MyNetwork TV
May
20
The Monday Night Update
There’s a lot to get to including CBS naming the announcing team for the Elite XC mixed martial arts event it will carry later this month, plus a few other things. So let’s get to them now.
First, Phil Swann of the TV Predictions website says Fox Sports Net plans to broadcast its entire lineup in HD by this time next year.
Newsday’s Neil Best says NBC’s roundtable discussion on horse racing at the Preakness was kind of a makeup for its lack of coverage of the Eight Belles tragedy at the Kentucky Derby. Neil also has a summary of how the Yankees, Mets and ESPN broadcast teams called the Carlos Delgado non-home run on Sunday night. And the big news from CBS is that Screamin’ Gus Johnson will call the MMA event on May 31.
The Big Lead says it will live blog the event.
Let’s go to the Sports Media Watch for a few things. First, Game 7 of the Cavs-Celtics gave ABC an 82% boost in the NBA’s ratings from last year. That’s 82%!! NBC continues to see increased ratings for the NHL. And overnight ratings for the Preakness Stakes were down from last year despite having Big Brown as the winner.
Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says NBC was a double winner with the NHL this weekend. John Consoli of Mediaweek tells us that NBC’s NHL ratings were 14% higher over this same weekend last year.
Marisa Guthrie of Broadcasting & Cable says WWE’s Smackdown will debut on MyNetworkTV in October. Also John Eggerton of B&C says that the Ski Channel plans to launch in August.
Larry Barrett of Multichannel News writes that ION network will show programming from NFL Films and Madison Square Garden Network.
Ian over at the Sox & Dawgs blog is smitten with NESN’s Heidi Watney as am I.
LC at the 38Cliches blog has a lecture for Celtics’ radio voice Sean Grande.
That’s going to do it for now.
Aug
23
Wednesday Late Night Update
Some interesting stuff happening tonight.
Let’s start with some news other than the sports media. Patriots QB Tom Brady is welcoming a son into the world. Former girlfriend Bridget Moynahan gave birth tonight. Brady left practice today and flew out to Los Angeles to be with Moynahan. It’s not known if he made it in time for the birth.
Despite not having an NBA or NHL franchise, Harrah’s Entertainment announced today it will partner with AEG to privately finance a new arena to be built on the Las Vegas strip. It is hoped the arena will attract a pro franchise, but CNBC’s Darren Rovell warns this may not be a good idea given the current climate in both leagues. Harrah’s hasn’t been making good decisions recently. Just last year, the company tried to get a casino built in West Warwick, RI, but it was soundly rejected during a voter referendum.
When Keith Olbermann makes his NBC debut this Sunday with a special edition of MSNBC’s Countdown before Sunday Night Football, don’t expect to see it NFL-heavy. The Sports Media Watch blog says it will be business as usual for the snarky news program. William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail has his take on Olbermann.
Randy Petersen of the Des Moines Register says while Iowa residents may not be able to watch the Big Ten Network, it appears University of Iowa students will. And the Consumerist blog has its take on the fake anti-BTN posting by Comcast on Big Ten message boards.
Kimberly Nordyke of the Hollywood Reporter has more on the agreement to put the NFL Network’s NFL Total Access program on MyNetworkTV on Saturday nights through the Super Bowl.
That’s it for this edition. Good night. See you Thursday.
Aug
17
Entercom’s Pre-emptive Strike and Other Links
Late Thursday, Entercom announced that it had entered with a partnership with Nassau Broadcasting to set up what? A regional sports network, the same thing reported by both David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch.com and the Boston Herald. Scott has the latest details in this crazy story. This certainly weakens the bargaining chip for John Dennis & Gerry Callahan. Unless CBS Radio has plans to sign them for WBCN or Greater Media signs them for WTKK, there isn’t much D & C can do but go back to WEEI. As a result, classical station WCRB will keep its format and Nassau will simulcast WEEI’s signal on its stations across New England. What a turnaround of events.
The NFL Network is close to reaching a deal to broadcast an exclusive edition of NFL Total Access for MyNetwork TV starting next month. John Consoli of Mediaweek says the MNTV edition would air on Saturday nights at 9. This would help MyNetworkTV gets some male viewers and NFL Network will use the platform to urge viewers to call Comcast and Time Warner to urge those companies to carry the channel.
Neil Best of Newsday announces that he’s going to be shutting down his blog while he goes on vacation (of course, he said he would do this on his last vacation and ended up updating his blog throughout the week). And he also announces that the overexposed Ryan Seacrest will be the “entertainment host for the Super Bowl XLII pregame show on Fox. Please, no. TV Week also picks up the Seacrest story. Oh god.
College football will be back with us in a few short weeks and the Sports Media Watch blog researches the ratings for games from last season.
Judd Zulgad from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the rhetoric between the Big Ten Network and the cable companies is going to get ramped up over the next few weeks. Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer says a story that surfaced last week that the Big Ten Network would allow viewers to watch the first two Ohio State football games despite not having an agreement with Time Warner Cable is not true. Randy Petersen of the Des Moines Register says BTN and Mediacom Cable are talking about an agreement. That’s encouraging for Iowa fans.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell has a follow up entry to yesterday when he discussed the soon-to-be Tiger Woods-designed golf course. Originally walk-only, apparently the course will indeed have carts and Rovell remains steadfast that no carts would have been a bad business decision.
Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks to ex-heavyweight boxing champ Buster Douglas who’s embarking on an acting career.
The Biz of Baseball blog says Blackberry users can now access MLB.com with one click by downloading an icon.
Pat Hickey in the Montreal Gazette says CBC won’t be showing as many Toronto Maple Leafs games on Hockey Night in Canada this upcoming season.
And those are the links for tonight. Friday will be our huge megaupdate. Watch for it.
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