This was my comments on the FSC Survey.

I would really like for FSC to get some programming on Saturday and Sunday Mornings between the hours of 5am to 9am Eastern. I think its crummy there is no soccer programming that airs in the morning leading up to the EPL Preview show on Saturday Mornings and Serie A at 9am to watch unless I go to a local bar early to watch the 7:30am game. Even if it means getting an SPL Game (non Celtic/Rangers if they are still tied up to their Setanta Pub Deal) English Championship Games even if they are on a day delay from Friday, or a Dutch game that sometimes airs early that would be great. Even better would be to run a series of Classic EPL Review Shows in those hours until the the pregame show airs. It is horrible to wake up and there is no soccer to watch on FSC or GOL TV until 9am especially for early risers on the East Coast like myself that want something to get them pumped for the weekends games. Instead I catch up on ESPN SportsCenter or ESPN News waiting till 9am.

I would by hook or by crook look to make a deal with TWI the company that produces the EPL Review Show and get the rights of the old programs and air them in Chronological Order if it is all possible If the tapes don’t exist from like 92-93 when the league started go back to 98 or whenever that those tapes can be dusted off and aired in a foreign market like the US where most new fans no idea how the teams over the years got to be where they are today. I really think if your network made a play to get the rights to those old tapes it would really raise the soccer IQ of American’s that are just getting into the Premiership and want to hear about the history of the league. I like the Premiership Classics that do air from time to time but I really think it would be cool to have a snap shot of what was going on in the Premirship on 2/13/98 as United started to slip and Arsenal pipped them at the end of the season to win the league.

Also I would like to see more shoulder programming that deals with more Soccer from Europe and England. Another idea I have is trying prise 2 of the Big 4 in England’s Club TV shows especially if FSC can get the rights Manchester United TV. If your channel does lose some rights to the Premiership to ESPN who seem to be in the running to get the rights to the league in some capacity I think it would be safe to go after a Manchester United TV and a Chelsea TV which would include Club News Programs, Youth Games in the afternoon, Classic Games and games on Delay 48 hours after they air live over the weekend. I really think FSC could build the brand on non Champions League Nights if Wednesday’s were Manchester United Replay Night and Thursday was Chelsea/Liverpool/Arsenal replay night along with the Club News show and a classic game or a youth game.

All in all your product has improved since I started watching your network since I got a Dish back in the 2000-2001 season. Your network is the standard of soccer coverage in the US because of how many houses your station is in compared to GOL TV which is on the hispanic tier where I live and especially Setanta that has been slow in trying to get on cable systems and mostly only being available on satellite which because of deed restrictions and such some people can’t have dishes on their homes.

One thing I do hope is that with the acquisition of the Champions League your network will continue to use the international feed with the broadcasters and such and relegate Max and Christopher to doing the 5th choice game that airs on replay if you want to have someone form North America calling the game. That said futbol is something speial and as good as Max and Christopher are they aren’t in Europe and don’t eat live and breath the soccer culture that takes place over there as well as they talk to much and sometimes don’t let the game breath which is one of the cooler things that futbol has over any other sport featured on TV. When I watch European Futbol I want to hear guys spreaking in perfect English from England than our American Boys. The American Boys have their place no doubt especially on MLS games and USL Games but when I am watching a game from Europe I want to hear an English voice as it makes the sport different than any of the other sports that air over here in the States. No offese at Max and Christopher as they do a good job but when I am watching a Premiership or European Champions League Game I want to hear guys with English accents who grew up with the game at the top level behind the microphone

Speaking of MLS please bring back the Review show that used to air with Sean Wheelock as a host? It was a really good primer for fans like me that hadn’t given MLS much of a thought but has gotten to the point that the clubs and players are much more recognizable to me compared to 5 or 6 seasons ago. The league has gotten a lot better and I would love to see an hour long wrap up show like the EPL Review show, showing all of the highlights and coaching interviews like we see from England but happening MLS. Another idea is trying to get the coaches shows of the different MLS teams that I know that air on the different Fox Sports Regionals as well as other Regional Cable Networks.

Anyway, thank you for the time reading this response. I am a huge fan of FSC (its the channel that my DVR is set to when I turn my TV on) but there are a few things as I noted above that would make the network better like Classic Premier League Reveiw Shows, Club TV shows, MLS Review, MLS Coaches shows, as well as trying to bring back the Dutch League, Scottish League, or the Portuguese League which I didn’t even mention that can air after the Sunday Serie A game even it is on delay a bit.

I really think that your network is onto something and I want to congratulate your network on winning the bid for the Champions League the next coming years. I am a bit disappointed that Fox Sports couldn’t get the Wednesday Games on the Regional Cable Network as that is a pretty big loss for me and a couple of co-workers that plan our lunches and breaks to watch the games on ESPN 2 on Tuesdsays and Wednedsays. Our TV in the break room isn’t equipped with Digital Cable so on Wednesdays me and my buddy have to go home and shut ourselves off from the world to watch those Wednesday games that we are going to miss. I also think it would be great if the Champions League Final was moved to the regular Fox Network to really get over what the Champions League means to sports fans throughout the world. Look at NBC who airs all kinds of wacky winter sports in the Winter Months or F1 Races that air on Fox. I really think it is possible that the big boys at the network can fit a 2.5 hour block on 1 Saturday afternoon at the end of May to the Champions League.

Keep up the great work on the network and please keep tweaking the program schedule especially with the 5am to 9am period on the East Coast as it kills me that there is no futbol to watch since my cable system doesn’t pick up Setanta. and remember CLASSIC EPL REVIEW SHOWS as filler instead of crummy informercials sans the one I watched this morning that had horse jumping which was pretty cool because it wasn’t expected that aired at 7am Eastern.

What kind of comments do you have that you would like to convey to FSC? Take the survey because it seems that they are really interested in doing the market research to find out what futbol fans want on their FSC.

Cheers,
The Gaffer

Cheers,
The Gaffer

They are smart enough to allow FSC to carry other games at times they are not interested in to keep up the interest. I suspect that they may make a play for a regular Monday night game which fits nicely into their schedule. They drew audiences for their afternoon Euro 08 and WC coverages recently. As for FSC how about some Championship coverage to fill in lost Prem games.