Multichannel News: beIN Sports USA will launch 2 channels on August 1

DISH would be interested in beIN SPORT DOS but not beIN SPORT ONE (as it stands now). DISH would also demand satellite exclusivity for beIN SPORT DOS for at least 12-24 months.

The tell I got: beIN SPORT would prefer to sign with DIRECTV over DISH because DIRECTV is interested in both beIN SPORT ONE and beIN SPORT DOS.

 

Please read more carefully.

beIN SPORT DOS will be La Liga heaven with a smattering of Serie A. No Ligue 1 (because Univision Deportes Network has the rights through May 2014.)

beIN SPORT ONE will be programmed with live La Liga, Serie A, or Ligue 1, depending on which big teams will be playing in which time slots.

Up to 4 overflow matches will be streamed live (i.e. at beinsport.tv).

==

Target audience for beIN SPORT ONE will be English-speaking males 18-34, including but not limited to college students and English-dominant Hispanics (2nd and 3rd generation.)

Target audience for beIN SPORT DOS will be Spanish-speaking males 18-34.

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Expect "update desk" segments on weekends during half time of live matches on both beIN SPORT ONE and beIN SPORT DOS, with female presenters sitting behind a transparent plexiglass desk (a la Central FOX on FOX Deportes.)

For beIN SPORT DOS, Imagina U.S. VP of Programming and Distribution Antonio Briceño openly reached out to Venezuelan swimsuit/lingerie model Maria Del Valle via Twitter last Sunday morning at 4am ET. Ms. Del Valle is currently the 3rd anchor of the evening edition of Central FOX.

https://twitter.com/anbricenozehl/status/216804683510054913

@mariadelvalle16 hola nos interesa hablar contigo sobre una posible oportunidad en canal nuevo en usa. favor enviarme tu contacto. gracias






For beIN SPORT ONE, I am aware that Candy Reid (formerly of World Sport on CNN/SI and CNNI) and Terri Leigh (formerly of FOX Soccer Report on FOX Soccer & FSWC) have both applied.



Other possibilities may include Julie Stewart-Binks (currently at CKCK-TV CTV Regina, Saskatchewan and formerly of FOX Soccer Report on FOX Soccer & FSWC) and Michelle Lissel (currently anchoring FOX Soccer Report on FOX Soccer and EuroWorld Sport) if they were to apply.



Other than Reid (who holds a U.S. passport), the other candidates I listed above will all need P-1 visa sponsorship.

 

Please stop speculating.

You are sitting in Mexico.

I took a business trip from San Francisco a few days ago (on my own expense, using a combination of cash and frequent flyer airline miles.) I can tell you that I was stuck at the Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) during the overnight hours on both the outbound and return trips, waiting for connecting flights.

 

Nothing has changed since April.

The contest for the U.S. rights to EPL for 2013-2016 will be between two consortiums based on all available tells so far:

FOX Sports Media Group-ESPN-Univision Deportes

vs

beIN Sports-NBC Sports Group-Telemundo Media

If you were to believe that FOX-ESPN-Univision have come up with a way to bid $300 million (i.e. $150 million from FOX Sports, $90 million from ESPN Inc., $60 million from Univision Deportes), then beIN Sports-NBC Sports Group-Telemundo Media will have to bid at least $360 million, if not closer to $420 million, in order to win.

Each $60 million step represents only $1 million/club/season, as many of you have reminded me. A difference of $60 million may not be enough for the challengers to win the rights because the incumbents (FOX-ESPN) will attempt to sell the idea to the FAPL that the beIN Sports-NBC Sports Group combination cannot be trusted to maintain brand momentum for the big EPL clubs in the U.S.

(A few of you actually believe that FAPL should accept a $300 million bid from FOX-ESPN-Univision and decline any bid from beIN Sports-NBC Sports Group-Telemundo that is less than $600 million, because any difference of less than $5 million/club/season can be written off as marketing cost due to the "ESPN" factor. I disagree. )

 

Why don't you develop your own industry sources and make some phone calls instead of stealing TV listings off the internet and calling people names?

I only needed to make 2 phone calls to confirm that FOX-ESPN have recruited Univision into their partnership in order to form a 3-way consortium for the purpose of pooling enough money to put in a competitive bid against Qatar Media's beIN SPORT USA

Univision Deportes Network actually WANTS 38 "1st pick" EPL matches in Spanish so that it can air Manchester United 38 times each season.

==

A possible purchase of GOLTV, Inc. is only a remote possibility now that GOLTV has to face the music from the MSOs. All the carriage deals GOLTV, Inc. has with the MSOs have either expired or will expire prior to August 1. The most important deal is with DIRECTV, with 5 million English-language sports pack subscribers. GOLTV only has 13 million subscribers combined. Losing 5 million subscribers would be a crippling blow.

 

Do you honestly believe that I would spend two overnights at Houston Intercontinental Airport (one overnight layover was intentional, the other overnight layover was unintentional because my return flight left 3 hours late due to weather and I missed the last possible connecting flight for the night) for the heck of it if every piece of info were to point to FOX-ESPN making the only bid for U.S. rights to EPL for 2013-2016?

(For the record: I did NOT use MIA airport and I did NOT stay at a hotel in Miami-Dade County during my business trip, so don't bother hacking into various systems to look for evidence.)

The fact that FOX-ESPN recruited Univision, and the fact that I was able to verify the event taking place with a couple of phone calls, tell me that FOX-ESPN took the threat of Qatar Media's beIN SPORT USA seriously enough to bring Univision in as reinforcement. Don't forget that FOX and ESPN both had to sacrifice their respective Deportes networks when they agreed to give up 1st pick in Spanish to all 38 EPL rounds to Univision in order to make sure that FOX and ESPN have a fighting chance to keep the English-language U.S. rights to EPL for 2013-2016.

 

Your sources are telling you:

1. FOX Sports did not bring in Univision to help out with the bid for U.S. rights to EPL.

2. Comcast is not negotiating with Qatar Media in any way. Not Comcast Cable, not NBC Sports Group, not Deportes Telemundo.

My sources are telling me the exact opposite, either directly or "between the lines".

You also told us that you used to work for a TV station in Los Angeles.

You also told us that anyone who does not want to program Serie A or La Liga matches in English need to be fired even though both products draw about 1/3 the audience on average compared to EPL.

That last point tells me everything I need to know about you: you are an idiot who couldn't survive in the industry.

You want to program a TV channel for the market that you wish you can have, not the market you actually have. That is a cardinal sin of TV programming.

 

Why would I post confidential emails and give away my sources to idiots like you?

I have no clue who you are.

And who do you think you are to demand that I "prove" everything by posting confidential emails here?

Hint: you are not GOD, and you know it even though you like to play god on a message board (like all the idiots who have come before you during the past 15 years this message board has been open.)

You are an idiot, and you know that too.