DAILY VARIETY's Stuart Levine reports Fox Sports Media Group has tapped MICHAEL BLOOM "to head an original programming division." The aim of the new division is to "create original sports-related programming that could air" as a lead-out for Fox' early Sunday NFL game when there is no doubleheader, with a goal of retaining "a portion of that massive NFL viewership." Fox is interested in "adding more online sports programming to its digital partners, and that effort would also fall under Bloom's purview." Fox Sports Media Group Chair DAVID HILL would like to make both Speed and Fox Soccer "a higher priority within the Fox Sports universe." Hill sees adding new programming to supplement live events "as a way to generate interest" in the channels (VARIETY.com, 1/6).
CHANGES AT THE PALACE: Four Palace Sports & Entertainment execs "were dismissed Thursday as part of the company's restructuring" under new Pistons Owner TOM GORES. Those affected were Exec VP/Corporate Sponsorships DAN HAUSER, Exec VP/Booking & Marketing MARILYN HAUSER, VP/Corporate Sponsorships for the Advertising Department LARRY THOMPSON and Dir of IT & Business Systems MIKE GARRETT. The changes come as former Olympia Entertainment exec JEFFREY AJLUNI was named Pistons and PSE Exec VP & Chief Revenue Officer (DETROIT NEWS, 1/6). Dan Hauser had been with the Pistons since '78, while Marilyn Hauser had been with the Palace since it opened in '88 and booked the arena for about 15 years (Don Muret, SportsBusiness Journal).
EXECS: Quiksilver CFO JOE SCIROCCO has decided to leave the company to pursue other opportunities. Scirocco, who has served in the role since '07, will continue in the position for an unspecified period of time while the company searches for his replacement (Quiksilver)....Premier Partnerships named Rockets Corporate Development Manager SCOTT WESSELS and Lakers Corporate Partnerships Manager MATT POPE Dirs of Corporate Partnerships (THE DAILY)....The Univ. of California-Santa Barbara named Lakers Dir of Athletic Performance & Player Development CHIP SCHAEFER Assistant AD for Sports Performance (UC-Santa Barbara)....YES Network promoted HR Manager GRACIE MERCADO to Dir of HR (YES)....The Marketing Arm named TOM EDWARDS VP/Digital Strategy. He previously worked for digital agency Red Urban (The Marketing Arm).
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