for other uses see fs1 disambiguation . fox sports 1 launched august 17 2013 2013 08 17 network fox sports owned by fox entertainment group 21st century fox picture format 720p hdtv hd feed downgraded to letterboxed 480i for sd feed slogan the 1 country united states puerto rico language english broadcast area nationwide headquarters los angeles california replaced speed 2005 2013 sister channel s fox sports 2 fox soccer plus fox deportes fox sports networks fox college sports big ten network fox sports website www.foxsports.com watch fs1 www.foxsports.com availability satellite directv channel 219 hd sd dish network channel 150 hd sd cable available on most u.s. cable systems consult your local cable provider for channel availability iptv at & t u verse channel 1652 hd channel 652 sd verizon fios channel 583 hd channel 83 sd google fiber channel 208 hd streaming media fox sports go watch live u.s. cable internet subscribers only ; requires login to stream content playstation vue internet protocol television sling tv internet protocol television fox sports 1 fs1 is an american sports oriented cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the fox sports media group a unit of the fox entertainment group division of 21st century fox . 1 fs1 replaced the motorsports network speed on august 17 2013 at the same time that its companion channel fox sports 2 replaced fuel tv . 2 both fs1 and fs2 absorbed most of the sports programming from its predecessors as well as content from fox soccer which was replaced by the entertainment based channel fxx on september 2 2013 . fs1 airs an array of live sporting events including major league baseball college sports most notably pac 12 and big 12 conference football and big east conference basketball soccer matches including major league soccer uefa champions league uefa europa league concacaf champions league and copa libertadores united states golf association championship events ufc mixed martial arts and a variety of motorsports events such as nascar imsa formula e and the nhra . fs1 also features daily sports news analysis and discussion programming with fox sports live serving as the centerpiece as well as sports related reality and documentary programs . the network is based primarily from the fox sports division s headquarters in the westwood section of los angeles california though the network also has significant broadcast operations in new york city new york and charlotte north carolina the latter of which had served as speed s home base . as of february 2015 fox sports 1 is available to approximately 84 836 000 pay television households 72.9 % of households with at least one television set in the united states . 3 contents 1 background 1.1 development 1.2 launch and carriage 2 programming 2.1 event coverage 2.2 news and analysis programming 3 ratings 4 carriage disputes 5 references 6 external links background edit development edit in march 2012 reports began circulating that fox entertainment group had plans to launch a national fox sports cable network by august 2013 known as fox sports 1 giving the sports division a dedicated cable presence to better compete against established networks like espn . 4 fox was already a major force in cable sports programming having operated several niche channels such as fox soccer fox deportes fuel tv and fox college sports . also in its portfolio were the fox sports networks a group of regional sports networks both owned by fox outright or by other companies through affiliation agreements with fsn ; in addition to carrying play by play rights to several local sports teams these regional networks also featured common national content produced and distributed by fox sports including national college sports broadcasts and specialty programs such as the best damn sports show period and baseball s golden age . though this local national hybrid approach gave fox prominence at the local sports level it was somewhat disadvantaged as its flagship over the air network had the distinction of being the only major u.s. broadcast television network not to have a national general sports channel to complement its sports division unlike abc whose corporate parent the walt disney company owns a controlling 80 % stake in espn cbs which operates cbs sports network and nbc which runs nbcsn . the reports indicated that fox planned on converting one of these niche sports channels speed which focused on auto racing and other motorsports as well as motorsports related specialty programs into the new fox sports 1 due to its established reach on u.s. pay television providers speed maintained a subscriber base of 81 million homes with cable iptv or satellite service by 2012 which would result in the reduction of the channel s commitment to nascar and other motorsports coverage . 5 further supporting this theory reports surfaced in january 2013 that fox soccer would be relaunched as fxx a general entertainment network that would be spun off from fx and would feature comedy series and feature films ; such reports were confirmed when the channel s planned launch was officially announced by fox entertainment group on march 28 2013 . 6 7 in october 2012 speed altered its on air logo bug to include the fox sports logo above its own which was believed to indicate a step towards this replacement . 8 fox sports would officially confirm the conversion of speed into fox sports 1 in an announcement on march 5 2013 . 9 despite being established well after espn which launched in 1979 and the nbc and cbs owned sports networks which respectively launched in 1996 and 2003 under different ownership and branding fox sports 1 even before commencing programming has been seen as a legitimate and serious competitor to espn 9 in part due to three factors audience reach by taking over speed s transponder space fox sports 1 was expected to reach 90 million households at the time of its launch with most cable and satellite providers carrying it on the channel slot almost entirely through distribution on basic cable tiers that speed had occupied on their channel lineups . while that number is relatively less than espn s total reach at that time 99 million homes it is also more than the 77.9 million homes that nbcsn reached at the beginning of 2013 which was hamstrung by some of its reach being only through carriage on digital cable tiers . 10 brand awareness fox heavily promoted fox sports 1 s launch through its various television online and social media platforms including appearances of fox sports 1 talent on existing fox programming and the online posting of its shows pre launch rehearsals . 11 programming strategy fox was aggressive in seeking and securing major content for fs1 employing a strategy to obtain rights to popular sports and leagues that they believed other networks underserved as well as creating high profile original shows see programming below . 11 fox sports executives see fox sports 1 as an alternative to the establishment much as the fox broadcasting company was to other broadcast networks in the 1980s and fox news channel was to cnn in the 1990s . in terms of growth fox entertainment group acknowledged that fox sports 1 would start modestly and not be competitively equal with espn right out of the gate ; however the company foresees the network growing incrementally believing that the channel will be on par with its senior competitor within a few years of its launch . 12 launch and carriage edit original logo used full time from august 17 2013 to may 2015 ; currently used as an alternate logo . fox sports 1 formally launched on august 17 2013 at 6 00 a.m. eastern time with the following introduction good morning and welcome to the very first day of fox sports 1 . here on america s new sports network our promise to you is that we will share your passion for the game never take ourselves too seriously and most importantly never put ourselves above the game nor the athletes . we will be informative without ever sacrificing accuracy . we work for you the fan and every day we will live up to this simple promise . now let s get on with the show . curt menefee co host of fox nfl sunday 13 the launch day featured 16 hours of live sports coverage 14 including nascar coverage during the late morning and afternoon highlighted by a camping world truck series qualifying round and race five hours of ufc bouts in the evening the main event of the fight night card being a match between maur cio rua and chael sonnen and the premiere of the sports news and discussion show fox sports live following the conclusion of the ufc event . 15 16 although marketed as a relaunch of speed fox sports 1 was contractually considered to be a new channel ; due to its change in scope from automotive and motorsports to mainstream sports fox was required to reach new deals with providers for them to carry the network . at first fox sought a higher carriage fee as well estimated at 80 per subscriber more than triple the subscriber fee of 23 that speed had commanded ; by comparison espn pulls in fees of approximately 5.00 per subscriber the most expensive fee of any pay television network . 11 17 concerns by providers over the increasing costs for cable and satellite services for their customers largely believed to be partly due to the higher fees commanded by certain sports channels resulted in fox backing off charging the 80 per subscriber rate instead charging the same 23 rate that those providers paid to carry speed . 18 19 for any remaining providers that had not reached a deal to carry fox sports 1 fox planned to offer a version of speed with limited programming on an interim basis until a deal was reached in order to fulfill existing contracts that required fox to provide a motorsports channel . 20 carriage deals were made by the launch date with all major cable and satellite providers including cable telco providers comcast charter communications cox communications verizon fios at & t u verse cablevision bright house networks mediacom suddenlink communications cable one and time warner cable as well as satellite providers directv and dish network . 21 the deals with time warner dish and directv which were announced just days before fs1 s launch were seen as crucial to the network as those three providers had a combined reach of over 40 million households nearly half the goal of 90 million homes that fs1 set for its launch . 17 international markets that previously received the u.s. version of speed such as canada the caribbean and the u.s. territory of puerto rico did not gain access to fox sports 1 upon its relaunch ; in canada the canadian radio television and telecommunications commission permitted the carriage of speed as a foreign service but fox did not seek carriage of fs1 in that country some of the sports event programming that fox sports 1 holds the broadcast rights to carry already air in that country on domestic sports networks such as tsn and sportsnet . a version of speed remains operational for these markets now known as fox sports racing airing a lineup of past speed reality shows and coverage of nascar and other motorsports events simulcast with fox sports 1 or fox sports 2 . 22 in early 2014 some major canadian service providers began to drop the channel upon the expiration of their contractual rights to carry speed . 23 24 in 2015 fox sports 1 expanded its sports portfolio further with fox sports media group s acquisition of rights to the nascar sprint cup series united states golf association championship events and major league soccer . in july of that year the channel began using a new wordmark logo on