Sunday, January 09, 2000
FSN to expand regional coverage
SPORTS ON TV-RADIO
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Fox Sports Net is gearing up to take the next step in its battle with ESPN. As always, FSN is planning to attack on a regional basis.
Fox Sports Net plans to launch a regional version of its Fox Sports News, beginning in June.
Fox Sports News is FSN's answer to SportsCenter.
The analogy Fox Sports Net people like to use when describing the regional shows is this: Think of SportsCenter and Fox Sports News as the sports section of USA Today; the regional show will be like the sports section of your local paper.
“You're going to get the local stories at the top of the show,” Fox Sports Net spokesman Lou D'Ermilio said. “You're not going to have to wait 40 minutes like you do on SportsCenter or Fox Sports News. You'll also get national stories, but they'll have a local slant.”
It's a great concept. But I'd use the word regional, not local, in describing what we'll get in Cincinnati. That's because the show we'll get will be produced by what used to be Fox Sports Net Ohio, which used to be SportsChannel.
When your state has the 13th- (Cleveland), 32nd- (Cincinnati) and 34th- (Columbus) biggest TV markets in the country, that means covering a lot of stuff: Reds, Indians, Bengals, Browns, Ohio State, Columbus Blue Jackets, UC, XU, UD and the countless other colleges. Not to mention high schools.
“It's going to be quite a challenge,” said Steve Liverani, the general manager of Fox Sport Net's Ohio region.
The old Fox Sports Net Ohio actually goes into six states (including Northern Kentucky).
“But our focus will be Ohio,” Liverani said.
The format for the show, as well as the scope of coverage, is still in the discussion stage.
But Fox Sports Net plans to hire anchors and producers for each of the regions.
“There will probably be one anchor in each region,” D'Ermilio said. “That's being discussed. But we'll have news-gathering personnel in every region. This is a major capital expenditure.”
In this region, that probably means one anchor in Cleveland, where Fox Sports Net's Ohio region is headquartered.
To me, the key whether I watch or not is how much Cincinnati news they're able to provide. I want Reds, Bengals, UC and Xavier. But I care no more about the Cavaliers than I do the Celtics. Ohio is a tough state to cover, because it has so many big cities and so many Division I colleges.
If there were a Fox Sports Net Kentucky, you could pretty much lead with UK every night, and 90 percent of the people would be happy (or mad, depending on what the 'Cats did).
But Ohio isn't like that.
Fox Sports Net already is well entrenched around the country. The network produces 4,000 local events a year. In Ohio, FSN has the Reds, Indians and Blue Jackets.
That sets up the network well to produce news. A cameraman shooting a Reds game could get sound bites afterward, and Chris Welsh could give a report on the game.
FSN is banking that you'll tune in because they'll be able to give more time to the Reds than either the local stations or the national networks.
That will be true most nights. The local channels have squeezed and squeezed sports.
“It's not on until 11:30,” Liverani said, “and you get two or three minutes at the most.”
What the local stations still will be able to do better is cover the local stories, particularly UC, XU and high schools. All four stations cover at least eight high school football games every Friday night. FSN can't compete with that.
But on a Tuesday in January, will FSN be able to give you more highlights from the UC game? Probably. Tune in and see.
NHL TUTORIAL: ESPN2 will air the Colorado-Chicago NHL game tonight. But it won't be your average broadcast. Play-by-play man Steve Levy and analysts Bill Clement and Darren Pang will concentrate on explaining the rules to casual fans.
“This will help clarify the nuances of the game,” producer Larry Kristiansen said.
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