Fox Soccer to shut down

[Metatron]

The only US television network dedicated to soccer is to close. Fox announced on Thursday that Fox Soccer will make way for a new youth entertainment network in September.

The future of Fox Soccer had been in doubt since it lost the rights to English Premier League matches to NBC last October. Fox said that it would be replaced by FXX, a new network to complement FX, in September. The rest of Fox Soccer's matches, including Uefa Champions League fixtures, will be transferred to Fox Sports 1, a new general sports network that is expected to launch in August.

Fox said that the line-up for FXX would consist of original series, movies and acquired series targeting adults 18 to 34, a slightly younger demographic than the 18-to-49 audience attracted by FX. It said that FXX would initially be available in 74 million TV homes in the US.

The new channel joins FX and the movie-oriented FXM; all three networks would share the same sensibility, FX Networks president John Landgraf said in the announcement Thursday. "All told, the three networks will air 25 original series in the next few years," he said.

More at the Guardian

[Ron Obvious]

1. Shame...

I was going to cancel my Dish in May anyway, but I'm sorry to read this. I've little faith that NBC will be an improvement, so I'm think some sort of online outlet is going to have to be the future for this sort of thing.

[Metatron]

2. I really wasn't impressed with NBC's Olympic coverage

but they picked up F1 this year and haven't pissed off the racing fans so maybe there is hope for their football coverage. It's funny that you mentioned Dish, because I left Time Warner cable in September just so I could watch La Liga on Bein.

As far as Fox Soccer, I'm pretty bummed for what this will mean for the new US Women's league. I can't see NBC possibly covering anything except the Women's national team (which I think ESPN still has the rights to), so this might end up dooming the new league before it can start. I don't know how much the TV contracts play into the league finances, so hopefully I am wrong.

I'm really going to miss watching Sky Sports on Fox Soccer during the transfer windows, though. That was always good for a laugh.

[Ron Obvious]

4. I wonder if the online foxsoccer.tv will go away too?

They just charged me the annual fee for it a few weeks ago. Bastards.

The only positive thing I can take from this is that NBC thought the EPL was worth paying so much for, so it must be getting more and more popular.

[Metatron]

7. That sucks. I assume it will disappear, too.

I hope that NBC doesn't require a fee to watch the matches online. It should be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[Aquavit]

3. Oh great...

I can't wait for the UEFA Champions League final to get pre-empted by some random World Series of Poker event or some such other awful "sport."

[Ron Obvious]

5. You're bringing back awful memories...

I lived near Mexico for the '82 and '86 WC's so I watched them on their TV channels, but I had to watch WC '90 on TNT. God it was awful. They'd pull away from the live action for touchline interviews, overlaid the banal "Old Spice Keys to Victory" over the screen while the game was going on, and literally cut away for commercials every few minutes. Those ads are still imprinted on my brain:

"Ray, step up to the mic!"

"The bill's twice as much usual!" "Because, honey, you ate twice as much!"..

"Tum ta tum tum...!!!"

"While we were away, this happened a few minutes ago: (Replay of the goal we missed.)

"Next up, let's watch our friend Paul Whathisface tour Italy and film some stereotypical Italians eating Spaghetti."

Things had improved so much. I sure hope we're past all that.

[Aquavit]

6. Oh god...

I'm not old enough to remember the 82 and 86 WC's, and I wasn't into football back in 90. However, that sounds bloody horrible. I think I'd rather have Huell Howser and Fred Willard's character from "Best in Show" calling a the game than deal with that!

Two years ago the UCL final was shown on our local Fox affiliate instead of Fox Soccer. During the game, there was what could best be described as a moderate rain shower rolling through the southern-most part of the channel's viewing area. The channel not only pre-empted the game from like the 20th minute all the way through the end of the game to give constant updates on the rain, but they also started insulting the fans who were calling, emailing, and asking via the station's facebook page to find out when they'd go back to the game. The whole thing was absolutely ridiculous, and I hope that's not the direction we're headed toward next fall.

Also, I'm pre-disposed to not watching football on NBC Sports after one of their (African American) commentators made a remark about fantastic internet connectivity in "the third world" during the '10 WC.

[Metatron]

8. I hope not

but won't be surprised if it happens.

[teddy007]

9. Ordinary business thing

Nowadays are not easy for media business....