Fang's Bites

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.

Fox Sports Unveils College Football Announcing Teams For 2012 Season

Fox Sports has unveiled the announcing teams for the upcoming college football season. With Fox, FX, Fox Sports Net, Fox College Sports and Big Ten Network all carrying games, Fox has a lot of announcing teams.

Returning are Gus Johnson and Charles Davis as the main team. They’ll be on the Fox mothership calling Big 12 and Pac-12 games on the network. Joining them on the sidelines will be Julie Alexandria, formerly of SNY and the Big Ten Network.

Calling games on Fox and FX will be Craig Bolerjack and Joel Klatt. They’ll be accompanied by Petros Papadakis of the Petros and Money Show on Fox Sports Radio.

Another FX team will be Justin Kutcher, Tim Couch and Darius Walker.

The Fox Sports Net teams will include Joel Myers, Brian Baldinger and Jim Knox and Mike Morgan, JC Pearson and Laura McKeeman.

Let’s take a look at the entire Fox Sports college football announcing teams for 2012.

FOX SPORTS MEDIA GROUP ANNOUNCES 2012 COLLEGE FOOTBALL BROADCAST TEAMS

Gus Johnson & Charles Davis Joined by Newcomer Julie Alexandria On Lead CFB on FOX Team;
Sideline Analyst Petros Papadakis Teams with Craig Bolerjack & Joel Klatt;
Justin Kutcher, Heisman Trophy Winner Eric Crouch & Former Notre Dame Standout Darius Walker
Call Action on FX
Erin Andrews, Eddie George & Joey Harrington Anchor CFB on FOX Studio Coverage

Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. – FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) unveiled its broadcast teams for the upcoming 2012 college football season on FOX, FX, FOX Sports Net Regional Networks (FSN), Big Ten Network (BTN) and FOX College Sports (FCS).  Executive Producer, Co-President & COO, FOX Sports Media Group, Eric Shanks announced details today at the Group’s annual college football preseason production seminar, held in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

Play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson, one of sports television’s most enthusiastic voices and analyst Charles Davis, a former Tennessee standout, FSMG’s lead college football announce team from a year ago, return in 2012 and are joined by exciting newcomer and Emmy nominee Julie Alexandria, who serves as the crew’s sideline reporter.  FOX Sports kicks off its first-ever regular season over-the-air college football package with Hawaii at #3 USC, live from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Sept. 1 (7:00 PM ET).  Alexandria previously co-hosted the BTN series TAILGATE 48, and her credits also include hosting The Seven on MTV, Mets Weekly on SNY where she was nominated for two Emmy Awards, the New York City Marathon on ABC, Slamball on CBS Sports and Weekend pregame on Spike.

In addition to calling the premier game-of-the-week during FOX Sports’ 13 consecutive weeks of regular season action, the trio calls the Pac-12 Conference Football Championship Game on Friday, Nov. 30 (8:00 PM ET) followed by the Big Ten Conference Football Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 1 (8:00 PM ET).  Johnson, Davis and Alexandria wrap up the 2012-13 campaign with an exciting Big 12/SEC match-up in the Cotton Bowl Classic live from Cowboys Stadium on Friday, Jan. 4 (8:00 PM ET).

FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL’s No. 2 team is led by veteran college football play-by-play announcer Craig Bolerjack and college football analyst and former University of Colorado quarterback Joel Klatt, with FOX Sports Radio personality and former USC fullback Petros Papadakis providing sideline analysis.  Bolerjack, Klatt and Papadakis call games on FOX and FX, FOX Network Group’s widely distributed general entertainment basic cable network seen in more than 99 million households.

Heisman Trophy winner and Nebraska standout Eric Crouch joins FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL as an analyst for games on FX, and he’s joined by play-by-play announcer Justin Kutcher and former Notre Dame standout Darius Walker who serves as the team’s sideline analyst.

In addition to 21 games on FOX and 20 games on FX, FSN, which reaches over 85 million homes through its owned and affiliated networks, televises dozens of games this fall and has three broadcast teams led by veteran play-by-play broadcaster Joel Meyers, with analyst Brian Baldinger and sideline reporter Jim Knox.  Other teams feature Mike Morgan on play-by-play, analyst JC Pearson and sideline reporter Laura McKeeman and play-by-play man Ron Thulin, who is joined by analyst Shaun King and sideline reporter Desmond Pernell.  Adam Alexander calls games on FCS.

Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer Eddie George and former Oregon All-American quarterback Joey Harrington partner with host Erin Andrews to form the brand new FOX COLLEGE SATURDAY pregame, halftime and postgame team.  George and Harrington also team with host Patrick O’Neal for studio updates during FX’s coverage.

Kevin Frazier, co-anchor of the hit television magazine program The Insider and former Super Bowl MVP and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Allen return for their second season handling studio pregame, halftime and postgame coverage on FSN.

FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL rules analyst Mike Pereira is also available each week to offer perspective on rules interpretation and analysis on controversial plays live from his FOX Network Center command post in Los Angeles.

BTN’s college football schedule features more than 40 games, extensive pregame, halftime and postgame coverage on Saturdays and football-themed studio shows every weeknight. Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith anchor the network’s game-day studio coverage on BIG TEN FOOTBALL SATURDAY for the sixth straight season and contribute to additional studio shows during the week. BTN’s football broadcast teams include Eric Collins (play-by-play) and Derek Rackley (analyst); Kevin Kugler (play-by-play) and Chris Martin (analyst) and Matt Devlin (play-by-play) and Glen Mason (analyst).

Following are FSMG’s 2012 college football broadcast teams:

FOX
Play-by-Play – Gus Johnson
Analyst – Charles Davis
Sideline Reporter – Julie Alexandria

FOX/FX
Play-by-Play – Craig Bolerjack
Analyst – Joel Klatt
Sideline Analyst – Petros Papadaikas

FX
Play-by-Play – Justin Kutcher
Analyst – Eric Crouch
Sideline Analyst – Darius Walker

FSN
Play-by-Play – Joel Meyers
Analyst – Brian Baldinger
Sideline Reporter – Jim Knox

FSN
Play-by-Play – Mike Morgan
Analyst – JC Pearson
Sideline Analyst – Laura McKeeman

FSN
Play-by-Play – Ron Thulin
Analyst – Shaun King
Sideline Reporter – Desmond Pernell

FCS
Play-by-Play – Adam Alexander
Analyst – TBA
Sideline Reporter – TBA

BTN
Play-by-Play – Eric Collins
Analyst – Derek Rackley

Play-by-Play – Kevin Kugler
Analyst – Chris Martin

Play-by-Play – Matt Devlin
Analyst – Glen Mason

Play-by-Play – Brian Anderson
Analyst – Jon Jansen

Play-by-Play – Wayne Larrivee
Analyst – J. Leman

Play-by-Play – Josh Lewin
Analyst – Danan Hughes

Play-by-Play – Tom Werme
Analyst – Kelly Stouffer

Play-by-Play – Matt Sheppard
Analyst – Chuck Long

Play-by-Play – Chris Denari
Analyst – Justin Conzemius

And that will do it.

Fox Sports Ohio To Launch A Weekly Show With Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer

This coming from the regional sports network Fox Sports Ohio. It has signed Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer for a new weekly show. It’ll premiere on Saturday, September 1 at 9:30 a.m.

It will be taped at Ohio Stadium on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus. It will air on Buckeye game days and run for 13 weeks.

Check it out.

Game Time with Urban Meyer

Premieres Saturday Sept. 1 at 9am on FOX Sports Ohio
FOXSportsOhio.com to host live in-game chats & cover Buckeyes all season long

COLUMBUS, OHIO – FOX Sports Ohio is excited to feature Ohio State football this season with Game Time with Urban Meyer. Game Time with Urban Meyer is a weekly 60-minute show with Ohio State Buckeyes Head Football Coach Urban Meyer shot LIVE from Ohio Stadium on the Ohio State University campus. It will air every OSU Saturday game day from 9am – 10am beginning Saturday, September 1.

This program will give viewers an inside look at the university’s football program, game strategy, and key game match-ups prior to each Ohio State Football game. Game Time with Urban Meyer will run for 13 weeks through Saturday, November 24^th.

When the OSU football programs are not on FOX Sports Ohio, Buckeye fans can get the latest news and stats, vote on polls and watch videos on FOXSportsOhio.com. The website will be following the Buckeyes through training camp, with reports and video coverage as well as weekly features by Jeff Seemann and Zac Jackson. Seemann will host live online chats for every Ohio State football game this season.

And there will be one more post before I shut the site down for the night. You can still access the posts. I’ll be taking the rest of the night off.

Preliminary 2012 SEC Football TV Schedule

This comes from the SEC’s website via CBSSports.com. This is the TV schedule for the SEC football season to date. We know the games through September 15 and a few other selections after that. But as we go further into the season, CBS and ESPN will make their selections and then the rest of the games will fall to the SEC Network, Fox Sports Net, CSS and other partners.

That will do it.

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.

The Thursday Linkage

So weird to have the 4th of July in the middle of the week. You get the holiday after two work days and then have two work days afterwards. Some of you have the entire week off which is good, but for me, there’s no such thing as a vacation. In fact, I haven’t had a vacation since August 2001. That’s true. Anyway, you don’t care about that. Let’s get to the links.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today lists which sports media personality has donated money to which politician.

Michael says ESPN NASCAR pit reporter Jamie Little will work her last race for a few months this weekend.

The BBC reports that a single yellow cable that will carry the Olympics from London to Europe was almost cut in Belgium.

Trefis Team at Forbes says ESPN contributes heavily to Disney’s stock price, but that could be reduced over time.

Keach Hagey of the Wall Street Journal looks at the new NBC Sports/Sports Illustrated partnership.

Mike Barnes of the Hollywood Reporter says former mustachioed Oakland Raiders defensive lineman turned pitchman Ben Davidson has died at the age of 72.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that ESPN set a viewership record for the EURO 2012 final.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life reports that NBC is close to selling out its Olympic ad inventory.

The Associated Press says the ACC has signed a 12 year deal with the Orange Bowl.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report talks with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo about his two decade long partnership with WFAN’s Mike Francesa.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing writes that ESPN’s Chris Fowler gave John McEnroe a lesson about Twitter parody accounts at Wimbledon this week.

Joe tells us about reporter-on-reporter Twitter crime between ESPN’s Buster Olney and CBS’ Jon Heyman.

Melissa Jacobs at the Football Girl agrees with Erin Andrews’ assessment that sideline reporters are a necessity when used correctly.

Speaking of Erin, she speaks with Adam Silverstein of the Only Gators blog about moving to Fox.

Dave Nagle in ESPN’s Front Row public relations blog notes the network’s new broadcast position at Wimbledon.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Barclays’ recent troubles are trickling down to the Brooklyn Nets as they prepare to occupy their new home.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post reports that The Whistle, a sports media company geared towards kids, will have a programming block on NBC Sports Network starting in September.

Dan Steinberg in the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that DC NFL Team radio analyst Sam Huff will work a reduced schedule this season.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman says the U.S. Olympic Trials topped the local ratings this past weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that Annika Sorenstam joins the NBC golf team this weekend at the U.S. Women’s Open.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch urges the White Sox to calm down in asking people to do last-minute voting for the All-Star Game.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says the Pac-12 Network will be a success in Utah knowing the failings of the mtn.

Bill Mooney of the Thoroughbred Times says Fox Sports Net will air the West Virginia Derby next month.

Media Rantz notes that the NBC President who was responsible for the “Heidi Game” and forever changed how sports was aired on TV has passed away.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says CTV will bring back a few features for this year’s Olympics that were used in 2010 for Vancouver.

EPL Talk has a partial list of English Premier League games that will be aired in the States on ESPN2 and Fox Soccer.

Sports Media Watch says TNT took a ratings hit for last Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest notes that the US Olympic Committee will pass on bidding for the 2022 Games dashing hopes for a couple of cities. It means the earliest an Olympics will be held in the United States will be 2024.

And those are the links that I could manage to squeeze out of the internet today.

Providing Your Thursday Linkage

Looks like I’m going to be busy today so I’m going to do the linkage a bit early for me at least.

David Bauder of the Associated Press writes that even though he’s no longer NBC Sports Emperor, Dick Ebersol’s presence will still be felt at the London Olympics.

Michael Hiestand at USA Today says NBC will utilize Late Night’s Jimmy Fallon and Shaun White as guest commentators during the Olympics.

Reid Cherner of USA Today writes that ESPN the Magazine has released the roster for its annual “Body” issue.

Alex Sherman of Bloomberg says NBC Sports Network is the key to Comcast turning a profit when NBC’s new Olympic deal begins in 2014.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter says NBC is hoping the Olympics will give its struggling Today show a ratings boost.

Scott Roxborough in the Reporter writes that the EURO 2012 semifinal between Spain and Portugal set a ratings record in Europe.

Neil Reynolds of Sky Sports in the UK has New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft lobbying for an NFL franchise in London and increasing the amount of regular season games in the UK from one to two.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable reports NBC expects to lose money on the London Olympics.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says NBCUniversal is pushing people to authenticate in order to watch the Olympics online.

Anthony Crupi at Adweek looks at NBC’s nearly $1 billion take from Olympic ad sales.

Rocco Pendola of The Street wonders if NBC can make a run at ESPN.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report notes how polarizing Chris Berman can be.

Eric Goldschein of SportsGrid doesn’t quite understand the vitriol thrown Berman’s way.

Natan Edelsburg at Lost Remote says NBC is making the London Olympics a truly social media experience. That will make Bob Costas so happy to read Twitter and Facebook promos.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says NBC’s going all in online at the Olympics.

Jack Bell at the Times looks at ESPN’s EURO 2012 ratings.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY notes that the NBA Finals beat Mets-Yankees in New York.

Jerry talks with the first voice ever to be heard on WFAN when it launched 25 years ago.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says Buffalo Sabres TV voice Rick Jeanneret will do the entire team’s schedule.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says even with a new playoff system, there will still be debates in college football.

In the Washington Examiner, Jim Williams talks with ESPN’s Jay Bilas about tonight’s NBA Draft.

Ron Green, Jr. of the Charlotte Observer also talks with ESPN’s Jay Bilas about the Bobcats’ choices at the Draft.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle reports that the Rockets have changed flagship radio stations.

W. Scott Bailey of the San Antonio Business Journal says local native Michelle Beadle has come a long way from covering Professional Bull Riding.

Ryan Sharp at The Oklahoman has proof that the Big 12 pursued Notre Dame to increase its TV value.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman reviews the weekend’s TV ratings.

Paul M. Banks in Chicago Sports Media Watch wonders what will happen to the BCS brand now that a college football playoff is firmly in place.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Fox Sports San Diego will air November’s Syracuse-San Diego State college basketball game on board the USS Midway.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the West Coast is getting screwed again with NBC’s coverage of the Olympic Trials.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the viewership for the NHL Draft and NHL Awards Show was down.

The Brothers Yoder at Awful Announcing have some random sports that ESPN should televise and I totally agree with the number one choice.

And that’s going to do it for the linkage today.

Breaking Out Some Wednesday Linkage

Time for some Wednesday links. Won’t be a full set as I’ll be monitoring NBC’s Olympic conference call.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio discusses Chris Berman heading to the Monday Night Football booth for two games.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing says national nightmare Berman in the booth is not what NFL fans want.

Doug Farrar of Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner says it isn’t Berman who we should be worried about.

Matt writes about ESPN replacing Craig James on Thursday Night college football.

Michael Smith in Sports Business Daily writes that the PGA has a new sponsor for its developmental tour.

Scott Foxborough at the Hollywood Reporter notes the huge increase for EURO 2012′s ratings on ESPN from the last event four years ago.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable says MLB Network has upgraded its production control room for its signature MLB Tonight show.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the Sportsman Channel is gaining ground for its HD network.

Patrick Hipes of Deadline notes the TV bidding for the new college football playoff system to begin with the 2014 season will be worth beaucoup bucks.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report talks with the former owner of WFAN and how it was a risk to start an all-sports radio station 25 years ago.

Ed says no matter what you think of him, Don Imus’ move to WFAN helped save the sports radio format and sent it flying to new heights.

Ed says ESPN’s public relations blog fired salvos on behalf of ESPN Radio at CBS and NBC.

Jason Dachman from Sports Video Group says Fox Sports Net has developed an MLB app for second screens.

In GoLocalProv, former WBZ-TV anchor Bob Lobel gives one of the greatest moments in his career when he brought Boston legends Bobby Orr, Larry Bird and Ted Williams together for one show. I watched that when it happened. It was a great show.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY talks with WFAN 20/20 Sports update man John Minko.

Jerry also talks with another WFAN original, Steve Somers who schmoozes S-P-O-R-T-S every night.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes about Chris Berman and Trent Dilfer being teamed for two Monday Night Football games.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says Nationals’ ratings on MASN are way up from last season.

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald reviews LeBron James’ appearance on Late Show with David Letterman last night.

Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic talks about the strange removal of Daron Sutton from Diamondbacks broadcasts.

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com says the Diamondbacks have suspended Sutton for “insubordination” and won’t say anything more.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that the Pac-12 won the most NCAA Championships this academic year.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders if it’s soccer time to shine in Canada and the U.S.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog looks at CBC and CTV dropping their joint bid for the 2014/16 Olympics.

Sports Media Watch looks into the move to put Chris Berman into the Monday Night Football booth.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead says bitter little hedgehog Danny Sheridan is buying Twitter followers.

Dave Kohl in The Broadcast Booth talks about multiple national sports radio networks.

And that’s going to do it today. Had to cut the links short because today will be quite busy. Leaving the afternoon free for the NBC Olympics announcements.

Your Tuesday Linkage

Let’s do some Tuesday links.

We’ll start with Matt Hayes of AOL Sporting News and he writes that the BCS is looking for a $5 billion TV deal over a decade for its new college football playoff.

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley says the new college football playoff still can be improved.

Eric Fisher and John Ourand of Sports Business Journal write that the Washington Nationals and MASN continue to be at odds over what the team’s TV rights are worth.

Maury Brown in Baseball Prospectus goes inside the Nats/MASN TV rights dispute.

Mark Buteau and Alex Duff of Bloomberg report that NBC has signed a long-term extension to lock in the Tour de France.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter says CBC and CTV are dropping their joint bidfor the 2014/2016 Olympic Games.

Charlie Warzel of Adweek says the PGA and Turner Sports are parting ways as the golf association will handle its digital rights in-house and no longer outsource it to Turner.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable writes that Ion will provide the WWE with a third night of programming.

In Multichannel News, Tim has an article about NFL Network’s NFL AM show.

Media Life Magazine notes that a Spanish language ad ran during ABC’s NBA Finals broadcasts.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead says CBS’ Jim Nantz is now pimping his own wine label. Surprised it’s not called “Hello, Friends.”

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has the amazing video of Mike Tyson on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption giving a preview of his new one-man Broadway play.

Dmitry Chesnokov of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy notes that the KHL has officially announced plans to play in the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn while trashing New York’s Madison Square Garden in the process.

The ESPN Front Row blog fires a shot at the new upstarts CBS Sports Radio and NBC Sports Radio Network on behalf of ESPN Radio.

Ben Lee at Digital Spy UK says Wimbledon’s primetime coverage on BBC2 drew over a million viewers.

Tara Pringle Jefferson at Loop 21 has six questions for ESPN’s Sage Steele.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says NBA Draft prospect Anthony Davis has trademarked his unibrow.

Darren wonders if US Olympic 100 meter sprinter Justin Gatlin can be marketable once again after sitting out a four year ban for steroids.

Sports Video Group notes that NESN has signedanother content sharing agreement with a third New England TV station, this time in Vermont.

All Access interviews a radio industry analyst who feels the new CBS Sports Radio will do well for the parent company.

Ian Bethune at Sox & Dawgs has the funny video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy entertaining the viewers during a Red Sox rain delay last night.

Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston writes about the Red Sox being in no rush to replace their late public address announcer Carl Beane.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post reports that a positive FCC ruling for Tennis Channel in its carriage dispute against Comcast could lead to more viewers for the network and make it more attractive to potential buyers.

Bob’s Blitz has WFAN’s schedule for Sunday when it celebrates 25 years as the Nation’s first sports radio station.

Kimberly A. Martin of Newsday notes that E! will air a special on New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow.

Neil Best of Newsday looks at ESPN’s start-to-finish coverage of Wimbledon.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has MLB Network’s live game schedule through the end of July.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call profiles a former local sports anchor who’s making his mark in Detroit.

Laura Nachman says a part-timer at Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is now part of the regional sports network’s starting team.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that Washingtonian magazine readers aren’t enamored with the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times chastises readers who complained about weather alerts about Tropical Storm Debby that cut into sports action.

At the Miami Herald, Barry Jackson looks at anti-Heat media comments almost a week after the team won the NBA Championship.

Marc Weiszer of the Athens (GA) Banner-Herald writes that ESPN is producing a documentary on the 2008 SEC Tournament game between Alabama and Mississippi State that was interrupted by a tornado that ripped through Atlanta.

Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times Picayune reports that the Hornets will have the soon-to-be Fox Sports New Orleans to call their home. Fox Sports NO will replace Cox Sports which is getting out of the pro sports business.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says NFL Network will air clips of a Brett Favre interview all week long.

Danny Ecker of Crain’s Chicago Business says the local Comcast SportsNet affiliate will launch a new trivia game show.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a clip of Frank Deford’s appearance on last night’s Colbert Report.

Simon Houpt and Steve Ladurantaye of the Toronto Globe and Mail look at CBC and CTV ending their joint bid for the 2014/16 Olympics after two prices were rejected.

Ann Dempsey from the Toronto Star also has a story on the CBC/CTV disbanding.

Bill Harris in the Toronto Sun says Olympic viewing in Canada after this year is up in the air.

Monika Warzecha of Toronto Life wonders if Canadians will be stuck watching NBC for the 2014/16 Olympics.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes TSN did well in showing the NHL Draft and EURO 2012.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest says NBC and Shazam have teamed up to provide interactive coverage of the London Olympics.

And that’s going do it for our linkage.

Our Monday Linkage

Let’s do some links on a rainy Monday in Southern New England.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at NFL Network’s new morning show.

Michael says ESPN has not confirmed whether Chris Berman will call a Monday Night Football game on the opening weekend of the season.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reports that CBS is about 80% sold for the Super Bowl.

Terry Lefton of Sports Business Journal says Pepsi has signed a deal to sponsor the Super Bowl halftime show.

Mike Ozanian of Forbes notes that the Miami Heat is on the verge of getting a huge deal with Fox Sports Florida.

Former ESPN First Take co-host Dana Jacobsen writes in her blog that she was molested as a child. Courageous for her to speak publicly about this.

Scott Roxborough and Stuart Kemp of the Hollywood Reporter note that yesterday’s Italy-England EURO 2012 Quarterfinal game became the highest-rated and most watched game of the tournament in Europe.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at ESPN going all in at Wimbledon.

Rich Thomaselli of Advertising Age wonders now that LeBron James has won a championship, will he reach Michael Jordan levels in marketing?

Staci D. Kramer of paidContent says ESPN’s streaming of the NBA Finals drew a decent audience.

Ed Sherman from the Sherman Report writes that sportswriter Frank Deford will appear on tonight’s Colbert Report.

The Big Lead looks at alleged bias by the HBO Boxing crew from the Manny Pacquaio-Timothy Bradley fight.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing reviews the train wreck that was Charlie Sheen’s guest appearance on Fox Saturday.

Matt analyzes the moves by CBS and NBC to create their own sports radio networks.

Dylan Murphy at SportsGrid says a French soccer player cursed out a reporter after the team’s loss at EURO 2012 last week.

Also from SportsGrid, Dan Fogarty notes that Oprah Winfrey will interview LeBron James and the Miami Heat this weekend which has train wreck potential written all over it.

Evan Weiner at Examiner.com writes that the NFL has a long way to go to get a foothold in Europe.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with some of the people who have worked at WFAN during its past 25 years.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says college presidents’ pleas to pray for the Jerry Sandusky abuse victims ring hollow. Did Phil want them to go to Jerry Sandusky’s jail cell and shoot him dead?

And Phil goes after his favorite target, WFAN’s Mike Francesa.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY talks with WFAN Operations Manager Mark Chernoff about the nation’s oldest radio station turning 25.

Jerry says a 1010 WINS sports anchor wants to go after those who mispronounce “Wimbledon”.

Bob’s Blitz has the WFAN 25th Anniversary lineup for this Sunday.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says a New York-Penn League minor league baseball team won’t have a radio partner this year.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News talks with Jim Rome about his CBS Sports Network show.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that ESPN will be providing a lot of tennis action over the next fortnight.

At Chicago Sports Media Watch, Paul M. Banks talks with Danica Patrick about her transition from IndyCar to NASCAR.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes about ESPN’s extensive Wimbledon coverage.

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

Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune says all of San Diego State’s football games will be seen on TV, the question is where?

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail suggests that the NHL expand Hockey Night in Canada to Sundays.

Raju Mudhar with the Toronto Star writes about technology and sports melding together.

At Frontstretch, Amy Henderson writes that TV is actually hurting NASCAR and turning fans off.

Back to Paul M. Banks at the Sports Bank and he has video of ESPN’s Jenn Brown taking batting practice at the College World Series.

MediaRantz reviews WFAN at 25.

MediaRantz says noted Florida sports radio bad boy Dan Sileo could be headed to the new CBS Sports Radio.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says NBC’s shuffle of the NHL Draft wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

Sports Media Watch says the NBA Finals’ ratings were down from last year.

SMW writes that MLB on Fox took a hit opposite the U.S. Open.

But SMW says this past weekend, MLB on Fox did significantly better.

Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo’s The Dagger blog writes that ESPN expects to replace analyst Hubert Davis with Jalen Rose on College GameDay.

Paul Magno at Yahoo says boxing may return to network TV as Oscar de la Hoya tries to bring a fight to CBS.

Kris Hughes at Rant Sports asks if Time Warner Cable could purchase the Longhorn Network from ESPN?

Gaslamp Ball talks with the head of Fox Sports San Diego.

And that will do us for today.

Cranking Out Some Friday Megalinks

Ok, linkage has been really scarce over the last month and a half and I apologize for that. My schedules have been quite busy and it’s been tough to sit down for the time it takes to gather the links. I hope that changes over the next month or so.

I have some National links for you right now. I’ll follow up with more stuff later.

Here are the Weekend Viewing Picks for you.

National

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch speaks with the people at the Poynter Institute who are the ESPN Ombudsman.

Nate Davis at USA Today’s The Huddle has the Miami Dolphins not so enthusiastic about being on Hard Knocks this season.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with ESPN’s Sean McDonough who will undergo brain surgery later this year.

Ira Boudwell of Bloomberg Businessweek says ESPN is getting out of the high school sports business saying it’s not broad enough.

Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski says this week’s blowout between David Stern and Jim Rome proves that the NBA Commissioner needs to go.

John Ourand of Sports Business Daily says Fox Sports San Diego is launching an ad campaign against Time Warner Cable which has still not picked up the regional sports network.

Good Morning America’s and former ESPN SportsCenter host Robin Roberts says she will beat the rare blood disorder that will require a bone marrow transplant.

Michael O’Connell of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the NBA Finals are pacing ABC to good ratings this week.

At Broadcasting & Cable, Tim Baysinger writes that this week’s Dream Team documentary gave NBA TV its best viewership ever.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says GolTV scored with this week’s soccer international friendly match between Brazil and Argentina.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life reports that NBC will debut two new sitcoms right smack dab in the middle of the Olympics.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report looks at the geriatric broadcasting team calling the NBA Finals for ESPN Radio.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid notes that even after the winning the Stanley Cup this week, the Los Angeles Kings still aren’t getting respect from the local media.

Former Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio returns to his former stomping grounds to do a massive takedown of Jay “The Rat” Mariotti.

Also from Deadspin, John Koblin writes that there doesn’t seem to be a clamoring for Erin Andrews beyond ESPN.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says NBA TV and NBA Entertainment are appealing to the hardcore basketball fan for their Finals coverage.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead says Sports Illustrated could be laying off part of its staff.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has tweets from people who hated Chris Berman on the U.S. Open yesterday.

Sports Media Watch notes that this year’s Stanley Cup Final did not resonate with viewers.

SMW also has some various ratings news and notes.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Brooklyn Nets gear is selling very well.

MediaRantz tells us that Sean Salisbury will be getting a new internet radio gig.

UPDATE, 4:30 p.m.: Time for more linkage here.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe reports that May was a very good month for sports radio station WEEI as it finished ahead of 98.5 The Sports Hub.

At SB Nation, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch writes about golfer David Duval taking a turn in the broadcast tower at the U.S. Open.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette discusses Johnny Miller holding court for NBC at the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco this week.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with ESPN college baseball analyst Kyle Petersen who will be introducing many Long Islanders to the College World Series today.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after the Yankees for pricing out fans from the “Beautiful People” seats at Yankee Stadium.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY notes that SNY will unveil the all-time Mets team at a gala event on Sunday.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the US Women’s National Soccer Team will be on TV and the web this weekend.

Ken says local Time Warner Cable subscribers will have access to the new Pac-12 Networks this summer.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says NBC Sports Group has announced the 2012 Summer at Saratoga schedule.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union talks with Jim Rome who marks his 16th year in New York’s Capital Region.

Pete says one of harness racing’s famous races changes networks this year.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call profiles a local cable TV sports reporter who is filling a double role this summer.

Keith has more on her in his blog.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes that a decision on the Washington Nationals TV rights has been delayed.

South

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald has some NBA Finals Game 2 postgame reaction as well as Jon Barry saying he’s not a Miami Heat Hater.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Fox Sports Houston was well-prepared and staffed for Wednesday’s perfect game thrown against the Astros by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman writes that ESPN on ABC was all over the non-foul call against the Thunder’s Kevin Durant during Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The Oklahoman rounds up what sports reporters are saying on Twitter about the NBA Finals.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says an all-star high school football game will be shown locally this weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN is dropping its high school sports operation.

Bob criticizes Jim Rome for his questioning of NBA Communist China Sympathizer David Stern.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch says Cubs announcers Len Kasper and Bob Brenly were silent when comedian Jeff Garlin brought up trading Alfonso Soriano.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin notes the rare occurrence of the U.S. Open and the NBA Finals going head-to-head on TV this Father’s Day.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that viewers of Fox Sports Midwest may need a scorecard to tell who’s in the Cardinals TV booth over the next few days.

Dan notes that next week will mark a decade since the passing of Jack Buck and Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile.

West

Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman says this fall’s Boise State-Southern Mississippi game will get the Fox treatment.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says Utahans are nervous about getting the Pac-12 Networkcomparing it to their experience with the ill-fated the mtn.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes that Fox Sports San Diego has set its sights squarely on Time Warner Cable.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says ESPN’s NBA Countdown show seems to work fine without a host.

Jim talks with NBC’s Johnny Miller about the U.S. Open.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times says Game 2 of the NBA Finals drew a good overnight number for ABC.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with former Kings voices about the Stanley Cup victory.

Tom has some more in his blog.

Canada

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin blames both Jim Rome and David Stern for their ugly exchange this week.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog says the NBA and NHL Commissioners are taking it on their chins this week.

And that’s going to do it.

Fox Sports Announces 2012-13 College Football Schedule

Over the last hour or so, it’s been all-Pac-12, all the time. Let’s break that up with this post on the complete Fox Sports college football schedule for 2012-13. It will be filled with national matchups featuring the Big 12, Conference USA and Pac-12 including regional games on the Fox Sports Net affiliates from the ACC, Big East, Big Sky, SEC, Southland and WAC. Also, the Fox Sports-run Big Ten Network will air games involving teams from the Big Ten Conference.

Overall, the Fox Sports Media Group will carry 135 games across its various platforms, Fox Sports, FX, Fox Sports Net and the Big Ten Network.

This marks the first year of Fox Sports airing games across the Fox network in primetime on Saturday nights. Most of its schedule will involve the Pac-12. Let’s go to the Fox press release. And there will be a jump break to provide the entire schedule.

FOX SPORTS MEDIA GROUP TO TELEVISE OVER 165 COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES IN 2012

Hawai’i at USC Kicks-Off FOX Sports’ Inaugural College Football
Broadcast Schedule on Sept. 1 in Primetime
Pac-12, Big Ten and Cotton Bowl Classic Titles Settled on FOX

New York, NY – FOX Sports Media Group’s college football coverage kicks into high gear with more than 165 games airing nationally across FOX, FX, FOX Sports Networks (FSN), Big Ten Network (BTN) and FOX College Sports. The master schedule features teams from the Pac-12, Big 12,  Conference USA and Big Ten (on BTN), as well as regional match-ups from the ACC, SEC, Big East, Big Sky, WAC and Southland Conferences.

Week 1 action begins Saturday, Sept. 1 with seven exciting match-ups highlighted by the debut of FOX Sports’ first-ever regular-season over-the-air college football package. The schedule culminates with coverage of the Pac-12 Football Championship Game, Big Ten Football Championship Game and Cotton Bowl Classic all airing in primetime on FOX.

All eyes will be on Los Angeles Saturday, Sept. 1 (7:30 PM ET) as FOX Sports kicks off 13 consecutive weeks of regular-season action, including 12 prime time games and seven doubleheaders.  Expected Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Barkley begins his quest to lead potential preseason #1 USC to a national title when the Trojans host Hawai’i in the Coliseum. First-year head coach Jim Mora takes the field Saturday, Sept. 8 (7:30 PM ET) when his UCLA Bruins host top 25 contender Nebraska Cornhuskers from the storied Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. Barkley & Co. are back on FOX Week 3 when the Trojans travel to Stanford on Saturday, Sept. 15 (7:30 PM ET) to take on the nationally-ranked Cardinal.

Bob Stoops and his perennial top 10 Oklahoma Sooners are also featured Week 1 when they head to El Paso, TX for a Saturday, Sept. 1 (10:30 PM ET) showdown with UTEP on FSN. Other exciting match-ups include the battle of Colorado when Colorado St. takes on the Buffaloes from Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Saturday, Sept. 1 (4:00 PM ET) and the Wisconsin Badgers look to build on last year’s Rose Bowl season when they travel to Oregon St. on Saturday, Sept. 8 (4:00 PM ET) for a match-up against the Beavers on FX. These games headline doubleheader coverage on FX for the first five weeks of the season.

Coming off its most successful season yet, with record ratings and 16 games featuring a top 25-ranked team, BTN airs 15 Big Ten games during the first three weekends of the 2012 season, including the debut of the Urban Meyer era at Ohio State and the return of defending Big Ten champion Wisconsin Badgers. Overall, BTN televises over 40 football games this fall, again ensuring that all Big Ten home football games are televised nationally.

Additionally, FOX Sports boasts exclusive coverage of college football’s Pac-12 Conference Football Championship Game on Friday, November 30 (8:00 PM ET) followed by the Big Ten Conference Football Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 1 (8:00 PM ET) from Indianapolis.  FOX Sports wraps up its 2012-13 campaign with an exciting Big 12/SEC match-up in the Cotton Bowl Classic live from Cowboys Stadium on Friday, Jan. 4 (8:00 PM ET).

And after this jump break, the entire Fox Sports Media Group college football schedule. Look out.

(continue reading…)

Los Angeles Kings & Fox Sports West Announce Mega Rights Deal

While the Los Angeles Kings have been red hot in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, the team has been working behind the scenes to sweeten its current media rights deal with Fox Sports West. And with Time Warner Cable having already signed the Los Angeles Lakers and the LA Galaxy, the Kings were able to parlay a big payday from Fox.

Bill Shaikin from the Los Angeles Times broke the story last night that the Kings signed a deal through 2014 for an estimated total of $250 million. It also keeps a win streak alive for Fox Sports in the LA market as it has signed the Angels and now the Kings along with the Clippers to long term deals, locking all three teams into the next decade.

Fox says the long time announcing team of Bob Miller and Jim Fox will return as will its pregame show, Kings Live hosted by Patrick O’Neal.

We have the press release from Fox Sports.

LOS ANGELES KINGS AND FOX SPORTS WEST ANNOUNCE NEW LONG-TERM TV RIGHTS AGREEMENT

Exclusive Partnership Extended Well Into the Next Decade
FOX Sports West to Televise Approximately 75 Regular-Season Kings Games per Year

Los Angeles – The Western Conference Champion Los Angeles Kings and FOX Sports West today announced a new long-term television rights agreement that ensures Fox Sports will remain the Kings’ exclusive local television partner well into the next decade.

Under the new agreement, FOX Sports West will televise approximately 75 regular-season Kings games per season, pending games selected for national distribution. The network will also televise select early round playoff match-ups and pre-season games. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

“The LA Kings are very excited and proud to continue what has been an extremely rewarding partnership with our friends at FOX Sports West,” said Kings President, Business Operations, Luc Robitaille. “Los Angeles is truly experiencing a historic period for our franchise, and this new agreement will provide us with multiple opportunities and platforms to showcase our team and its talented group of players for many years to come.”

“We’re pleased that the Kings will be a part of the Fox Sports family for a long time to come,” said Jeff Krolik, Executive Vice President, Fox Sports Networks. “Their amazing playoff run has energized this town and we couldn’t be more proud to be partners with them.”

“We’re excited that FOX Sports West will remain the Kings’ local TV home,” said Steve Simpson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, FOX Sports West/Prime Ticket. “We want to thank Tim Leiweke, Luc Robitaille, and the entire Kings organization for their efforts in making this deal happen.”

As the home of the Kings, FOX Sports West has been delivering exclusive coverage since 1985.  Kings telecasts feature Hall-of-Fame Announcer Bob Miller, who has served as the television “Voice of the Kings” for 39 seasons, and Jim Fox, who has provided analysis for the Kings for 23 seasons.

FOX Sports West is also the destination for “Kings Live.” Originating live from Chick Hearn Plaza outside STAPLES Center, “Kings Live” provides unmatched access to the Kings. As an extension of the game telecast, “Kings Live” is a 30-minute post-game show led by reporter Patrick O’Neal, with added game analysis from Fox. In addition to its regular-season coverage this season, “Kings Live” continues to deliver post-game analysis following every Stanley Cup Playoff game.

That’s all.

Let’s Get To Some Linkage

Before the day is through, let’s do some linkage for you.

Steve Berkowitz from USA Today looks at the Pac-12′s TV contract which is the richest in college sports (for now).

Speaking of USA Today, Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report says the newspaper is restructuring its sports department and about a dozen staffers have been laid off. That includes Friend of Fang’s Bites Mike McCarthy and Game On! blogger Tom Weir. Very sad to see this. I met Mike a few years ago when we covered an event at ESPN. Good reporter and writer. I hope to be linking to him again soon.

Ed also writes about ESPN holding onto the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute watches ESPN’s interviewing guru critique the questioning style of some of its reporters.

Marisa Guthrie at the Hollywood Reporter looks at NBCUniversal’s plans to offer some 5,500 hours of coverage on the Olympics.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says Golf Channel will have live coverage of U.S. Open qualifying on June 4.

Tim Baysinger at B&C recaps last night’s Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily’s Sports Business Awards.

Rich Thomaselli from Advertising Age says the NHL’s social media and traditional ad campaigns have helped bring casual fans to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After being disrespected by its own local media last week, the Los Angeles Kings made this infographic giving a brief history on its logo, names of players and number of times the team has been in the postseason. This season, the Kings have stepped its social media campaign and website to provide fans with a very humorous, but also informative experience. Keep it up, Kings. You guys rock!

Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times, writing in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, notes the difficultly for women to find a proper role in sports television.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton’s past is preventing collectors from lining up at his doorstep.

Congratulations to Steve Lepore of Puck The Media who has become SB Nation’s NHL Media writer. Steve is a hard worker who has created a very good niche for himself. And his first column for SB Nation is about the ratings for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final clincher.

Steve also writes about the controversy over NHL on NBC charlatan Pierre McGuire’s withholding of information over an incident between the benches during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY says MSG Network will air two specials on the upcoming Belmont Stakes in which I’ll Have Another will go for horse racing’s Triple Crown.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says in addition, MSG Plus will air some horse races this summer.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes that ESPN has expanded its 3-D coverage of Wimbledon.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Al Jazeera will be launching two soccer channels this summer.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call looks at ESPN on ABC’s plans for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says former ESPN’er Dave Feldman is leaving the local market to go home to his native Northern California.

Dan says former DC NFL Team running back and sports radio host John Riggins will be hosting an outdoors show next year.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says a deadline is fast approaching in which the Nationals will find out how much MASN will be paying them for TV rights.

Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times says the Rays are paying tribute to Fox Sports MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal by wearing bow ties.

Tom Jones of the Times says MLB Network analyst Mitch Williams ripped Tropicana Field.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle looks at the proposed uses for the abandoned Astrodome.

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports is on the Reds’ bandwagon.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig is holding firm to his retirement date.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch says the Big Ten Network has helped to expand the league and in part, raise Northwestern’s profile.

Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune says even though the Utah Jazz bought the sports radio station where he works, he’ll remain an independent voice.

Chris Jenkins from the San Diego Union-Tribune says Fox Sports San Diego’s Mark Sweeney is a natural fit as Padres analyst.

Tim Sullivan of the Union-Tribune says he enjoys listening to the Padres on the radio.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth can’t believe he’s seeing a farmers dating service ad on NBC Sports Network.

Laura Stone of the Toronto Star writes that a new feature by CBC for the NHL Stanley Cup Final has some hardcore female sports fans hopping mad.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin looks at the Twitter police for college sports programs.

Sports Media Watch notes the increased ratings for the series-clinching game of the NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Final on NBC Sports Network.

Joe Favorito examines the right way and the wrong way to attract Twitter followers.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth marvels at the LA media for getting the Kings logo and players wrong during local newscasts.

And I’ll end the linkage there for now. Enjoy the rest of your day.

You Need Linkage On That Wall….

Yes you do. It’s overdue. I thought being on unemployment would give me more time for doing the site. Instead, I have less. I don’t know how that’s happened.

Anyway, here are some links for you.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has soon-to-be NBC’s Michelle Beadle saying even she’s sick of the coverage on where she’s going next.

Michael takes a look at the Weekend TV ratings.

Nicole Auerbach of USA Today says Laurie Fine, wife of ex-Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine, has officially filed her libel lawsuit against ESPN.

At Sports Business Journal, John Ourand and Michael Smith report that the Southeastern Conference, in the midst of restructuring its media rights deal with CBS and ESPN, could be resurrecting its plans to start an SEC Channel.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News goes over the “trade” between TBS and MLB Network giving the young network its first postseason action this season.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN 3D will air the last five days of Wimbledon later this summer.

David Mercer of the Associated Press says citing low ratings, the Big Ten Network will drop academic non-sports programming in order to air higher rated sports.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek talks about GM pulling out of advertising in Super Bowl XLVII.

Brian Clapp at Sports TV Jobs tells aspiring sports TV anchors how to thrive in local markets despite the shrinking amount of time in newscasts.

Dan Fogarty from SportsGrid has video of TNT’s Charles Barkley admitting to America that he waxes his eyebrows.

Eric Goldschein of SportsGrid has this funny video of Saturday Night Live’s Jay Pharoah getting Stephen A. “A is for Acrimonious” Smith down pat.

From the New Haven Register, David Borges talks with long-time Red Sox radio voice and Connecticut native Joe Castiglione about his career and his new book.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette talks about CBS Sports sublicensing some college basketball games from ESPN.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union has the French Open TV schedule.

Pete says the overnight ratings for the Preakness Stakes dropped double digits from last year.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com says NBC Sports Network will tap some familiar names to call MLS action this weekend.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun says NBC got the job done in its Preakness Stakes production.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is on the RGIII train.

The increasingly bitter Thomas Boswell of the WaPo feels MASN should pony up for the Washington Nationals media rights.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner writes that outgoing NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora is looking forward to working and writing for CBS.

Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times says two writers from the newspaper including sports media writer Tom Jones will co-host a new morning show for the local sports radio station. Jones will now stop covering sports radio to avoid a conflict of interest.

Iliana Limón Romero of the Orlando Sentinel says the Big East is hopeful of finding a suitable TV suitor for the league.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle has some sports media observations.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman writes that TNT’s Charles Barkley is looking forward to visiting Oklahoma City for the NBA Western Conference Finals.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Reds gave local radio station WLW a big ratings win last month.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at the local weekend ratings.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says a technical glitch forced Cardinals fans to watch Fox Sports San Diego’s feed of last night’s Redbirds-Padres game and listen to Dick Enberg which is not a bad thing at all.

Bryce Miller of the Des Moines Reigster says Iowan and Olympics hurdler Lolo Jones is on a media blitz.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the Dodgers will honor long-time Spanish radio voice Jaime Jarrin next month.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has video of NBC Sports Network’s Doc Emrick ripping diving in soccer.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says ratings for the NHL Conference Finals on the NBC Sports Group are down.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has some of Pam Ward’s “Greatest” hits over her years calling college football.

That will do it for now.

Some Wednesday Night Linkage

I’ll do some more linkage for you this evening. You’re owed it. Why not?

Thomas O’Toole from USA Today reports that Laurie Fine, the wife of ex-Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine, is suing ESPN for libel saying a report ruined her reputation.

Barry Petchesky of Deadspin goes inside the lawsuit and notes that Fine is accusing ESPN of circling the wagons against her.

John Koblin from Deadspin says Fang’s Bites fave Charissa Thompson will replace the outgoing Michelle Beadle on ESPN2′s SportsNation.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch speaks with ESPN’s Prince of Darkness John Skipper who fires some shots at NBC Sports Network.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today has NBC’s response to Skipper.

Tom Weir of USA Today says ESPN’s Adam Schefter threw a G*d D*mned reference at Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio and ESPN2. That’s a lot of ESPN references in one sentence.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Pat O’Brien is back on the Olympic stage.

Mike Ozanian from Forbes says while sports TV advertising spending is up, the return of investment is not necessarily that good.

Andy Fixmer and Edmund Lee of Bloomberg Businessweek report that the networks are putting more sports programming in primetime to avoid DVR timeshifting.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable looks at NBCUniversal announcing Olympic coverage plans for three cable networks.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News reports that NBC Sports Network will air a cable TV record amount of Olympic coverage this summer.

Mike notes that ESPN is hoping to double its subscriber numbers for its WatchESPN app.

Meanwhile, Josh Lowensohn of CNET says hold the WatchESPN to Apple TV talk.

Billy Steele of Engadget reviews the new ESPN Radio iPad app.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid notes that Fox Sports West had an interesting “Key to the Game”.

Jim Williams of the Bleacher Report talks with Fox Soccer analysts on this Saturday’s Champions League Final.

Clare Atkinson from the New York Post reports that the networks are jacking up ad rates for the NFL including CBS for Super Bowl XLVII.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes that NBC Sports Network will cover the Indy 500 Time Trials this weekend.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union looks at the amount of Olympic coverage on three NBCUniversal cable networks.

Pete says NBC Sports golf reporter Dottie Pepper has co-authored a series of books bringing golf to kids.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says a local cable TV sports reporter is fast becoming a regular on the high school scene.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says a sports radio producer put Icy Hot on his manjunk.

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald writes that TNT’s Charles Barkley is not a fan of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch can’t believe Mike Francesa’s anti-Twitter stance.

Kent Youngblood at the Minneapolis Star Tribune says the new TV voice of the Minnesota Wild comes with some controversy.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News says the national media is beginning to take notice of the Kings’ playoff run.

Bud Withers of the Seattle Times writes that ESPN has moved the coaching debut of Mike Leach with Washington State to a Thursday night primetime game.

Jeff Morrow of the Tri-City (WA) Herald notes that ESPN Radio has returned to the local area.

Annie Fowler of the Herald says NHL Network will air the Memorial Cup in its entirety.

Ryan Yoder of Awful Announcing is still buzzing over Mike Francesa’s anti-Twitter rant from this week.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the NHL on NBC could be moved on Saturday if Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final goes into triple overtime.

Steve says the ratings Game 2 of the NHL Western Conference Final were down from last year.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth looks at various local radio ratings for baseball.

And that will be do it for tonight.

English Premier League “Survival” Sunday Registers A Total of 1.3 Million Viewers

Combined with ESPN2, Fox Sports English and Spanish-language platforms, a total of 1.3 million people watched the final day of the English Premier League on Sunday.

According to Fox Sports, ESPN2 had the most viewers with 600,000 for the dramatic Manchester City-Queens Park Rangers game which saw ManCity eke out a win with two goals in stoppage time to win the EPL title.

On Fox Sports platforms which utilized Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Sports Net, Fuel, FX and Speed, the audience registered at 392,000 viewers. The most viewers were on FX which carried Sunderland-Manchester United (161,000).

For Fox Deportes, the channel saw 167,000 viewers while ESPN Deportes which also carried the ManCity-QPR match, it had 189,000.

Overall, the viewership was 72% from the games a year ago.

We have the Fox Sports statement on this.

SURVIVAL SUNDAY IS SMASHING SUCCESS

English & Spanish Language Viewership Tops 1.3 Million; Up 72% vs. 2011

New York — This Mother’s Day edition of Survival Sunday produced the mother of all days for the Barclays Premier League and world-class European soccer in the United States, as nine of the day’s ten games were carried by a FOX Sports Media Group network or platform, a first in U.S. television history.

Manchester City’s dramatic, come-from-behind victory on the season’s final day in extra-time had the feeling of a Hollywood script and delivered the team its first Premier League championship in 44 years.  At the same time, their shocking win snatched what looked like a cinch 20^th Premier League crown away from perennial powerhouse, Manchester United.  The shift in emotion for team supporters was seismic.

Led by FX, FSMG networks SPEED, FSN, FUEL TV, FOX Soccer, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes, along with digital platforms FOXSoccer.com and FOX Soccer 2Go, carried nine matches live at 10:00 AM ET (5/13).  The tenth game was televised by ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

According to audience figures compiled by Nielsen Media Research, the English language (FX, SPEED, FOX Soccer, FSN, FUEL TV & ESPN2) and Spanish language (FOX Deportes & ESPN Deportes) viewership in the United States for Survival Sunday came in at 1,348,000, up +72% over the combined viewing on FOX Soccer, FOX Deportes, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes on Survival Sunday 2011 (728,000).

Here are additional highlights from Survival Sunday 2012:

• The English language audience on the FOX-outlets (392,000) and ESPN2 (600,000) combined for 992,000 viewers, up +80% over the combined viewing on ESPN2 and FOX Soccer a year ago (550,000).
• English-language viewership on FOX outlets (392,000) was +160% vs. 2011 (151,000).  The breakdown is as follows: FX – 161,000; FOX Soccer – 77,000; SPEED – 53,000; FSN – 59,000; FUEL TV – 42,000.
• FOX Deportes recorded 167,000 viewers Sunday, +120% over a year ago (76,000);  ESPN Deportes drew 189,000 viewers.
• *Unique visitors to FOXSoccer.com on Sunday were 420,000, +278% from last Survival Sunday (111,000) and +143% compared to the usual Sunday average during the Barclays Premier League season (173,000).

*Source: Unica NetInsight

• +FOXSoccer.com and FOX Soccer 2Go combined for 41,522 live video streams.

+Source: Omniture SiteCatalyst

That’s all.

A Trio of Sunday Sports Media Thoughts

Happy Mother’s Day.

It’s been quite the day in sports already. A few thoughts in bullet form.

• Fox promised us unprecedented coverage on the last day of the English Premier League season and it delivered. Using FX, Fox Sports Net, Fuel and Speed in addition to its Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus on online platforms, it provided full coverage of the final day of the EPL season as teams were scrambling for the Title, Champions and Europa League spots and avoiding relegation. With ESPN2 allowed to air the Manchester City-Queens Park Rangers match, Fox focused on the other 9 games of the day. Using FX as its main hub, there were real time updates on the Fox Box as well as cut-ins by Rob Stone showing scores from other games.

  If Fox retains the US rights for the English Premier League, I would love to see more of this coverage not only for what was dubbed “Survival Sunday” by Fox, but for the Opening Weekend of the season as well.

  I admit I wasn’t a fan of Rob Stone when he was at ESPN, but he’s grown on me as host of the Premier and Champions League on Fox Soccer. And the way Fox utilized its platforms today was excellent. One could argue they should have been doing this all along.

  If Fox is going to do this next year, then open up the pay platforms of Fox Soccer Plus, Foxsoccer.com and Fox Soccer2Go for the weekend. Those of us who don’t subscribe to those platforms were shutout today.

• One pet peeve I have about Fox is that it won’t allow online streaming of its sports properties. Whether it be MLB, NASCAR, college football or NFL, the network makes us watch its product on television. If we can’t be in front of a TV, then we’re pure out of luck. Some the online rights are locked with the league as with the case of MLB and the NFL, but ESPN, NBC and CBS have been diligent in getting online rights. Fox remains steadfast in not streaming its events. I hope that changes as the network goes forward with the NFL and any other sports properties it obtains from here on out.
• And Friday’s development that Michelle Beadle is leaving ESPN is not a surprise. While there has been no firm confirmation from neither ESPN, NBC where she’s reportedly heading nor from Michelle herself, she’s about good as gone.

  I told you in the past that sports is not what Michelle wants to do full-time. By keeping a hand in special events like the Olympics and the Super Bowl should be enough for her. And by co-hosting Access Hollywood, it gives NBCUniversal a versatile personality.

  She’ll do well for NBC.

That’s going to do it for now.

Finally Some Friday Megalinks

Let’s do some Friday megalinks. You’ve been owed some and I haven’t been able to do links for most of the week.

Of course, you have the Weekend Viewing Picks which provide plenty of college sports, soccer, baseball and the NBA and NHL postseason action.

Now let’s do your links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today explores Jason La Canfora’s decision to leave NFL Network and bolt to CBS.

Media Rantz looks into the potential departure of Michelle Beadle from ESPN to NBC.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says E! will produce a special on New York Jets QB Tim Tebow.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report hears from a Fox Soccer executive on why the Fox Sports Media Group chose to air so many English Premier League games on the final day of the season.

Michael David Smith at Pro Football Talk writes that despite reports to the contrary, it appears that the New York Jets won’t make another appearance on HBO’s Hard Knocks this summer.

Eriq Gardner at the Hollywood Reporter says a group of fans have filed a class action lawsuit against MLB and its TV partners on the antiquated and silly blackout policy.

Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel says while the Minnesota Vikings will finally get their long-awaited stadium, one state legislator attempted to sneak a bill ending all local NFL blackouts. I think that was a great idea.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News/Broadcasting & Cable writes the long-anticipated Time Warner Cable Los Angeles Lakers-centric regional sports network will launch in October.

At Adweek, Anthony Crupi writes that Fox has sold out its ad inventory for the UEFA Champions League Final.

Thomas Pardee of Advertising Age says social media is changing the way we watch sports.

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times says there are times when the N-word should to be published in full.

Eric Goldschein at SportsGrid says CBC Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean stretched his analogy too far in comparing the 9/11 First Responders to NHL players this week.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group looks at NBC/Golf Channel’s joint production of this week’s Players Championship.

Brandon Costa of SVG explores ESPN’s expanded multiplatform rights for NCAA Championships.

And SVG tells us about the Big East Conference’s in-house production of the league’s Baseball Tournament.

Kristi Dosh at ESPN.com looks into the dollars and cents of the major college sports TV rights contracts.

Patrick Rishe at Forbes says while the ACC signed a rich contract with ESPN, it still doesn’t compare to the Pac-12′s huge megadeal.

My Twitter Trophy Wife, Amanda Rykoff chronicles her day spent at the MLB Fan Cave for espnW.

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch crunches the numbers behind the ratings rise for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and the lower for the NBA Playoffs.

Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing also looks into the ratings for the NBA and NHL Postseasons.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead notes the disturbing arrest of the PA Announcer for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth looks at some of the sports media stories that are irking him this week.

East and Mid-Atlantic

I haven’t been able to address the death of Carl Beane, the Red Sox public address announcer. Carl was a radio reporter in Western Massachusetts and also free-lanced for ESPN Radio, CBS Radio, Fox Sports Radio to report on various NFL and college games. He died this week when he suffered a heart attack and crashed his car. He was 59. It seemed everyone in New England had some connection to Beane. I’ll give you some of the stories that have been written about him this week.

David Scott at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog gets reaction from people at the network who knew him.

Gordon Edes at ESPN Boston says Beane felt he was born to be the Fenway Park public address announcer.

WEEI’s Mike Petraglia writes about his personal connection to Beane.

Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe says the Red Sox paid tribute to Beane at last night’s game by not having anyone do the PA.

Amanda Bruno of the Springfield Republican writes that Beane was a role model and mentor to her.

To other stories now, heading back to the Globe, Chad Finn says the ACC got its huge deal and it will affect member school Boston College in many ways.

Chad says former Red Sox voice Jerry Trupiano is getting some familial help in trying to get the Houston Astros radio gig.

Desmond Connor of the Hartford Courant says the Big East’s interim commissioner is hopeful his conference can cash in on the recent big spending by ESPN and other networks.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir talks with the legendary Vin Scully.

Richard profiles the person behind a fake Walt Frazier Twitter account.

Jack Bell of the Times interviews Fox Sports President Eric Shanks about Sunday’s unprecedented English Premier League coverage.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Times rails over player unions defending their membership for the wrong reasons.

The Post’s Justin Terranova talks with NBC’s Pierre McGuire.

Justin has five questions for TNT’s Kenny Smith.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says a former local sports reporter is returning to her roots with Time Warner Cable’s Southern California network.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says technical difficulties plagued a local radio broadcast of the Yankees.

Pete says many of NBC/Golf Channel’s cameras will be focused squarely on one hole at the Players Championship this week.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record explores the new SNY deal to air UConn women’s basketball games.

At the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner asks if high school football is doomed.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call watched the train wreck of former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens appearing on Dr. Phil this week and being confronted by his multiple baby mommas.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post says MLB Network compared the swings of the late Mickey Mantle and the Nationals’ Bryce Harper.

South

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says a new local sports radio morning host comes with some baggage from his old job.

David says Comcast and ESPN cut a deal this week for subscribers to watch the network online.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman notes that Fox Sports Oklahoma will air specials next week on the state’s two major college football programs.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Reds TV and Radio ratings are up this season.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch explores the Cubs’ Kerry Wood blowing up at the local media this week.

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post Bulletin looks at NBC’s coverage of The Players Championship.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that a local sports anchor gets to talk news on the radio.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times says the local media plans to cover Junior Seau’s public memorial today.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star notes that outgoing flagship TV station KCAL gave another farewell to the Los Angeles Lakers this week.

Jim looks at the 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass which will get plenty of attention on NBC/Golf Channel at the Players Championship.

Jim provides his weekend viewing picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at Time Warner Cable’s new sports channels.

Tom tries to give Kings fans missing their local TV voices a silver lining.

Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News goes over the latest developments at the Pac-12 Networks.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC’s Ron MacLean had to clarify his 9/11 remarks before Game 6 of the New York Rangers-Washington Capitals series.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the announcing assignments for both CBC and TSN in the NHL Conference Final round.

And we are done. Enjoy your sports weekend.

Going For Some More Overdue Sports Media Thoughts

Thursday turned out to be quite the crazy day for those of us who follow the sports media beat. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. On any given day, you just don’t know when sports media news will break. We had two stories throw us for a loop. I’ll do the thoughts as always in bullet form.

• We knew the Michelle Beadle story was going to come to a head, we just didn’t know what direction it would take. Finally, we did hear about some movement. And it all moved around 4 p.m. ET on Thursday. Whether Michelle decides to leave ESPN and go to NBC as SportsbyBrooks tweeted on Thursday or remain at the Alleged Worldwide Leader (highly unlikely), she’s going to get paid. I do believe that she will leave, take the job at NBC and be featured on the Olympics this summer, either as a contributor on the Today show, or as a host on one of NBCUniversal’s cable networks, most likely NBC Sports Network.

  I’ve said all along that Michelle’s future is not in sports and if SportsbyBrooks’ tweet is correct, then being a co-host on Access Hollywood with Billy Bush would be right up her alley. And Michelle could always return to sports every two years during the Olympics. But as Michelle herself once told me, the truth will come out soon.

• Now the other piece of sports media news from Thursday was the surprising move by Jason La Canfora to leave NFL Network and join CBS in July to become an NFL insider at its dot com site and on television. As Michael Hiestand of USA Today discovered for Friday’s edition, not only will La Canfora replace Charley Casserly on The NFL Today, he’ll also appear on CBS Sports Network which could have its own Sunday morning NFL pregame show plus other NFL-related programming.

  I thought La Canfora did a good job on NFL Network especially in replacing Adam Schefter in 2009 after he bolted for ESPN. In regards to replacing Jason, NFL Network has recently hired a trio of on-air reporters who could conceivably take his place or it could fill the insider by committee. Whatever direction NFL Network goes in the Insider position, I’m sure it will be someone solid.

• I watched some of ESPNU’s coverage of the SEC Softball Tournament. Beth Mowins did a very good job on the play-by-play. She’s called college football, the Women’s World Cup in Germany in addition to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and she’s called each sport quite well.
• I’m looking forward to Sunday morning when Fox Sports goes all out for the final day of the English Premier League season. All ten games on Sunday will be aired on ESPN2 and nine Fox platforms including Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Sports Net, Fuel, FX, Speed, Fox Deportes as well as online. It’s going to be bedlam, but in a good way.

That’s going to conclude the thoughts for now.

Fox Sports Announces Game Network Assignments For English Premier League Survival Sunday

With teams fighting to stave off relegation to the lower Football League, Sunday is going to be a very interesting day in the English Premier League. We already know that Blackburn and Wolverhampton are going to be out of the EPL next season. Queens Park Rangers and the Bolton Wanderers are fighting for that last spot to stay in.

In addition to relegation, there’s the final standings which determine which teams go to the UEFA Champions League for next season (top four places go) and which teams go to the UEFA Europa League (5th and 6th place teams). It’s all quite interesting and will be a day to behold.

With that said, Fox Sports Media Group is devoting nine of its platforms to nine of the ten games being played on this last day of the English Premier League season. FX, Fuel, Fox Sports Net, Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Deportes, Speed as well as Fox Soccer2Go and Fox Soccer.com will be utilized in this unprecedented day of soccer coverage in the United States.

The only game not covered by Fox will be Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers and that will be aired on ESPN2. All games will begin at 10 a.m. ET with pregame coverage a half-hour earlier.

We have the entire game and network lineups for Sunday. This will be a big day.

FOX SPORTS MEDIA GROUP UNVEILS SURVIVAL SUNDAY GAME SCHEDULE

FSMG Presents Nine Live English Premier League Matches Simultaneously on Season’s Final Day

LOS ANGELES – Finally, the wait is over – Survival Sunday has arrived. For the first time in U.S. television history, nine live games from the most dramatic day in soccer are being carried on one family of outlets. On Sunday, May 13, the final day of action from the Barclays Premier League, FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) presents the best in international soccer, as England’s top teams compete for financial survival, hardware and European honors.

Led by FX, FOX’s fully-distributed cable powerhouse, FSMG networks SPEED, FSN, FUEL TV, FOX Soccer, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes, along with digital platforms FOXSoccer.com and FOX Soccer 2Go, are carrying all nine matches live at 10:00 AM ET. Pre-match coverage begins at 9:30 AM ET on all networks with the exception of SPEED, with all outlets carrying post-match coverage of this hallmark event. FX anchors halftime coverage. Pre-match, halftime and post-match coverage (English) is hosted by Rob Stone, with analysis from Eric Wynalda, Warren Barton and Brian McBride. All FSMG outlets are showing the Barclays Premier League trophy presentation following the day’s events along with highlights from all 10 Survival Sunday games.

Today FSMG announced its full lineup for Survival Sunday, highlighted by Manchester United’s must-win match at Sunderland to keep its title hopes alive on FX and in Spanish on FOX Deportes. Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United are currently behind Manchester City and Manchester United in the race for highly lucrative UEFA Champions League positions. All three clubs fight for their place among the elite on Survival Sunday, with Arsenal traveling to West Bromwich Albion on FSN, Tottenham hosting Fulham and American superstar Clint Dempsey on FOX Soccer, and Newcastle battling Everton carried by FOXSoccer.com.

Chelsea faces recently-relegated Blackburn Rovers on SPEED ahead of their 2012 UEFA Champions League Final clash with Bayern Munich (May 19/FOX Sports). Liverpool looks to rebound from FA Cup disappointment at Swansea City on FUEL TV, while Bolton must win at Stoke City to stay alive in the Barclays Premier League (FOX Soccer Plus).

Teams live and die with each goal on Survival Sunday, and fans can follow all of the action at once via FOXSoccer.com/SurvivalSunday with real-time standings updates after every change. Twitter conversations surrounding all games will be streamlined on FOXSoccer.com/SurvivalSunday, allowing fans to follow the day’s events simultaneously (hashtag #SurvivalSunday). There will be live play-by-play for all 10 Survival Sunday matches with FOX Soccer MatchTrax, along with exclusive video highlights from every game throughout the day.

WHAT: Survival Sunday – the final day of England’s Barclays Premier League, where all 20 teams face off at the same time (9:30 AM ET). The bottom three teams are relegated from the BPL (clubs 18-20), while the top four sides ensure passage to the world’s most prestigious (and lucrative) club tournament – the UEFA Champions League. Teams finishing in fifth and sixth place can qualify for the 2012-2013 UEFA Europa League.

WHEN:  Sunday, May 13 – 9:30 AM ET (except SPEED, who will join at 10:00 AM ET).

Sunderland v Manchester United — FX & FOX Deportes
Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United visits Sunderland needing a win to keep title hopes alive in the race against Manchester City.

Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers — SPEED
Chelsea’s midseason revival continues against recently doomed Blackburn. Rovers were relegated following Monday’s defeat to Wigan, and Chelsea needs to win in order to remain in the hunt for European qualification.

Swansea City v Liverpool — FUEL TV
Following FA Cup disappointment against Chelsea, English giant Liverpool and captain Steven Gerrard look to finish their season on a high note against upstart Swansea City.

West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal — FSN
In a vital match for Arsenal, the Gunners aim to secure their place in next season’s UEFA Champions League by winning at West Bromwich Albion.

Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham — FOX Soccer
Chasing an all-important UEFA Champions League position, Tottenham hosts Fulham and American superstar Clint Dempsey at North London’s White Hart Lane.

Stoke City v Bolton Wanderers — FOX Soccer Plus
At one of the most intimidating venues in English soccer, Stoke City hosts a Bolton team desperately seeking to avoid relegation at the Britannia Stadium. Sitting in the relegation zone in eighteenth place, Bolton must win to avoid dropping into the English second division.

Everton v Newcastle United — FOXSoccer.com
In one of the most important clashes on Survival Sunday, Newcastle looks to secure its place in next season’s UEFA Champions League, while Everton needs to win for a shot at UEFA Europa League qualification.

Norwich City v Aston Villa — FOX Soccer 2GO
In its first season since gaining promotion to the Barclays Premier League, Norwich City has impressed and looks to go out on a high against Aston Villa at Carrow Road.

Wigan Athletic v Wolverhampton Wanderers — FOX Soccer 2GO
Safe from relegation after defeating Blackburn Rovers on Monday, a resurgent Wigan team celebrates its Barclays Premier League survival at home against last place Wolverhampton.

Manchester City v Queens Park Rangers — ESPN2/MatchTrax
Manchester City seeks to capture its first Barclays Premier League title against a Queens Park Rangers team fighting to avoid relegation.

That’s all.

St. Louis Blues Set A Ratings Record For Fox Sports Midwest

Fox Sports Midwest saw big numbers for the St. Louis Blues both in the regular season and the five game NHL Western Conference Quarterfinal series with the San Jose Sharks.

Viewership for the regular was up 14% from the previous season. Average ratings for the games on Fox Sports Midwest averaged 3.5 over the 3.1 for the 2010-11 season which was the previous record. In addition, four of the five most watched Blues games on FS Midwest were set this past season.

For the postseason, the entire series with San Jose averaged a 9.7 rating. And Game 3 of the series with an 11.0 rating was the highest-rated Blues telecast ever for the regional sports network.

The Fox Sports Midwest press release.

Viewership for the Blues during Regular Season and Round 1 was strong

That’s all.

The Wednesday Links

Let’s do some linkage today. Been doing pretty good in providing links this week and I don’t want to stop.

Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, he talks with ESPN bloviator Chris Berman who compares himself to Ted Williams, then tries not to compare himself to Ted Williams, claims he doesn’t pay attention to criticism when he clearly does and then makes no sense about cameras. Yes, I’m showing my anti-Chris Berman bias.

Tom Weir of USA Today’s Game On writes that Jose Canseco’s Twitter account is back up and running. Oh joy.

At The Sherman Report, Ed Sherman looks at some classic anti-Mel Kiper rants from ESPN’s past coverage of the NFL Draft.

Sports Business Daily notes that Los Angeles Lakers nutjob Metta World Peace was a no-show on Conan O’Brien TBS program after his 7 game suspension for elbowing Oklahoma City Thunder forward James Harden.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal writes about Fox’s deal with Golden Boy Promotions that will put live fights on Fuel and Fox Deportes.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says NHL ratings are up significantly for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which seemingly condones violence on the rink.

Tim Baysinger at Broadcasting & Cable notes that ABC’s ratings for the NBA are up 10% over last year despite the lockout that wiped out the first month of the season.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says the Stanley Cup Playoffs are good to the NBC Sports Network.

Multichannel News says Speed has renewed the rights to the 24 Hours of LeMans road race.

Tony Manfred of the Business Insider Sports Page has video of Chelsea’s goal that put them in the UEFA Champions League Final, but the best part was Gary Neville’s on-air orgasm for Sky Sports.

Jim Edwards of the Business Insider Sports Page looks into NBC’s reasons for an almost $1 million price tag for a 30 second ad for its Thanksgiving Night NFL game.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has Mike “Doc” Emrick in the latest edition of his podcast.

Matt has great video of some awkward banter between SportsCenter anchors Steve Weissman and Sage Steele. Poor Sage.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell tells us that Shake Shack could be in more MLB parks around the country.

Leah Michaels of GoLocal Providence says ESPN’s Chris Berman was at his alma mater to honor Brown University’s athletic director.

All Access has Fox Sports Radio’s coverage plans for the NFL Draft.

Steven Beardsley of Stars and Stripes says NFL Network will feature cutaways during the NFL Draft to a battalion of troops based in Germany.

Kevin Paul Dupont in the Boston Globe provides a brief history on the greatest tradition in sports, the hockey handshake at the end of every playoff series.

In the New York Post, Phil Mushnick reports that ESPN Radio is close to deal with the New York Yankees that would put the team on FM after ten years of being on WCBS-AM.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the ratings for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the ESPN and NFL Network made the right call in not spoiling draft picks before they’re announced.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says we’re still waiting for the start times for the NHL Games 7 on Thursday.

Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal says he listened to the radio on Saturday over waiting for Fox to switch to Philip Humber’s perfect game.

Glenn Guilbeau in the Monroe (LA) News Star has New Orleans Saints interim coach Joe Vitt blasting ESPN for its latest story on the team.

KBTX in College Station, TX says Fox Sports Southwest received record ratings for the Pudge Rodriguez retirement ceremony before Monday’s Yankees-Rangers game.

George M. Thomas in the Akron Beacon Journal tells us that the networks are all over the NFL Draft.

Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune says swimmer Missy Franklin has become of the face of NBC’s Olympic promotional campaign.

Robert Kurson at Chicagoside Sports explains why after 25 years, he no longer listens to sports radio.

Matt Solinsky of the Desert (CA) Sun writes that Time Warner Cable and Fox Sports San Diego continue carriage talks that would put Padres games back on the provider.

Jamie Sturgeon of the Financial Post has CBC vowing in an increasingly expensive world to keep Hockey Night in Canada.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media talks about NBC Sports Group’s ratings for the NHL Playoffs on Monday.

Sports Media Watch explores ABC’s second straight year for record NBA TV ratings.

Joe Favorito looks at how sports brands can tap into National Train Day next month.

And that will put a wrap on the links.

Dropping A Few Tuesday Links

Let’s provide a few links here. Don’t think I can do a full set, but I’ll try.

In Sports Business Journal, John Ourand says MLB and Sirius XM have come to terms on streaming audio of live baseball games and will eventually be able to provide both home and away feeds starting next month.

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age reports NBC is seeking close to $1 million per 30-second spot for its first-ever Thanksgiving Night NFL game.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today notes that the NFL has signed Tide as its official laundry detergent.

Marlen Garcia at USA Today’s Campus Rivalry blog writes that ESPN is interested in hiring former Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg as an analyst.

Bryan Armen Graham of Sports Illustrated talks with rapper Nas about ESPN using one of his songs for the NFL Draft and Jeremy Lin.

Ed Sherman says the latest ESPN promo featuring a man named Michael Jordan has gone viral.

Todd Spangler at Multichannel News reports that Microsoft is bringing both ESPN and CBS Interactive as advertisers to its Xbox 360 platform.

Tim Baysinger of Multichannel says Fox Sports Media Group will air fights from Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Most of them will be on Fox Deportes.

Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk says the NFL has reminded teams not to leak their draft picks before Commish Roger Goodell makes the official announcement on ESPN and NFL Network.

Mike Florio of PFT says you won’t see Warren Sapp on NFL Network during the draft.

Florio looks at some potential ESPN-on-ESPN crime between reporter John Barr and analyst Bill Polian.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life writes that the NBA’s TV partners are on pace for another ratings record.

John Plunkett of the London (UK) Guardian looks at a new landmark radio deal with the English Premier League that an upstart British company could sublicense to the States.

MediaRantz says the NFL Network completely ignored the Mickey Loomis-New Orleans Saints eavesdropping story that was first reported by ESPN.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says notorious cheating website AshleyMadison.com will reportedly pay a woman $1 million for schtupping Tim Tebow.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the dying art of the newspaper sports cartoon.

Gary Myers of the New York Daily News says the Saints are vehemently denying ESPN’s reports that GM Mickey Loomis eavesdropped on gameday radio transmissions.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union has ESPN’s Big Ten Football primetime schedule.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes a local record rating for Sunday’s Game 6 of the Bruins-Capitals OT game.

The Dallas Morning News reports on a domestic dispute that turned ugly between NFL Network’s Deion Sanders and his estranged wife. Deion tweeted what happened as the drama unfolded.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman writes that Sunday’s Thunder-Lakers game on ABC set a local ratings record.

Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that it appears that Time Warner Cable may not pick up Fox Sports San Diego at all shutting out Padres fans this season.

Steve Donohue of Fierce Cable reports on one TV industry giant telling a Senate committee that ESPN and other cable TV companies should not be allowed to sell their programming directly to viewers.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing notes that Captain Blowhard is bitterly whining once again about not getting a Grantland writer credentialed.

Ryan Yoder of AA says ESPN is swinging the axe over a critique questioning its relationship with the Poynter Review Project.

Matt Yoder of AA notes that Jose Canseco has apparently deleted his Twitter account. Good riddance, Steroids Boy.

Sports Media Watch says NASCAR on Fox saw a drop in its overnight ratings for the Kansas Sprint Cup race on Sunday.

SMW says the NBA’s TV partners do well when they carry the Miami Heat.

Beau Denison of Sports Page Magazine asks of boxing fans if they should be angry at HBO and Top Rank promoters for the way they handle the Sweet Science.

San Diego Padres fan blog Gaslamp Ball says if Time Warner Cable won’t pick up Fox Sports San Diego, then why should Friar fans keep the cable provider?

And we’re going to leave it there for today.

Grinding Out The Monday Linkage

Let’s go for some linkage now.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says ESPN and NFL Network have agreed not to show prospects on the phone spoiling the suspense of the NFL Draft.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated goes behind-the-scenes with ESPN and NFL Network as they prepare for their NFL Draft coverage later this week.

Congrats to Jimmy Traina at SI for 10 years of Hot Clicks. The site has been very good to Fang’s Bites since first linking here in 2008.

Patrick Stiegman of ESPN.com writes a guest editorial in Sports Business Journal responding to another guest editorial from last month criticizing the network’s journalism ethics.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com says the Big Ten Conference will have a lot of say at the next BCS meetings thanks to its TV network.

In the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman talks with NBC Sports Network programming chief Jon Miller about the channel’s lowly ratings at its outset.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos gives praise to MLB’s social media efforts.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Time Warner Cable has added ESPN and several other sports networks to its mobile and tablet apps.

Sam Laird at Mashable says ESPN is launching a social campaign to determine where the next College GameDay promo will be shot.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine writes that the NHL’s TV ratings are red hot.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing says it appears that the Atlanta Falcons have turned down HBO to go on Hard Knocks this season.

At Pro Sports Communications, Martine Charles stresses that in a crisis, hiding from the media is the worst thing to do.

Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy wonders if parity in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs could hurt the TV ratings in the long run.

The Connecticut Post says ESPN SportsCenter anchor Sara Walsh will host a business breakfast meeting next month.

Tanzina Vega at the New York Times notes that Jeep has become a USA Basketball sponsor in time for the 2012 Olympics.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post labels Yankees radio voice John Sterling a fraud. Wow.

The New York Post points out that Tennis Channel’s Mayleen Ramey is the new host of SNY’s Beer Money quiz show.

Dr. Doom & Gloom at the New York Daily News says the growing feud between the Giants and Jets is the main reason why Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning was pulled from ESPN Radio NY which is the Jets flagship radio station.

Richard Huff at the Daily News speaks with MLB Network’s Sam Ryan.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union feels Fox’s coverage of Philip Humber’s perfect game on Saturday was flawed.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News says be prepared for an online Olympic smorgasboard.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that MASN’s Kristina Akra has been doused with Gatorade by the victorious Nationals again. This is three times by my count. In fact, here’s the video of Kristina getting doused with the bucket by Rick Ankiel and Chad Tracy. Good angle from behind the Nats dugout.

Guyism notes the first two Gatorade baths.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN NFL Draft analyst Bill Polian about former Baylor QB Robert Griffin III.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times looks back at the weekend in sports TV.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel says a local sports anchor who’s been taking heat for his reporting of the Magic’s Dwight Howard story this season responded to criticisms.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle links us to his appearance on NPR over the weekend.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says a new BCS Championship system will be bandied about this week and get a lot of interest from the networks.

Dan Whitney of the Cherokee (IA) Chronicle Times says thanks to NBC’s blanket coverage of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, he’s a fan of hockey again.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post notes the increasing coverage of the NFL Draft.

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

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin says the ratings show that Blue Jays fans are being patient with the team.

Sports Media Watch says NBA TV will produce its own playoff telecasts which is a departure from the last few years.

SMW says Fox garnered good overnight numbers for its Saturday Baseball broadcast thanks to Philip Humber’s perfect game and the Yankees stunning comeback against the Red Sox.

And SMW says the NHL on NBC drew very good ratings over the weekend.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says a Western Conference Semifinal featuring Nashville and Phoenix may not be as disastrous as some observers think.

Joe Favorito has his weekly sports business roundup.

A.T. Faust III at AppAdvice says ESPN’s iPad website fails to take advantage of the tablet’s strengths.

Bike World News says Fox Sports Net will pick up the Tour of Utah cycling race again this year.

And that’s going to do us for today.

Let’s Do Some Thursday Linkage

Why not do some links while I can?

We begin with USA Today and the national NFL TV schedule for this upcoming season.

Carolyn Giardana with the Hollywood Reporter writes that NBC will utilize Avid Technology systems to develop video feeds for the London Summer Olympics.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable says NESN has selected Sony to manage its video content.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that NBC is utilizing the “TV Everywhere” initiative to stream the Olympics live to mobiles, tablets and computers.

Mike talks with MLB Network President and CEO Tony Petitti about the new “Strike Zone” feature and what the network has in store for the next 12 months.

MediaRantz looks at the reaction from sports broadcasters upon learning that American Bandstand and New Year’s Rockin’ Eve host Dick Clark had died.

Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that a baseball panel will settle a dispute between the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals over how much MASN should pay the Nats for their media rights. The Nats’ rights are undervalued compared to what other teams are currently being paid.

A.J. Perez of Fox Sports talks with sports documentarian Sean Pamphilon whose audio of former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is front-and-center of the New Orleans Saints Bountygate scandal.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report feels sportswriters are unappreciated by the Pulitzer Prize committee. I agree.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing gets together with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch, Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand, Dan Patrick Show Executive Producer Paul Pabst to hold the first ever NFL Media Fantasy Draft. Great stuff from AA.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says the NFL wants ESPN and the NFL Network to stop spoiling draft picks.

Andrew Gauthier of TVSpy notes that a long-time sports anchor in Sioux City, IA is moving a seat to the right to become his TV station’s news anchor.

Gavin O’Malley at MediaPost says even though it’s not an Olympics rightsholder, Fox is making a commitment to cover the Olympics online.

David Goetzl of MediaPost writes that in this increasingly DVR timeshifting world, viewers still want to see their sports live and not delayed.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin noticed that a Miami TV station showed the wrong logo when reporting on the Florida Panthers win over the New Jersey Devils the other night.

Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy finds that Hockey Night in Canada’s PJ Stock is endorsing Depends adult diapers in Canada????

The great Judy Battista of the New York Times talks with the NFL schedule maker Howard Katz who can’t please everyone.

Steven Silver at Philadelphia Magazine’s Philly Post blog wonders if national announcers are biased against the city as some fans perceive.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com profiles one Baltimore sports radio host who has changed stations, but vows to continue doing what he’s been doing.

Chris Korman of the Baltimore Sun says the Washington Nationals are looking to get more money from the Baltimore Orioles majority-owned MASN.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Capitals TV voice Joe Beninati about the team’s series with the Boston Bruins.

Chuck Carroll at CBS Washington looks at Britt McHenry’s decision to stay at WJLA-TV instead of taking a job with Fox Sports San Diego. Britt was also a candidate to replace Heidi Watney on NESN and Kim Jones on YES.

Tom Jones in the Tampa Bay Times talks with hockey charlatan Pierre McGuire about the perceived increased disrespect in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says ESPN’s Skippy Bayless was ripping the Oklahoma City Thunder this week.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that NFL Network has another Top 100 show.

Howard Sinker of the Minneapolis Star Tribune gave ESPN a try to get a different perspective on the Minnesota Twins.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says Utah Jazz broadcasters Craig Bolerjack and Matt Harpring make no bones about rooting for their team, but don’t call them homers.

Rob Katowski of the Las Vegas Review-Journal says a proposed merger between the Mountain West and Conference USA could still happen as long as the two leagues agree on sharing TV rights.

Tim Sullivan with the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the impasse between Fox Sports San Diego and Time Warner Cable is preventing Padres fans from seeing their team.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN has a tapped a man no one has ever heard of to host The ESPY’s.

SMW notes that former Portland Trail Blazer and NBA analyst Steve “Snapper” Jones has been plagued by massive health issues.

SMW has some ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says Game 2 of the Florida Panthers-New Jersey Devils series did very well for NBC Sports Network last Sunday.

Steven Morocco and John Morgan of MMA Junkie write that UFC wants a similar TV deal in the UK as it has with Fox in the States.

EPL Talk looks at Fox going all out for the English Premier League’s final day of the season next month.

Guyism notes that twice this week, MASN Nationals reporter Kristina Akra got soaked with Gatorade.

And that’s going to do it. Found more links than I thought I would and that’s very good for you.

Fox Goes Crazy on English Premier League’s Survival Sunday, May 13

The English Premier League’s season is winding down and as teams fight to stay in the league in an attempt to stave off relegation to lower leagues (I love that concept and would wish MLB and the NHL could do such a thing with its minor leagues), Fox Sports Media Group will pull off an unprecedented multi-platform project.

On Sunday, May 13 as teams hope to gain enough points to remain in the EPL, Fox will utilize the networks in its cable sports empire as well as as online sites to air 9 games that day. ESPN2 will air one game as well.

The usual networks of Fox Soccer and Fox Soccer Plus will air games, but in addition, the networks of FX, Speed, Fuel, Fox Sports Net and Fox Deportes will have contests as well. Fox will also utilize FoxSoccer.com and FoxSoccer2Go as well.

For soccer fans and those who follow the EPL, it will be a day to remember and one to see if Fox attempts this with the first day of the league’s new season in August.

Here’s the Fox Sports press release.

MAY 13 IS SURVIVAL SUNDAY

FOX Sports Media Group Presents Nine Live English Premier League Matches Simultaneously on Season’s Final Day Unprecedented Media Event Maximizes FSMG’s Linear & Digital Assets

New York/Los Angeles – Every year, on the final day of England’s Premier League season, all 20 teams from the world’s top domestic soccer competition play each other in a frantic 10-match race for financial survival, hardware and European honors.  This year, on May 13, for the first time in American television history, nine of those matches are being carried live simultaneously by one family of outlets.

Led by FX, Fox’s fully-distributed cable powerhouse, FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) networks SPEED, FSN, FUEL TV, FOX Soccer, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes, along with digital platforms FOXSoccer.com and FOX Soccer 2Go, are carrying all nine matches live on Sunday, May 13 at 10:00 AM ET.  Pre-match coverage begins at 9:30 AM ET on all networks with the exception of SPEED, with all outlets carrying post-match coverage of this hallmark event. Known to soccer fans as “relegation Sunday” and dubbed Survival Sunday by Fox, this unprecedented programming strategy reaffirms FSMG’s unparalleled commitment to provide the world’s best international soccer competition.

“With so much at stake, there’s nothing like the tension of the Premier League’s final Sunday, and we hope to capture every minute we can using the considerable resources available to the FOX Sports Media Group, including SPEED and FUEL TV, unconventional outlets for soccer,” said FSMG’s Eric Shanks, Co-President and COO. “Our plan is to provide cut-ins and updates from matches as often as necessary, while never taking the viewer away from the game they’re watching.”

FOX Sports Media Group’s commitment to the English Premier League is underlined by airing over 300 matches per season, including 180 live matches across FOX Soccer and FOX Soccer Plus. FOX Sports also aired three encore matches on NFL Sundays last fall and two live matches last winter.  Highlights, commentary and analysis from England’s top division are at the center of FOX Soccer’s primary studio shows, Match Day and Goals on Sunday. Additionally, FOX Soccer carries round-by-round English Premier League preview and review shows, as well as a weekly magazine feature and Premier League Fan Zone.

FX, Fox’s flagship general entertainment basic cable network, carried two UEFA Champions League semifinal matches in 2011, and is doing the same this month. FSN, through its 20 owned-and-operated regional networks is the nation’s leading provider of local sports, producing over 5,000 live local events annually, but is no stranger to televising high-caliber soccer.  It has aired a national Premier League game-of-the-week since 1998 and has aired UEFA Champions League matches on both a live and delayed basis. FSN also aired a national MLS game-of-the-week last season, Manchester United’s U.S. Summer Tour in 2003 and 2004, WPS matches nationally, a variety of college matches and ancillary programming. Finally, SPEED, the nation’s first and only cable television network dedicated to automotive and motorcycle racing, performance and lifestyle, and FUEL TV, FSMG’s dynamic sports network for men, offers soccer as a programming stunt for the first time.

Survival Sunday has serious implications for the teams involved. The centerpiece of this event is the relegation battle. While there can only be one league champion, the remaining 19 clubs jockey for position to determine qualification for European tournament play and Premiership survival. Wins and losses on May 13 carry heavy consequences, and a single point can be the difference between prosperity and financial ruin.

At the end of Survival Sunday, those teams occupying the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth positions are eliminated from the world’s best soccer league and three teams from the second division are promoted to the English Premier League for the 2012-2013 season. Relegated clubs stand to lose upwards of $40 million.

The top four clubs in the English Premier League earn UEFA Champions League qualification, receiving a potential reward of $75 million and the right to play in the world’s most prestigious club tournament. Pending the results of other domestic competitions, the fifth, sixth and seventh places in the Premier League table also carry significance. The holders of those spots at the end of Survival Sunday qualify for the UEFA Europa League, a continent-wide knockout tournament with more than 40 years of history and tradition. Beginning this fall, 2012-2013 Europa League contests are being carried by FOX Soccer and FOX Soccer Plus.

Survival Sunday matchups are listed below. Specific networks and digital platforms will be determined at a later date. ESPN will select one match from the schedule. All games begin at 10:00 AM ET.

MAY 13 Matches                                                                Network

Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers                                                       TBA
Everton v Newcastle United                                                         TBA
Manchester City v Queens Park Rangers                                   TBA
Sunderland v Manchester United                                                 TBA
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham                                                      TBA
Norwich City v Aston Villa                                                            TBA
West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal                                                TBA
Wigan Athletic v Wolverhampton Wanderers                          TBA
Stoke City v Bolton Wanderers                                                   TBA
Swansea City v Liverpool                                                            TBA

In addition to a full slate of matches on FOX Sports Media Group’s networks, fans can also view and follow real-time scorelines on FOXSoccer.com/SurvivalSunday, as well as FOX Soccer 2Go, FOX Soccer’s subscription-based digital platform available online and via mobile and tablet applications.

For more information regarding Survival Sunday, please visit www.FOXSoccer.com/SurvivalSunday, www.twitter.com/FOXSoccer and www.facebook.com/FOXSoccer.

What a way to follow Survival Sunday and Fox is pulling off quite the effort to show its commitment to soccer. I also think this could be a preview of how Fox could handle the World Cup in 2018 utilizing the actual Fox network, FX and Fox Soccer.

Knocking Out Some Wednesday Linkage

Time for some linkage again.

Starting with Sports Business Daily which gauges media reaction to last night’s extravagant NFL regular season schedule release on both ESPN and NFL Network.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News reviews both the Monday Night and expanded Thursday Night Football schedules.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report has your potential hits and misses in the 2012 NFL regular season schedule for all of the league’s TV partners.

Dan Levy of the Bleacher Report talks with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch about Skippy Bayless, ESPN’s free agents and Twitter.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that NBC is now going all in to provide a live online Olympic experience.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today says the NFL Schedule Release Shows on ESPN and NFL Network filled fans’ thirst for football news.

Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press says thanks to a NASCAR-less Sunday, IndyCar’s race on NBC Sports Network got a ratings bump.

Stuart Kemp and George Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter says London is hoping to build buzz for the XXX Olympic Summer Games in the days leading up to the Opening Ceremony.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable notes the FCC is appealing to the Supreme Court, the ruling from a lower court throwing out its decency complaint over CBS’ airing of Janet Jackson’s nekkid boob during Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Sarah Mahoney of MediaPost’s Marketing Daily says advertisers are jumping on the Olympics 100 Day Countdown.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that cable provider Comcast is proving to be a very good broadcast competitor.

Jason McIntyre of the Big Lead says a lawsuit brought forth by a former ESPN.com writer against New York Post NBA big mouth Peter Vescey has been settled out of court.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid talks with ESPN’s Michelle Beadle about what her next move is.

Ken Kerschbaumer at Sports Video Group notes that NBCOlympics has tapped AT&T to manage private networking systems for the London Summer Games.

Zac Wassink in Yahoo! says MLS on NBC Sports Network is doing decently in the ratings.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe has the local sports radio ratings and CBS Radio continues to be on top.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says NBC will stream all Olympic events live online, but there’s a bit of a catch.

Richard says the NBA is looking at allowing jersey sponsorships.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY notes the passing of a former Yankees, Islanders and Nets radio announcer.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette notes the good ratings for the NHL on NBC.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has a viewing primer for the upcoming NFL season.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call discusses and dissects NBC’s Sunday Night Football schedule.

Keith says the NHL’s Battle of Pennsylvania is drawing big ratings in the Keystone State.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com’s Goalkeeper blog says a Spanish League soccer game on ESPN2 beat MLS on NBC Sports Network in the ratings last weekend.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has pictorial proof of the Space Shuttle Discovery passing various local sports venues on its last flight to the Smithsonian yesterday.

Tom Robinson at the Virginian-Pilot reports that the United Football League could have a TV contract with CBS Sports Network.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Texas Rangers’ ratings on Fox Sports Southwest are way up this season.

Mike Bailey of the Houston Chronicle talks with a local golfer who took part in the upcoming season of Golf Channel’s Big Break reality show.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman says a local sports radio show moves from middays to afternoon drive.

Mel has the local weekend TV ratings.

Berry Tremel of The Oklahoman writes that NBC’s Sunday Night Football is the NFL’s premier TV package.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer remembers a former NBA announcer.

Bill Shea at Crain’s Detroit Business says the Tigers are looking at a big payday for their TV rights.

Robert Channick in the Chicago Tribune profiles Comcast SportsNet Chicago head man Jim Corno.

Eric Goodman at Mile High Sports feels he wasted three hours of his life watching ESPN’s NFL regular season schedule release special.

Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic says Phoenix Coyotes TV analyst Tyson Nash is feeling the wrath of Chicago Blackhawks fans for comments he made about a hit on ‘Hawks star Marian Hossa.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News mourns the passing of a former Kings radio voice.

Tom Cheredar of Venture Beat talks about NBC’s extensive plans to stream the Olympics online.

Sports Media Watch notes the rise of NHL ratings for a couple of regional sports networks.

SMW talks about CBS passing on broadcasting this upcoming season’s Pro Bowl.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says NBC may air both Bruins-Capitals NHL Playoffs games this weekend.

Joe Favorito says sometimes, it’s a little idea at a major network that could catch fire elsewhere.

And that is all for now.

Bringing Out Some Tuesday Linkage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s going to do it.

Attempting A Friday Megalink Post

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

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

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

National

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

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

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

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

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

John profiles legendary sports television producer Don Ohlmeyer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

East and Mid-Atlantic

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

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

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

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

Richard Sandomir from the Times examines the Dodgers sale.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

South

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Midwest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

West

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

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

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

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

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

Tom has more on Rome in his blog.

Canada

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

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

And that will conclude the megalinks.