Comcast plans to beef up Fox Sports New England

Comcast
Corp. is planning a slew of new shows, including a thrice-daily sports newscast
and several talk shows, when it takes over Fox Sports New England this year.

The cable
operator agreed to buy the half of FSN New England it didn’t already own in
April in a $570 million deal that also includes a 60 percent stake in FSN Bay
Area , a

San Francisco
station. Yesterday, it dispatched its top sports programming honcho to

Boston to discuss plans
with FSN employees. In an interview after that meeting, Comcast SportsNet
president Jon Litner said those plans hinge on bolstering the channel’s
programming with new shows and growing its staff of producers and on-air talent. Boston Globe