At EPL Talk, we’re already planning ahead for episode 21 of the EPL Talk Podcast, which will feature an exclusive interview with an executive from Fox Soccer Channel (I’ll unveil the person’s name later this week).
In the meantime, please let me know what questions you’d like me to ask him about Fox Soccer Channel and the Premiership coverage for the 2006/2007 season by posting your comments below!
Also, if you want to win your very own EPL Talk T-shirt, I want to let you in on a secret. In the first issue of the EPL Talk Email Newsletter (released last Friday), you were invited to email us your true story of the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of the team you support. E-mail your story (100 words or less, by end of day Wednesday) to buzz@epltalk.com. Your chances of being picked as the winner are pretty great since we’ve only received a handful of stories thus far.
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Gaffer,
HDTV EPL, is it in our near future? Is it too cost prohibitive for a (for the USA) “fringe” (sorry) sport? I truly believe that the general public is hungry for HD programming (especially sports) & getting in early can gain market share inroads for the EPL (& FSC!) here in the USA, not just keep a bunch of Ex-Pat limeys happy…
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Three big questions:
1. Will Fox Soccer Channel ever become a 24-hour channel and get rid of those annoying infomercials?
2. FSC has lost the Brazilian, Dutch, German, and French leagues over the last few years. Is this a permanent move away from anything other than the EPL and MLS, or do they plan on adding higher profile leagues (La Liga) in the future? Will there be any new leagues added for this season?
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Out of the 3 soccer channels in the US, Fox
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Gaffer, maybe you should tell the FSC executive that the fans are appalled that the channel has become the channel of second-rate EPL games and MLS games.
As of now, FSC has the worst programming out of the 3 soccer channels-Gol TV, Setanta, and FSC.
Are they planning on changing that?
Also, will they show Euro’08 qualifiers?
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Euro 2008 qualifiers would be my biggest question…that and their proposed Serie A games but I realize this is an EPL blog.
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Can I just get confirmation that this includes EPL Games? If i order Setanta braodband through setanta it explicitly DOESNT include premier league games. Does the version on ITVN include these matches?
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Why does FSC keep claiming they’re the number one destination for football in the US? Setanta and GolTv have much better schedules.
What’s going to happen to the previous tuesday and wednesday replays on FSC that were on ppv? Does setanta have exclusive rights to those matches?
what’s going to happen to the FA Cup? Any changes?
Thanks
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ITVN has EPL games, definitely
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What I would like to know is will we see more Classic Premiership Games and FA Cup matches like have been featured before on FSC? Not just games from last year but classic games that aired 5 to 20 years ago.
Also I would like to know if it is at all possible for FSC to air old episodes of the English Premiership Highlight Show? What I would love to see is a either a regular weekly or daily series where they show each of the Highlight Shows in order by year going back to a certain year and working its way forward to the present time. I think this would be a great way to show what the Premiership looked like week in and week out and would give fans a nice snapshot of what the Premiership looked like in the past.
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Just a simple “Why did FSC choose to split the EPL rights this season?”
People are a little surprised and maybe a touch mad that they now need Setanta. Of course before it was FSC and PPV, it is now FSC and Setanta. Just Setanta is harder to get than PPV
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Good questions. Keep ‘em coming.
My interview with the Fox Soccer Channel exec is scheduled for Thursday night (I’ll publish the interview on Sunday night, so I can get back to my Sunday night release schedule).
Cheers,
The Gaffer
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I would want to thank FSC for their dedication and willingness to keeping the EPL on the air, even if it means splitting games with Setanta. If you back up to the bigger corporation of Fox, we should feel pretty lucky that we have a channel dedicated to soccer which most likely loses money in a very niche market in the U.S.
The changes over the past year at FSC shows that having this channel is by no means a guaranteed thing in the future.
I would ask does FSC make money? (I’m guessing no, which precipitated the Setanta deal) I would want to ask how FSC fits into the longer-term strategy at Fox. Are they dedicated to the EPL and a soccer specific station long term? What is the content strategy over the next few years? (leagues, EPL, Euro 2008)… And has the larger Fox network given FSC an ultimatum to increase viewership, become profitable, or else…..
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Here’s a suggestion, utilize Fox Sports World Canada talent (Carlos/Jeremy/Bobby) for pre-game, mid-game and post game EPL analysis because FSC has obvously hired children to produce/direct their filler programming with grating announcers is highly irritating stuff that will drive dedicated viewers to Setanta…screaming.
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The exec from Fox Soccer Channel postponed the interview until next week, unfortunately.
The good news is that it gives you more time to submit your questions on this blog posting. I’ll try and ask as many of them as possible.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
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Since the next US TV rights for the EPL will most likely be split between Setanta and FSC next year and Setanta will most likely use it’s own production team to televise the games to the UK, Ireland, and US, will FSC be incline to use the Sky Sports feeds rather than the TWI feeds? If Setanta steps up to the plate and provides better EPL coverage; 1/2-1 hour pregame, halftime, and 1/2-1 houe postgame; then FSC should do the same by paying more for the Sky Sports feeds including the HD feed. Get rid of the TWI feed and get the Sky Sports HD & SD EPL feed.
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