FSN Final Score

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FSN Final Score is the nightly sports news program that airs across the United States on Fox Sports Net.

The program airs at 10:30 p.m. and midnight local time Monday through Friday, and 10:30 p.m. and 1 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The times became effective on November 19, 2006; before that, the show aired at 11:30 p.m. local time Monday through Friday, 10:30 p.m. Saturday, and 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

FSN Final Score debuted on July 3, 2006 and is the first nationwide sportscast to air on the collection of regional sports networks since the National Sports Report was cancelled in 2002. Van Earl Wright is the only former anchor of the first show to appear on this show.

The program consists of highlights of the night's sporting events, as well as a wrapup of some news items away from the venue of play. There are no additional analyses or feature stories, except on nights when very few games are played.

The following items are on the screen during the broadcast:

A ticker on the bottom of the screen is the "FoxSports.com on MSN Headlines." Everything that happens away from the venue of play is shown here, including contract signings, trades, criminal actions, and deaths. When the show premiered, this was on the top of the screen. In October 2006, it was moved to its present location, just above a rolling graphic showing the night's scores and details.
On the left is the main screen on which the program is shown. This expanded in size in the October redesign.
The right-hand middle portion is "The Rundown." Here is the scheduled order of content for the show. The current element is on the top in the largest print, accompanied by graphics (most often team logos). The next four items scheduled are listed below.
Final Score ends with "The Big Moment," which is the most valuable highlight or sound bite of the day, as chosen by the show's producers.

1 Anchors
2 Sponsors
3 Alteration due to deaths
4 Differences with ESPN
5 See also
6 External link

[edit] Anchors

Randy Kerdoon (2006)
Barry LeBrock (2006-present)
Danyelle Sargent (2006-present)
Andrew Siciliano (2006-present)
Greg Wolf (2006-present))
Van Earl Wright (2006-present)

[edit] Sponsors

Since September 2006, DirecTV has been the presenting sponsor of the program. DirecTV also sponsors the "big moment."

From December 20, 2006 to mid-January 2007, TiVo sponsored the very first highlight of the show, which is now called the "TiVo Opening Act." Ironically, the first scheduled "opening act" was reserved for a NBA game that was postponed due to a blizzard that paralyzed Denver, Colorado, where the game was scheduled to take place. The first actual "opening act" was the Green Bay Packers' win over the Minnesota Vikings in NFL football the following night. The "opening act" is now occasionally sponsored by Lexmark and Just for Men.

[edit] Alteration due to deaths

If there is a notable death in the world of sports that day, news of that death is presented in full screen and the usual layout of the show is delayed until the next story.

As of February 23, 2007, it has happened after the following five people died: Cory Lidle, Red Auerbach, Bo Schembechler, Lamar Hunt, and Dennis Johnson.

In addition, FSN can take down the layout during the program and present the obituary in full screen mode. This has happened in the cases of the passings of Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn and NASCAR champion Benny Parsons. However, the death of Barbaro (the defending Kentucky Derby winner) on January 29, 2007 was not reported on a full screen.

[edit] Differences with ESPN

The main difference between this show and ESPN's SportsCenter is Final Score's rapid-fire pace. It is very intense on highlights, with soundbites and other graphics (e.g. team standings and brackets) squeezed in if time allows.

Another different surfaced during the 2007 NASCAR season. Final Score continued to use the names and logos of NASCAR races even as ESPN ceased to do so. (See the section on the SportsCenter page, "Conditions to showing highlights," for more details.)