A notable recent trend with ESPN has been increased TV exposure for podcasts. Indeed, the company announced in January that ESPN2 would feature a different video podcast each weekday from 2-3 p.m. ET. And a new one coming there is from YouTube personality Kenny Beecham.
Beecham’s Numbers on the Board podcast joined Omaha Productions and ESPN (through Omaha’s larger deal with the network) in January. Per Omaha, it’s seen major growth since then, including averaging 26 million social views per month and adding more than 88,000 YouTube subscribers in fewer than 100 days. Beecham’s discussions of the NBA from a gaming perspective, including NBA 2K “rebuild challenges” and more, have won him a notable audience.
Now, Numbers on the Board is set to join that ESPN2 video podcast rotation starting Tuesday. And Beecham will also appear on the main ESPN network that day, on First Take. Here’s a quote from him on that, via Omaha:
“Numbers on the Board being broadcast live on ESPN2 and appearing on First-Take in studio is incredibly exciting,” said Beecham. “We’ve had a lot success since joining the Omaha/ESPN audio and this is a big next step in our evolution. To go from creating content on YouTube all the way to being part of the biggest network in sports television is a huge moment for us.”
We’ll see how this works out for Beecham and Omaha. But it’s definitely notable to see Omaha continuing to expand their podcast offerings, and to see one of those gain some linear ESPN exposure.