Legends Behind the Lens: David Hill The audacious Aussie is one of the most transformative figures in American sports television history By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - 11:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The story of American sports television is engrained in the history of this nation, rising on the achievements of countless incredible men and women who never once appeared on our screens. During this pause in live sports, SVG is proud to present a celebration of this great industry. Legends Behind the Lens is a look at how we got here seen through the people who willed it to be. Each weekday, we will share with you the story of a person whose impact on the sports-television industry is indelible.
Legends Behind the Lens is presented in association with the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the SVG Sports Broadcasting Fund. In these trying times - with so many video-production professionals out of work - we hope that you will consider (if you are able) donating to the Sports Broadcasting Fund. Do so by visiting sportsbroadcastfund.org.
___________________________
By Brandon Costa
David Hill is the man who crashed the party - and became the life of it.
The Australia-born business leader dramatically changed sports television in multiple countries with his innovative mind and magnetic persona.
Hill led the launch of News Corp.'s sports division in 1993 and instantly made a splash with technical innovations, including the Fox Box and the Glow Puck, the ancestor of advanced graphics elements, such as the 1st-and-10 line. All were rather demented ideas at the time: imagine, an Aussie telling Americans how to better watch their football.
I think they invented the expression thinking outside the box' for David Hill, says Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, a key NFL representative in Fox's negotiations for the league's broadcast rights. Some people have a natural ability to see things the way they are and know how to make them better. David knew something that a lot of people had lost sight of through the years: that sports is entertainment and should be fun.
Hill's career began rather humbly, as a 17-year-old copy boy at the Sydney Daily Telegraph. He worked as a reporter until moving to television at 19, finding a home at Nine Network, where he worked on the Australian version of Today.
Moving up to VP, sports, with Nine, Hill attracted the attention of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Hill joined 21st Century Fox and relocated to Great Britain in 1988, helping launch Sky Television, Britain's first satellite-TV station, and introducing Eurosport, a pan-Europe, multilingual sports channel.
Many didn't understand it, including the advertisers, says Hill. None of this had ever been done before. We were faced with immense day-by-day problems in terms of production. It was seven days a week, 16-17 hours a day.
When Sky Television merged with British Sky Broadcasting in 1990, Hill took over BSkyB sports channel and created Sky Sports in 1991. It was at Sky that he experimented with putting the time and score on-screen, for English Premier League matches.
I think they invented the expression thinking outside the box' for David Hill. Some people have a natural ability to see things the way they are and know how to make them better. David knew something that a lot of people had lost sight of through the years: that sports is entertainment and should be fun. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
In 1993, Fox nabbed NFL U.S. broadcast rights. Hill was a part of the negotiations that spurred the league to take a chance on the upstart network.
Murdoch named him president of Fox Sports, and, under his direction, a sports division grew from the ground up in just eight months, with state-of-the-art studios and onsite broadcast facilities for a futuristic feel on-screen. Explosive theme songs, robots, neon pucks: Fox Sports developed an indelible identity.
He's as knowledgeable and passionate about sports as anyone in broadcasting, and he has a creative streak that is incomparable, says NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, whose league partnered with Fox from 1994 to1999. He thinks about things not as they are but as they could be, and he lets his imagination run wild. He truly is one of a kind.
Many of Hill's innovations made sports more accessible to the casual audience. None had more impact than the yellow 1st-and-10 line, which he developed with Sportvision's Stan Honey.
I didn't grow up watching American football, says Hill, and it made it easier for me to understand what was going on. Simple as that!
Under Hill, Fox also dove into baseball, grabbing national rights in 1996, including that year's World Series. The Fall Classic has aired on Fox every year since 2000.
I could tell from the first meeting, this guy is going to change the way the game of baseball is seen on television, says Paul Beeson, former president of Major League Baseball and current president of the Toronto Blue Jays. There's an irreverence to him, and there's a professionalism to him. You knew he was going to do things differently, but you knew he was going to do it better.
Hill added duties over the years, serving as chairman/CEO of Fox Broadcasting from 1997 to '99, president of DIRECTV's entertainment division from 2005 to '07, and chairman/COO/executive producer of National Geographic Channel. He ended his run at Fox in 29015 and actually began dipping his toe into the world of esports when he joined on with ESL in 2017. Traditional sports, however, still hold a special place in his heart.
Sports are a lot of fun, says Hill. If you understand that the secret of life is to have a really good time and you consider what we do for a living, which is producing sports, it
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
08/05/2024
08 05 2024 - Media release Olivia Colman and John Lithgow Star in Sophie Hyde's New Project JIMPA
Olivia Coleman and John Lithgow in JIMPA. Photo credit: ...
08/05/2024
OpenDrives Joins AWS Partner Network
Brie Clayton May 7, 2024
0 Comments
Atlas software-defined platform now available via AWS trusted partner network...
08/05/2024
Animate AI Matte Paintings in After Effects
Graham Quince May 7, 2024
0 Comments
Arguably the best video use for AI generated images is Matte Painting...
08/05/2024
Throw Expression in Adobe After Effects
Andy Ford May 7, 2024
0 Comments
The Throw expression is a time-saver in After Effects. It allows you to mov...
08/05/2024
Join FilmLight in Toronto: Baselight 6.1, Nara and more
Brie Clayton May 7, 2024
0 Comments
Thursday 30th May, from 2:30PM, Hosted by Alter Ego 488 ...
08/05/2024
Gray Television reported a first-quarter profit as advertising revenues rebounded to above pre-COVID-19 levels....
08/05/2024
The Today show shared the performers on its summer concert series, which feature...
08/05/2024
Lewis Dodley, longtime anchor for Spectrum News NY1, will retire at the end of May. He's been on the air at the Charter Communications-owned local news chan...
08/05/2024
Scripps Sports said it plans to air a new studio show when a new season of WNBA Friday Night Spotlight starts May 24....
08/05/2024
Advertisers are looking to reach the right audiences and tell their stories inside compelling content, Karen Kovacs, president of client partnerships at NBCUniv...
08/05/2024
Professor emeritus John (Jack) Johnson elected to the National Academy of Sciences Johnson's multi-disciplinary research has been instrumental in shaping ou...
08/05/2024
zweiB updates to latest version of R&S CLIPSTER Specialist in deliverables for cinema, events and trade shows
Rohde & Schwarz, a global leader in broadcast...
07/05/2024
NAB Show 2024
Utah Scientific rocked the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas, unveiling two new game-changers in video signal management.
Our primary focus this yea...
07/05/2024
7th May 2024 The nations favourite comedy channel Gold has teamed up with the ma...
07/05/2024
There's something special about summer. We're not sure whether it's the warmer weather, the longer days, or something else a bit more magical, but s...
07/05/2024
NITV appoints Michael Rennie as Presenter and Senior Producer for NITV News
Media releases
NITV has announced the appointment of Michael Rennie as Presenter...
07/05/2024
The ability for line-of-site tactical voice and data networks to seamlessly traverse over Satellite Communications is an emerging requirement to assure warfight...
07/05/2024
On April 5, 2024, the L3Harris Avionics Products Repair Station (NN2R037L) in Gr...
07/05/2024
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
07/05/2024
Share this article
width=32 height=32 loading=lazy data-lazy-src=https://apogeedigital.com/app/themes/juniper-theme/src/img/icons/facebook-purple.svg />
wid...
07/05/2024
BURBANK, Calif. The Walt Disney Company has finally delivered some from profits from its hefty streaming investments, with the second quarter of its fiscal year...
07/05/2024
Bonnie Hammer, vice chair of NBCUniversal, and Jen Psaki, MSNBC host, read from their new books at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan Wednesday, May 8. Hammer's...
07/05/2024
Paramount Plus has ordered the series Crutch, a comedy that is a spinoff of CBS comedy The Neighborhood. Tracy Morgan stars....
07/05/2024
Edward J. and Melody Thomas Scott and Lidia Bastianich will receive Lifetime Achievement honors at the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards in June, the National Aca...
07/05/2024
The 2024 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts luncheon and awards ceremony happens in New York November 12, and the honorees are Al Roker, weather and featu...
07/05/2024
Dabl Network has added The Wayans Bros., The Jamie Foxx Show, Living Single and Everybody Hates Chris to its weekday and weekend lineups. Those shows join the l...
07/05/2024
After winning a proxy fight, The Walt Disney Co. said its entertainment business turned a profit and added subscribers in its fiscal second quarter....
07/05/2024
NBA Entertainment is closing out the second season of its series Pass the Rock with a look at Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, the league's rooki...
07/05/2024
Syncbak, which provides stations with streaming capabilities, said it is rebranding as Zeam Media....
07/05/2024
Samsung has made a deal with Magnolia Pictures that will bring titles from Magnolia to the Samsung TV Plus free streaming platform....
07/05/2024
Amazon, which has added commercials to Amazon Prime Video, is rolling out new interactive ad formats that will enable advertisers to engage streamers and sell s...
07/05/2024
Syncbak, a 15 year-old provider of streaming tech for local broadcast stations has rebranded itself, adopting the name of its streaming service launched in Febr...
07/05/2024
POST Luxembourgs journey with TAG Video underscores how finding a vendor who und...
07/05/2024
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. New findings from Hub Entertainment Research provides extensive data showing that the majority of consumers will opt for lower cost ad-supporte...
07/05/2024
NEW YORK The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) has announced th...
07/05/2024
CBS News has named Lindsey Reiser an anchor and correspondent for CBS News 24/7, the network's live, streaming news service. Reiser, who was most recently a...
07/05/2024
NEEDHAM, Mass. After more than two years of decline, worldwide tablet shipments posted modest year-over-year growth of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24),...
07/05/2024
ESPN is reporting that April was a record-setting month as the network delivered its best April prime time audience on record, dating back more than 30 years....
07/05/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced that Kirsten Donaldson has joined NAB as vice president of public policy. Donaldso...
07/05/2024
The Bulls are back home again this week from May 7-12! Don't miss out on any...
07/05/2024
Tonight on House of Zwide: Mampho cautions Maria against making a move on IsaacDon't miss Tuesday, 7 May's riveting episode of South African soapie Hous...
07/05/2024
RT has today welcomed the publication of three reports by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and the Media, Catherine Martin TD: The Re...
07/05/2024
In support of President Biden's executive order on AI, the U.S. government will use an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD to produce generative AI advances in climate scie...
07/05/2024
SVG Sit-Down: AWS's Julie Souza on the Cloud and AI in Broadcast-Content Cre...
07/05/2024
Deloitte Analysts Peter Giorgio and Michael Vovk: Sports Properties Need To Reth...
07/05/2024
University of Texas' Jeff Hanel to Keynote 16th-Annual SVG College Summit Industry vet to discuss uniting live and creative in athletic department media arm...
07/05/2024
Premier League trials RefCam during Crystal Palace v Manchester United fixture By George Bevir
Tuesday, May 7, 2024 - 09:34
Print This Story
In a Premier ...
Legends Behind the Lens: David Hill The audacious Aussie is one of the most transformative figures in American sports television history By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
