News Corp. said to develop US Sports Network to Challenge ESPN...

[Wolferowski]

this is the best news I've seen in a while!!!!


By Andy Fixmer and Alex Sherman
March 28 (Bloomberg) -- Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. is taking steps to start a national U.S. sports network on cable television aimed at challenging Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
News Corp. is assembling the required rights from pay-TV carriers and sports organizations, said the people, who requested anonymity because talks are private. While a final decision hasn’t been made to move forward, the company is considering converting its Fuel action-sports network to the new channel, two of the people said.
With a national network, Fox would join Comcast Corp.’s NBC Sports Network and CBS Corp.’s CBS Sports Network in challenging the dominant ESPN. News Corp. last year secured rights to the
Pac-12 Conference and Big-12 Conference games and owns 20 regional sports networks. The company in October won TV rights to soccer’s World Cup in 2018 and 2022.
A national sports channel can capture higher affiliate fees from pay-TV providers such as Comcast and DirecTV, according to research firm SNL Kagan. ESPN will command $5.06 per subscriber per month this year, the most of any cable channel, SNL Kagan estimates.
That would help pay for sports rights that are growing ever more expensive. Fox, for example, holds rights to broadcast Los Angeles Dodgers games through next year, and exclusive negotiating rights to renew through the end of this year. The price is likely to go up with the team’s planned sale, for a record $2 billion, to a group led by basketball hall of fame player Magic Johnson and Guggenheim Partners Chief Executive Officer Mark Walter.

Carrier Clearance

The new channel could begin service by the end of this year, one person said. The effort is being led by David Hill, the chairman of Fox Sports, one person said.
News Corp., based in New York, has clearance from some carriers, including DirecTV, the biggest U.S. satellite television provider, two people said.
Fuel, a 24-hour action-sports network that carries mixed- martial arts fights, is available in 36 million U.S. homes, according to Fox.
Lou D’Ermilio, a spokesman for Fox Sports, had no immediate comment. Darris Gringeri, a spokesman for El Segundo, California-based DirecTV, declined to comment.
News Corp. fell 2.3 percent to $19.79 and DirecTV added 1.3 percent to $48.82 at 2:36 p.m. in New York.

 

[Pudge]

There are TWO truths that WE (UConn fans & hopeful sunny Boneyard residents) should take comfort from:

• The Timing of this Contract negotiation (Sept 2012 expiry) is pretty timely. We have at least 3 NAME brand networks hoping to have content to challenge the WorldWideLeader.
• The history of our newly upgraded Schools into this conference (UConn, Cincy, USF, Louisville ... but really Rutgers qualifies as well) has been simply great. Far better at assembling a solid Program & positioning themselves as competitive. Therefore, it is not OK to just dismiss all of the rising BE programs. I really think that Houston, Boise, San Diego State, UCF are all poised to be darn good. And, who knows ... maybe we really see the others answer the bell. I don't think you can bet against June Jones nor Addazio.

 

[huskypantz]

Fuel is carving its niche with mma right now. It's still small potatoes, but growing quickly.

FUEL TV Crushes Ratings Records in February



03/13/2012
UFC® Delivers Network’s Most-Watched Month, Most-Watched Week, Most-Watched Day and Most-Watched Program Ever
LOS ANGELES, CA – Ultimate Fighting Championship® keeps building FUEL TV’s audience. The network scored record ratings for the month of February, according to figures released by Nielsen Media Research, thanks to FUEL TV’s Fight Week and the inaugural UFC® Fight Night on FUEL TV.

Also boosting ratings for the month, FUEL TV aired three live UFC Weigh-in shows, three live UFC Postfight shows, and premiered the new “UFC Ultimate Insider” weekly news magazine show in February. The network aired a total of 233 hours of UFC programs in the month. FUEL TV’s Fight Week, Feb. 13-19, was the first around the six exclusive UFC fights the network will air in 2012, with the next coming Saturday, April 14 with Gustafsson vs. Silva.

FUEL TV February Audience Highlights:
• February 2012 was FUEL TV’s most-watched month in network history, finishing up 100% on both Total Viewers and M18-49 vs. February 2011;
• The week of February 13 – 19 was the most-watched week in network history with Total Day average finishing up +260% on both Total Viewers and M18-49 vs. the same week last year;
• UFC Fight Night on FUEL TV (Feb. 15) is the most-watched program in network history with 217,000 total viewers and 130,000 M18-49, +1347% and +2067%, respectively, vs. Feb. 2011, and propelled the network to its most-watched day of all time.

In 2012, FUEL TV telecasts more than 2,000 hours of UFC programming, with more than 100 hours of live fights, weigh-ins, preliminary bouts, and pre- and postfight shows. In this year, FUEL TV offers more UFC programming than any network has ever offered.http://www.fuel.tv/blog/fuel-tv-crushes-ratings-records-in-february
http://www.fuel.tv/blog/fuel-tv-crushes-ratings-records-in-february

 

[CTMike]

The more players the better for the Big East.

 

[UConnDan97]

I like this post for two important reasons:

1) It gives me hope that the new Big East contract can at least be reasonably good in terms of dollars per school.
2) It is not titled "ACC"

Nice job, Wolferowski!

 

[CTHUSKY74]

At least this isn't a continuation of the string of bad news. I don't really think that we can realistically expect a huge payday when the new contract is signed with ESPN or a competitor. But the fact there there are some broadcast options out there who are looking to lock down some marketable content has to be a good thing for our negotiating position. We certainly haven't placed ourselves in the best possible position by letting our teams leave but we may be able to salvage good contract out of this mess. The next thing that would be great to happen is for the on the field product for all of our teams to significantly improve. If we could really put a competive product out there in the non-conference games and attractive football in the conference games it might help sell the overall content for the league. Temple being great as a new addition would really help as well since everyone thinks they were an afterthought. If they really broke out it would be huge. Finally, CT needs to turn the corner and start to look like a Big East contender, year in and year out. It will be hard for this conference to get a great payday, but even if we could get a major increase over the current deal but still lower than the big boys it would help the schools in the conference grow stronger and keep the league in play. We need more time to build our programs and we certainly need more cash.

 

[CTMike]

Murdoch doesn't strike me as someone to half-arse anything. I'm much more confident that a national Fox Sports network will have the financial backing (and associated full-bore marketing) behind it than an NBC Sports network. I guess we'll see.

 

[Marty Jackson]

these seems to be even more reason that the Big East should expand it's basketball and include the FB only's (except navy) for all sports.
Let's get this thing to 16 FB schools and 24 BB schools (you'll need one more BB only to offset navy and Butler would be perfect.

There are some solid programs out west (UNLV, SDSU, and Nevada) that would put BE BB over the top and help to bolster an all-sports western division. People scoffed at UofL and Cincy when they were chosen to join... they have certainly excelled since, and their is no reason to think that the same can't happen for schools in the west.
If the BE leadership can't see this, then 10 years from now we'll all be looking back and saying the same thing we are today, "Why didn't the BE do anything when they had the chance?..."

At the very least, the content provided from a league this size would be a huge plus. And let's face it, since we're not the Big10 or SEC, bringing that much content could be a big plus for our situation. It would also be the first truly national conference spanning from coast to coast. Today's alignment wreaks of convenience and desperation with fb only's being added out west.
Strategically, the more you take from the other conferences, the bigger the our gap is between the BE and all those other conferences (MAC, MWC, etc) as well.
The BET alone would rival the NIT if not beat it outright in ratings. Imagine a national tourney that culimnates with the sweet 16 at MSG...
Having multiple suitors could be the perfect opportunity for the BE to go all in this time...

 

[CTMike]

The only problem with that Marty is that the BE is likely going to have a smaller pie to divide than other conferences, and in your scenario, many more mouths to feed. Even if the BE got a deal on par with other conferences, you are dividing it a LOT of ways. It's tough finding the optimal combination that maximizes per team revenue.

 

[Marty Jackson]

i get the dilution problem. But, that's the problem with the BE leadership.
I think the dilution problem is a short-term issue if you bring in another DePaul or Providence. UofL was a non-AQ school just like Houston, UCF, Boise, and SMU. Now, suddenly it's worthy of the Big12's attention. Similar story with Cincy, maybe not to the same extent.
The BE needs to understand what made UofL so successful and mirror that model with the other schools. If it can be done with UofL, then Houston, Memphis and even UCF should be able to follow suit. Even USF has seen accelerated improvements since joining the BE.
My point is, get the right schools in place. Then provide a plan to solidify and grow this league, not just in FB, but all sports, especially BB. This current plan is a temporary model only meant to keep the status quo until the next shoe drops. Give the current market for sports programming, there is an opportuntiy for the BE to take a bold step that might not otherwise be available. The old BE leadership would have gotten us to this point (we're here because of necessity). If, as Carl Spackler continues to point out, the BE leadership gets it, then we should be seeing additional news regarding BE expansion that solidifies an all-sports western region.

 

[Waquoit]

The only problem with that Marty is that the BE is likely going to have a smaller pie to divide than other conferences....

We are just going to have to make the pie higher.

 

[businesslawyer]

We are just going to have to make the pie higher.

We have to make the pie higher? Like a meringue?

 

[huskypantz]

We are just going to have to make the pie higher.

I think you can only do that with brownies.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Or a 'pot' pie