Fox Sports officially introduced Mike Joy as the anchor
for its NASCAR coverage next year. Joy joins former Winston
Cup driver Darrell Waltrip and crew chief Larry McReynolds
to form the NASCAR on Fox broadcast team. Joy anchored the
last three Daytona 500's for CBS Sports after 15 years on
pit road for the net (Fox Sports). During yesterday's press
conference announcing the broadcast team, Fox Sports TV
Group Chair David Hill challenged the perception of the
net's plans for its racing coverage. Hill: "I am happy to
hear all the rumors about what we're going to do to NASCAR
because it means people will watch to see if we screw it up.
We're not going to screw it up." Hill added, "I heard
people say NASCAR took the coverage away from the networks
that have had it. That's not true. We wanted it more. The
other networks had the same opportunity we did to stand up
and get it and they did not. We did." Hill also
"reiterated that NASCAR would have no editorial control over
the content of racing telecasts" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER,
11/16). After listening to Hill, the RICHMOND TIMES-
DISPATCH's Jerry Lindquist writes that Fox Sports execs
"have this very large chip on their shoulders. ... These
mavericks think they know everything about sports
television. They'll do some wild and crazy things just to
be different and ruin it for everyone. And the Foxies puff
up and insist they don't, and they won't, and how dare you
imply that they would" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 11/16).
MURDOCH ON MLB: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Matthew Doman
reports that News Corp. Chair Rupert Murdoch "insisted that
Fox remains enthusiastic about its involvement" in MLB
despite taking losses estimated at about $70M during this
year's postseason (see THE DAILY, 11/9). Murdoch said that
the terms of Fox's new six-year deal "gave the network
greater flexibility to ensure that this year's losses are
not repeated, but he was cautious about projecting
significant direct profits" from MLB. Murdoch did predict
that Fox will "at least break even" on its MLB deal, but
stated that the deal is important "to the Fox networks
beyond its direct profitability" (HOLLY. REPORTER, 11/16).
