Michael Hiestan: Time to test your ESPN IQ

Maybe you consume lots of ESPN, in its many variations. But are you really one with the brand?

Test yourself. Tuesday, ESPN was the only cable TV outlet joining the broadcast networks in this week’s upfront gatherings, where networks unveil their new programming ideas to marketers in New York and try to get them to buy ad time early.

ESPN last year sold about $1.8 billion in ad time at last year’s upfronts, reports the trade publication Ad Age, an amount comparable to Fox’s broadcast network sales.

So, grab your No. 2 pencils and mark which are ESPN’s true new ideas, which are false and which – though false now – are ideas ESPN hasn’t come up with quite yet.

1) “The Moto X World Championships.” In the first case of taking an event out of ESPN’s owned and operated X Games and creating a world title for it, ESPN will debut the annual event for motorcycle trick riders in April. Just a hunch: Replays of Moto X moves such as the “superman seat grab” just might coincidentally start popping up more frequently on “SportsCenter.”

2) “Follow Me to Freedom.” In a twist on its “Dream Job” show – where contestants try to win a job at ESPN – this new series allows current staffers the chance to win a job elsewhere. Viewers can vote online, via cell phone and at ESPN sports bars. With celebrity judges Keith Olbermann, Rich Eisen, Michael Irvin and, tentatively, guest starring Rush Limbaugh.

3) “This is SportsCenter 300.” To mark its 300th goofy “SportsCenter” TV ad – a milestone that shouldn’t be ignored – this ESPN prime-time series in September will go behind the scenes and replay classics from the 14-year-old ad campaign in which even star athletes appear for free.

4) “GameCenter.” This will be just the second “SportsCenter” spinoff, after the short-lived “BassCenter,” which focused on the bass fishing circuit ESPN owns. ESPN this summer adds the national Rock, Paper, Scissors championship to an on-air lineup already laden with competitive cup-stacking, Scrabble, spelling, billiards, darts, dominos, poker and competitive eating. This new studio show puts all that off-beat action under one on-air umbrella.

5) ESPN’s first fantasy sports series. Debuting in August and running year-round on ESPNews, segments of this yet-to-be named weekly series also will pop up on many other ESPN shows.

6) “The SportsCenter Minute.” On ESPN corporate cousin ABC – where sports is already presented as “ESPN on ABC” – hourly news roundups, starting in September, will be presented as coming from “SportsCenter.” Boo-yah.

7) “Golf Cart TV.” On the heels of ESPN’s new initiative to put its programming on TV screens mounted on gas station pumps, ESPN will test airing highlights on screens on golf cart dashboards.

8) “ESPN Reports.” Debuting in October, this prime-time news magazine show sounds just like HBO’s “Real Sports” – but without Bryant Gumbel. And, presumably, without much possibility of exposes on the X Games, the Arena Football League or other events in which ESPN has invested. (Today, AFL staffers are scheduled to visit ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Conn., where ESPN staffers have been asked to wear AFL T-shirts as a welcoming gesture – if they’re comfortable doing so.)

9) “Sports Court.” This new series, a la Court TV, draws on courtroom video feeds from cases involving athletes. All rise!

10) “ESPN: The Movie.” Disney flick, out in 2008, stars Will Ferrell and Charo as unlikely anchors.

Answers: 1) True (Get stoked!); 2) False; 3) True; 4) False (but a great idea); 5) True; 6) True; 7) Gotcha – false; 8) True; 9) False (for now); 10) False.