HDTV Company Vizio To Produce Sports Series

LCD/HDTV production company Vizio will venture into the television series development arena with the launch of an interview series on Fox Sports Network that will focus on the stars of the National Football League.
The 30-miniute Vizio's Profiles, which debuts Oct. 2 across all Fox Sports Network stations as part of a time buy deal, takes a close look into the professiona and personal lives of football's biggest stars including Green Bay Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Minnesota Vikings' running back Adrian Peterson, Arizona Cardinals' wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and San Diego Chargers' running back LaDanian Tomlinson among others.
Vizio executives say the move toward content creation provides the company greater opportunity to brand its own content across traditional broadcast and online media.
"The proliferation of DVRs is forcing every company to reevaluate how it spends its media dollars," said Jason Maciel, director of marketing at Vizio in a statement. "Vizio's Profiles represents a shift for us to move beyond traditional media buys to the development and ownership of branded content."
Vizio executives say the company has no immediate plans to develop other cable or television shows.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.