From 3 p.m. to midnight every day, the Fox Sports News studio in Los Angeles is the very definition of chaos. The network produces four versions of its early news show, each one tailored to fit a particular time zone. As soon as that wraps up, they prepare to do the late news.
Each of those programs includes reports from the play-by-play crews covering games of local interest, plus news and commentary on events of national scope. As crazy as it gets in the control room, the shows - which began running on MSC last Wednesday - are newsy, smooth and entertaining.
Most sports programs fail when they try to be all things to all people. But Fox Sports News, the signature program of the Fox Sports Net web of regional sports networks, seems to have the tools to pull it off.
MSC, which recently signed a multiyear deal to become a Fox Sports Net affiliate, carries the early news show at 5 p.m. each weeknight and the late show at approximately 10 p.m. seven days a week. As part of the deal, MSC also will carry Fox's Thursday baseball game of the week and is expected to pick up other Fox-produced events such as boxing, college football and college basketball.
'We're so pumped about this,' said Kevin Cattoor, MSC's vice president and general manager. 'It's going to be a very nice association. They are taking advantage of significant viewership of local events, and the indications are their strategy is working. And it gives us some continuity.'
Fox Sports Net launched Nov. 1 on seven regional sports networks owned and operated by Fox. It since has added SportSouth to its owned-and-operated group and signed other regional sports networks as affiliates or carriage systems. In less than four months, FSN increased its viewership from 22 million homes to more than 40 million.
Fox Sports News looks and sounds much like Fox's pregame shows for football, hockey and baseball. But what really sets it apart in the crowded sports-news universe is its ability to tailor the early show to each time zone. In addition to its news staff of 200 people, it can link up with 50 or 60 local announcing teams for pro and college sports to provide a hometown slant on games in each region.
'We consider that our pregame show, where we set up the evening for the viewers,' said Arthur Smith, executive vice president of programming and production for Fox Sports Net. 'At 3 p.m. L.A. time, we do the first edition for places like Pittsburgh and New York and concentrate on teams in that area. At 4 p.m., we back up the tapes, do it all over again and think about what's important to viewers of MSC and other networks in that time zone.
'The lead story in the east may be Pittsburgh. By the time we get to L.A., maybe it's an L.A. lead, and Pittsburgh is the third or fourth story. It's extremely complicated to coordinate with all the remotes and the shuffling of stories. But it makes a good marriage between us and the locals.'
Cattoor said the only programming MSC will drop to make way for Fox Sports Net is the NewSport news shows it previously carried. Other programming scheduled in the spots now occupied by Fox Sports Net will be shifted to other time slots.
Talkin' baseball
- The Saints have hired Jim Lucas as play-by-play announcer and Don Wardlow as analyst for their radio broadcasts on KKMS-AM (980). Wardlow, who was born blind, has worked with Lucas since 1991, when they began calling games for Mike Veeck's minor league team in Miami. The two have announced games for the Hardware City Rock Cats, a Twins affiliate, since 1993. - MSC has announced that Ryan Lefebvre and his father, Jim, will call five Gophers baseball games beginning with Sunday's game against UCLA (1 p.m.). Ryan Lefebvre, a former Gophers outfielder, is a reporter and play-by-play announcer for MSC; Jim Lefebvre is a former major league player and manager. - ESPN celebrates the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in major league baseball with 'Breaking The Line: Jackie Robinson's Legacy' (tonight, 7:30), followed by 'ESPN Town Meeting: Sports in Black And White' (8:30), a live 90-minute special hosted by ABC's Ted Koppel that will discuss race relations in sports.
Are your TVs and radios frequently tuned to sports events? Are you an avid consumer of sports books and videos? If so, Rachel Blount would like to hear from you. Call the Media Watch reader line at 673-9029 with story ideas, suggestions and comments for this column. Media Watch appears Fridays.
