Fox Sports 1 in 2015 is hoping to build on a freshman campaign that saw the former Speed Channel post a 71% increase in viewership, compared to Speed a year prior. A highlight of 2014 was October coverage of Major League Baseball’s playoffs, which drew more than 18.7 million new viewers to the network. Fox Sports 1 general manager and chief operating officer David Nathanson spoke with programming editor R. Thomas Umstead and news editor Mike Reynolds about year one and plans to keep ratings momentum going with a strong programming slate in 2015, including FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage this summer.

MCN: Looking back during Fox Sports 1’s first year, did you accomplish everything that you wanted to accomplish?

David Nathanson: I don’t think you ever accomplish everything you want to accomplish. We certainly aren’t going to rest on our laurels and our past successes and, frankly, we learned a lot more from some of our failures than we did from some of our successes. I think in the first year we adjusted our programming mix dramatically. We launched with a slate of shows, and we’re constantly re-evaluating where we are, if we’re speaking to the right audience, whether we’re positioning ourselves and the network to grow in the sports marketplace, if we are servicing the fans the way we want to service the fans. I think some of the adjustments we made along the way are a reflection of that.

MCN: What are expectations for Fox Sports 1 in 2015?

DN: In year two, we have an opportunity to really expand the audience and evolve our programming. What I’m most looking forward to is a combination of showcasing our incredible premiere events on Fox Sports 1, many of which, like golf, are new to the Fox Sports brand. It’s also an opportunity to expand how we relate to sports fans in shows like Fox Sports Live. So that’s an exciting opportunity for us.

MCN: Sports networks take a lot of hits from the media and from consumers because of the high cost of their content. Talk about your perception of sports and how valuable it is to the overall cable business.

DN: We’ve all been part of the cable business a long time, and sports has always been an integral part of the cable business. You can go back to the early boxing days on HBO when fights like the “Thrilla in Manila” [the 1975 Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier heavyweight title fight in the Philippines] helped catapult HBO back in those days. You can see how sports impacted Fox in terms of acquiring [broadcast- TV] NFL rights in 1994 … that established the Fox Sports brand. So launching Fox Sports 1 is no different, and I think the fact that sports news is relevant, timely, must-see content provides tremendous benefits to the whole cable ecosystem.

MCN: Is there anything in the marketplace coming up that you guys are very interested in potentially acquiring?

DN: I think we’re always looking at everything in the marketplace. It’s no surprise that there are things out there in the college space, in the professional sports space, in the international sports space, all of which we look at and evaluate. Ultimately, it has to be a decision that fits within our portfolio. It has to be a smart economic decision for us, and a smart strategic decision in terms of where we want to grow our audience and our brand.

MCN: Do you have enough room to get back into England’s Premier League soccer?

DN: It’s less of a capacity issue — we have Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, so certainly we have enough outlets to help satisfy the need for those sports fans. Ultimately, it’s a question of is it the right decision for us and at what price? The Premier League is, on a global scale, the mostrecognized soccer league in the world. We’re building ourselves as the home of soccer and we have the rights to prove it, from FIFA to [Major League Soccer] to CONCACAF to the [English soccer] FA Cup, etc. So ultimately, the Premier League has been an important part of our past and it could be an important part of our future. So will our coverage of the Women’s World Cup. Our coverage is going to be unprecedented to any coverage of that event in the history of that event. We’ll have 16 games on broadcast television and 30 on Fox Sports 1.

MCN: What role do ring sports such as boxing and mixed martial arts play in the development of Fox Sports 1?

DN: UFC is one of the columns that Fox Sports 1 was built upon. I think they are some of our strongest partners. The UFC and MMA helped build the foundation by which Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 were launched. And they remain one of the most important sports categories for us. We’re seeing record numbers with both TV series and the Fox Sports 1 events, not to mention the events that air on the broadcast network. And we believe there’s huge growth still. Some of the biggest stars are evolving and about to come up the ranks in the UFC. So for us, this is the most exciting time for the UFC and ultimately I think it’s going to see tremendous growth in the coming years.

MCN: How far along is the Fox Sports Go app, in terms of the TV universe?

DN: We’d like to see Fox Sports Go continue to add new affiliates, and it is. I think you’ll find in the coming months that new affiliates will be added to the equation to broaden the availability of Fox Sports Go. For us, it’s an essential part of the experience, you want to be able to watch Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, wherever it’s most convenient to you. To do that in conjunction with our distributors is almost an expected thing that the consumers hope to get today from their sports network. So for us, as widely as we can make that available and as fast as we can make that available to the consumer, that’s our objective. We’re certainly on the road to doing that.

MCN: How do you view the competition?

DN: We have a tremendous amount of respect for all the sports networks out there. As I mentioned, this is arguably the most competitive time ever in the sports landscape. And you can see that just by how competitive rights are for the top exclusive rights. Each of the other sports networks in the television landscape — as well as some of the sports outlets in the digital landscape — all present unique rights, unique perspectives, unique options. So we view them very respectfully, and we’re aware of what it takes to be competitive in the landscape. At the same time we’re very confident in the portfolio of rights we have, in the talent that we’ve amassed to support those rights, and our future strategic plans to grow those rights. Ultimately, we’re extremely optimistic in our position in the landscape.

There will be plenty of baseball firsts for Fox Sports 1 on Saturday.

The rookie national sports network will unveil a new pregame show, introduce two announce teams, trot out the first two of its 40-game regular-season MLB slate, and make them available on the programmer's TV Everywhere service.

Most importantly, the arrival of MLB regular-season games should lift FS1’s profile, sampling and audience, while serving as a prelude to a robust post-season package that likely will generate the network's highest Nielsens to date.

Under its new eight-year, $4.2 billion rights deal with MLB, Fox Sports is doubling the number of regular-season exposures to 52 and adding a pair of Division Series (minus one game from each that will air on MLB Network).

Although Fox broadcast will televise a dozen regular-season contests, the All-Star Game and the World Series, most of the programmer’s national hardball action will appear on FS1, including the aforementioned 40 regular-season affairs and Division Series, plus one League Championship Series.

Turner Sports has a similar playoff package during the Division and League Championship rounds. For continuity of scheduling, the carriers over the life of the new MLB rights deals, will in alternate years present all of one league’s postseason games until Fox airs the World Series. MLB will likely make its decision about league post-season assignments after the Mid-Summer Classic.

Leading with a pregame show, hosted by SNY’s and NFL on Fox play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt from Los Angeles, FS1 will present the first of its 10 solo doubleheaders (it will split 10 others with Fox).

FS1 begins on-field matters at 1 p.m. (ET) with  Minnesota-Cleveland, followed by San San Francisco-Los Angeles Dodgers, which will feature Fox's main broadcast squad of Joe Buck, Tom Verducci and Harold Reynolds. The trio succeeds Buck and Tim McCarver, who had been Fox’s primary MLB team since 1996.

Moreover, FS1 has debuted MLB Whiparound, its live look-in show, hosted by Chris Myers, that competes with ESPN’s BaseballTonight and MLBN’s MLB Tonight, and will bow America’s Pregame, which will set up the night’s sports lineup, including plenty of MLB action, on April 7.

In addition to its own games, highlights and news coverage, FS1 will also offer programming from MLB Productions.

“Adding America’s pastime to the network, in terms of 40-regular season and MLB Whiparound, are the start of great things to come,” said FS1 and FS2 general manager and COO David Nathanson in an interview.“ We will have more baseball than any other multisports network, and are looking to owning Saturdays.”

Nathanson believes baseball’s bow, as well as the premiere of U.S. Open Golf and FIFA World Cup (women’s) action next year, will bring more and new eyeballs to the network.

“It’s still early days, but we’ve been a little light in the Northeast [in terms of viewership]. Baseball will certainly help with that,” said Nathanson, alluding to the sports’ popularity among fans stretching from Boston, New York to Philadelphia, down to the nation’s capital. “As we add more programming, including MLB, more people will sample the network and audiences will follow.”

Madison Avenue certainly has. A Fox Sports spokesman noted that advertising for the regular season is “virtually sold out”  and that MLB Whiparound has been “incredibly well-received and advertisers are looking to get more involved with it. There is high demand for baseball.”

Bill Wanger, executive vice president, programming, research and content strategy at Fox Sports, explained that the programmer’s MLB schedule was assembled in a three-step process. Leading off: a dozen contests selected for Fox’s broadcast window -- eight consecutive weeks of primetime Saturdays, beginning in late May, and four afternoon games in September.

Next, there are 14 “coexist” contests that will air both on FS1 and on regional sports networks in the participating clubs’ DMAs. Teams can’t appear across Fox and FS1 coexist games more than eight times.

Finally, 26 “regional elevate” games will appear exclusively on FS1. This schedule was drawn from games originally slated for Fox-owned regional sports networks. For instance, Saturday's matchup between the Twins (Fox Sports North) and Indians (SportsTime Ohio) was elevated to the national level. 

“We’re going to get the home market audience for those games. That’s going to help,” said Wanger.

He also noted that Fox was mindful of adding too many regional elevate contests that could rub up against the RSN’s contractual game exposure requirements. With the regional elevates, the home team’s broadcast team will make what becomes the national call on FS1.

Both executives believe viewers will be pleased by the quality of productions they will see from Fox’s RSN lineup, and benefit from acumen the local announcers will bring to bear. “They live and breathe with these teams,” said Nathanson.

Although Fox and FS1 have announced their full-season schedule, Wanger said modifications can be made to reflect the fluctuations of on-field performance. “We have certain windows, four weeks, two weeks and one week out to make changes,” he explained.

Wanger reminded that in addition to the national contests Fox RSNs will air some 2,500 ballgames during the 2014 season. “It’s going to be one big circle when it comes to promotion,” he said.

As to the posteason, Wanger is jazzed. "Any time you can present some of baseball's crown jewels, it's really going to create some excitement," he said.

Digitally, Fox’s national MLB regular-season and playoff schedules will be streamed for the first time.

Nathanson shied away from forecasts for MLB on Fox Sports Go. “This is the first time with MLB. I’m not going to make any predictions for the numbers this year, but Fox Sports Go has been successful with the Super Bowl and other events,” he said. “People are expecting to find their sports on multiple platforms, so it’s par for the course. “

Currently, Fox Sports Go is available to some 30 million authenticated Comcast, Cablevision, AT&T U-verse, Suddenlink, WOW! and Midcontinent subs, about one third of FS1’s base. Fox Sports Go also has deals with Time Warner Cable and Cox and the programmer is hopeful the service will launch before close to another 20 million homes by the All-Star break.

Asked if having MLB games will serve to expand its streaming roster, Nathanson said: “The appeal of baseball may prompt some distributors to sign up more quickly. Others will include [Fox Sports Go] as part of broader affiliate negotiations.”