Spurred by the teetering regional sports network model, we’re now squarely in a new chapter of the sports/broadcasting relationship.
A number of station groups — E.W. Scripps, Gray and Nexstar in the front of the pack — have been making aggressive moves to win rights and recapture viewers with the drama of live sports — and any sports will do.
Peachtree Sports, launched on Oct. 1 by Gray Television’s WANF and WPCH in Atlanta, is the latest entrant into the sports race. It’s being positioned as a soon-to-be-statewide network running a decidedly mixed bag of Georgia sports ranging from the Ultimate Disc league to minor league hockey and a swath of college and high school games.
In this Talking TV conversation, Erik Schrader, the stations’ VP and GM, explains the impetus for the network, the bet it’s making to capture the sports-curious viewer and the evolutionary track he sees Peachtree Sports following.
Episode transcript below, edited for clarity.
Michael Depp: Ever since the dissembling of some major regional sports networks, broadcast TV has gotten a glimmer in its eye over the matter of sports rights. Local sports were, for decades, a mainstay of broadcast in a symbiotic relationship. Teams saw local TV as a tool to cultivate new fans. Local stations got a nice boost in the ratings as fans tuned in for the games.
Now, from the ashes of the RSNs those relationships are rising anew led by E.W. Scripps, Gray and Nexstar, the most vocal groups