Fox Sports

Fox Sports has laid off 50 to 100 staffers in what is being described as a restructuring and streamlining effort at the company, TheWrap has confirmed. That number amounts to 5% to 10% of the company’s total workforce.

Network executives knew the first weekend with multiple live events would draw good numbers but for the most part they exceeded expectations. The Bundesliga’s return drew record numbers on Fox Sports 1, Saturday night’s UFC card on ESPN was one of the top shows on cable television and Sunday’s NASCAR race on Fox was the most-viewed non-Daytona race in three years.

The first live sports events on network TV in more than two months delivered strong ratings Sunday. Fox’s telecast of a NASCAR race in Darlington, S.C., delivered 6.32 million viewers, a 38 percent jump over the previous race on March 8. Like other major pro sports leagues, NASCAR shut down in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. NBC also brought back live sports Sunday with a golf event, TaylorMade Driving Relief. Numbers for the four-man skins match, featuring Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff, weren’t available at publication time.

Many of Fox Sports’ on-air anchors and analysts will take a temporary pay cut, largely in tandem with compensation decreases among top executives at parent company Fox Corp.,  which is, like many other media conglomerates, grappling with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on operations.

Costs are inhibiting a flood of 4K sports production, but 1080p HDR offers numerous practical advantages, among them that the improvement in picture quality is more readily apparent to consumers than the gain from 4K resolution. Above, Sony tested an 8K camera at the Sony Open in Hawaii last year, but doesn’t expect 8K to be used for regular sports production for several years.

This week, several Fox Sports execs participated in hour-long video conferences with six key ad agency partners, including GroupM, Omnicom and IPG. During the Zoom chats, the execs discussed the conversations they’ve been having with the leagues, shared various scenarios for when sports could return and fielded questions about the sports marketplace.

ESPN and Fox Sports had to come together if the heavyweight showdown between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury at the MGM Grand hotel this Saturday was to happen. And it’s also true that both networks are blanketing the airwaves this week like never before in an effort to get people to dig into their pockets for the $79.99 it will cost to watch the fight at home.

Fox Sports‘ coverage of Super Bowl LIV included a new graphics package with an emphasis on stats and an illustrated twist.

Fox NFL Sunday, which kicks off Fox’s 26th season covering the league on Sunday, was inducted into the National Association of Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame in April. It takes its place beside Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Meet the Press and All In The Family. Above (l-r), Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Michael Strahan and Jimmy Johnson get ready for the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show during the 2018 season at the Fox Sports studio in Los Angeles.

A step up from past LCD video walls, the new LED technology is increasingly featuring in new news set designs, enabling crisper images and more flexibility.

Fox Sports says it is buying just under 5% of The Stars Group, the parent company of PokerStars, for about $236 million. Both companies will offer real-money sports betting this fall in states where it is legal and they are licensed.

Walt Disney Co., on the brink of sealing its $71 billion takeover of 21st Century Fox Inc. entertainment assets, will agree to sell the Fox Sports channels in Brazil and Mexico to win regulatory approval there, according to people close to the discussions

The three networks carrying post-season baseball have an enhanced technological playbook that includes ubiquitous on-field audio, high-quality slo-mo from new perspectives, data-enhanced graphics, some 4K UHD and, possibly, player- and coach-mounted cameras.

In its first men’s World Cup, Fox Sports has deployed its largest production output ever. The core World Cup efforts begin in Moscow, with Fox Sports teams at the International Broadcast Center and the main studio at Red Square. But the efforts don’t end there as there are talent and technicians working at each of the venues and then a large team back home in Los Angeles handling match control, editing, and other duties. Kevin Callahan, Fox Sports, VP, World Cup operations, says operations have been going smoothly.