Entrepreneur Robert Atkinson plans to mimic the around-the-clock sports coverage of ESPN with a comprehensive network that focuses on the real estate industry.

Atkinson has obtained a financial commitment from ESPN founding chairman Stuart Evey, who is also assisting the Excelsior graduate to round up investors.

"It's a hell of a thing," Evey tells the Star Tribune. "I don't have any hesitation about promoting it."

Evey adds that the network is another opportunity to build an iconic television network, as well as a web marketplace and brand in the real estate space.

The plan, according to Atkinson, is to create a television network and multimedia platform dedicated to "developing, producing and marketing real estate-related entertainment, news and information to a global audience." He anticipates that the network will produce a range of content that includes news, financial insights, market information and entertainment and lifestyle programming.

However, Harv Furman, director of market investments at Minneapolis-based Compass Point Media, questions whether there's enough entertainment value in real estate to attract a large enough audience to make a profit. He mentions that while real estate generally touches all of our lives, it doesn't do so "on a daily basis."