ESPN Closing Content Development Unit

ESPN is closing its Content Development department, which will lead to the loss of around 20-25 jobs. Company officials say it was not a cost-cutting move; many of those employees will find other positions in the company. The department, which was headed by Senior VP/Content Development & Enter ...

Three English-Language Nets Could Bid For World Cup Rights

As many as three English-language U.S. TV networks will be travelling to Zurich next week to submit bids for the ‘18 and ‘22 FIFA Men’s World Cup events. Bids will be submitted Oct. 19. FIFA will also accept bids for Spanish-language rights at the same time, with Univision and Tele ...

Spike Hires Jon Slusser To Bolster Sports Lineup

Slusser will pursue more events in MMA, motorsports, lifestyle sports Spike TV is getting serious about picking up sports rights. The network that targets young males moved vet ...

Tags: People and Pop Culture, Spike TV

NBC Sports Hires Greg Hughes

NBC Sports Group has hired industry veteran GREG HUGHES to oversee its communications department. Hughes will be Senior VP/Communications, reporting to NBC Sports Group Chair MARK LAZARUS . Hughes and Lazarus previously worked together at Turner. Hughes will relocate from Atlanta to N.Y. In his r ...

Tags: People and Pop Culture

Tennis Channel Extends French Open Deal

Tennis Channel signed a multiyear extension to keep its rights to the French Open. A formal announcement is due tomorrow. Specific financials were not released. The 10-year deal keeps the French Open on the channel through '22. The deal gives Tennis Channel exclusive U.S. non-broadcast media rights ...

NBC, Golf Channel Plan Presidents Cup Coverage

The synergy between NBC and its sister network, Golf Channel, will be on display during coverage of the Presidents Cup in November. Golf Channel will carry 27 hours of all four rounds of the international competition live Nov. 16-20, marking the first time all four rounds of a Presidents C ...

Marc Fein Leaving Versus

MARC FEIN is leaving Versus after more than seven years as one of the top programming executives at the cable channel. Fein, an '09 recipient of SportsBusiness Journal's Forty Under 40 award, saw his role at the network change once NBC Sports took control of the channel in January. Fein went ...

Tags: People and Pop Culture

ESPN Says LHN Is Not Cause Of Realignment

ESPN says the creation of the Longhorn Network had nothing to do with the upheaval occurring in college sports right now. Many critics have pointed to the existence of LHN as the reason, for example, that Texas A&M decided to leave the Big 12 and join the SEC. "The driving force on realignmen ...

TWC To Produce HS Schools In California

A year away from launching two RSNs in the L.A. market , Time Warner Cable signed a 15-year deal to produce high school sports in California. The deal with the California Interscholastic Federation is worth an average $1.5M per year, sources said, and makes TWC the official content distributor of C ...

Tags: Media, Time Warner

Dan Patrick To Host Versus' "NFL Turning Point"

Dan Patrick will host Versus' new show "NFL Turning Point," the co-production between NFL Films and NBC Sports Group. The series debuts tomorrow at 10:00pm ET and also will feature Patrick's "Football Night in America" colleagues Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison in segments that end each show. ...