Ed Goren has been promoted to vice chairman of Fox Sports Media Group as part of a major reorganization that includes Eric Shanks, a senior executive at DirecTV, succeeding him as Fox Sports president.
The new appointments are effective June 1, with both executives reporting to Fox Sports Media Group chairman and CEO David Hill.
Goren (left), 65, worked under Hill for more than 16 years, when Hill was overseeing Fox Sports. Last January, all of News Corp.’s sports operations in addition to Fox Sports, including the company’s 19 regional sports networks, Fox Soccer Channel, Speed Channel, Fox Sports en Espanol, Fuel TV and Fox Sports Interactive Media. All were placed under Hill’s supervision.
Additional areas he oversees are Fox Sports joint ventures Stats, LLC, and Big Ten Network.
Goren’s new role will be to assist Hill in all aspects of Fox Sports Media Group, including business and programming, which will include program production, development, research, marketing and on-air promotion.
Shanks will become the third president of Fox Sports since it
was started in 1993. Hill and Goren were the first two.
Shanks, 38, first joined Fox Sports in 1994 and served as a sports producer and as vp of enhanced programming for Fox Television Networks, before leaving to joined DirecTV in 2004 as senior vp of advanced services and content. He helped launch DirecTV on Demand, the 101 Network, DirecTV’s Nascar package, it’s NFL RedZone feature, and its 3D programming initiative.
"I’m excited to have Eric, whom I recruited from CBS 16 years ago, return to us and succeed me as Fox Sports president," Goren said in a statement.
Hill said Shanks skills at both Fox Sports and DirecTV "are going to be esstential as we adapt our business to an ever-changing landscape with dynamic new technologies that seem to emerge on a daily basis."
Chase Carey, News Corp. deputy chairman, president and COO, who has worked closely with Goren at Fox Sports and also with Shanks during Carey’s stint there, said, "This reorganization will help us realize the full potential of the Fox Sports Media Group, which was designed to maximize the strength of the Fox Sports brand across all platforms."
