Olympians. Less than one month before many of the athletes compete in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics, they will vie for gold at the Winter X Games in Men’s and Women’s Snowboard SuperPipe, Men’s and Women’s Snowboarder X, Men’s & Women’s Skier X and Men’s and Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle.
Disney and ESPN are also making WX14 more digitally accessible, continuing their partnership with Apple. You may visit iTunes to find:
- WX14 daily video highlights
- Best of WX14 compilations
- Feature films including Disney’s X Games: The Movie, Shaun White: Don’t Look Down and Moto X: Evolution of the Trick
- Athlete music playlists from Xavier Bertoni, Andrew Comrie-Picard and Anthony Napolitan
- Music playlists from ESPN’s on-air production titled As Heard at X
- Action sports podcasts
via Digital Spotlight on the 2010 Winter X Games | ESPN MediaZone.
Leave it to Disney and ESPN to find new marketing avenues such athlete playlists and cross promotion with the teen network. And remember, if you aren’t in the elite ESPN360 club, check out their schedule, then watch the live stream over at Livestream. You’ll even be able to connect to twitter and update Facebook while catching the action there. Happy viewing!
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