News Corp. COO Chase Carey Thursday at the Goldman Sachs' Communacopia Conference "declined to say whether or not Fox would launch a national sports network, but made it clear that the company likes sports." Carey said cable channels Speed and Fuel give Fox "a real opportunity to do some exciting things." CABLEFAX DAILY notes both have been "discussed as possible channel flips for an upcoming national sports net." Carey: "We think sports content opens an array of opportunities for us" (CABLEFAX DAILY, 9/21).
AWARDS TIME: Dan Patrick and Mike Francesa won Marconi Awards from the National Association of Broadcasters. Patrick was honored as the best Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year and Francesa was named Major Market Personality of the Year. Boston's WEEI won a Marconi award as the Sports Station of the Year. The awards were handed out at the NAB Marconi Radio Awards Dinner & Show in Dallas Thursday night (John Ourand, THE DAILY).
JIMINY CRICKET: In N.Y., Shivani Vora noted ESPN is "devoting a significant portion of its stateside broadcast" to cricket. This week, ESPN "began showing the T20 World Cup live for viewers in the United States for the first time since the tournament started in 2003." The net has "promised cricket fans more than 1,500 hours of cricket programming from 2012 to 2015, the fruits of an exclusive deal signed with the global rights holder, ESPN Star Sports, in March 2011" (NYTIMES.com, 9/20).
