Let's Talk About Fox

As far as I am concerned, any telecast with Lalas in it is a bad one.

 

The camera work bothers me. Will hang to long on a coaches reaction or replay and miss the action. They should hire the producers from NBCs EPL coverage because the camera work is great.

 

I am just glad they invested in this tournament and things are looking pretty good.
U-S-A vs. Costa Rica was the most watched USA (Mens) match on the network ever.
It got better ratings than any of the USA Gold Cup matches and the CONCACAF Cup Championship match against Mexico.

Let's keep that in perspective and take note. A Group stage match on a Tuesday night against a team with very little population within our borders got the most views in FS1's history. Just imagine how good things can be against Brazil in the second round or if the USA advances further.

As for commentary, sure it has been bad at times. But I just switch to Univision if it gets really bad.

 

They are spending 5? hours a night 2 games and long pre, post and between game shows, I really dont know how you can fault that.

Broadcasters are never really 'loved' in any sense of the word, maybe Ian Darke has some goodwill, but for the most part people are going to find fault with whoever is broadcasting the game. Holden usually has to be asked a question to say anything...he's not quite a natural broadcaster yet.

Viewers rarely if ever go out of their way to praise broadcasters.

 

It's incredibly disappointing that 0 of the knockout round games are on Fox (all FS1 or FX). I get that they're trying to boost the numbers on FS1 but this has really hurt awareness of the tournament in the US.

 

I hate everything that Stuart Holden says. I don't know if he's trying to overcorrect or something, but he seems to really enjoy talking up opponents of the United Staes. Yes, there are objective observations that one can make, but Stu practically sounded disappointed/surprised when USA began to run the table against Costa Rica. Only in the final third of the broadcast he began to change his rhetoric to a sort of acceptance of the way things were going.

Maybe he's trying to hold the team to a high standard, but the players don't - nor will they ever - tune into a broadcast of their own game with commentary from Stu. It just seems potentially damaging to the casual fan who tunes in only to hear about how the United States is basically a disorganized and undisciplined group of scrubs that have no hope of winning while a team like Costa Rica has 'definitely shown up more prepared than the United States today - Just look at how he is hustling to grab the ball and giving it to Brad Guzan after he misses!'

Wow! thank you fox for the sky cam angle of Joel Campbell retrieving a missed shot that bounced off the video board in the 5th freaking minute of the game. That early unnecessary hustle really paid dividends!

 

Almost everything about the broadcast has been subpar, it really shouldn't be surprising but it's still disappointing. I'm fairly concerned about Fox having the WC rights until 2026.

Justin Kucher (a college football commentator) has commentated 2 games I've watched and he's said something like "there's a flag on the play!" when a ref brings out a yellow card on multiple occasions... I'd rather have Gus Johnson back if that's what we're working with. Also, I don't understand why they feel the need to show meaningless replays or shots of the manager just sitting on the bench while there is actual play going on in the background. The whole production has been disorganized in my opinion. ESPN's on-site studio for EURO2016 just flooded and I'm sure they'll still blow whatever Fox is doing out of the water.

Fiore is a keeper though, he's been just about the only positive of this tournament coverage so far. They were smart to give him his own little after-show later at night.

 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-0531-copa-america-tv-20160530-snap-story.html

I'm not sure how much control Fox has over the actual images being sent, its all FIFA controlled.

 

I thought that was a possibility, but was too lazy to look it up lol...they're off the hook for that.

I still wish they wouldn't have the commentators announcing the game from a closet in their studio though.

 

Their production values/level is light years behind ESPN's World Cup coverage 2 years ago. Be interesting to compare Fox's Copa vs. ESPN's Euro coverage.

Really, Fox always seems to be one studio upgrade over a local Sunday morning public service announcement program.

 

People should just stop bringing up ESPN in this thread. They did not want this tournament. They are focused on the Euros.

 

Fernando Fiore or whatever his name is a moron. Why does Fox need Terry Bradshaw level stupidity on every broadcast?

 

Like most broadcasting threads, this thread is chock full of stupid

Congratulations. You have entered a balanced, thought out post in a broadcasting thread. It will be weeks until another one pops up.

Americans act like there was a 50 year history of great soccer announcers and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, *poof*, they all disappeared and now these poor people have to suffer through this new wave of contest winners that won a chance to walk off the street and call a soccer match.

Just like MLS is slowly growing stronger, so is the broadcasting of the beautiful game but there will always be the douchebags with the arms crossed in their "impress me" stance, constantly crying about how they are being screwed by a network because the announcers don't fit their criteria.

 

I think Stuart Holden's commentary has been very good. He offers a lot of insight into what's going on in the match, he's very articulate and intelligent, and he brings a good amount of energy to his commentary. As he gets more comfortable as a broadcaster, I'm hoping he'll begin to inject more of his personality into his commentary.

 

My opinion of Fox is that it looks good but that there's not much behind the podium.

 

Took awhile for ESPN to get WC coverage right. I'd say 2010 but especially 2014 they were great. FOX is way behind them in terms of production value and content. In 2018 will they actually send commentators to the stadiums? Are they going to bring in a bunch of British pundits from Sky Sports to help?

Rob Stone does a good job, but he's no Bob Ley. Lalas is Lalas. Herc Gomez was good. Fiore adds personality but can't help but see him as the token "Latin" person up there. Holden is smart. Friedel has smart things to say occasionally but talks too much during the game.

 

Here is the thing, instead of looking at ESPN and growing their broadcast off of that to set the standards, Fox uses Fox Soccer Channel or Champions League coverage as their benchmark.

They are woefully behind.

When you get a property you seek to advance it past what the previous broadcast was. Hard to say Fox has done that.

And again. Why the need to have Terry Bradshaw-level stupidity in every sports broadcast?

 

According to another discussion board, Host Broadcasting Services is the company responsible for production and they are an experienced soccer broadcaster. Of course, they might be using local producers on the game (I'm sure the camera operators are local) or are handcuffed by immigration or union rules that require local hires.

 

Fernando Fiore is silly and has been silly on television for more than 30 years. He has his groupie fans that have been watching him ever since the Univision days in the 80s/90s when he was going around Miami with Sofia Vergara sightseeing and making jokes.
People from Miami to Chicago to Los Angeles to New York all know him as "EL Presidente". And he brings Latino eyeballs to the screen. FOX knows this and are happy he is a part of the Copa coverage.

 

You all will be happy to know, the broadcasting excellence of Landon Donovan is coming to save the day:

http://awfulannouncing.com/2016/fox...ge.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

But are those viewers going to suddenly drop watching Unimas/Univision in Spanish, just to watch him clown around Fox in English? I don't think so.

 

There are people like me who switch over at halftime to hear what he has to say. And there are people watching his Copa tonight show.

With the millions of Latinos who know who he is all they need is a little sliver of that pie to come over and it does affect things a bit.
He also provides a unique South American perspective they need. He has corrected the FOX staff on a few mistakes that should have been fact checked.

 

Maybe Fiore can help the guy loosen up a bit. Donovan to me always sounds like he is at a funeral or visiting the Adams family.
Very somber and melancholy.

 

Maybe he's found a way to fix his 'deer in the headlights' constant stare into the camera, that would be a good step one.