It’s been more than two months since ex-ESPN executive Norby Williamson reemerged as Main Street Sports Group’s President of Production and Programming overseeing the FanDuel Sports Networks.
And with his first MLB season in charge of the regional sports network operator approaching, his plans for the company’s RSNs are beginning to take shape.
Speaking with Puck’s John Ourand, the former ESPN EVP of Production laid out his vision for the future of FanDuel Sports Networks. Specifically, Williamson is looking to overhaul the RSNs’ studio shows in an effort to make them less singularly focused, noting that they currently feature the home team 95 percent of the time.
“That needs to be 65 percent,” Williamson, who joined Main Street Sports Group in January, told Ourand. “We have a huge opportunity to do that and to make those pregame shows more dynamic, more urgent, and rate higher.”
As Ourand notes, one of the primary benefits of such a shift would be that it would give the networks’ pre and postgame shows a wider range of appeal in the event they wind up on a streaming service such as Amazon’s Prime Video or ESPN’s upcoming ‘Flagship’ direct-to-consumer offering. With the RSNs potentially — if not likely — available to a national audience in the near future, it seemingly makes sense for them to be less geared toward just their local markets.
Williamson also revealed that Main Stream Sports Group (formerly known as Diamond Sports Group) is planning to produce a separate slate of pre and postgame shows that will be available on the company’s digital products outside of the RSN paywall. The objective there is to attract a younger demographic, which has already proven capable of seamlessly locating such offerings.
“We did those at ESPN,” Williamson told Ourand. “Younger audiences find them.”
While there’s still no shortage of uncertainty surrounding the future of Main Street Sports Group as it emerges from bankruptcy and RSNs in general, Norby Williamson’s vision appears clear. And much like his former employer, its primary focus seems to be what will work best in the streaming era.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.