Fox Sports pours record dollars into Fox League dedicated NRL channel
Christian Nicolussi, The Daily Telegraph
16 minutes ago
THE Greatest Game of All is getting the greatest investment of all from Fox Sports.
When the NRL was thrashing out its $1.8 billion TV deal with Fox Sports and Nine, one of its main requests was a dedicated 24-hour rugby league channel.
Come Monday, that dream of an around-the-clock rugby league channel will become a reality when Fox League is launched on Foxtel.
The pay-TV network has poured millions of dollars into the initiative — more cash than its AFL counterpart Fox Footy — with Fox League to be shown on channel 502.
Fox Sports head of live sport Steve Crawley told The Daily Telegraph: “This channel means rugby league coverage is now in the same class as the EPL and NFL.’’
Some of the key features of Fox League include:
- *MORE than 32 hours of live content each week, including all eight NRL matches.
- *NINE magazine shows, including an additional four pre-match and post-match programs.
- *SIX new faces, including the face of Fox League, Yvonne Sampson, commentator Brenton Speed, as well as recently retired premiership winners Mick Ennis and Corey Parker.
- *A QUEENSLAND-ONLY program, which will be hosted by Robert “Crash’’ Craddock with exclusive content from north of the border.
- *NEW state-of-the art studios and game-day graphics, including a virtual 10m line that will give viewers a clear idea if a team is off-side.
- *AND The Late Show With Matty Johns, which will run directly against Channel Nine’s long-running The Footy Show on Thursday nights.
Fox Sports boss Patrick Delany said the NRL had made a point of wanting a 24/7 league channel when negotiations were ramping up more than 18 months ago. “This was a significant thing when we did the deal,’’ Delany said. “A dedicated channel allows you to do things you can’t do when you’re a straight sports channel, or an entertainment channel. “(By having a dedicated channel), there are three shows I can think of that you couldn’t do on a general sports network or free-to-air network. “This includes a show dedicated just for Queensland fans, a show with only a women’s panel, and these women are not talking about lipstick, but accomplished journalists with a different perspective on rugby league.HISTORY:
The show that will create rugby league history “And we have a show that honours one of our past heroes every week.’’ Due to the popularity of Matty Johns, his Monday Night show will remain a key part of the schedule for “families and kids’’, while for his new Thursday night program ‘’you might want to lock the kids away because it’s very much for adults’’, said Delany. Delany stressed the recruitment of former Nine presenter Sampson — one of the most likeable presenters in the game — was crucial to the success of Fox League. “Once you have a dedicated channel, you need a central person who can pull it all together, so we’re thrilled to have Yvonne do that,’’ he said.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...l/news-story/ca616411db6fd2188805eff9f4d71e17
