Fox Sports 1 comes to 'all major distributors' Saturday, mobile app on hold

Saturday morning at 6AM Speed TV turns out the lights for the last time as Fox replaces it with a new 24-hour sports channel: Fox Sports 1 (FYI: Fuel TV will become Fox Sports 2, and FXX launches September 2nd as the new home of Always Sunny, The League and Totally Biased). Why? Because every network needs its own sports channel to fill out the package, like Disney / ABC including ESPN and Comcast / NBC Universal's NBC Sports. Negotiations this week wrapped up last-minute deals with holdouts DirecTV, Dish and Time Warner Cable, ensuring the channel will be available on all "major" distributors (about 90 million homes) across the country. What isn't quite ready for prime time is the accompanying Fox Sports Go app, its attempt at a TV Everywhere experience akin to WatchESPN and NBC Sports Live Extra. Rep Chris Bellitti tells Variety that "one of the most complex TV Everywhere apps ever created" just needs a little tweaking before it arrives on the web, iOS and Android. It will have live streaming video, plus scores, news and more for sports fans. You can check after the break for a list of the content FS1 will carry -- UFC: Shogun vs. Sonnen caps Day 1 -- and a preview trailer, or hit the link below to doublecheck its channel on local providers.

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FOX SPORTS 1 TO LAUNCH ACROSS ALL MAJOR DISTRIBUTORS
NEW NATIONAL SPORTS CHANNEL DEBUTS SATURDAY, AUGUST 17

Fox's new national sports network, FOX Sports 1, will debut on Saturday, August 17th, with every major distributor on board, making this the biggest sports cable network launch in history, and one of the largest network launches ever. The announcement was made by Mike Hopkins, President, Distribution, Fox Networks.

"We are thrilled that virtually all pay-television customers across America will have access to FOX Sports 1," said Mr. Hopkins. "This network launch is a major milestone for Fox and will alter the sports television landscape. We are grateful to our distribution partners for making this all possible."

At the outset, FOX Sports 1 boasts nearly 5,000 hours of live event, news and original programming annually. A robust schedule of live events forms the backbone of FOX Sports 1's programming from Day 1, with college basketball, college football, NASCAR, soccer, boxing and UFC all on tap between launch and year's end. In fact, the schedule on August 17th features live events morning, noon and night including a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Michigan and UFC FIGHT NIGHT: SHOGUN VS. SONNEN in prime time. In 2014, FOX Sport's new rights agreement with MLB takes effect, bringing regular and postseason games to FOX Sports 1.

Viewers can learn where to find FOX Sports 1 on their system by visiting FOXSports1.com.

Fox Networks is a unit of Fox Networks Group (FNG) and includes 47 owned-and-operated and joint venture TV networks, video on demand and other media platforms. Together these networks reach more than 700 million television homes and represent one of the media industry's largest and most diverse programming groups. Fox Networks distributes FX, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo Mundo, FXM, FUEL TV, FSN and 22 regional cable sports networks, FOX Sports 1, SPEED, SPEED2, FOX Soccer Channel, FOX Soccer Plus, FOX College Sports, FOX Deportes, Utilisima, Baby TV, BTN (co-venture with the Big Ten Conference) and BTN2Go. In fall 2013, FNG is launching FXX, a new network aimed at young adult viewers. FNG also includes the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Digital Media, and Fox Sports Enterprises, which manages interests in sports franchises and leading statistical information provider STATS, LLC.

FOX Sports 1 Programming Highlights –

ORIGINAL PROGRAMS – FOX SPORTS LIVE, a nightly news, highlights and analysis program, airing hourly every night live from 11:00 PM-2:00 AM ET; FOX SOCCER DAILY (4:00-4:30 PM ET); NASCAR RACE HUB (4:30-5:00 PM ET); CROWD GOES WILD, an irreverent and unconventional talk show about sports featuring Regis Philbin (live weekdays, 5:00-6:00 PM ET); FOX FOOTBALL DAILY, providing the latest college and NFL news and analysis (live weekdays, 6:00-7:00 PM ET); BEING:, a contemporary sports documentary series with upcoming episodes on Mike Tyson, Mariano Rivera and the NYPD tackle football team..

BOXING – Golden Boy Promotions / GOLDEN BOY LIVE!

COLLEGE BASKETBALL – Dozens of exclusive prime time games on Monday and Thursday nights, plus Saturday and Sunday coverage of the BIG EAST, Big 12, Pac-12 and Conference USA.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL – Dozens of exclusive, live games from the Pac-12, Big 12 and Conference USA on Thursday nights and Saturdays; triple- and quadruple-headers on Saturdays; Saturday pre- and postgame coverage.

GOLF – FOX Sports 1 becomes the primary cable outlet for the USGA and the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Senior Open Championships, as well as the USGA's national amateur championships and other live content beginning in 2015.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL – FOX HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

HORSE RACING – The Jockey Club

MLB – Beginning in 2014, select League Championship Series and Division Series games; regular-season games over 26 Saturdays; live game-in-progress look-in show.

MOTORSPORTS – ARCA Racing Series; FIA Formula E and AMA Supercross; Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series; Lucas Oil Pro Motocross; MotoGP World Championship; MotoGP Moto 2; MotoGP; Moto 3; MotoGP World Championship Qualifying; IMSA United SportsCar Racing.

NASCAR – Select NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races as soon as 2015; NASCAR Nationwide Series races; NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races; NASCAR Sprint All-Star race; all Speedweeks events leading up to the Daytona 500 including: Daytona 500 Qualifying, Sprint Unlimited at Daytona (2014, 2017-22) and the Budweiser Duel, now in prime time; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NCWTS Practice and Qualifying sessions; NASCAR RaceDay, providing pre- and post-race coverage; NASCAR Victory Lane, a post-race wrap-up for Sprint Cup races; and Race Hub, a daily mid-day studio show with the latest from drivers, owners and garages.

SOCCER – Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday afternoon coverage of the world's most prolific club soccer competitions, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, and CONCACAF Champions League featuring many of the world's greatest and most successful clubs; the world's oldest soccer competition, the FA Cup; CONCACAF Gold Cup; CONCACAF Qualifiers, FIFA Women's World Cup coverage in 2015 and 2019; FIFA Men's World Cup coverage in 2018 and 2022; UEFA EURO 2016 and 2018 FIFA World Cup European qualifying matches; delayed matches in prime time; weekly magazine and highlights shows.

UFC – Featured on Wednesday nights; live FIGHT NIGHTS through 2014, the first is scheduled for launch night, Saturday, Aug. 17th; FOX event preliminary cards; UFC Tonight, the weekly authority for UFC news and information; 14 Saturday pay-per-view preliminary cards; hundreds of hours of library programs and events.