FOX Soccer Report - Winnipeg - October 1, 2001 - August 31, 2012

I am creating a new thread specifically to chronicle the history of the original FOX Soccer Report, which will end its 11-year run from the studio of Shaw Media's CKND-TV (a.k.a. Global Winnipeg) in Winnipeg, Manitoba on August 31, 2012 after FOX Sports Media Group/FOX Soccer LLC decided to switch production partners.

(Rogers Sportsnet in Toronto will take over production of the new FOX Soccer Report effective September 1, 2012 at 10pm Eastern Time, with an entirely new on-camera cast.)

The original name of the show was Global SportsLink, which made its debut in Canada only on October 1, 2001 (after a delay of 3 weeks due to the events of September 11) on FOX Sports World Canada. CKND-TV sports director Joe Pascucci and former CKND-TV reporter/anchor Michelle Lissel anchored the show during its first year, on weeknights only.

Pascucci created the show in order for FOX Sports World Canada to meet the Canadian Content requirement in its CRTC licence: 15% during the 1st year of operation, 25% during the 2nd year, and 35% from the 3rd year and beyond.

FOX Sports International (Los Angeles, California, USA) purchased a program license for the show outside Canada, including the U.S., Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Turkey, Israel, and Middle East/North Africa effective September 28, 2002. The show was rebranded FOX Sports World Report and it became available in over 25 countries, including the U.S. on FOX Sports World (which was rebranded FOX Soccer Channel in February 2005, and FOX Soccer in August 2011.)

(The show itself would be rebranded to its current name, FOX Soccer Report, in January 2006.)

Remember what 2002 was like for English-speaking soccer fans in the U.S.:

1. CNN/Sports Illustrated (CNN/SI) folded on May 15, 2002, taking away World Sport, the only English-language soccer-centric sports TV newscast available on a U.S. sports TV network. World Sport remained available on CNN Financial Network a.k.a. CNNfn until CNNfn folded in 2004, but the supplemental highlights segment specifically produced for U.S. viewers was gone after CNN/Sports Illustrated folded. Once CNNfn folded, only a handful of cable TV viewers in the U.S. (notably Time Warner Cable in New York) was able to receive World Sport via CNN International North America, as neither DIRECTV nor DISH would carry CNN International North America.

(I personally was not able to watch World Sport for 8 years until I caught an overnight re-air on CNN Airport Network about 5 weeks ago when I had to spend the night at Houston Intercontinental Airport during a 7-hour layover.)

2. ESPN, Inc.'s U.S. domestic networks were run by Mark Shapiro, who didn't care about soccer at all. Instead, Shapiro focused on scripted entertainment (PlayMakers, Tilt) and reality shows (Dream Job, World Series of Poker). Viewership of UEFA Champions League on ESPN2 stagnated during that era, at around 200,000 viewers per match, as ESPN2 was simulcasting a match from ESPN Latin America with emphasis or La Liga or Serie A teams (ESPN2 would switch to simulcasting matches from ESPN Australia/New Zealand, with emphasis on English Premier League teams, when ESPN Deportes was launched in February 2004.)

3. Major League Soccer (MLS) lost its rights fee deal with ESPN, Inc. after the 2001 season and MLS' marketing arm Soccer United Marketing (SUM) had to purchase the English-language rights to World Cups 2002 and 2006 (plus Women's World Cup 2003) and barter for TV time on ESPN2 in order to air MLS matches (and pay for time on ABC to air both MLS and the World Cups.)

To be continued...

 

When FOX Sports World Report made its debut in the U.S. on Saturday, September 28, 2002, it filled the void created by the folding of CNN/Sports Illustrated.

Pascucci and Lissel anchored the first weekend.

The golf writer from the Winnipeg Free Press was a guest of the program on September 29 after Europe defeated the U.S.

Bobby McMahon would appear on U.S. television for the first time on September 30. McMahon would be the only person who remained with the cast during its entire 10-year run in the U.S., as he provided his insight usually on Mondays and Fridays in addition to days with big events such as UEFA Champions League Tuesdays and Wednesday.

 

Yes.

 

I understand that a former member of the cast of FOX Soccer Report will soon appear on beIN SPORT 1 USA (and beIN SPORT 1 Canada) as the FACE of the network, pending the processing of her O-1B visa application by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

Much more to this story later, as I personally played a small role in a sequence of events which happened with breathtaking speed in the past 5 weeks...

 

Bobby McMahon would appear on U.S. television for the first time on September 30. McMahon would be the only person who remained with the cast of FOX Sports World Report/FOX Soccer Report during its entire 10-year run in the U.S., as he provided his insight usually on Mondays and Fridays in addition to days with big events such as UEFA Champions League Tuesdays and Wednesday.

Bobby arguably had the biggest fan-following in the U.S., as viewers looked forward to his sharp, no-nonsense commentary each Monday and Friday. He reserved his biggest wrath toward both Toronto F.C. and the Canadian Soccer Association, both of which are plagued by incompetent and selfish management.

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Behind McMahon, Michelle Lissel had the 2nd biggest fan-following among viewers in the U.S. Known affectionately as "The Librarian" for her trademark eyeglasses, Lissel anchored the show for 8 years over 2 stints, departing in September 2006 to accept the role of Director of Public and Media Relations for Toronto F.C. of Major League Soccer (MLS), before returning to her old job in Winnipeg in September 2010 after Terri Leigh departed for a job in radio sales (much, much more on Terri later...)

Michelle has updated her look several times, from the brunette librarian of 2002-2003, to a more contemporary chica caliente look in recent weeks.

2003 with Jeremy St. Louis



July 13, 2012 with Eoin O'Callaghan and Bobby McMahon



July 20, 2012 with Asa Rehman and Bobby McMahon



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As for the remaining members of the cast past and present:

Carlos Machado and Jeremy St. Louis anchored mostly on weekends in 2002 before Pascucci stepped aside to focus on local sports news on CKND-TV Global Winnipeg. Mitch Peacock would join the cast to replace Pascucci.

Machado left the show several years ago and landed in Vancouver, where he is now a bicycle mechanic.

http://ca.linkedin.com/in/machadocarlos

Peacock left the show to jump across town to CBC Winnipeg to anchor local sports news. CBC used Peacock in its coverage of MLS and World Cup 2010.

(Much, much more on Jeremy in a later post, as I am saving the best parts of the story until later...)

Nabil Karim joined the show very briefly before CBC hired him to be part of the cast of Hockey Night in Canada.

Derek Taylor would join the cast from CityTV Winnipeg (after it shut down its newscast) and remained until he moved across the hallway to anchor the new Global Winnipeg Morning News on CKND-TV in January 2012.

Terri Leigh joined the cast in 2008 but left in September 2010 to take a job in radio sales. Much more on Terri later...

The most infamous former member of the cast was Lara Baldesarra, who was nothing but trouble during her stint in Winnipeg in January-September 2010. Baldesarra had baggage from her first stint at Rogers Media in Toronto, as she was dismissed after she verbally-abused a make-up artist. Her diva ways in Winnipeg resulted in an ugly on-camera confrontation in July 2010 which resulted in the suspension of Jeremy St. Louis and the departure of both Terri Leigh (in September 2010) and Jeremy (in January 2011) due to disagreements with management on the way they handled the incident.

Baldesarra was the least popular anchor of FOX Soccer Report, as she mispronounced an average of 2 names each show. She left in September 2010 to return to Rogers Sportsnet in Toronto where she anchored Setanta Connected/Sportsnet World Connected on Setanta Sports Canada/Sportsnet World in 2011 before she jumped to the Golf Channel in Orlando in January 2012. She was NOT missed by co-workers at Rogers Sportsnet as she continued her diva ways, according to industry sources.

Video of Baldesarra's last appearance on FOX Soccer Report, in which she mispronounced the name of Atletico de Madrid Goalkeeper David de Gea in addition to her awful Bill Cosby impression:



Eoin O'Callaghan and Asa Rehman joined the cast after World Cup 2010: Eoin from Ireland, Asa from Vancouver.

Julie Stewart-Binks spent only 4 months in Winnipeg in July-October 2011 before moving on to CKCK-TV (CTV) in Regina, Saskatchewan, where she now reports on weekdays and anchors sports news on weekends.

Despite her "smoking hot" appearance, JSB's lack of international soccer knowledge kept her off camera and I understand that she had differences with Senior Producer Luke Crofford over her lack of camera time.

During her only appearance as anchor of FOX Soccer Report, JSB mispronounced a total of 6 names of German and Dutch clubs in less than 5 minutes (Stuttgart, Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen, Roda JC Kerkrade, Feyenoord, and Twente):



Years from now, JSB will look back at her stint in Winnipeg as a missed opportunity. If only she had spent more time studying international soccer and checking names before going on camera, she could have been the one holding the golden ticket out of Canada instead of another former FOX Soccer Report anchor...

 

Jeremy St. Louis would be much more valuable at the management level of a start-up sports news operation, especially at a youth-oriented sports TV network such as beIN SPORT 1 USA (and beIN SPORT 1 Canada), where knowledgeable, intelligent female studio hosts and news anchors will be used whenever possible to attract a young male audience.

If beIN SPORT 1 USA were to actually hire someone with the surname "St. Louis" to be its first on-camera host, there is a better "St. Louis" available than Jeremy.

Even Jeremy himself would agree.

Not so much the shoestring budget (only around $1 million/year for FOX Soccer Report, compared to around $3 million/year for Univision Deportes Network's news operation), but the skeleton production staff of as few as 7 people on a summer night, is one of the amazing parts of the story.

 

An update:

FOX Soccer LLC and Rogers Media have accelerated their plan to launch FOX Soccer News from the studio of Citytv Toronto on 33 Dundas Street East (Dundas Square, on the corner of Dundas and Youge Streets in Downtown Toronto.)

FOX Soccer News will kick off on Friday August 17 at 10pm ET on FOX Soccer (USA) and Sportsnet World (Canada).



That means the last FOX Soccer Report from the studio of CKND-TV at 201 Portage Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba will be on Thursday August 16 at 10pm ET on FOX Soccer (USA) and EuroWorld Sport (Canada).

Fan favourite #1 Bobby McMahon is scheduled to appear as the studio pundit on FOX Soccer Report only twice more: on Friday August 10 and Monday August 13.

One would have to expect fan favourite #2 Michelle Lissel to anchor the final FOX Soccer Report on Thursday August 16, as she co-anchored (with CKND-TV Sports Director Joe Pascucci) the first Global SportsLink on October 1, 2001 and the first FOX Sports World Report on September 28, 2002.

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Technical producer Neil Devenny left FOX Soccer Report on August 2.

 

Jeremy St. Louis has decided to come out of hiding.

http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/jeremy-st-louis/18/811/57b

I will be leaving Golden West Radio in early September as we re-locate to Miami, FL to join beIN Sport USA. Look forward to being back in football and taking on this new challenge.


Notice: "...we re-locate to Miami..."

No longer a mystery where Terri Leigh will be headed at this point...

 

Bobby McMahon will be back on Thursday August 16 to turn out the lights with Eoin and Michelle.

Asa said goodbye on Wednesday.

 

To make it official, beIN SPORT LLC has acknowledged that former FOX Soccer Report anchor Terri Leigh will be the host of The Express on beIN SPORT USA (and soon Canada).

http://www.beinsport.tv/shows.html

The Express is the heart of beIN SPORT and keeps us tuned to the best soccer in the world. Every Saturday and Sunday, all the live soccer action starts from The Express. Watch as Terri Leigh & Temryss Lane present live games and provide the most updated facts and statistics of all soccer leagues.

==

Temryss Lane will host The Express while Terri awaits her O-1B visa from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

 

The biggest lesson that many of us on both sides of the 4th wall have learned from the FOX Soccer Report experience:

Make your friends before you need them, and don't ever burn bridges.

I reached out to Jeremy several years ago with simple guidelines on Spanish pronounciation, and he responded and thanked me for the effort. We have corresponded over the years via email only until very recently, and we still have never met in person.

I am just a random viewer of FOX Soccer Report who happened to have run a tiny website as a side business for 13 years before moving on to other projects.

There was no way that Jeremy and Terri could ever have predicted that I had the one key entertainment industry connection (that I built 17 years ago) that would allow Terri to earn that coveted "golden ticket" out of Canada with all the competition Terri faced (including both Michelle Lissel and Julie Stewart-Binks.)

--

As for Asa and Michelle: I do have job leads for them at another sports TV network start-up, this one on the west coast of the U.S. It is up to them to decide what to do with the information I have passed on to them.

--

I do have a gut feeling that we will see Bobby on television again in the near future as a studio pundit/analyst/commentator. He is simply too good not to get new work.

 

Terri Leigh has changed her Twitter handle to:

@TerriLeigh_beIN

She has landed in Miami. (United Airlines: Winnipeg to Chicago to Fort Lauderdale or Miami)

--

A nugget of info to share.

Many of you knew that I visited Imagina U.S. on June 25 but nothing panned out at that company for me.

After meeting with two senior executives over a proposed marketing project that ultimately went to another consultant, I had a chance to speak with the Executive Producer of beIN SPORT USA.

The EP's last comment to me before I left: "I am still looking for a young female host who knows international soccer."

I understand that Terri's CV and demo reel literally arrived in the EP's email box as I walked out of the building.

2 weeks later, Terri walked into Imagina U.S. and blew her competition away.

We look forward to seeing Terri on TV again, this time working in a much bigger market with much higher expectations, as beIN SPORT USA has invested a lot in her to be the face of a new sports TV network.

 

FOX Soccer Report team photo from October 2011 (Courtesy Julie Stewart-Binks via Twitter):

 

The press releases from both FOX Soccer and Rogers Sportsnet are out.

Bobby McMahon will make the move to the new shows: FOX Soccer News on FOX Soccer (10pm ET) and Soccer Central on Sportsnet World (11pm ET.)

I suspect both FOX Soccer (Dermot McQuarrie) and Rogers Sportsnet (Scott Woodgate) wanted to make sure that Bobby would not jump to beIN SPORT USA (and Canada). He was the glue that held FOX Soccer Report together for 11 years (10 years in the U.S.)

I also suspect that Bobby used the leverage of a potential offer from beIN SPORT USA to extract an offer from Rogers Sportsnet to the new show.

Well played, Bobby. Well played.



Gerry Dobson and Craig Forrest will NOT be involved with either show. Lee Godfrey backed out and has returned to GOLTV Canada.

Other analysts on the new show besides Bobby McMahon are Colin Miller and Thomas Rongen.

Brendan Dunlop will be the primary anchor, with Kara Lang also in the rotation.

 

We will know for sure this weekend.

Temryss Lane hosted the beIN SPORT USA welcome show from Paris, not Miami.

The studio with the round desk that we saw on Wednesday night was at beIN SPORT France, not Imagina U.S.

 

Even Bobby has tweeted that doesn't know what he will be doing yet for FOX Soccer News.

This appears to me to have been a very late development.

Again, I suspect that Bobby used the threat of beIN SPORT USA to extract a better offer from FOX Soccer (i.e. Dermot McQuarrie.)

Never mind that 1) Bobby was likely behind Brandi Chastain on the list of candidates at beIN SPORT USA, and 2) beIN SPORT USA wasn't offering that much for a weekend's work as a guest pundit.

Bobby used all available leverage, including everything I was writing on this forum.

"High Stakes Poker", indeed.

(I don't mind that I was used by Bobby to get what he can. He deserves what he can negotiate... With Bobby now off the board at beIN SPORT USA, looks like Brandi Chastain will get a shot as guest pundit for Barcelona-Real Madrid and AC Milan vs Inter on October 6-7. A lot of pitchforks are out to get Brandi if she doesn't perform...)

 

Does Michelle have anything other than "black" in her closet?

We'll let her slide, as she decided to go with the chica cliente dress from July 13.

From Asa Rehman via Twitter: