FOX BUSINESS' Gasparino & Moynihan reported Liberty Media Chair John Malone is "eyeing the 21 Fox regional sports networks." Sources said that Malone and Liberty Media President & CEO Greg Maffei have recently indicated they are "looking to team up with private equity firm Platinum Equity and possibly other investors to potentially purchase the networks." Platinum Equity Chair & CEO Tom Gores also owns the Pistons, while Malone owns the Braves. Both teams have their games aired on a Fox RSN, which sources said was the "motivating factor in their desire to own the networks." Sources also said that Malone and Maffei have "signaled to banking executives that their investment group may include at least one other owner of another MLB team" (FOXBUSINESS.com, 2/3).
SWITCHING STATIONS: In Chicago, Robert Feder notes Univ. of Illinois football and basketball will move to WLS-AM this fall under a "new five-year agreement" with the Cumulus Media news/talk station. UI football and basketball broadcasts have been "airing for more than a decade" on Entercom's sports/talk WSCR-AM. Terms of the new deal, which runs through the '23-24 season, "were not disclosed." Sources said that UI is "paying Cumulus Media to air the games" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 2/5).
TECH INSPECTION: FS1's "NASCAR Race Hub" last night unveiled a new studio set, with the net's Adam Alexander noting FS1 partnered with Epic Games to "utilize their 'Unreal Engine,' the same studio behind 'Fortnite.'" Alexander said the new set allows FS1 to "combine augmented reality and 3D graphics." Co-host Shannon Spake also noted a team of graphic designers spent more than a year "testing and fine-tuning" the studio. She said the show has taken "full 3D body scans of more than 50 drivers" for use via graphic integration ("NASCAR Race Hub," FS1, 2/4).
