More Content for FS1 & FS2

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

More content coming for FS1 & FS2


Mike Francesa says he'll simulcast on Fox Sports 1 & 2
http://www.newsday.com/sports/media/mike-francesa-says-he-ll-simulcast-on-fox-sports-1-2-1.7370513


Mike Francesa will return to television March 24, seven weeks after the end of his long simulcast run on the YES Network. His new TV home: Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, the network's national cable sports outlets.

The WFAN host made the announcement during his radio show Wednesday, confirming a story in Newsday Feb. 9 that he was headed to Fox -- but with a previously unreported wrinkle.

Rather than appearing entirely on FS1, he will be seen on that channel only from 1 to 4 p.m., then will switch to FS2 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Francesa said on the air the two-channel plan "doesn't make any difference to us." But he said Fox's deal allows both outlets to be used, presumably in part to help promote both upstart channels.

"We did talk to a bunch of different people, but clearly the Fox Sports people were the most aggressive," he said. "They made the biggest offer. They offered us really the best vision of what they wanted to do . . . They really wanted to have a lot more presence in New York."

He added that Fox "clearly has a design on going after ESPN. That's very clear."

Francesa noted that Fox now owns 80 percent of YES, so his current and former simulcast partners are under the same corporate umbrella. Plus, in most Cablevision homes FS1 is on Channel 69, one down from YES.

FS1 is available in significantly more homes than FS2, however, so some viewers will be shut out of the final two hours. Cablevision, which owns Newsday, carries FS2 on a higher programming tier than FS1.

Francesa said in an interview after Wednesday's show that the Fox Sports 2 element was not a big part of the negotiations and that he initially "didn't see it being that big of an issue." He added, "I hope there are not too many people where it will impact them." He said he plans to discuss the matter with Fox executives.

Francesa said the Fox deal runs four years, coinciding with the remaining time on his WFAN contract.

Callers asked Francesa Wednesday whether he would change his show's content to reflect sports covered by Fox, or to reflect that he will be seen nationally. He assured them he would not.

"They said they have no interest in changing the show, so we're not changing the show," he said. "It will not change the show at all."'

Bill Wanger, Fox Sports' executive vice president of programming and research, said signing Francesa "makes a lot of sense on multiple fronts" for the network.

That includes switching Francesa to Fox Sports 2 "to help drive eyeballs" to the channel. "Fox Sports 2, while it is in fewer homes, is a very robust channel, and distribution is growing," he said.

Wanger said moving Francesa off FS1 at 4 p.m. allows that channel to retain its late-afternoon studio shows.

Is Fox concerned about putting a local radio figure on a national outlet? Wanger said Francesa has had plenty of national exposure through his YES simulcast and believes even people outside the New York area will embrace that aspect of his program.

WFAN is owned by CBS Radio, and CBS Sports Network simulcasts WFAN's morning show featuring Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton.

Francesa told Newsday in December he would not consider CBS Sports Network, saying, "There is absolutely zero chance I would go there because I don't think it fits the program . . . I think one is national and one is local and I don't think they marry well and it does not fit what I deem to be the strategic idea of the simulcast."

Last month Francesa said on the air there are people at CBS Sports Network with whom he does not get along. "Those guys would put Attila the Hun on their network before they'd put me on, OK?" he said.

Francesa said after Wednesday's show that he spoke that way at the time in part because he assumed he would land on a regional outlet rather than a national one, and also to make it clear that CBS Sports Network was not a viable option regardless.

"It was meant to really dismiss anyone from thinking CBS was a logical path for me," he said. "But when Fox came in as dramatically and enthusiastically as they did" he became enthused about the notion of a national outlet.

CBS Sports spokeswoman Jennifer Sabatelle said Wednesday, "There were never any discussions at CBS Sports about adding the Mike Francesa show to CBS Sports Network. We could not be more pleased with our choice to add Boomer and Carton to the network as our simulcast partner and are extremely satisfied with its success."

[LloydMooresLegs]

Jesus.  This is depressing.  He is horrible.   Self parody.  NYNYNYNYNYNY.  Who gives a crap about anything this parochial blow-hard has to say?  Embarrassment for a network trying to establish a real national platform.

[brandx]

Jesus.  This is depressing.  He is horrible.   Self parody.  NYNYNYNYNYNY.  Who gives a crap about anything this parochial blow-hard has to say?  Embarrassment for a network trying to establish a real national platform.

+1000

Yeah, everybody wants to hear more about what's happening in NY

[ZiggysFryBoy]

why would anyone listen to any asshat for 5 hours a day?

[MU82]

why would anyone listen to any asshat for 5 hours seconds a day?

Fixed.

[bradley center bat]

What is FS1showing during that time that people are watching. Nothing.  So, this is a solid move.

[CTWarrior]

I don't like him at all, but WFAN is the default radio station on my car and I tend to listen on my home from work.  He basically seems to hate his own audience.  Absolutely NY-centric, as his show is primarily a local radio show.  Together with Chris Russo they were entertaining and informative.  Separately, for whatever reason, they are both terrible.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I don't like him at all, but WFAN is the default radio station on my car and I tend to listen on my home from work.  He basically seems to hate his own audience.  Absolutely NY-centric, as his show is primarily a local radio show.  Together with Chris Russo they were entertaining and informative.  Separately, for whatever reason, they are both terrible.

Same here.  WFAN is the default radio station in my car.  He does talk Big East hoops from time to time.  He certainly talks plenty of baseball.
And he has been a lot harsher to callers since Mad Dog went to satellite.

[Golden Avalanche]

Fat Fran is a clown. For FS1's sake, hopefully he can stay awake long enough when he's interviewing his guests. On the plus side for viewers, Fat Fran gets punked two or three times a day by callers so there is some entertainment to the show. And, best of all, Fat Fran has spawned some tremendous Revolutionary and Civil war parody videos on YouTube.

Sloppy seconds are never a good thing and especially so in this case considering Fat Fran was dropped by the local cable network for his simulcast it looks a desperate move on FS1's part.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Fat Fran is a clown. For FS1's sake, hopefully he can stay awake long enough when he's interviewing his guests. On the plus side for viewers, Fat Fran gets punked two or three times a day by callers so there is some entertainment to the show. And, best of all, Fat Fran has spawned some tremendous Revolutionary and Civil war parody videos on YouTube.

Sloppy seconds are never a good thing and especially so in this case considering Fat Fran was dropped by the local cable network for his simulcast it looks a desperate move on FS1's part.

He was dropped from YES because they wanted to simulcast Michael Kay's afternoon ESPN show.  Michael also happens to be the Yankee's longtime TV announcer (Yankees radio before that) as well as having his own talk show on YES.

Interestingly, Michael Kay's first act was to symbolically take shots at his simulcast predecessor.

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2014/february/michael-kay-trolls-mike-francesa-with-first-yes-network-show.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/raissman-kay-diss-yes-matters-crack-pope-ratings-article-1.1607051

[Golden Avalanche]

He was dropped from YES because they wanted to simulcast Michael Kay's afternoon ESPN show.  Michael also happens to be the Yankee's longtime TV announcer (Yankees radio before that) as well as having his own talk show on YES.

Interestingly, Michael Kay's first act was to symbolically take shots at his simulcast predecessor.

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2014/february/michael-kay-trolls-mike-francesa-with-first-yes-network-show.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/raissman-kay-diss-yes-matters-crack-pope-ratings-article-1.1607051

YES was dying to make that switch for many months.