DAZN Exec Chair John Skipper sat for a Q&A with the WASHINGTON POST's Ben Strauss, and the former ESPN President discussed the OTT service's new MLB highlights show. Below are some excerpts from the Q&A.
Skipper, on details of the highlights show: "We will do it Monday through Friday every night of the regular season. We will do a show that is somewhere between five and seven hours long; we will start before the first game of the night and we will finish after the last game finishes. It’s a pragmatic way to get baseball highlights from every game."
On how the deal with MLB came together, Skipper said MLB Exec VP/Media Chris Tully and Deputy Commissioner Tony Petitti "had the idea." Skipper: "I wish I was smart enough to call them and tell them the idea to do this. But they had it. We got a deal done in about three weeks."
On how the show will compare to ESPN's "Baseball Tonight," a show Skipper reduced significantly towards the end of his time at the net: "This is going to be entertaining and fast-moving, while the action is going on. We don’t want to have a panel exclusively of 55-year-old ex-pitchers. We’re going to have some kids on there. Given the length of this we’re not going to be able to have a single host. I think we need a host and a small group of people who will be [doing] it for a period of time."
On reports former Fox Sports National Networks President Jamie Horowitz helped him negotiate the deal with MLB: "Jamie had nothing to do with the deal. I have worked with him in the past on studio shows and we just announced we’re doing a studio show. I’ve got several people helping me think about what kind of show to do, and he’s one of them" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 11/16).
CANELO ON DAZN: Boxer Canelo Alvarez said that one of the factors that "tipped the scales toward his eventual signing with DAZN -- aside from" the $365M deal -- was its "fan-friendly format." Alvarez: "That appealed to us a lot, that they pay less to see a Canelo fight. It was appealing to me, because a lot of people who like boxing couldn't see one because they didn't have the means. ... I liked the idea a lot" (ESPN.com, 11/17).
ANOTHER DANCE PARTNER? In San Jose, Jon Wilner wrote DAZN "might be the best hope for the Pac-12 Networks." The conference "could fold up the regional feeds and put its premium Olympic sports, and perhaps some football and men’s basketball," on the OTT service in the years to come (MERCURYNEWS.com, 11/17).
