I'm not sure if I saw this posted anywhere or maybe I'm late, but what do you guys think about FSC beating out ESPN for the Champions League deal? After watching FFF last night, they also talked about how FSC will be in HD by the end of this year--for MLS games. I'm kind of torn about how this plays to the American soccer audience, primarily because ESPN is in almost three times as many households as FSC. http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2009/03/30/fox-soccer-wins-american-uefa-champions-league-rights/
I think it's fine in terms of households. What I care about is that they keep the International/English Audio coming from Europe rather than doing voice-overs in LA with their crappy announcers.
No way in hell Max Bretos will be calling CL games. They said it last night on FFF. Also, next year's CL final will be held on a Saturday at 2:45 p.m. EST. They were saying that the game will probably be moved to a more mainstream fox channel affiliate, like who knows, maybe the actual Fox channel on basic cable.
I wouldn't worry since FSC-HD won't be replacing ESPN-HD/ESPN2-HD, but rather complementing it. This is absolutely huge news for MLS (in a positive way), particularly since the deal between the league and HDNet dissolved for whatever reason. More MLS HD coverage is always a good thing. This also means that Fox Soccer Channel will finally join such sports-specific channels as the NFL Network, MLB Network, NBAtv, NHL Network, Tennis Channel and Golf Channel in providing 16:9 HD coverage. -G
I like this, because FSC usually broadcasts games more than once. It's nice to have a replay if you forget to set the DVR. ------RM
Actually they said the plan was for it to be on FX, but as it develops it is possible that it could go to Papa Fox (As Cohen called it)
You know how a lot of ABC affiliates (including, most famously, the one in Seattle) have been running all sorts of alternative crap on Sunday afternoons instead of MLS Cup? Stuff that puts more money in their pockets than MLS Cup? Expect the same phenomenon if Fox broadcasts the final. Hell, the only reason why they're even considering it is because the Champions League final is moving to Saturday starting next season. I don't care for whatever syndicated crap Fox affiliates run on Wednesday afternoons, but it makes them a hell of a lot more money than the Champions League final, and the network isn't going to jack with that.
FOX will probably not replace baseball on a Saturday afternoon with the Champions League Final. As for weekdays, FOX's 2:30-5:00 is the "Judge Block". Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, Divorce Court, etc.. I don't know how much money these shows make but having a CL game on network TV would probably receive bigger ratings than ESPN2 ever got. That is if people know about it ahead of time.
Who said anything about replacing it? Those syndicated programs are cheap and pay for themselves through plenty of ad breaks throughout -- way more ad breaks in two hours than you get from a soccer match.
Read what I said and read it carefully. That's pretty obvious. People have been saying for years that one of the reasons soccer will not make it here is because there's very little ad revenue available for TV. We all know TV controls sports in this country.
It depends on the carrier. As far as I know (since it's been almost a year since I switched from Comcast to DirecTV), Comcast currently carries some of those channels in HD but not all of them, and the amount of HD channels vary from market to market. DirecTV definitely carries all of them in HD. I think that DISH Network carries all of them in HD too (other than MLB Network), but I'm not totally sure about that. -G
Yeah I don't really give a crap about the CL stuff for now, I would just expect FSC to make some changes since they obviously bet big on winning the rights. The great news is MLS in HD by the end of the year... FSC's picture quality has always been piss poor so I can't wait for HD.
This is great news, but considering Time Warner doesn't even have MLB network in HD I really doubt I'll be able to get FSC HD. I can't even get GOL or Setanta...
F*** TW they are the drizzling shits ... and this is coming from someone that was forced to go with Comcast upon moving to Maryland. If only Fios were available in my area ... if only
I've been surprised that FIFA hasn't been prevailed upon to insert a "television timeout" into the middle of each half. Pleasantly surprised, but surprised nonetheless. I remember that someone from some European league tried to get FIFA to allow a break at 22 minutes into each half, but he was laughed off. ------RM
IIRC, the Bundesliga (or Beckenbauer) talked briefly about dividing the game into three periods of 30 minutes apiece for more or less that reason.