An Early Take On Fox Sports 1

A Detailed Review and Joe’s Take On Fox Sports 1

I’ll admit it, I haven’t really watched Fox Sports 1 much since it debuted over the weekend.  But with all the hype that went into the launch, I felt compelled to check it out.  And my first impression is that they’ve got a lot of work to do if they want to compete with ESPN, which is their obvious goal.

Fox Sports 1’s biggest problem is one that’s not of its own making, but is a serious problem nonetheless.  Nobody knows what channel it is.  That’s because instead of launching it as a completely separate channel, Fox Sports 1 simply replaced Speed on most cable systems.  Very few people watched Speed.  So, even though the new channel is the same number, it’s not one that was already familiar.  NBC had a similar problem when they rebranded Versus as the NBC Sports Network, but NBCSN at least shows some similar programming to when it was Versus, and those fans knew they could go to the same channel.  Fox Sports 1 is kind of doing that with its NASCAR coverage, but building a network on NASCAR and UFC is a risky strategy.

I also checked out “Fox Sports Live,” which wasn’t very good.  It was a cheap “SportsCenter” knockoff, and not a good one at that.  For what’s supposed to be the network’s signature, highlight-based show, it should’ve been the one that was the best (like the fabulous “MLB Tonight” on MLB Network).  Instead, they failed miserably in the areas where they tried to be different than “SportsCenter.”  The best part of the show was the roundtable with Charissa Thompson (who they hired away from ESPN) and former athletes including Andy Roddick and Donovan McNabb.  Except it felt out of place taking up time in the highlight show.  Especially since it was good enough to be its own show.

One of their other big gets was Regis Philbin.  The premiere of his show “Crowd Goes Wild” was rated lower than the Little League World Series game being played on ESPN at the same time.  I haven’t seen it, so I can’t form an opinion about the show’s potential, but that’s not an encouraging number.

The one show on Fox Sports 1 that I really liked was “Fox Football Daily.”  Getting the NFL 20 years ago is what legitimized FOX’s place as the fourth broadcast network, and I’ve always thought FOX’s NFL coverage was the best.  This show is further proof of that.  All of FOX’s football experts providing their insights on a daily basis.  It’s leaps and bounds better than NBC Sports Network’s “Pro Football Talk,” which isn’t exactly a bad show.  It’ll probably drag in March and April like all programming on NFL Network does, but the timing of the network’s launch right smack in the middle of the preseason worked well for an NFL show.

Mainly, outside of the NFL and NASCAR, Fox Sports 1 doesn’t have much that people want to watch right now, which I think is the biggest issue the new network will face for its first couple weeks.  Leading up to the launch, they were promoting their opening night UFC fight big time.  I know UFC is growing in popularity, but it’s probably not strong enough to be the main event on the opening night of a new network.  Likewise, FS1’s showing a lot of soccer right now.  Except it’s not the Premier League, which NBC paid a king’s ransom for, or even the Champions League, which they have the rights to but hasn’t started yet, or even MLS.  No, it was CONCACAF Champions League soccer.

There’s obviously nowhere to go but up for Fox Sports 1, and the network’s inevitably going to get better.  NBC Sports Network had a similar problem at its launch and still doesn’t have much in the primetime programming department when it’s not hockey season.  Maybe that’s why Fox Sports 1 was launched now.  They have some time to work out the kinks before the events that people really want to watch get started.

FOX has an abundance of sports rights, and they’ve been acquiring more and more in anticipation of launching Fox Sports 1 this year.  College football season starts in a couple weeks, they’re already showing all of the NASCAR shows/events that were already on Speed, and they’re going to move a lot of the baseball coverage from FOX to FS1 next year.  Plus, they’ve got the Champions League and take over the World Cup from ESPN after next year’s tournament in Brazil.

Then there’s college basketball.  Fox Sports 1 is the exclusive home of the new Big East, which is the primary reason why the split happened this year, a year earlier than scheduled.  All of the conference games, plus the entire tournament.  ESPN’s contract with the Big East transferred to the American Athletic Conference, which, outside of UConn, Cincinnati, Temple, Memphis and, for this year at least, Louisville, doesn’t have much to offer on the basketball front.  The best part is that the broadcast team for these games will be Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery.  This was a home run get for Fox Sports 1, and it’s one that’s going to make them a serious player right off the bat.

Before I go, I’d be remiss not to mention the top-notch talent Fox Sports 1 has hired away from the other networks.  They want to make a splash immediately.  While they’ve still got some kinks to work out, I’m certain that’s going to happen.  Fox Sports 1 will leave its mark on the sports cable landscape in much the same way its parent network left an indelible mark on broadcast TV when it launched 25 years ago.