I'm very excited to see Bobby McMahon will appear on the show. Worth remembering Rogers' Citytv has studios in Winnipeg, so he could appear from there. Or he could be in Toronto. I would like to say, however, that Oliver was wrong on a few things. Gerry Dobson and Lee Godfrey aren't co-hosts. And Craig Forrest isn't an analyst. Dunlop doesn't fit the qualifications that Oliver kept posting. I guess breaking the story is important, even if you hit on less than 50% of the on-air talent, isn't it. No wonder the NYT pulled the article.
Will Soccer Central only air in Canada and Fox Soccer News only in the U.S.? Also, will Bobby McMahon only appear on Soccer Central or on both shows? -G
Yes. Essentially the same show, just different names so Fox and Sportsnet can both use their own branding. Sportsnet's show may have more TFC/Whitecaps/Impacty, Canadian national team etc. that Americans wouldn't be interested in etc. McMahon will appear on both, AFAIK. I don't see any reason why not.
The only name I got correctly was Kara Lang. (I had 2 sources: one in Toronto, one in Los Angeles, telling me about her hiring, which made sense.) (I found out about Brendan Dunlop and producer Tommy Dobby later.) Everything was still in flux when I rushed on the original story, which was wrong. Scott Woodgate was telling the truth to Jack Bell. I owe apologies to many people. The same industry source that told me about Lee Godfrey told me 24 hours after my incorrect story was pulled that Godfrey backed out. He has since returned to GOLTV Canada. I am surprised to see neither Dobson nor Forrest involved, as they have been the faces of soccer on Sportsnet for 15 years. The threat of an offer from beIN SPORT USA may have caused FOX Soccer (Dermot McQuarrie) to make a much better offer to retain Bobby McMahon. In any case, Bobby played his cards masterfully and he will provide continuity between the old show and the new show. I will let Jack Bell rewrite the press release for the New York Times. My name will NOT be on the byline. A hard lesson learned for me...
Great to see you learned something. Honestly didn't expect an explanation/apology. Wasn't hard to figure out where Dunlop and (especially) Dobby were headed once it became public they left theScore. Dobby and others at posted about his exit. Dunlop removed theScore from his bio, although he was on-air up until just a while ago. That's a big hit to their Live @ theScore show that Dobby produced. Dunlop was a regular contributor/host as well. I also am a bit surprised that Forrest, at the least, isn't involved. I'm not too familiar with the other male ex-players/managers. Rongen is an analyst for TFC on GolTV. At least Forrest is a face familiar to Canadians. I'm sure some American fans at least know who he is considering he played a bit in the EPL and won the Gold Cup. They obviously wanted a younger host in Dunlop. Of course Dobson and Forrest are quite busy themselves with Champions League and EPL 3 of 7 days some weeks. Then add in Europa League this year too. Understandable why they'd go for a completely different cast. McMahon has cemented himself as the face of Fox Soccer, if he wasn't already. I'm excited that I'll be able to see him again. I liked FSR, but this show looks fantastic. Could give The Footy Show a run for its money as the best in Canada.
And now we'll finally be able to watch Bobby McMahon in 16:9 HD. But will he be on the show only a few days a week like on Fox Soccer Report? -G
Couple of thoughts… 1) I hope Fox Soccer News and Soccer Central are not too different. As much as we love Canadian coverage, I hope we get the same amount of balance that Fox Soccer Report gave us for years. 2) Very happy to see Bobby McMahon will be used on this show as he is the best analyst on the continent. I hope they use him the same way that FSR did and I hope Dunlop doesn’t disagree with him just for the sake of the talking head format that we see now all the time. 3) I am not a big fan of Brendan Dunlop. I really don’t see what they see in him. I think they rushed and looked at who was the closest and youngest candidate to hire and make him the face of their show. He just bugged me during the Footy Show over the years when he would bring up dumb arguments and always seemed to know much less than James and KJ. 4) Surprised that they are going to let the show air on Sportsnet the next day as I was strongly considering getting Sportsnet World after I heard about this show but now I think I’ll just wait and watch it the next afternoon without spending the ridiculous $20 for one channel.
I suspect that FOX Soccer (Dermot McQuarrie) and Rogers Sportsnet (Scott Woodgate) decided that Kara Lang was NOT ready to receive top billing as the lead anchor of the show yet. Perhaps Kara needs time to learn on the job before management puts the glaring spotlight on her. Ultimately, I believe that only anchor of the new show who will develop significant fan following is Kara Lang, and only if the new show were to survive beyond 1 year. (Bottom line: most guys ages 18-34 tend to be fans of female sports anchors, and most women who watch sports news tend to be fans of female sports anchors. I don't understand why sports news directors continue to hire male anchors. Progressive sports news directors such as Univision Deportes' Sharon van Zwieten program at least one "Ladies Night" with 2 female anchors each week. If I were a sports news director, I would hire 4 intelligent female anchors who know their sports so that I can program "Ladies Night" EVERY NIGHT.) With a panel of pundits in Toronto, roundtable discussions are now possible on FOX Soccer News in order to compete against ESPNFC Press Pass. (Punditry shows are the staple of Spanish-language pay sports TV in the U.S. Hispanic market and Latin America. Futbol Picante on ESPN Depoortes and La Ultima Palabra on FOX Deportes both draw more viewers than SportsCenter ESPN Deportes and Central FOX on FOX Deportes. Contacto Deportivo beats everything because it airs on both TeleFutura free-to-air as well as on Univision Deportes Network.) I continue to believe that the retention of Bobby McMahon by FOX Soccer was a late development and a reactionary decision for the purpose of keeping him from appearing on beIN SPORT USA (or Canada) for at least the next 12 months.