Time Warner Cable President & COO Rob Marcus yesterday said that TWC Sportsnet "has already passed the first litmus test in its short history: it's cheaper than a carriage deal with a third-party RSN." Marcus said that TWC "had a simple formula for its RSN strategy: if the costs of producing the network, less the fees and ad revenue it brought in, were lower than the affiliate fees it would have to pay a third party RSN, it would be considered a success" (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 3/5).
JUST FOR KICKS: The GUARDIAN's John Plunkett reported ITV for yesterday's Real Madrid-Manchester United Champions League round of 16 match "attracted an average of nearly 10 million viewers." It was the "most-watched Champions League match" on ITV since the '08 final in which ManU beat Chelsea on penalty kicks. ITV yesterday saw "an average of 9 million viewers, a 35.2% share," between 7:30-10:00pm GMT. The game "had a five-minute peak of 10.96 million viewers, averaging 9.8 million viewers during the course of the match itself, which kicked off at 7:45pm" (GUARDIAN, 3/6).
SOCIALLY DRIVEN: In Las Vegas, Alan Snel noted Las Vegas Motor Speedway for this weekend's NASCAR races will feature a "social media hub at the Neon Garage" that includes "guests from Team Lowe's Racing, NASCAR, Sprint and media churning out real-time comments." Dubbed the Kobalt Social Command Center, the hub will "host computers and large video monitors that will give fans a live glimpse at the racing luminaries cranking out insights on Twitter and Facebook" (LVRJ.com, 3/5).
DIVERSE PORTFOLIO: Outsports.com yesterday announced that Vox Media, "the people behind SB Nation, have acquired the site." Outsports co-Founders Jim Buzinski and Cyd Zeigler in a statement said that the acquisition "marks the first time a mainstream sports media company has purchased a gay-oriented website." Buzinski and Zeigler will "retain editorial control and continue to operate the site" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/6).
