American Soccer

SL Interview: Phil Schoen

American Soccer - GolTV

July 22, 2005

There is no doubting that there is more soccer on television in the United Sates than there ever was and GolTV is a major part of that. The 24/7 soccer channel is growing every week with new programs and more league coverage. We had the opportunity to discuss the channel and its future with Phil Schoen from the channel's weekly program, 'American Soccer.' Here's what he said:

SoccerLoop: Phil, thanks for taking the time. What is the current state of GolTV?

Phil Schoen: Thanks for giving me a chance to share the good news! GolTV is doing great. There are growing pains, as there always are with a new company. However, we're approaching ten million households, we're available on Dish Network, DirecTV and many cable systems. More and more sponsors are coming on board. That's not bad for a network that's just over two years old.

In addition, I believe GolTV already has left its legacy on the television landscape. We might not have been the only reason, but GolTV showed that fans needed an all-soccer channel. GolTV got the ball rolling, and then Fox reworked their sports channel and ESPN debuted its Spanish language sports channel. However, we are still the only all-soccer channel out there!

And I think the product is getting better all the time. Just take a look at the teams that will be on GolTV this week: Milan, Chelsea, Arsenal, Boca Juniors, Ajax, Porto and the Chicago Fire. And we have the final from Ecuador between Barcelona and LDUQ. And last year, we signed a three-year deal to carry the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Final. There's something for everyone.

In addition, this year we revamped our programming to unveil flagship programs in both English and Spanish. Both American Soccer and 45/45 give us a chance to spotlight the big stories happening around the world and right here at home.

SL: Are ratings meeting expectations in the networks early years?

PS: I don't know if we'd ever be satisfied, but I would say we're very happy with the numbers.

SL: What program or League matches get the highest ratings?

PS: Our weekend games from Italy and Spain get incredible numbers, and our program on Mexican soccer, SuperEstadio, gets very good numbers. All in all, we get very good numbers on all of our prime time programming.

SL: Obviously having the Serie A and La Liga is vital, but how are the South American leagues doing for GolTV?

PS: We want to put the best soccer out there that we can, but we also want to give our fans what they want. And there are many expatriates living in the US that want to keep alive that lifeline to their favorite teams. We're always on the lookout to expand our reach and our coverage.

SL: GolTV has the rights to the US Open Cup Final. Why is there no focus on the earlier rounds?

PS: We have talked about doing a good semifinal or even a quarterfinal game. However, the costs to set up a live broadcast in some of the locations where the games are played can be very high. Still, we are doing more live productions ourselves like the World Series of Football games with Milan, Chelsea and Chicago. So there is a good possibility we will expand our coverage in the future.

SL: Can we assume that some of the early round matches of the US Open Cup would draw better ratings than the Guatemalan or Salvadoran league matches?

PS: At this point, the ratings for even the US Open Cup Final pale in comparison to the ratings for Guatemala and El Salvador. However, we didn't get into this for an immediate payoff. The Open Cup is part of our effort to expand our programming and bring in more US fans to the GolTV family. And we know that the ratings for the Cup will continue to grow, and as they do we would obviously be more interested in expanding our coverage especially since that would likely allow us to carry some of the most exciting games, when MLS and USL teams go head-to-head.

SL: How has the response been to your weekly program "American Soccer?" If ratings grow, can we expect to see more money invested in the program? This would be in regards to the set, more interviews and more video footage.

PS: The response has been almost unanimously positive, which is very nice to see considering all of the work done by so many people to put it together. It's not easy. We're still feeling out what the ultimate 'American Soccer' should be, so there are a few growing pains, and after every show we talk about how to make it better. One of the problems is actually a positive one. 'American Soccer' isn't supposed to be a news-only show, but there has been so much soccer going on this summer we haven't had a chance to run more features and to argue about the controversies of the day. There are a number of improvements already in the pipeline including a real set, not the virtual one, which would allow us to have guests join us in the studio. We're also looking to fine-tune the show to give us a chance to discuss things a bit more and have a bit of fun. Every week we take one step closer towards making it a great show.

SL: What new programming can we expect to see coming down the pipe on GolTV?

PS: We have a few things in the mix, but the shows that will probably come out first will focus on the 2006 World Cup in Germany. We're planning on being over there in person with extensive coverage, especially on the US and Mexican teams.

SL: Thanks again, Phil. Keep up the great work!

PS: It's not work…okay, it's a heck of a lot of work but I love every minute of it.

Article by: Steven Patton