NY Times: new cast of FOX Soccer Report starting Sept 1: Lang, Forrest, Godfrey, & Dobson

My story at the New York Times Soccer Blog "Goal!" on the cast of the new FOX Soccer Report starting September 1 at 10pm Eastern Time, featuring Kara Lang, Craig Forrest, Lee Godfrey, and Gerry Dobson:

http://nyti.ms/ON2bxG

Kara Lang (taken on July 25 at the International Broadcast Centre in London):




Craig Forrest (from CONCACAF Gold Cup 2000):

 

Confirmed with multiple industry sources, especially pertaining to the hiring of Kara Lang.

All 4 broadcasters have valid Firstname.Lastname@sportsnet.ca email addresses, and NONE of the 4 chose to comment to email requests before the story was published. (They would have responded "no" if the story of their hiring were NOT true.)

 

Canadian TV producer Thomas Dobby (@ThomasDobby on Twitter), who produced Serie A telecasts for The Score during the past 2 seasons, has left Score Media according to Andy Pereira (@CanadasoccerTV on Twitter.)

Furthermore, Thomas.Dobby@sportsnet.ca is a valid email address.

I strongly suspect that Gerry Dobson has hired Dobby as the Senior Producer of the new FOX Soccer Report starting September 1.

 

One reason I took the story to the New York Times is because it has a legal department that will stand up to a minor league bully such as Gerry Dobson.

The press release will be out soon enough (around Wednesday August 1.)

 

A business news story ENDS with a press release.

Only bloggers and hacks re-post and/or re-writes press releases and pretend that they are business journalists.

Any enterprise business news journalist who is worth anything at all is working to break a story to BEAT the press release.

Because I beat the press release by a few days, and because Gerry Dobson knows that I am hostile to him specifically, Dobson can't help himself but to act like the minor league bully that he is.

I respect what Kara Lang and Craig Forrest have accomplished in their professional lives, both soccer and television broadcasting.

However, I have ZERO respect for the way Gerry Dobson conducts business, and Dobson knows that.

 

According to Rogers Sportsnet VP of News Scott Woodgate and Executive Producer of Soccer Gerry Dobson, these two globally-famous (seen in 200 countries worldwide) soccer-centric sports TV anchors are NOT qualified to anchor the new FOX Soccer Report because they have not done 5 years of major soccer play-by-play (according to job requisition #31814 for "Anchor - Soccer" they submitted to Rogers.com on July 24.)

Meet Pedro Pinto (left) and Amanda Davies of CNN International's World Sport.



As you may recall, Pinto hosts the UEFA Champions League Group Stage Draw and European Player Award Show each August. Pinto can conduct interviews in 5 languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and French.

Davies is a 2nd generation British sportscaster who was hired from the BBC by CNN to replace Candy Reid, who chose to step aside after a fabulous 12-year career in order to be able to raise her two young children properly.

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Not only do I have no respect for Dobson, I have lost whatever respect I had for Woodgate after what he did on Friday afternoon to my editor at the New York Times.

 

Gerry Dobson should know by now that his days as the king of soccer television in Canada are numbered.

Sportsnet is almost all but certain to lose the Barclays English Premier League (EPL) after the 2012-2013 season, likely to TeleLatino Network, which is more than happy to sell a 19.9% equity stake of itself to beIN SPORT LLC (registered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA, with Youssef al-Obaidly at the helm.)

beIN SPORT LLC, as you may know by now, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qatar Media Corporation. Sheik Hamad Al-Thani, who has a net worth of over $500 billion, owns Qatar Media Corporation.

(Translation: Sheik Al-Thani can earn more money in interest and dividends from passive investments than ESPN, Inc. can collect in annual subscriber fees from the U.S. market.)

There is NO CHANCE Sportsnet will be able to match a $45 million bid from TeleLatino (or whichever company beIN SPORT LLC will choose as its Canadian partner) for the Canadian rights to EPL in August 2013-May 2016.

Sportsnet only paid around $6 million for Canadian rights to EPL during the August 2010-May 2013 cycle.

Pitch International LLC should have already sold the Canadian rights to the English Football League "Championship" and the English Football League Cup to beIN SPORT LLC, blowing away Rogers Media in the process.

(The same thing has happened to FOX Soccer the U.S., as beIN SPORT LLC is determined to force FOX to convert FOX Soccer and FOX Soccer Plus into multi-sports networks by this time next year.)

Sportsnet will have the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League through May 2015 only because beIN SPORT LLC did NOT make the decision to invade Canada until AFTER the Canadian rights have been sold.

As for the FIFA properties: CBC/Radio Canada has the rights through 2014 with TeleLatino as a sublicensee. Bell Media Sports (CTV/TSN/RDS), which is 33% owned by ESPN, Inc., will take over the FIFA properties in 2015-2022.

One would expect Kara Lang to continue to work for Bell Media Sports (CTV and TSN) during big international soccer events especially Women's World Cup Canada 2015.

The big question for Ms. Lang: will she stay at Sportsnet as anchor/reporter after August 2013 if FOX Soccer Report were to go away? If she were to decide to leave Sportsnet, will she go to TSN to anchor or report on SportsCentre? Or would she be crazy enough to apply at TeleLatino (or whichever company beIN SPORT LLC were to partner) for an anchor position on "beIN SPORT Tonight" and sit behind a transparent plexiglass anchor desk?

 

I understand that the production of Sportsnet World Connected ended on July 26.

(Michelle Sturino has been re-assigned to anchor sports news on CityNews Channel.)

Rogers Sportsnet is obviously retooling the set in preparation for the launch of the new FOX Soccer Report on September 1.

 

I have enemies because they consider me to be a threat to either their professional existence (because I know which closets they have hidden their skeletons), or because they consider me a threat to their personal soccer lifestyle (i.e. Serie A or Ligue 1 fans.)

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Those of you who are looking for someone to hate, either because I write with too much detail, I write with too little detail, I don't respond fast enough, or I don't answer the way you like, will always be my enemies no matter what I do. I no longer bother addressing this group of closed-minded cretins and idiots as I consider them to be a complete waste of my time.

 

Neither Jack Bell nor I believe Scott Woodgate, who balked when Bell asked him which part of my story was "inaccurate".

This has to do with Gerry Dobson being a minor league bully and control freak.

Dobson's days as the king of soccer television in Canada are numbered, as beIN SPORT 1 Canada is coming to strip Dobson of every high profile soccer television assignment, starting with the English Premier League in August 2013.

Dobson knows that there is no chance that Sportsnet will be able to match a $39-45 million bid (up from the current valuation of $6 million), especially since Bell Media Sports (TSN/RDS) is free to switch sides to back TeleLatino/beIN SPORT 1 Canada instead of Rogers Media (Sportsnet).

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Woodgate is about to get one major surprise in his email box on Tuesday July 31, as I understand that a veteran soccer-centric sports TV news anchor with over 10 years of international sports news anchoring/reporting/producing experience (on a global TV network that reaches 200 countries) and immediate work authorization in Canada will submit her application for an anchor position with the news FOX Soccer Report before the deadline listed in Rogers.com Job Requisition #31814.

We'll know soon enough whether Job Requisition #31814 is real or if it is just a procedural paperwork move by Woodgate to satisfy union rules before Woodgate can assign Dobson to the anchor desk of the new FOX Soccer Report.

 

A copy of Job Requisition #31814, which was posted at Rogers.com on July 24 but has since been withdrawn.

This job requisition has to be the most absurd piece of paperwork I have encountered in the 18 years I have been around this industry, as the qualifications listed would eliminate 95% of all English-speaking soccer TV news anchors who are currently working in the U.S, Canada, and the U.K., including the entire cast of CNN International's World Sport.

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Job Description

Anchor - Soccer-31814

Description

PRIMARY FUNCTION:

• Host nightly Soccer News Program for Canadian and American Viewers

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Deliver Soccer News with creativity and flair
• Build a strong viewership
• Collaborate on program content planning and implementation
• Ensure content is factual
• Play an active public relations role on behalf of the show
• Build measurable success and viewership of the program
• Work with Production team, to broaden viewership of the program, via enhanced brand awareness, and improvement of ratings
• Other duties as assigned which may include contributions to other Rogers Media properties; radio, digital and print

RELATIONSHIPS:

• Internal: VP, News, Senior Producer, Production Staff, Operations Staff, PR Department
• External: Show Guests, Industry contacts

Qualifications

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

• Post secondary degree or diploma, preferably in journalism
• Minimum of 10 years experience as an News Anchor for Soccer Programming
• Minimum of 5 years experience in Play by Play in Soccer (World Cup, Euro, MLS, Europa League, Champions League, Premier League)
• Proven record of effectively attracting audiences in Soccer broadcast
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Must be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment

POSITION AUTHORITY/ ACCOUNTABILITY:

• This position is directly accountable to the VP, News

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Unusual hours of work may be required
• Travel may be required to attend Soccer events

Job Posting

Jul 24, 2012
Job

Broadcasting
Primary Location

CA-ON-Toronto
Schedule

Full-time
Employee Status

Regular
Travel

Yes, 25% of the time

Target Start Date

Jul 31, 2012