Cross-cultural Communication Strategy And Enlightenment Of ESPN In Chinese Market

In order to better communicate China to the world,China needs to implement the "going out"strategy more proactively,making the world hear the voice of China and see its new image of self-confidence,openness,democracy and peace-orientation.Sports plays an important role in international communication,with such major sports events as the International Olympic Games,etc.attracting attention from all over the world.As the foremost way of communication in a global context,communication in and of sports is largely undifferentiated between different countries and nationalities.However,the process of globalization has seen sports from the west penetrate into all corners of the world with its strong economic and cultural power.ESPN is the world’s largest sports television network,having grown from a report group in 1979 to a global sports cable television network through its optimal allocation of resources,advanced business philosophy and pioneering spirit.ESPN is the only overseas media that has once successfully landed in the Chinese market in the form of cooperation.As a program provider,it cooperated with 33 domestic cable TV stations.ESPN provided authentic overseas sports programs to provincial and municipal sports channels in China,which was unique in the Chinese media market.Overall,ESPN’s landing in China in a cooperative manner has a distinct significance and particularity of the times.In the initial stage,ESPN showed a good momentum of development in China,but it had no choice but to leave the country’s market later due to some bad operational decisions and misfit in terms of the local media market environment.However,as an American media,ESPN has had a subtle influence on China’s sports culture during its years of stay.Along with the original American programs sold to China was the culture that brings such programs out.That is particularly true with the Chinese youth,who have long embraced the cultures of jerseys,the hip-hop,and the tattoos rooted in NBA practices.They are now willing to pay for watching European football events first introduced to them by ESPN.which is in clear contrast with China’s failed cases of introducing such national sports as martial arts and dragon boats to the Western market.This study found that the ESPN’s entry into the Chinese market was of specificity.It was at a time when China’s TV channels were at their early stages of development and thus the competition from the domestic media was less.ESPN broke into the Chinese market with its own sports broadcasting advantages and brand strategy,which provided ESPN with an opportunity to cooperate with the local media players in the market.However,internal and external issues prevented it from an authentic landing in China,which indicated some problems in cross-cultural communication.At present,there are still problems in the international communication of Chinese sports culture,such as the unitary main body of international sports communication,limited channels of communication,unclear market localization,and so on,Encoding the cultural infiltration of ESPN through its cross-cultural transmission in China,this study reflects on the lessons and experiences of the company’s practice,and gives suggestions for the better international communication of Chinese sports culture.