It’s August 17. It’s the day of the launch of Fox Sports 1. This is the day which Fox has been pointing to since it began to rework its contracts for its various sports properties over the last three years. And wh’ile it was hoping to have the English Premier League as part of the launch, Fox is making due with half of the day devoted to NASCAR and primetime spent on UFC. And down the line, there will be college football, college basketball, boxing, MLB, NASCAR Sprint Cup, U.S. Open golf, World Cup soccer and who knows what else?
Let’s do a Q&A on what you can expect to see on Fox Sports 1 starting today.
So what is Fox Sports 1?
It’s Fox Sports’ entry to 24/7 cable sports. At 6 a.m. ET, Speed will be flipped to Fox Sports 1. Unlike NBC Sports Network and CBS Sports Network which were slow to get out of the gate, Fox got MLB, NASCAR, the Pac-12, UFC and others to sign off on sending some of their content to the new channel. In addition to the live sports, Fox is creating a bunch of studio programming that will fill time during the daytime hours. Whether they work and gain an audience is totally another matter.
If there’s a Fox Sports 1, is there a Fox Sports 2?
Yes. Fox Sports 2 takes the place of Fuel. It will have some live sports like Australian rugby, Australian Rules Football and a few other events, but for now, it will be the channel where Fox shovels Fox Sports 1 repeats.
I heard that Regis Philbin is hosting a show? Surely you cannot be serious?
Fox is serious. He’s leading an ensemble crew on the show, Crowd Goes Wild. And while Regis is going to be 82 years old very soon, Fox insists that he can draw a young audience. In the meantime, the cast of Georgie Thompson formerly of Sky Sports in the UK, Katie Nolan formerly of Guyism, Wall Street Journal writer Jason Guy, Trevor Pryce formerly of the NFL and Michael Kosta former tennis player now comedian will do a lot of the heavy lifting. This show will air at 5 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 with a repeat on Fox Sports 2 at 6 p.m.
Who are these guys who are supposed to be the next Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick?
They are Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole who will be the anchors of Fox Sports Live. They’ll co-host the highlights segments on the show while the rest will be a panel discussion hosted by Charissa Thompson with Andy Roddick, Donovan McNabb, Gary Payton, and Ephraim Salaam. Now Jay and Dan come from TSN in Canada where they had a rabid following. Will their humor translate to an American audience? That’s the $1,000,000 question. Can the show work as a hybrid highlights-Best Damn Sports Show Period? We’ll find out.
So are we going to have fun?
Fox wants you to have fun or least know that its shows are supposed to be fun. And yes, while sports is a diversion, will Fox go over the top in trying to sell fun? Or will the fun stop? Who knows?
Is this a short-term deal for Fox?
Absolutely not. They appear to be in this for the long haul. By signing deals with various properties for as long as 12 years, Fox is telling us that they want their new cable networks to work. Content is the key and they’ve managed to lock in a bunch of live sports for the entire decade. Now the key is getting people to watch.
So can this work?
I believe it can. Fox has seen what has worked and what hasn’t worked with ESPN, NBCSN and CBS Sports Network and taking what they’ve learned to create Fox Sports 1 and 2.
Will I be able to watch this on my television?
Yes. Fox worked out agreements with all of the major cable and satellite providers, some just this week. While it got hairy at the end. Fox Sports 1 will be available in 90 million homes. Fox Sports 2 will be in 40 million homes at the outset.
Anything else I need to know about this launch?
No. Have fun.
