Fang's Bites

Sports Media Weekly No. 122 — Darren Rovell, ESPN & Mike Golic, ESPN Radio

It’s an ESPN twinbill for the Sports Media Weekly podcast. Nice to be able to speak to a Friend of the Podcast and a new guest on this edition.

As usual, Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal and I go into the news of the week and it’s a brief segment. We talk about TBS’ coverage of the MLB Postseason and the return of NFL Network’s “A Football Life” and ESPN Films’ “30 for 30″ documentary series.

We then talk with ESPN’s Darren Rovell about his decision to leave CNBC and go to the Alleged Worldwide Leader. I asked him about his duties at ESPN and ABC News. Keith wondered about the fallout of the NHL lockout and the NFL referees lockout. In the wake of his appearance in last week’s 30 for 30 documentary, Broke, I asked Darren about the real value of the NFL Rookies Symposium which doesn’t seem to help players from becoming penniless when their careers are over. And I also asked Darren about Rule 40 which prevents Olympic athletes from using their sponsorships during the Games.

Then we aired an interview with Mike Golic, co-host of ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike. I talked with Golic at the live broadcast of their show at Gillette Stadium last Friday. I asked Mike about his longevity on the morning show. Also, being an ex-athlete, could he ever foresee the success of being a broadcaster following his playing days plus his thoughts on the explosion of ex-NFL’ers in broadcasting. And I ask Mike if he misses doing college football games.

Head on over to iTunes to download the podcast by searching for “Sports Media Journal” or you can go

By the way, I forgot to post

Breaking Out Some Thursday Linkage

Let’s do the Thursday linkage. We’re doing well so far this week, knock on wood.

Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal reports NBC’s overnight rating for Wednesday’s Olympic Primetime was up from Beijing.

Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Journal says YouTube is looking to further strengthen its live sports portfolio after streaming Olympic content in Africa and Asia.

Austin Karp of SBJ says NBC’s Olympic ratings remain ahead of Beijing’s pace.

Michael Katz of USA Today notes that USA gold medal-winning gymnast McKayla Maroney taught NBC’s Jenna Bush how to do the Dougie. Can’t wait for Colin Cowherd to criticize both for their upbringings.

Speaking of McKayla, Erin Carlson of the Hollywood Reporter notes that one of the funniest internet memes has come Maroney’s reaction to winning the silver medal last week in the individual vault event. Here is the site, “McKayla Maroney is not Impressed” which is being updated quite frequently.

Major League Baseball has released the 2012 Postseason schedule with networks.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable says Comcast is still fighting an FCC decision requiring the cable provider to make room for Tennis Channel.

Dan Alexander at Forbes writes that the U.S. Fierce Five gymnasts stand to make a lot of money in endorsements.

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age says the 2012 Olympics may be winding down, but NBCUniversal has already sold a portion of its ad time for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life says NBC’s strategy to put the Olympics on NBC Sports Network is paying off.

Steve Lepore at SB Nation provides his rankings for NBC’s Olympic announcers.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report is surprised to learn that CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus and golf producer Lance Barrow aren’t concerned with slow play in golf.

Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says critics of NBC’s tape delays should be focusing their anger at something else.

Steve Myers at the Poynter Institute says a new Gallup Poll finds viewers want their Olympics live in primetime.

Stephen Douglas at The Big Lead has video of Fox’s Erin Andrews and Eddie George dancing to “Call Me Maybe”.

NBC Sports provides a sneak peek at its new digs currently under construction in Connecticut.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group explores how the Olympics are being sent to Australia.

Bill Carter of the New York Times writes that female Olympic athletes are finding the spotlight and scrutiny rather harsh, especially Lolo Jones.

Arthur S. Brisbane, the Times’ public editor believes Jeré Longman’s article that began the public takedown of Jones was too harsh.

Sam Borden of the Times says viewers of women’s water polo are getting a bit more exposure than they anticipated.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette notes that ESPNU won’t airing any college hockey regular season games again.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that local radio stations will be picking up national college and NFL broadcasts this fall.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will be all over the Baltimore Ravens and DC NFL Team in the preseason.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun looks at a poll which shows a majority of Americans like how NBC is handling the Olympics.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says MLB Network’s Kevin Millar and ESPN’s Dick Vitale (?) are weighing in on the Nationals’ strategy to shut down pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that NBC is setting viewership records both online and on TV for the Olympics.

At the Bleacher Report, Jim looks at Telemundo’s coverage of the 2012 London Games.

Back to Eric Deggans, this time in his home newspaper the Tampa Bay Times, says NBC’s syndicated Olympic Zone program blurs the line between real news and advertising.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Reds’ hot July pumped Fox Sports Ohio’s ratings.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Big Ten Network’s college football announcers have some local ties.

Danny Ecker of Crain’s Chicago Business writes that local TV ratings for the Olympics are good, but not at the top of the country.

David Brauer of the Minnesota Post looks at Minneapolis-St. Paul’s radio ratings including the sports radio wars.

Scott D. Pierce from the Salt Lake Tribune says Salt Lake has the highest ratings in the nation for the Olympics once again.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says it’s about time for the annual Vin Scully announcement on whether he’ll return for another season.

Sports Media Watch has some of the bottom feeders among the local ratings for the Olympics.

Joe Favorito says the soccer exhibition “friendlies” may now be over in the U.S., but they helped to grow the game.

The latest Awful Announcing podcast has ESPN’s Darren Rovell as the guest.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth looks at some teams making flagship radio station moves.

And that’s going to finish us for today.

Some Quick Monday Links

My apologies for not bringing you links over the last week. It’s been a crazy time for me. Some linkage now.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that NBC’s Rowdy Gaines doesn’t believe that Michael Phelps won’t be swimming competitively four years from now. And Hiestand reports that Matt Millen will ruin your college football viewing experience during primetime this fall.

John Ourand and Tripp Mickle at Sports Business Journal’s Olympics site find what former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol is doing in London during the Games.

Ourand talks with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts about the Olympics being a guinea pig for new media.

Ourand writes that NBC execs are feeling bullish on the Olympics after a very good start.

Mickle says a change in strategy has led the International Olympic Committee to increase its take in rights fees from global TV partners.

Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp writes that NBC saw a slight bump from Sunday’s Olympic Primetime from Beijing.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable says last night’s Olympic ratings were down from last Sunday.

Jeanine Poggi of Advertising Age says we can complain all we want, NBC is still laughing all the way to the bank with its increased Olympic TV ratings.

Media Life notes that NBC’s Today Show is back on top of the morning show ratings thanks to the Olympics.

A former GM of an NBC affiliate tells Chuck Ross of TV Week what the network can learn from the BBC in televising the Olympics.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report chastises NBC for not showing Usain Bolt’s gold medal-winning run in the 100 meters live yesterday.

Speaking of Bolt, BroBible has video of him stopping a post-race interview with a Spanish reporter as Sanya Richards-Ross was getting her gold medal at the Olympics.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group notes how the Canadian Olympic Broadcast Consortium downsized its operation for London as compared to its huge undertaking in Vancouver.

Jason looks at BBC’s preparation for the 2012 Olympics.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead says NBC’s handling of the London Olympics pales in comparison to the BBC in the UK.

Also from The Big Lead, Jason McIntyre notes that the increasingly bitter Phil Mushnick of the New York Post has set his sights on Olympic gymnasts wondering why they’re so tiny and don’t have any breasts. C’mon, Phil.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has video of the BBC track & field studio crew off-camera openly rooting for Mo Farah when he won his gold medal in the 10,000 meters and then again the following day for Usain Bolt in the 100 meters.

Peter Kafka of All Things Digital reports that the long-rumored Turner Sports purchase of the Bleacher Report for an estimated nine figures will finally close today.

John Koblin of Deadspin has the entire Twitter discussion between ESPN tome co-author James Andrew Miller and ESPN’s Darren Rovell from earlier today.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid has video of NFL Network’s Mike Mayock singing during last night’s Hall of Fame preseason game.

Jane Kellogg of the Hollywood Reporter writes about NBC’s rights extension for the French Open.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says the NFL season hasn’t officially begun, yet CBS is close to being sold out for Super Bowl XLVII.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes that US judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison got to meet Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers at the NBC Olympic studios in London where he’s the studio analyst for basketball.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post goes after MLB today.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun says NBC is attempting to ride the Michael Phelps gravy train for as long as possible.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has video of the new Subway ad starring DC NFL Team QB Robert Griffin III.

Dan has a look at the DC NFL Team’s preseason TV schedule.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says NBC has not been hurt by tape delaying Olympic events.

Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times writes about last week’s debut of the new local sports radio station.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Friend of Fang’s Bites Trenni Kusnierek will be leaving her radio gig at the end of the month to become an anchor/reporter for Comcast SportsNet New England. In effect, Trenni replaces Nicole Zalmouis who left for NFL AM on NFL Network.

At Chicago Sports Media Watch, Paul M. Banks says outgoing Comcast SportsNet reporter Sarah Kustok got a rousing sendoff from White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski the other night.

Sarah has a picture of the sendoff at her Twitter account.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY tells you where Sarah is going.

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post looks at the Broncos’ radio and TV and other related broadcasts.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has your sports calendar for this week.

Sports Media Watch notes that NBC’s Olympic daytime ratings are up.

And I’ll end it there for now.

Darren Rovell Joins ESPN

We learned in June that sports business reporter Darren Rovell was departing CNBC for ESPN. That move has now been made official with a press release and subsequent ESPN PR podcast.

Over the last few years, Darren has made a name for himself on Twitter and his numerous feuds with various reporters and Playboy models.

Darren will report on sports business for ESPN where he began his professional career in 2000. He’ll also be seen on ABC News.

In 2006, Rovell joined CNBC and got his own show, CNBC SportsBiz: Game On! in 2011.

He’ll officially join ESPN on August 6, although he made his first SportsCenter appearance last month via the phone.

Here’s the press release.

Darren Rovell Returns to ESPN

Will Report on Sports Business Across All ESPN Platforms and ABC News
Rovell discusses his return to ESPN on ESPNFrontRow.com’s Front & Center podcast

Sports business reporter Darren Rovell will return to ESPN, effective August 6, in a multi-platform role — television, digital and ESPN Radio — and will also contribute to ABC News.

Rovell served as sports business writer for ESPN.com from 2000-06, and reported for ESPN’s flagship, SportsCenter; its investigative show, Outside the Lines; and had weekly segments on ESPNEWS.

Since 2006, Rovell has been CNBC’s sports business reporter. He most recently hosted CNBC SportsBiz: Game On, a sports business show on the NBC Sports Network.

“While ESPN is known for games and highlights, it is also about helping fans win the battles at the office water cooler or at the kitchen table,” Rovell said. “You can’t be a great fan without understanding the intricacies of the sports business. I look forward to bringing viewers, readers and listeners the stories of what happens off the field and behind closed doors that fuels this massive industry.”

John Wildhack, ESPN Executive Vice President, Production, said, “We’re pleased to welcome a respected sports business reporter like Darren back into the ESPN family. His particular expertise will strengthen our news gathering division, and provide fans the type of information they are accustomed to receiving from our varied platforms.”

Upon returning to ESPN, Rovell’s reports — including news and analysis of player contracts, endorsements, merchandise sales and memorabilia, among other sports business topics — will be seen, heard and read across ESPN platforms. He will frequently be found on Twitter — @darrenrovell — being named No. 1 on Athlon Sports’ top 100 Twitter Accounts Every Sports Fan Should Follow in November 2011, and among Mashable’s Ten Must-Follow Accounts for Sports Fans in January 2012. He will be based in New York, but frequently report from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. headquarters.

In addition to his role at ESPN, Rovell will provide his unique take on some of the most interesting business stories for ABC News. He will contribute to various ABC News broadcasts and platforms including Good Morning America, World News with Diane Sawyer and Nightline.

Rovell graduated Cum Laude from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He is the author of First In Thirst: How Gatorade Turned The Science of Sweat Into A Cultural Phenomenon, and On the Ball: What You Can Learn About Business From America’s Sports Leaders, co-written with David Carter.

So it’s now official. Darren Rovell is with ESPN and we’ll hear from him very soon.

Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks

Time for Friday linkage.

The Weekend Viewing Picks have your sports and entertainment suggestions. Let’s get cracking.

National

Michael Hiestand from USA Today looks at TNT’s plans to go mostly split-screen during breaks for Saturday’s NASCAR race.

Tom Perrotta of the Wall Street Journal reports that the one Wimbledon souvenir the players want is the towel.

Alex Sherman at Bloomberg Businessweek talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the Olympics.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says enhancing the NFL fan experience might bring more people to games.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report is happy to learn that Jeremy Schaap’s ESPN Radio show is now available as a podcast.

Bob Pockrass at The Sporting News says NASCAR hopes that NBC Sports will be a bidder for the sport’s TV rights.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says ESPN Deportes scored with the EURO 2012 Final last Sunday.

Mike says Golf Channel has selected the venue for the next season of “Big Break”.

Christopher Heine of Adweek says MLB’s allowing Twitter votes for the All-Star Game for the first time may have had a hand in deciding which league hosts the World Series.

Jason Del Ray of Advertising Age says the impending Turner Sports purchase of Bleacher Report makes sense.

Wayne Friedman at MediaPost says the NFL easing requirements on local TV blackouts shows the league wants to reach the casual fan.

Dan Daley at Sports Video Group says ESPN will be utilizing plenty of microphones at the MLB Home Run Derby.

Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder has a screengrab of a Canadian TV station messing up the Steve Nash trade to the Lakers.

And Matt has found an episode of Judge Sapp. Yes, that’s Warren Sapp.

The Big Lead soaked up the latest Twitter battle between ESPN’s Darren Rovell and Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch.

MediaRantz looks at the top 5 ESPN plagiarism scandals.

Nick Bromberg of Yahoo’s From the Marbles blog wonders what is the big deal with the TNT/truTV simulcast of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup race on Saturday.

Joe Favorito likes how MLS has adopted “Food Week” to get fans to explore its markets’ restaurants.

East and Mid-Atlantic

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen says it was time for Erin Andrews to leave the ESPN Mothership.

Jerry Barmsah of Fishbowl NY says CBS Radio’s WFAN could be headed to FM and could take the Yankees with it.

Yes, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post, we know you hate ESPN.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for ESPN tennis analyst Brad Gilbert.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the MLB Extra Innings pay per view package will be free next week.

Don Laible of the Utica (NY) Observer-Dispatch talks with the NHL on NBC’s Dave Strader about calling Olympic basketball.

Ken says a local minor league baseball team has found a new radio home.

Dave Sottile of the Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News says there are no plans to bring Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic to the local area.

Tim Richardson in Press Box looks at the differences between the Washington Nationals and MASN over the team’s TV rights fee.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network’s Chris Rose.

South

Kyle Veazey of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal says a popular local sports radio host is changing stations.

At the Houston Chronicle, David Barron writes that the new Comcast SportsNet Houston will air Conference USA football featuring the University of Houston.

Midwest

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says MLB feels it has restored integrity to the All-Star Game. It’s an exhibition game!

Paul M. Banks of the Chicago Sports Media Watch wonders who had the best mock NBA Draft?

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says the new TV voice of the Minnesota Wild will have an exciting team to call this season.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about Erin Andrews making her Fox debut next week.

Dan writes that Blues analyst Darren Pang turned down a full-time offer from TSN and will remain in St. Louis.

West

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has this harsh takedown of Erin Andrews.

Here’s Tom’s column which has a little more on the last post.

Tom also links to reaction to his Erin Andrews column.

Matt Rudnitsky of SportsGrid replies point-by-point to Hoffarth.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes about Erin Andrews joining Fox.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star talks with Fox’s Joe Buck on the challenges of calling the MLB All-Star Game.

Jim has his Weekend Viewing Picks.

Matthew T. Hall at the San Diego Union-Tribune wonders where’s the fan outrage in the Fox Sports San Diego-Time Warner Cable dispute leaving Padres games off TV.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News tries to clear up some confusion over the Pac-12 Network.

And that will conclude our links for today.

Jonesing For Tuesday Linkage

Ok, maybe you’re not jonesing for the linkage, but at least you can read them at your leisure. Sometimes I think way too long about the title of the post and this is the case today. Anyway, let’s get to the links.

Joel Schectman of the Wall Street Journal reports that NBC and Google are preparing for possible hacking or denial of service attacks of online Olympic streams next month.

Lindsay Rubino at Broadcasting & Cable writes that NBC with U.S. Olympic Trials coverage in Track & Field, Swimming and Gymnastics won primetime on Sunday.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says ESPN and ESPN2 are seeing huge ratings gains from Wimbledon.

Mike writes that NBC Sports Group has expanded its commitment to its Fight Night.

Anthony Crupi at Adweek says Fox Sports has sold out its ad inventory for the MLB All-Star Game.

Crupi says NBC scored with the U.S. Olympic Trials over the last week and a half.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost says if Sunday is any indication, NBC should do really well with the Olympics later this month.

George Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter notes that BBC’s sports broadcasts of EURO 2012 and Wimbledon are leaving rival ITV in the ratings dust.

Nat Ives from Advertising Age notes that NBC and Sports Illustrated are teaming up for a monthly show.

Sam Marmudi of Marketwatch.com says NBC is getting ready for an Olympic takeover.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! writes that MLB’s antiquated blackout policy is hurting the sport.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com says the media could be allowed to see the college football playoff selection process.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans from the Tampa Bay Times writes that Erin Andrews is another example of ESPN losing another big name star.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report talks about why it’s important for Fox to have Erin Andrews make her debut next week at the MLB All-Star Game.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says ESPN plans to change its production model of the X Games as it expands globally.

Darren Rovell bids farewell to CNBC.

At the ESPN PR Front Row blog, Mike Humes says the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest brings back memories for college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla.

Timothy Burke of Deadspin notes that Texas Rangers TV voice Dave Barnett who had a strange on-air moment last month, will be taking a medical leave for the rest of the season.

Andy Smith of the Providence Journal writes that almost a million people watched the America’s Cup World Series races on NBC over the weekend.

To Richard Sandomir of the New York Times, who looks at the on-going MLB TV rights negotiations. Some interesting news from Richard in the article.

Newsday’s Neil Best discusses MLB All-Star voting with Commissioner Bud Selig and Fox’s Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

Bob’s Blitz has video of some of the WFAN gang with CBS Radio bigwigs ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange last week.

The Albany Times-Union’s Pete Dougherty says the PGA’s AT&T National on CBS set a six year ratings high.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record reports that NESN National is available to local Verizon Fios subscribers.

Ken says NBA TV is gearing up for Summer League games.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Bog has ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian predicting good things for the Nationals.

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

Shannon Owens of the Orlando Sentinel recaps Erin Andrews’ appearance on the Dan Patrick Show today.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says Samantha Steele of the Longhorn Network could be the beneficiary of Erin Andrews’ departure from ESPN.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman talks about Dave Barnett’s decision to take a medical leave from calling the Texas Rangers.

Gregg Tunnicliff of the Flint (MI) Journal talks with a long-time racing commentator.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has MLB Commissioner Bud Selig not having a problem with the sudden surge of fan voting from the Bay Area for the All-Star Game.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says the Pac-12 Network is set to launch in 40 million homes next month.

Michael Gehiken of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the eased NFL blackout rules probably won’t affect the Chargers this coming season.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news on the U.S. Olympic Trials and Baseball Night in America.

SMW notes that Wimbledon as an all-cable event is performing on par with last year.

Jason Lisk at The Big Lead is happy to note that ESPN blowhard Skip Bayless is wrong about racial profiling American white players in the NBA Draft.

Matt Yoder has some thoughts on ESPN’s EURO 2012 coverage.

Joe Favorito wonders if brands can make their Olympic sponsorship gambles pay off despite not having a name athlete to cling to.

And we’ll wrap up with Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth who looks back at WFAN’s 25 years in operation.

And we’re done.

A Few Sports Media Bullet Points

Ok, as we’re all in denial over the Miami Heat winning the NBA Championship, it’s time for a few sports media thoughts. Too many things to go over, but I’ll do my best to cover as many things as I can.

As always, we do them in bullet form. And to drown out the thoughts of LeBron James celebrating, I’m listening to Korn on my iPad at the highest volume.

• Over 24 hours since first learning about Darren Rovell’s decision to leave CNBC for ESPN and I’m still baffled. Now, over all the sports media free agents I’ve mentioned or heard about for 2012, Darren’s name never came up. Darren who started his career at ESPN and left for CNBC in 2006 seemed to be happy with the NBCUniversal, having his own show on NBC Sports Network, his own CNBC site, and occasional appearances on NBC Sports events.

  But when the Worldwide Leader comes a’calling, you have to listen. Deadspin reported Thursday that Disney will pay Rovell $500,000 to file reports for both ABC News and ESPN.

  I don’t know if he’ll have his own show as he did with NBC Sports Network, I tend to doubt it. But the timing is rather interesting. Just after getting the sports business show that he had been clamoring, Darren leaves.

  ESPN has made a few recent sports business hires including Kristi Dosh and Michelle Steele. I wonder if ESPN is making a concerted effort to cover sports business again.

  And as we know, Darren is a prolific tweeter. Will his penchant for Twitter be controlled under ESPN’s social media policy? I’m sure this will all be addressed down the line.

• CBS Radio’s announcement that it was launching a sports radio network came as a surprise. The timing came just ten days after NBC announced it was launching a radio network of its own.

  This makes an already crowded radio scene even more so. Considering you have ESPN which has been firmly established since the 1990′s, Fox Sports Radio, Yahoo and even the Sports USA Radio Network, one wonders if there’s enough room for one more national radio net let alone two.

  Personally, I love to see more networks because competition can only lead to better programming, however, economic realities tell you that one of these fledgling entities may not make it.

  The eyeball test from the outset shows that CBS has the best infrastructure having already established sports stations in several major markets that will be part of CBS Sports Radio. Plus teaming with Cumulus Media’s 67 stations cross the country helps the reach.

  As for NBC, it’s just getting back into the radio business after General Electric had sold the Radio Network to Westwood One and its entire radio station group to various owners. It will partner with the former Westwood One now known as Dial Global.

  The question is whether this will lead to a bidding war for sports properties. ESPN Radio has the BCS, MLB and the NBA while Dial Global has the NFL, NCAA Championships and The Masters.

  Suddenly radio is red hot once again and I like it. And as SportsbyBrooks pointed out, it could lead to more poaching of ESPN talent by CBS and NBC to fill programming slots.

• I was disappointed to learn that Radio Wimbledon will not be handling the worldwide audio play-by-play of the Championships Wimbledon starting next week.

  Last October, Wimbledon’s parent, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club accepted a bid from IMG to take over the radio rights to call the matches. The new entity called Live@Wimbledon will be using some, but not all of Radio Wimbledon’s team. Over the years, Radio Wimbledon had been the only link to live tennis when NBC was pulling its tape delay shenanigans. Unfortunately, despite Radio Wimby attracting 2.7 million listeners in 2011, the AELTC decided to take IMG’s money and ruin a very good service for the fortnight.

  Radio Wimbledon will be missed.

• As Sports Business Journal reported this week, Fox Sports has begun talks with NASCAR in hopes of extending its current contract. It expires in 2014.

  As Fox has been successful in obtaining rights to the FIFA World Cup, Big 12 and Pac-12, the thinking behind many of these acquisitions has been to play keep away from NBC Sports Group. You know that with NASCAR rights in play, NBC Sports would love nothing more than to add inventory to NBCSN.

  If Fox is successful, it leaves only TNT’s mid-season Sprint Cup races and ESPN’s Chase for the Cup races being up for grabs. And both Turner and ESPN want to prevent NBC from grabbing their packages.

  With MLB, NASCAR, the Big East and the NBA negotiations all unsettled thus far, NBC still has a chance to lure one if not all to its war chest.

• Lastly, the aforementioned SportsbyBrooks tweeted that Chris Berman will call the late game for Monday Night Football’s season opening doubleheader on September 10. And in addition, he’ll call one preseason game as practice. If you thought the venom towards Berman is bad when he calls the U.S. Open or the All-Star Home Run Derby, just wait until he does the NFL. It’s probably best that ESPN public relations stay off social media on the nights Berman calls the NFL.

And that will conclude the thoughts. Enjoy your Friday.

Some Thursday Links

After an outage that ruined things from Sunday through Tuesday and being busy yesterday, my goal to have links every day this week has gone out the window. However, I can get a few links out to you today.

Let’s get to them.

Starting with Ed Sherman from the Sherman Report who talks with ESPN resident Prince of Darkness Vince Doria who not only hates Twitter, but is concerned that the social media site could bring “diminished standards.” No, hiring Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith brings “diminished standards.”

Ed feels ESPN’s hiring of Darren Rovell away from CNBC is a good move for all sides.

Christopher Botta and John Ourand from Sports Business Journal write that despite having ratings downturns for the NHL Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final, NBC and its sponsors are happy with the results.

Christopher notes that a budding Northwest US MLS rivalry is bringing excellent sponsor activation in the region.

At the Bleacher Report, Dan Levy asks ESPN to respond to the heavy viewer criticism brought forth to the network every time Chris Berman does the U.S. Open.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says the ESPN Family is doing well with EURO 2012.

Peter Kafka at All Things Digital writes that the on-again/off-again Turner purchase of the Bleacher Report seems to be on again. I promise my friends over at Bleacher Report that I won’t publish the Tsunami screengrab like Deadspin does.

Speaking of Deadspin, John Koblin tells us that CNBC’s Darren Rovell, will be getting $500,000 from Disney to work at ESPN and ABC News.

The Big Lead notes that Jalen Rose will be heading to the basketball version of ESPN’s College Gameday.

Simon Dumenico of Advertising Age notes the high amount of Tweets devoted to Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Media Life Magazine notes NBC’s ratings for last weekend’s US Open.

Evan Weiner at Examiner.com says while Roger Clemens was acquitted by a jury of his peers, he still has to get by the Hall of Fame jury known as the Baseball Writers of America.

Lance Venta at Radio Insight reports that with CBS Radio starting a new sports network, ESPN Radio will lose two affiliates in Florida.

To espnW where Amanda Rykoff went to an event which honored women in sports business including Kim Williams, the Chief Operating Officer of NFL Network.

Matt Rudnitsky at SportsGrid says today is D-Day for many Sports Illustrated employees. Godspeed to them.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group looks at how TNT tries to expand the fan experience during its six NASCAR Sprint Cup productions.

Jerry Barmash of FishbowlNY talks with MSG Network’s Walt “Clyde” Frazier about his popularity among Knicks fans.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says SNY’s Gary Cohen will be taking two rare days off this week.

Ken says WFAN will be airing Team USA Olympic basketball games.

And Ken talks about the launch of CBS Sports Radio.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says the Philadelphia Phillies’ troubles have become fodder for the local talk shows.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that the city is about to get its 5th sports radio station thanks to the new CBS Sports Radio.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says Game 4 of the NBA Finals set another local ratings record.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Reds’ ratings are up and they’re being noticed by Fox Sports.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Brewers analyst Bill Schroeder will work Saturday’s game against the White Sox for a different audience.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper guest tweeted on the White Sox official account this week.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily has begun a list of the top sports media voices of the landmark Title IX that gave women the opportunity to play sports. His first honoree is sports broadcasting pioneer Donna de Varona. Next is Mary Carillo. She’s followed by Ann Ligouri. Pam Ward is next. Basketball Hall of Famer Ann Meyers Drysdale follows. Read about Jeannine Edwards. Then look at the bio of Christine Brennan. Then there’s Michele Tafoya. Then Jamie Little. Next is Suzy Kolber. And she’s followed by Sally Jenkins. Great stuff by Tom.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail reports that the NHL doesn’t want Maple Leafs rightsholders Rogers and Bell to form a consortium to bid for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada and they’ve been told to provide separate bids.

Michael Hill from Dolce Vita magazine profiles CTV Olympic host Brian Williams (not to be confused with NBC’s Brian Williams) about the many Games he has hosted over the years for either CBC or CTV.

Sports Media Watch speculates that NBC could be moving its NHL Game of the Week to Saturday afternoons for the 2012-13 season.

Tony Manfred at the Business Insider Sports Page has a slideshow on ESPN’s Erin Andrews who remains a free agent at this time.

Joe Favorito looks at the NBA possibly shutting the door on its players participating in the Olympics.

And that will do it for us today for the links.

REPORT: Darren Rovell To Leave CNBC & Return to ESPN

In what I can only describe as a strange move, CNBC Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell is reportedly leaving the network and going to ESPN where he began his career. Jason McIntyre at The Big Lead reports that the move will be formally announced on Thursday.

Darren has been with CNBC since 2006 and throughout his time with the network, has made a solid niche as a sports business reporter, parlaying the beat into his own show, CNBC Sports Biz: Game On! on Versus, then NBC Sports Network last year. Over the last few years, Darren has been seen on NBC Sports coverage of the Super Bowl and the Kentucky Derby

But now comes word that Darren is leaving the Peacock. When Keith Thibault of Sports Business Journal and I spoke with Darren for the 100th edition of Sports Business Weekly, it sounded as if Darren was very happy at CNBC.

We’ll get more on this on Thursday and I’m sure Darren will tweet about it when everything becomes official. As of now, no one at ESPN, NBC or Darren are talking at this point.

UPDATE, 10:25 p.m.: James Andrew Miller, co-author of “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World at ESPN” discovers that Rovell’s new contract with Disney is two-fold, one with ESPN and the other with ABC News.

Just learned There are two different deals for @darrenrovell: One w/ @espn, other w/ABC news. That’s different than espn deal w/hits on abc.

— James Andrew Miller (@ESPNBook) June 21, 2012

I’m sure we’ll get some more information on this on Thursday.

UPDATE, 11:45 p.m.: Before I get yelled at, the first inklings about Rovell leaving CNBC came from former Fox Sports PR maven Vince Wladika, who tweeted the information around 7 p.m. ET Wednesday.

Guest Column: A Lesson Learned The Hard Way

Earlier this week, Deadspin reported that CNBC’s Darren Rovell was duped by an average Joe posing as an Escort Service owner. While Darren’s story from last year on the NBA lockout was mostly forgotten, the Deadspin exposé brought it back to the forefront.

Iowa sportswriter Andrew Nostvick gives us this guest column looking at how Rovell got duped.

It’s been quite a rough Wednesday for CNBC Sport Business reporter Darren Rovell. News came out that afternoon that an anecdote from a story Rovell had written in November during the NBA lockout was proven to be untrue as the source for the story was in fact an 18-year-old high school senior.

The report, originally posted at Deadspin, includes Rovell’s original tweet, as well as e-mails exchanged between Rovell and the high school senior Tim, who went by the name of Henry James, a supposed manager of an escort service in New York City.

In the e-mails, Rovell and Tim talked about the escort business and the effect it had because of the NBA Lockout. Rovell used the info from his e-mail conversations and included it in his story. The anecdote was removed from the original story, with a correction. Deadspin has a screengrab of the anecdote on its article.

Rovell also issued an apology, which you can find at his CNBC link. In his apology, Rovell said he went with the story because he thought it was different

There were a couple of points about Rovell’s apology that were quite bothersome. One was when he said he would do fewer stories on “real life impact of big events,” which he thinks the public enjoys.

I’m not really sure what’s wrong with writing big event stories that have implications on people not directly involved with professional sports. There’s a difference between writing a story on how a sports lockout affects a business, as opposed to say…writing a story on fancy hats at the Kentucky Derby.

Rovell made a mistake and he owned up, just stop there. Please, stop!  He says that and then he adds in the final paragraph something about people will always want to seek out their 15 minutes of fame. What does that have to do with anything? Especially if the story was written in November 2011 and we’re just hearing about it now!

Seeking out fame has nothing to do with your situation. I’m not sure what happened with the story, what your process was in writing the piece. I’m sure there’s more than just the e-mails. It is true that there is an element of anonymity when it comes to Twitter. But that shouldn’t stop a reporter from, well, putting together the puzzle pieces.

Next time, just stop at “I apologize to my readers.”

This will be an issue that dies down and hopefully it doesn’t happen again.

Andrew Nostvick is a sportswriter living in Southwest Iowa. He graduated from Wartburg College in 2010 and has been a Chicago sports fan for many years. You can reach him at his Twitter handle @NosTheTwit.

That’s all. We have another guest column coming today and more throughout the weekend. Let me know what you think about the columns in the comment section.

Unveiling Some Thursday Links

Let’s get to some linkage. Four days in a row. Let’s keep up the momentum.

Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that the NFL is considering suspending the Pro Bowl.

Stuart Kemp of the Hollywood Reporter writes that BBC’s staff to cover the London Olympics will outnumber the British athletic contingent to the Games.

Tim Baysinger at Broadcasting & Cable says NBC Sports Network has renewed NFL Turning Point for three more seasons.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek notes that Tide is now the Official Laundry Detergent of the NFL.

To E.J. Schultz of Advertising Age who writes that UFC sponsor Anheuser-Busch gave a warning over its fighters’ racist and homophobic comments.

Ed Sherman of the Sherman Report talks with ESPN analyst Bill Polian who will spending his first NFL Draft outside of a War Room.

Ed says NBC will be rooting hard for the New York Rangers tonight in its Game 7 against the Ottawa Senators.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says despite an ugly domestic dispute involving his estranged wife this week, Deion Sanders will appear on NFL Network’s Draft coverage.

Dan Daley at Sports Video Group says audio from the Olympics will be all-digital unlike in past years.

Karen Hogan of SVG goes inside ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage.

This pains me, but I’ll post this. Glenn Davis of SportsGrid has the audio of the Washington Capitals series-winning goal by Joel Ward to defeat the Boston Bruins in Game 7 last night.  And there were some idiotic racist tweets following the game. Those Bruins fans do not represent me. Stupid fucks.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has the YES video of two Texas Rangers fans oblivious to a crying kid while they pose with a ball they caught during last night’s game with the Yankees. Luckily, the kid got another ball, but that couple should know to give the ball to the kid. Man alive.

Ty Duffy at the Big Lead looks at Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee using the “bad journalism” claim to hide behind the problems that led to the downfall of former football coach Jim Tressel.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that Jeremy Lin’s uniform now outsells Kobe Bryant’s.

Speaking of Darren, he was the guest on the 100th edition of Sports Media Weekly and the podcast is a very good listen if I do say so myself.

Hispanic Business looks at the deal between Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Fox Deportes to put more boxing on the network.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about ESPN Radio NY moving to the FM dial as early as next week.

Justin Terranova of the New York Post says ESPN confirms what the Post reported earlier this week.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says ESPN Radio takes over a legendary FM frequency.

Kieran Darcy of ESPN NY writes about the ESPN Radio move.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY also has a story on the ESPN Radio-to-FM flip.

Jerry looks at the ratings for the New York Rangers on MSG Network.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times talks with ESPN NFL Draft analyst Bill Polian.

Richard writes that the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are a ratings hit thus far.

Broadway World notes that NBC’s Al Michaels was honored by Fordham University with an award named after his idol, Vin Scully.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says a local sports anchor is leaving town next month.

Pete has the dates, but not times for the NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Semifinals.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says NBC Sports Network will air the IIHF World Hockey Championships next month.

Over to Crossing Broad where it has audio of Phillies radio announcer Larry Anderson yelling at the team to appeal a play.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the last 24 hours have been great for local sports.

Dan writes that the ratings for Caps-Bruins, Game 7 were high, but not quite a record.

Dan has the newspaper front pages from DC and Boston regarding the Caps-Bruins series.

Dan has video of ESPN’s Neil Everett imitating the Caps radio call of the winning goal against the Bruins.

The Washington Examiner’s Jim Williams says it will be hard to choose either ESPN or NFL Network to watch for NFL Draft coverage.

Steven Campbell in the Tampa Tribune profiles SportsCenter anchor Sara Walsh who grew up in the local area.

Tim Griffin in the San Antonio Express-News says the NBA’s TV ratings couldn’t be any higher despite the lockout that almost wiped out the season.

David Briggs of the Toledo Blade has highlights of a talk that Fox Sports President Ed Goren gave at Bowling Green University.

In Chicagoland Radio and Media, we learn that Comcast SportsNet and WMAQ-TV will merge their sports staffs continuing what has already occurred between CSN Bay Area and KNTV in San Francisco.

At the new Chicago Sports Media Watch, Paul M. Banks talks with Ed Sherman.

The Reno (NV) Gazette Journal says the Perpetually Angry Doug Gottlieb of ESPN will be in town in July for an event.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the NHL has announced the dates for the Los Angeles-St. Louis series.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders how best to approach the media in a hockey-crazy country.

Sports Media Watch looks at the ramifications if the NFL ends the Pro Bowl.

SMW has some ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes solid ratings for the Devils-Panthers series.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has video of Hawk Harrelson doing what he does best, being a homer on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

TVSpy has video of a young Jim Nantz working in Salt Lake in a hot tub with Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton among others. Hello!

And that’s going to do it for supersized set of links.

Sports Media Weekly Edition No. 100 — Darren Rovell, CNBC/NBC Sports Network

We’ve finally reached a milestone, 100 editions of Sports Media Weekly. Imagine that, 100 podcasts. And Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal and I have enjoyed bringing every single one to you. We began back on September 17, 2009 and continued consecutively for the most part until August 25, 2010 when we took a brief hiatus. We returned in earnest on March 17, 2011 and haven’t looked back since. Keith and I thank you for listening and downloading the podcast. It’s been quite fun bringing you guests from the world of sports media whether it from a national or regional (New England) standpoint.

Our guest is the great Darren Rovell of CNBC. But before we spoke to Darren, Keith and I discussed the news that occurred since our last podcast two weeks ago.

We talked about the NFL Draft and how ESPN and NFL Network will no longer spoil draft picks before Commissioner Roger Goodell reaches the podium. I also took the opportunity to take a shot at Chris Berman.

We also talked about the NHL Playoffs and how NBC Sports Group is handling the coverage by airing all games on CNBC, NBC Sports Network and NHL Network on weeknights.

And we looked at the ratings success of the NBA on ABC and NBA TV.

Then we turned to NBC’s plans to stream all Olympic events online while not archiving those that will air in primetime until after they have been shown on the network.

And we gave our Sports Emmy Award picks.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell joined Keith and I for our milestone podcast. We asked Darren about how he began covering sports business originally for ESPN and then CNBC. We discussed the genesis of his CNBC Sports Biz: Game On! show that has been airing on NBC Sports Network since last year.

We also asked Darren about his Twitter feuds with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch, the New York Times’ Richard Sandomir and Bomani Jones.

We then moved to discussing ballpark food and which Olympic athlete might be the most marketable this summer.

This was a fun podcast and one of our longest without multiple guests. Almost an hour long, but well worth your listen. You can subscribe to “Sports Media Journal” on iTunes or

Again, thanks for listening and we hope to bring the high quality you’ve come to expect in the next 100 podcasts.

Some Sunday Morning Media Thoughts

I haven’t done a sports media thoughts post in a while and there has been so much that has transpired since the last time I wrote one. As always, they’re in bullet form. Let’s do this.

• Just four days into the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and I like how the networks of NBC are handling the games. With CNBC, NHL Network and NBC Sports Network airing the games, fans can now choose which contest he or she wants to watch. My only pet peeves, there should be more updates on games on other networks. At least give us a drop down menu from the scoreboard bug to update us. Also, I wish NBC Sports Network and CNBC would not rely on simulcasts from CBC, TSN or Comcast SportsNet affiliates. Versus under the old Comcast ownership could get away with it, but not NBC. NHL Network can pull off the simulcasts because its talent is focused on the studio, but not on NBC Sports Network or CNBC. I know there are a lot of games in the first round, but at least try to produce what’s on your network instead of depending on others to do the work for you, especially for games played in the United States.

• To ESPN’s free agent crop and we know that former First Take co-host Dana Jacobsen has already left the Alleged Worldwide Leader. Michelle Beadle could be the next to go. Her representatives are now free to talk with other networks after her exclusive negotiating period with ESPN lapsed on Friday. I think she’s leaving, but exactly where is the $64,000 question. Based on her interview with The Big Lead, one could intelligently wager that one of her potential targets is a morning show like Today or Good Morning America. I honestly don’t think sports is in her long-term plans, although one never knows.

  As far as the other free agents Erin Andrews and Scott Van Pelt, I tend to think both will remain at ESPN. For Erin, her best chance to leave was two years ago. Her options are a bit more limited now. Scott Van Pelt enjoys doing radio and I think he’ll remain at ESPN as CBS’ radio options are not national and NBC doesn’t have radio resources.

• If Fox Sports gets its rumored cable sports network off the ground, it’ll be welcomed by your humble blogger. It would have plenty of inventory with Big 12 and Pac-12 college sports. In addition, if Fox expands its NASCAR inventory, it could place Sprint Cup races on the network. UFC events could go there as well. And there’s always the big wild card that’s up for bid this year, MLB and if the NFL decides to ever put a Thursday night package up for bid, Fox certainly has deep pockets to possibly make a go at ESPN. And there’s the Big East Conference whose rights are up this year as well.

  And in a related note, the announcement by Fox to give a majority of Saturday night primetime hours to sports is a smart move. Saturday nights are a dead night for the networks, although Fox did pretty well with Cops and America’s Most Wanted. Still, getting the coveted 18-49 demographic to watch MLB, NASCAR, UFC, college football and the MLB Postseason on a Saturday night is a very good move. Could this be a harbinger for Fox’s all-sports cable network? Perhaps. But if this does very well, I could see Fox potentially making this move permanent on Saturday nights. It only makes sense.

  And if Fox does really well, could other networks follow? ESPN already programs ABC during college football season. Would NBA games make a move to Saturday night? What about NBC placing the NHL during Saturday primetime to possibly market the game even further? Would CBS be interested in airing college basketball during the winter as a lead-in to “48 Hours”? In 2011, CBS aired North Carolina-Duke in primetime to great success. Would the Tiffany Network want to move games to primetime in advance of the NCAA Tournament? Fox’s move to sports in primetime is not only a Great Experiment, but also a potential for other networks to bring their inventories to a new timeslot.

• I may be one of the few who’s watching, but count me as one who enjoys viewing the NBC Sports Network’s CNBC Sports Biz: Game On! with Darren Rovell and Erin Sharoni. While Darren has alienated some with his Super Bowl party rant on Playboy Playmates and at Jaime Edmondson plus creating social media accounts for his newborn daughter and we can’t forget his Twitter feuds with Richard Deitsch, Richard Sandomir and Bomani Jones, I can look past them and enjoy his sport business show. Darren knows his stuff and has helped to make sports business a viable news beat. I’ve enjoyed the pace of Game On! and it’s obvious that Darren knows what he’s taking about. The show’s ratings could be better, but it appears NBC is committed to airing it through this year. And it’s hit its stride as the show has explored the price of tickets to the economics of the NFL and college sports.

That’s all. Enjoy your Easter Sunday.

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.

Doing Some Friday Megalinks Now

Let’s do some megalinks on this Friday. My apologies for the lack of posts yesterday. The site was swamped with people linking to my post on How to Avoid Paying the $3.99 Fee For March Madness Live and it was down for most of the day. We seem to be ok today, although the site was down for a short stretch in the morning. But we’re back up now and time for some megalinks on this Friday.

The Weekend Viewing Picks are up and running. Lots of sports as the winter NCAA Championships including the basketball tournaments are underway.

Let’s get to your links.

National

Michael Hiestand from USA Today praises CBS/Turner for bringing the NCAA head of men’s basketball officiating back to explain controversial calls.

Reid Cherner of USA Today’s Game On blog remembers a great NCAA Tournmament buzzer beater from 1981 as called by NBC’s Marv Albert.

Sports Business Daily notes the overnight ratings for Thursday’s games from the NCAA Tournament were down, but still considered a win for CBS/Turner.

Matt Carmichael from Advertising Age tells us which two schools were Googled the most during yesterday’s NCAA Tournament action.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has the absolutely hilarious video of a WGN morning news anchor trying to amp up the volume at ESPN’s Dick Vitale while technical difficulties arise.

Karen Hogan from Sports Video Group writes that the National Invitation Tournament may be the NCAA Tournament’s ugly sister, but it still gets major treatment from ESPN.

To Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing who notes another Twitter feud involving CNBC’s Darren Rovell, this one with Bomani Jones.

Sports Media Watch says Thursday’s 2nd round NCAA Tournament games received slightly lower overnight ratings from the year before.

Dave Kohl of The Broadcast Booth wants to know why name calling in sports radio is a more punishable offense than inaccurate reporting.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy asks if the NHL’s new Stanley Cup ad campaign to replace the great “History Will Be Made” promos can be as successful.

Laura Northrup of the Consumerist wonders why NBA League Pass hasn’t adjusted to Daylight Savings Time?

All Access says ESPN Deportes Radio in Chicago has picked up the Spanish rights to the White Sox.

La Liga Talk has learned that Al Jazeera has obtained the US TV rights to Spain’s La Liga from Gol TV.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn talks with ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

At SB Nation Boston, Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen says social networking may have created spoiled fans.

Tazina Vega from the New York Times says the NHL is hoping to lure viewers by airing all of its Stanley Cup Playoff games on various NBC Sports platforms.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels the CBS/Turner NCAA Tournament collaboration has become the Home Shopping Network. Whatever.

The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with CBS/Turner analyst Clark Kellogg.

Justin has 5 questions for MSG Network NBA analyst Kelly Tripucka.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that the Onion has skewered the DC NFL Team.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with a Turner Sports Interactive executive on how Twitter is incorporated into this year’s NCAA Tournament coverage.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says NBC will air this fall’s Miami-Notre Dame football game in primetime.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle notes that CBS/Turner’s Charles Barkley criticized Baylor’s ugly neon yellow uniforms.

David has the CBS/Turner announcing assignments for Saturday’s NCAA Tournament action.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman notes that Cox Cable subscribers can access the NCAA March Madness Live app for free provided they authenticate.

John E. Hoover from the Tulsa World says the Big 12′s new TV deals will ensure the survival of the conference.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that Reds voice Marty Brennaman can be heard in a new UPS March Madness ad.

While Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel enjoys the NCAA Tounament, there are some things he can do without.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business announces he’ll no longer be writing his sports business and media blog for the publication.

Ed says he will be launching a new site on the sports media and I look forward to seeing it when it finally comes to fruition.

Brigid Sweeney of Crain’s Chicago Business notes that Bulls TV analyst Stacey King now has a new fashion line.

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says the national Junior College championships can be seen online.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the local CBS affiliate didn’t help matters by taking up a large portion of the screen during NCAA Tournament action for weather updates.

West

Bill Center at the San Diego Union-Tribune says maybe, maybe Fox Sports San Diego will launch on Saturday provided MLB approval comes that quickly.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star looks at the Erin Andrews network sweepstakes.

Jim says the NCAA Tournament has become predictable.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Richard Horgan of Fishbowl LA says ESPN will not discipline its SoCal reporters for getting a big story wrong on the Dodgers ownership bid process.

We are going to end the links there. Not as many as in past weeks, but still a hefty amount. Enjoy your weekend.

Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks

Lots of things to get to today. Couldn’t do the links yesterday. Going to do a big megalink edition for you.

Let’s get cracking, but first, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks complete with a link to the busy College Basketball Viewing Picks which will be updated throughout the weekend.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with Oscar-winner and ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham.

Sports Illustrated issued a statement standing by its feature story this week by George Dohrmann on UCLA’s troubles.

Yesterday, Captain Blowhard, a.k.a Bill Simmons of Grantland interviewed President Obama for his podcast. I haven’t listened to it nor read the transcript as I don’t want to be bothered. Dan Levy of Bleacher Report did and had some problems with it.

Tony Manfred of the Business Insider’s Sports Page lists some writers who were most likely jealous over Simmons’ sitdown with the President.

Sports Business Daily says Captain Blowhard threw a hissy fit this week after Duke refused to issue a credential to one of Grantland’s writers for Saturday’s game against North Carolina.

Tim Baysinger at Broadcasting & Cable writes that NFL Today and Inside the NFL host James Brown will become a special correspondent for CBS News.

Gabriel Beltrone of Adweek writes that Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant is pitching Sprint phones.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life says thanks to Super Bowl XLVI, NBC won the February sweeps, marking the third straight year that sports has steered the month.

Ryan Berenz of Channel Guide Magazine writes that NBC Sports Network will be all over a French bicycle race this month.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball says while we know MLB will announce expanded Wild Card Playoff games today, we don’t know which network will air them.

Sam Mamudi of Marketwatch.com writes that the competition among mainstream sports websites is very intense.

Pam Modarelli-Hegner at Sports TV Jobs writes about the types of personalities and egos journalists encounter when interviewing athletes.

Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder writes in Puck Drunk Love about ESPN’s failure to cover the NHL.

In his regular site, Matt says CNBC’s Darren Rovell assigned his baby daughter several social networking accounts on her first day on earth.

Brady Green at AA has video of the Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia’s very funny impression of ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian that aired on Baseball Tonight.

John Daly at the Daly Planet looks at Showtime’s Inside NASCAR program taking the spring and summer off after one episode this week.

Barry Petchesky over at Deadspin notes that ESPN came up with another potentially racist headline for an Asian-American athlete.

Rachel Margolis at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog talks with college basketball analyst Brooke Weisbrod who has a rather interesting day job that keeps her busy during the work week.

Joe Favorito says President Obama is courting sports fans through the Captain Blowhard podcast.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media reviews the new hockey movie, “Goon.”

Sports Media Watch has some of the ratings from last week’s sports action.

SMW says Jeremy Lin is helping to move the ratings needle for ABC and TNT.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says a San Diego sports anchor’s criticism of Danica Patrick shows that sexism still exists in sports.

Also in the National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos laments how social media has watered down traditional sports journalism.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan talks with ESPN’s college basketball analyst Doris Burke. High praise and I agree. Doris is one of the best.

Chad Finn of the Globe says despite having his original role reduced, Dale Arnold is remaining at WEEI.

Chad has some advice for rookie ESPN MLB analyst Terry Francona.

Boston Sports Media Watch’s Bruce Allen writing in SB Nation Boston says Bill Simmons has had a meteoric rise to stardom.

Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette says it was the Worcester Sharks’ radio voice who came up with the idea to have popular New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski spike a puck before a game last month.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks back at the 50th anniversary of one of the major milestones in sports that barely was covered by the media at the time.

Newsday’s Neil Best says two ESPN’ers will speak at their high school alma mater next week.

Neil says the Nets are not drawing well on YES.

Neil notes that CBS Sports Network utilizes a husband & wife team for its college hockey games.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick mocks the bracketologists handicapping the NCAA Tournament field.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for NHL on NBC voice Mike Emrick.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says MSG Network continues to score with Knicks games.

Jerry reports that former WNBC-TV sports anchor Len Berman is back on TV in NYC.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that NBC Sports Network will air the America’s Cup next year.

Pete says YES is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says NBC Sports Network is adding NHL games to its schedule for the playoff drive.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that a local service provider has snagged the rights to an incoming minor league hockey team.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes has the latest developments in Baltimore-Washington, DC sports media at Press Box.

South

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that a local sports anchor is recovering from a stroke he suffered last year.

David has a little more on the story in his blog.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with Fox Sports Oklahoma NBA studio analyst Stephen Howard.

Mel has more here with Stephen Howard.

Mel says NBA TV is marking the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game.

Midwest

The Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Kiesewetter says a movie script has been written about a deaf mute Reds player who changed the way umpires made calls.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wonders if another network will join Fox and TBS in airing the MLB Postseason this year.

Bob says ESPN still leads the way in cable subscriber fees, meaning how much cable and satellite providers are required to pay ESPN per subscriber.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers in sports business and media.

Ed says a Big Ten Network profile of former Indiana University coach Bob Knight will mostly focus on his achievements and hardly touches on his tumultuous exit.

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin notes NBA TV’s documentary on Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says not many Missourians will be able to see local teams in conference tournaments next week.

West

Dan Caesar of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that BYU is better off an a football independent rather than share money and TV time with other teams when it was part of the Mountain West.

John Maffei at the North County Times says local prep basketball games will be harder to find on local TV this weekend.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says who knew that product placement would be the big winner during Fox’s airing of the Daytona 500.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times says CBS and MSG Network are considering buy the Dodgers in separate bids in order to get their TV rights.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at how the media covered (barely) Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game 50 years ago today.

Tom has some news and notes this week.

Canada

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says CBC premieres part two of the movie on Don Cherry’s life this weekend.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail can’t believe how well NHL Trade Deadline coverage does in the ratings.

Bruce says social media has changed sports reporting forever.

And that will do it. Enjoy your weekend.

Bringing Out The Mid-Week Linkage

Let’s do our linkage for today. It’s going to snow in Southern New England so I’m doing this early in case I have bug out later.

Starting with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand, we learn that ESPN will be streaming its Championship Week games on Facebook, but not everyone will be able to see the games.

Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk through John Ourand of Sports Business Journal writes that former Indianapolis Colts GM Bill Polian will join ESPN in a couple of weeks.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley advises NBC Sports Network to stay the course and not panic in the wake of low ratings out of the box.

Eric Fisher at Sports Business Daily has the skinny on MLB Advanced Media’s unveiling of the new At Bat mobile app.

Stephen Galloway at the Hollywood Reporter has a fascinating update on cable television pioneer and Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner.

Eriq Gardner from the Reporter writes that former college athletes suing the NCAA over the use of their likenesses in video games and attempting to get information from TV contracts, have been sanctioned by the judge presiding over the case.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says the National Association of Broadcasters has told the FCC to keep the antiquated NFL blackout rule in place.

Tim Baysinger at B&C notes the NFL has moved its regular season opening game back one day to accommodate the Democratic National Convention.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says after some early momentum, TNT saw rating drops for its NBA All-Star Weekend.

Wendy Davis at MediaPost writes that streaming service Justin.TV and YouTube are being sued for illegally showing a boxing pay-per-view fight.

All Access notes that CBS Radio’s WJFK has signed to remain the DC affiliate for Virginia Tech sports.

Greg Doyel of CBS Sports wants to know why ESPN is allowing Bob Knight to show his clear disdain for Kentucky.

The Mansfield (CT) Patch picks up a story from Kenneth Best who went behind the scenes when ESPN’s College GameDay visited the UConn campus last weekend.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at Twitter’s newest darling, NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski.

The Long Island Tennis Magazine says ESPN2 will air the annual BNP Paribas Showdown on tape delay with an MSG Network replay following a day later.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the NFL regular season opener has been pushed back one day to accommodate President Obama.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that the Nationals’ Bryce Harper has deleted his Twitter account.

The Winston-Salem (NC) Journal remembers a local sports anchor who passed away this week.

Deven Swartz of WGHP-TV also remembers Rich Brenner who was a beloved member of the community.

WGHP also has a special section devoted to Brenner.

Amanda Kelley at the Myrtle Beach (SC) Sun-Times says ESPN Radio is changing stations.

Luther Campbell, formerly of 2 Live Crew, in the Miami New Times accuses ESPN’s Skippy Bayless of race baiting.

Jon Solomon at the Birmingham (AL) News writes that the SEC’s member schools are reluctant to expand to 9 conference football games, but the league’s TV partners are seeking more inventory.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Daytona 500 did well in primetime for Fox, but ratings are down from last year.

Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres are wondering why MLB is taking so long to approve its rights deal with Fox Sports.

Brady Green at Awful Announcing has the video of Rich Eisen’s annual 40 yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Andrew Bucholz at AA notes that Captain Blowhard is complaining about something no one cares about.

At the Bleacher Report, Dan Levy looks at the sexism one San Diego sports anchor threw at Danica Patrick and the reaction since.

John Daly of the Daly Planet reviews Fox’s performance at the Daytona 500.

John also explores ESPN’s Brad Daugherty inexplicably coming down hard on driver Brad Keselowski for Tweeting during the Daytona 500.

John Gennaro of the Bolts from the Blue blog looks at how the new Fox Sports San Diego will affect sports fans.

Congratulations to CNBC’s Darren Rovell who now has a baby daughter to take care of. She wasn’t even a day old when Darren signed her up for Twitter.

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/darrenrovell/statuses/174684002865774593"]

And then Darren told us that he signed her up for other social networking services and bought her domain name. Darren? Put down the smartphone and walk away slowly.

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/darrenrovell/statuses/174686172033990656"]

And we’ll end it there for today.

Tuesday Night Linkage

I owe you linkage. I’m in a bad stretch so linkage is scarce. I try to give you breaking news when I can.

Let’s start with Michael Hiestand of USA Today who reports that MLB on Fox will go eight straight weeks in primetime during the upcoming 2012 season.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King says it’s time for him to step down as a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Matt Pepin of Boston.com announces that legendary writer Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe plans to retire after the London Summer Olympics. Ryan will be missed, but I have a feeling we’ll still be seeing him around.

At Sports Business Journal, John Ourand looks at how sports talk radio is thriving while other formats  in the medium are failing.

John talks with a DC-based sports radio show on how it focuses on doing its program the old fashioned way.

SBJ lists some of the markets where sports radio wars are hot and heavy.

And SBJ has a look at sports talk radio by the numbers.

Dave Kindred at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center has hope for the future of sports journalism.

Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing has the MSG Network and TSN calls of the Jeremy Lin three pointer to beat Toronto to guide the New York Knicks to their 6th straight win.

Kelly Dwyer at Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie blog says Jason Whitlock is backtracking after his racist Jeremy Lin tweet from last Friday.

Edmund Lee of Capital New York goes inside the “hard-working” descriptions for Jeremy Lin.

Advertising Age notes that NBC is utilizing Google and ComScore to measure how people watch this year’s London Olympics.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News looks at a new internet streaming TV service that will challenge copyright laws, but has the support of rich investors and one particular media mogul.

Tim Nudd of Adweek talks about Ford creating a fake Sports Illustrated swimsuit model for an ad in this year’s issue.

Tim looks at Samsung’s Super Bowl ad which poked fun Apple groupies.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has the awkward video of CNBC’s Darren Rovell asking SI Swimsuit Issue Cover Girl Kate Upton to be his Valentine.

Darren says SI had to put Kate Upton on the cover or suffer the consequences.

Jason Brough at Pro Hockey Talk has New York Rangers fans angry over the MSG/Time Warner Cable dispute.

Tom Lorenzo at SportsGrid says Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton will grant his first post-relapse interview to … Glenn Beck TV?

Larry Mahoney of the Bangor (ME) Daily News says Maine native Ricky Craven will be a NASCAR analyst for ESPN this season.

NESN has a behind-the-scenes video with its Boston Bruins rinkside reporter Naoko Funayama on her gameday preparation.

NESN also has Friends of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle and ABC6′s Courtney Fallon talking about their dream dates as they attended a charity event in Boston last weekend. Former NESN Red Sox reporter Heidi Watney was also there.

Over to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times who says NBC is hoping the London Olympics will outpace the ad sales for the Vancouver Winter Games which ended up at a loss for the network.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says WFAN has made it official that Josh Lewin replaces Wayne Hagin on Mets broadcasts this year.

Bob’s Blitz looks at the overhyped CBS Radio mobile app for WFAN’s Mike Francesa who once proclaimed it to be a “Twitta Killa.”

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union writes that despite not having Time Warner Cable subscribers watching, MSG Network’s ratings for Knicks games featuring Jeremy Lin are red hot.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record states that MSG will simulcast Knicks games in Spanish.

Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the Phillies are hoping to cash in when their TV rights go up for bid after this season.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has samples of Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis’ takes on the print media.

Jose Lambiet of the Miami Herald notes that local sports radio talk host Sid Rosenberg owes a lot of money to an illegal offshore gambling site.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Hall of Fame Astros announcer Milo Hamilton is expected to announce his retirement on Wednesday.

David speculates on who could replace Hamilton in 2013.

Steve Campbell of the Chronicle writes that Hamilton’s retirement is just one of the many changes expected for the ‘Stros.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman looks at the local ratings.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says local viewers watched golf over the weekend.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News notes one of the finalists for this year’s MLB Fan Cave inhabitants.

John Daly at The Daly Planet feels NBC SportsTalk should bring NASCAR into the mix.

John also looks at ESPN’s NASCAR announcing lineup.

Sports Media Watch gives us last week’s sports television ratings.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL on NBC Sports Network drew decently last Sunday.

Steve looks inside the numbers of Sunday’s NHL on NBC Sports Network game.

Dave Kohl of the Broadcast Booth looks at Sid Rosenberg’s alleged gambling debts.

And we’ll end it there for now.

Tuesday Links with Some Overdue Monday Linkage

I was hoping to do links on Monday featuring reviews of the Super Bowl and the ads, but real life got in the way. Plus, a link from SI.com to my Biff Henderson post temporarily knocked my site down. Much appreciated to Jimmy Traina and Hot Clicks for the link.

The links begin with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch who doles out his grades for the Super Bowl production.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today says Al Michaels was on top of his game on Sunday.

Bruce Horovitz of USA Today has the results of the paper’s Super Bowl Ad Meter. The results may or may not surprise you.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek notes that Super Bowl XLVI on NBC set a viewership record.

Tim Nudd of Adweek lists the five best Super Bowl commercials according to the publication.

Adweek’s David Griner has the five most debated Super Bowl adverts.

Todd Cunningham at The Wrap says NBC has apologized for the now-infamous middle finger from M.I.A. during the Madonna halftime performance.

Kristi Dosh at ESPN.com has some off-the-field winners for Super Bowl XLVI.

Sports Business Daily notes that dogs were a favorite of the Super Bowl ads.

SBD notes that NBC’s Super Bowl pregame show was mostly praised.

Michael Smith and John Ourand of Sports Business Journal say the ACC is looking for a big payday from ESPN with two new members entering the conference.

Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter says the FCC likely won’t fine NBC for M.I.A’s middle appendage.

The Hollywood Reporter says Super Bowl XLVI set a Twitter record.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable says the Super Bowl was the biggest event ever on social media.

John Eggerton of B&C writes that the FCC has ruled a Chicago NBC affiliate was within its rights to reject an anti-abortion Super Bowl ad.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes about the ratings and viewership standards set by Super Bowl XLVI.

Mike writes that MSG Network will air the February 11 Buffalo Sabres-Tampa Bay Lightning game on NBC affiliates in Buffalo and Rochester as an end run around Time Warner Cable.

Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age has the 10 Super Bowl ads that set social media afire.

Ad Age’s Rich Thomaselli notes that Giants Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning is now expected to equal or surpass his brother Peyton as a commercial endorser.

Ad Age’s experts break down the Super Bowl ads.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has video of ESPN’s Rick Reilly making a preposterous statement following Super Bowl XLVI.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says Super Bowl XLVI lived up to the ratings hype.

SVG notes that Super Bowl XLVI garnered its highest audience ever in Canada even beating the CFL Grey Cup.

The With Leather blog has some pictures from the infamous Playboy Super Bowl party where CNBC’s Darren Rovell got into trouble with women.

Stephen Douglas at The Big Lead notes that Extra host and Massachusetts Maria Menounos native paid up on a Super Bowl bet and hosted yesterday’s show in a Giants bikini in the middle of Times Square.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says NBC’s Cris Collinsworth stepped up in the biggest moment of the Super Bowl.

The Times’ Brian Stelter has NBC calling its online stream of Super Bowl XLVI a success.

Stuart Elliot of the Times says the Super Bowl ads were meh.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels NBC covered up Rob Gronkowski’s ankle injury when the game began. You’re reaching, Phil.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY says WCBS-TV scored impressive numbers for its post-Super Bowl coverage.

Howard Megdal of the Journal News’ LoHud Mets Blog says the team, invoking memories of the Soviet Union, has revoked his media credential for the 2012 season.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union feels Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth weren’t up to par on Sunday.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call notes that the Philadelphia Phillies will be heard on the FM dial starting this season.

Laura Nachman has her Super Bowl XLVI highlights.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun says NBC’s Super Bowl telecast rose above the ads and the halftime show.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says a local sports radio producer is getting out of the business to become a restauranteur.

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald praises NBC for its coverage of the Big Game.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times feels NBC got the job done on Super Bowl Sunday.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Super Bowl got another huge rating.

David provides his thoughts on the NBC Super Bowl production.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer lists his best and worst Super Bowl ads.

Robert King of the Indianapolis Star has the national media heaping praise on the city for hosting the Super Bowl.

King writes that the earliest Indy could host the Super Bowl again would be in 2017.

Lou Harry and Anthony Schoette of the Indianapolis Business Journal review Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime performance.

Anthony and Cory Schouten say Lucas Oil Stadium passed the test of holding its first Super Bowl.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel feels Aaron Rodgers did well in his guest stint on NBC.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his wrap of the Super Bowl.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Gateway City lagged behind the national average ratings for the Super Bowl.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes NBC did yeoman’s work and then some on Super Bowl Sunday.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune lists his favorite Super Bowls XLVI ads.

Jay Posner in the San Diego Union-Tribune feels NBC was good, but not Super on Sunday.

John Maffei of the North County Times for the most part enjoyed NBC’s Super Bowl coverage.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News also liked NBC’s broadcast.

Tom has a longer review on his blog.

Bruce Dowbiggin in the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders why the Super Bowl has so many prop bets.

Slate’s Matthew Black was stuck watching the lackluster Canadian Super Bowl ads.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes the Super Bowl did really well in Canada.

Leah Goldman at the Business Insider Sports Page keeps an eye out for ESPN’s Erin Andrews and Fox’s Troy Aikman as a potential sports media power couple.

Sports Media Watch has some other Super Bowl ratings news.

Mike Silva of the Sports Media Watchdog has suggestions on how to handle fan taunts unlike Gisele Bündchen.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that NBC Sports Network will have a hockey doubleheader on Wednesday.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing gives his bests and worsts of Super Bowl XLVI.

Matt also looks at the running feud between ESPN Radio’s Ryen Russillo and WEEI’s John Dennis.

Surviving Grady speaks with Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle.

And those are your links. Got them done before noon. I’m happy.

Bringing Out Friday Megalinks

The last few Fridays, I haven’t been able to provide you with the megalinks. I have to do some today otherwise you’ll stop visiting me.

We begin as always with the Weekend Viewing Picks and there are quite a few for this snowy weekend in Southern New England.

Now to your links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw about Tim Tebow and the upcoming NFC Championship.

Jason Fry, part of the ESPN Poynter Review Project hears sideline reporter Holly Rowe’s side of the story regarding about her now-infamous incident where she shoved a Sugar Bowl staffer away to get an interview with Michigan coach Brady Hoke.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter looks at HBO’s new unscripted series on boxing trainer Freddie Roach.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans has a review of the Freddie Roach series in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable says Massachusetts Senator John Kerry has written a letter to the FCC asking the agency to get involved in the Sunbeam-DirecTV dispute which could affect how viewers in Boston see the Super Bowl.

John says Comcast is seeking a reversal of a Federal decision that ruled in favor of Tennis Channel in their dispute.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says DirecTV has signed a rights deal to distribute Big Sky football and basketball games.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says History Channel has purchased a longer ad to promote its series, “Swamp People” during Super Bowl XLVI.

Brian Steinberg from Advertising Age tells us who’s buying what in Super Bowl XLVI.

AdAge looks at the 12 ads that changed Super Bowl marketing forever. Three guesses on number one and the first two don’t count.

Brian says marketers are going longer with their Super Bowl ads this year in an attempt to stand out.

Finally, Brian writes that even though we’re not thinking about next year’s Super Bowl XLVII, CBS already is and has been working on getting an early start on ad sales for that Big Game.

Inside Radio says all of Cumulus’ Bay Area radio stations will simulcast Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

From across the pond, Amy Lawrence of The Guardian in the UK says Fox airing an English Premier League game live over the air is a big deal.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo looks into NBC Sports Network’s first foray into boxing.

Dan Levy at the Bleacher Report wonders which network can muster enough former NFL talent to drum up a flag football game.

Mac Nwulu of ESPN’s Front Row PR blog has an inside look at the preparation of Sunday NFL Countdown.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing chronicles this week’s Twitter feud between Sports Illusrated’s Richard Deitsch and CNBC’s Darren Rovell.

Speaking of feuds, The Big Lead looks at an internal ESPN squabble between college basketball analyst Jay Bilas and insider Andy Katz.

Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN is making a major scheduling change for the WNBA this year.

SMW has a look at some local NBA and NHL ratings.

Tennis Channel laments not being picked up by Cablevision.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group takes a look at CBS’ and Fox’s preparation for the NFL Conference Championship Games.

Sports TV Jobs has an interesting graphic of sample camera positions at various stadia and arenas.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe talks with a former Baltimore Raven who now works in Boston as a weekend sports talk show host.

Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette interviews legendary Patriots radio voice Gil Santos.

Newsday’s Neil Best says local TV is gearing up for the NFC Championship.

Neil talks with former New York Giants running back and NBC analyst Tiki Barber who makes his return to TV this weekend.

George Vescey at the New York Times looks forward to seeing Sunday’s English Premier League game live on Fox.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is not a fan of the NFL replay review process.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for CBS Sports’ and WFAN’s Boomer Esiason.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty has some NFL TV analysts break down the four quarterbacks still playing for a shot in the Super Bowl.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has Fox’s Troy Aikman talking about the NFC Championship.

Ken has more from Troy in his blog.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com notes in Press Box that last week’s Texans-Ravens game set a local ratings record.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun attempts to get answers from CBS on having Subway endorser Ndamukong Suh on last week’s NFL Today postgame show.

And David has former Ravens QB and current ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer opining on Ed Reed’s comments on current QB Joe Flacco.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post says the Nationals are hoping to get more money from MASN as the sides negotiate a new contract.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with the radio voice of the Wizards about his busy schedule.

South

Keith Jarrett at the Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times says the Big South may have to move its Conference Championship Game venue which could effect ESPN’s scheduling.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News says SEC partners CBS and ESPN want better scheduling for next football season.

Jerry Tipton of the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader writes that the SEC’s basketball coaches aren’t happy over the scheduling-for-TV moves this season.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans’ flagship radio station hopes to build on the team’s momentum when their new contract kicks in next season.

David has some news and notes that didn’t make his column.

Nancy Sarnoff of the Chronicle says NBC Sports Group is looking for a new facility to house the Comcast SportsNet Houston regional sports network which launches later this year.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman notes that the Texas Rangers will have multiple appearances on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says HBO continues its string of acclaimed sports documentaries.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says don’t expect NFL Conference Championship Sunday to change its format for the foreseeable future.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has his winners and losers in sports business and media.

Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune feels Fox Sports North just cheerleads for Minnesota teams and won’t criticize them.

Paul Christian from the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin looks at Fox Sports North’s Hockey Day in Minnesota schedule.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has CBS Sports President Sean McManus wanting to keep the status quo for NFL Conference Championship Sunday.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times looks at MLB Network’s first-ever game show which premieres next week.

Jim Carlisle from the Ventura County Star says CBS was hoping to get Tim Tebow for its NFL Today pregame show on Sunday, but he declined.

At the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth profiles Fox Sports West host Patrick O’Neal and has his list of best and worst local sports anchors.

Tom has a bit more on O’Neal.

Canada

Bob Weeks in the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that CBC has gotten out of the curling business, a sport it has televised since 1962.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail says the Raptors may be suffering on the court, but not on TV.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog looks at the International Olympic Committee throwing out CTV/CBC’s joint bid to air the 2014/2016 Games.

And that is it. Glad to be able to provide the Megalinkage for you.

Some Back To Work Tuesday Links

On this day when many of you head back to work after the lazy holiday season, let’s provide some links as we get into the New Year.

I’m still saddened today by the passing of Turner Sports and PGA.com essayist Jim Huber. Reading the tributes on Twitter from those who knew him and those who did not, the man was widely well-liked. Jim gave us the facts, was willing to let the events come to him and never was one to call attention to himself. And when you finished reading or watching one of Jim’s essays, you felt the richer for having seen it.

Some links for you.

Scott Michaux from the Augusta (GA) Chronicle says Jim Huber’s passing was so sudden.

Michael Schulder, an Senior Executive Producer at CNN writes at SI.com, that Jim was not only a great writer, he was also a poet.

Ryan Ballengee at Golf Channel mourns Jim’s passing.

John Kim at PGA.com has an obit.

Carla Caldwell at the Atlanta Business Chronicle also has an obituary.

And the Turner Sports-run NBA.com has a story plus a video tribute to Jim Huber.

Other sports media links.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says ESPN has responded to a column written by The Oregonian’s John Canzano saying the network has bought access to the Rose Bowl while sacrificing journalism.

John Ourand & Michael Smith from Sports Business Journal report that Oklahoma University will have plenty of its sports programming seen in the Sooner State as well as Texas thanks to a new deal signed with Fox Sports.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age says NBC has sold out its Super Bowl XLVI ad inventory in sharp contrast to the last time it aired the Big Game when it was selling ads in the week leading up to the event.

And Brian writes that some Super Bowl advertisers are looking to make a big splash like Apple did with its famous “1984″ ad.

Alex Sherman of Bloomberg Business Week writes that NBC is getting as much as $4 million per 30 second ad for the Super Bowl. That’s a lot of money.

At the Hollywood Reporter, Georg Szalai writes about the neverending dispute between MSG Network and Time Warner Cable.

If you watched the NHL Winter Classic yesterday, you may have noticed a new ad from Bridgestone Tires with a fake press conference involving various ESPN personalities, one TNT analyst and if you’re really sharp-eyed, a reporter from Sports Business Journal. Shirley Brady of Brand Channel looks at the ad campaign that will climax at the Super Bowl.

To Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy where he laments the death of Versus.

Jeff Sonderman at the Poynter Institute looks at how Philly.com handled comments in the reporting of Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin’s alleged molestation of seven children.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group mourns the passing of an ABC Sports production legend.

Dan Daley of SVG looks at how Turner Sports wired its NBA broadcasts when the league returned to play on Christmas Day.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that Time Warner Cable has put NBA TV in MSG Network’s channel slot.

Richard says HBO’s 24/7 on the NHL Winter Classic is another part of the network’s winning formula in sports documentaries.

Richard looks at the Super Bowl ads selling out and setting a revenue record for NBC.

Newsday’s Neil Best says NBC did its best to sell hockey during yesterday’s Winter Classic.

At Fishbowl NY, Jerry Barmash catches up with former WABC-TV sports anchor Scott Clark.

Will Leitch at New York Magazine wants to know what’s going on with the MSG/Time Warner Cable spat.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette tells Time Warner Cable subscribers what they’re missing tonight on MSG and MSG Plus.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that two ESPN’ers and also Capital Region natives get an on-air reunion during this week’s Orange Bowl broadcast.

Pete says Fox Sports Radio has debuted yet another morning show.

WCAU-TV in Philadelphia has announced a deal to pick up ACC Network basketball games this season.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has highlights of the DC NFL Team Radio Network’s season finale from Sunday.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times has some thoughts on the holiday weekend in sports television.

At the Houston Chronicle, David Barron writes that Jim Rome is promising a return to H-Town in the near future after his local affiliate dropped his radio show.

To the Daily Oklahoman where Mel Bracht says ESPN got the job done for last night’s Fiesta Bowl.

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post is a fan of NFL RedZone.

Jason Quick of The Oregonian says Comcast SportsNet Northwest has struck a deal allowing fans without access to the channel to view Portland Trail Blazers games online. For a fee, of course.

Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times feels Fox Sports NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira should call things both ways.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL Winter Classic drew its lowest overnight rating ever.

Sports Media Watch notes that TNT is putting Charles Barkley courtside this week.

SMW notes the Rose Bowl saw its lowest overnight rating in years.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead says Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer is banning his players from Twitter and CNBC’s Darren Rovell is pissed.

Barry Janoff from The Big Lead looks at the aforementioned Bridgestone ad campaign.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has tweets from people angry over Matt Millen’s analysis during last night’s Fiesta Bowl. Millen was really awful last night.

Lots of good links for you today. That will do it.

Some Quick Thursday Links

I’ve been all over the place. I think I’m busier on unemployment than when I was working. It’s cut into my blogging time. Thanks for your patience during this time.

I’ll provide a few links for you.

With the Bill Conlin story continuing to explode, let’s get some links there first.

If you’re not familiar, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin hastily retired after Philadelphia Inquirer investigative reporter Nancy Phillips wrote a story about four people accusing the Baseball Hall of Fame writer of molesting them as children in the 1970′s.

Daily News editor Larry Platt writes how hard it is to report on one of your own.

Gail Shister from the Philly Post talks with Phillips on how she broke the Conlin story.

Mike Silva’s Sports Media Watchdog was angry over the initial reaction from the Baseball Writers Association of America to Conlin.

Andy Martino of the New York Daily News says the BBWAA doesn’t speak for him.

AJ Daulerio of Deadspin chronicles a strange e-mail conversation he had with Conlin the day before the story broke.

To other stories now, Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that new media is putting teams in competition with traditional media to break stories.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age has details on NBC’s plans to stream Super Bowl XLVI online and to give online viewers access to the TV ads that are a big part of the game.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that Time Warner Cable has signed a long-term deal for NESN National, firing a big shot at MSG Network.

Wayne Friedman at MediaPost’s Media Daily News says the NBA is offering its League Pass out-of-market package free to cable and satellite customers at no cost for the first two weeks of the season.

Yesterday, there was a minor Twitter scuffle that started when Deadspin creator Will Leitch (now of New York Magazine) tweeted his morning run. CNBC’s Darren Rovell got irritated with it and called him out. It then led to Late Show with David Letterman staff writer Justin Stangel to get involved. Stangel was unfollowed by Rovell a couple of weeks ago over a tweet and he’s been bitter about it ever since.

Leitch wrote this post in Deadspin about his tweeting and Darren today. To their credit, Leitch and Rovell made up so all’s good apparently. Stangel and Rovell are a different story. Darren does have a sense of humor about being called the Twitter Police and this is his Twitter profile pic.

Speaking of Darren, he has this report on CNBC looking at the increase in broadcast rights fees for sports.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing has part one of his Sports Media Wishlist for 2012. He also has part two of this wishlist.

Joe Gill at Boston Sports Then and Now looks at how the Boston Red Sox used Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s likeness without permission.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that the premiere of HBO’s 24/7 Flyers/Rangers garnered over one million viewers over a week’s worth of airings.

Obsessed With Sports looks at how ESPN makes money on the non-BCS bowls.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that come Saturday, the Bengals will be blacked out again in Cincinnati.

I’ll leave it there. Wanted to give you some links.

Bringing Out Some Sunday Links

I’m linking in the middle of doing some badly needed DIY projects here at the Fang’s Bites abode so I might be a bit scarce today. I’ll do what I can on this lazy Sunday, the middle of the Labor Day Weekend.

The ESPN Ombudsman, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute responds to Bruce Feldman’s allegations about his (alleged) suspension.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Cablevision and Verizon FiOS dropped Tennis Channel this morning as part of yet another installment of their long-running dispute.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has video of ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza pulling a Heidi Watney and gagging on air after taking a swig of pickle juice. Or it hearkens to when Tracy Wolfson tried Cammy Cam Juice.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post has some suggestions for the NBA Players Association.

Page Six of the New York Post says Andy Roddick dislikes John McEnroe so much that he refused to do an ESPN interview until he left the set.

Joseph Barracato of the Post ridicules CNBC’s Darren Rovell’s Versus show even before it takes air.

Steve Politi of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger says the Bayonne Bleeder, Chuck Wepner, will get his story of his 1976 fight with Muhammed Ali told by Hollywood and ESPN in separate projects.

In the Washington Examiner, Jim Williams talks with the multifaceted Trevor Matich of ESPN and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

In Texas Monthly, Jason Cohen takes a look at the trials and tribulations of the Longhorn Network.

Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News says the Longhorn Network will pick up five Texas-San Antonio games this season.

EPL Talk says the interesting battle in soccer will be Fox vs. NBC.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

SMW says the first leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup did not do well.

Joe Favorito takes a look at MetLife buying the naming rights for New Meadowlands Stadium.

And that will do it for the Sunday links.

Some Really Quick Wednesday Links

I’m going to try to do some Wednesday linkage here. Also have a lot of end of the month/beginning of the month crap to do at work some I’m balancing the two off.

Here are the links that I have for now.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at NBC’s plans to provide live online coverage of the 2012 London Olympics.

At MediaPost, Erik Sass looks at the New York Giants integrating Twitter into its NFL preseason broadcasts.

David Goetzl at MediaPost notes that Fox has had a 51% majority stake in Big Ten Network since last year.

The Associated Press reports that Versus is adding a whole host of original programming to its weeknight lineup.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter also writes about Versus’ new original programming.

Lacey Rose and Lesley Goldberg at the Reporter report that HBO has given the green light for a drama based on boxer Mike Tyson.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable writes that Turner Sports is expanding the exclusive content offerings at NCAA.com.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says CBS Sports Network will air a documentary on the first black college football game played in New York.

To Adweek where Anthony Crupi chronicles how NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus lured former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol back to the company just mere months after he left.

Bill Cromwell at Media Life Magazine discusses how NBC is going to provide everything from track & field to archery live at 2012 London Olympics.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid looks at the sad tenure of Fred Hickman’s days at ESPN.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has the video preview of NFL Films’ documentary on Patriots coach  Bill Belichick.

On this final day for SportsNewser, let me link to a few stories. Marcus Vanderberg writes that former Rutgers player Eric LeGrand will be joining the school’s football broadcasts on radio. You may recall LeGrand was paralyzed last year and hopes to make a full recovery.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser says fans will vote on the next nominee for the Baseball Hall of Fame Ford C. Frick Broadcaster Award.

Back to Marcus, he writes that Southwest Airlines will stream live MLB games to its passengers thanks to its in-flight internet provider. Now back to me.

Now back to SportsNewser where Marcus looks at Sports Illustrated’s Super Bowl picks.

Ok, that’s it for the SportsNewer links. The site will be missed.

Nat Ives of Advertising Age notes that a month-long sponsorship starting tomorrow, will allow the New York Times to open up five sections (including sports) in its iPad app from behind the dreaded paywall.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell couldn’t be more thrilled to be getting his own weekly show on Versus.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette talks about ESPN releasing its Big East and Big Monday basketball schedules.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog talks with former Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic original Russ Thaler about his new gig with Versus/NBC Sports Network.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that the U.S. Open will be well covered on TV and online.

Josh Robbins from the Orlando Sentinel says the Magic’s Gilbert Arenas has shut down his Twitter account.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman notes that a pair of Eastern transplants top the local sports radio ratings.

Mel says NFL preseason again led the local TV ratings.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer has a preview of tonight’s HBO/NFL Films 10 year retrospective on Hard Knocks.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN’s Jon Gruden isn’t a fan of the new NFL replay rule.

Bob says the digital Sporting News Today has ceased publication.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says the city’s high school football and basketball championships are moving to a new TV home.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says all of the Dodgers’ announcers are coming back for 2012.

Ed Tait and John White of the Winnipeg Free Press says the new Jets have signed a 10 year deal with TSN for both TV and radio.

Sports Media Watch says Hurricane Irene coverage on many local ABC stations cut into NASCAR’s ratings on Saturday.

Deadspin shows a picture of HBO’s Bryant Gumbel being “beaten up” by UFC’s Chuck Liddell and Fox’s Jay Glazer.

Joe Favorito says the hiring of former Tennessee men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl by a grocery company is a good marketing move.

And we’ll end it there for today.

Versus To Air New Original Programming With Liam McHugh, Russ Thaler, Mike Florio and Darren Rovell As Hosts

This just in from the NBC Sports Group and I thank the fine people at its PR department for sending this press release to me. We’ve been hearing drips and drabs about Versus’ new original programming that will premiere in September. We heard about Liam McHugh hosting a college football studio show on Monday afternoons, a show headed by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and a Sports Business show to be helmed by CNBC’s Darren Rovell, plus last week, it was announced the first NFL Films-produced show, NFL Turning Point would premiere after Week 1 of the regular season.

Now, we have the official announcement of the lineups and the daily schedules of the programming. This is a huge upgrade from Versus’ other attempts to get a signature show. Under the “SportsTalk” banner, Versus will have College Football Talk and Pro Football Talk, hosted by Liam McHugh and Mike Florio, respectively, airing back to back Mondays starting at 5 p.m. Eastern.

Then from Tuesday through Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern, you’ll have NBC SportsTalk hosted by Russ Thaler, formerly of Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, discussing various topics utilizing the men and women working under the NBC Sports Group. Wednesdays will be devoted to hockey in the second half of the NHL season.

Friday’s edition of NBC SportsTalk will be devoted to football and Florio and Sports Illustrated’s Peter King will join Thaler to talk about all things NFL.

And following NBC SportsTalk on Friday evenings will be the Darren Rovell-hosted show, CNBC SportsBiz: Game On. You got all that? Don’t worry, I have everything listed below.

NBC SPORTS GROUP ANNOUNCES NEW NIGHTLY STUDIO SHOWS FOR VERSUS

NBC SportsTalk Airs Weeknights Live at 6 p.m. ET
CNBC Sports Biz: Game On with Darren Rovell Airs Fridays at 7 p.m.
Friday Night’s Live Football Show Features Peter King and Mike Florio
NBC SportsTalk to be Hosted by Comcast SportsNet’s Russ Thaler and Include Talent from all NBC Sports Group Platforms

NEW YORK (August 31, 2011) — The NBC Sports Group today announced a block of new live studio shows for VERSUS airing on weeknights from 6-7 p.m. ET under the banner of NBC SportsTalk, NBC’s successful digital franchise on NBCSports.com that includes ProFootballTalk, HardballTalk, ProBasketballTalk, ProHockeyTalk, CollegeFootballTalk, InsidetheIrish and ProGolfTalk.

In addition to the new 6 p.m. shows, VERSUS, which will be re-branded the NBC Sports Network on January 2, will also launch a sports-business show with CNBC’s Darren Rovell, titled CNBC Sports Biz: Game On, on Friday nights at 7 p.m. ET. VERSUS’ weeknight studio block launches on Thursday, September 8, leading into NBC’s NFL Kickoff coverage, featuring the first NFL game of the season between the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers.

“NBC SportsTalk is the type of nightly, relevant programming that viewers can expect to see as we continue the re-branding process from VERSUS to the NBC Sports Network,” said Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports and VERSUS. “The live nightly shows also give us the opportunity to tap into our stable of top talent across all of our platforms to provide a unique perspective for sports fans.”

The live block of shows will focus on the sports world’s most relevant topics each night and will include NBC Sports Group talent who will not only report on sports news, but will break down the significance of that news for viewers. Mondays (ProFootballTalk with Mike Florio) and Fridays at 6 p.m. will be devoted to football, while the rest of the shows during the week will focus on the most topical sports stories.

NBC SportsTalk will be hosted by former Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic anchor Russ Thaler. He will be joined by talent from across all NBC Sports Group platforms, including Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Football Night in America and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com for the special NFL-themed show on Friday nights.

CNBC Sports Biz: Game On – Rovell’s sports business show on Friday nights will focus on the $200 billion business of professional sports, including ownership, labor, media, sponsorship, marketing, merchandise, facilities and executives.  The 30-minute show will feature segments such as: “Power Player,” where Rovell interviews sports business newsmakers; “The Scoreboard,” in which Rovell and his sideline reporter, Erin Sharoni, review the sports business winners and losers of the week; “Heavy Hitters,” in which Rovell calls up insiders to break down how one aspect of the business works.  Rovell’s more than 115,000 Twitter followers will also play an active role in the show. 

NBC SportsTalk – The 6 p.m. nightly shows will focus on various topics throughout the week with certain nights and times devoted to a single sport:

• MONDAY: Immediately following VERSUS’ newly announced College Football Talk show from 5-6 p.m. ET, the network begins the week with ProFootballTalk with Mike Florio. One of the NFL’s most influential voices, Florio will join Thaler in the studio for the hour to break down all the football news from the weekend. Once the NHL season begins, NBC SportsTalk will air from 6-6:30 p.m. ET, making way for NHL Live, the new half-hour pre-game show which begins at 6:30 p.m. ET.

• TUESDAY-THURSDAY: On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, NBC SportsTalk will break down the topics that are dominating the sports world and will enlist talent from all NBC Sports Group platforms to join Thaler, including commentators and reporters from NBC Sports, NBCSports.com, VERSUS, Golf Channel and NBC Sports Group’s 11 regional sports networks. On select Wednesday nights throughout the NHL season, the second half of the show will be dedicated solely to hockey.

• FRIDAY: NBC SportsTalk will wrap up the week with in-depth coverage of NFL news and will welcome one of sports’ most knowledgeable and respected NFL insiders, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and “Football Night in America,” to join Florio and Thaler. Additionally, Gregg Rosenthal of Rotoworld and ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com will contribute a fantasy segment each Friday.

NEW VERSUS ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING THIS FALL (all times ET):

Monday, 5-6 p.m.: College Football Talk hosted by Liam McHugh with Ross Tucker and Roland Williams
Monday, 6-7 p.m.: NBC SportsTalk/ProFootballTalk with Mike Florio (6-6:30 p.m. beginning October 10)
Monday, 6:30-7 p.m.: NHL Live (beginning October 10)
Tuesday, 6-7 p.m.: NBC SportsTalk hosted by Russ Thaler
Wednesday, 6-7 p.m.: NBC SportsTalk hosted by Russ Thaler
Thursday, 6-7 p.m.: NBC SportsTalk hosted by Russ Thaler
Thursday, 10-11 p.m.: NFL Turning Point
Friday, 6-7 p.m.: NBC SportsTalk hosted by Russ Thaler with Mike Florio and Peter King
Friday, 7-7:30 p.m.: CNBC Sports Biz: Game On hosted by Darren Rovell

There you have it.

Doing Some Sunday Links

I haven’t been able to provide a Sunday link dump for you in a while so it’s time to provide some while I can. I do have to do a Sunday thoughts column and again, haven’t done one in a while so I hope to get that done for you later today. Too many thoughts in my head and I have to release them!

I apologize for not being able to do links since Wednesday. I’ve been at jobsites in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and that has taken my days to the point when I get home, it’s tough to do anything. I hope this upcoming week won’t be as busy.

To the links.

Richard Deitsch from Sports Illustrated has his latest Media Power List. Some good names on the list I should say.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that the NFL preseason opener on ESPN took down MTV’s Jersey Shore on Thursday. Maybe there is hope for us all.

EJ Schultz of Advertising Age says Anheuser-Busch is taking a big $50 million gamble by having Bud Light become the official beer of the NFL replacing Coors Light.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writes in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center that the media still has some lessons to learn from the public fallout between Tiger Woods and his former caddie, Steve Williams.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell finally finds an Under Armour running shoe he likes.

Speaking of Darren, SportsNewser’s Marcus Vanderberg writes that Darren and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio will be getting their own shows on the soon-to-be rebranded Versus in the new year.

Marcus tells us that ESPN Radio Los Angeles will be picking up New York Jets games this season. Ok.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group looks at Fox tackling college football in a big way through its Game of the Week series on FX.

Pete Thamel of the New York Times explores the anarchy that reigns college football.

Newsday’s Neil Best has a partial transcript from HBO’s Real Sports interview with Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post proclaims to be looking out for the little guy. Whatever.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes one TV station in New York’s Capital Region will be busy with sports.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record lists the local affiliates for the Jets and Giants radio networks.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN NASCAR voice Allen Bestwick about calling a race at the Watkins Glen road course as opposed to traditional oval tracks.

Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says former Braves broadcaster, the late Ernie Johnson, Sr. is being remembered fondly. Johnson died Friday at the age of 87.

Mark Bradley of the AJC says Johnson was the kindest of men.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle provides some thoughts on the NCAA’s ban of college networks airing high school games.

Dan Caesar in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that NFL Network has finally been picked up by Charter Communications.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has an extensive interview with Dodgers GM Ned Colletti.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN’s NFL preseason opener drew better ratings than last year’s game.

Joe Favorito writes that Northwestern University is conducting a highly original marketing campaign for a Heisman Trophy candidate.

The Toronto Sports Media blog notes some changes at TSN Sports Radio.

And TSM talks about some wholesale changes at the Toronto Star that will effect its sports section.

And that’s it for now. I hope to add some more links later.

Our Mid-Week Links

Any time I put “Quick” in the title, it appears I find more linkage than I set out to. Nothing wrong with that. Again, I ended up being outside of the office for an extended time and it looks like that will happen again tomorrow. Don’t know work is so crazy all of a sudden. I hope the weekend won’t be too busy, but you never know until it gets here. So I won’t put “Quick” in the title today.

In the meantime, I’ll do as many links as I can.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today writes that ESPN has actually dropped two NFL studio analysts to help make room for five new guys coming to the network.

Michael Hiestand at USA Today explains why Jerry Rice chose to become a TV analyst now.

In Sports Business Daily, John Ourand has the story on how NBC Sports Group signed a new multiyear contract with MLS.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch writes that the NBC Sports deal might be the boost that MLS has been seeking.

Jack Bell of the New York Times looks at the particulars of the deal.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times’ Company Town blog says NBC Sports Group grabbing the MLS is a big blow to Fox Soccer which previously had this portion of the contract.

Daniel Feuerstein from MLS Talk also reviews this new MLS contract.

Now to other links.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says Cablevision and Tennis Channel may spar again when its contract with a cable collaborative expires. Again, this could affect viewership of the U.S. Open in New York.

Autoweek talks about ESPN renewing its deal to air the Indianapolis 500 on ABC for the long-term.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that a longtime Baltimore Sun writer is leaving to join the WWE.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser tells us that age was a factor in having CNBC’s Darren Rovell replace John Feinstein on the ESPN Radio affiliate in Washington DC. It’s never good to admit that publicly.

Ben Axelrod from SportsGrid says U.S. Women’s Soccer team goalie Hope Solo will be posing nude for ESPN The Magazine’s Body issue.

Major League Baseball has announced its postseason schedule and it starts early and would end well before Halloween.

Over to the aforementioned Darren Rovell who provides us with his annual College Football All-Name Team.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog looks at Darren joining a DC sports radio station for a weekly guest spot.

Dan writes that a DC TV station will air Baltimore Ravens preseason games for the first time.

Bert Pfankuch of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune is changing cable companies and tearfully says goodbye to Golf Channel.

Angela Woolen in the Macon (GA) Telegraph says ESPN is in town to air the Little League Baseball World Series Southeast Regional this week.

Ben Flanagan from the Huntsville (AL) Times recaps comments from South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier to Dan Patrick in which he stated that he felt ESPN gave Alabama preferential treatment.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says former Packers running back Ahman Green joins Big Ten Network for selected games this college football season.

Bob talks about former NFL coach Bill Parcells rejoining ESPN for this season.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that NBC Sports plans to put one or two Notre Dame games on the NBC Sports Network starting next season.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily finds an angry message to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt inside Dodger Stadium.

Ferd Lewis at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser says an announcement to tout a new University of Hawaii sports channel has been delayed again.

Bruce Dowbiggin in the Toronto Globe and Mail goes over caddie Steve Williams’ bitter remarks to CBS shortly after Adam Scott won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Kristen Douglas of the Campbell River (Canada) Mirror says NBC Sports was in the local area to shoot a segment for an adventure show.

Sports Media Watch advises us to keep on an eye on the battle between ESPN and the NBC Sports Group.

Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder goes over Jerry Rice’s hiring at ESPN.

And AA talks with soccer announcer extraordinaire Ian Darke.

The Biz of Baseball’s Maury Brown says MLB’s attendance numbers are quite deceptive.

The Football Girl blog looks at the ESPN/NFL Network analyst wars plus the NFL on Fox announcing lineup.

And that is going to conclude the linkage for today.

A Thursday Grind Linkage

Let’s get the linkage out on this Thursday. The weekend is almost here.

Here’s an interesting article and I’m watching to see how it plays out. Eriq Gardner at Hollywood Reporter writes that Comcast is suing DirecTV over “deceptive claims” of free televised NFL games and exploiting the end of the lockout to conduct a false and misleading advertising campaign. Rut ro.

This is something I wasn’t expecting to read so soon. Anthony Crupi of Adweek reports that NFL Network is negotiating with Time Warner Cable for a long-term carriage agreement. TWC is the last of the 7 largest cable providers to not carry NFL Network.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today has your first look at an NFL ad that shows us all ready for some football.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says Galavision is seeing its best ratings ever this summer thanks to soccer programming and comedies.

Keith Idec at BoxingScene says the network that will air the Manny Pacquaio-Juan Manuel Marquez fight should be announced by this weekend.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if DirecTV should be charging for more its NFL Sunday Ticket package. Hell no. I pay enough as it is.

Darren chronicles his singing of “O Canada” and the Star Spangled Banner before today’s Toronto-Tampa Bay game.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy asks if the NHL shucking ESPN for Versus was the right move.

All Access says CBS Radio is flipping a Cleveland FM station from Alternative Rock to all-sports.

Deadspin has ESPN’s Michelle Beadle denying rumors that she conducted in inappropriate behavior after the ESPY’s last month. I’m giving Michelle the benefit of the doubt here.

Nellie Andreeva from Deadline notes that Access Hollywood’s Maria Menounos is leaving the program to co-host Extra. Maria was listed in Fang’s Bites’ People You Should Follow on Twitter, Part 9 so this is quite relevant.

Neil deMause of Slate notes that the sports ticket market is stuck in molasses.

Michael Grotticelli from Broadcast Engineering profiles an ESPN executive who will oversee the network’s technology upgrades.

Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch notes that my predecessor at BSMW, David Scott (Scott’s Shots) is now working for ESPN’s public relations department.

Kimberly Primicerio of the Meriden (CT) Record-Journal goes in-depth on ESPN’s plans to expand its Bristol headquarters and add up to 800 new jobs.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about the humorless, witless and talentless Eric Mangini joining ESPN.

Neil is sad to hear about the death of former NFL star and ad pitchman Bubba Smith.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has some thoughts on Mangini’s hire at ESPN.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that Time Warner Cable will air Syracuse football’s media day.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says two area radio stations will pick up Compass Media’s Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys schedules.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun notes that CBS and Showtime are teaming up for a new program on the Army-Navy football game.

To the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog and Dan Steinberg who notes that ex-MASN analyst Rob Dibble who lost his job last year after criticizing Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is back at it again now.

Nakia Hogan from the New Orleans Times-Picayune says Crescent City native and former NFL running back Marshall Faulk has successfully transitioned to a TV analyst.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel does a straight story on the hiring of Eric Mangini by ESPN.

Fox Sports Kansas City says Saturday’s game against Detroit will be sent via satellite to our troops stationed in Afghanistan.

In the Tucson Citizen, Victor Rodriguez goes over an interview with former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach regarding ESPN college football analyst Craig James.

Sox & Dawgs has the video showing NESN’s Heidi Watney hustling to interview Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury after he hit a walkoff home run against the Cleveland Indians last night.

Craig Lyndall of Waiting For Next Year reacts to Cleveland getting an FM all-sports station.

The Big Lead has some confirmed media moves and some that aren’t.

Joe Favorito says he wouldn’t mind seeing more niche Olympic sports like fencing aired on TV.

Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder has the great audio of an Atlanta sports radio host defending his homerism by yelling that he’s not a homer.

And that’s going to do it for today.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell Sings O, Canada & Star Spangled Banner

Thanks to MLB.com, we have the video of CNBC’s Darren Rovell singing both the Canadian and U.S. National Anthems before today’s Toronto Blue Jays-Tampa Bay Rays game. He didn’t do a bad job. Sounded like he rushed at the end of the Star Spangled Banner. Nice of the Rays to give him a personalized jersey with Darren’s Twitter account on the back. Talk about selling yourself.

Here’s the video. A pretty decent job by Darren.

And here are Darren’s thoughts on how he did.

Unveiling The Thursday Links

Been a busy day at work once again. Doing these late and I’ll try to put forth as many links as I can before being told to leave the office.

Sports Business Daily takes a look at the one year anniversary of the infamous “The Decision” that made LeBron James a pariah in Cleveland and most of the country.

Patrick Kemp at the Buffalo News reports that ESPN NHL analyst Matthew Barnaby will perform 500 hours of community service as he was sentenced Wednesday for a domestic disturbance case involving his estranged wife and her boyfriend. I asked ESPN for a statement on this matter and received this response: “Now that its (sic) gotten to the point in the process, we need to regroup and have follow up conversations.” This means that ESPN is evaluating Barnaby’s employment for the upcoming NHL season.

At The Sweet Science, boxing writer Thomas Hauser remembers fellow colleague and former Boston Herald columnist George Kimball who has passed at the age of 69.

Michael Woods of The Sweet Science also pauses to reflect on Kimball.

Another former Kimball colleague, Michael Gee gives his thoughts on his friend’s passing in the Boston Herald.

Lesley Goldberg of the Hollywood Reporter has a preview of Showtime’s MLB reality show, “The Franchise” focusing on the San Francisco Giants.

Tim Baysinger at Broadcasting & Cable looks at CBS’ Jim Nantz getting an award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times says ESPN winning the Wimbledon media rights is just a small part of a big battle between ESPN/Disney and Comcast/NBC.

Sheldon Spencer at ESPN Front Row talks with original ESPN’er Bob Ley on who he follows on Twitter. I’m honored to be one of those to be followed by Mr. Ley.

Last night, comedian Artie Lange made his first radio appearance since his suicide attempt and subsequent departure from the Howard Stern Show. Dylan P. Gadino of Punchline live blogged the guest spot Artie did with fellow comic Nick DiPaolo on Fox Sports Radio. Reading Gadino’s writing, it’s apparent he is not a sports fan.

Fox Sports Radio host Ben Maller writing in Yahoo’s The Post Game chronicles how he lost 200 pounds.

Dan Fogarty has audio of ESPN Radio hack Colin Cowherd blaming Canada for its health care system and insinuating Tiger Woods takes steroids.

CTV has finally relaunched its Olympics site for the 2012 London Games.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell marvels at how 2018 Olympics host Pyeongchang, Sout Korea is already halfway finished in building venues and it was just awarded the Games on Wednesday.

Marc Berman at the New York Post writes that Spero Dedes’ deal to become the radio voice could be in limbo stemming from his DWI arrest over the weekend.

Newsday’s Neil Best says ticket prices remain high for upcoming Yankees games as fans try to see the contest where Derek Jeter gets his 3,000th career hit.

From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that a Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic anchor gave a tongue-in-cheek motivational speech to interns.

Writer John Feinstein explains why he quit doing Navy football radio broadcasts effective immediately.

Gary Dinges of the Austin American-Statesman says the ESPN-owned Longhorn Network has chosen the site for its studios and named three of its on-air staffers.

Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Bengals writes that former radio voice Brad Johansen will call the team’s preseason games on TV starting this season, provided there is a preseason.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Pro Football Hall of Fame is ready to say hello to CBS’ Jim Nantz.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News feels the Pro Football Hall of Fame redeemed itself with Jim Nantz after selecting Chris Berman as its TV-Radio Award recipient last year.

Tom transcribes what Colin Cowherd said about the Dodgers today.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog notes that former CBC Hockey Night in Canada Radio host Jeff Marek has officially joined Rogers Sportsnet.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog writes about Jeff Marek’s role with Sportsnet.

Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that TSN has picked up the Canadian rights to Wimbledon starting next year.

And Canadian Sports Media tells us that TSN’s arrangement to air The Championships, Wimbledon is similar to ESPN’s.

Barry Pachesky of Deadspin says ESPN’s deal with Wimbledon is the future of sports television.

Deadspin’s Brian Hickey notes that Versus had a big, blue phallic symbol creep into its Tour de France coverage.

SportsbyBrooks has word on some college football network TV on-air hires.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes here and here.

SMW notes that the ratings for last weekend’s NASCAR Daytona 400 on TNT fell from last year.

EPL Talk notices that FIFA is considering to break up the 2022 World Cup in Qatar into three 30-minute periods due to the oppressive heat and humidity.

The latest Awful Announcing podcast has the great Darren Rovell of CNBC.

That’s going to do it for today.