One month after its "much-ballyhooed launch, Fox Sports 1 is proving itself to be a much more attractive advertising environment than its predecessor," according to Anthony Crupi of ADWEEK. FS1’s first 30 days have "shown vast improvement over the now defunct Speed." On a total-day basis, the net has "boosted its overall deliveries" by 29% compared to the year-ago period, while male viewers between 18-49 are up 49%. Nightly ratings have "improved even more sharply, as overall prime-time viewership is up" 102% while men 18-49 have risen 180%. FS1 last week alone "averaged 302,000 viewers in prime," marking a 54% improvement from the 196,000 viewers Speed reached in the period spanning Sept. 10-16, 2012. Moreover, when "compared to FS1’s first full week of operations, the network’s prime-time deliveries are up" 92%. FS1 in that same period "made short work of the rest of the second-tier sports nets," drawing better ratings than MLB Network (235,000 viewers), NBCSN (100,000) and Golf Channel (97,000). FS1 in its first month on the air "topped NBCSN 24 out of 30 nights among men 18-49." In addition to "all the extra eyeballs, FS1 presents a more compelling audience profile." With a median age of 45, the net "has already shaved off seven years from the old Speed number." Household income "is up 12 percent to $60,400 and deliveries in the top DMAs now account" for 21% of the total FS1 audience. Fox Sports Senior VP/Programming & Research Mike Mulvihill said, "We have taken an asset we had in Speed and not only have grown the audience, but made it more attractive to advertisers. We’ve made great strides without giving anything up in terms of the quality of our audience" (ADWEEK.com, 9/20).
