Fang's Bites

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, September 1
US Open – CBS, 11 a.m.
IAAF World Championships – NBC, 2 p.m.
PGA Golf/Deutsche Bank Championship, 2nd Round – Golf Channel, 3 p.m.
MLB/Mets at Atlanta or Texas at Angels or Detroit at Oakland – Fox, 3:55 p.m.
MLB/White Sox at Cleveland – WGN, 7 p.m.
MLB/Baltimore at Red Sox – NESN, 7 p.m.
US Open – USA, 7 p.m.
FIBA Tournament of Americas, semifinals – ESPN Classic, 7 & 9 p.m.
Boxing – Showtime, 10 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Sunday, September 2
US Open – CBS, 11 a.m.
IAAF World Championships – NBC, 1 p.m.
MLB/Mets at Atlanta – TBS, 1 p.m.
MLB/Baltimore at Red Sox – NESN, 2 p.m.
MLB/Houston at Cubs – WGN, 2 p.m.
PGA Golf/Deutsche Bank Championship, 3rd Round – NBC, 3 p.m.
FIBA Tournament of Americas, Gold Medal Game – FSN, 7 p.m.
US Open – USA, 7 p.m.
NASCAR/Sharp whatever it’s called 500 – ESPN, 8 p.m.
MLB/Texas at Angels – ESPN2, 8 p.m.
Big Brother 8 – CBS, 8 p.m.
Entourage (season finale) – HBO, 10 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Labor Day, Monday, September 3
US Open – CBS, 11 a.m.
MLB/Philadelphia at Atlanta – TBS, 1 p.m.
PGA Golf/Deutsche Bank Championship, 4th Round – NBC, 2 p.m.
College Football/Texas Tech at SMU – ESPN, 4 p.m.
MLB/LA Dodgers at Cubs – WGN, 4 p.m.

College Football Viewing Picks for Saturday, 9/1/07

College Gameday Live from Virginia Tech – ESPN, 10 a.m.
E. Carolina at Va. Tech – ESPN, noon
UAB at Michigan State – ESPN2, noon
Colorado at Colorado State – FSN, noon
Wake Forest at BC or Nevada at Nebraska or Washington State at Wisconsin – ABC, 3:30 p.m.
UCLA at Stanford – FSN, 3:30 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame – NBC, 3:30 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Georgia – ESPN2, 6:45 p.m.
Kansas State at Auburn – ESPN, 7:45 p.m.
Tennessee at Cal – ABC, 8 p.m.
Idaho at USC – FSN, 10 p.m.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

MLB/Baltimore at Red Sox – NESN, 7 p.m.
US Open – USA, 7 p.m.
IAAF World Championships – Versus, 7 p.m.
NFL/Indianapolis at Cincinnati – NFL Network, 7:30 p.m.
College Football/Washington at Syracuse – ESPN, 8 p.m.
South of Nowhere – The N, 8 p.m.
Jericho – CBS, 9 p.m.
Ninja Warrior – G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
quiznation – GSN, midnight (only if Shandi or Angell are there)
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Friday Afternoon Update

Let’s give you a few more links before I head out of here for the Labor Day weekend.

See this? Get ready to see a new NFL shield starting next year. The league offices have decided to streamline the NFL logo. USA Today’s Michael McCarthy writes that the new logo will be unveiled at the NFL Draft in April and is the first redesign in 27 years. Notice how the number of stars is reduced and the football now resembles the top of the Vince Lomardi trophy. Right now, I don’t like it, but perhaps I will down the road.

Jan Hubbard of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram outs ESPN for something I was about to discuss this weekend. If you watched the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s coverage of the FIBA Americas Tournament in Las Vegas this week, you may have noticed you never see John Saunders and Bill Walton, they’re always off camera especially in the opening of the telecasts. There’s good reason for that. They’re not in Las Vegas. They’re doing the games from Bristol, CT. I noticed that last week, Saunders called a game with Walton on Saturday and then hosted “The Sports Reporters” on Sunday from the ESPNZone in New York as usual. I thought to myself, “Did Saunders take a red eye from Vegas or did he call that game from Bristol? He looks good for someone who would have to fly from Vegas to New York.” I was looking for clues, but this article by Hubbard pretty much nails it as he went to Vegas to cover the tournament, but also correct something Saunders and Walton said during a broadcast, but discovered they weren’t there. This isn’t new. ESPN did this during the FIBA World Championships in China last year, doing the games from the studio and not sending announcers. ESPN also did this with two of its announcing teams during the FIFA World Cup as well. If ESPN is going to do this, it should say the announcers are watching the games just like us, off the television and not at the event.

Also from the Star-Telegram, Ray Buck talks with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit about the impact Texas and Oklahoma will have on the college football rankings.

Like David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch, Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter went to ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, CT on Thursday. ESPN execs said they would be taking a pass on scripted material and spend more time on live sporting events. Good, I say. It appears that “The Bronx is Burning” is the last scripted event on ESPN for a while.

TV Week gives you the full breakdown of the ratings from last weekend’s sporting events. And in his Pressbox blog, TV Week’s Chris Pursell talks with ESPN’s Sal Masekela.

Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post writes that the NHL’s Washington Capitals are moving radio stations from the Team 980 to 3WT.

Brandon Griggs of the Salt Lake Tribune writes about the city’s sports radio wars.

For those of you who have Sirius Satellite Radio (like me), you can plan out your college football weekend with the link to the schedule.

That’s it for now. Viewing Picks coming up later.

Reviews of the Big Ten Network

Let’s see what the Midwest newspapers are saying about the Big Ten Network’s debut last night.

ILLINOIS REACTION
Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald says he chose not to watch the debut even though he could have on DirecTV. Fans in Springfield can watch BTN thanks to Consolidated Communications.

INDIANA REACTION
Mike Carmini of the Lafayette Journal and Courier reviews the first hour which was not glitch-free.

IOWA REACTION
Ryan Suchomel of the Iowa City Press-Citizen watched the debut of BTN with University of Iowa students as the channel is on the school’s cable system, but not Mediacom elsewhere in the state. The Des Moines Register reports that last night’s Iowa State-Kent State game was not carried on one Mediacom system as a result of its dispute with BTN. In fact, this is what was shown while a simulcast of the radio broadcast was playing.

MICHIGAN REACTION
Kyle O’Neill of the Detroit Free Press recaps the first few minutes of the launch. Also in the Free Press, the Presidents of Michigan and Michigan State co-write an OpEd piece on BTN. Antoine Pitts in today’s Ann Arbor News says a majority of his city’s residents could not see the debut. And Pitts adds that a Detroit mainstay, ABC7′s “Big Ticket” pre-game show won’t been seen as much as a result of fewer Big Ten games on the station. An editorial in the Midland News appeals to Charter Communications to make a deal with the Big Ten Network.

MINNESOTA REACTION
Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin gives a positive review to the first night of BTN.

OHIO REACTION
Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch writes that the Big Ten Network’s deal with Insight doesn’t include HD or the overflow games. Aaron Dorksen in the Wooster
Daily Record says most Ohioans are shut out of the Ohio State opener this Saturday. The Canton Repository’s Todd Porter talks with the President of Massillon Cable, one of the few smaller companies that chose not to carry BTN. The Dayton Daily News suggests getting the game on radio for free. Tom Feran of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says BTN follows the trend of teams and leagues creating their own channels and cutting out the middle man.

PENNSYLVANIA REACTION
L.A. Tarone of the Hazelton Standard Speaker writes that two Penn State games won’t be seen locally.

WISCONSIN REACTION
Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Badger Blog recaps the debuts as well. Jeff Richgels of the Capital Times talks to one fan who’s angry at the Big Ten Presidents for the cable dispute.

There you have it. Lots of stuff on the Big Ten Network. There might be a small update later today. Check back.

Friday Before Labor Day Links

Good morning. Quick report on the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan. The US won two more golds with Jeremy Wariner leading an American sweep of the men’s 400 Meters and Allyson Felix easily beat 100 Meter gold medalist Veronica Campbell of Jamaica and the rest of the field in the women’s 200 Meters. Great to watch track & field just as I arrive at work. I’ll miss this next week.

Ok, time to give you links for today. This will be a mega-update so let’s get to them without further delay.

First, David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch went to ESPN Thursday and recaps his visit. He also has progress reports from yesterday, part one is here, this is part two, you’ve got part three here, and this is the last one.

Susan Bickelhaupt of the Boston Globe talks with NBC Sports producer Tommy Roy who is part of the team bringing the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, MA to the airwaves this weekend.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today discusses ESPN’s college football weekend.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a story on one of the best sports analysts on TV, John McEnroe, who is parlaying his angry teenage persona into some acting gigs.

In the New York Post, Phil Mushnick is usual grumpy self, going after ESPN for announcing that 50 Cent will be doing the open for college football on ABC. And NYP’s Justin Terranova has five questions for SNY’s Mets analyst Ron Darling.

The Bucks County Courier Times’ Laura Nachman writes about the on-going Comcast/NFL Network feud.

Doug Nye of The State in South Carolina writes about a new documentary on the South Carolina-Clemson rivalry. And Nye’s TV best bet for the weekend is Florida State-Clemson, another version of the “Bowden Bowl”, this Monday night.

Kyle Hightower of the Orlando Sentinel is warning University of Central Florida fans not to flock to their computers to see Saturday’s game at NC State on ESPN360 because their internet providers don’t have an agreement with the service. Also in the Sentinel, Dave Darling gives 10 reasons why the Bowl Championship Series works.

The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson talks to former Miami coach Larry Coker who will call his old team’s season opener tomorrow on ESPNU.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks about more high school football games being televised.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune looks at two books devoted to college football.

Bob Wolfey in today’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says the Big Ten Network is hoping that cable subscribers will defect to DirecTV.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Judd Zulgad writes that Minneapolis Fox station, KMSP is hoping the Vikings’ home opener next Sunday is sold out.

In the San Diego Union-Tribune, Jay Posner writes about arch-enemies Ted Leitner and Lee Hamilton working together on San Diego State University football games. And Posner says there could be a new sports radio station in San Diego …. or perhaps not.

The North County Times’ John Maffei also writes about the odd couple of Leitner and Hamilton joining forces.

Larry Stewart in the LA Times talks about the opening weekend of college football on TV.

In the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle writes about former Dodger announcer Ross Porter returning to radio to give commentaries.

From the Sports Media Watch blog, Paulsen notes that for the 9th straight week, ratings for MLB on Fox are down.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is off the Ana Ivanovic beat for now and is back on the David Beckham beat. Darren correctly points out that with Beckham out, with all this hype, the attendance numbers for his appearances have been overblown.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog reports that NBC’s John Madden will return to Sirius NFL Radio for the 4th straight year as a weekly guest.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with CBS’ Boomer Esiason in advance of his new radio show which premieres on WFAN next Tuesday.

Up to Canada we go and the Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich says the Super Series between Canada and Russia is getting higher ratings than expected.

And the Toronto Globe and Mail’s William Houston reports that the Canadian Olympic Committee is looking into launching a cable channel devoted to amateur sports.

The First Five Minutes of the Big Ten Network

This is the first five minutes (4:40, to be exact) of the launch of the Big Ten Network tonight. Viewers of DirecTV and about 75 cable companies in the Midwest saw Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith as the first faces on the network. I converted the avi file with an unregistered version of an MPEG converter, thus the “unregistered” tag in the top left corner, but if you can ignore that, you can see what most of the Midwest could not when BTN finally made it to air tonight at 8 ET.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks (Addendum)

NFL/Buffalo at Detroit – NFL Network, 7 p.m.
Big Ten Tonight (debut) – Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.
NFL/San Francisco at San Diego – NFL Network, 10 p.m.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

US Open – USA, 7 p.m.
IAAF World Championships – Versus, 7 p.m.
College Football/Tulsa at Louisiana-Munroe – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
College Football/Tennessee Tech at E. Illinois – CSTV, 7:30 p.m.
College Football/Murray State at Louisville – ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.
NFL/Giants at Patriots – WCVB/Fox 64, 7:30 p.m.
College Football/LSU at Mississippi State – ESPN, 8 p.m.
Big Brother 8 – CBS, 8 p.m.
Ninja Warrior – G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Thursday Morning Stuff

Before the links, let me comment on a couple of things. First, the United States got another gold medal in the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan when Tyson Gay made history with the rare 100-200 double today. He won the 200 Meters today in a time of 19.76 seconds and really it was no contest as Gay outpaced the field rather easily. Usain Bolt of Jamaica got the silver and Wallace Spearmon of the US edged out fellow American Rodney Martin for the bronze. And the long jump competition was fun as it went down to the final attempt. Irving Saladino of Panama won his country’s first medal ever in the Worlds by taking the gold in a distance of 8.57 meters (just under 29 feet) over Andrew Howe of Italy (8.47 meters or 27 feet 8 inches, but had just taken the lead over Saladino’s previous jump by a mere centimeter). Defending champion, Dwight Phillips of the US took the bronze. Good stuff to see online.

Second, there’s no need for Channel 5′s Bob Halloran to be on WEEI. To hear him and lackey Jon Meterperel talk about Bruce Springsteen’s album was just horrible. Either Dennis & Callahan should just bite the bit and come back or WEEI needs to find a show to replace them because the fill-ins just aren’t cutting it. It’s no wonder I subscribe to Sirius Satellite Radio and listen to Howard every morning because these local morning shows are just unlistenable.

Speaking of John Dennis & Gerry Callahan and their protracted contract negotiations with WEEI, David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch.com has been keeping track of this story and he has an update on the talks. The latest round of talks is not scheduled until after the Labor Day holiday weekend so don’t expect to hear them right away unless the station’s management wants to allow D&C to work without a contract. It appears the host du jour concept will continue into football season.

Ok, let’s do the links for today.

The launch of the Big Ten Network is tonight at 8 ET. We’ve got a lot of links on this for you. Yesterday, it signed with Insight Communications, giving the channel clearance into Columbus, OH, Evansville, IN and much of Kentucky. But Insight customers in Illinois and other parts of Indiana won’t see it because their systems are being bought out by Comcast and the Big Ten Network won’t talk with Comcast right now. So this is still a mess. In the meantime, other cable systems are balking including Time Warner as Kyle Nagel of the Dayton Daily News writes. Nagel adds that smaller cable companies, however, are signing up. Mediacom in Iowa isn’t buying. Ryan Suchomel of the Iowa City Press-Citizen says some Iowans aren’t waiting to see if Mediacom is going to sign up, many have already bought DirecTV. Of course, Comcast remains the one big fish that still won’t take the bait and there won’t be any talks there for at least the foreseeable future. Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press says there are no winners in this. Mark Alesia of the Indianapolis Star writes that Fox Cable Networks is trying to drive the deals and finding it hard to win over the cable companies. Michael Cooper of the Springfield (OH) News-Sun says Ohio State fans will need the dish to watch the first two Buckeye games. Over to the Cincinnati Enquirer where Dustin Dow writes more about Time Warner customers being blacked out of BTN. Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch says money is driving the dispute. Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune writes that BTN is ready to go tonight no matter what. Lacy Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times says BTN’s largest market of Chicago won’t be able to watch the channel.

Of course, if anything changes between now and the scheduled launch of the Big Ten Network, I will let you know.

In the meantime, fans of the University of Kentucky will see games on two TV stations in the Louisville area as Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal reports.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle breaks down where you can see national college games this fall. Barron also writes about former Houston Texan Tony Boselli who will do the color for four NFL games on Fox and also looks at the NFL’s TV partners’ plans to broadcast games.

FSN Midwest announces it will team up with the St. Louis Rams for two shows that will air on the channel.

Robert Feder in his regular media column for the Chicago Sun-Times writes that Mike Ditka will providing NFL analysis for WMAQ-TV and Bear LB Lance Briggs (yes, the same one who crashed his car this past weekend) will be on every week on one particular radio station.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that NBC and CBC will share technology during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The networks are gearing up in case there’s a writers strike this fall. Variety reports that one option is purchasing international programming from the UK or Canada instead of relying on repeats or reality shows. Turning it back to sports, ABC may look to ESPN for some programming (think “Bronx is Burning”).

The next set of links involve the behemoth known as ESPN. Next month, the ESPN kingdom will have extensive coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup from China. Jackie Majerus of the Bristol (CT) Press talks with those who will be involved. Majerus also writes about the alleged Worldwide Leader looking to expand its presence on the West Coast with new studios in the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

ESPN will also create a “MNF Luncheon Series” in 12 cities where the game will be played. Most of the MNF crew will be on hand. Speaking of MNF, Charles Elmore of the Palm Beach Post writes about Ron Jaworski joining the venerable series this season.

Paul Gough of the Hollywood Reporter writes that ESPN360 will relaunch this Saturday in time for college football. Steven Zeitchik of Variety says ESPN360 will only webcast live events and one potential for the site is the Olympics.

Ok, I will have an update tonight as I have to leave my office early to beat the traffic going to the Patriots game, plus the Deutsche Bank tournament is going on nearby so it’s going to be crazy today. I’ll do the Viewing Picks shortly.

It’s Official: Big Ten Network Signs with Insight

Here’s the official press release from the Big Ten Network. I know many of you are coming over from Illinois and Iowa message boards to check, but this is the latest on which Insight customers can view BTN and where.

Big win for BTN. We’ll continue to monitor if other cable companies sign up.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Red Sox at Yankees – NESN/ESPN2, 7 p.m.
US Open – USA, 7 p.m.
IAAF Athletics World Chmpionships – Versus, 7 p.m.
The Power of 10 – CBS, 8 p.m.
Hotel Babylon – BBC America, 9 p.m.
Ninja Warrior – G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Wednesday Afternoon Update

Well, we’ll keep an eye on the Big Ten Network which looks like it is working late today to pick up carriage on cable systems across the Midwest. No word if Mediacom, Time Warner or Bright House have signed up, but if they do, we’ll let you know. Insight is a big win for BTN.

Let’s give you some links.

NESN says it got big ratings for the Red Sox-Yankees game on Tuesday. Ratings for Tigers games on FSN Detroit remain strong.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC is looking to expand the Hockey Night in Canada brand by bringing it to satellite radio.

Comcast is looking to sign the Vancouver Canucks as possible programming for its new Comcast SportsNet Portland channel which already has the Trail Blazers. John Ourand of Sports Business Journal has more.

Kevin Seifert and Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune report that the Vikings are 5,800 tickets short of selling out their season opener and thus would be blacked out on TV locally. The story says the Vikings will launch an advertising campaign to get people to buy tickets as the team has not been blacked out in Minneapolis-St. Paul in ten years.

Back to the Big Ten Network, Gillian Wee of Bloomberg News writes that the channel is confident it will triple (!) its subscribers in 2 years. Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch also has the story of BTN finalizing a deal with Insight Communications. We told you this last night, but Bob Baptist picks up on it as well, that the Ohio State-Youngstown State game Saturday will be on channel 218 on DirecTV. Joe Huddleston of the Mount Vernon (OH) News says fans are being left in the lurch by the Big Ten Network-Time Warner dispute.

The Detroit Free Press reports that while Comcast viewers won’t be able to watch the Big Ten Network, it will take care of Notre Dame fans with an On Demand channel.

The annual rivalry game between Colorado and Colorado State will be widely available on FSN Rocky Mountain this year unlike last year when it was on the mtn. and Versus.

SportsSouth picks up the rights to University of Tennessee sports.

Jim Corbett of USA Today reports that former Steelers coach Bill Cowher announced to CBS last week that he will not coach this year or next which means he will be seen on the NFL Today for at least two seasons.

The Detroit Pistons announce their local TV schedule on FSN and WDIV-TV.

If you’re wondering what Dan Patrick’s been up to since leaving ESPN on August 17 and filling in on WEEI last week, check out this video.

Those are your links for now. I’ll have Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks coming up.

BREAKING NEWS: Big Ten Network signs with Insight Cable

From Sports Business Daily:

Big Ten Network Finalizing Deal With Insight

By John Ourand, Staff Writer

The Big Ten Network is finalizing details with Insight Communications to have the network up at tomorrow’s launch, sources say. The network will be on the expanded basic tier in Ohio, but it is unknown where it will reside on Insight systems in Illinois and Indiana; it will be on a digital tier in the non-Big Ten state of Kentucky. Insight, the ninth largest cable operator in the U.S. with 1.34 million subs, is the largest cable operator to cut a deal with BTN. Comcast and Time Warner Cable still do not have deals. The number of homes Insight has in the Big Ten footprint could not be determined. A formal announcement could come as soon as this afternoon. BTN declined to comment.

Source – www.sportsbusinessdaily .com

More to follow.

Wednesday Morning Stuff

The IAAF Athletics World Championships have been a joy to watch. A bunch of finals this morning, two won by Americans, Michelle Perry in the 100 Meter hurdles and Bernard Lagat in the 1,500 Meters. Tyson Gay has advanced to the finals of the 200 Meters. And Great Britain won its first gold medal of the meet when Christine Ohuruogu won the 400 Meters. I believe free streaming is available on iaaf.org, the official website of the World Championships so you can watch the events live. I’ve been watching them on WCSN.com where I have a subscription.

Let’s go to the links this morning.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that viewers aren’t quite caught up in FedEx Cup fever as the ratings for The Barclays, the first leg of golf’s “postseason” on CBS were low.

The Sports Media Watch blog reports that David Beckham has helped to bring record ratings for soccer telecasts on ESPN.

Bob Wolfey of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asks ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit and Larry Coker to assess Wisconsin’s chances in the Big Ten.

Mike Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says it’s the fans who lose when there’s a dispute such as the Big Ten Network and Comcast. John Dempsey of Variety recaps the dispute for his readers. But even with one day before the scheduled launch of the Big Ten Network, Ed Runyan of the Youngstown (OH) Vindicator (I love these newspaper names) says talks are still ongoing to try to get BTN on Time Warner. Comcast slaps the Big Ten Network with a press release touting that it will have the best Big Ten conference games through ESPN and ABC. Wendell Barnhouse of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says BTN is just one way for the Big Ten Conference to gouge cable subscribers. Dave Hackenberg of the Toledo Blade says BTN will be on Buckeye Cable locally. And Hackenberg also calls the Big Ten Conference greedy.

While the Big Ten Network does have DirecTV and the Dish Network to fall back on, the mtn., the Mountain West Conference’s channel, has next to nothing and Jake Schaller of the Colorado Springs Gazette has MWC Commish Craig Thompson talking with both companies to get his channel online. Robert Gagliardi of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle also talks with Thompson about his frustration that the mtn. is not on the satellite carriers, but the Big Ten Network is.

Holly Sanders of the New York Post’s business section looks at the number of outlets televising college football vying for audience and advertisers.

CBS-owned CSTV will extend the synergy of its parent by airing a pre-game show live from the CBS SEC Game of the Week.

Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel calls ESPN’s 25 hour college pregame show starting tonight “excessive”. John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News isn’t impressed by the 25 hour amount.

Here’s one story that outlines a dangerous trend on local news. WTKR of Norfolk, VA will drop its traditional sportscasts in favor of more news and weather.

Mike Miliard of the Boston Phoenix says NESN’s reality dating show, Sox Appeal, is not befitting of the regional sports network. I totally agree.

Do we care that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, race car driver Helio Castroneves and boxer Floyd Mayerweather, Jr. are on “Dancing with the Stars”? No? Good. I’m not linking to the story.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back later.

Channel Assignments for the Big Ten Network

I know some of you are visiting the blog to check if DirecTV has made channel assignments for the Big Ten Network and its overflow games in case it has broadcasts at the same time.

I sent an e-mail to its Public Relations Department and I received a response telling me that BTN will be on Channel 220 which is part of the basic package. DirecTV has set aside neighboring channels 218, 219 and 221 for this weekend. DirecTV says it won’t know which games will be on which channels until the Wednesday of each week so it’s suggested subscribers check their on-screen guides as gameday approaches.

That’s the best answer I have right now. For each sporting weekend, I’ll list the channel each game is on.

UPDATE – 10:31 p.m.

DIRECTV ANNOUNCES OVERFLOW CHANNELS FOR THIS SATURDAY
DIRECTV subscribers to the Choice programming package and above will receive all six football games televised by Big Ten Network this coming Saturday. Channel assignments are as follows:

12:00 p.m. EDT
Appalachian State at Michigan (Ch. 220 – Primary Game)
Youngstown State at Ohio State (Ch. 218 – Overflow Game)
Northeastern at Northwestern (Ch. 219 – Overflow Game)
Florida International at Penn State (Ch. 221 – Overflow Game)

8:00 p.m. EDT
Bowling Green at Minnesota (Ch. 220 – Primary Game)
Indiana State at Indiana (Ch. 218 – Overflow Game)

Source – http://www.bigtennetwork.com/

Thanks to the person who posted a comment here. Much appreciated.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Red Sox at Yankees – NESN, 7 p.m.
US Open – USA, 7 p.m.
IAAF Athletics World Championships – Versus, 7 p.m.
The Power of 10 – CBS, 8 p.m.
Big Brother 8 – CBS, 9 p.m.
Ninja Warrior – G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Alabama Jones and the Busty Crusade – Cinemax, 11:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Time for the Tuesday Update

Kind of slow on this Tuesday afternoon, but I still try to find links for you because you’re a loyal visitor.

Well, CNBC’s Darren Rovell is officially smitten with Ana Ivanovic. He has another post on her, this one on her sponsor on the WTA Tour. And in case you’re skeptical about Ana’s beauty (you really shouldn’t be by now), Darren has put together a slideshow of some of her best pics.

Jeff Bell of the Business First of Columbus paper has Ohio State University Athletic Director Geoff Smith telling fans to find another way to watch his school’s first two games. Smith is skeptical of the Big Ten Network reaching an agreement with cable companies before Thursday’s launch.

Iowans will be able to see the University of Iowa’s season opener on Mediacom cable this weekend. It will be on ESPNU.

A while back, I reported on ESPN being made available at gas pumps so it can reach the disenfranchised viewer. Well, the device called “Gas Station TV” will use Hughes Network Systems (the first owner of DirecTV) to send signals to the pump.

Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes about an era coming to end in September, the Braves on TBS. I have truly enjoyed watching the Braves on TBS, but the channel will be showing MLB games on Sundays next season rather than just one team as it has for three decades. In addition, TBS will begin a promotional pitch for the MLB postseason which will be airing for the first time this year. Bon Jovi will be featured as part of that pitch.

Over at ESPN.com, Gregg Easterbrook has his TMQ column and today, he gives his NFC preview plus he gets on colleges that schedule cupcakes for out-of-conference games.

That’s it for now. I’ll have the Viewing Picks coming up.

Tuesday Morning Stuff

After watching the finish of the evening session of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan, it’s time to give you some links.

Let’s head over to Boston Sports Media Watch where Bruce Allen transcribed some rather idiotic comments made by former Boston Globe writer Ron Borges. He appeared on WEEI yesterday as substitute co-host for Dennis & Callahan and said that he got screwed by the Globe when he was fired for plagiarizing an NFL notes column from Mike Sando. Remember that, Ron? You don’t plagiarize other people’s work and pass it off as your own. And you don’t play yourself off as the victim in this either. Don’t make me go back to the Cold Hard Football Facts website which compares the two columns side by side. Dave Scott of BSMW has his take on the Borges debacle yesterday and also has an update on the Dennis & Callahan/WEEI negotiations. Ron, you may think you got screwed, but the only person who screwed you was yourself.

Paulsen from the Sports Media Watch blog has a look at the weekend ratings for the sporting weekend and the thing that sticks out is the fact that viewers are ready for football. MLB on Fox slipped for the 9th straight week.

In the New York Times, Richard Sandomir says Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson should not whine about the prize money from the PGA’s FedEx Cup which will be deferred and invested for the winner. Talk about a nice perk. But Woods and Mickelson apparently want the money now.

Checking your links on the Big Ten Network, Bob Baptist of the Columbus Dispatch says Time Warner, Insight nor WOW cable expect to pick up the channel in Ohio. George M. Thomas from the Akron Beacon Journal says with the launch on Thursday, fans may still be left out in the cold. Jim Sabin of the Newark (OH) Advocate says Time Warner Cable is still negotiating down to the wire in hopes of coming to an agreement. The story is the same from Shawn Piatek from the Johnstown (PA) Tribune-Democrat where Comcast and Atlantic Broadband are the cable providers.

The NFL Network has been picked up by Grande Communications in San Antonio.

Jim Gintonio of the Arizona Republic spends five minutes with Pat Summerall.

Jean DePlacido of the Salem (MA) News profiles the lovely Michelle Bonner of ESPNews and anchors an occasional SportsCenter, who hails from nearby Marblehead, MA.

Mike Battaglino of the New York Post says the popular “Two-A-Days” show is moving from MTV to ESPN where it will get a new name.

ESPN has a big-ass press release hailing its coverage for college football including a weekly game of the week on radio. And the Alleged Worldwide Leader tells us that the last 11 races of the NASCAR Nextel series will be on ABC.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the NHL’s San Jose Sharks won’t have 10 games on TV this season.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the Michael Vick story received all types of coverage.

Those are your links for now. Check back later for updates.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

MLB/Yankees at Detroit – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
US Open – USA Network, 7 p.m.
World Track & Field Championships – Versus, 7 p.m.
NFL/Cincinnati at Atlanta – ESPN, 8 p.m.
The Closer – TNT, 9 p.m.
Saving Grace – TNT, 10 p.m.
Ninja Warrior – G4, 10 & 10:30 p.m.
Weeds – Showtime, 10 p.m.
Californication – Showtime 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Monday Update

I have to start out by saying the US Open has got to work with rightsholders CBS and whomever will hold the cable contract next year (USA Network, Tennis Channel, ESPN) to allow live streaming of its matches. Right now, trying to find streams from other rightsholders has been quite difficult. EuroSport from Spain and its regular English feed are available if you know where to look, but the commentary in Spanish is non-stop and is giving me a headache. USOpen.org only has highlights for the time being. It may stream a match or two sometime during this year’s tournament, but not at the current time.

Let’s go to the links. With this being the first day of the US Open, CNBC’s Darren Rovell finally admits that Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic is his current fav far outpacing Maria Sharapova. Rovell sits down with Ivanovic for an interview as well.

The recent stretch for the Boston Red Sox and their fans has been good. Going 6-1 for the first 7 games of a 10 game road trip is more than what the Doctor ordered. But the bad thing has been Glenn Geffner in the booth for all 7 games. First in Tampa Bay, he shrieked like a woman when a mouse, rat, skunk or whatever it was crawled near him last Tuesday. Then he went to Chicago where he was on hand for the entire White Sox massacre this past weekend. And it was at US Cellular Field where he continued to butcher his broadcasts and continued to give many a Red Sox fan ulcers. All of the links come from the 38 Cliches blog which does a great job in keeping up with the Goofster. Here’s hoping Dave O’Brien returns to do the Yankees series starting tomorrow.

Going to the Big Ten Network links, Adam Smeltz of the Centre (PA) Daily Times’ Centre Squawker blog says there has been an increased interest in D & E Communications in State College since it announced it would be picking up the BTN in time for the Thursday launch. Frank Rigas of the Sheboygan (WI) Press says chances of seeing BTN in his town are remote at best. Bob Wolfey in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says BTN is making a big play to get on basic cable.

Darrell Dickson of the Utah Daily Herald says the mtn. is going to be making a big marketing push asking fans of the Mountain West to call DirecTV and the cable companies demanding the channel gets carriage. Good luck.

Remember Philadelphia local news anchor Alycia Lane? When I restarted this blog in May, the story of her e-mailing her own bikini pics to NFL Network host Rich Eisen became fodder. Well, Alycia apparently has begun an affair with New York local news anchor Chris Wragge. Why do we care? Because Chris is married to former Playboy playmate Victoria Silvstedt and Chris was spotted walking out of Alycia’s house while Victoria is in Europe. Now unless there’s a smoking gun, this proves nothing, but it allows me to mention Alycia again. And I still want to see those bikini pics!

That’s it for now. Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks coming up.

Atalanta Falcons Briefing

Falcons’ Owner Arthur Blank meets the media in the Georgia Dome.

Says the team will move forward from this. He thanks the community for its support the team for the last five years. Says had the team known about the situation, it would have confronted it head on. Only Michael Vick knows why he did what and why he did. But at the same time, he believes in redemption and Michael stated on that way hits morning. Blank praises NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for acting swiftly in this situation. Says the team will look at the legal ramifications.

GM Rich McKay steps to the mike and talks about the salary cap hit on the team and it is there for this season. As far as pursuing Michael’s bonus money, the team is going to pursue that immediately. If it comes back, it will be a salary cap credit for next season. Rich says this is not spiteful, it is a process that has to be done.
Will Michael be a Falcon again? Will he run out of the tunnel again? That’s a question he cannot answer at this time. Any dollar recovered will be credited towards the salary cap. Now it’s time to close this chapter, move forward and play football.

Both Blank and McKay answer questions from the media. Blank says this is about Michael and not about the Falcons. Says when Michael reflects, he’ll realize this.

This will take a while, but what I’ve written down is the nuts and bolts of the briefing. I’ll be back later with more links.

Vick’s Newser

Michael Vick steps in front of the microphones at the Omni Hotel to speak to reporters. Earlier this morning, Vick pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges. He will be sentenced on December 10 and the judge told Vick that he is under no obligation to sentence him to the lower amount of time.

Billy Martin talks first and says Vick has wanted to tell his side of the story, but did not under advice of counsel. He now brings Vick to the podium.

Vick says most of his life, he’s been a football player. He says he’ll take this opportunity to speak from the heart. Vick apologizes for everything that happened. Apologizes to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the Atlanta Falcons, his teammates and the young kids who look up to him. He says he wasn’t honest and forthright with them because he was ashamed. He asks for forgiveness. He takes full responsibility for his actions. Doesn’t blame anyone else. Says he made mistakes. He used bad judgment and says he has found Jesus and will ask God for forgiveness. Vick says he has a lot of things to think about in the next year. Says he let down a lot of people and he will build from this. Says he is a role model to kids and he’s let them down. That’s it. He leaves the room without taking questions.

The Atlanta Falcons will hold their own press conference at 12:30 p.m. ET. We’ll monitor.

Vick’s Attorney Speaks

Outside the courthouse in Richmond, VA, Michael Vick’s attorney, Billy Martin says his client will hold a news conference without taking questions at 11:30 a.m. ET. Vick will be sentenced on December 10. We’ll monitor the news conference.

Vick Pleads Guilty

The Associated Press reports that Michael Vick has pled guilty in US District Court in Richmond, VA. We’ll continue to monitor.

Back to Work Monday Linkage

It’s tough to be back to work on a Monday after having a nice weekend, but it’s back to the grind, but it’s also nice knowing that there’s a 3 day weekend just ahead. I’m certainly looking forward to that. But in the meantime, let’s get to our links. First, I’ll monitor the Michael Vick court appearance in Richmond, VA today so keep posted here for any updates. Let’s get links right now.

In this morning’s edition of USA Today, Michael Hiestand says ESPN won’t duck the Michael Vick case during Monday Night Football when his former team, the Atlanta Falcons play Cincinnati at the Georgia Dome.

John Molori of Boston Sports Media Watch.com has an internet column on the sports media. He took a hiatus for five months and is now back. He talks with HBO’s Cris Carter about his former teammate Randy Moss and looks at the coverage of the Little League World Series yesterday.

Thanks to Boston Sports Media Watch for the following link. Craig Liadis of the New Hampshire Union-Leader writes that the new agreement between Entercom and Nassau Broadcasting to simulcast WEEI’s signal has begun with the station entering the Granite State on two Nassau stations.

Over at the World Track & Field Championships in Japan, Veronica Campbell of Jamaica just edges Lauryn Williams of the US for the gold medal in the 100 Meters. Both had a time of 11.01 seconds. Carmelita Jeter of the US gets the bronze at 11.02. It took a long time for the judges to go over the photo, but Campbell gets the gold. It’s nice to watch Track & Field online at work.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post rakes MLB over the coals for allowing the Yankees and Detroit Tigers to play a game at 11:06 p.m. Friday after a four hour rain delay. The Game did not finish until 3:30 a.m. Saturday.

Newsday’s Neil Best wants you to know he’s still around, but his blog is still on hiatus until he returns from vacation. Thanks for the update, Neil.

Jim Williams in his Watch This! blog at Examiner.com says there will be plenty of coverage on the Michael Vick court appearance and he also says WUSA in DC won the battle of the Redskins-Ravens game dueling broadcasts.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that there will be of high school football coverage on the airwaves plus he has news that CBS’ Jim Nantz will have a book out in time for Father’s Day 2008.

The Chicago Tribune has an editorial calling on Comcast and the Big Ten Network to end their dispute. While the Big Ten has its own channel, what about individual schools? Don’t think a university like Notre Dame hasn’t thought about creating its own cable channel and Mike Casazza of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail writes that West Virginia University is thinking about the possibilities as well. Brian Hedger of the Gary (IN) Post-Tribune is hopping mad about the Comcast/BTN dispute. Todd Spangler of the Multichannel News says AT&T is hyping the fact that its U-Verse service (whatever the hell that is) has the Big Ten Network. Bob Heisse in his Back in Happy Valley blog for the Centre (PA) Daily Times sides squarely with Comcast.

By the way, the Big Ten Network is not the first conference to form its own channel. The Mountain West Conference did that last year and its channel, the mtn. cannot be seen on major cable companies in Nevada, Utah, Colorado or California and doesn’t even have an agreement with DirecTV or Dish Network. And Doug Robinson of the Deseret (UT) Morning News is frustrated over the fact that he can’t watch the channel.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says Thursday night has become a prime night for college football.

Brian Morrissey of Adweek writes about the NFL revamping its website to make it a one-stop destination for video to rival ESPN.com and CBSSports.com.

Jack Carey of USA Today writes about the TV kickoff of the college football season.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News talks about the US Open with CBS’ Dick Enberg.

Those are your links for now. I’ll have an update later today.

Videos of the Week

Time for the Videos of the Week. I can safely say the best band touring right now is Rage Against the Machine. The guys of Rage without lead singer Zach de la Rocha were with former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell for a while in Audioslave, but I do hope RATM does some new stuff. But here’s some great stuff from them.

People of the Sun

Bulls on Parade

Testify

Sleep Now in the Fire

Killing in the Name Live at Woodstock (yeah!)

How I Could Just Kill a Man

From The Battle of Mexico Live – Know Your Enemy

And Bullet in the Head

Enjoy.

Sunday Links

Time to give some links today from the morning papers.

Starting with Jim Williams in his Examiner blog, he writes about Keith Olbermann’s return to sports TV broadcasting with his Countdown show and subsequent appearance on Football Night in America.

In the New York Times, Richard Sandomir writes about a New Era Yankees cap that was pulled from stores shelves because it is associated with gang colors.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick gets on the Cleveland Browns for making an effort to curb drunks at their home games. You’re reaching, Phil.

From the New York Daily News, Bob Raissman wonders if Tiki Barber will become gunshy on NBC’s Football Night in America after he criticized former teammate Eli Barber last week.

Newsday’s Neil Best has a column today and he writes about New York’s lack of interest in college football.

Updating you on the Big Ten Network/cable dispute, Dan Chalk of the Midland (MI) Daily News says BTN and Charter are still talking just four days before the launch of the channel. Peoria (IL) Journal Star columnist Kirk Wessler is a bit harsh on Big Ten Commish Jim Delaney saying he’s to blame for the fact that BTN is not on most of the Midwest’s cable systems. From the Centre (PA) Daily Times’ Centre Squawker blog, Adam Smeltz takes a look at the public relations war between the Big Ten Network and Comcast. And Smeltz says Comcast and the Big Ten are far apart in reaching an agreement. Peter Alpern of the Chronicle-Telegram (OH) writes about the clash between BTN and the cable industry. While major companies like Comcast, Charter, Time Warner and Bright House have balked carrying BTN, Horizon View has not and Loren Genson of the Chillicothe (OH) Gazette has a story on that company making room for the channel. Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press says BTN has a chance of success because of its President, Mark Silverman. Dick Farrell of the New Philadelphia (OH) Times- Reporter sides with Time Warner in this dispute. In an editorial, the Lafayette (IN) Journal and Courier says this whole thing between Comcast and the Big Ten is all about money. Eric Stark of the Lancaster (PA) New Era says Comcast’s ploy to keep the Big Ten Network off basic cable is about turning a profit.

Geoff Mott of the Saginaw (MI) News has a story on former Michigan man Desmond Howard adjusting to his role on ESPN’s College Gameday pregame show. John Lafayette of TV Week writes about a new interactive promotional campaign for College Gameday.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News writes that Time Warner Cable has picked up ESPNU in time for the college football season.

That’s it for today. I’ll have Videos of the Week sometime later. Check back.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, August 25

WTA Tour/Pilot Pen Women’s Final – CBS, 1 p.m.
PGA Golf/The Barclays, 3rd Round – CBS, 3 p.m.
FIBA Americas Championship, Canada vs. USA – ESPN2, 3 p.m.
MLB/Dodgers at Mets or Red Sox at White Sox – Fox, 3:55 p.m.
Horse Racing/Travers Stakes – ESPN, 4 p.m.
NFL/Detroit at Indianapolis – NFL Network, 7 p.m.
MLB/Cubs at Arizona – WGN, 9:30 p.m.
NFL/San Diego at Arizona – NFL Network, 10 p.m.
Bob Saget: That Ain’t Right – HBO, 10 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midnight

Sunday, August 26

US Open/Arthur Ashe Kids Day – CBS, noon
IAAF Track & Field World Championships, Same Day Coverage – NBC, 12:30 p.m.
US Open Preview – CBS, 1:30 p.m.
MLB/Braves at St. Louis – TBS, 2 p.m.
MLB/Red Sox at White Sox – NESN/WGN, 2 p.m.
PGA Golf/The Barclays, 4th Found – CBS, 2 p.m.
AVP Tour/Brooklyn Open, women’s final – NBC, 2:30 p.m.
Little League World Series, Championship – ABC, 3:30 p.m.
USGA US Amateur Championship – NBC, 4 p.m.
Countdown with Keith Olbermann – NBC, 7 p.m.
NFL/Philadelphia at Pittsburgh – NBC, 8 p.m.
MLB/Dodgers at Mets – ESPN, 8 p.m.
Big Brother 8 – CBS, 8 p.m.
Entourage – HBO, 10 p.m.
Scott Baio is 45 … and Single (season finale) – VH1, 10:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime Too, midight

Saturday Morning Stuff

Here to provide you some links before I give you the Weekend Viewing Choices.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says with fantasy football so popular, why don’t we have a fantasy draft for broadcasters so each team can have play-by-play and analysis? Um, no.

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dan Caesar has some more moves in the St. Louis sports radio wars.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News has an extensive media column on Saturdays and today is no exception. Jerry talks about coverage of the WNBA playoffs on ESPN2, College football kickoff on FSN and ESPN, and the Tennis Channel officially launching on DirecTV on Monday, just in time for the US Open.

Chris Purcell of TV Week has a blog called “Pressbox” following the sports media and in his latest entry, he talks with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski who begins his first year in the booth for Monday Night Football. Already, Jaws is getting good reviews.

Anthony Schoettle of the Indianapolis Business Journal says Purdue and Indiana University stand to lose a lot if the Big Ten Network doesn’t work. R. Thomas Umstead in Multichannel News talks about the BTN/Comcast dispute. In the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Doug Lesmerises gives readers a primer about BTN and what they can expect and not expect as it launches on Thursday.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star talks about changes in Royals broadcasts for next year when FSN Midwest takes over for RSTN.

New York Mets fans will get a treat today when Fox reunites Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner with Tim McCarver in the 3rd inning of the Dodgers-Mets game. Both worked together for 16 seasons in the TV booth.

Those are the links for today. Weekend Viewing Choices coming up. Videos of the Week will be done down the road.