FOX News Center weeks away from opening
Instead of counting in months the much-anticipated opening of a new Fox Sports Broadcast Center in The Woodlands, Fox executives are beginning to count it in weeks.
The facility, slated to open in the first quarter of 2008, will add a wave of high-paid technical jobs to Montgomery County's workforce. "It is wonderful," said Ron Bourbeau, CEO of the South Montgomery County Economic Development Partnership. "Any time you have between 500 and 700 new jobs created ... it says something about the economic viability of this community."
The company purchased in spring 2006 a site on Research Forest Drive south of Technology Forest Drive for Fox Network Center-Houston to transmit broadcasts via cable and satellite throughout the United States. The facility - like the property Fox has encompassed in Houston since the 1960s - will act as master control for FSN Houston and FSN Southwest, two of Fox's networks.
It also will be a hub for other Fox-owned networks, said Tim Sweeney, senior vice president and general manager of Fox Network Center-Houston. A van stationed at a sports game will send the information to The Woodlands' facility, where technical personnel will add commercials and graphics before airing the broadcast. "It is like Grand Central Station for all these arriving entities," Sweeney said.
Describing the center as a "behind-the-scenes facility," Sweeney said - for now - no studio is in the works. However, executives are leaving room on the property to grow if the specific need for a live audience show or new application is identified. While about 200,000 square feet have been developed, the remainder of the 30-acre site will be available for future expansions, Sweeney said, adding there are other needs that haven't been identified. Although the facility has a guarded gated entrance that is attended 24 hours a day, he said the company will open the center for certain groups. "It's not like we'll have a lot of the public coming in and out each day," he said. "But that doesn't mean we can't arrange for folks to see what we do ... ."
Sweeney specifically referred to students and those interested in pursuing careers with Fox. Initially, about 400 people will work at the center, he said, but the workforce will increase as the facility grows.
Sweeney said part of the reason Fox chose The Woodlands for its Houston hub is because of the "wonderful base for the possibility of employees for the future."
Sweeney said the company will hire employees who specialize in everything from technical monitoring to data processing to management. Dan Leverett, vice president of commercial development for The Woodlands Development Company, said the move continues to bring prestige in terms of jobs to the master-planned community. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company also built hubs in The Woodlands. "It continues to build on 20 years of success in the Research Forest and Town Center area of relocating world-class companies to our community," Leverett said.
Other networks Fox Networks Group manages include National Geographic Channel, FUEL TV, Fox Reality and Fox College Sports.
The facility, slated to open in the first quarter of 2008, will add a wave of high-paid technical jobs to Montgomery County's workforce. "It is wonderful," said Ron Bourbeau, CEO of the South Montgomery County Economic Development Partnership. "Any time you have between 500 and 700 new jobs created ... it says something about the economic viability of this community."
The company purchased in spring 2006 a site on Research Forest Drive south of Technology Forest Drive for Fox Network Center-Houston to transmit broadcasts via cable and satellite throughout the United States. The facility - like the property Fox has encompassed in Houston since the 1960s - will act as master control for FSN Houston and FSN Southwest, two of Fox's networks.
It also will be a hub for other Fox-owned networks, said Tim Sweeney, senior vice president and general manager of Fox Network Center-Houston. A van stationed at a sports game will send the information to The Woodlands' facility, where technical personnel will add commercials and graphics before airing the broadcast. "It is like Grand Central Station for all these arriving entities," Sweeney said.
Describing the center as a "behind-the-scenes facility," Sweeney said - for now - no studio is in the works. However, executives are leaving room on the property to grow if the specific need for a live audience show or new application is identified. While about 200,000 square feet have been developed, the remainder of the 30-acre site will be available for future expansions, Sweeney said, adding there are other needs that haven't been identified. Although the facility has a guarded gated entrance that is attended 24 hours a day, he said the company will open the center for certain groups. "It's not like we'll have a lot of the public coming in and out each day," he said. "But that doesn't mean we can't arrange for folks to see what we do ... ."
Sweeney specifically referred to students and those interested in pursuing careers with Fox. Initially, about 400 people will work at the center, he said, but the workforce will increase as the facility grows.
Sweeney said part of the reason Fox chose The Woodlands for its Houston hub is because of the "wonderful base for the possibility of employees for the future."
Sweeney said the company will hire employees who specialize in everything from technical monitoring to data processing to management. Dan Leverett, vice president of commercial development for The Woodlands Development Company, said the move continues to bring prestige in terms of jobs to the master-planned community. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company also built hubs in The Woodlands. "It continues to build on 20 years of success in the Research Forest and Town Center area of relocating world-class companies to our community," Leverett said.
Other networks Fox Networks Group manages include National Geographic Channel, FUEL TV, Fox Reality and Fox College Sports.
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