FOX Sports All A-Twitter At 80th MLB All-Star Game

FOX SPORTS ALL A-TWITTER AT 80^TH MLB ALL-STAR GAME

MLB on FOX Plans Extensive Coverage via Tweets from St. Louis;

Reporter/Insider Rosenthal to Answer Questions In-Game

New York – There’s no way to be 100% sure without checking each of MLB on FOX’s 10 prior MLB All-Star Game broadcasts, but it’s unlikely you’d find the words “Twitter” and “tweet” anywhere in the coverage.  That’s about to change.

As communication via Twitter continues to grow, MLB on FOX plans extensive coverage of the 80^th MLB All-Star Game via the Internet-driven messaging service, it was announced today by FOX Sports president, Ed Goren.  FOX Sports’ coverage of the Mid-Summer Classic begins at 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, July 14, live from Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  In addition to “tweets” generated by the MLB on FOX on-air team and FOXSports.com in the days and hours leading up sports’ most-popular all-star event, MLB on FOX reporter and FOXSports.com MLB Insider extraordinaire Ken Rosenthal answers Twitter-submitted questions from fans as the game progresses.

“There’s no denying that Twitter is a communications phenomenon that continues to grow, and our hope is that those who follow us on Twitter will use it to deepen their enjoyment of the All-Star Game broadcast,” said Goren.  “Ken is the best connected writer following the game today, and he’s been our biggest single tweeter.  Our hope is that fans will have fun tweeting with him during the game, which in turn will make their All-Star Game experience more enjoyable.”

“I’m all about reaching fans with the information I gather, be it on-air, through FOXSports.com, via Twitter or our Facebook and Myspace pages,” added Rosenthal.  “I’m sure time will permit me only a few on-air opportunities during the game, so this gives me a forum to answer as many questions from fans as possible and report more of what I learn and observe.”

Initiated as a complement to MLB on FOX on-air coverage to engage viewers more deeply, www.twitter.com/mlbonfox has broken news, provided in-game observations and insights, guided fans to exclusive columns at FOXSports.com, sent out dozens of exclusive photos and issued programming alerts and tune-in information.  The twitter.com/mlbonfox page was launched at 12:52 PM ET on April 7, 2009 with a link to Rosenthal’s 2009 predictions, and since then over 9000 fans have become followers, with access to over 400 updates issued.  A prolific contributor, Rosenthal is responsible for generating over 100 tweets, thus far this season.   Besides Rosenthal, also contributing from St. Louis throughout All-Star festivities will be play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, game analyst Tim McCarver and dugout reporters Eric Karros and Chris Rose, who also serves as pre-game host.

Twitter reportedly has more than 10 million followers around the world at present, doubling its number over the last few months.  Users exchange messages of no more than 140 characters, instantaneously.

FOX SPORTS – As America’s top-rated network for sports for the 12th-straight year (1997-2008), FOX Sports boasts rights agreements with each of the nation’s highest-rated sports. FOX Sports is the exclusive national over-the-air television rights holder of Major League Baseball, including the All-Star Game, alternating League Championship Series and World Series (2007-2013); the National Football League’s NFC package, including the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowls XLV and XLVII (2006-2013); NASCAR’s Sprint Cup racing from February through May, including the Daytona 500 (2007-2014); the Bowl Championship Series, featuring the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, FedEx Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl from 2007 through 2010; and the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. Since its inception in 1994, FOX Sports has earned 81 Emmy Awards for production excellence. David Hill and Ed Goren are the Executive Producers of FOX Sports.  For the latest sports news, opinion and video, log on to www.FOXSports.com.  Fans may also interact with FOX Sports at www.facebook.com/foxsports and www.myspace.com/foxsports.