News Corp to challenge ESPN?

Definitely sarcasm, but I liked the Daily on the surface. The problem was, it was mostly repackaged wire content in a really cool iPad-friendly wrapper.

I got more news out of the Chicago Tribune app and other free newspapers I subscribed to, so I dropped it when my free trial ran out. It was a very good idea, but needed a bit more. It's hard to do a general-interest national newspaper and make money in print, but especially do so with something so personalized as an iPad.

Only way the Daily would have worked was to create a vehicle for local content -- partnerships with local papers, et al.

 

Even though Fox Sports has not formally announced its planned national cable channel Fox Sports 1 yet, the company already has moved forward with plans to flip Fuel into Fox Sports 2 this August.

On Nov. 27, Fox filed a trademark application for a Fox Sports 2 logo with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The new channel’s logo essentially is the Fox Sports logo with the number 2 on the bottom right.

Fuel’s switch to Fox Sports 2 will be announced later this spring and completed in August, around the same time Fox rebrands Speed into Fox Sports 1, sources said.

Fox Sports 2 will be a national all-sports channel and will complement Fox Sports 1. The two channels will be aligned similar to ESPN and ESPN2, which share sports across both networks. Initially, the biggest sports events will air on Fox Sports 1, similar to how ESPN carries marquee games, like the BCS national championship game and “Monday Night Football.”

Fox Sports 1 will have more than double the distribution of Fox Sports 2 at launch, as Speed is in 81 million homes and Fuel is in just over 37 million homes.

Fox has spent much of the past year acquiring sports rights for these channels. Overall, Fox will continue to have its broadcast channel carry its largest events, but it will produce complementary programming around those events on the two cable channels.

The reason for the surprise launch of a second all-sports channel is that Fox executives think they need a second outlet to handle the rights they’ve been acquiring.

Fox’s FIFA World Cup rights in 2018 and 2022 may have the most significant impact in driving distribution around these channels, as it’s clearly one of the largest events in Fox’s programming inventory and will be spread across several Fox channels.

Fox Sports 2 will be run alongside Fox Sports 1, with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Charlotte, where Speed operates.

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2013/01/21/Media/Fox-Sports-2.aspx

 

Whither FOX Soccer Plus?

 

Possibly to become FXX, a 20-something comedy-heavy sister station to FX

http://www.businessinsider.com/fx-may-split-off-new-fxx-2013-1

 

That's Fox Soccer, not Fox Soccer Plus.

FSP is a stand-alone pay channel that costs $10 per month. Fox Soccer is included in the sports tier with most satellite packages.

 

I missed the plus part of that.

I guess it could stay intact as an add-on to the Fox Sports channels.