Saying it is focusing on making and marketing beer, Anheuser-Busch is shutting down a broadcast production unit that helped get Blues hockey games and Cardinals Baseball contests on the air.
Ancillary operations at the St. Louis brewer are starting to drop off as A-B is integrated into InBev of Belgium, which took over the company three weeks ago. Bud Productions, the in-house division that produced hundreds of play-by-play broadcasts of pro Baseball, hockey and football, will shut down Jan. 1. "After careful review, we have decided to discontinue the production services available through our Bud Productions unit," Anheuser-Busch said in a statement Tuesday. "This was a difficult decision, but is supportive of our goals to remain focused on brewing and marketing beer."
The announcement came one day after Anheuser-Busch InBev said it is cutting 1,400 full-time salaried jobs in the U.S., including about 1,000 in St. Louis. It was unclear Tuesday how many jobs will be lost from the closure of Bud Productions or whether they were included in the previously announced layoffs.
Jack Donovan, general manager of Fox Sports Midwest, said Bud Productions, also known as Bud Sports, helped Fox broadcast Cardinals games on TV, as well as produce the Blues games on the radio.
"Bud Sports has been a great partner of ours for several years," Donovan said. ... Bud Sports was very professional and had some very capable individuals working in the department. We really had a great partnership."
Donovan said Fox does not expect fans to see any difference in the quality of the telecasts. Scheduled broadcasts will go on as planned. Fox is in hiring discussions with several people from Bud Productions.
