Fang's Bites

Bringing Out Some Tuesday Linkage

Let’s do linkage again. Trying to get this done as I have several errands to run in the afternoon.

At Multichannel News, Mike Reynolds says Fox Sports is eying several sports properties which are coming up for grabs as potential programming for a cable channel which would challenge ESPN.

Mike talks with the President of New York regional sports network SNY about what he’s looking for in 2012.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today discusses the lower ratings for The Masters^®.

Lacey Rose at the Hollywood Reporter goes in-depth on Fox Sports taking over Saturday nights in 2012.

Tim Nudd of Adweek looks at New Era’s sequel to last year’s funny Yankees-Red Sox ads with a new batch for the Cubs-White Sox rivalry.

Mike Shields from Adweek explores how ESPN tries to get fans use its sites as “second screens” while they watch sports on other networks in real time.

David Goetzl at MediaPost notes that ESPN’s public relations blog has now added podcasts.

Also from MediaPost, Wayne Friedman talks about the NCAA Tournament being one of TV’s biggest social media activities.

Bill Cromwell at Media Life says while Bubba Watson brought excitement to The Masters^®, it didn’t translate in the ratings.

To Forbes where Trefis Team analyzes what a Fox Sports cable network would mean for parent company News Corp’s stock price.

Also from Forbes, Tom Van Riper looks at the commitment NBC Sports Group is assembling for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Fox Sports reports that NFL Network is unlikely to bring back Warren Sapp. He just recently filed for bankruptcy.

SportsbyBrooks notes that ESPN’s Skippy Bayless lied about his high school basketball career.

The Lost Ogle which looked into Bayless’ claims about his high school basketball career has an extensive post unearthing Daily Oklahoman stories and box scores. Great stuff.

Sports Video Group looks at one company that will stream the Olympics all over the world.

Evan Silva from Pro Football Talk says based on the success of Super Bowl XLVI, Indianapolis plans to make another run at hosting another Big Game.

Amy K. Nelson has the Miami Marlins statement suspending manager Ozzie Guillen for his comments in Time regarding Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has Magic Johnson talking about the exorbitant sales price for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Darren notes that incoming NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III has signed an endorsement deal with Castrol?

Alex Weprin of TV Newser has a video tour of MLB Network’s New Jersey studios.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says MLB will unveil its version of the Red Zone Channel tonight on three satellite and cable providers.

Laura Nachman notes that a former Philadelphia Phillie joins a local sports radio station for the 2012 season.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says a local sports radio host continues to fan the Crosby vs. Ovechkin flames.

Lisa De Moraes says “Cops” is the victim of Fox giving Saturday primetime to its sports division.

The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson says embattled sports radio host Sid Rosenberg has been suspended. Again.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that Time Warner Cable subscribers won’t have access to three Astros games on Fox Sports Net.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Wednesday’s Reds game will be picked up by MLB Network.

Robert Feder at Time Out Chicago reports that a local sports radio host returned to work this week after being out due to health issues.

Sports Media Watch says Fox is reaching back to the old Baseball Network for “Baseball Night in America.”

At Awful Announcing, Ben Koo wishes there would be more synergy between NBC and the Comcast SportsNet regional networks.

To the Bleacher Report where Jim Williams asks which network offers the best MLB announcers?

That’s going to do it.

NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship’s Overnight Ratings Up From 2010

ESPN is pleased over the rise in ratings for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship that gave Baylor a 40-0 season and a title for Brittney Griner. The overnight rating for the game was a 2.6 which is a 13% increase from last year’s title contest.

In addition, the average rating for the Women’s Final Four and Championship Game on ESPN was a 2.2, up from last year’s 2.1. We have the press release from ESPN.

NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Overnight Rating Up Over Last Year

       

ESPN’s telecast of Baylor’s 80-61 victory over Notre Dame in the 2012 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship on Tuesday posted a double-digit increase over last year’s title game. The game averaged a 2.6 metered market rating for an increase of 13 percent over the 2011 NCAA Women’s National Championship, a 76-70 Texas A&M win over Notre Dame. The game also stands as ESPN’s highest overnight rating for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship since 2010 when the network averaged a 2.6 overnight rating for Connecticut’s 53-47 victory over Stanford.

ESPN averaged a 2.2 overnight rating for the three-game NCAA Women’s Final Four, up five percent over a 2.1 last year.

Among the metered markets, Hartford led the way for the final game with an 8.8 overnight rating followed by Knoxville with a 6.9 rating. The top 10 is rounded out by Austin (6.2), Oklahoma City (5.6), San Antonio (5.3), Nashville (5.2), Greenville-Spartanburg-Ashville (4.8), Dallas-Fort Worth (4.5), Raleigh-Durham (4.5) and Indianapolis (4.4). Denver, host city of the NCAA Women’s Final Four, and Houston were the 11th and 12th highest rated markets with a 4.2.

National Semifinals

In addition to the title game, each of ESPN’s NCAA Women’s Basketball National Semifinals on Sunday, April 1, attracted a larger audience than the previous year, with the doubleheader combining for an increased rating of 10 percent (2.3 household rating in 2012 vs. 2.1 in 2011). Also, the first game was the highest-rated semifinal game in that telecast window since Stanford vs. Connecticut in 2008 (2.1).

Notre Dame’s 83-75 victory over Connecticut delivered a 2.1 household coverage rating, up 11 percent from last year’s first semifinal tilt between eventual national champion Texas A&M and Stanford (1.9). The second National Semifinal game that saw Baylor top Stanford 59-47 registered a 2.6 rating, which is up eight percent over last year’s UConn-Notre Dame semifinal (2.4) and the viewership was 3,756,000.

That’s all.

Jim Gray vs. Bill Walton at the NCAA Final Four

I’m a bit surprised we haven’t heard more of this, but apparently Jim Gray and Bill Walton like to mix it up during the NCAA Final Four’s radio broadcast. This goes back to last year when Walton joined the Westwood One (now Dial Global) Radio team for the Final Four. Walton is a studio analyst and apparently does pregame and postgame hits with sideline reporter Jim Gray, giving his picks or providing analysis.

Gray and Walton work selected games together for the Sacramento Kings, Walton as a game analyst, Gray as a sideline reporter, so apparently they have their comedy act honed.
On Monday night, Gray tweaked Walton to make a pick for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game between Kentucky and Kansas. Apparently Walton was wavering and Gray kept pressing.

Then in the following clip culled off Dial Global by WEEI’s Image Director Pete Gustin, we’ll hear Gray and Walton mixing it up over how many Final Fours John Calipari should be given credit for, The Decision and Walton’s verbosity. It is funny to listen to. I was hoping that Walton was another in a long line of people whom Gray has pissed off in his career (Pete Rose, Corey Pavin, most of America). You can listen in below

Here’s hoping that Gray and Walton can take their comedy act on the road someday.

CBS Claims Ratings Victory for NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship

The overnight ratings this morning certainly didn’t give CBS any encouragement as they showed Monday night’s Kansas-Kentucky game down from last year’s contest. However, now with the Fast National Rating counted and the average viewership measured, CBS/Turner comes out on top from last year. According to Nielsen, the Fast National Rating for Kansas-Kentucky resulted in a 12.3 rating and a 19 share compared to last year’s 11.7/18 for UConn-Butler.

In addition, an average viewership of 20.9 million people watched last night compared with 20.1 million for UConn-Butler. That’s 4% higher than 2011 and gives CBS/Turner an average fast national rating of 6.1/13 compared to last year’s average of 6.3/14. But this year’s average is still better than 2010, the last year CBS carried the NCAA Tournament solo. This year’s viewership is also down compared to 2011.

Overall, CBS has to happy seeing the Final Four and the Championship Game finishing better than last year.

RATING FOR “KENTUCKY’S CORONATION” IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ON CBS DELIVERS 5% INCREASE FROM 2011

CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship on Monday, April 2 earned an average fast national household rating/share of 12.3/19, up 5% from last year’s 11.7/18 (Connecticut-Butler).

This year’s 12.3/19 is the second-best rating for the National Championship in seven years (2005 – 15.0/23; UNC-Illinois; 2010 – 14.2/23; Duke-Butler).

The National Championship game on CBS averaged 20.9 million viewers (Per 2+), up 4% from last year’s 20.1 million. This year’s 20.9 million was the second-highest viewer average for the Championship game in seven years (2005, 2010 – 23.9 million; UNC-Illinois, Duke-Butler). 

Championship game coverage peaked in HH rating and average viewers at 13.4/25 with 22.5 million viewers, respectively, from 11:30-11:44 PM, ET.

Coverage across the four networks of TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV averaged a HH rating/share of 6.1/13 compared to last year’s 6.4/14 and 2010’s 6.0/13 according to Nielsen Fast Nationals. This year’s tournament averaged 9.6 million viewers compared to 10.2 million last year and 9.5 million in 2010.

That is all for now.

2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship Game’s Overnight Ratings Fall

This in from John Ourand from Sports Business Journal. The ratings for last night’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game between Kansas and Kentucky were off from last 2011.

NCAA overnight comes in at a 12.1, which is down 9% from last year. Game was never really close, which hurt. Did the 9:30 start also hurt?

April 3, 2012 9:37 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@Ourand_SBJ

John Ourand

Off 9% is a lot. As John tweeted, the late start at 9:27 p.m. might have been a factor, but also, the game never felt close even though Kansas cut the lead to under 10 points late, but by that time, the majority of the TV audience had left.

One Shining Moment — 2012

I give credit to the great people at Gunaxin for putting this video up. It’s the annual “One Shining Moment” video aired by CBS at the end of the NCAA Championship Game. This was a very good version as you had the great moments from the NCAA Tournament with some various calls by Jim Nantz, Verne Lundquist and Marv Albert.

Nice to see this. My only complaint that it aired at 12:03 a.m., some 20 minutes after Kentucky-Kansas ended. Then again, CBS was going to milk this for all its worth plus it was a way to keep ESPN and other media outlets from running highlights until it went off the air.

Without further ado, here’s One Shining Moment for 2012. Well done by CBS and Turner Sports.

And we are done with basketball for the year. Now into baseball and NHL Stanley Cup Playoff mode for the rest of the Spring.

Grinding Out Some Monday Links

Let’s do some links on this Monday.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game has become a showcase for upcoming NBA talent.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that NBC Sports Network will get a lion’s share of coverage for the London Summer Olympics.

Brian Stelter of the New York Times reports that no-talent hack Ryan Seacrest has signed a new contract with NBCUniversal that also gives him a role on NBC’s Olympic coverage. I shudder at the thought.

Chris Ariens at TVNewser says NBC is putting former Today Show co-host Meredith Viera on the Olympics Opening Ceremony with Bob Costas and Matt Lauer.

Joe Posnanski talks about leaving Sports Illustrated for a new venture with MLB Advanced Media and the USA Today Sports Group. Disclosure: Fang’s Bites is an independently-owned site affiliated with USA Today Sports Group and had no prior knowledge of Posnanski’s move nor of the joint venture with MLBAM.

ESPN.com’s Kristi Dosh, a.k.a. The Sports Biz Miss handicaps the upcoming MLB TV rights deal negotiations.

King Kaufman at the Bleacher Report explains why the site will never do April Fools’ parodies.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has some readers’ suggestions for CBS’ Jim Nantz to close out tonight’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship including one from yours truly.

The great Maggie Hendricks of Yahoo’s Cagewriter has some suggestions on how FX and the UFC can improve the new Ultimate Fighter reality show.

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. You may know a parent, a friend, a relative or a neighbor who is affected by Autism in one way or another. Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball writes in his SportsBash site on how he has been personally affected.

My good friend (despite her being a Yankees fan) Alison Faye in Tales of a Rocket Scientist also writes about her experience with her son who has Autism.

And Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets that he’ll be wearing a bowtie to benefit Autism Speaks.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group notes that CBS’ courtside cameras give the network some signature shots for the Men’s Final Four.

Brandon also looks at CBS’ studio set and Super Slo-Mo cameras at the Superdome for the Final Four.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the new Broadway play focusing on Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post mourns the passing of New York Cosmos great Giorgio Chinaglia.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that the Final Four received its best ratings on CBS in a decade.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that the local cable news network will cover Union in the NCAA Frozen Four this week.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says a local radio station will cover high school sports.

Jim Wiliams of the Washington Examiner talks with Jim Nantz about his unique double of calling the Final Four and The Masters^® in successive weeks.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times reviews the weekend in sports television.

Tom also talks with the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball crew.

Sam Pennington of Suthern Gameday remembers the late Hall of Fame voice of the Kentucky Wildcats, Caewood Ledford.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle notes two personnel moves at one local sports radio station.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel explores the average age of those watching various sporting events.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says the first week in April is a literal smorgasbord for the sports fan.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News explores the reasons why MLB clubs are so gung-ho on regional sports network rights fees.

Tom has your sports calendar for this week.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star has what writers outside of Canada are saying about the Blue Jays.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail was amused by a verbal sparring match aired in Canada over the weekend.

Barry Petchesky at Deadspin looks at one April Fools newspaper column that went published without being properly vetted.

Sports Media Watch says ratings for the NBA on ABC saw big increases.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says the NHL on NBC also had a good number.

And Joe Favorito says Fenway Park is ready to celebrate its Centennial.

We’re done.

Clark Kellogg To Interview President Obama. Again

During CBS/Turner’s coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game on Monday, we’ll see Clark Kellogg’s fourth interview with President Barack Obama. During the First Four in Dayton, OH in March, Kellogg interviewed both Mr. Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron. On Monday, CBS will air Clark talking with the President solo at the White House.

This also marks the second time that Kellogg was able to talk to President Obama at White House Basketball Court. And the two men will discuss the President’s daughter playing basketball.

It all occurs sometime during CBS’ coverage of Kentucky-Kansas at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. We have the CBS blurb promoting the interview.

CBS SPORTS’ CLARK KELLOGG GOES FIRST FOUR-TO-FINAL FOUR WITH PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA INTERVIEW

Interview to Air as part of CBS Sports’ National Championship Game Coverage on Monday, April 2

CBS Sports’ exclusive coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship game on Monday, April 2 (9:00 PM, ET) will feature an interview with President Barack Obama, conducted by lead college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg from the White House.  This marks Kellogg’s fourth interview with President Obama.

During the interview President Obama discusses how coaching his daughter Sasha’s basketball team brings him more joy than he ever got playing himself. During the conversation, Kellogg returns to the Presidential Court at the White House where he lost a close game of POTUS (horse) to the President in 2010.

Kellogg interviewed President Obama and Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron to tip off this year’s NCAA Tournament during the first game from the NCAA First Four^® in Dayton, Ohio.

Eric Mann serves as Senior Producer for CBS Sports’ coverage of THE FINAL FOUR SHOW. Debra Gelman produces. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

And we’re done for the weekend. Back on Monday.

CBS Claims A Ratings Victory For 2012 NCAA Final Four

This from CBS/Turner. The NCAA Tournament consortium says Saturday’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four averaged a 9.0 rating with a 17 share which is up slightly from last year’s 8.9/17.

CBS says this is the highest overnight rating since 2005. And the single game ratings for Kentucky-Louisville and Kansas-Ohio State were also up slightly from last year’s contests.

As for overall viewership, Jenna Busch at zap2it says the numbers for the Primetime portion of the Final Four averaged just under 15 million. If that is the case, Marc Berman at TV Insights says that number would be lower than last year’s figures.

We have the official press release from CBS/Turner.

RATINGS FOR FINAL FOUR ON CBS BEST SINCE 2005

CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2012 Final Four^® on Saturday, March 31 earned an average fast national household rating/share of 9.0/17, which is the highest-rated Final Four since 2005 (10.5/19; Illinois-Louisville and North Carolina-Michigan State). The 9.0/17is up 1% from last year’s 8.9/17 (Butler-VCU and Connecticut-Kentucky).

CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2012 Final Four^® on Saturday, March 31 earned an average fast national household rating/share of 9.0/17, which is the highest-rated Final Four since 2005 (10.5/19; Illinois-Louisville and North Carolina-Michigan State). The 9.0/17 is up 1% from last year’s 8.9/17 (Butler-VCU and Connecticut-Kentucky).

The first game, Kentucky beating Louisville, earned an average household rating/share of 8.4/17. The 8.4/17 rating is up 1% from last year’s 8.3/17 (Butler-VCU).

The second game featuring Kansas’ victory over Ohio State delivered a 9.6/17, up 1% from last year’s 9.5/17 (Connecticut-Kentucky). The 9.6/17 is the best rating in the window since a 10.9/19 in 2005 (North Carolina-Michigan State).

That’s all.

“One Heartbeat”

Thanks to my Twitter friend, Bill Voth who brought this to my attention. On CBS’ pregame program for today’s NCAA Men’s Basketball National Semifinals, The Final Four Show, it aired this feature on Chardon, Ohio and its attempts to get back to normal after a horrific shooting at the High School that took the lives of three students and injured two others.

Basketball gave them that sense of normalcy and inspiration. This is a 9 minute piece of pure emotion. We get to meet the football coach who saved lives plus the basketball team that took the first event after the shooting and made sure the town would be brought together.

Pete Radovich produced the feature and I can see this being nominated for a Sports Emmy next year. Very well done.

CBS Sports Network will air a half-hour special on Chardon, OH called “One Heartbeat” tonight at 10 ET.

CBS/Turner’s Coverage Plans For The 2012 Final Four

The CBS Sports/Turner Sports NCAA Tournament consortium is in New Orleans to air the 2012 Final Four in the Louisiana Superdome. Kentucky-Louisville will be the first game scheduled for 6:09 p.m. ET. That will be followed by Ohio State-Kansas at approximately 8:49 p.m.

Jim Nantz will call his 22nd Final Four for CBS and attend his 27th overall for the network. Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr will the courtside analysts. Tracy Wolfson reports.

The studio crew of Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony, Charles Barkley, Seth Davis and Kenny “The Jet” Smith will be on a specially built set at the Superdome. And three coaches will join them as guest analysts, Tom Izzo of Michigan State, Brad Stevens of Butler and Buzz Williams of Marquette.

There will be plenty of pregame programming including The Final Four Show at 4 p.m. ET which will have features that will be listed below. And it marks another special appearance by Jim Rome in advance of his CBS Sports Network premiere next Tuesday.

We have the press release for you.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS’ “ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR” MARCHES IN TO NEW ORLEANS FOR CBS SPORTS’ 31ST CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF NCAA^® MEN’S FINAL FOUR ON SATURDAY, MARCH 31

Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State, Kansas Vie for College Basketball’s National Championship
Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Butler’s Brad Stevens and Marquette’s Buzz Williams Join THE FINAL FOUR SHOW on Saturday

Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State and march in to New Orleans as CBS Sports and Turner Sports provide exclusive coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and Final Four. For the 31^st consecutive year, CBS Sports broadcasts the national semi-final games live on Saturday, March 31 (6:00-11:00 PM, ET) and the National Championship game on Monday, April 2 (9:00 PM, ET-conclusion) from the Louisiana Superdome.

Saturday’s Final Four features Kentucky versus Louisville with tip-off scheduled for 6:09 PM, ET. Forty minutes after the game concludes,  Ohio State takes on Kansas to determine the other participant in Monday night’s Championship game. CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, Turner Sports’ Steve Kerr call the games,  with Tracy Wolfson serving as reporter. Nantz calls his 27^th Final Four and National Championship, Kellogg works his fourth, and Kerr joins Nantz and Kellogg for the second time.

Leading in to the semi-final games on Saturday, March 31 (4:00-6:00 PM, ET), THE FINAL FOUR SHOW on CBS with Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Seth Davis features tournament highlights, analysis of the four participating teams and interviews with coaches and players. Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo, Butler Head Coach Brad Stevens and Marquette Head Coach Buzz Williams also will be on set to provide analysis.

The opening tease of CBS Sports’ coverage of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Final Four on Saturday, March 31 (6:00 PM, ET) features New Orleans rising stars Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, in a two-minute music montage previewing the Kentucky-Louisville game. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu joined the band in iconic Jackson Square to welcome basketball fans to New Orleans as the band performed their song “Do To Me.”

Jim Rome, host of ROME, debuting Tuesday, April 3 (6:00 PM, ET) on CBS Sports Network, contributes an interview with Kentucky Coach John Calipari and Louisville Coach Rick Pitino.

Included in the broadcast are features on:

* LOUISVILLE’S PEYTON SIVA
Directing the offense for a Top 20 college basketball program is a major responsibility, yet starting at point guard for Louisville pales in comparison to the challenges Peyton Siva has already had to overcome. When Peyton was a youngster growing up in Seattle, his father left home because of various bedeviling addictions. While Peyton’s mother, Yvette, struggled to keep the fractured family going, it was young Peyton Jr., who bravely tracked down his father, confronted him, and then, remarkably convinced him to turn his life around. Mark Burghart produces.

* KENTUCKY’S DARIUS MILLER
Darius Miller grew up in Maysville, KY, just 65 miles northeast of Lexington, and is now living his dream playing for the team he rooted for as a child. If Kentucky wins the championship, Miller would become the first player in state history to win the so-called Commonwealth Triple Crown -– capturing the boys’ high school state championship, Kentucky’s” Mr. Basketball” honors and an NCAA title at UK. As one of two seniors on the Wildcats’ Final Four roster, Miller has taken the team’s freshmen phenoms, such as SEC Player of the Year Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, under his wing. Sarah Rinaldi

* OHIO STATE’S JARED SULLINGER
Growing up as a coach’s son and winning a high school championship in the heart of Buckeye Nation, the expectations for Jared Sullinger were almost as dauntingly large as his current six-nine frame. Despite Ohio State’s surprisingly premature Sweet 16 exit last year, Sullinger resisted the lure of the NBA and assumed a leadership role in trying to fulfill his lifelong dream of bringing an NCAA championship back home to Columbus for the first time in half a century. Alanna Campbell produces.

* KANSAS’ THOMAS ROBINSON
Big 12 Player of the Year Thomas Robinson has special motivation in his quest to help lead Kansas to its fourth NCAA championship. A year ago, within the span of less-than-a-month, Robinson lost two grandparents and his 43-year-old mother, Lisa. Two nights after his mom’s funeral in Washington, D.C., Robinson was back on the court for the Jayhawks, scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds in an emotional victory over Kansas State. With the support of his teammates, Robinson has been able to find solace on the court. In a moving interview, he talks about the pain of enduring multiple family losses and the burden of having to help raise his eight-year-old sister, Jayla, while trying to win a national title as a tribute to the loved ones he lost in such sudden and unexpected fashion. Jeff St. Arromand produces.

* JIM ROME WITH KENTUCKY’S JOHN CALIPARI & LOUISVILLE’S RICK PITINO
Jim Rome brings together Kentucky Coach John Calipari and Louisville Coach Rick Pitino on the eve of what is being billed as the “most important sporting event in the history of the Commonwealth.” Not only are the Wildcats and the Cardinals bitter rivals, but their head coaches -– the only two coaches to ever lead three different teams to the Final Four –- have a lifelong up-and-down history together. Charlie Bloom produces.

* Special Features

ONE HEARTBEAT
In Chardon, Ohio and Harrisburg, IL, the end of February and beginning of March were supposed to be all about basketball. In both towns, the high school varsity teams were in the playoffs, with big matchups ahead on the calendar. Instead, for both places – shockingly and unfathomably –- what transpired was a week enveloped in tragedy. On Monday morning, February 27, a troubled teen opened fire in the crowded cafeteria of Chardon High School, killing three students and wounding two more. Two days later in Illinois, a tornado blew through Harrisburg in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday morning; seven residents were killed. Suddenly, two towns in the heart of America were forced to pick up the pieces of devastation. Perhaps improbably, both would find strength, community, and inspiration in the game of basketball. Pete Radovich produces.

Also on Saturday, CBS Sports Spectacular broadcasts THE BIG DANCE IN THE BIG EASY (3:00-3:30 PM, ET) hosted by Greg Gumbel and Clark Kellogg as they look back at the four previous Final Fours that took place in New Orleans. The HUMAN HIGHLIGHT REEL (3:30-4:00 PM, ET) celebrates the achievements of six former NCAA student-athletes who made a difference off the field Billy Mills, Cody Hodges, Jason Taylor, Chris Duhon, Angela Ruggiero and Amber Tollefson.

Sunday, April 1 (3:30-4:30 PM, ET), CBS Sports’ Seth Davis hosts KINGS OF THE COURT, which looks at some of the top college basketball coaches in America including Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Kansas’ Bill Self. The one-hour special examines the blueprint to success through exclusive interviews and footage of these leaders and their respective programs. THE HIGH SCHOOL SLAM DUNK & 3-POINT CHAMPIONSHIPS (4:30-6:00 PM, ET) highlights the nation’s elite high school players as they compete in New Orleans over Final Four weekend in a Slam Dunk contest and the Boy’s and Girl’s 3-Point Championships.

PRELUDE TO A CHAMPIONSHIP with Gumbel, Anthony, Barkley, Smith and Davis precedes Monday evening’s National Championship game (9:00 PM, ET).

Bob Dekas, coordinating producer of CBS Sports’ NCAA basketball coverage, produces the 2012 Final Four and Bob Fishman directs. Eric Mann produces the preview and halftime programs, and Bob Matina directs.Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS 2012 NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Saturday, March 31
CBS: 4:00-6:00 PM — THE FINAL FOUR SHOW
CBS: 6:00-11:00 PM — NCAA MEN’S FINAL FOUR, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
truTV: 11:30 PM-12:30 AM — Inside March Madness

Monday, April 2
CBS: 9:00-11:30 PM — MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
truTV: 12:00-1:00 AM — Inside March Madness

That’s it.

Attempting A Friday Megalink Post

This week has been hellish for me and I apologize for not being able to post as much as I would like. I’ve been away from my computer for most of the day and by the time I get home, I’m tired and don’t want to update the blog.

Well, with me already done my errands for today, I’ll give you some linkage that has been seriously lacking this week.

Of course, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks which you can peruse.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Jim Rome is hoping to make a splash as he prepares to launch his new daily show on CBS Sports Network.

Reid Cherner of USA Today’s Game On! blog says perpetually angry ESPN college basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb is throwing his hat into the Kansas State coaching ring.

The Associated Press was on hand to witness Root Sports Northwest’s production of the Seattle Mariners-Oakland A’s regular season openers in Japan without actually traveling to the Far East.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim has more thoughts on the numerous conflicts of interest in tennis broadcasting.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand has Fox Sports’ statement on its carriage dispute with Time Warner Cable over Fox Sports San Diego.

John profiles legendary sports television producer Don Ohlmeyer.

Around the Rings has the press release regarding the European Broadcasting Union obtaining the rights to the World Cups in 2018 and 2022.

ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute says college basketball analyst Bob Knight should not be allowed to live by his own rules when he’s on TV.

Scott Soshnick and Steven Church of Bloomberg Businessweek says the Los Angeles Dodgers sale was sparked by media rights.

Alex Ben Block of the Hollywood Reporter says former Sony Pictures head Peter Gruber who’s part of the new Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group could bring a new attitude towards marketing the team.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable has Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott calling rights fees for college football are undervalued.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NESN National is being launched in Indianapolis.

Tim Nudd at Adweek says Chrysler is unveiling four new follow ups to its “Halftime in America” Super Bowl spots during various events this weekend including the NCAA Final Four and Mad Men.

Adweek’s Mike Shields writes ESPN.com is partaking in Facebook’s Open Graph, but with some restrictions.

Jason Del Ray at Advertising Age notes that CBS/Turner brought in its highest sales revenue ever for March Madness Live.

Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says March Madness has been enhanced by social media and the digital experience.

The Brothers Yoder at Awful Announcing cast the upcoming Anchorman sequel using ESPN’ers. This is good.

Ben Koo at AA is not a huge fan of the overhead shots employed by CBS/Turner for the NCAA Tournament.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid says the Los Angeles Times feels there’s one person who could spoil the new ownership for the Dodgers.

Ahmed Yussuf at EPL Talk gives a first-hand account of following the English Premier League from Australia.

Sports Media Watch says last weekend’s rain-shortened NASCAR on Fox event did not do well in the ratings.

Joe Favorito asks if ‘The Hunger Games” could give archery a boost in time for this summer’s Olympics.

Jason McIntyre at The Big Lead reports that Joe Posnanski is leaving Sports Illustrated.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead says the potential Fox cable sports network may not knock down ESPN, but could give it a run for its money.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about two rival Hollywood agencies representing Tim Tebow simultaneously.

Bob’s Blitz says WFAN’s Craig Carton browbeat former Tiger Woods swing coach Hank Haney to the point where he hung up.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says CBS returns to New Orleans where it began its Final Four journey 30 years ago.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says ESPN MLB analyst Curt Schilling is facing hypocrisy calls after he criticized his former Red Sox team this week.

Chad adds some thoughts on Schilling and on NESN’s Jenny Dell that didn’t make his column.

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch writes in SB Nation that a Tiger Woods in contention is good for The Masters^® and its TV partners.

Bob Tedeschi of the New York Times reviews this year’s edition of the MLB At-Bat app.

Richard Sandomir from the Times examines the Dodgers sale.

Anthony Riemer of Newsday looks at Jeremy Lin’s lunch with the sacked ESPN.com editor who unwittingly made a racial slur last month.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels Fox Sports’ Jimmy Johnson should not be advocating violence. I don’t think he did, Phil, but continue to hate everything, ok?

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for former Tennessee and current Sirius XM analyst Bruce Pearl on the Final Four.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty has the ESPN MAC football schedule.

Pete has CBS excited about this year’s Final Four.

Jane Kwiatkowski of the Buffalo News says this is a tough time for the local TV sportscast.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call looks at a local PBS documentary on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Laura Nachman says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is ready for Phillies baseball.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the Fox sitcom “Raising Hope” gave another of many Capitals references.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network’s Mitch “Wildi Thing” Williams.

South

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle writes that the Houston Open should be helped by a lot of interesting storylines.

David says Jim Rome is getting ready for his CBS Sports Network closeup.

David writes that Texans running back Arian Foster is taking his show to the team’s radio flagship station.

In The Oklahoman, Mel Bracht has ESPN’s MLB analysts predicting the upcoming season.

Mel says there will be plenty of baseball available in the Oklahoma City market.

Mel reports a local radio station has flipped to being a full-time ESPN Radio affiliate.

Mel writes that a local radio sports director has been laid off thanks to Clear Channel.

Midwest

Elton Alexander of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer says New Orleans has provided CBS with plenty of Final Four excitement.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says a local TV station plans to ride the Kentucky train for as long as possible.

John says a couple of long-time local radio veterans got the ax due to Clear Channel cost cutting.

John writes that a radio documentary on late Cincinnati Reds voice Waite Hoyt airs this weekend.

The Indianapolis Star says Butler coach Brad Stevens will be a guest analyst for CBS on the Final Four.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes the Brewers have extended their radio rights deal with their long-time flagship station.

Bob says a local sportscaster is back to work after a long illness.

Bob tells us that Marquette coach Buzz Williams will also be a guest analyst on CBS this weekend.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin writes that CBS loves New Orleans at Final Four time.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says 20 Cardinals games won’t be seen by AT&T U-Verse subscribers this season.

Dan writes that the defending champions Cardinals will be in the national spotlight quite a few times this season.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that Fox Sports San Diego is not optimistic of getting a deal with two cable providers in time for Padres opening day.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star has ESPN’s MLB analysts praising Magic Johnson’s presence with the Dodgers.

Jim was surprised that Kentucky-Louisville wasn’t the nightcap for the Final Four.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Lakers fans are enjoying having guest analysts on radio broadcasts this season.

Tom talks with Jim Rome about his CBS Sports Network show.

Tom has more on Rome in his blog.

Canada

The usually uninformed Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC Sports appears to be rudderless as it heads into a new NHL negotiation.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the viewership numbers for Canadian sports television from last week.

And that will conclude the megalinks.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 03/31 & 04/01/12, All Times Eastern

Saturday, March 31

Men’s

College GameDay live from New Orleans — ESPN, noon
Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 1 p.m.
The Big Dance in the Big Easy — CBS, 3 p.m.
Human Highlight Reel — CBS, 3:30 p.m.
The Final Four Show — CBS, 4 p.m.

College All-Star Game — truTV, 1 p.m.

NCAA Tournament
National Semifinals
Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Steve Kerr/Tracy Wolfson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Kugler/Bill Raftery/John Thompson/Jim Gray (sidelines)/John Tautges & Bill Walton (studio)
#1 Kentucky vs. #4 Louisville — CBS, 6:09 p.m.
#2 Ohio State vs. #2 Kansas — CBS, 8:49 p.m.

Inside March Madness — truTV, 11:30 p.m.
Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 11 p.m.
Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.

Women’s
Women’s National Invitation Tournament
Championship
James Madison at Oklahoma State — CBS Sports Network, 3 p.m.

Sunday, April 1

Men’s
Kings of the Court — CBS, 3:30 p.m.
Bracket Breakdown — CBS Sports Network, 4 p.m.

Women’s

NCAA Women’s Final Four Special — ESPN, 6 p.m.

NCAA Women’s Tournament
National Semifinals
Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
Announcers: ESPN — Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke/Holly Rowe (sidelines)/Rebecca Lobo (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Dave Ryan/Debbie Antonelli/Krista Blunk (sidelines)
#1 UConn vs. #1 Notre Dame — ESPN, 6:30 p.m.
#1 Baylor vs. #1 Stanford — ESPN, 9 p.m.

Late Monday Night Links

As promised earlier today, I’m giving you more links. I was out earlier today and I’ll be out again tomorrow so it’s going to be a bit crazy for me. So let’s get to the linkage right now.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch looks at the media circus that was the Tim Tebow press conference at the New York Jets practice facility on Monday.

Speaking of Richard, he and CNBC’s Darren Rovell were locked in Round 2 of their Twitter feud. This was fun while it lasted as Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing recaps.

Matt notes that Al Trautwig of MSG Network had a slip of the tongue.

And Matt is gleeful that ESPN’s Jonathan Coachman also had a similar slip.

Christina Settimi of Forbes looks at baseball’s biggest local cable TV rights deals.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN has promoted an executive to handle its international digital media efforts.

Sam Laird of Mashable notes that the Boston Bruins have launched their own social media portal, believed to the first in pro sports.

Todd Cunningham at The Wrap says with Tiger Woods win this past weekend, CBS now looks forward to having masterful ratings for The Masters^® in two weeks.

Dale Buss of Brand Channel writes that Jockey brand underwear welcomed Tim Tebow to New York as only it could.

Kevin Kaduk of Yahoo’s Big League Stew has one of the funniest on-screen graphics pulled by Fox Sports Midwest during a St. Louis Cardinals exhibition game.

Jesse Sawyer of the Avon (CT) Patch says ESPN’s Kenny Mayne has sold his Connecticut home over half a year after he moved his family to Washington State.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post hates everybody.

Breaking the Bob Raissman ban to note that the New York Daily News curmudgeon feels Tim Tebow is already a pro at handling the Big Apple media circus.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that the ratings for the NCAA Tournament this past weekend took a huge hit thanks to Tiger Woods.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News writes about ESPN’s three month-long initiative to celebrate Title IX.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call talks about the departure of local native Meredith Marakovits for the bright lights of New York.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog tells us that he’s going to have a partner on the blog.

And Sarah Kogod introduces herself to DC Sports Bog readers in her first post.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Tennis Channel’s Mary Carillo.

Tom Jones from the Tampa Bay Times reviews the weekend in sports television.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman notes that the Oklahoma City Thunder set a new ratings record.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says a nationally syndicated radio morning show will be in town for Reds Opening Day.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Wisconsin-Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 did well in the local ratings.

Scott D. Pierce at the Salt Lake Tribune says BYU basketball coach Dave Rose has a future in TV if he so chooses.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times says an investment bank helped to broker the Pac-12 media rights contract with ESPN and Fox plus other huge sports and entertainment megadeals.

Joe reports that DirecTV and Tribune are in a dispute over the company’s TV stations and this could include WGN America which carries a bunch of sports programming.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail has yet another amazingly uninformed column not realizing that CBS and Turner share the NCAA Tournament and CBS no longer regionalizes games. Many Canadian college basketball fans are aware of this, yet Bruce is not.

Sports Media Watch looks at the lower ratings generated by the NCAA Tournament over the weekend.

SMW has the viewership for the first primetime effort by ESPN2′s First Take.

To Macgasm where we learn that ESPN is teaming with Apple to make sports scores available on the Siri voice platform on the iPhone 4S.

Joe Favorito asks does UFC really needs New York to be successful?

Jim Connelly at USCHO.com wonders if ESPN is doing more to hurt the NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament than help promote it.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball wonders when MLB Network will hit Canada.

And we’ll end it there. Good night.

Quick Monday Linkage

Don’t have much time today. I’ll do a few links for you here while I can.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has CBS/Turner’s Clark Kellogg saying he wouldn’t be surprised if Kentucky lost in the Final Four this weekend.

Mr. College Football, Tony Barnhart of CBS Sports, remembers his former colleague at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Furman Bisher.

Tim Wood at the Bleacher Report announces some new hirings. BR has been on a hiring binge lately.

ESPN2 aired the Jets/Tim Tebow press conference today with a twist. Can you believe showing Skippy Bayless on his laptop, live tweeting the event? Yes indeed. Very bad television.

Eric Goldschein of SportsGrid notes that a SiriusXM Radio host decided to use his satellite radio show to criticize the Miami Heat for the famous picture of the entire team wearing hoodies in support of Trayvon Martin.

Doug Farrar at Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner says Fox Sports is considering using suspended New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton as an analyst this season.

To Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk who says don’t expect the NFL to give the public a partial 2012 regular season schedule release this week.

Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal catches up with CBS Sports Network/Dial Global Radio announcer Dave Ryan who’s calling the NCAA Women’s Tournament on radio this week.

Ken Kerschbaumer at Sports Video Group notes that Longhorn Network uses fiber optics rather than satellite trucks to transmit game action from University of Texas campus back to its broadcast facility.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life says a NCAA Tournament overrun helped CBS win the Sunday night primetime ratings.

Rich Thomaselli of Advertising Age says the NFL and Nike are hyping their new partnership which both companies say will revolutionize the league’s apparel.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Tiger Woods’ win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this weekend might have helped his popularity.

Yesterday, we learned that legendary boxing writer and historian Bert Sugar died at the age of 75. Sugar was one of the most popular figures covering the sweet science. But in addition to covering boxing, Sugar wrote about baseball and was good at it. When I hosted a one-hour radio sports show in Groton, CT, Bert gave me one of the best interviews I ever had. He was witty, funny, brilliant and put everything into its proper perspective. And he sent me a book that he had written about boxing. One of the nicest men in the sports media you’ll ever have the chance to meet. And unfortunately, he’s gone.

Tim Smith of the New York Daily News says Sugar had been suffering from lung cancer, but typical of Bert, he kept it quiet from most of his friends.

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com says Bert will be missed.

Michael Woods of ESPN New York has an appreciation of Sugar.

Bob Velin of USA Today also has an obituary for Sugar.

Gary Mihoces of USA Today says Sugar was definitely a colorful character.

Lem Satterfield of The Ring, the digital home of Ring Magazine where Sugar once worked, has reaction to his death.

Promoter Jackie Kallen in Boxing Insider bids farewell to her friend.

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun has a couple of memories of Bert Sugar.

I’ll do some more linkage tonight.

CBS/Turner Tip Times for 2012 Final Four in New Orleans

This in from CBS/Turner Sports, we have the tip times for the 2012 Men’s Final Four in New Orleans on Saturday. Both games will be on CBS. The games will be called by Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr with Tracy Wolfson reporting.

The first game will be the iconic rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville. That game is scheduled to tip at 6:09 p.m. ET.

The nightcap between Kansas and Ohio State is scheduled for approximately 8:49 p.m.

We have the blurb from CBS/Turner Sports.

THIS JUST IN…
…from CBS Sports and Turner Sports

CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Final Four® on Saturday, March 31 (6:00-11:00 PM, ET) tips-off with Kentucky against Louisville (6:09 PM, ET) on CBS. Kansas against Ohio State follows 40 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr call the games along with Tracy Wolfson serving as reporter.

Coverage begins with THE ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR® (4:00-6:00 PM, ET) on CBS hosted by Greg Gumbel along with analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith and Seth Davis, live from New Orleans, La.

There will be plenty of press releases from CBS/Turner leading up to the Final Four and they’ll be posted at Fang’s Bites throughout the week.

Some Rare Saturday Links

It’s been a long time since I was able to provide Saturday linkage. Many times, it’s due to the fact I try to sleep in or my weekend was planned for me behind my back and I have to play chauffeur. Anyway, I’m able to provide some links and since I did not do the megalinks on Friday, I’ll give you this as a replacement, although the number of stories won’t equal Friday’s usual amount.

We begin with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch who mentions that NFL Network came close to firing Warren Sapp after he tweeted that former New Orleans Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey “snitched” about the team’s bounties to the NFL officials.

Can you believe Bob Costas turned 60 this week??!! Well, he did. MLB Network’s senior editorial director Elliot Kalb who has worked with Bob at NBC writes this tribute.

From the Poynter Institute, ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry looks at why ESPN expunged a Mark Cuban gay joke from a Bill Simmons Grantland podcast.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable says smartphones and tablets helped to drive a large percentage of traffic for March Madness Live online.

Mike Reynolds from Mulitchannel News writes that the NCAA Tournament saw a ratings decline from the year before for the first night of the Sweet 16 on Thursday.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel says a veteran cable TV programming exec has been promoted within the ranks of NBC Sports.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred mourns the passing of former Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Furman Bisher.

Eric Goldschein from SportsGrid has video of the Kazakhstan national anthem being played for a medalist of a shooting competition in Kuwait. Problem was that it was the version written for the movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” and not the real Kazakhstan national anthem. That’s funny.

Sports Video Group offers a review of the March Madness Live iPad app.

Busted Coverage says a Spokane, WA local sports anchor unwittingly decided to crack on Lesley Visser’s face.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the harsh punishments handed down by the NFL to the New Orleans Saints over Bountygate were likely tied to concussion lawsuits.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe speaks with CBS/Turner’s NCAA Tournament East Regional crew of Uncle Verne Lundquist, Bill Raftery and Lesley Visser.

Chad has a few more things with Verne and Bill that didn’t make the column.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at MLB Network producing and staffing a pregame show for Fox Saturday Baseball.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the local CBS affiliate has been taping its late newscast for nights it follows NCAA Tournament action.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that the WFAN Mets Radio Network is not big at all.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com has the latest in Baltimore-DC sports media in Press Box.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News talks with Texas A&M’s athletic director about entering the SEC and why the Longhorn Network led to the school’s departure from the Big 12.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that Texans radio voice Marc Vandermeer is leaving his radio talk show to focus squarely on the NFL team.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes about Fox and MLB Network collaborating on a pregame show.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with Turner Sports reporter Craig Sager who loves his job and picking out loud clothes for every game.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes about San Diego’s sports radio shuffles.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News has a story on the Brothers Waltrip who are laughing it up at Fox.

Tom has more with Darrell and Michael Waltrip in his blog.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN is seeing a ratings surge for its studio shows thanks to a busy NFL offseason.

SMW says viewership is up for the NCAA Women’s Tournament on ESPN2.

Steve Lepore has a suggestion for ESPN on how to make the NCAA Hockey Tournament more TV friendly.

Joe Favorito looks at how NFL news broke this week.

Ryan Yoder at Awful Announcing notes that Around the Horn host Tony Reali apparently had an on-the-job injury this week.

I’m going to end the Saturday links there.

ESPN’s Coverage of NCAA Women’s Tournament Continues This Weekend

The other NCAA basketball tournament, the Division I Women’s Championship resumes this weekend with the Sweet 16. ESPN and ESPN2 will have coverage from four regional sites, Raleigh, NC; Kingston, RI; Des Moines, IA; and Fresno, CA.

And the main crew of Dave O’Brien and Doris Burke are in Kingston at the Ryan Center on the University of Rhode Island campus, the most beautiful campus in the world, to call that regional final. Yes, I’m a URI alum so I’m partial to the school. Holly Rowe will also be on hand to roam the sidelines to grab players and push other people out of the way to get her interviews. I may go to the Tuesday regional final to see if I can get Holly in a mosh pit afterwards.

ESPN will carry three of four games today and ESPN2 gets three out of four Regional Semifinals on Sunday.

We have the games, tip times and announcing assignments for the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women’s Tournament.

Teams, Sites and Times Set for NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Regional Weekend

The Sweet Sixteen is set for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship and the action will begin Saturday, March 24, from the Des Moines, Iowa and Fresno, Calif., Regionals and Sunday from Raleigh, N.C., and Kingston, R.I. The final 15 games of the championship, beginning with the Regional Semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2, along with simulcasts on ESPN3.  Highlights:

• Two No. 11 seeds advanced to the Sweet 16 in the same year for the first time — Kansas vs. No. 2 Tennessee (Saturday at noon ET, ESPN) and Gonzaga vs. No. 2 Kentucky (Sunday at 6:30 p.m., ESPN2)
• All four No. 1 seeds are still in action – No. 1 Baylor vs. No. 4 Georgia Tech (Saturday at 2 p.m., ESPN); No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 5 South Carolina (Saturday at 11:30 p.m., ESPN2); No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 5 St. Bonaventure (Sunday at 2:30 p.m., ESPN2) and No. 1 Connecticut vs. No. 4 Penn State (Sunday at 4:30 p.m., ESPN2)
• Anticipated No. 2 vs. No. 3 matchups pitting defending national champion  No. 3  Texas A&M vs. No. 2 Maryland (Sunday at noon, ESPN / ESPN3) and No. 2 Duke vs. No. 3 St. John’s (Saturday at 9 p.m., ESPN / ESPN3)

Date	Time (ET)	Games/Commentators	Networks
Sat, Mar 24	Noon	No. 11 Kansas vs. No. 2 Tennessee (Des Moines, Iowa) Beth Mowins, Stephanie White & Samantha Steele	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	No. 4 Georgia Tech vs. No. 1 Baylor (Des Moines, Iowa) Beth Mowins, Stephanie White & Samantha Steele	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	No. 3 St. John’s vs. No. 2 Duke (Fresno, Calif.) Dave Pasch, Debbie Antonelli & Heather Cox	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	11:30 p.m.	No. 5 South Carolina vs. No. 1 Stanford (Fresno, Calif.) Dave Pasch, Debbie Antonelli & Heather Cox	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3
Sun, Mar 25	Noon	No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 2 Maryland (Raleigh, N.C.) Pam Ward, Rebecca Lobo & Allison Williams	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	No. 5 St. Bonaventure vs. No. 1 Notre Dame (Raleigh, N.C.) Pam Ward, Rebecca Lobo & Allison Williams	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3
	4:30 p.m.	No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 1 Connecticut (Kingston, R.I.) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke & Holly Rowe	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 11 Gonzaga vs. No. 2 Kentucky (Kingston, R.I.) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke & Holly Rowe	ESPN2 HD/ESPN3
Mon, Mar 26	7 p.m.	(Des Moines, Iowa) Beth Mowins, Stephanie White & Samantha Steele	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	(Fresno, Calif.) Dave Pasch, Debbie Antonelli & Heather Cox	ESPN HD/ESPN3
Tue, Mar 27	7 p.m.	(Kingston, R.I.) Dave O’Brien, Doris Burke & Holly Rowe	ESPN HD/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	(Raleigh, N.C.) Pam Ward, Rebecca Lobo & Allison Williams	ESPN HD/ESPN3

Saturday’s links will be coming up. That’s right, a rare Saturday linkfest.

CBS/Turner Announces Tip Times for Elite 8 on Sunday, March 25

We now have the official tip times from CBS/Turner for the second half of the Regional Finals this weekend. As is the case for Saturday, CBS will handle the Midwest and South Regions as the Turner networks’ commitments are over.

So the South Regional Final between Baylor and overall Tournament #1 seed Kentucky with Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Tracy Wolfson will be on the call on CBS at 2:20 p.m.

And the Midwest Regional Final featuring two historic programs, Kansas and North Carolina will be scheduled for 5:05 p.m. to called by Marv Albert, Steve Kerr and Craig Sager.

First time in years that Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg won’t be calling the late Sunday game. But this is the correct scheduling.

The NCAA Tournament coverage on Sunday begins with NCAA Tip-Off on truTV at 1 p.m. ET and CBS begins at 2 p.m. with Road to the Final Four.

Here’s the CBS/Turner announcement on the Sunday tip times.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS ANNOUNCE TIP-TIMES FOR REGIONAL FINALS ON SUNDAY, MARCH 25 ON CBS

Turner Sports and CBS Sports announce tip-times and match-ups for the Regional Finals of the 2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Sunday, March 25 (2:00-7:00 PM, ET), on CBS. Kentucky will take on Baylor in the first game (2:20 PM, ET) followed by North Carolina playing Kansas (5:05 PM, ET).

Sunday’s coverage begins on truTV with NCAA Tip-Off (1:00-2:00 PM, ET) with Greg Gumbel along with analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith and Kansas State head coach Frank Martin.

Below are the tip-times and announce/production assignments for the Regional Final games on Sunday. Tip times for the Final Four games on Saturday, March 31 will be announced after the conclusion of Sunday’s games.

Additionally, NCAA March Madness® Live provides a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

REGIONAL FINAL GAMES
SUNDAY, MARCH 25

Time (ET)	Network		Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
2:20 PM	CBS		Atlanta	Kentucky vs. Baylor	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
5:05 PM	CBS		St. Louis	North Carolina vs. Kansas	Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager

And we’re done.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 03/24 & 03/25/2012, All Times Eastern

Saturday, March 24

Men’s
NCAA Division II Championship
Bank of Kentucky Center, Highland Heights, KY
Montevallo vs. Western Washington — CBS, 1 p.m.

NCAA Division I Tournament
Elite 8
West Region
US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller/Marty Snider (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Dave Sims/Bill Frieder
#4 Florida vs. #7 Louisville — CBS, 4:30 p.m.

East Region
TD Bank Garden, Boston, MA
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Kevin Kugler/Pete Gillen
#1 Syracuse vs. #2 Ohio State — CBS, 7:05 p.m.

College GameDay — ESPN2, 11 a.m.
NCAA Tip-Off — truTV, noon
Road to the Final Four — CBS, 3 p.m.

Women’s
NCAA Tournament
Sweet 16
Des Moines, IA Region
Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IA
Announcers: Beth Mowins/Stephanie White/Samantha Steele (sidelines)
#2 Tennessee vs. #11 Kansas — ESPN, noon
#1 Baylor vs. #4 Georgia Tech — ESPN, 2:30 p.m.

Fresno, CA Region
Save Mart Center, Fresno, CA
Announcers: Dave Pasch/Debbie Antonelli/Heather Cox (sidelines)
#2 Duke vs. #3 St. John’s — ESPN, 9 p.m.
#1 Stanford vs. #5 South Carolina — ESPN, 11:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 25

Men’s
NCAA Division I Tournament
Elite 8
Midwest Region
Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Wayne Larrivee/Fran Fraschilla
CBS, 2:10 p.m.

South Region
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Announcers: CBS/Turner — Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson (sidelines); Dial Global Radio — Ian Eagle/John Thompson
CBS, 4:55 p.m.

NCAA Tip-Off — truTV, 1 p.m.
The Best of College Basketball 2012 — CBS, 1 p.m.
Road to the Final Four — CBS, 2 p.m.

Women’s
NCAA Tournament
Sweet Sixteen
Raleigh, NC Region
PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC
Announcers: Pam Ward/Rebecca Lobo/Allison Williams (sidelines)
#2 Maryland vs. #3 Texas A&M — ESPN, noon
#1 Notre Dame vs. #5 St. Bonaventure — ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.

Kingston, RI Region
Ryan Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI
Announcers: Dave O’Brien/Doris Burke/Holly Rowe
#1 UConn vs. #4 Penn State — ESPN2, 4:30 p.m.
#2 Kentucky vs. #11 Gonzaga — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

CBS/Turner Announces Tip Times for Elite 8 on Saturday, March 24

Ok, CBS/Turner has announced the tip times for the Regional Finals on Saturday.

CBS will handle the rest of the basketball action from Saturday all the way to the Final Four in New Orleans next week. It’ll all begin with NCAA Tip-Off at noon ET on truTV, then it’ll be the NCAA Men’s Division II Championship at 1 p.m. on CBS.

The Road to the Final Four pregame show airs on CBS at 3 p.m., then the West Regional Finals between Florida and Louisville airs at 4:30 p.m. then the East Regional Final between Ohio State and Syracuse will tip off at 7:05 p.m.

We have the announcing assignments and official press release from CBS/Turner.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS ANNOUNCE TIP-TIMES FOR REGIONAL FINALS ON SATURDAY, MARCH 24, ON CBS

Turner Sports and CBS Sports announce tip-times and match-ups for the Regional Finals of the 2012 NCAA^® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday, March 24 (4:30-9:00 PM, ET), on CBS. Louisville will take on Florida in the first game (4:30 PM, ET) followed by Syracuse playing Ohio State at (7:05 PM, ET).

Saturday’s coverage begins on truTv with  NCAA Tip-Off (12:00 NOON-1:00 PM, ET) with Ernie Johnson, Seth Davis, Steve Smith and VCU head coach Shaka Smart. The NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship (1:00-3:00 PM, ET) tips-off the day’s action on CBS followed by THE ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR^®, hosted by Greg Gumbel along with analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony, Kenny Smith and Kansas State head coach Frank Martin (3:00-4:30 PM, ET).

Below are the tip-times and announce assignments for Saturday’s Regional Final games. Tip times for Sunday’s Regional Final games will be announced after the conclusion of Friday’s games.

Additionally, NCAA March Madness^® Live provides a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

REGIONAL FINAL GAMES
SATURDAY, MARCH 24

Time (ET)	Network	Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
4:30 PM	CBS	Phoenix	Louisville vs. Florida	Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Len Elmore//Marty Snider
7:05 PM	CBS	Boston	Syracuse vs. Ohio State	Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Lesley Visser

That will do it.

CBS/Turner Adds Coaches Shaka Smart & Frank Martin To Their Studios

This from CBS/Turner Sports, VCU coach Shaka Smart and Kansas State coach Frank Martin, he of the massive sideline death stare, will be guest analysts for the NCAA Tournament starting tonight. Smart will join the TBS crew in Atlanta fronted by Ernie Johnson, Jr., Seth Davis and Steve Smith. Martin will join the CBS studio in New York consisting of Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Charles Barkley. Martin will be with CBS for the Elite 8 Saturday and Sunday. Smart will be with TBS from Thursday through Saturday.

Your quick blurb from CBS/Turner on the next four days of NCAA Tournament coverage.

JUST IN…

…from Turner Sports and CBS Sports:

CBS Sports and Turner Sports have added Kansas State head coach Frank Martin and VCU head coach Shaka Smart as guest studio analysts for the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, airing across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.

Martin will serve as a guest analyst in the New York studio, joining host Greg Gumbel and analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith, for the Regional Finals on Saturday, March 24 and Sunday, March 25, which will air on CBS.

Smart joins the Atlanta studio team of host Ernie Johnson and analysts Steve Smith and Seth Davis, working the Regional Semi-Final and Finals on Thursday, March 22, Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24, which will air across CBS and TBS.

And we move on to other topics.

Some Long Overdue Linkage

Due to crazy personal schedules on Tuesday and Wednesday, I wasn’t able to update the site as much as I would like. I apologize to you as I’ve been trying to keep you apprised of the latest sports media news. A few housekeeping notes, first I did some Sports Media Thoughts earlier this morning and you read them here.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing was kind to ask me on his podcast and we recorded it on Wednesday while I was on the road so the phone quality isn’t great (damn you, AT&T 3G). You can listen to what Matt and I discussed at the Awful Announcing site.

And lastly, Keith Thibault and I recorded our latest Sports Media Weekly podcast this week and our guest is Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette and the subject is college hockey coverage.

Now to our links.

Michael Smith & John Ourand from Sports Business Journal look at the possibility of ESPN and Fox Sports teaming up once again, this time to control the media rights to the Big 12 Conference. The two companies combined for the Pac-12 last year in an attempt to keep NBC Sports out of college sports and it appears the two are back at work again on the Big 12 rights.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim makes a very good point on the perceived conflict of interests of ESPN’s tennis announcers and the players to which they’re connected, case in point, Mary Jo Fernandez seen sitting with Roger Federer’s wife during the BNP Paribas Open last week on ABC.

Andrew McCalvy at MLB.com writes that Milwaukee Brewers Hall of Fame voice Bob Uecker will be honored with a statue outside Miller Park. Congrats to Uke on a well deserved honor. We all remember his character, Harry Doyle from the “Major League” movies and his great quote, “Juuuuust a bit outside.” Classic.

Interesting study from the Media Behavior Institute which shows a great majority still watch the NCAA Tournament on TV, but online numbers comprise a large chunk.

Ben Grossman at Broadcasting & Cable reports that Major League Baseball is looking at placing postseason games on MLB Network to boost its subscriber numbers.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that MLB Network will produce a pregame show for Fox Saturday Baseball.

Tom Comi of Channel Guide Magazine would like a halt to the Tim Tebow media circus.

Mike Miller at NBC’s College Basketball Talk notes that the NCAA Tournament ratings on CBS/Turner are just about even with last year.

Eric Goldschein of SportsGrid has video of ESPN’s Mike Tirico losing it during last night’s Lakers-Mavericks game.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Wheaties may be dying a very slow and painful death.

Ronnie Ramos in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says coaches and players are learning the proper use of Twitter.

Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy notes that Rogers Sportsnet picked up on a popular internet meme and used it in an on-screen graphic.

To Fishbowl NY where Jerry Barmash talks with Kenny Albert.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes that NBC Sports Network set a ratings record for hockey in NYC.

Neil notes that ESPN has a new head man-in-charge.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that CBS/Turner will bring in two coaches as guest analysts for the NCAA Tournament.

Pete says ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball crew will be busy in the first week of the MLB season.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Lehigh left an impression on CBS during the NCAA Tournament.

Matt Brooks of the Washington Post’s Early Lead has your viewing guide for tonight’s Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has links to some of the best columns from the late Furman Bisher.

Some of Bisher’s friends pay tribute to the man.

The AJC has a gallery of pictures showing Bisher throughout his career.

Mel Bracht of the Oklahoman looks at HBO Real Sports’ update on the 2001 plane crash that hit the Oklahoma State basketball program extremely hard.

Mel says local viewers chose Fox Sports Oklahoma over ESPN for two Oklahoma City Thunder games last week.

David Jablonski of the Dayton (OH) Daily News says a local man leads the millions of entries in ESPN’s Bracketology contest.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer is not a fan of NCAA Tournament scheduling.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the radio analyst for Bucks games has been off the air since last month.

Bob says former Brewers voice Matt Vasgersian will host the MLB Network-produced MLB on Fox pregame show.

Tom Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times remembers pioneering sportswriter Lacy J. Banks who died Wednesday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has video of Bob Costas pontificating on the Saints suspensions.

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin writes about the media fighting over staged NHL fights.

The Toronto Sports Media blog explores the local newspapers imploring the Maple Leafs to apologize to their fans for missing the playoffs.

Sports Media Watching notes that ratings on NBA TV are up.

Media Rantz says ESPN got fooled by a fake Adam Schefter Twitter account during Tim Tebow coverage last night.

We have a picture of that fake Adam Schefter tweet. “Adarn Schefter”?

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing explores the Gus Johnson departure from CBS and how it may leave him without his signature event for a long time to come.

The Convoluted Mind of a Single Man site looks at the innovations John Madden brought to NFL broadcasting.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth says league-owned networks are making big strides in production and programming.

And that will finish our links for today.

Three Quick Thursday Sports Media Thoughts

A couple of sports media thoughts on this early Thursday morning in bullet form.

• The Sports Emmy Award nominations are out and while most honor the Best in Sports Broadcasting, they always have a few mind-boggling nods and this year is no exception. While I can overlook a nomination for hockey charlatan Pierre McGuire in the Sports Reporter category, I cannot ignore the nod to demagogue Skippy Bayless who somehow was nominated for Outstanding Sports Personality — Studio Analyst.

  Besides yelling and inexplicably latching onto Tim Tebow, what does Skippy is bloviate and make a spectacle of himself. He makes himself the story instead of covering it. The Academy got this nomination wrong. I just hope Skippy isn’t labeled “Emmy Award-winning” this year or any other year.

• As we approach the Sweet 16 of this year’s NCAA Tournament, let me hand out a couple of accolades and a couple of darts.

  My first accolade is to the freedom of choice viewers have. With four networks airing games now, we can switch to whatever game we choose. And thanks to the scoreboard on top of the screen, we’re kept up to date on the other games. Social media is also a help especially when someone tweets that there’s an upset brewing, we can switch channels. CBS/Turner is doing a good job there.

  Second accolade goes to Brian Anderson who did well in his CBS/Turner debut. He’s had a nice coming out party for Turner, being TBS’ main announcer for last year’s MLB postseason and now for Turner on the NCAA Tournament. Very nice job.

  A dart goes to analyst Bob Wenzel for his extremely pedestrian announcing. He really doesn’t too much to the broadcasts unless you like incessant yelling or trying too hard to be witty going into break. The end of the Bob Wenzel experience cannot come quickly enough.

  The last dart goes to Reggie Miller. He has added very little to the team of Kevin Harlan and Len Elmore.

• Happened to find one of my 1980′s crushes, Kathleen Sullivan on Twitter. Kathleen was a double pioneer in the 1980′s, being one of the very first anchors when CNN began and she was the first woman to host an Olympic broadcast on American television, working the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles the same year for ABC. Hard to believe that women had hardly been on the air during the Olympics prior to 1984, but Kathleen certainly opened a door. In fact, she was nominated for a Sports Emmy Award for her work on the Olympics, she was that good.

  I was a big fan when she was on CNN, ABC and CBS. And Kathleen remains a big sports fan. Glad to have found her on Twitter.

That will end the thoughts.

CBS Sports is Proud of Its 26 Sports Emmy Award Nominations

CBS Sports is that organization that just keeps chugging along. It was in a very bleak period from 1994-1998 when it lost the NFL, no NBA, was outbid for the NHL and seemed to heading in downward spiral. But since Sean McManus came on board as its President and now Chairman, the division not only re-obtained the NFL, became a player in college football, kept its PGA Tour commitments, kept the NCAA Tournament thanks to its partnership with Turner Sports, added Showtime Sports to its arsenal and now has CBS Sports Network.

For the 33rd Sports Emmy Awards, CBS and its affiliated networks, Showime and CBSSports.com have received 26 Sports Emmy Award nods, third among the sports network groups behind ESPN and the NBC Sports Group.

Some of CBS’ nominations include Live Sports Special (The Masters), Playoff Coverage (SEC Championship), Studio Host (James Brown), Play-by-Play (Jim Nantz and Marv Albert), Game Analyst (Gary Danielson), Sports Reporter (Tracy Wolfson), Weekly Studio Show (with Showtime for Inside the NFL) and Sports Documentary (again with Showtime for Game of Honor).

In addition, the Army-Navy game received multiple technical nominations.

Here’s the CBS Sports press release.

JIM NANTZ, JAMES BROWN, GARY DANIELSON AND TRACY WOLFSON LEAD CBS’s 26 NOMINATIONS FOR 2011 SPORTS EMMY AWARDS

SHOWTIME/CBS Sports Garner Five Nominations for Epic Army-Navy Documentary A GAME OF HONOR”
CBS Sports’ Coverage of NCAA Tournament, Masters^®, SEC Football and Army-Navy Game Also Receive Nods to Highlight Network’s Other Nominations

Jim Nantz, James Brown, Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson lead the list of CBS’s 26 nominations for the 2011 Sports Emmy Awards to be presented on April 30 in New York City.  Nantz, who won the 2008 and 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality -– PLAY-BY-PLAY, once again earned a nomination in that category. Brown’s nomination also is in the category in which he won in 2007, Outstanding Sports Personality -– STUDIO HOST, for THE NFL TODAY and INSIDE THE NFL on Showtime, while Danielson earned a nomination for Outstanding Sports Personality -– SPORTS EVENT ANALYST and Wolfson gained a nod for Outstanding Sports Personality -– SPORTS REPORTER. In addition, Marv Albert (CBS/TBS/TNT) earned a nomination for Outstanding Sports Personality – PLAY-BY-PLAY.

Among the other nominations for CBS Sports include multiple nods for its collaboration with Showtime on the epic Army-Navy documentary A GAME OF HONOR. The documentary garnered five nominations:

CBS Sports, teaming up with Turner Sports, also gained multiple nominations for its coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship for Outstanding SHORT FEATURE (Human Highlight Reel – Manny Ohonme: The Great Samaritan); Outstanding LONG FEATURE (NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – Amongst Friends: A Story of Loss and Healing); Outstanding TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO (NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament – Road to the Final Four) and Outstanding NEW APPROACHES SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE (March Madness on Demand –- NCAA.com/CBS Sports/Turner Sports).

In addition, CBS Sports’ coverage of the Masters® earned multiple nominations for Outstanding LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL and The George Wensel TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (The Masters 3D Coverage –- CBS Sports/ESPN3D). And the Network’s coverage of the Army-Navy football game received three nominations for Outstanding OPEN/TEASE; Outstanding Post Produced AUDIO/SOUND and Outstanding MUSIC COMPOSITION/DIRECTION/LYRICS.

Rounding out CBS Sports’ nominations are Outstanding PLAYOFF COVERAGE – SEC Football Championship Game (Georgia vs. LSU); Outstanding STUDIO SHOW – WEEKLY – INSIDE THE NFL (Showtime/CBS Sports); and OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND (Tour de France -– CBS Sports/Versus).

CBS’ Showtime, along with MLB Productions, earned three nominations for its series The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants for Outstanding Post Produced AUDIO/SOUND; Outstanding MUSIC COMPOSITION/DIRECTION/LYRICS and Outstanding EDITED SPORTS SERIES/Anthology.

Breaking Out The Monday Links

For the last few weeks, we’ve been having issues with the server and some of you have complained to me. Suffice to say that I hope to have this fixed very soon. I will keep you apprised of the situation. In the meantime, thanks for your patience on the matter.

To the links.

We begin with the passing of legendary Atlanta sportswriter Furman Bisher who died Sunday at the age of 93. Even though he had retired from full-time writing in 2009, he continued to write for his old newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as well as his own website. And he was planning to cover The Masters in April.

He covered practically every big sporting event in his 59 years at the AJC and was also instrumental in bringing professional sports to Georgia. Bisher also co-authored Hank Aaron’s autobiography. His career began in 1938 in his native North Carolina and he began with the Journal-Constitution in 1950.

Alexis Stevens of the AJC writes that Bisher passed in his sleep.

Bill King of the AJC says Bisher’s shadow looms large in Atlanta.

Bisher also wrote an occasional column for the Albany (GA) Herald for the last three years and the newspaper also mourns his passing.

He also wrote guest columns for the Newton (GA) Citizen.

The Augusta (GA) Chronicle picks up an Associated Press obituary on Bisher.

Bisher has been inducted into several Halls of Fame including the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame, the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame as well as the Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame.

And yes, when news of Bisher’s passing hit, it even trended worldwide on Twitter.

Bisher was a prolific writer even during retirement and was revered by colleagues and athletes. To say he will be missed is an understatement.

To other links now.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says CBS/Turner’s Clark Kellogg had to miss seeing his son, Nick, playing in the NCAA Tournament in Ohio, and will do so again this weekend.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that regional sports networks are already raking in strong ad sales for the upcoming MLB season.

Stephen Williams from Advertising Age notes that Jeremy Lin has signed an endorsement deal with Volvo which could make him the focus of a campaign in Communist China.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life says the NCAA Tournament is off to a strong ratings start.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has video of CBS/Turner’s Charles Barkley making the obligatory Hardcore Pawn joke. I saw this last night and was in stitches.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is swinging the ax once again.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says CBS/Turner continue to see ratings increases for the NCAA Tournament.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog notes that the local ESPN Radio affiliate has found a replacement for John Thompson’s show.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times has his take on the weekend in sports television.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the city’s two NCAA Tournament team will be on CBS during the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals.

Robert Feder at Time Out Chicago writes about Ed Sherman leaving Crain’s Chicago Business’ sports business and media and launching a new website of his own.

The Denver Post’s Dusty Saunders is enjoying Charles Barkley on the NCAA Tournament.

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune says two local sports radio hosts are switching stations.

Tony Jackson at ESPN LA writes about Vin Scully cutting back on broadcasting the Dodgers this season.

Raju Mudhar from the Toronto Star says sports is moving online, but at a snail’s pace.

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin says the Blue Jays’ Omar Vizquel is a natural fit for television.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog reviews TSN’s NCAA Tournament coverage.

Timothy Burke gets a screengrab of the Dan Patrick Show showing Oderus from the great band, GWAR, working as a temp today. I love the look on Fritzy’s face. Hilarious.

Jim Weber at Lost Letterman says it’s time to end the Kenny Smith/Charles Barkley experience on the NCAA Tournament.

And I’ll finish it there for now.

Tip Times & CBS/Turner Announcing Assignments For Sweet 16 of 2012 NCAA Tournament

We know that Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg will be headed to Atlanta to call the overall number one seed of the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky and the compelling South Regional semifinal between UK and Indiana. While Clark won’t be able to call his son, Nick playing for Ohio in the Midwest Regional in St. Louis against North Carolina, he will have some good basketball for the weekend.

For the first time since 2006, we won’t have Gus Johnson calling a Regional Final, but we do have Kevin Harlan which is a good thing. Kevin will be joined by Len Elmore and Reggie Miller out West in Phoenix. And the other regional final teams are Uncle Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery stationed in Boston for the East Regional along with Turner’s Marv Albert and Steve Kerr in St. Louis.

CBS and TBS will split the duties for the regional semis on Thursday and Friday while CBS handles the regional finals over the weekend. Here are the Sweet 16 tip times and announcer assignments for Thursday and Friday.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS ANNOUNCE TIP-TIMES AND ANNOUNCE TEAMS FOR REGIONAL SEMI-FINALS

Exclusive Coverage Continues with Regional Semi-Finals on Thursday, March 22, and Friday, March 23

Turner Sports and CBS Sports announce tip-times, match-ups and commentators for its exclusive coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Regional Semi-Finals on Thursday, March 22, and Friday, March 23 (7:00 PM-12:00 Midnight ET), with all games available on TBS or CBS. The NCAA Tip-Off pregame show will preview each night’s action on TBS at 6:00 PM.

Announce teams for the Regional Semi-Finals and Finals:

Play-By-Play/Analyst//Reporter
Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager
Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Lesley Visser
Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Len Elmore//Marty Snider

Studio coverage continues with Greg Gumbel hosting along with analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. Ernie Johnson hosts the studio coverage from Turner’s Atlanta studio with analysts Seth Davis and Steve Smith.

Below are tip-times for the Regional Semi-Final games, as well as announcer and production team assignments. Tip-times for the Regional Final games on Saturday, March 24, will be announced on Thursday after the conclusion of the day’s games. Tip-times for Sunday, March 25, will be released after the conclusion of play on Friday. For a complete channel guide, log on to NCAA.com/MyChannels.

Additionally, NCAA March Madness® Live provides a robust suite of products including live streaming video of all 67 games from the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship; personal channel lineup (MyChannel) features and schedule updates; social media integration; and real-time brackets, scores and stats across online and mobile platforms.

REGIONAL SEMI-FINAL GAMES
THURSDAY, MARCH 22

Time	Network	Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
7:15 PM ET	CBS	Boston I	Wisconsin vs. Syracuse	Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery// Lesley Visser
7:47 PM	TBS	Phoenix I	Louisville vs. Michigan State	Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Len Elmore// Marty Snider
9:50 PM	CBS	Boston II	Cincinnati vs. Ohio State	Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery// Lesley Visser
10:22 PM	TBS	Phoenix II	Florida vs. Marquette	Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Len Elmore//Marty Snider

 REGIONAL SEMI-FINAL GAMES
FRIDAY, MARCH 23

Time	Network	Site	Game	Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
7:15 PM	CBS	Atlanta I	Baylor vs. Xavier	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
7:47 PM	TBS	St. Louis I	North Carolina vs. Ohio	Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager
9:50 PM	CBS	Atlanta II	Kentucky vs. Indiana	Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
10:22 pm	TBS	St. Louis II	Kansas vs. N.C. State	Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager

That’s all

CBS/Turner Says 2012 NCAA Tournament is Most Watched Since 1994; Saturday’s Ratings Up Too

The news is good for CBS/Turner on two fronts. While there were no upsets on Saturday unlike Friday, ratings were up for the NCAA Tournament by 3% from last year. Yesterday’s rating registered a 6.1, up from a 5.9 last year. In addition, the Tournament averaged 9.3 million viewers which was even with last year.

And the tournament overall is averaging a 5.3 rating through Saturday, up from last year’s 5.1 average by 4%.

We have the press blurb from CBS/Turner.

2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTv Most-Watched Tournament in 18 Years

Saturday’s 6.1 U.S. HH Rating +3% Over 2011

CBS Sports and Turners Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2012 NCAA^® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV is the most-watched tournament in 18 years.

This year’s event is averaging a 5.3 U.S. HH rating through Saturday, up 4% compared with a 5.1 rating in 2011 and an increase of 15% over a 4.6 rating in 2010 (according to Nielsen Fast Nationals). The corresponding average of eight million viewers this year is +3% over last year’s 7.8 million viewers and +14% compared with seven million viewers in 2010.

Saturday’s coverage across the four networks delivered the highest-rated and most-watched first Saturday of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship since 2007. Yesterday’s coverage averaged a 6.1 U.S. HH rating, +3% over last year’s 5.9 rating and an increase of 13% over a 5.4 rating in 2010. The corresponding 9.3 million viewers were even with last year and +11% vs. 8.4 million viewers in 2010.

Source: Nielsen Media Research, based on Fast National Data, Live +SD data stream. 3/13-3/17/12 vs 3-15-3/19/11. 2011 and 2012 averages based on weighted average of 4 telecast gross across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Historical audiences, CBS 1991 through 2005 based on Live data. 2006 through 2012 based on Live + SD. 2003 based on CBS / ESPN average of First Round.

That will do it.

Quick Sunday Linkage

While I have a moment, let’s provide some rare Sunday links.

The lovely Nicole Auerbach of USA Today notes that ESPN’s Bob Knight won’t mention Kentucky by name on the air. ESPN allows Knight to wear sweaters on the air instead of a suit and tie and now this. I don’t understand it.

The Associated Press reports that Hall of Fame Los Angeles Dodgers voice Vin Scully is cutting back on his schedule even further this upcoming season.

The Biz of Baseball’s Maury Brown writes that the Dodgers have released their 2012 radio and TV schedule with the news about Scully buried deep in the press release.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Friday’s historic upsets in the NCAA Tournament gave CBS/Turner record ratings.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel notes that HBO has set the date for its next pay per view boxing event.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid wonders exactly what CBS/Turner’s Bill Raftery said during last night’s Iowa State-Kentucky game.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group writes that Ball State students are helping Turner Sports drive its social media engine for the NCAA Tournament.

Sox & Dawgs has the funny video of UConn’s Stefanie Dolson taking a knee to the groin, but what’s makes it funny is that ESPN2′s Rebecca Lobo is laughing when she sees the replay.

Phil Swann at TVPredictions says DirecTV aired last night’s launch of Fox Sports San Diego in HD.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick can’t stand ESPN’s Stephen A. “A is for Anti-Asian” Smith kissing up to certain New York Knicks players.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes the higher ratings for the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News says the Bills’ courting of Mario Williams stretched the Western New York media to all corners of the region.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with Sirius XM NFL Radio host Ross Tucker about the DC NFL Team.

Tom Jones from the Tampa Bay Times profiles NBC/Golf Channel’s on-course reporter Dottie Pepper.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says ratings for the first true day of the NCAA Tournament were up.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has writers analyzing the Brewers by each position.

Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres got their official launch on Fox Sports last night.

Jim Peltz of the Los Angeles Times writes about Vin Scully cutting back on his schedule this season.

Sports Media Watch notes the increased ratings for the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

SMW says the NBA drew strong numbers for ESPN/ABC.

And that will complete the links for today.

CBS/Turner Says Friday Was Highest Rated 1st Friday of NCAA Tournament in 21Years

Just received this from the CBS/Turner consortium (I like writing “consortium”).

Ratings for Friday were the highest for the second official day of the NCAA Tournament dating back to 1991. The ratings finished at a total of 5.4 for the CBS/TBS/TNT/truTV perfecta. That’s up 8% from last year’s 5.0.

Average viewership was 8 million people, up 7% from the 7.5 million who tuned in last year. The upsets of Missouri and heavy hitter Duke certainly helped the ratings, but might hurt in the long run as two marquee ratings draws are out of the Tournament.

We have the CBS/Turner press release for you all wrapped up in a neat bow for you below.

2012 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTv Delivers Most-Watched First Thursday & Friday Since 1991 

Friday’s 5.4 U.S. HH Rating +8%; Eight Million Viewers +7%

 

Turner Sports and CBS Sports’ exclusive second-round coverage of the 2012 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV on Friday combined to deliver a 5.4 U.S. HH rating (+8% compared with a 5.0 rating in 2011 and +29% vs. 2010’s 4.2 rating) and eight million total viewers (+7% vs. 7.5 million viewers last year and +27% vs. 2010’s 6.3 million viewers), according to Nielsen Fast Nationals. 

 

Last night’s coverage across the four networks delivered the most-watched first Friday of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship (records date back to 1991, when the tournament expanded to four telecast windows)?

Overall, the first Thursday and Friday is the most-watched since 1991.  Thursday and Friday coverage averaged a 5.3 U.S. HH rating (+6% compared with a 5.0 rating in 2011) and 7.9 million viewers (+5% vs. 7.5 million viewers last year). 

The first telecast window of the day earned a 3.8 U.S. HH rating (tied with last year’s record-setting performance in the window and +41% vs. a 2.7 rating in 2010).

 

The second telecast window of the day delivered a 5.2 U.S. HH rating (+11% vs. last year and +63% vs. a 3.2 rating in 2010).

 

The third telecast window of the day netted a 6.5 U.S. HH rating (+12% vs. last year and +20% vs. a 5.4 rating in 2010).

 

The final window earned a 6.0 U.S. HH rating (+2% vs. last year and +18% vs. a 5.1 rating in 2010).

 

Source: Nielsen Media Research, based on Fast National Data, Live +SD data stream. 3/13-3/16/12 vs 3-15-3/17811. 2011 and 2012 averages based on weighted average of 4 telecast gross across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Historical audiences, CBS 1991 through 2005 based on Live data. 2006 through 2012 based on Live + SD. 2003 based on CBS / ESPN average of First Round.

That will do it.