CYNOPSISSPORTS
03.24.14 Good morning. It’s Monday, March 24, 2014, and this is your first early morning Sports briefing.
FOX Sports lined up a heavy hitter with the launch of The Mike Francesa Show today on FOX Sports 1, running on weekdays on the channel from 1-4p, before shifting to FOX Sports 2 from 4-6p. The acquisition and debut of the CBS Radio program comes a part of a new wave of programming hitting the network, including MLB games, the new hour-long series America’s Pregame, and documentary program Rise as One.
Cynopsis Sports caught up with David Nathanson, General Manager & Chief Operating Officer, FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2, to talk about Francesa and his appeal, the channels’ programming strategy and how the network is positioning itself moving forward.
Nathanson on picking up The Mike Francesa Show: First and foremost, Mike has an iconic personality and FOX has built our sports brands around iconic people. He fits the mold of a Fox Sports personality and when we saw that he was available, it was a pretty easy, quick decision to try to get him on-board to join FS1.
On viewership expectations: Ratings in TV are always important, but we see the addition of Mike’s show to FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2 as providing value to us in several other ways that at this stage are more important to us. It’s an incredibly efficient and economical way to add five hours of live programming each week day where we didn’t have it before. Also, our viewership for FOX Sports 1 in the Northeast has tracked below other parts of the country, so adding The Mike Francesa Show provides both channels greater awareness in the New York DMA where Mike has a loyal following, and allows us to promote our programming in the nation’s biggest market. In fact, by adding Mike’s show and addition of MLB next month, we’ve made two substantial moves to improve our performance in the Northeast, continuing our growth and evolution.
On the programming strategy: When we launched the network, our original studio-based programming really started at 4p eastern and then continued on up until 7p and then went to live events and then obviously, FOX Sports Live. So this allows us to start our live programming significantly earlier live on FS1. With Francesa from 1-4, that makes us live and more relevant for a longer period of time. The goal is to fortify the network and build the foundation that will allow us to continue to grow the network.
On rights: The exciting thing is that our portfolio of rights has only just begun to roll out on this network. We are about to get into regular season baseball and we haven’t even started with US Open golf, World Cup rights and other rights to come. So when you combine those sports with the programming we are developing, it is a very exciting time for FOX Sports 1, and the reach and power of our network hasn’t even begun to be exposed to the audience.
The NCAA continues to deliver for CBS Sports and Turner Sports, as a slew of tight games and upsets at the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship handed the channels with the event’s highest viewership in 23 years. Through the first five days, the tournament is averaging 8.8 million total viewers, up 7% over the same window a year ago, based on Nielsen Fast Nationals. Overall, the tournament is averaging a 5.7 household score, up 6% over 2013. Saturday’s live game coverage averaged 10 million total viewers, marking the most-viewed first Saturday of the NCAA Tournament in 21 years with viewership spiking 10% over the comparable day last year, and drawing a 6.1 rating.
Meanwhile, the Frozen Four has locked in its list of candidates as the field of 16 was revealed yesterday for the NCAA hockey tournament. The action begins on March 28 with Union (NY)/Vermont at 2p on ESPNU for the East region, with the Midwest region also playing that day. Games from the West and Northeast regions begin the following day at 4p with Boston College/Denver on ESPNU. Each regional’s champion will then advance to the Frozen Four in Philadelphia with games taking place on Thursday, April 10 at 5p and 8:30p on ESPN2. The national championship game will be then take place April 12 at 7:30p on ESPN.
Brian Billick is gone from FOX Sports, where he was an NFL analyst for the company. The Big Lead writes that with Billick’s contract up, FOX opted not to lock in an extension for his services. "We simply decided to move in a different direction," a spokesman told the site. "We appreciate all of Brian’s contributions over the years at Fox."
ESPN launched World of X Games, a series that spotlights a variety of X Games and athlete-focused content that is running on ABC. The first episode debuted on Saturday with the Association of Surfing Professionals men’s and women’s pro surf tour recap shows with additional shows slated on Saturdays and Sundays throughout 2014 and regular weekly shows beginning in July. The series will also highlight athletes, artists, event previews and recaps around X Games Austin and showcase action sport figures from the past and present. The next episode will run on April 19 at 1:30p.
While MLB’s opening stop in Australia clearly made inroads in the country, Commissioner Bud Selig addressed concerns the distribution of SportsNet LA for the hometown fans. "I have faith that the parties will work this out," Commissioner Bud Selig told reporters, according to ESPN. "That’s all I can say. We always like things to be as smooth as possible, but there are always times in life when things don’t work out exactly right. But I have faith the parties will work it out and I know the parties want to work things out."
The NFL Annual Meetings this week will see several proposals that could impact media. The hottest topic to be discussed, of course, is the expansion of the current playoff system, with two extra teams-one for each conference-under consideration. "With respect to expansion of the playoffs and last year’s report, if you went back and looked at it you would see we took a position on expanded playoffs and you would see we supported expanded playoffs," said NFL Competition Committee Chairman Rich McKay. Other media-centric moves under consideration include placing fixed TV cameras on the goal lines, end lines and sidelines to help replay reviews, according to the AP.
Matt Every‘s win this weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, marks the second time an alumnus from Golf Channel’s Big Break reality competition series has won on the PGA TOUR. Every was one of 12 contestants who competed on Big Break Mesquite in 2007, the eighth season of the series.
MSG Network is honoring Henrik Lundqvist’s franchise record-setting 302nd win as a New York Ranger via a programming marathon today starting at noon. The programming lineup includes 60-minute versions of milestone games from the goalkeeper’s career, including: his first win as a Ranger; his 100th and 200th win; win number 301, and this week’s record-breaking win. MSG Network will also telecast the Rangers’ pregame on-ice ceremony honoring Lundqvist prior to the team’s game versus the Coyotes tonight.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE
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You don’t have to be a bracketologist for our March Madness Contest. Which school will win it all? Win a chance for a $50 Foot Locker gift card by answering our reader poll. The winner will be announced Tuesday, April 1st. ||| DEADLINE: Monday, Mar. 31st ||| CLICK HERE TO ENTER |||
Budweiser’s campaign to "Make Opening Day a Holiday" completed goal number one, drawing the 100,000 signatures necessary to take the proposal to the White House. The brand hit the campaign trail with HOF shortstop Ozzie Smith to gather the signatures needed to warrant an Administration response. The petition will remain live on WhiteHouse.gov until the decision is made, which could take up to 60 days. Meanwhile, to celebrate Opening Day on March 31, Budweiser will deliver 2,000 kegs of day-fresh draught Budweiser beer to MLB cities and stadiums across the country next week.
Say goodbye to the E*Trade baby, who "quit" during a commercial that ran on Thursday during the NCAA Tournament. The brand will take a new approach in its commercials, and, according to Ad Age, will launch a new campaign in the next few weeks.
Fender Guitars is teaming with MLB for a line of team-themed Stratocaster guitars that will go on sale at the end of the month. by the end of this month. According to MLB.com, the launch group of team guitars available in 2014 includes the D-backs, Red Sox, Cubs, Tigers, Angels, Dodgers, Brewers, Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Cardinals and Giants.
With ratings growing, NCAA March Madness Live, managed by Turner Sports, has also set records. The platform has generated record-setting video streams and engagement across all digital platforms for the first three days of the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Overall, NCAA March Madness Live delivered 21 million live video streams, up 42% over year-ago numbers. In addition, there has been more than four million hours of live video consumed, up 18% – both all-time records for the first three days of tournament action.
Canadians/Bruins on NBCSN at 7:30p.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE
Our 3rd annual Cynopsis Sports Media Awards Breakfast is set for Thursday, April 17 from 8:00-10:00am at The Yale Club in NYC. Network with your peers and hear about the year’s best sports programming and marketing.
Join award finalists, support your colleagues and network with the best in the industry!
Preview the list of finalists & register for the Awards event: http://www.cynopsis.com/event/cynopsis-sports-media-awards/.
ON THIS DAY in 1980: Louisville bests UCLA to win the 42nd NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
In The Know: What athlete delivered a pep talk to Vince Vaughn in the movie Dodgeball? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)
Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: 2008 had the distinction of having all number one seeds play in the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Tournament. All four teams are also playing in this year’s event. Name two. Answer: UCLA, Memphis, North Carolina, Kansas. Kudos: Dan Weber-MLB Network/NY; Lewis Blaustein-Lewis Brand Solutions, Inc./NY; Anthony Watters-Outdoor Channel/NY; Keith Allo-Golf Channel/NBC Sports/Orlando; Mike Antolini-Tiger Woods Foundation/Boston; Synda Kollman-Charter Marketing Group/Boca Raton; Mike Vest-IMG College/Winston-Salem; Sarah Iliff-Comcast Spotlight/Denver; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles local/LA; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Doug Kelly-S.F. Bowl Game Association/South San Francisco.
Later — Chris
Chris Pursell for Cynopsis | Sports @VegasandVine
03.24.14
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