FS1 is "making cuts to its news operation," as the updates that regularly air on the net during commercial breaks "will be folded into the At the Buzzer online brand and most significantly, some personnel at the newsdesk and producers will be let go," according to sources cited by Joe Lucia of AWFUL ANNOUNCING. FS1 also is "planning on cutting back on live reporting for events it doesn’t have the rights to air and pundits and reporters will be doing much less traveling as a part of these moves." Sources said that the "wheels were in motion for the cuts to be made" before Fox Sports National Networks President Jamie Horowitz joined the network in April (AWFULANNOUNCING.com, 6/26). SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote the cuts are happening because live sports rights "cost a ton and Fox has spent dramatically over the last couple of years with its World Cup, U.S. Open and NASCAR rights agreements." For the digital arm of Fox Sports, there "appears to be a clear pecking order regarding which content gets pushed the heaviest, starting with video, and recent personnel moves suggest that being a provocateur and providing bro-style commentary might insure better job security than straight reporting." On the TV side, the hiring of Horowitz "signals the desire to build FS1's day parts around personality-driven talents rather than those who cover the content more down the middle." Fox Sports has "never had the same seriousness about journalism as ESPN ... but it did make some thoughtful hires suggesting it was serious about building a quality news organization." Fox Sports cutting staffers is a "real bummer because the company offered (in theory) a potential long-term competitor to ESPN for good-paying jobs for sports journalists who cared about quality editorial." But that future "remains more cloudy today" (SI.com, 6/29).
