After garnering yet another record-breaking season, the last thing you\u2019d expect to hear from Fox Sports is the need to improve. But improving the on-air product year after year is exactly what keeps NFL on Fox at the top of the charts.<\/p>\n
In 2010, NFL on Fox bested its own average-audience record (19.1 million, set in 2009) by 1 million viewers (20.1 million per game) and recorded its highest household rating in 15 years, making last season the most-watched in Fox history. According to ratings released by Nielsen Media Research at the end of last season, Fox Sports reigns as America\u2019s No. 1 sports network, a distinction the network has held for 14 straight years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a very uniform vision in how we want to see the sport presented, and it\u2019s something that, when Ed [Goren, vice chairman, Fox Sports Media Group,] and I started this in \u201994, is a process,\u201d says Fox Sports Chairman\/CEO David Hill. \u201cTelevision has to change minute by minute with the audience. A show that looked fantastic in \u201994 or \u201995 is not going to fly with audiences today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Improving Coverage All Season Long \u201cWe wanted to improve our coverage across the board,\u201d says Mike Davies, VP of technical operations for Fox Sports, \u201c[for] not only our biggest games but our B- and C-level games as well.\u201d Fox Sports will add at least one super-mo and one Inertia Unlimited X-Mo camera to every production.<\/p>\n \u201cThe A crew always had four super-mos,\u201d he continues. \u201cAdding the X-Mo and the super-mos together is going to give more visual clarity in terms of replays than we\u2019ve had before.\u201d<\/p>\n To maximize the X-Mo\u2019s potential, Fox Sports added a double sideline cart to every package, with one turret devoted to the X-Mo while the other turret continued to operate a normal camera. Davies\u2019s crew will be able to experiment with the camera throughout the season by changing the placement of the X-Mo or using it as a handheld.<\/p>\n Fox Sports will roll out the same fleet of trucks this season for its A, B, and C games with one brand-new addition: NEP\u2019s SS22. After a tryout at the PGA Championships<\/a>, the SS22 traveled to Jacksonville, FL, on Aug. 19 for a preseason bout between the Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons before taking up its permanent post as one of two B-game mobile units.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful brand-new truck, and we were involved at the very beginning of its design,\u201d says Davies, as the team prepares for the preseason contest in Jacksonville. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to get crackin\u2019 on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Keeping the Audience With the Game \u201cWe want to keep everything in the moment and never take the audience away from the field of play,\u201d explains Hill. That means no full-screen graphics, no missed snaps, and making sure viewers can see the team break the huddle and get to the line of scrimmage.<\/p>\n Fox Sports President Eric Shanks echoes this idea, opining that the improvement process requires scrutinizing every game, maintaining an on-going dialog with production team and talent, and remembering that the game is first and foremost.<\/p>\n \u201cWe spend a lot of time talking about what makes the broadcast a good listen, what makes it a good feel,\u201d he says, \u201cand making sure our guys are not trying to format a live game, that we\u2019re letting the game dictate the broadcast.\u201d<\/p>\n NFL on Fox Gets Animated A staple of NFL on Fox, Cleatus the Robot, will get a makeover as well. Gary Hartley, EVP\/creative director for Fox Sports and father of the robot, plans to reposition Cleatus, giving him more personality while keeping him within the Fox Sports brand.<\/p>\n \u201cWe added functionality to it; we made it a little cooler, a little more fun,\u201d he says. Wanting to situate Cleatus as more of a super-hero figure, Hartley\u2019s crew teamed with Blur, a company that specializes in videogames, movie effects, and character animation, to outfit the robot with jetpacks, shields, and stabilizers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe production value that was put into [the robot] was pretty high,\u201d says Hartley. \u201cIt feels bigger, it has more scale.\u201d<\/p>\n Trek Across the Pond \u201cWe\u2019re excited to get back to London,\u201d says Davies. \u201cWe did the first regular-season London game years ago.\u201d The Miami Dolphins hosted the New York Giants at Wembley on Oct. 28, 2007.<\/p>\n Fox Sports employed UK-based OB company CTV and worked alongside the NFL and Wembley to develop an approach that would appeal to an American audience. CBS followed in Fox Sports\u2019 footsteps, using the same vendors and building on Fox Sports\u2019 infrastructure to broadcast games from London in 2008, 2009, and 2010.<\/p>\n \u201c[CBS] got to build upon and refine the original plan, so we\u2019ve got a whole set of facilities and people over there that now know how to do that game very well,\u201d says Davies. \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to getting back and seeing how things have been improved upon over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n Putting the Lockout in the Rearview Mirror \u201cWe couldn\u2019t let the lockout affect our preparation whatsoever,\u201d says Davies. \u201cWhen they finally did get the lockout settled, we didn\u2019t miss a step. We were all ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After garnering yet another record-breaking season, the last thing you\u2019d expect to hear from Fox Sports is the need to improve. But improving the on-air product year after year is […]\n More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[438,297,128],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31339"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.sportsvideo.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>NFL on Fox kicks off its 18th season on Sept. 11 with a double dose of football. The first of nine America\u2019s Game of the Week national doubleheaders features the New York Giants and Washington Redskins in an NFC East showdown. Currently, Fox is scheduled to broadcast 108 regular-season games, enhancing the camera setup for the A-, B-, and C-level broadcasts.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>A key initiative for the Fox Sports team is keeping the fan engaged with the game itself. To this end, the Vizrt graphics package and Fox Box will remain largely the same as last year (the Fox Box will be slightly smaller and take better advantage of Fox Sports\u2019 widescreen format), providing the fans with in-game information without distracting them from the action on the field.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>The animation package, however, has been updated significantly. This season, the NFL on Fox broadcast will feature new open, replay wipes, and interstitials.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>NFL on Fox will travel to the United Kingdom on Oct. 23 to broadcast a special presentation from London, as the Chicago Bears take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium. The fifth time an NFL game was played overseas, this season\u2019s contest will be Fox Sports\u2019 second trip across the pond.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>With an enhanced camera complement, updated animation, and preparation to head overseas, Fox Sports is ready to kick off the regular season this Sunday. As the network looks to extend its \u201cAmerica\u2019s No. 1 sports network\u201d distinction for a 15th year, the lockout is a mere memory for all involved in the broadcast.<\/p>\n