Fox Sports

It’s not just the fact that Fox seemed to broadcast all of the biggest sporting events over the past year, fronting what could be the best stretch of events in sports broadcast history.

Rather, according to some of sports media’s most influential executives, it’s mainly about what Fox does with the broadcasts that really sets it apart.

“Fox is progressive with their look on air, contemporizing broadcasts with the latest technology that brings ‘eye appetite’ appeal to the 21-34 viewer,” said Tony Ponturo, Anheuser-Busch’s vice president of global media and sports marketing.

Fox Sports’ “Championship Season” started with last year’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which posted an 8.4 rating/15 share, making it the highest-rated night of the summer.

Fox then broadcast the NFL’s NFC package and was one of two broadcasters to post increased ratings during the season. Then there was the World Series, the BCS championship and the Super Bowl, with the streak winding up during the 50th running of the Daytona 500.

Fox’s successful year, though, was about more than just those broadcasts. The company’s network of regional sports networks — Fox Sports Net — secured long-term rights to several teams during a time when new competitors were entering the RSN market.

It also has found success with the Big Ten Network (Fox owns about half of the channel). Despite high-profile battles over carriage with the country’s two biggest cable operators — Comcast and Time Warner — the channel still was able to hit 30 million in distribution a few months after launch.