Fox Sports 1 not the usual new kid on ESPN's block - USA Today

[CaribouJim]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...-espn/2641247/

Cover page of today's sports section - long article - Saturday is the big day.

If you're starting a new sports channel — as Fox Sports will when it flips the switch Saturday on Fox Sports 1 — you need a lot of things.

Money. Hundreds of millions.

Cable providers. Ones who will take your rebranded channel at a higher price.

Talent. The big names such as Andy Roddick, Gary Payton, Donovan McNabb, Regis Philbin and Bill Raftery, of course. But also the talent to build your own farm system.

Programming. NASCAR, MLB, U.S. Open golf, Big 12, Pac 12 and Conference USA football and Big East basketball for the majority of your audience. Fill important niches with soccer and UFC.

Promotion is easy: Use your existing network.

Chemistry. At the core of Fox's studio lineup is Fox Sports Live, a nightly program that aims to battle ESPN's SportsCenter. If viewers don't like the feel of the new gang's lineup, though, you don't have a chance.

[TheSultan]

While I don't think FS1 is going to grow to ESPN levels, I really think their willingness to shell out $$$ in rights fees is going to be the difference between their success and NBCSN's. You gotta get the eyeballs to the sets and the best way to do that is to show live events.

[MUMac]

While I don't think FS1 is going to grow to ESPN levels, I really think their willingness to shell out $$$ in rights fees is going to be the difference between their success and NBCSN's. You gotta get the eyeballs to the sets and the best way to do that is to show live events.

That and the fact that Fox has started different divisions from the ground up to become a leader or equal in most instances. They know how to do it, what it takes and how to market it.

[CaribouJim]

This could be fun - go to the link within the article (go to the 3rd tab) to see the twitter war.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mor...r_a1&eref=sihp

8. Once upon a time ESPN pushed the idea that there was a blanket ban on its employees blasting competitors on social media. We all know better (talent with juice can fire away), and we're glad to see management dialing back on any Orwellian tendencies. Thus, we were treated to ESPN's Bill Simmons delivering a straight right to Fox Sports 1 on Saturday night followed by a solid Fox Sports 1 counter followed by an uppercut from SportsCenter anchor John Buccigross mocking Fox Sports 1 executives for mentioning the word "fun" in every interview. SI scored the round 10-9 to ESPN.
8a. Scott Van Pelt also showed some nice mic skills on Fox Sports 1 this weekend.

Media Circus is a great read - look forward to it every Sunday PM/Monday AM especially with upcoming Fox Sports 1 roll out.

[ziggysfryboy]

will the fox sports regionals still be around?

[TheSultan]

will the fox sports regionals still be around?

Yes. They actually earn money by getting lower level sports to pay to be on their channels.

[CaribouJim]

Chicago Trib article this morning:

Ed Sherman
On media
August 14, 2013

Somebody needs to develop a show based on the new rivalry between ESPN and upstart Fox Sports 1.

There are moves and counter-moves. Fox Sports 1's signings include wildly divergent personalities such as Regis Philbin and Randy Moss. In response, ESPN is bringing back former outcast Keith Olbermann to do a nightly show and paid big money to hire sports/political forecaster Nate Silver.

Trash talk? Sure.

Following a major Fox Sports 1 promotion that ran during the All-Star Game, proclaiming "happy days are here again," ESPN president John Skipper responded: "I'm happy that happy days are here again for them. Sorry they were not happy before because the days at ESPN have been happy for quite some time."

It's all been an entertaining prelude to the big day. Saturday at 5 a.m., Fox Sports 1 officially launches its new entry into the sports cable universe. The network replaces what formerly had been the Speed Channel on your cable or satellite system. Its companion, Fox Sports 2, will be on what been the Fuel Network.

Fox Sports 1 will make a strong debut, arguably pursuing a more ambitious agenda than NBC Sports Network and CBS Sports Network. It has a healthy menu of live content (college football and basketball, NASCAR, MLB games in 2014, the U.S. Open beginning 2015, World Cup in 2018, and a lot of UFC).

However, it goes beyond live programming. Fox Sports 1 also is developing its own studio shows to compete directly with ESPN. A new daily NFL program features former Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, and at 81, Philbin will host the sports version of "The View."

The centerpiece will be "Fox Sports Live" (daily at 10 p.m.), the network's answer to "SportsCenter." It will be a hybrid of anchors reporting news and highlights along with the panel-style debate that ESPN has made so popular. To give the show its own look, Fox imported Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole, who formed an extremely popular and irreverent sports team in Canada. Think Olbermann-Dan Patrick in the '90s.

Implied in all this is the message is that ESPN is old and stale while the new network is going to be fun and offer a fresh perspective.

"We have to be different. We have to be the alternative," said Bill Wanger, the executive vice-president for programming for Fox and Fox Sports 1. "Otherwise, people won't change the channel from ESPN to try Fox Sports 1. Sports isn't the news of the day. Sports is fun. It is lighter. People see it as an escape and entertainment. We're going to give people what they need. It's going to be in the execution and the tone of how we do it that's going to be different."

Obviously, ESPN is confident that it still provides compelling programming and will continue to be the destination for sports fans. However, bringing back Olbermann, who in the words of one ESPN staffer "napalmed the bridges" when he departed, was triggered by the new rival's arrival. His new show, which starts Aug. 26, definitely is timed to defuse the buzz from the launch of Fox Sports 1.

ESPN does have one huge edge over the new Fox Sports 1: an arsenal of rights deals with virtually every major property in sports, and some of them go into the 2020s. Above all else, games still rule, and that should keep ESPN high above everyone else for a long time.

Fox, though, did make a major statement about its intentions last week when it outbid NBC and ESPN for the rights to the U.S. Open and other United States Golf Associations events, beginning in 2015. It was a clear signal Fox will be aggressive for the NBA, the next major rights package that becomes available in 2016.

This is a long-term play for Fox Sports 1. For all its bravado about being the upstart daring to take on the ESPN giant, Fox Sports 1 is realistic about what will happen when it flips the switch on Saturday.

"I've always said our success is going to be judged by years, not days and months," Wanger said. "Quite frankly, our ratings are going to be pretty small in the beginning. All new networks start out small. It takes a while for people to get used to the channel. So we have no illusions of coming out of the gate and being a behemoth. We're in for the long haul."

The first sentence and last two sentences of the last paragraph describes the NBE in many ways.

[Mark Miller]

Fox Sports 1 and DirecTV better get something worked out soon.

[MUBasketball]

Fox Sports 1 and DirecTV better get something worked out soon.

And Time Warner!

[Alan Bykowski, "brewcity77"]

Fox Sports 1 and DirecTV better get something worked out soon.

And Time Warner!

Done and done.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,5466870.story