Fans want to consume sports as much as ever -- just in different ways. That rate of change in how they consume content has put the onus on industry execs to evolve to create viewing options tailored for a fragmented audience. "No one should be resting on their laurels right now because everything is changing," Twitter Head of U.S. Content Partnerships Laura Froelich said during a wide-ranging panel discussion about streaming at CES in Las Vegas. Fox Sports Exec VP/Digital David Katz pointed to the vast majority of top 50 shows in the fall of '19 being sports, and among women, nine of the top 10. Katz said, "Clearly sports is playing a more dominant role than it ever has and becoming incredibly valuable. ... It is incumbent on us to create products to keep pushing things forward." It also is critical to constantly monitor in real time what the audience wants and adjust accordingly. Katz said Fox provides its shows and talent with rundowns of what the show's fans from social media think and what some fans of the show's competition from social media think. He believes that enables you to get a rich view into what the landscape is thinking about how to better frame and inform the conversation.
