Ratings for Dodgers, Astros show the challenges of starting RSN

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/29/Media/RSNs-side.aspx

By John Ourand & David Broughton, Staff Writers

Published September 29, 2014

The two MLB teams that most recently launched their own regional sports networks suffered through historically low local ratings this season.

With a little more than a week left in the regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 0.80 rating on SportsNet LA and the Houston Astros’ 0.35 rating on CSN Houston were on pace to be not only the lowest local TV ratings in the league this season, but also the lowest local numbers in the history of the two franchises. 

Cardinals lead way in MLB local TV ratings

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/29/Media/MLB-RSNs.aspx

By John Ourand & David Broughton, Staff Writers

Published September 29, 2014

St. Louis Cardinals games on FS Midwest have proved to be baseball’s top local TV draw this season. 

• Ratings for Dodgers, Astros show the challenges of starting RSN

Boosted by the Cardinals’ continued on-field success, St. Louis was on pace last week to have the highest local rating among MLB’s teams at season’s end for the first time since 2010. Heading into the final weekend of the season, Cardinals games were averaging a 7.76 rating and 95,000 homes, putting St. Louis ahead of another playoff-bound team, Detroit, who was averaging a 7.62 rating on FS Detroit.  

Game Changers: Marla Newman, SVP, sales, FOX Sports Digital

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/09/15/Game-Changers/Marla-Newman.aspx

Published September 15, 2014, 

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Photo: COURTESY OF FOX SPORTS

D

igital wasn’t a big part of the Fox Sports ad sales effort when Marla Newman joined the company from MTV Networks in 2011. Situated in a different building, blocks away from where the TV ad sales group is based, Newman seized every opportunity to get a seat at the Fox Sports ad sales table.
“I had to fight my way through at the beginning,” Newman said. “I came over … every other day to check in and let the TV ad sales side of the business know that digital can be additive.”

Marla
Newman

FOX SPORTS DIGITAL

That message has become clear, and Newman, as senior vice president, sales, today has a key place at the table.

As an example, last month, Fox Sports’ top executives, including President Eric Shanks, had a brainstorming meeting to come up with ideas for a particular advertiser around the World Series. Newman declined to name the advertiser because the deal hasn’t been finalized, but she said that when she came up with an idea that tied in social networking through Fox Sports’ baseball website Just a Bit Outside, Fox’s executives bought in.

“I knew we were starting to be taken more seriously when [Fox ad sales executive Neil Mulcahy] stopped calling our group ‘dot-com’ and started just calling us ‘digital,’” Newman joked.

But as Mulcahy notes, Newman is certainly an important cog in the Fox Sports ad sales division. “Marla works tirelessly to identify ways we can connect the digital space with what we’re trying to achieve for clients on Fox, Fox Sports 1 and our other linear platforms,” he said.

— John Ourand

• Woman in sports business you’d most like to meet: Serena Williams. She is an incredible athlete who continues to win and stay focused while, at the same time, she’s built a consumer-facing brand and has driven significant philanthropic efforts.
• Best advice received: My dad always taught me to only worry about what you can control, and when something doesn’t go your way, acknowledge it and move on.
• Career turning point: Going from an NBC affiliate in Seattle to New York working in digital on a national level.
• On the iPod/musical interests: It’s a huge range: Beastie Boys, Band of Horses, Lorde and so much more.
• Outside of work and family, I’m spending a lot of my time on … : Being active: jogging, yoga, cross-country skiing, sailing.