70. Foxy Games

Bob Thompson       
Title: President, Fox Sports Networks, Fox Sports International and Fox Cable Nets
Age: 48
Years in Industry: 26
Years Left in Industry: “Ask my accountant.”

Randy Freer
Title: COO, Fox Sports Networks
Age: 46
Years in Industry: 23
Years Left in Industry: “As long as they will keep me.”

Last rank: NR

Why Them? Bob Thompson and Randy Freer guided 5 family sports nets—FSN, Fox Soccer Net, Speed, Fox College Sports and Fuel TV—to more than $5 million in gross ad sales in '05, according to Kagan. Fox is the only other media company besides ESPN to hit the list with 5 nets. Fox Soccer has capitalized on surging US interest in the sport, and FSN and its 18 RSNs continue to hammer away at Bristol’s finest. Fox will add the Big Ten Network to the mix next year, bolstering an already formidable starting 5. With all the recent success led by Thompson and Freer, Fox can no longer be, well… foxy in its pursuit of sports net success. Major players are followed too closely. - CH

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Bob Thompson

Defining career moment: “Agreeing to join Storer Cable as a door to door salesman in 1981.”
Biggest cable surprise of 2006: “The apparent ease at with which the phone companies circumvented the local franchise process in order to get into the cable business.”
Top personal achievement in 2006: “Entering into an agreement with the Big Ten
Conference to launch the Big Ten Network.”
In my free time, I like to: Golf
Favorite restaurant: Capo, Los Angeles
Favorite city: Barcelona
Favorite line from a movie or TV show: Shoeless Joe Jackson: “Is this heaven?”… Ray Kinsella: “No, it's Iowa.” – Field of Dreams
Favorite TV show: “Entourage”
Favorite movie: “Pulp Fiction”   
Favorite sports team: University of Oregon Ducks
I wish cable would: “Quit apologizing for what it charges consumers.  It is a tremendous entertainment value.”
Favorite piece of tech: BlackBerry
Least favorite piece of tech: “BlackBerry (sort of a love hate relationship for me).”   
The world would be a better place if: “Distributors and programmers both realized that neither of us would be here without the other.”

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Randy Freer

I knew the cable industry was for me when: “Radio didn’t work out.”
Defining career moment: “Joining Fox in 1997.”
Biggest cable surprise of 2006: “The firing of Tom Freston.”
In my free time, I like to: “Ski with my daughters.”
My most embarrassing cable moment was: “Blocked it out of my mind.”
Favorite city: “Park City Utah (not really a city but still my favorite place)”
Favorite line from a movie or TV show: “The following happens between 7am & 8am…” – “24”
Three things I would take with me to a desert island: “My wife and 2 daughters.”
Favorite song: “Jungleland”
Favorite TV show: “24”
Favorite movie: The Godfather
Favorite sports team: NY Giants
I wish cable would: “Listen to it self.”
Favorite piece of tech: TiVo
Least favorite piece of tech: Treo

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