OVERTIME IS TAKING OVER

How Sport Networks are Now Utilizing Digital Media

Watch out ESPN! 

Overtime is a new up and coming sports network that has peaked the nation’s interest.   The company’s program focuses typically on younger athletes participating football and basketball.  Overtime was founded in late 2016 by entrepreneurs, Dan Porter and Zack Weiner.  What makes this program special is that it has become so popular in such a little bit of time without ever airing on national television.

How Does a Sports Network Become so Popular Without Ever Being Advertised and Aired on Television?  

Overtime has adopted the media convergence method, which has been trending globally for different media networks.  Instead of providing a single channel for media distribution, Overtime distributes its content across various social media outlets including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat.  

Converging media is a popular trend that has taken sports journalism to a whole new level.  According to scholar Howard Rheinghold, social media is the new driver of the convergent media sector.  He also identified three main characteristics of social media.  The first characteristic pertains to the idea that social media enables everyone engaged to act as a producer, distributor, and consumer of content all at the same time.   The second characteristic is that the power of social media comes from the connections between its users.  The third is that social media outlets allow users to coordinate activities between themselves at a speed that before was not possible.    

In an interview, Porter stated that many business owners think that building a business on top of a social media platform is too risky; but they are wrong.  The Overtime CEO believes that it will be social media that will bring the network to the top, which is why Overtime distributes its content primarily through various social media outlets. 

Overtime’s most popular media platform is its Instagram page.  The network has over 1.7 million followers and six different Instagram pages.  The five pages include: @Overtime, @overtimeszn, @overtimefc, @overtimewbb, @overtimelife, and @overtimeedits.  Each page shows young athletes training or playing their sport.  The goal of the network is to promote young athletes and increase the popularity amongst amateur athletes.

How Converging Media is Contributing to the “Overtime Takeover”

Converging media provides Overtime with ample opportunity to distribute media content in more dynamic ways.  Overtime’s target audience is young native digital sports fans.  Today’s generation relies heavily on digital media, especially social media, for content.  Because of this, Overtime is not only able to reach audiences on multiple platforms, but it is also able to reach this audience in a way that fits their needs.