Category Archives: Fox Sports

It’s official: Erin Andrews joins Fox Sports; will host college football pregame show

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Sounds like a good deal for Andrews. Here’s the release. More tomorrow:

New York & Los Angeles – College football on FOX just became must-watch TV this fall as the popular Erin Andrews, one of sports television’s brightest stars, rejoins the FOX Sports family.  A versatile broadcaster whose talent bridges sports and entertainment, Andrews’ position includes hosting the new prime time college football pregame show, making significant contributions to the network’s NFL and MLB coverage, along with other marquee sports properties.  The announcement of Andrews’ multi-year agreement was made today by Executive Producer, Co-President & COO, FOX Sports Media Group, Eric Shanks.

“Opportunities to add someone of Erin Andrews’ caliber don’t come along often and we’re thrilled to welcome her back to the FOX Sports family,” said Shanks.  “Erin is one of the hardest-working, most-respected individuals in sports television and we expect her to have an immediate impact.  In addition to having her anchor our new college football show and studio coverage, we expect her to be a big contributor to our MLB and NFL coverage as well as other major events.”

 “To have the chance to not only host the primetime college football pregame show, but cover the NFL, MLB and various other incredible FOX Sports properties is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Andrews.  “I couldn’t be more excited to get to work.”

 FOX Sports’ new 30-minute college football pregame show, which originates live each week from the FOX Network Center in Los Angeles, leads into FOX Sports’ first-ever regular-season over-the-air college football package.  The network’s coverage kicks-off on Saturday, Sept. 1 (7:30 PM ET) as Hawaii visits USC, live from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

 Andrews, one of the most-followed sports television personalities on Twitter with over 1.3 million followers, returns to FOX Sports after spending eight years at ESPN.  Most recently, she hosted the first hour of ESPN’s College GameDay on ESPNU and was a features reporter for the full three-hour program, a role she held since the 2010 season.  Andrews also served as a sideline reporter for college football and basketball games.

 Prior to ESPN, Andrews worked for Turner Sports from 2002 to 2004 as a studio host and reporter.  She covered college football (reporter) and the Atlanta Braves (studio host) for TBS and the Atlanta Thrashers (studio host) and Atlanta Hawks (reporter) for Turner Sports South.  From 2001 to 2002, she worked for the Sunshine Network as a Tampa Bay Lightning reporter.  She got her start as a sports reporter at FOX Sports Florida in 2000.

 Andrews is also known for appearing on the 10th season of Dancing with the Stars. Andrews, who was partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy, was one of three contestants to make it to the finals, where they placed third.

Andrews, a native of Lewiston, Maine, graduated from the University of Florida in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in telecommunications. She was a member of the Gators’ basketball dance team from 1997 to 2000.

In addition to broadcasting 13 consecutive weeks of regular-season action, including 12 prime time games and seven doubleheaders, FOX Sports boasts exclusive coverage of college football’s Pac-12 Conference Football Championship Game on Friday, Nov. 30 (8:00 PM ET) followed by the Big Ten Conference Football Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 1 (8:00 PM ET).  FOX Sports wraps up its 2012-13 campaign with an exciting Big 12/SEC match-up in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic live from Cowboys Stadium on Friday, Jan. 4 (8:00 PM ET).

 

 

Why? Charlie Sheen to join Buck, McCarver tonight

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Why? An easy answer. He’s hyping a show on FX.

I bet Tim McCarver is thrilled. I don’t see Sheen being McCarver’s kind of guy. Oh, the things we do for network TV.

From Michael Hiestand in USA Today:

Charlie Sheen will be alongside Tim McCarver and Joe Buck on Fox’s Mets-Yankees Saturday (7 p.m. ET) at least briefly. Or, in case of emergency, to take over: “I’m not going to do any color. But if they go down, I’m their man. I sit at home and do color.”

Sheen will plug his sitcom Anger Management, which debuts June 28 Fox’s FX cable channel and, he says, will be his last TV show. But not giving up on this on the idea of again playing pitcher Ricky Vaughan of the Major League movies.

Sheen there’s a “masterpiece” script for a fourth Major League and “we’ve been busting our (expletive) the past year trying to get it made.” The problem, he says, is that “foreign presale money” is key to financing films and a baseball movie isn’t sure-fire “when soccer is trying to take over the world.”

 

Forget about records: Horrible Cubs-disappointing Red Sox game still gets Buck-McCarver treatment from Fox

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I asked Tim McCarver a simple question:

When was the last time he and Joe Buck worked a game in mid-June featuring two last-place teams and with one of those teams having the worst record in baseball?

McCarver replied: “I don’t know. I can’t think of one.”

Fox Sports’ No. 1 crew will be on hand for tonight’s game, which will go out to 39 percent of the country. The telecast will be about the uniqueness of the two historic franchises playing a game and the ivy of Wrigley Field.

Forget about the records. Please, especially in Chicago where the Cubs are epic bad.

“There’s something about these two teams playing in Wrigley Field,” McCarver said.

Clearly, it isn’t the best match-up Saturday. The top game is the Yankees at Washington. So why not primetime for that game?

According to Fox, there are limitations on appearances for the Yankees, and the schedule for the primetime games had to be locked up prior to the season. Thus, Cubs-Red Sox.

Get ready to hear plenty of stories of Boston pitcher Babe Ruth beating the Cubs in the 1918 World Series.

 

 

The beat: McDonough needs brain procedure; Pac 12 on Fox; Awards for Schaap, ESPN

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Good to see Sean McDonough still will be able to work the U.S. and British Opens. Shows his priorities.

USA Today reports:

McDonough, 50, told USA TODAY Sports’ Michael Hiestand that he has been diagnosed with superior canal dehiscence syndrome and will have a procedure to correct a hole in the bone near his brain on Aug. 7. He wanted to wait until then so he could work this week’s Open and next month’s British Open, U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Senior British Open. Now, he’s putting up with some bizarre symptoms: “When I’m in a real quiet place, I can hear my eyeballs move.”

Prime-time Pac 12: Fox Sports revealed its opening prime-time games for the Pac 12.

All eyes will be on Los Angeles Saturday, Sept. 1 (7:30 PM ET) as FOX Sports kicks off 13 consecutive weeks of regular-season action, including 12 prime time games and seven doubleheaders.  Expected Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Barkley begins his quest to lead potential preseason #1 USC to a national title when the Trojans host Hawai’i in the Coliseum.  First-year head coach Jim Mora takes the field Saturday, Sept. 8 (7:30 PM ET) when his UCLA Bruins host top 25 contender Nebraska Cornhuskers from the storied Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.  Barkley & Co. are back on FOX Week 3 when the Trojans travel to Stanford on Saturday, Sept. 15 (7:30 PM ET) to take on the nationally-ranked Cardinal.

Awarded: Congratulations to Jeremy Schaap and ESPN. From ESPN:

ESPN has won two 2012 National Edward R. Murrow Awards, honoring excellence in electronic journalism, it was announced this week by the Radio Television Digital News Association.

E:60 won the Outstanding Sports Reporting award in the Television Network category for “Angel in the Outfield”, the story of Christina-Taylor Green, a nine-year old Little League baseball player who was shot and killed in January, 2011, in Tucson, Arizona, at the same event at which U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was seriously wounded.

ESPN Radio’s The Sporting Life with Jeremy Schaap won the Audio Sports Reporting award in the Radio Network/Syndication Service category for the E:60 feature “Hero”, the story of boxer Francisco “Paco” Rodriguez, who died in Philadelphia in 2009 from injuries suffered in the ring. The lives of four women from the Philadelphia area were prolonged by his family’s decision to donate his organs. The Edward R. Murrow Awards are often called the most prestigious in electronic journalism. The awards will be presented at the RTDNA Awards Dinner in New York on October 8.

NBA high: Dream Team still scores after 20 years. From NBA TV:

NBA TV’s critically-acclaimed premiere of The Dream Team presented by Right Guard averaged 847,000 total viewers to become the network’s most-viewed telecast of all-time.

No Mariotti: Deadspin A.J. Daulero has written a long piece imploring outlets not to hire Jay Mariotti. Didn’t know this was an issue. Mariotti hasn’t worked since his troubles in 2010.

Here’s the link.

 

Fox’s Hill talks about ‘second-screen experience’

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Fox Sports Chairman David Hill brought up an interesting notion at the NCTA Convention Wednesday in Boston.

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Hill, the Australian-born visionary who has revolutionized the technology of American sports with everything from the scoreboard box on the screen to new ways to cover the drama of baseball, said “the next big development for all of us is the second-screen experience. I don’t believe that has been explored in terms of potential as it should be. If you look at multi-tasking that is going on, a valid second screen experience (people watching a second screen in addition to the primary screen) – which could be American Idol – is going to be a huge development down the road.”

David, I really don’t need a second screen if it’s going to be used to watch American Idol. And by the way, whatever happened to Picture-in-Picture? Wasn’t that a second screen experience?

Bottom line: Nobody knows for sure what how we’re going to be watching sports in 2025. The execs just know we’re going to be watching, and paying to watch.

On the subject of right fees, there was this passage:

No sports discussion would be complete without some worrying about the rising cost of sports rights. At a panel discussion at the NCTA this week, a Wall Street analyst worried that rights fees were going to put a squeeze on cable to the point it could interfere with their ability to do other things. The Wednesday panelists did not disagree that rights are rising and expensive, but the attitude seemed to be that it is an inevitable part of the value of sports on TV.

“Anybody who thinks they can figure out what rights are going to be worth in 2026 doesn’t really know,” said (ESPN President) Skipper, referring to a recent news story about the sale of some sports rights far into the future. “What we will make a bet on is that the value of sports rights are going to continue to appreciate. We would love it if sports rights would come down, but sports rights are going up because the value of sports rights are going up.”

Hill recalled a CBS executive who in 1977 said sports rights had gone as high as it was possible for them to go and they would not go any higher. What he did not recognize, said Hill, is that “sports rights are the purest example of supply and demand.”

 

Fox, ESPN winners at Sports Business Awards

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It was a big night for Fox and ESPN at the fifth annual Sports Business Awards in New York, presented by Street and Smith’s Sports Business Daily.

Among the networks, Fox was the biggest winner. It won for Best in Sports Television and Best in Sports Media.

“I consider the standard of production of all of us now to be at the highest point ever,” said Fox Sports Group Chair David Hill. “The sports fan now is better served now than ever before.”

ESPN, though, didn’t walk away empty handed. It won Best in Digital Sports Media and Best in Sports Technology, for WatchESPN.

Here’s a list of all the winners:

AWARD WINNER
Executive of the Year NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
Sports Event of the Year ’12 PGA Tour Humana Challenge
Best in Sports Media Fox Sports
Sports League of the Year MLB
Sports Sponsor of the Year Bridgestone
Best in Corporate Consulting, Marketing             and Client Services The Marketing Arm
Sports Facility of the Year Amway Center
Best in Sports Television Fox Sports
Lifetime Achievement Award Paul Tagliabue
AD of the Year Michigan State AD Mark Hollis
Best in Property Consulting, Sales             and Client Services IMG
Best in Sports Technology ESPN’s WatchESPN
Sports Team of the Year Boston Bruins
Best in Digital Sports Media ESPN Digital Media
Best in Sports Event and Experiential Marketing MLB/Fan Cave
Best in Talent Representation and Management Wasserman Media Group

Live, it’s Saturday night prime time baseball on Fox

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Once upon a time, Saturday night wasn’t a wasteland for television. In fact, it was the best night of the week.

Check out CBS’ lineup for Saturday night in 1973 and say hello to Archie Bunker:

8 p.m. All in the Family

8:30: M*A*S*H

9: Mary Tyler Moore Show

9:30: Bob Newhart Show

10: Carol Burnett Show

Yeah, only five of the best television shows ever, all airing consecutively on Saturday night. Did we ever go out?

However, somewhere along the way, the networks gave up on Saturday nights. It’s there for the taking if anyone wants it.

ABC saw an opening and has done well with its Saturday night prime time football games. Now Fox is looking to up the ante.

Saturday, Fox will begin eight straight weeks of prime time baseball on Saturday night. The slate has the requisite name: Baseball Night in America.

What’s next? Backgammon Night in America?

The baseball games come on the heels of Fox already airing four NASCAR and two UFC events on Saturday night this year.

All told, Fox plans to have 32 primetime Saturdays with sports this year. The package includes 12 regular-season college football games, the Big Ten Championship game, and Game 4 of the World Series.

Package is the key word here, according to Fox Sports Media co-president and COO Eric Shanks. Here’s my Q/A with him.

Why the move to Saturday night?

We were looking to put the puzzle together. We saw the picture and said, ‘Wow, we actually have 32 weeks of prime time sports here.’ There’s a story there. Things always look better when they’re put in a package. Now all of the sudden we have a Saturday strategy. We have a message to sell to our customers.

‘Check Fox out on Saturday night.’ It makes us look smarter than we actually are.

What does this mean for baseball?

The prime time (viewing levels) are much higher. You’re not only going to see your game, but we’ll also be checking into other games. It’ll be an exciting night for fans.

What happened to television on Saturday night?

Saturday night didn’t used to be perceived the way it is now. It’s a chicken-and-egg thing. Is Saturday night being perceived this way because nobody is putting the effort into it? We’re going to try to put something together and find out what people think.

What’s the real reason behind the move?

I’ve got three young kids. What am I doing on Saturday night? I’m not going out. I’m home.

 

 

 

 

 

Fox’s Shanks: Survival Sunday better in US than UK

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I know what my old pal Mike Mulligan will be doing Sunday. The morning drive co-host for WSCR-AM 670 in Chicago is a huge soccer fan. He will be parked on his couch, working his remote overtime in watching Survival Sunday.

For the first time ever, all 10 games from the Premier League’s final day will be shown live in the U.S. Even a non-soccer fan like me will check it out because of the sheer volume of games.

That’s the whole idea of this exercise; to lure non-fans fans like me.

Here is yesterday’s post with all the details.

Fox will air nine of the games on its various platforms. Here are the excerpts from the Survival Sunday and UEFA Champions League Final on FOX preview press call featuring FOX Sports Media Group Co-President and Co-COO Eric Shanks, FOX Soccer Executive Vice President & General Manager David Nathanson.  FOX Soccer Lead Studio Host Rob Stone and American National Soccer Hall of Famer & FOX Soccer Analyst Eric Wynalda previewed the matchups and coverage across FSMG’s outlets.

Nathanson on the strategy behind programming Survival Sunday: “We take more risk, not just with the Barclays Premier League, but with the UEFA Champions League and a number of our other soccer rights, and as we’ve seen the audience grow across FOX Soccer and the other FOX Sports Media Group platforms, it justifies taking on more risk and trying new things. We’ve done a lot this year with the delayed and live games in conjunction with the NFL on FOX. ‘Survival Sunday’ is an extension of that. Beyond that, it is the right thing to do for viewers. In the past, people who are a follower of a particular team, and not necessarily the most popular team, are waiting to see where they end up at the end of the season and particularly those that risk relegation. They are some of the most dramatic and interesting stories that are told the entire year. The ability to showcase that across our properties is really unique, and we all couldn’t be more excited to be a part of that.”

Shanks on how viewers will be updated from the games being played simultaneously on Survival Sunday: “As soon as a goal is scored, scores will drop down from the FOX Box and about every ten minutes we will run through all of the scores to keep you up to date on every channel.”

Nathanson added: “This is a first for us and a first for the Premier League in any territory. The goal is to show each game live, and everyone will have the same pregame show that will lead directly into each individual game which will not be carried on any delay. For the first time we’re going to be able to show highlights in-game. If you tune into Manchester United vs. Sunderland on FX, you’re going to be able to see every single goal that matters. That coverage will be complimented on www.foxsoccer.com/survivalsunday  where we will showcase how each team is progressing in near real time, as they vie for the Champions League, the Europa League, relegation or for the league title.”

Shanks on the magnitude behind the production of Survival Sunday across FSMG properties: “This is a new high point for European soccer here in the U.S. and the Premier League specifically. This is a better experience of Survival Sunday for fans than even what they’re getting in the UK. I still don’t believe that you can watch all of these matches, all at once, in the UK. We may have a flood of tourists coming into the U.S. just to have access to all of these games this weekend.”

Stone on whether or not Bayern Munich is a heavy favorite because they are playing at home: “Without a doubt Bayern Munich is the favorite. They would have been the favorite even if it was held at a neutral site. With the form that Bayern Munich is in, and the offensive capability that they have, and with the suspensions that are hitting a majority of the Chelsea starting players, it is beyond fair to say that Bayern Munich are the favorite.”

Wynalda on the Champions League matchup: “They are both very good teams, but there is one more game that weighs into this, and that is the German Cup, which Bayern Munich has against Borussia Dortmund. We really have to wait on our opinions of what the Final is going to look like until after that one is over. On paper right now, with the suspensions that both teams have, it’s going to be a very offensive game. Regardless, it’s going to be a great game and either way there are going to be a lot of goals in this one.”

Stone on the growth of soccer in US and the EPL’s role: “It’s tradition passed down through the generations. It’s like baseball here in the States. Your dad, your grandfather, your grandmother, your mother grew up a Cardinals fan, a Yankees fan or a Tampa Bay Rays and they pass it down. You get that in England. It’s starting to happen now in the States, you’re seeing more and more kids wanting jerseys. Not being handed the jersey by dad saying, ‘wear this Messi jersey.’ It’s a kid saying, ‘dad, go get me this Messi jersey.’  You’re starting to see the culture and the generations change in embracing the sport more and more in the States. What the Premiership does and the tradition and drama they provide, is all part of the force that drives the growth of soccer.”

Wynalda on the future of American soccer player Clint Dempsey: “I would love nothing more than to see Clint Dempsey play in the Champions League. With the season that he has had, not only does he deserve the opportunity to play in a greater platform, but he deserves a lot of money. He should break every record there had ever been for an American player as far as his market value because he is an amazing commodity right now and we’re lucky to also have him playing for the U.S. National Team. By far, hands down, this is the best season any American has ever had.”

Stone on Dempsey’s success: “Rarely have we seen an American field player play on a high-profile team. To see “Dempsey” on the back of an Arsenal jersey or a Liverpool jersey is big news in my eyes and big news in the States. Goals are sexy, goals are what sell and he’s scoring goals. That is where you base your judgment. It’s hard to say is has not been the greatest season an American player in Europe has ever had.”

Examining your couch time with NFL in 2012

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There’s something wonderful about the release of the NFL schedule. I always picture those late November, December Sundays when it is cold outside, giving you the perfect excuse to park on the couch all day and watch football. Of course, I do the same thing on those beautiful Sundays in September.

Here’s my breakdown of how the NFL divided up the goodies among the networks.

NBC: The network gets 19 games this year, including a new Thanksgiving night telecast. And it’s a good one: New England at the Jets.

NBC should get off to a huge start with Dallas-New York Giants on Wednesday, Sept. 5 and then the Pittsburgh-Denver game on that Sunday. It’ll be all-Manning-all-the-time during the first week. Should do big ratings.

Best games for NBC: Besides the first week, its schedule is loaded: Detroit-San Francisco on Sept. 16; New England-Baltimore on Sept. 23; Green Bay-Giants on Nov. 25 and several others.

Landmine alert: NBC has the flex schedule beginning on Nov. 18, so it won’t get stuck with any late-season dogs. Prior to that week, it has Houston-Chicago on Nov. 11. Keep on an eye on that one if both teams underachieve. However, even then, Al Michaels always likes doing a game in Chicago.

ESPN: It gets a better slate than last year, when it had some atrocious games (San Diego-Jacksonville, St. Louis-Seattle) at the end. Still, I can’t say I’m thrilled about a Baltimore-Cincinnati/San Diego-Oakland doubleheader for its first Monday night of the year. It’s not exactly Pittsburgh-Denver.

Best games for ESPN: ESPN gets its first crack at Peyton Manning with Denver-Atlanta on Sept. 17. Chicago-Dallas should do a strong rating on Oct. 1; Philadelphia-New Orleans on Nov. 5 could be intriguing if the Saints hold up; and Atlanta-Detroit on Dec. 22.

Landmine alert: With no flex options, it has several clunker candidates. San Francisco-Arizona on Oct. 29; Jets-Tennessee on Dec. 17 has potential disaster written all over it; and Atlanta-Detroit could be a dud if the Lions revert to their old form.

NFL Network: It’s the first season of their new expanded 13-game package.

Best games for NFL Network: The NFL awarded itself a plum for its opener: Chicago at Green Bay on Sept. 13. You’ve got to like Giants at Carolina the following week; New Orleans-Atlanta on Nov. 29; and Denver-Oakland on Dec. 6.

Landmine alert: Unless Andrew Luck morphs into Peyton Manning really quick, I’m betting most people take a pass on Indianapolis-Jacksonville on Nov. 8.

Fox: The NFC network gets out of the gate quick with San Francisco-Green Bay as its first doubleheader game.

Best games for Fox: Giants at San Francisco in an NFC title game rematch on Oct. 14; New Orleans-Green Bay on Sept. 30; Giant-Dallas on Oct. 28.

Landmine alert: Any games with the 49ers. Are they are a one-year wonder? Fox obviously can switch off its highlighted doubleheader slots, but it would help the network if the 49ers remained strong.

CBS: With Denver’s first two games in prime time, the AFC network has to wait until week 3 to get a shot at Peyton Manning.

Best games for CBS: Denver-New England on Oct. 7 with Manning-Brady; Pittsburgh-Giants on Nov. 4; Pittsburgh-Baltimore on Dec. 2.

Landmine alert: CBS needs Manning to be healthy and playing like his old self. If not, CBS will see a lot of potential ratings points fly out the window for those Denver games.

 

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