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Horowitz Expected In At FS1

Jason Barrett

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In 2013, there was a tremendous piece in the New Yorker by Kelefa Sanneh about the cable news TV networks trying to figure out what the audience really wants. Fox News, which arrived to the cable news scene 16 years after CNN, quickly understood one key to reeling in viewers – strong opinion – and it didn’t take long for the network to surpass CNN in the ratings game. From the New Yorker piece:

On Fox, the anchors and commentators can seem like protagonists, doing battle with the “pinheads”—one of O’Reilly’s favorite terms—who just don’t get it. This battle needn’t be explicitly ideological: the network has always had a weakness for titillating legal stories and for celebrity misbehavior. But if the CNN approach emphasizes reporters chasing news around the world, the Fox News approach suggests that the real news is being made right in the studio, by the hosts themselves.

In sports, live events dominate nighttime programming. But over the last decade, ESPN began to generate controversy – and ratings and revenue – on ESPN2 thanks to the opinion of its studio hosts. By almost any metric you choose, a ranking of sports cable TV destinations for studio programming goes ESPN, ESPN2 and the trio of CBS Sports Network, NBC Sports Network and Fox Sports 1 lumped together in spots 3-5.

But, roughly 20 months after its debut, Fox Sports 1 appears to be on the verge of a significant breakthrough: Making bold, controversial hires that signal the network could be moving in a different direction.

Over the weekend, Fox hired combative, polarizing MLB legend Pete Rose to be a baseball analyst. Rose came out of the womb ornery, and at the spry age of 74, he instantly rises to the top of MLB analysts you want to hear from (even though his sartorial selection leaves something to be desired). Fewer advanced stats and more blunt honesty? Yes, please. No filter and never speaking with a thought of what the always-angry twitter mob might say? Check.

Rose appears to be just the tip of the iceberg.

If sources at ESPN and Fox Sports are correct, FS1 will announce in the coming days that it is hiring Jamie Horowitz – yes, the showrunner who brought Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless together on ESPN’s successful and loathed First Take – to preside in some capacity over sports . The sides have been speaking since January, an offer was presented a month ago, and barring a major surprise, Horowitz is headed to LA.

I discussed this on my radio show earlier this month with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch (audio here, Apr. 12, 38 minute mark), and we both agree: If FS1 hires Horowitz, other dominoes could fall in the coming months that might have the network looking completely different in 2016.

Much has been written about Horowitz – following a quick exit from the Today Show, he was savaged in this Vanity Fair piece about Brian Williams – but his track record at ESPN was impressive: Created SportsNation (which the internet briefly loved!), was the only producer willing to take on Keith Olbermann upon his return to the network (another Horowitz show the internet loved!), “finding” Michelle Beadle and Charissa Thompson, and most importantly, his willingness to take embrace debate and create controversy.

And on that note, let’s hear from CNN’s Jeff Zucker, who had a memorable quote in this must-read on CNN anchor Don Lemon:

“There’s certainly a lot of interest in Don Lemon, and that’s a good thing for Don and for CNN. You know, Don is a little bit of a lightning rod. Frankly, we needed a little bit of lightning.”

And that’s what FS1 lacks, a lightning rod. Rose is a start, but if you have spent any time watching the debate shows on ESPN, you’ll see baseball isn’t a sport that is as conducive to the format as the NBA and NFL. Horowitz would begin to take the network down that road. Does FS1 want to merely exist, or does it want to pull away from CBS Sports Network and NBC Sports Network and make a run at ESPN2?

Plausible scenario: Horowitz brings over Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd – whose contracts are up in the next 10 months – and starts stirring the debate pot. In two hires, Fox could take away ESPN’s #2 radio draw (based on revenue) and potentially put an end to First Take – another lucrative show – because Stephen A. Smith has said to more than a few people at ESPN he wouldn’t do the show without Skip.

In 2013, ESPN President John Skipper made several bold moves – hiring Keith Olbermann and Jason Whitlock, in addition to stealing Nate Silver’s site from the New York Times and giving Dan LeBatard (controversial!) a TV show and prime radio real estate.

And if Horowitz really wanted to generate headlines, what if he did something like: Instead of putting debate on in the morning, why not at 6 pm, opposite ESPN’s signature brand, Sportscenter? Or how about shaking up Fox Sports Live by changing the format to a debate show and doing away with the highlights that everyone’s already seen online?

To take it a step further – FS1 brings in a few more rabble-rousers to appeal to millennials, starts to make use of its bevy of newsbreakers – like Jay Glazer, Mike Garafolo – and go after ESPN’s mid-day shows?

It took 20 months, but Fox Sports 1 appears to be on the verge of making some smart, bold moves.

Credit to The Big Lead who originally published this article

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John Anderson Announces Retirement from SportsCenter on ESPN

“I don’t really know what’s quite next, I have some things in the fire. But SportsCenter will not be it.”

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Photo of John Anderson
Credit: Mediaite

Longtime SportsCenter anchor John Anderson has announced that when his contract comes up at the end of June, he will no longer be doing SportsCenter for ESPN. Anderson, who joined ESPN in 1999 does plan to continue covering certain events, but after 25 years he believes it is time to stop doing ESPN’s flagship show. Anderson spoke on his podcast, The Inside Wisconsin Show and prior to the episode’s release tomorrow, a clip was released:

“My contract runs out at ESPN at the end of June,” Anderson said. “I have decided that that will be the end. I’m going to leave the company. I’m going to sort of retire from ‘SportsCenter.’ I’m going to get to do a few track-and-field things, I’m going to get to continue to do the Boston Marathon and the New York Marathon – which I love – and some NCAA track meets and some SEC stuff.

“I am incredibly excited about that. It’s been a good run…I feel like it’s been a good run. The operation has changed. I don’t know that it’s passed me by, but it’s taken its toll and I still want to be able to do the best shows that I can, and I don’t know that if in years 26 or 27 I have the stamina to do it again.  

“So, I’m done…I don’t really know what’s quite next. I have some things in the fire. But SportsCenter will not be it.”

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Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo: NFL Streaming Games ‘Gets Obscene’

“They’ve got a Wild Card game on Amazon Prime Video, which means you can’t switch with the remotes.”

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Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo
Courtesy: Cindy Ord, Getty Images for SiriusXM

The National Football League has announced that the Philadelphia Eagles opening matchup taking place from San Paolo, Brazil against an opponent to be determined for the 2024 season will stream exclusively on Peacock. Even though the game will be exclusive to Peacock – thus requiring fans to subscribe in order to watch – it will also be broadcast on an over-the-air network in the local markets of the teams involved in the game. Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo is not a fan of this decision by the league.

During his “What Are You Mad About?” segment on Wednesday morning’s edition of First Take on ESPN, Russo expressed his indignation towards the game being exclusively streamed by Peacock. Within his discourse, he presented a hypothetical scenario of an Eagles fan who continues to spend money to see the team at Lincoln Financial Field and how they would not fly down to Brazil to see the game. Russo continued by saying that the fan would then miss the game without having Peacock so the NFL is able to drive more revenue.

“It’s hard to get Peacock; I don’t want to get Peacock, alright?,” Russo said. “I want to watch the game normal. Give me [Joe] Buck and [Troy] Aikman, give me the CBS crew, [Tom] Brady’s going to do it. Give me something! Don’t put the Eagles 9,000 miles away and then put them on a cable thing on Peacock which you’ve got to subscribe to so NBC can make more money.”

NBC Sports will broadcast an opening night game during Week 1 on Thursday, Sept. 5, along with a Sunday Night Football contest on Sunday, Sept. 8. Within its stretch of primetime football matchups, which also includes a Saturday night Big Ten Conference game, the Friday night NFL game seems to be the only one exclusive to Peacock. The streaming platform is coming off a strong performance for its exclusive Wild Card round playoff matchup, drawing an average of 23 million viewers and becoming the most-streamed NFL game in history.

This past season of Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video garnered a 24% increase in viewers compared to its first season, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. These metrics demonstrate that the broadcast property averaged 11.86 million viewers per game during the 2023 NFL season. The OTT streaming platform also presented the inaugural NFL game on Black Friday, which averaged 9.61 million viewers.

Prime Video will reportedly have the exclusive rights to an NFL playoff game next season, and it has continued building out its sports content vertical. The company has reportedly been exploring a potential media rights deal with the National Basketball Association as its national television contract is nearing expiration. The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery are currently in the midst of exclusive negotiating windows with the NBA that conclude on Monday, April 22, after which Amazon will be able to bid.

“They’ve got a Wild Card game on Amazon Prime Video, which means you can’t switch with the remotes,” Russo said, referring to the reported agreement for next season. “I know the NFL prints money – I understand how big they are, but boy this gets obscene.”

“One-hundred percent right,” First Take host Molly Qerim added. “I cannot stand having 8,000 different apps. It needs to be streamlined. It’s annoying – you have to remember all these passwords. I don’t have Peacock; I don’t want Peacock. I completely agree with you.”

ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler proceeded to convey the dedication of Eagles fans in showing up to the stadium and watching their team. Russo agreed with him that Eagles fans will travel down to Brazil since they pack stadiums and fervently support their team. Off of that point, ESPN NFL reporter Kimberley A. Martin explained that she believes the devotion and zeal from the fanbase is part of the reason why this is a shrewd decision by the NFL.

“This is genius,” Martin said. “You do put the Eagles – that type of team – because they’re going to buy it.”

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NCAA Women’s Championship Round 2 on ESPN Up 121%; Iowa-West Virginia Hits 4.9 Million Viewers

ESPN and ABC posted their four most-watched Women’s March Madness second-round games ever, with Iowa/West Virginia averaging 4.9 million viewers

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Graphic of the NCAA Women's basketball tournament

The women’s college basketball hot streak continues with the second round of the NCAA Women’s Championship on ESPN averaging 1.4 million viewers all weekend. Viewership was at its highest for Caitlin Clark’s final game in Iowa when her Iowa Hawkeyes defeated West Virginia, which amassed a staggering 4.9 million viewers and peaked at 6.4 million.

ESPN and ABC achieved their four-most watched second-round games on record this season. Outside of Iowa/WVU, the matchup between UConn and Stanford averaged 2.1 million viewers, the LSU/Middle Tennessee matchup garnered 2 million viewers, and the Kansas/USC tilt averaged 1.8 million viewers. This matches its first-round coverage, which also set marks for its most-viewed games ever.

According to ESPN’s VP of research Flora Kelly, Iowa/WVU’s 4.9 million viewers would have beaten every Women’s National Championship game from 2005 to 2022:

ESPN is no doubt excited for a potential Elite 8 matchup between Iowa and LSU, a rematch of last year’s national championship game. That game averaged 9.9 million viewers, shattering the previous record for a women’s college basketball game on any network. All it needs is an Iowa win over Colorado and an LSU win over UCLA to make their dream a reality. A potential Iowa/South Carolina national title game could surpass even that.

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