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The network also said Watch ESPN, the authenticated TV Everywhere app introduced last year, is now in 40 million homes. ESPN predicted that figure would double by 2013. "Whether we televise the game or not, there is an audience consuming it via ESPN platforms," said Sean Bratches, exec VP-sales and marketing. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, Mr. Bratches said. ESPN is working with companies including Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, Netflix and Microsoft to further expand the offerings. "Young males spend more time consuming media" on Xbox than playing video games," he said. ESPN is making content for these digital platforms, reviving the "30 to 30" franchise with "30 for 30 Shorts," which will roll out monthly on Grantland, the sports-plus-pop-culture site created by sports journalist Bill Simmons. To visualize just how advertisers can partner with its various digital platforms, ESPN presented three case studies from partners Gatorade, Goodyear and Diageo. Gatorade partnered with ESPN across multiple screens in an effort to embrace female athletes and moms, an audience that ESPN is making a concerted effort to tap into with espnW. This includes "Nine for IX," a series of nine documentary films about women in sports in celebration of Title IX's 40th anniversary.

It’s been quite a few years since WWE has been on the forefront of pop culture, but now, possibly because of a forced hand, it once again finds itself blazing trails. Its newest TV show, NXT, a reality-type show (with minimal wrestling, of course) that debuted last winter, will be leaving TV altogether and heading to the Internet. (Tuesdays at 10pm, for the record.) WWE says it’s the first TV show to leave TV for the Internet, something that I wouldn’t even be able to verify, but it does speak to a broader move in the world of entertainment.

Moving NXT to the Internet is an experiment. Perhaps it’s one borne out of necessity, but I’d be shocked if TV executives around Hollywood aren’t checking in to see how it does.