Rod Mickler (left), Greg Bicket (seated) and Jeff Brenner on the set of a sports show on Cox Sports Television.

In the Company of Leaders

You Can Get In The Game

The escalating cost of programming is a critical issue for cable operators and their customers. In New Orleans, Cox General Manager Greg Bicket and his team responded to the challenge by creating Cox’s own local sports network, Cox Sports Television. Starting with exclusive rights to New Orleans Hornets basketball games, the channel added an extensive slate of local, regional and national sports content unavailable on any other network. For instance, with the help of Cox’s Baton Rouge operation, Cox Sports Television secured broadcast rights to national college sports powerhouse Louisiana State University. Under the leadership of Vice President of Regional Sports Rod Mickler and Executive Producer Jeff Brenner, the 24-hour network is available to nearly a million cable customers across the region via Cox and other cable providers. Sports fever has also spread to other Cox operations, including Central Florida, which uses Cox Sports Television as a framework for a similar network built around games of the World Series Champion Florida Marlins, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the University of Florida Gators. The leadership strategy driving Cox Sports Television provides Cox a competitive advantage and delivers cable customers exciting must-see sports programming at a great value.