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Ryan-Spoon-Yahoo
Courtesy of Yahoo

ESPN and Fox aren’t the only media companies trying to reach an emerging generation of sports fans who are more at home in digital realms then they are traditional ones.

Yahoo Sports is launching a new free. ad-supported streaming TV channel that features original programming covering big leagues like the NFL, NBA and MLB as well as combat sports and more.

Yahoo Sports Network represents a way to put all of the company’s sports programming under a single umbrella — and “reach the fan where he or she is,” says Ryan Spoon, president of Yahoo Media Group, part of the search-and-content company that is backed by Apollo Global Management and Verizon. “We had a couple hours of live programming a week. That number’s now 60,” he adds. “And it’s going to keep growing.”

Programs will include live shows such as “The Ariel Helwani Show,” “Yahoo Sports Daily,” “Inside Coverage,” and “Yahoo Fantasy Forecast,” as well as recorded episodes of “The Kevin O’Connor Show,” “Football 301,” and “Network with Rich Kleiman.”

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Yahoo Sports’ aim, says Spoon, is to “go vertical by vertical, and develop what we think are really exemplary, leading shows and voices.” More than half of the shows available on the new outlet have launched in the past 18 months.

There has been considerable ramping up of original content in recent months. Yahoo Sports brought Josh Pate’s “College Football Show” to the platform and added Andy Staples and Steven Godfrey as co-hosts of its “College Football Enquirer.” “Yahoo Sports Daily,” a new live Monday through Friday morning program, recently launched with Jason Fitz and Caroline Fenton. Yahoo Sports NFL insider program, “Inside Coverage,” is streaming live for the first time with new host Andrew Siciliano.

Yahoo Sports Network, operated by C15 Studio, is available on LG Channels and Sling Freestream, and will launch on Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Fire TV, Fubo, Plex, Prime Video, and The Roku Channel over the coming weeks.

The channel is also available on yahoosports.tv, a new home for Yahoo Sports video. That site also features highlights from many major sports leagues, as well as content from partners such as OneFootball and Motorsport Network.

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