Jamie Horowitz has been named as president of Fox Sports National Networks, TheWrap has learned.
The hiring marks the former ESPN executive’s return to sports following his short-lived role as senior vp and general manager at “Today,” which he exited in November.
Horowitz will now oversee all programming, marketing and scheduling for Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 and will report to Fox Sports president and C.O.O. Eric Shanks.
Beginning his tenure in the newly-appointed position mid-May, he will handle management and development of original programming, and oversee day-to-day operations for shows including “Fox Sports Live,” “America’s Pregame” and “Nascar Racehub.” He will be based in the Fox Network Center in Los Angeles.
“Watching Fox Sports 1 grow and evolve over the 21 months since we launched has been exhilarating, and I’m so proud of our team for what we’ve achieved,” Shanks said in a statement to TheWrap on Thursday. “Fox Sports 1 is the fastest growing sports channel in the country, and we’ve seen about a 30 percent viewership increase overall, and 50 percent increase for live events, year over year.
“Bringing an extremely creative executive like Jamie aboard to oversee our national cable channels ties everything together.”
Additional Fox Sports restructuring included the promotion of John Entz from Fox Sports’ Executive Vice President, Production and Executive Producer to President, Production, Fox Sports. Entz will be responsible for all live event production, pre- and post-game coverage, as well as studio and technical operations.
David Nathanson, formerly General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, has been promoted to Head of Business Operations, Fox Sports, a newly created position.
Horowitz was fired from “Today” in November after only two and a half official months on the job, and insiders close to the morning show told TheWrap that the issues including friction between Horowitz and NBC News President Deborah Turness and the alienation of staff led to his bold vision to topple “GMA” ending in failure.
Prior to joining NBC News, Horowitz oversaw a number of successful shows at ESPN, including “First Take,” “Olbermann,” “Numbers Never Lie,” “SportsNation,” and ESPN’s “World Series of Poker” programming.
Before joining ESPN in 2006, Horowitz worked at NBC Sports, where he received four Sports Emmys for his work on NBC Olympics coverage and the NBA on NBC. He began his career in television as an NBC Olympics researcher for the 2000 Summer Olympics.