Fox Sports Radio - History

History

Launched on August 28, 2000, Fox Sports Radio had about 50 affiliates nationwide. Fox Sports Radio had a very quiet launch, as most of its affiliates in major markets were in contracts with ESPN Radio or One-on-One Sports (now Yahoo! Sports Radio) as well as FSR, which made getting programs heard rather hard, as its few full time affiliates were mostly daytime only stations or had very weak signals at night. The Sports Fan Radio Network (SFRN) ceased operations shortly after FSR's initial launch, allowing former SFRN affiliates to join the new FSR rather easily. One of the hosts on the Sports Fan Radio Network, J. T. the Brick, also joined Fox Sports Radio shortly thereafter.

Because FSR is actually owned and controlled by Premiere Networks and only uses the Fox name per a two-way marketing agreement with Fox, there is very little synergy between the two outfits, aside from certain personalities (such as Chris Myers) appearing on both. FSR is also granted unrestricted rights to use audio from any sports programming aired on Fox TV or FSN for highlights purposes. As of 2006, the only long-form program shared by FSR and Fox TV is Fox NFL Sunday; additionally, as of 2011, Fox Sports has occasionally provided the network with live play-by-play coverage, including the audio of Fox Soccer's telecast of the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final, as well as ten Ultimate Fighting Championship events a year that are televised on either Fox TV or FX. The network previously aired The Best of The Best Damn Sports Show Period on weekend mornings.

Eventually, as Clear Channel-owned sports stations began to drop ESPN Radio in favor of the new network, its affiliate base grew rapidly, from 50 stations to more than 280 stations and XM Satellite Radio throughout North America.

In early 2005, Fox Sports Radio began calling itself FSR on air, the same year Premiere's contract to use the name Fox Sports was due to expire, provoking many to think that a name change was in the works. The FSR branding has since been largely phased out; meanwhile, the contract has since been renewed, most recently in 2010. Premiere also distributes News Corp's Fox News Radio franchise.

On January 20, 2009, in an effort to save money, Premiere and parent company Clear Channel shook up FSR's programming lineup, merging it with the local sports programming lineup on KLAC. Out of Bounds with Craig Shemon and James Washington was replaced with the Content Factory's The Dan Patrick Show in the 9 a.m.—noon Eastern time slot. FSR's afternoon show The Drive with Chris Myers and Sean Farnham was also canceled, with Myers teaming up with KLAC afternoon hosts Steve Hartman and Vic Jacobs (essentially replacing Hartman and Jacobs's co-host, Mychal Thompson, who was also dismissed) for the retitled Myers and Hartman. They also replaced the evening Gametime Live with Andrew Siciliano and Krystal Fernandez with KLAC's Petros and Money Show from 7—10 p.m. Eastern and The Third Shift on Fox with Ben Maller with Fox Sports Soup with Sam Betesh, a show that replayed top segments from each of FSR's other shows that day, from 2-6 a.m. Eastern time. Finally, Sean Farnham was moved from afternoons to a weekend evening slot.

On August 10, 2009, after Sam Betesh left FSR, Fox Sports Soup was canceled and the programming was changed again. The J. T. the Brick Show changed its airtime to 1-6 a.m. Eastern. (it had previously aired from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.). Ben Maller returned to FSR and now hosts a weekend show from 1-6 a.m. Eastern. FSR picked up the Content Factory's Into the Night with Tony Bruno for the 10 p.m.—1 a.m. weeknight timeslot, which lasted until late 2011, when it was replaced by Fox Sports Tonight with Rob Dibble. In January 2010, Stephen A. Smith replaced Steve Czaban as FSR's morning drive-time host, and a year later Smith vacated the morning slot to be replaced by Zakk and Jack. In 2012, Fox Sports Daybreak with Andy Furman and Artrell Hawkins took over the morning slot.

The network generally does not broadcast first-run programming from noon to 3 p.m. Eastern in recognition that most of its affiliates carry Premiere's The Jim Rome Show at that time. Fox Sports Radio's current website, hosted on Clear Channel servers, lists Rome's show with a disclaimer that it is distributed independently of FSR. However in March 2010, Fox Sports Radio ran a special March Madness show in the timeslot for two weeks, making it the first time FSR has programmed the timeslot. Sean Farnham and John Fricke anchored the show on different days. Rome is scheduled to depart Premiere at the end of 2012.

FSR airs one-minute sports updates, currently branded as "Fox Sports News", every 30 minutes at the top and bottom of the hour. The network is distributed to stations on a barter basis, meaning no cash fee is required. Stations that take the show must play the mandated four minutes of national advertising per hour, or five minutes in the case of The Dan Patrick Show as well as the featurette containing another minute of ads. The network is distributed over Premiere's X-Digital Systems satellite after previously using ABC's Starguide.