Fox Sports (Latin American TV network)

Fox Sports is a group of channels available in Latin American and operated by The Walt Disney Company Latin America, a unit of the Disney International Operations. The network is focused on sports-related programming including live and pre-recorded event broadcasts, sports talk shows and original programming, available throughout Latin America.

Fox Sports
CountryUnited States
Broadcast areaLatin America (except Argentina and Mexico)
NetworkFox Sports International
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, United States[1]
Programming
Language(s)Spanish
Picture formatHDTV 1080i
(downscaled to 480i/576i for the SD feed)
Ownership
OwnerThe Walt Disney Company
(Disney International Operations
The Walt Disney Company Latin America)
History
Launched1996 (1996)
ClosedFox Sports:
1 December 2021 (2021-12-01)[2]
Fox Sports 2:
14 June 2023 (2023-06-14) (Central America and Dominican Republic)[3]
Replaced byESPN 4 (Fox Sports)
Former namesPrime Deportiva (1995)
Fox Sports Americas (1996–1999)

History
Fox Sports logo, used from 2001 to 2009.
Fox Sports logo, used from 2009 to 2012.

The network was launched in 1996 as Prime Deportiva, under the ownership of Liberty Media. Prior to its launch, on October 31, 1995, News Corporation acquired a 50% ownership interest in Liberty's Prime Network group and its international networks (including sister channels Premier Sports and Prime Sports Asia) as part of an expansion of its Fox Sports properties in the Americas.[4][5] In 1996, the channel was rebranded as Fox Sports Américas, later shortened to Fox Sports in 1999. In 2002, Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst, a Dallas private equity firm, Liberty Media Corp and News Corp created a holding company (Fox Pan American Sports) to jointly operate FOX Sports Latin America.[6] News Corp owned approximately 38% interest.[7] Liberty later exited leaving HMTF and News Corp as co-owners of the cable network. News Corp purchased the ownership rights from HMTF of FOX Sports en Espanol and rebranded as FOX Deportes in 2010. News Corp purchased the remaining ownership rights for the holding company from HMTF and fully owned the FOX Sports Latin America cable network in 2011.

Fox Sports logo, used from February to November 2012.

In 2009, a second feed called Fox Sports+ (FOX Sports mas) was launched, to allow simultaneous broadcasting of football. In 2010, FOX Sports signed a deal with UFC to be the first cable network to show it in Latin America. FOX Sports also opened a studio in 2010[8] in Mexico City where it broadcasts original programming and licensed programming. In 2012, the channel was renamed to Fox Sports 2, whereas Speed Channel was rebranded to Fox Sports 3.

In March 2019, the network became a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company after it acquired 21st Century Fox.

In December 2019, it was announced that its Chilean, Peruvian, Uruguayan and Colombian channels would go off the air.[9][10][11]

In November 2021, Disney announced that Fox Sports' main channel would be renamed ESPN 4 on December 1, 2021, while Fox Sports 2 and Fox Sports 3 would continue on the air with the premium channel (Fox Sports 1) in Chile continuing on the air as well.[2]

On May 17, 2023, It was announced that Fox Sports' secondary channel would close in Central America and Dominican Republic on June 14, 2023, with the South feed continue to being kept on air.[3]

Feeds

Fox Sports
  • Fox Sports 1 (Chile) — formerly known as Fox Sports Premium, it was launched at the same time as its sister channel. It covered pay-TV events from Fox Sports and Fox Sports 2 that couldn't be aired live on the localized feed due to broadcast licenses.

Fox Sports 2

Fox Sports 3

Localised channels
  • Fox Sports (Chile) — localized feed exclusively available for Chile, replacing Fox Sports in November 2013.
  • Fox Sports (Colombia) — localized channel launched in 2016 as an independent feed with original programming.
  • Fox Sports (Peru) - localised channel launched on 1 March 2018, with exclusive voice-over narrations for matches involving Peruvian football clubs and the Peruvian football team.
  • Fox Sports (Uruguay) - localised channel launched in February 2014 with original programming and voice-over narrations for Uruguayan football teams.

Programming

Fox Sports Latin America broadcast sports-related programming 24 hours a day in Spanish. The network carried a wide variety of sports events, including football (UEFA Champions League, Copa Lib, etc.), MLB and WWE programming. Fox Sports also aired talk shows (NET: Nunca es tarde) as well as other programming including exercise programs.

American Football

Football

Professional Wrestling

Other programming

Alongside its live sports broadcasts, Fox Sports also aired a variety of sports highlight, talk, and documentary styled shows. These include:

  • Expediente Fútbol
  • Momentos Eternos
  • Fox Sports Clásico
  • El show de la Copa Libertadores
  • Fox Gol: Especial Messi
  • Especiales Fox Sports
  • Repeticiones
  • Circuito
  • Rally on board

Personalities
  • Argentina Damián Trillini
  • Argentina Daniel Retamozo
  • Argentina Juan Manuel Pons
  • Argentina Julián Fernández
  • Argentina Martín Ponte
  • Argentina Matias Sanchez
  • Argentina Mauricio Gallardo
  • Argentina Pablo Pons
  • Argentina Pablo Schillaci
  • Argentina Raúl Barceló
  • Argentina Sebastián Porto

See also

References
  1. "Company Overview of Fox Latin American Channel, Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
  2. "Confirmado: Disney lanza Espn 4 en sustitución de Fox Sports" (in Spanish). November 11, 2021.
  3. "Fox Sports 2 será descontinuado de Centroamérica en Junio". TVLaint (in Spanish). May 17, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  4. "FOX AND LIBERTY OUTLINE PLANS FOR NEW CABLE VENTURE". Sports Business Journal. Advance Publications. November 1, 1995. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  5. "TCI, LIBERTY AND NEWS CORP. HAMMER OUT SPORTS NET DETAILS". Sports Business Journal. Advance Publications. May 10, 1996.
  6. "Hicks Muse, Fox Sports in Spanish-language sports venture". Dallas Business Journal. February 5, 2002. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
  7. "SEC filing".
  8. "Fox Sports inaugurated new studios in Mexico | Superfights". en.superluchas.com. 2010-08-08. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  9. "Fox Chile cerró sus programas más importantes y Rodrigo Sepúlveda analiza el año: "Ha sido duro"". 16 December 2019.
  10. "La señal Fox Sports deja de emitir desde Uruguay".
  11. "Eddie Fleischman: Periodista deportivo comunicó que Fox Sports dejará de operar en el Perú". 25 December 2019.
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