OLN vs. ESPN

VOTE IN THE AD AGE WEEKLY ONLINE POLL
> BACKGROUND: Despite its failure to win Wednesday's bidding match against ESPN for one portion of Major League Baseball's cable programming, Comcast's Outdoor Life Network is still hot in the running for the remaining portion of tht league's package. At the same time, OLN, which has already bought the two-year, $135 million National Hockey League telecast rights, is a serious contender for the National Football League's Thursday-Saturday cable package. At ESPN, executives have no doubt about the meaning of OLN's sudden expansion plans and bidding efforts: The reigning king of cable sports has an up and coming new competitor with deep pockets. Do YOU think OLN has a realistic chance of challenging ESPN as cable sports leader or is ESPN so well established as a brand that it is invulnerable?

> THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Can Comcast's OLN successfully take on the ESPN sports juggernaut?

> VOTE & COMMENT for publication in next week's print edition of Advertising Age at http://www.adage.com/poll.cms