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Dinnage Backs Away From Premier League Post

Mike Farrell — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 19:15:13 +0000

Susanna Dinnage, the British Animal Planet executive who was poised to take a seat as one of the most powerful women in international sports as head of the English Premier League, declined that post on Sunday night, with no explanation.

Her decision, reported first by the British press, has sent the soccer body into a scramble for a new leader. Dinnage, who is expected to return to her post at Animal Planet or another job with parent Discovery Inc., apparently surprised league executives with her decision.

“Despite her commitment to the Premier League in early November, Susanna Dinnage has now advised the Nominations Committee that she will not be taking up the position of chief executive,” the EPL said in a statement. “The Committee has reconvened its search and is talking to candidates. There will be no further comment until an appointment is made.”

[embed]https://twitter.com/PLComms/status/1079444570952384512[/embed]

The EPL, one of the more powerful organizations in international sport, named Dinnage as its new CEO in November, and she was set to replace the retiring Richard Scudamore in January. The league said in a statement that it has restarted its search and is talking to potential candidates.

A Discovery spokesperson confirmed that Dinnage will return to her former job at Animal Planet, but had no further comment.

As global president of Animal Planet, Dinnage oversaw teams in both the U.K. and the U.S. Known as a savvy negotiator – she has played a key role in reaching distribution deals for the channel with British satellite TV giant Sky – that skill was expected to be especially helpful to the EPL, whose television deal expires at the end of the current season.

Univision Nets Big Ratings For MLS Cup, LigaMX Semis

Mike Reynolds — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 20:15:00 +0000

Post-season soccer from North American domestic leagues played big for Univision Deportes.

Broadcaster UniMas’ coverage of the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution scored as the circuit’s most-watched MLS Final, averaging 678,000 viewers from 3 p.m. to 6:08 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Dec. 7, according to Nielsen data.

In Landon Donovan's farewell to pro soccer, the delivery for the Galaxy’s fifth championship -- it came at the expense of the Revolution’s fifth loss in the title tilt -- was up 31% from the 2013 match won by Sporting Kansas City over Real Salt Lake. With 395,000 adults 18 to 49, the 2014 MLS Final outpointed its counterpart from a year ago in the demo by 60%.

The top U.S. circuit’s championship match didn’t measure up to the semifinals of Mexico’s LMX. The Apertura first leg match between America-Monterrey on Dec. 4 was cable service Univision Deportes Network’s top telecast ever with 1.2 million watchers from 10 p.m. to 12:05 a.m. that night. Included in that total: 781,000 adults 18 to 49.

The second leg in which America advanced to the championship versus Tigres, averaged 1.3 million watchers and 851,000 in the aforementioned demo to stand as the week’s top soccer telecast, regardless of network.

The contest, which aired on UniMas from 6:55 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8. topped the best English Premier League game, the Nov. 2 Manchester City-Arsenal match on NBC, by 8% in the demo, according to Univision officials.

Univision’s coverage of Liga MX ranks as the most-viewed club soccer in the U.S., outpacing NBC Sports’ presentation of the EPL and Fox Sports’ coverage of the UEFA Champions League.