The current ratings for Fox Sports 1 may not be great, but that isn’t stopping Fox Sports National Networks president Jamie Horowitz from taking aim at his former employer, ESPN. Yesterday at the Sports Business Journal World Sports Congress, the architect of FS1 went after the worldwide leader for its declining ratings on its flagship program SportsCenter.
“ESPN has lost 30% of SportsCenter audience during the past 5 years, 40% of it from the younger demo” said Horowitz. “I’d be a little worried if I were them.”
Although Horowitz may have a point, the bigger issue is whether or not Fox Sports 1 can be the solution. The sports channel has lagged in the ratings, despite adding some high profile talent, play by play, and gaining promotional support from Fox’s main channel.
To FS1’s credit, they did add Colin Cowherd, Kristine Leahy and Jason Whitlock. Homegrown star Katie Nolan has continued to blossom, especially in the digital space, and the late night “Fox Sports Live” program was rebranded to offer more opinion and humor and play to the strengths of Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Horowitz said he believes FS1 can change the game much like Fox News did for News/Talk television. A heavier focus on opinion, and less on highlights, is part of that strategy. That’s why the network remains interested in prying Skip Bayless away from ESPN.
“Fox News positioned itself as provocative and opinion oriented,” said Horowitz. “I believe Fox Sports 1 can take a similar tack. Opinion costs less than news and documentaries, and is likely to stand out more in the busy sports media world.”
Although it may not be popular to members of the sports media who long for the days of quality sports journalism and less debate style programming, it’s undeniable that opinion based content has struck a chord. ‘Opinionists’ (a term Horowitz uses to describe certain personalities) like Stephen A. Smith, and Bayless, have produced big ratings for “First Take”, and others like Bill Simmons, Michael Wilbon, and Tony Kornheiser have produced similar results.
Given Fox News’ position as the ratings leader in News/Talk television, Horowitz’s plan to steer FS1 in that direction makes a lot of sense. But to produce the same type of success, he’ll need a lot more high profile talent, additional original programming, and the most important thing – time and patience from ownership.
Jason Barrett is the President and Founder of Barrett Media since the company was created in September 2015. Prior to its arrival, JB served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He also spent time programming SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jason also worked on-air and behind the scenes in local radio at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years on the national stage, producing radio shows for ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT. Among them included the Dan Patrick Show, and GameNight.
You can find JB on Twitter @SportsRadioPD. He’s also reachable by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
