Fang's Bites

A Few Sports Media Bullet Points

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Radio Wimbledon will be missed.

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

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

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

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

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

And that will conclude the thoughts. Enjoy your Friday.

Some Thursday Links

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

Let’s get to them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And Ken talks about the launch of CBS Sports Radio.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

A Busy Week in Motorsports on ESPN/ABC

The Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Nationwide Race in Charlotte, NC headline ESPN/ABC’s motorsports coverage this week.

Motorsports This Week on ESPN and ABC

Indianapolis 500 Airing for 48^th Year on ABC

ABC will air the 96^th running of the Indianapolis 500 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 27, continuing one of the longest-running relationships between a sporting event and a TV network with the race on ABC for the 48^th straight year. A one-hour pre-race show airs at 11 a.m. ET with the race’s green flag at 12:12 p.m. For the first time, viewers will be able to watch streaming views from onboard cameras on ESPN3, ESPN’s multi-screen, live sports event network.

Announcers:
Booth: Lap-by-lap announcer Marty Reid; analysts Scott Goodyear, Eddie Cheever.

Host: Brent Musburger

Pit reporters: Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch

NASCAR Nationwide Series at Charlotte on ABC

The NASCAR Nationwide Series races this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the History 300 airs live on ABC on Saturday, May 26. NASCAR Countdown airs at 2:30 p.m. ET with the race’s green flag at 3:01 p.m.  Also from Charlotte, ESPN2 airs NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Announcers:

Booth: Lap-by-Lap announcer Allen Bestwick; analysts Rusty Wallace, Andy Petree.

Pit reporters: Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake.

NASCAR Now Schedule

The one-hour weekend edition of ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program NASCAR Now will air on Sunday, May 27, at 10 a.m. ET with a preview of that night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Michael Yam will host, joined by analyst Ricky Craven with reporters Mike Massaro and Ryan McGee at the track. NASCAR Now will review the race at 3 p.m. on Monday, May 28.

Date	Time	Show	Host	Network
Tue., May 22	3 p.m.	NASCAR Now	Jonathan Coachman	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Wed., May 23	3 p.m.	NASCAR Now	Jonathan Coachman	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Fri., May 25	3 p.m.	NASCAR Now	Michael Yam	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Sun., May 27	10 a.m.	NASCAR Now	Michael Yam	ESPN2, WatchESPN
Mon., May 21	3 p.m.	NASCAR Now	Allen Bestwick	ESPN2, WatchESPN

Global Rallycross Charlotte Action Airs on ESPN2

The high-octane world of Global Rallycross, which mixes the energy of motorsports with the attitude of action sports, is kicking off its 2012 season with an event at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the famous track’s NASCAR weekend. The event, which will be contested on a 0.750-mile Rallycross course built along the frontstretch and pit road of the 1.5-mile superspeedway, will air on ESPN2 on Saturday, May 26, at 8 p.m. ET.

In addition, the event will air on ESPN3, ESPN’s multi-screen live sports network, starting at 7 p.m.

NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series on ESPN2

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series has the weekend off, but NHRA fans can watch action from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series on Saturday, May 26, at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The telecast will feature highlights from the recent event in Topeka, Kansas.

Motorsports on Other ESPN Platforms

ESPN.com — RacingLive! on ESPN.com is a live blog where fans can engage in debate and discussion with ESPN.com writers and editors during the NASCAR Sprint Cup races. On Sunday, May 27, RacingLive! Charlotte will coincide with the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fans can join ESPN.com’s NASCAR experts in dissecting every aspect of the race live at http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/. ESPN.com motorsports writer David Newton will be on hand at Charlotte.

ESPN Radio — Each weekend morning, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay starts its engines at 6 a.m. ET with host Pat Patterson anchored from the site of that weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race. On both Saturday and Sunday mornings, ESPN Radio’s RaceDay listeners get an hour of news, previews and analysis, as well as profiles and interviews with NASCAR’s biggest names and newsmakers and the involvement of listeners via calls and e-mails.

That’s it.

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.

ABC/ESPN & TNT’s NBA Playoffs Announcing Assignments Through Sunday, May 20

Let’s provide the announcing assignments for both TNT and ESPN/ABC from Wednesday through Sunday. We’ll do this in order. I could go out of sequence as TNT put all of their assignments in one release as did ESPN/ABC, but I’ll try to break them up and give them to in sequence.

First TNT for Wednesday.

Now, we go to ESPN/ABC’s schedule for Thursday, Friday and Saturday

Now to TNT for late night Saturday:

Now for Sunday afternoon on ABC.

And we go to TNT to round out the NBA action on Sunday night.

And that does it. All in sequence and all listed for you.

ESPN Radio Launches New App For Apple iOS Platforms

Here’s another piece of news that was released during today’s ESPN Upfront Presentation. ESPN Radio will be launching a new app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. This will be the first time ESPN Radio has optimized for the iPad. Not only will you be able to listen to ESPN Radio live at all times, you can download podcasts and get material for offline listening when you’re away from a Wifi connection.

ESPN says the app will be free for a limited time and a limited time only. When the limited time ends, the app will carry a hefty $4.99 pricetag.

Android and Windows 7 phones will have access to the new app later this year.

Check it out.

New ESPN Radio App Launches for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

Now optimized for iPad and includes “build your sports station” personalization feature
Launch on Android and Windows 7 smartphones later this summer

ESPN Radio today unveils its single, most definitive ESPN Radio App optimized for iPhone, iPod touch and – for the first time – iPad. The app creates a seamless, personalized sports listening experience both live and on demand and includes a new feature that allows fans to build their own sports stations. Additionally, fans now have the option to rewind live audio streams, including ESPN Deportes Radio. Versions for Android and Windows 7 smartphones are slated to launch later this summer.

“This latest version of the ESPN Radio App builds on our promise to deliver the best sports audio content across any device,” said Marc Horine, Vice President, ESPN Digital and Print Media. “With this update, fans now have complete control over their listening experience as the app provides the functionality to customize specifically by sports, teams and athletes they care most about.”

The app is free to download and includes:

• Podcasts: Popular shows that include The BS Report with Bill Simmons, Pardon The Interruption, Around The Horn and Fantasy Focus;
• SportsCenter: The latest updates every 20 minutes;
• Offline Listening: The ability for fans to download on-demand audio content to listen offline.

Beginning today, fans can download the premium version of the app at no cost for a limited time.  After that, for a one-time fee of $4.99, fans can access the full experience of the app, complete with the new personalization features and enhancements.  These include:

• Custom Station or Playlist: Users can search tens of thousands of audio clips by a specific topic and create a station or playlist of their favorite shows, teams, players and sports;
• Live Audio Functionality: Pause and rewind up to an hour of live audio;
• myESPN Personalization: Customized audio automatically pulled into the app based on favorites;
• Top Searches: Shows popular searches and trends for easy one-click access to top audio;
• Recommendation Engine: Related audio content suggestions;
• Alerts and Push Notifications: For MLB broadcasts, breaking news and more.

Additionally, the premium app will continue to give millions of ESPN Radio listeners access to live, crystal clear radio streams from over 35 ESPN Radio stations, fan favorite shows like Mike & Mike in the Morning, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Waddle & Silvy (Chicago), The Michael Kay Show (New York) and more, select play-by-play broadcasts, live scores and text messaging.  Additional features include integrated news content from ESPN’s five local sites in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Dallas, and social media integrations via Facebook and Twitter.

ESPN Radio launched its first app in September 2009 and has since been one of the top paid sports apps in the marketplace.  Additionally, it was named Best Radio App by Radio Ink Magazine at the Digital Convergence Awards in May 2011.  The ESPN Radio App is available from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

The ESPN Radio app is the latest product from ESPN’s digital audio portfolio.  In March, ESPNRadio.com logged its best month ever since it first launched 11 years ago.  The site generated nearly 1.51 million page views from users listening between 30-60 minutes of digital audio through the ESPN Audio NOW Player, a 511 percent increase compared to the same month last year (source: Adobe/Omniture).  It also generated more than 3.22 million unique visitors (up 10.75 percent) and nearly 27 million total page views (up 35.8 percent).  Additionally, ESPN Podcasts recorded its own best month ever in March, logging 49 million downloads, up 73 percent compared to the same month last year.

That’s it.

Looking at Some Sports Media Personnel Moves and Non-Moves

I have accumulated a lot of links today, but unfortunately, I won’t be able to get to them right now. I’ll save them for Tuesday, but I can get to a couple of sports media personnel moves. Lots of stuff to get to. This will be done in bullet form.

• It was broken earlier tonight by Jim Miller, the co-author of “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN“:
  

  Staying. @notthefakeSVP has just finished telling colleagues he has renewed his deal with ESPN.

  — James Andrew Miller (@ESPNBook) May 14, 2012

  And it was later confirmed by Scott Van Pelt himself:

  Appreciate the interest and support here.Feel very fortunate to have gone through process but glad it’s over. Ultimately, ESPN is my home

  — Scott Van Pelt (@notthefakeSVP) May 15, 2012

  It’s a good move. SVP had a couple of suitors, NBC and Fox, but chose to stay where he’s most comfortable. Van Pelt has his radio show which he has enjoyed doing plus the early SportsCenters. While he could have left to go to NBC and return to his old stomping grounds of Golf Channel, ESPN is the best place for him. I told you throughout that I thought he would stay in Bristol and he did.

• Speaking of Golf Channel, the co-host of Morning Drive, Erik Kuselias is leaving the show and heading up the East Coast to become a host of NBC SportsTalk on sister network, NBC Sports Network. Stephanie Wei of the Wei Under Par golf blog had the story and some interesting gossip that I was not aware of. I’m not enamored with this move as I’m not enamored with Kuselias. He comes off as smug and pompous and I’m sure he’ll come off as smug and pompous on NBC Sports Talk. I’m not sure what anyone sees in him as he’s worked at ESPN on both radio and television, then moved to Golf Channel to launch its morning show with Gary Williams and Holly Sonders.

  Apparently during his time on Morning Drive, he became friendly with Sonders and they began dating. According to Stephanie’s story, the two are now engaged.

  Kuselias was one of the subjects of A.J. Daulerio’s Scorched Earth Policy on ESPN in 2009 after he felt the network deliberately misled Deadspin on a couple of stories.

  Anyway, it seems Kuselias will move back up north and make guest appearances on NBC Sports Talk. I don’t think NBC will use Kuselias to replace regular host Russ Thaler. At least I hope not.

• A couple of other ESPN notes, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated reports that SportsCenter anchor and celebrated puckhead John Buccigross has reupped with ESPN:
  

  Source tells me @Buccigross has also re-upped with ESPN. No doubt he’ll be fighting the good fight for NHL love at the Empire.

  — Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) May 15, 2012

  I’ve followed Buccigross since he was in Providence and felt he was very solid. He remains so to this day and along with Linda Cohn, continues to hold the torch for hockey at ESPN. Here’s hoping he’ll be back hosting the sport one day.

  Richard also reported yesterday that Michelle Bonner is leaving.

  Longtime ESPNNews/SportsCenter anchor Michelle Bonner and ESPN have parted ways. Another work-a-day, no-shtick anchor. Wish her well.

  — Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) May 13, 2012

  I liked Michelle. Too bad about her departure.

• Now that ESPN has decisions on Dana Jacobsen, Michelle Beadle and Scott Van Pelt, the network can now focus on its last major free agent, Erin Andrews. Look for her to remain with the network and keep her hosting position on College GameDay during college football season.

That is it for tonight.

Even More Overdue Sports Media Thoughts

My apologies for the lack of updates on Wednesday. I was away from a computer for most of the day and unable to update the site as much as I would have liked. I hope Thursday won’t be as crazy as I have a few things to post for you.

I do have some sports media thoughts for you. As usual, they’re in bullet form.

• With Wednesday’s news that ESPN expanded and extended its rights deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference, it means that the Alleged Worlwide Leader has a virtual lock on most of the so-called “FBS” or Football Bowl Subdivision conferences. If ESPN signs the Big East later this year, it will have made a clean sweep in the category. While ESPN does a good job in airing college sports, the fact that it controls so much inventory is disturbing.

  Yes, CBS has a piece of the SEC, Conference USA and most of the Mountain West. Fox has the Big 12, Conference USA, Pac-12 and part of the Big Ten through its partnership with the Big Ten Network. NBC has Notre Dame, the CAA, Ivy League and Mountain West.

  But if you’re a college conference, you need to do business with ESPN. It’s all about exposure and money and not particularly in that order. While ESPN doesn’t have a monopoly in college sports, it certainly has a majority.

  And while it can be argued that no one put a gun to the conference presidents and commissioners, the fact that ESPN has so much influence through its long-term contracts has to be scrutinized. ESPN has a lot of control in college sports and it’s to the point where it can influence matchups and tell conferences when and where to play. While TV has always had a hand in scheduling, ESPN’s control has gone beyond that.

• Why was #greenythedance such a big deal and why did ESPN show highlights of this overblown bet from Mike and Mike in the Morning all over the place? Didn’t care and did want to help the network promote it. A big non-story.
• Haven’t been too impressed with Jenny Dell on NESN. The new Red Sox field reporter is trying to fill the shoes of Heidi Watney. In her live spots, Jenny has not really stood out. It’s early and she still has time to improve.

We’re done.

Some More Overdue Sports Media Thoughts

Yesterday, I provided two overdue sports media thoughts. Today, it’s time to do some more. As always, they’re in bullet form.

• I like what the NBC Sports Group has done on the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Covering all the games has paid off with higher ratings thus far. By giving all of the games a national outlet, fans have found them and establishing CNBC and NHL Network as secondary homes in addition to NBC and NBC Sports Network was a wise move.

  While I miss having the local feeds in the Conference Semifinals, I understand why NBC Sports Group bought exclusivity there. If you’re going to grow the game nationally, you have to sacrifice the local feeds at some point. We get less of a Jack Edwards or Sam Rosen or Bob Miller, but we also get more games aired in their entirety and that’s good for hockey.

  A few things to improve upon for the future.

  Less local simulcasts on CNBC and NBCSN. NBC Sports Network should not be relying on Comcast SportsNet, CBC or TSN in the first round. NHL Network is another story, but less of the local simulcasts, please.

  Double weekend doubleheaders on NBC should be standard next season. I liked NBC’s Sunday doubleheaders in the first round. Expand them to Saturdays as well.

  And do not. Do not. Do not allow Erik Kusilias anywhere near a set next season. He is a bad host. NASCAR fans thought he was a butcher when ESPN put him as host of NASCAR Now. His brief stints as host in the Conference Quarterfinals on CNBC did nothing to dispel that notion.

  Other than those complaints, NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs gets high marks.

• Sports radio on FM is becoming more of a trend across the country. The latest market to get an FM sports station is the largest in the country, New York City. Last week, ESPN Radio flipped legendary Urban station KISS 98.7 FM to sports. It gave ESPN Radio NY a fighting chance against long-time Big Apple sports leader, WFAN. While the ‘FAN has dominated the New York market head-to-head against ESPN, that was when both were on the AM dial. WFAN’s ratings have dropped recently, but ESPN has not been able to pick up the slack. We’ll see if ‘FAN’s owner, CBS Radio, decides to give the station a new home. Right now, it’s not in the cards, but if ESPN Radio starts to cut into the lead, then CBS could rethink its strategy.

  CBS Radio has been successful with FM sports talk in other markets including Boston so we’ll see if it happens in New York down the road.

• Good on the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to give former CBS Sports and ABC Sports Essayist Jack Whitaker a Lifetime Achievement Sports Emmy last week.

  It would behoove the Academy to recognize Brent Musburger for his pioneering work as host of the NFL Today and CBS Sports Saturday/Sunday.

  I still find it hard to believe that Brent has never won a Sports Emmy. He should have won one for hosting the Pan American Games for CBS in 1987 and again for ABC in 1991 when they were held in Cuba.

• Belated congratulations to Ed Sherman, formerly of the Chicago Tribune and Crain’s Chicago Business on the launch on his new national sports media site, The Sherman Report.
• Finally got to see this season’s version of “The Rundown” on MLB Network. I like the show and new co-host Lauren Shehadi has developed a very good chemistry with holdover Matt Yallof. I make sure I watch the show when I’m home. Now if MLB Network can do something about The Abortion Known As Intentional Talk…

Ok. Plenty of thoughts for you to absorb. I’ll try to provide more tomorrow.

Some Leftover Linkage

I need to clear my brower of links I was hoping to get to sometime over the last few days. Since I couldn’t do the Friday megalinks or any Saturday morning linkage, I’ll do some Sunday evening leftover links.

Consider this the Sunday entrée to the beginning of the workweek. I honestly don’t know what that means.

Here’s some linkage for you to chew on.

Brian Lowry of Fox Sports is not a fan of Shaquille O’Neal on TNT.

Mike Farrell of Multichannel News writes that Time Warner Cable is hoping to obtain more sports properties for its new Southern California regional sports network.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel says the first round of the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs was the most watched on record.

Andrea Morabito of Broadcasting & Cable reports that no talent hack Ryan Seacrest will be haunting NBC Sports as well as NBC News in an all-new, all-encompassing contract with NBCUniversal.

Tim Baysinger at B&C says ESPN’s ratings for the First Round of the NFL Draft were up double digits from the year before.

Sam Laird at Mashable writes that social media is influencing sports in many ways.

To Sean Newell of Deadspin who looks at the strange Twitter meltdown of Chicago Sun-Times reporter Joe Cowley who went all-sexist on female pilots and one of his co-workers.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report writes that former CBS and ABC Sports essayist Jack Whitaker is receiving a long overdue honor from the Sports Emmys on Monday.

Ryan Yoder from Awful Announcing reviews the good and the bad of ESPN’s First Round coverage of the NFL Draft.

Joe Lucia of AA does the same for NFL Network.

Back to Matt from AA, apparently Tim McCarver fancies himself an expert on climate change

From the Tampa Bay Times, Eric Deggans reviews ESPN’s coverage of the NFL Draft for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center.

Jason Dachman from Sports Video Group has ESPN optimistic that its Los Angeles studios will put itself in a unique position to cover the Lakers and Clippers in the NBA Playoffs.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck can ever match Peyton Manning’s marketability.

Providence’s WJAR-TV and Cox Communications announce a new partnership that will simulcast the NBC affiliate’s local newscasts and also put Cox Sports RI’s programming on a new cable channel.

Amy Chozick and Nick Wingfield of the New York Times explore the growing world of TV mobile and tablet apps which include the soon-to-be released NBC Olympics iPad app.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times profiles actor Peter Scolari who plays three important roles in the Magic/Bird Broadway play.

Breaking a ban of linking to Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News who has an interesting story regarding Yankees voices John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman and whether they’ll be leaving if the team changes flagship radio stations after this season.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick has no hope for our society. Lighten up, Phil. Time to travel to Moldova or Johannesburg. Somewhere you don’t have to watch sports anymore.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says MSG Network’s ratings for Game 7 of the Ottawa Senators-New York Rangers series were the best since the 1994 Stanley Cup-clinching game on the network.

Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that the 76ers are leaving long-time home WIP and switching to ESPN Radio Philadelphia.

Crossing Broad says the Sixers’ move came as a surprise.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner talks with Jim Rome and his new CBS home.

Laura Newberry of the Orlando Sentinel says Golf Channel has become a Central Florida mainstay.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that the Rockets are not only moving to a new TV home next season, but are currently looking for a new radio flagship station as well.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman transcribes Mike Tirico’s call of Kevin Durant’s winning shot for the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.

The Cincinnati Enquirer says one local cable provider will pick up NFL Network, but it’s not Time Warner.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch says the Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley may be headed towards a suspension.

Danny Ecker at Crain’s Chicago Business says the Bulls generated their highest regular season TV ratings since the Michael Jordan years.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says scheduling of playoff games never has the fans in mind.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says ESPN gave the Utah Jazz the benefit of the doubt in its series opener.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says CBC got the job done in choosing its NHL Playoff series for the Conference Semifinal round.

Peter Adler from the Edmonton Journal says the Oilers’ documentary series Oil Change which runs on NHL Network should return for a third season

Howard M. Alperin of Midwest Sports Fans asks why CBSSports.com doesn’t include soccer coverage?

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy has TSN’s top hockey bloopers of the 2011-12 season.

That’s a lot of leftover linkage. Glad I was able to clear this out before Monday.

ESPN/ABC Announces NBA Playoff Schedule Through May 6

Just as Turner Sports announced its NBA schedule and announcing assignments through May 6, ESPN/ABC has done the same.

For the opening weekend of the NBA Postseason and the Conference Quarterfinals, ABC will have single games on Saturday and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET with the old 1990′s rivalry between the New York Knicks and Miami Heat on Saturday and Denver at Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

ESPN follows up with a Saturday night doubleheader and an early Sunday afternoon game. And then ESPN returns to the NBA Playoffs on Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5 with two games each. ABC has an doubleheader on Sunday, May 6.

Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Lisa Salters will be the main announcing team for ABC/ESPN. Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown and Heather Cox will be the “B” team for the networks. And other play-by-play announcers include Dave Pasch and Mark Jones. Chris Mullin and Doris Burke will be the analysts and on the sidelines will be the aggressive Holly Rowe and Ric Bucher.

Here’s the press release.

2012 NBA Playoffs on ABC & ESPN to Tip Off Saturday

Extensive Coverage on ESPN Radio; ABC Ratings Up 10 Percent, ESPN Up 7 Percent for Regular Season

ESPN and ABC’s comprehensive 2012 NBA Playoffs coverage – up to 44 games, including The Finals exclusively on ABC – will begin with five games this weekend. ABC’s game coverage will begin on Saturday, April 28, when the Miami Heat and their superstar trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh host the New York Knicks – led by Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire – at 3:30 p.m. ET.  ABC’s coverage will continue on Sunday, April 29, when the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant host the Denver Nuggets and Ty Lawson at 3:30 p.m. Mike Breen will provide commentary for both broadcasts with analyst Jeff Van Gundy and reporter Lisa Salters.

ESPN will televise a primetime doubleheader on Saturday, April 28 – Orlando Magic at Indiana Pacers at 7 p.m. with Dave Pasch, Chris Mullin and reporter Holly Rowe providing commentary; defending World Champion Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki at the Oklahoma City Thunder and scoring champion Kevin Durant at 9:30 p.m. with Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown and reporter Heather Cox calling the game.

ESPN’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs follows a regular season that delivered a 7 percent ratings increase on ESPN (Christmas to date) and a 10 percent ratings increase on ABC, according to Nielsen. More details below.

The NBA Countdown pregame show will preview both ABC broadcasts this weekend at 3 p.m. and include commentary from analysts Magic Johnson, Jon Barry, Michael Wilbon and Chris Broussard.

All ESPN games will also be available on ESPN3, ESPN Mobile TV and via the WatchESPN app. The Finals on ABC are scheduled to begin June 12. Additionally, ESPN2 will televise a special one-hour NBA Playoffs Preview on Saturday April 28, at 1 a.m, 7 a.m. and 1 p.m.

NBA Playoffs opening weekend schedule:

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Commentators	Network
Sat, Apr 28	3 p.m.	NBA Countdown	Magic Johnson, Jon Barry, Michael Wilbon, Chris Broussard	ABC
	3:30 p.m.	New York Knicks at Miami Heat Gm. 1	Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Lisa Salters ESPN Radio: Jim Durham, Dr. Jack Ramsay	ABC, ESPN Radio
	7 p.m.	Orlando Magic at Indiana Pacers Gm. 1	Dave Pasch, Chris Mullin, Holly Rowe	ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN
	9:30 p.m.	Dallas Mavericks at Oklahoma City Thunder Gm. 1	Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown, Heather Cox	ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN
Sun, Apr 29	1 p.m.	Utah Jazz at San Antonio Spurts Gm. 1	Mark Jones, Doris Burke, Ric Bucher	ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN
	3 p.m.	NBA Countdown	Magic Johnson, Jon Barry, Michael Wilbon, Chris Broussard	ABC
	3:30 p.m.	Denver Nuggets at Los Angeles Lakers Gm. 1	Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Lisa Salters ESPN Radio: Kevin Calabro, Dr. Jack Ramsay	ABC, ESPN Radio

NBA Playoffs schedule for May 4-6 (commentators TBD):

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Fri, May 4	7:30 p.m.	Boston Celtics at Atlanta Hawks Gm. 3	ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN
	8 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at Philadelphia 76ers Gm. 3	ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN
	10:30 p.m.	Los Angeles Lakers at Denver Nuggets Gm. 3	ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN
Sat, May 5	2 p.m.	Indiana Pacers at Orlando Magic Gm. 4	ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN
	4:30 p.m.	Memphis Grizzlies at Los Angeles Clippers Gm. 4	ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN Mobile TV, WatchESPN
Sun, May 6	12:30 p.m.	NBA Countdown	ABC
	1 p.m.	Chicago Bulls at Philadelphia 76ers Gm. 4	ABC, ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	Miami Heat at New York Knicks Gm. 4	ABC, ESPN Radio

NBA on ESPN Radio
The NBA on ESPN Radio will begin its 17^th season of NBA Playoffs coverage on Saturday, April 28, and will present exclusive national broadcasts for select first and second round games and every game of the Conference Finals and The Finals. Commentators Jim Durham, Hall-of-Famer Dr. Jack Ramsay, Kevin Calabro and Will Purdue will contribute to the broadcasts during the first two rounds. Durham and Ramsay will then call the Eastern Conference Finals while Calabro and Hubie Brown will call the Western Conference Finals. During The Finals on ABC, Durham, Ramsay and Brown will describe the action, while Ric Bucher will be courtside reporter with Marc Kestecher and Will Perdue serving as on-site studio host and analyst.

NBA Ratings on ESPN Up 7 Percent, ABC Delivers Highest-Rated & Most-Viewed Season
ESPN averaged a 1.5 household rating during the 2011-12 NBA regular season, an increase of 7 percent from the same Christmas to date timeframe in 2010-11 (1.4), according to Nielsen. The 1.5 rating also matches last season as the highest-rated regular season ever on ESPN in a full-season comparison.

ABC delivered its highest-rated and most-viewed NBA regular season ever, averaging a 3.3 household rating and 5,421,000 viewers for its 15 broadcasts during the 2011-2012 campaign, according to Nielsen. The 3.3 rating is up 10 percent from last season (3.0) and 5,421,000 viewers is up six percent from last season (5,110,000). The NBA on ABC is also up nine percent in household impressions, averaging 3,831,000 compared to 3,519,000 last season.

NBA on ESPN Digital Platforms Delivers Gains
During the 66-game regular season, NBA content across ESPN digital platforms – including ESPN.com, the mobile Web, ScoreCenter, ESPN3 and WatchESPN – logged an average minute audience of 70,000 people, up 25.2 percent compared to the same time period last year (Christmas Day through the end of the season).  Specifically, the NBA section on ESPN.com generated an average of 1.9 million daily unique visitors (up 12 percent) and an average of 17 million total minutes per day (up 21 percent).

Fantasy and mobile usage logged the biggest gains.  NBA content on the ESPN mobile Web averaged 1.5 million daily unique visitors (up 43 percent) and 13.6 million total minutes per day (up 56 percent).  Fantasy Basketball on ESPN.com and mobile platforms was also up 57 percent in average daily unique visitors and 69 percent in average total minutes per day.

“Fight To Win” with Cee-Lo Green
ESPN will debut a new NBA Playoffs promo on Saturday featuring Grammy-award winner Cee-Lo Green. The promo will air throughout the weekend during ESPN and ABC’s NBA Playoffs coverage.

ESPN.com
ESPN.com’s comprehensive NBA Playoffs coverage will include:

• Daily Dime Live – a live blog before, during and after each game;
• NBA Today podcast;
• TrueHoop and TrueHoop Network blogs;
• special sections for every postseason series;
• extensive coverage from local ESPN.com sites (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Dallas);
• pregame and postgame coverage, essays, columns, video analysis for every NBA Playoffs game.

ESPN Social Media

• Facebook – ESPN’s NBA Facebook page will include regular updates throughout the NBA Playoffs with videos and imagery, shareable NBA content, polls, instant reactions to memorable moments, “This Day in NBA History” series and other highlights;
• Twitter – ESPN’s NBA Twitter – @NBAonESPN – will provide breaking news, game updates, links to ESPN.com stories, photos and more.

ESPN3 & WatchESPN
Fans will also be able to watch every ESPN and ESPN2 postseason NBA game live on their computers, smartphones or tablets via WatchESPN.  Additionally, fans will also have access to special simulcasts of The Finals on ABC on ESPN3.  WatchESPN delivers live access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line on PCs, smartphones and tablets to fans who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their video subscription from Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks or Verizon FiOS TV.

ESPN International
ESPN International will present the NBA Playoffs throughout Latin America, Brazil, Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Pacific Rim.

That is all

NBA Conference Quarterfinals Schedule

With the NBA Playoffs starting on Saturday, let’s provide the schedule of games in each series and networks where applicable.

That is it.

Unveiling Some Thursday Links

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SMW has some ratings news and notes.

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

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

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

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

ESPN Radio NY Moves To FM

Ever since the story about ESPN Radio making a move on the New York Yankees and possibly moving them to FM surfaced this week, sports media geeks like myself have been wondering when the company would move its beleaguered 1050 AM station to the FM side. Well, that move is coming very soon. ESPN has announced that it will lease 98.7 FM in New York (long known as KISS-FM in NYC) and flip it to a temporary simulcast of ESPN Radio NY.

Eventually, ESPN Radio NY will become an all-FM station and its 1050 AM signal will become an ESPN Deportes affiliate serving the city’s Hispanic population.

This now positions ESPN Radio to make a move on the New York Yankees whose radio rights are up for bid. The Yankees have been broadcasting on WCBS-AM since 2002 and have long been yearning for a move to FM. But know that CBS Radio which has been the Yankees broadcast partner will not go down without a fight.

ESPN Radio NY is also home to the New York Jets and MSG Radio for the rights to carry the Knicks and Rangers. It’s been missing a baseball team to make it a complete sports radio station and if it can pick up the Yankees, it would be a huge move and one that could possibly give it the push to make a move on WFAN which has been the sports leader in New York since its inception in 1987.

Here’s the announcement from ESPN.

ESPN New York Moves to 98.7 FM

Fall launch of 24-hour ESPN Deportes station and a new timeslot for Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco among upcoming changes

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on April 30, 2012, ESPN Radio New York (1050 AM) will be heard on 98.7 FM as a result of an agreement between ESPN Audio and 98.7’s owner, Emmis Communications. ESPN New York 98.7 is New York’s first 24/7 sports talk station on the FM band.

For now, 98.7 FM and 1050 AM will simulcast content but plans are to turn 1050 AM into an ESPN Deportes New York Radio owned operation in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15).

The addition of 98.7 FM in metropolitan New York reinforces ESPN Audio’s strategy to pursue FM distribution for its content. Of ESPN’s 364 full-time affiliates, 137 are positioned on the FM band, representing a growth rate of 120% in the last two and a half years. FM stations make up 30% of ESPN’s total affiliate base (not all are full-time).

“Opportunities like this don’t come along too often and it’s tremendous that we were able to conclude a deal that will enhance our mission of serving sports fans in not just English but Spanish as well,” said Traug Keller, ESPN Senior Vice President/Production, Business Divisions. “Come Fall, Spanish-speaking New Yorkers will have their first 24/7 sports talk radio station.”

ESPN New York launched 11 years ago and will now feature a local weekday line-up that will remain mostly unchanged with Maxed Out in the Morning with Jared Max (4-6 a.m. ET), Mike Lupica (Noon-1 p.m.), Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco (1-3 p.m.) and The Michael Kay Show (3-7 p.m.). Patrick McEnroe will also have a Saturday show on the station from 10 a.m. to Noon, beginning May 5.

The Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco Show is a new offering and capitalizes on Stephen A.’s widespread popularity on ESPN New York platforms and as a regular opposite Skip Bayless on ESPN’s First Take (ESPN2, weekdays, 10 a.m.)

National shows, Mike & Mike in the Morning (6-10 a.m.) and The Herd with Colin Cowherd (10 a.m.-Noon), remain on ESPN New York and both continue to see increased listenership and penetration in the market. February’s ratings indicate ESPN New York has had five straight months with at least a 3.0 share, good for 12^th place in the market with a 3.1, up 35% year to year.

“This move to the FM dial is in keeping with the industry trend of sports radio shifting (from AM) and offers an even broader reach for our content,” said Dave Roberts, ESPN Radio New York Vice President and General Manager. “By combining the FM reach with our wide variety of digital offerings from ESPN Audio, we are uniquely positioned to provide coverage of all of New York’s sports.”

That is 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.

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.

ESPN Radio To Air USC Home Football Games

This is an interesting development. ESPN and the University of Southern California have jointly announced that all of the Trojans home games will aired nationally on ESPN Radio. This will be for all games played at the LA Memorial Coliseum or those games deemed as home games for the Trojans. USC becomes the second school to have a national contract. Notre Dame is the other and is distributed through IMG.

Now through USC’s marketing arm, ESPN Radio has signed a multi-year deal for the rights to air the games. In the Los Angeles market, ESPN Radio’s affiliate, KSPN has been USC’s partner since 2006.

The deal also includes Spanish language rights.

We have the joint press release from ESPN and USC.

ESPN Radio to be USC Football’s Exclusive National Broadcaster for Home Games

LOS ANGELES – ESPN Radio and the University of Southern California (USC) today announced a multi-year agreement in which the network will have exclusive national broadcast rights for all home Trojans football games.

This marks ESPN Radio’s first nationally exclusive broadcasting agreement with a college football program and only the second such agreement in the industry (Notre Dame and IMG Sports).

“We have had a long relationship with USC which has proven to be an excellent one in many ways,” says Tim McCarthy, Sr. Vice President, ESPN Radio Play by Play & Talent Planning. “We will work closely with USC to develop ancillary marketing opportunities to touch USC fans everywhere.”

The ESPN Radio-USC agreement also provides Spanish-language rights for ESPN Deportes Radio, the country’s first and only 24/7 national Spanish-language sports radio network, with every USC home and away game being cleared in the LA market.

“USC and the Trojan football program are extremely excited to have all of our home games carried nationally by ESPN Radio,” said Pat Haden, USC’s Charles Griffin Cale Director of Athletics’ Chair. ”To partner with ESPN Radio and have the USC brand distributed at this level is a fantastic opportunity to reach Trojan fans throughout the nation. It is also immensely important that we will be able to reach our Hispanic fan base throughout Southern California with ESPN Deportes.”

“This agreement with ESPN Radio will provide tremendous, unprecedented exposure for USC football and it will help elevate the USC brand,” said Dan Shell, Vice President and General Manager, USC Sports Properties.  “It will also benefit our sponsors by providing them with a nationally distributed platform to connect with their target audience.”

USC Sports Properties will retain the right to sell local radio inventory in packages as part of its overall sales efforts for USC athletics.

ESPN Radio will present USC games on up to 300 affiliates nationwide. 710 ESPN Los Angeles (KSPN) has been the flagship station of the USC Football Radio Network (Fresno to San Diego) since 2006.

That is all.

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.

The Masters on ESPN

Starting next Wednesday, the annual rite of Spring, The Masters^® takes place at the scenic Augusta National Country Club in Augusta, GA. For five days starting with the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, April 4 through to the Final Round on Sunday, April 8, we’ll hear the familiar “Augusta” theme that has accompanied CBS’ as well as USA Network’s and now ESPN’s coverage of The Masters^®.

This year mark’s the fifth consecutive year that ESPN will air the Par 3 as well as the first two rounds of the tournament.

Instead of “fans”, we’ll hear about “Patrons.” Instead of the “rough,” announcers will describe the “second cut.” And instead of Gary McCord, we have nobody.

Anyway, ESPN will have extensive coverage of the PGA Tour’s first major of the year starting with the annual Par 3 contest on Wednesday, April 4 where the golfers will be able to “let down their hair” so to speak and have fun on the golf course.

Then ESPN will get its coverage going in earnest on Thursday, April 5 with the 1st round airing live at 3 p.m. ESPN 3D which about 17 people across the country can watch will have three hours of daily coverage from Thursday through Sunday.

Other ESPN platforms covering The Masters include ESPN Radio, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, ESPN Deportes, ESPNews and ESPN International. To say ESPN has The Masters^® is a huge understatement.

ESPN’s Live Masters Coverage Returns for Fifth Year

Live Play on WatchESPN; ESPN 3D Coverage Expands; SportsCenter Reports Start Monday

In its fifth year of live coverage of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, ESPN will air 4.5 hours of live Tournament play daily from the first two rounds, the traditional Par 3 Contest the day preceding the Tournament and 14 total hours of action on the ESPN 3D Network. Expansive news, information and analysis will appear on a variety of ESPN platforms in the U.S. and around the world, including television, radio, online and mobile devices.

ESPN and ESPN HD will air 4.5 hours of live first and second round action on Thursday, April 5, and Friday, April 6, from 3-7:30 p.m. ET with an edited encore presentation in prime time each night from 8-11 p.m. ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language U.S. sports network, also will televise the first and second rounds live from 3-7:30 p.m. and the ESPN 3D Network will air three hours of live play from the first two rounds each day starting at 4:30 p.m. as well as live play from the Saturday and Sunday rounds and the Par 3 Contest.

Prior to the live television windows Thursday and Friday, ESPN’s flagship news and information program SportsCenter will air updates every 30 minutes beginning at 9 a.m. daily.

Mike Tirico will serve as host of ESPN’s Thursday and Friday telecasts and will conduct player interviews from Augusta National’s Butler Cabin with analyst Curtis Strange. CBS will again produce the telecasts with CBS’ golf announce crew also contributing to the coverage. Paco Aleman and analyst Silvia Bertolaccini will present on ESPN Deportes with John Sutcliffe serving as the on-course reporter.

SportsCenter at the Masters
Live reports on SportsCenter from Augusta National Golf Club begin Monday, April 2, in the afternoon and continue through Sunday. Media Day is Tuesday, April 3, and SportsCenter will air the news conferences of Tiger Woods (1 p.m.) and Phil Mickelson (2:30 p.m.). Tirico and Scott Van Pelt will host SportsCenter reports from the Masters and will be joined by analysts Andy North, Paul Azinger and Strange, and reporter Tom Rinaldi. Van Pelt, North and Rinaldi also will present a special one-hour preview SportsCenter at the Masters on Wednesday, April 4, at 5 p.m. following the Par 3 Contest telecast. ESPN the Magazine’s Rick Reilly will provide essays for SportsCenter Wednesday through Sunday.

The Masters on ESPN 3D
ESPN’s television coverage will include 14 hours of programming in 3D on the ESPN 3D network, an additional 2.5 hours from last year’s coverage. Included will be three hours daily from all four rounds of Tournament action plus two hours of Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest. Thursday and Friday’s telecasts begin at 4:30 p.m. while the weekend telecasts begin at 4 p.m. The Par 3 Contest airs at 3 p.m. In 2010, the Masters became the first major sporting event produced and broadcast live in 3D internationally on television and the Internet. Gannon will host ESPN 3D’s telecasts with analyst Azinger Wednesday through Friday, while Tirico, Azinger and Strange will have the call Saturday and Sunday.

Masters Par 3 Contest
The Masters Par 3 Contest will air live Wednesday, April 4, from 3-5 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN 3D and ESPN3. The Par 3 Contest, which began in 1960, was first televised by ESPN in 2008. On ESPN, Tirico, North and Strange will be joined by Rinaldi, who will conduct interviews on the putting green, and on-ground reporter Peter Kostis. Host Terry Gannon and analyst Azinger will be the announcers on ESPN 3D.

The Masters on ESPN Digital Platforms

WatchESPN
All Masters programming on ESPN also is available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN and the WatchESPN app, which are accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated provider.

ESPN.com 

• News, blogs and columns from ESPN.com national columnist Gene Wojciechowski and golf writers Farrell Evans and Bob Harig.
• “CoverItLive” application moderated by Michael Collins.
• “Championship Central” on the ESPN.com/Golf index page focusing on the majors and the Ryder Cup.
• The ESPN Golf Cast application, which offers an easy-to-use interface with scoring, “CoverItLive,” video and social media elements.
• “Road to The Masters” series tracking the latest news and historical look backs of the year’s first major. Included are 50+ Masters Moments video highlights.
• ESPNRadio.com with highlighted player interviews, course analysis and up-to-the minute updates of the Masters
• Video clips from ESPN golf analysts Andy North, Curtis Strange and Paul Azinger.
• Photo Galleries
• Live scoring from Masters.com
• ESPNDeportes.com editorial coverage of the Masters in Spanish will include comprehensive daily print and video content, with analysis from on-air talent Aleman, Bertolaccini and Sutcliffe.

ESPN3
ESPN’s multi-screen, live event sports network will simulcast ESPN’s telecast of the Masters Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, April 4, from 3-5 p.m.

Additional coverage of the Masters on ESPN platforms:

ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio will present updates from Augusta National Golf Club throughout the Masters Tournament Wednesday-Sunday, April 4-8. Reporter Dan Davis will have live hourly updates (4:40-9:40 p.m.) during the first two rounds and twice-an-hour reports at 20 and 40 minutes past the hour (1:20-8:40 p.m.) throughout the weekend’s SportsCenter Saturday and SportsCenter Sunday programs as well as during ESPN Radio’s NBA and MLB studio shows. Reports will also run on weekday’s SportsCenter AM (5-6 a.m.) and in SportsCenter Tonight (10 p.m.-1 a.m.) throughout the week.

ESPN the Magazine
The April 2 issue of ESPN the Magazine contains a multi-page Masters preview by Scott Miller. The Masters scorecards of three of this year’s favorites, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, are analyzed and Miller says the most crucial holes for each man lie back-to-back-to-back at Augusta (McIlroy – 10, Woods – 11, Mickelson – 12). Miller breaks down why the holes have made a difference to the three superstars in the Masters.

ESPN InternationalThis year 95 countries will see the Masters on ESPN platforms. Fans in these countries can follow the Masters on ESPN television, online, mobile and broadband platforms. The Masters is available in:

• Asia (17.5 hours to 22 countries and 174 million households via ESS), plus  two hours of Par 3 Contest coverage.
• Latin America and the Caribbean (all four rounds and the Par 3 Contest coverage to 51 Countries and more than 36 million households).
• In Canada, TSN and TSN-HD will air the first two rounds of the Masters and the Par 3 Contest live with same day re-airs in primetime of the final rounds. TSN’s networks reach approximately 15 million households.
• In Northern Africa and the Middle East, all four rounds and the Par 3 Contest will be televised to 21 countries.
• The Par 3 Contest, all four rounds of the Masters and exclusive broadband coverage of “Amen Corner,” a featured group and holes 15 and 16 will be live on ESPN Play in Spanish-speaking Latin America and on ESPN 360 in Brazil. Additionally, for the first time, a mobile/tablet version of ESPN Play will be available in Chile.

ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS will offer all the latest Masters news beginning Monday, April 2, with interviews, pre- and post-round news conferences and analysis from Scott Van Pelt, Andy North and Mike Tirico.

ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic will televise a 43-hour Masters Tribute featuring Official Masters Films beginning Tuesday, April 3, at 8 p.m. The tribute will include highlights from every year of the Masters from 1960 through 2011, with programming continuing all day Wednesday and through 3 p.m. on Thursday when first round coverage begins.

The Masters – Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, GA

Day/Date	Program	Start	End	Networks
Wednesday, April 4	Masters Par 3 Contest	3 p.m.	5 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN3D
Wednesday, April 4	SportsCenter at the Masters	5 p.m.	6 p.m.	ESPN
Thursday, April 5	First Round	3 p.m.	7:30 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN Deportes
Thursday, April 5	First Round	4:30 p.m.	7:30 p.m.	ESPN 3D
Thursday, April 5	First Round (encore)	8 p.m.	11 p.m.	ESPN
Friday, April 6	Second Round	3 p.m.	7:30 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN Deportes
Friday, April 6	Second Round	4:30 p.m.	7:30 p.m.	ESPN 3D
Friday, April 6	Second Round (encore)	8 p.m.	11 p.m.	ESPN
Saturday, April 7	Third Round	4 p.m.	7 p.m.	ESPN 3D
Sunday, April 8	Final Round	4 p.m.	7 p.m.	ESPN 3D

That is it for this post.

Breaking Out The Monday Links

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

To the links.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To other links now.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And I’ll finish it there for now.

Bringing Out The Mid-Week Linkage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WGHP also has a special section devoted to Brenner.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lack of tweets today have 1 great explanation: Welcome to the world, my beautiful daughter, @HarperRovell.

February 28, 2012 10:34 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@darrenrovell

darren rovell

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

My wife doesn't know yet, but I also locked up Gmail, Pinterest, Facebook and domain names for my three-hour old daughter, @HarperRovell.

February 28, 2012 10:43 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@darrenrovell

darren rovell

And we’ll end it there for today.

Tuesday Links with Some Overdue Monday Linkage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Laura Nachman has her Super Bowl XLVI highlights.

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

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

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

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

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

David provides his thoughts on the NBC Super Bowl production.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tom has a longer review on his blog.

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

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

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

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

Sports Media Watch has some other Super Bowl ratings news.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quick Pre-Super Bowl Links

Let’s do some Super Bowl Sunday links today.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says media analysts are predicting another record viewership for the Super Bowl.

Mike says MSG Network remains off Time Warner Cable systems for the fifth consecutive week with no agreement in sight.

Kate Fagan of espnW has a look at what Super Bowl XLVI sideline reporter Michele Tafoya will deal with on the Lucas Oil Stadium field tonight.

Peter Pachal from Mashable has a look at NBC’s streaming of the Super Bowl.

Sean Newell at Deadspin says CNBC’s Darren Rovell may have lost the female vote forever.

Deadspin’s Timothy Burke tells us about a media feud between WEEI’s John Dennis and ESPN Radio’s Ryan Russillo.

Speaking of Darren Rovell, he wonders if Eli Manning can become a more prolific endorser than Tom Brady.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks about Twitter and some of the New England Patriots who use the social media service.

The New York Times’ Ritchie S. King and Kevin Quealy look at some of the clichés that have enveloped ESPN SportsCenter.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Times is speaking in tongues today.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has the NBC football crew talking about today’s Super Bowl.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner talks with Fox Sports’ John Lynch about the Super Bowl.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Super Bowl could decide the local news race.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Green Bay Packers’ Charles Woodson is doing well for the NFL Network.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with NBC’s Al Michaels.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has NBC’s and CTV’s coverage plans for the Super Bowl.

Mike Silva from the Sports Media Watchdog goes over Darren Rovell’s downfall with women this weekend.

Joe Favorito has a few sports business tidbits for us.

And those are the quick links for today. Enjoy the Super Bowl. I’ll have grades on the Super Bowl ads tonight.

ESPN’s Super Bowl XLVI Coverage Continues This Weekend

ESPN wraps up its Super Bowl coverage this weekend from Pan Am Plaza in Indianapolis and from the World Headquarters in Bristol, CT. As usual, multiple networks on TV and radio are involved.

We have your schedule for Saturday and Sunday.

ESPN and ESPN Radio Super Bowl XLVI Weekend Programs Originating Live from Pan Am Plaza in Indianapolis

ESPN’s multimedia coverage of Super Bowl XLVI continues through the weekend from Pan Am Plaza (201 South Capitol Avenue) in downtown Indianapolis. All shows are available for free public viewing.

Actors Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, and Indy Car driver Graham Rahal, who will be part of ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown season finale, are among the notable guests scheduled to appear on ESPN programs this weekend. Scheduled highlights (all times ET):

Schedule of ESPN’s on-site programming for Saturday, Feb. 4:

10 a.m. — SportsCenter (ESPN)
Host: Steve Levy. Analysts: Tedy Bruschi and Steve Young.

1 p.m. – ESPN Deportes and ESPN International SportsCenter
Host: Ciro Procuna. Analysts: Alvaro Martin, Raul Allegre.

6 p.m. — SportsCenter (ESPN)
Host: Stuart Scott. Analysts: Trent Dilfer and Keyshawn Johnson.

Schedule of ESPN’s Super Bowl programming for Sunday, Feb. 5:

Sunday’s coverage will feature more than 17 hours of Super Bowl-related programming, beginning at 6 a.m. with Mike & Mike in the Morning live from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., studios.

Chris Berman, covering his 30^th Super Bowl, will host a four-hour Super Bowl XLVI edition of Sunday NFL Countdown (10 a.m. — 2 p.m.) with analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson, Keyshawn Johnson, Tedy Bruschi, Trent Dilfer, Jerry Rice, and Steve Young. Monday Night Football’s Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski will join the crew from the stadium. NFL Insiders Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter will also contribute reports, and reporters Rachel Nichols (covering the Giants) and Ed Werder (Patriots) will provide updates on the teams throughout the day.

Special celebrity guest appearances at Pan Am Plaza during Countdown

11:45 a.m. – Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, stars of the upcoming movie That’s My Boy will be on-set (Jets head coach Rex Ryan made a cameo appearance in the movie);
1:55 p.m. – IndyCar driver Graham Rahal will drive through downtown Indianapolis to deliver the Super Bowl XLVI picks to the set.

Pre-game coverage:

3 a.m. — NFL Matchup (ESPN – re-airs at 6:30 a.m.) – Taped Saturday in Indianapolis
Host: Sal Paolantonio. Analysts: Merril Hoge and Ron Jaworski

6 a.m. — Mike and Mike in the Morning (ESPN Radio/ESPN2) **
Hosts: Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic
Guests: ESPN analyst Herm Edwards (7 a.m.), Super Bowl winning coach and Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden (7 a.m.), and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (9:03 a.m.)

9 a.m. — SportsCenter (ESPN) **
Hosts:  Bob Ley and Hannah Storm
(Super Bowl XLVI segments from Lucas Oil Stadium – Host: Mike Tirico. Analysts: Merril Hoge, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski)
SportsCenter anchor Karl Ravech will be live in Durham, Conn., midpoint between and Met Life Stadium (Giants) and Gillette Stadium (Patriots).

9 a.m. — SportsNation (ESPN2) **
Hosts:  Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd. Guest analyst: Herm Edwards

10 a.m. — Sunday NFL Countdown(ESPN)
Full release

11 a.m. – First Take(ESPN2)
Host:  Jay Crawford. Analyst: Skip Bayless

Post-game coverage:

10:30 p.m. – NFL PrimeTime(ESPN) – live from Lucas Oil Stadium
Host: Berman. Analysts: Jackson and Young.

11:30 p.m. – SportsCenter(ESPN) **
Hosts: Steve Berthiaume and Robert Flores
(Super Bowl XLVI segments from Pan Am Plaza – Hosts: Stuart Scott and Steve Levy.  Analysts: Cris Carter, Trent Dilfer, and Keyshawn Johnson)

* Commentator and guest schedules subject to change
** Originating from ESPN Studios in Bristol, Conn.

That will do it.

The Super Bowl Weekend Megalinks

Let’s do some linkage on this Super Bowl Weekend.

The Weekend Viewing Picks have my sports and entertainment suggestions.

Time for your links. As you can imagine, many of the stories will deal with Sunday’s Super Bowl.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with NBC’s Bob Costas about his past experiences in hosing a Super Bowl pregame show.

The Nielsen Wire Blog has a look at the 10 Most Liked Super Bowl ads in the last five years.

Daisy Whitney at MediaPost says a large portion of viewers go online to look up information about a Super Bowl ad.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost writes that the Super Bowl is reaching almost half of all female viewers.

Peter Pachal of Mashable says NBC will hold a Google+ hangout to after the Super Bowl to discuss the ads.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter talks with NBC Sports Group Fearless Leader Mark Lazarus about the Super Bowl, winning the Olympics and losing Wimbledon to ESPN.

John Eggerton in Broadcasting & Cable writes that a fan lobbying group hopes the FCC will call for the elimination of the NFL’s antiquated TV blackout rules.

John says a Michigan man has been charged with illegally streaming NFL games online.

Thomas Umstead from Multichannel News says Saturday’s UFC pay per view event will be available in 3-D for the first time.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel looks at Verizon’s streaming of Sunday’s Super Bowl on select mobile devices.

Adweek talks with Sports Illustrated/NBC’s Peter King.

Tim Nudd from Adweek notes the return of the E*Trade baby to the Super Bowl.

The International Olympic Committee has awarded the Japanese rights for the 2014/16 Games at a much lower rate than the US rights paid by NBC.

Robert Livingston at Games Bid says the 2014 Olympics in Sochi will be the first to be produced in 3-D TV.

André Lowe of the Jamaica (yes the country) Gleaner says ESPN has gathered some former NFL players in a cruise ship for the Super Bowl at Sea. I’m not making this up.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with The Big Lead’s Jason McIntyre about his recent profile of ESPN Radio Hack Colin Cowherd.

Allison Stoneberg at ESPN’s Front Row discusses how the network’s producers book guests for the studio and radio shows during Super Bowl Week.

Jack Dickey at Deadspin explains how the New York Times really messed up the story of former Yale quarterback Patrick Witt.

Dylan Stableford at Yahoo’s The Cutline explains why the Puppy Bowl has become so popular on Super Bowl Sunday.

Sports Media Watch delves into the expanded NFL Network Thursday Night Football schedule.

SMW has a few ratings news and notes including one on the Winter X Games.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group goes behind the scenes with NBC’s Super Bowl production crew.

Jason Dachman of SVG goes into NBC’s first-ever online streaming of the Super Bowl.

And Dan Daily from SVG writes about this year’s Super Bowl World Feed.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says Wednesday night NHL games are doing well for NBC Sports Network.

Northeast & Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe speaks with NBC’s Rodney Harrison on the unspoken revenge factor for the New England Patriots in this year’s Super Bowl.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette has NBC’s Cris Collinsworth talking about the Super Bowl.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says one of the Mets’ TV partners may help to bail out the team from its financial troubles.

Judy Battista of the Times reports on the expanded Thursday Night Football schedule.

Stuart Elliot of the Times says the Shazam mobile app will play a prominent role during many Super Bowl ads.

A rare appearance by Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News in the links. He has his Top 5 Super Bowl announcing teams of all-time.

Phil Mushnick from the New York Post has some Super Bowl storylines the media has missed.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette looks at the NFL Network announcement of five more games added to Thursday Night Football.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has NFL Commish Roger Goodell shooting down rumors of more Monday Night Football doubleheaders.

Pete says Commissioner Goodell is firing a warning shot at Time Warner Cable.

Pete reviews the 11 men who have called a Super Bowl on network television.

The Crossing Broad blog says the Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer may be on a slow death march to oblivion.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call discusses NBC’s coverage of Super Bowl XLVI.

South

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle notes that NBC’s Rodney Harrison may be an ex-New England Patriots, but he says he can remain fair.

David says NFL Network gets a beefed up schedule next season.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says NBC’s Cris Collinsworth gets to call his second Super Bowl on TV.

Mel notes that College GameDay will be covering the Big 12 on Saturday.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that one local radio show will be on radio row in Indianapolis today.

Scott Olson of the Indianapolis Business Journal says ESPN is very happy about choosing Pan Am Plaza as its Super Bowl headquarters this week.

The Indianapolis Star has what journalists are saying about the city as a Super Bowl host.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says two participants in last year’s Big Game will be on NBC’s Super Bowl pregame show.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Cardinals TV voice Dan McLaughlin will return to call games this season.

Steve Walentik of the Columbia (MO) Tribune calls ESPN’s Jay Bilas, “College Hoops’ Deepest Thinker.” Ok.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times says Al Michaels still loves calling Super Bowls.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says Michaels is hoping for overtime.

Jim has NBC’s Rodney Harrison keeping the David Tyree catch from Super Bowl XLVII in proper perspective.

Richard Varrier of the Los Angeles Times looks at the Fed crackdown on websites that were illegally streaming NFL games.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with former Lakers voice Paul Sunderland and lists the 20 best play-by-play men in Southern California.

Tom has more about Paul in his blog and adds a couple of media notes.

Canada

Susan Krashinsky of the Toronto Globe and Mail explains why Canada can’t see the U.S. Super Bowl ads in real time.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has NBC’s Super Bowl production by the numbers.

And that’s going to do it for the links. Enjoy the Big Game.

ESPN’s Super Bowl XLVI Coverage Continues Friday

We have the ESPN Family of Networks schedule for Friday live from Indianapolis. You have the live shows on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes. Check it all out.

ESPN and ESPN Radio Super Bowl XLVI Programs Originating Live from Pan Am Plaza in Indianapolis – Friday, Feb. 3

ESPN’s multimedia coverage of Super Bowl XLVI continues Friday, Feb. 3, from Pan Am Plaza (201 South Capitol Avenue) in downtown Indianapolis. All shows are available for free public viewing.

Among the notable guests scheduled to appear on ESPN programs tomorrow include Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, actor Adam Sandler, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, and player agent Tom Condon.

Scheduled highlights (all times ET):

6 a.m. Mike and Mike in the Morning (ESPN Radio/ESPN2)
Hosts: Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic
Guests: Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton (6:45 a.m.), ESPN analyst Merril Hoge (7 a.m.), 2011 Heisman Trophy winner and 2012 NFL Draft prospect Robert Griffin III (7:45 a.m.), former Miami Dolphins linebacker Jason Taylor (8 a.m.), Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews (8:15 a.m.), ESPN analyst Steve Young (8:30 a.m.), Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder (8:45 a.m.), former Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs (9 a.m.), Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten (9:15 a.m.), and actor Adam Sandler with rapper Vanilla Ice (9:30 a.m.).

10 a.m. The Herd (ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS)
Host: Colin Cowherd
Guests: Former NFL running back Warrick Dunn (10:30 a.m.), former NFL player Chris Doleman (10:45 a.m.), Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder (11:15 a.m.), Green Bay Packers tight end Jermichael Finley (11:30 a.m.), Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (11:45 a.m.), former NFL player Bill Romanowski (12 p.m.), and Falcons Owner Arthur Blank (12:45 p.m.).

1 p.m. Scott Van Pelt Show (ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS through 3 p.m. ET)
Hosts: Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo
Guests: Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and/or Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver AJ Green (time TBD), Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne (1:15 p.m.), Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (1:45 p.m.), ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer (2 p.m.), Green Bay packers wide receiver Greg Jennings (3:15 p.m.) and NY Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress(time TBD).

1 p.m. NFL Semenal (ESPN Deportes)
Host: Ciro Procuna. Analysts: Raul Allegre and Alvaro Martin

3 p.m. SportsCenter Special: The Champions (ESPN)
Host: Mike Tirico. Analysts: Tedy Bruschi, Trent Dilfer, Mike Ditka, Jon Gruden, Keyshawn Johnson, Jerry Rice, Mark Schlereth, Steve Young
Guest: Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews (3:45 p.m.)

4 p.m. NFL Live (ESPN)
Host: Trey Wingo. Analysts: Merril Hoge and Ron Jaworski

5 p.m. SportsNation (ESPN2)
Hosts: Michelle Beadle and Cowherd. Guest analyst Herm Edwards
Throughout the week (M-F, 5-6 p.m.), SportsNation features two acts – the Blue Monkey Sideshow carnival act for SN’s ‘Halftime Show’ and Indy’s own “The Twin Cats” (official house band).
Guests: Former NFL running back Brian Westbrook, San Diego Chargers linebacker Takeo Spikes, and rapper and actor Ice Cube (5 p.m.)

6 p.m. SportsCenter (ESPN)
Host: Steve Levy. Analysts: Jerry Rice and Steve Young

6 p.m. NFL 32 (ESPN2)
Hosts: Suzy Kolber and Chris Mortensen. Analysts: Trent Dilfer and Tom Jackson
Guest: NFL agent Tom Condon (6 p.m.) – Agent for quarterbacks Drew Brees, Eli Manning and Peyton Manning

8 p.m. SportsCenter (ESPN Deportes)
Host: Ciro Procuna. Analysts: Raul Allegre and Alvaro Martin

Note: Commentator and guest schedules subject to change

That’s going to be it for this post.

ESPN’s Super Bowl XLVI Coverage Continues Thursday

We have the schedule for the ESPN Family of Networks for Thursday at Pan Am Plaza in Indianapolis. Let’s take a look at your programming. Check it out.

ESPN and ESPN Radio Super Bowl XLV Programs Originating Live from Pan Am Plaza in Indianapolis – Thursday, Feb. 2

ESPN’s multimedia coverage of Super Bowl XLVI continues Thursday, Feb. 1, from Pan Am Plaza (201 South Capitol Avenue) in downtown Indianapolis. All shows are available for free public viewing.

Among the notable guests scheduled to appear on ESPN programs tomorrow include NBC Sports Football Night in America analyst and two-time Super Bowl champion Rodney Harrison, Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson, and Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. (Tebow will also tape an interview with First Take’s Skip Bayless — the first in-person interview between the quarterback and one his most vocal advocates. The interview will air on ESPN2’s First Take on Friday, Feb. 3, at 10 a.m. ET.

Scheduled highlights (all times ET):

6 a.m. Mike and Mike in the Morning (ESPN Radio/ESPN2)
Hosts: Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic
Guests: Comedian Frank Caliendo (6:30 a.m.), NBC Football Night in America analyst and two-time Super Bowl champion Rodney Harrison (6:45 a.m.), New York Jets tight end Dustin Keller (7 a.m.), former Dallas Cowboy Ed “Too Tall” Jones (7:15 a.m.), Fox/NFL Network analyst and Super Bowl-winning coach Brian Billick (7:30 a.m.), ESPN analyst Mike Ditka (7:45 a.m.), NFL Network analyst and Super Bowl champion Kurt Warner (8 a.m.), New Orleans Saints Super Bowl-winning quarterback Drew Brees (8:15 a.m.), Pro Football Hall of Famer Deacon Jones (8:30 a.m.), Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz (8:45 a.m.), Green Bay Packers Super Bowl champion wide receiver Greg Jennings (9 a.m.), and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (9:30 a.m.)

10 a.m. The Herd (ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS)
Host: Colin Cowherd
Guests: Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton (10:30 a.m.), FOX NFL analyst Michael Strahan (11:15 a.m.), ESPN MLB analyst and former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling (11:30 a.m.), Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez (11:45 a.m.), Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew (12:15 p.m.), former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie (12:30 p.m.), and Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte (12:45 p.m.)

1 p.m. Scott Van Pelt Show (ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS through 3 p.m. ET)
Hosts: Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo
Guests: Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (12:15 p.m.), Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow (12:30 p.m.), Schwartz (1:15 p.m.), Jones-Drew (1:45 p.m.), Forte (2 p.m.), Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen (2:30 p.m.), Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing (2:45 p.m.), and Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware (3:30 p.m.)

3 p.m. SportsCenter Special (ESPN)
Host: Mike Tirico. Analysts: Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski
(Note: On Thursday’s show, ESPN’s Monday Night Football crew will offer X’s and O’s analysis of key matchups in Super Bowl XLVI)

4 p.m. NFL Live (ESPN)
Host: Trey Wingo. Analysts:  Cris Carter and Tom Jackson

5 p.m. SportsNation (ESPN2)
Hosts: Michelle Beadle and Cowherd. Guest analyst Herm Edwards
Throughout the week (M-F, 5-6 p.m.), SportsNation features two acts – the Blue Monkey Sideshow carnival act for SN’s ‘Halftime Show’ and Indy’s own “The Twin Cats” (official house band).
Guests: Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White (5:10 p.m.) and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson (5:40 p.m.)

5 p.m. SportsCenter (live on ESPNEWS) … to air at 6 p.m. on ESPN
Host: Steve Levy. Analysts:  Merril Hoge and Trent Dilfer

6 p.m. NFL 32 (ESPN2)
Hosts: Suzy Kolber and Chris Mortensen. Analysts: Steve Young and Keyshawn Johnson
Guest: Johnson and Green Bay Packers tight end Jermichael Finley

8 p.m. SportsCenter (ESPN Deportes)
Host: Ciro Procuna. Analysts: Raul Allegre and Alvaro Martin

9 p.m. SportsCenter (ESPN)… to air at 11 p.m.
Host: Stuart Scott. Analysts: Mark Schlereth and Tedy Bruschi

Note: Commentator and guest schedules subject to change

That will do it. A few more posts coming up.

ESPN’s Super Bowl XLVI Coverage Continues Wednesday

The ESPN Family of Nets are out in force once again with TV and radio shows from Indianapolis tomorrow. ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio will be represented. Here’s what will be aired on the ESPN Family on Wednesday.

ESPN and ESPN Radio Super Bowl XLV Programs Originating Live from Pan Am Plaza in Indianapolis –- Wednesday, Feb. 1

ESPN’s multimedia coverage of Super Bowl XLVI continues Wednesday, Feb. 1, from Pan Am Plaza (201 South Capitol Avenue) in downtown Indianapolis. All shows are available for free public viewing.

Among the notable guests scheduled to appear on the ESPN programs tomorrow include Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Pierre Garcon and defensive end Dwight Freeney, and North Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton. Scheduled highlights (all times ET):

6 a.m. Mike and Mike in the Morning (ESPN Radio/ESPN2)
Hosts: Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic
Guests: ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth (7 a.m.), ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter (7:45 a.m.), ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer (8:15 a.m.), ESPN analyst Cris Carter (8:30 a.m.), ESPN analyst Tom Jackson (9 a.m.), Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Pierre Garcon (9:15 a.m.) and NBC Sunday Night Football and Super Bowl XLVI play-by-play commentator Al Michaels (9:30 a.m.)

10 a.m. The Herd (ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS)
Host: Colin Cowherd
Guests: Colts wide receiver Garcon (10:45 a.m.), Indianapolis Colts kicker and four-time Super Bowl champion Adam Vinatieri (11:15 a.m.), New York Jets tight end Dustin Keller (11:30 a.m.) and Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller (11:45 a.m.)

1 p.m. Scott Van Pelt Show (ESPN Radio/ESPNEWS through 3 p.m. ET)
Hosts: Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo
Guests: Keller (1:30 p.m.) and former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis (2:15 p.m.)

3 p.m. SportsCenter Special (ESPN)
Host: Mike Tirico. Analysts: Trent Dilfer and Merril Hoge
(Note: Wednesday’s show will be devoted to the topic of NFL player safety and concussions)

4 p.m. NFL Live (ESPN)
Host: Trey Wingo. Analysts: Mark Schlereth and Ron Jaworski
Guest: Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney

5 p.m. SportsNation (ESPN2)
Hosts: Michelle Beadle and Cowherd. Guest analyst Herm Edwards
Throughout the week (M-F, 5-6 p.m.), SportsNation features two acts –- the Blue Monkey Sideshow carnival act for SN’s ‘Halftime Show’ and Indy’s own “The Twin Cats” (official house band).
Guests: Dan and Chris Gronkowski –- two of the three Gronkowski brothers currently playing in the NFL (Browns tight end Dan and Colts running back Chris). Brother Rob is the Patriots All Pro tight end.

5 p.m. SportsCenter (live on ESPNEWS) … to air at 6 p.m. on ESPN
Host: Steve Levy. Analysts: Mike Ditka and Cris Carter
Guest: Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton

6 p.m. NFL 32 (ESPN2)
Hosts: Suzy Kolber and Chris Mortensen.  Analysts:  Tom Jackson and Tedy Bruschi
Guest: Indianapolis Colt Freeney

8 p.m. SportsCenter (ESPN Deportes)

Host: Ciro Procuna. Analysts: Raul Allegre and Alvaro Martin

9 p.m. SportsCenter ESPN)… to air at 11 p.m.
Host: Stuart Scott. Analysts: Mark Schlereth and Trent Dilfer

Note: Commentator and guest schedules subject to change

That will do it.

Cranking Out Your Tuesday Links

Since late last night, I’ve been culling linkage for today. Let’s get to them.

Terry Lefton and Daniel Kaplan at Sports Business Journal discuss how Indianapolis hotels are gouging customers for Super Bowl Week.

Anick Jesdanun of the Associated Press reviews NBC’s online presentation of the Super Bowl for this Sunday.

Sergio Non of USA Today looks at the UFC on Fox rating from Saturday.

Michael Learmonth of Advertising Age says USA Today’s Super Bowl Ad Meter wrecked Super Bowl ads for good.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch provides his thoughts on The Big Lead’s profile of ESPN Radio hack Colin Cowherd.

Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter has an appreciation for The Beautiful Game.

Tim Nudd of Adweek looks at the highly successful “This is SportsCenter” ad campaign.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost says NBC is copping $4 million per Super Bowl ad.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine writes that a survey shows that a majority of readers feel Super Bowl XLVI will set a viewership record.

Toni gives us a media buyer’s primer on the Super Bowl.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life says advertisers want to get buzz about Super Bowl commercials weeks before the Big Game.

The Daily says it appears Madonna’s set list for the Super Bowl halftime show has been leaked.

Peter Schrager of Esquire lists 10 current NFL players who could make a second career on TV.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid notes that Jerry Seinfeld and the Soup Nazi will appear in a Super Bowl ad.

Frances Martel of Mediaite reviews the ESPN2 show, “Dan Le Batard is Extremely Crazy Highly Questionable.”

Robert Littal of Black Sports Online has details of the Mexican TV reporter who made an impression during Super Bowl Media Day.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group looks at ESPN taking over Pan Am Plaza in downtown Indianapolis for the Super Bowl.

Karen Hogan of SVG writes that sports has entered into reality TV in a big way.

Summer Harlow of the University of Texas Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas writes about CBSSports.com’s firing of Adam Jacobi over his premature report on Joe Paterno’s death.

Karen Rosen of TV Guide talks with ESPN’s Hannah Storm about her NFL special tonight.

All Access says a new ESPN Deportes Radio affiliate will launch tomorrow in Chicago.

Mark Miller of Examiner.com says Gary Thorne makes his Pro Bowling announcing debut this Sunday on ESPN.

Larry Mahoney of the Bangor (ME) Daily News speaks with former MLB’er Matt Stairs who joins NESN as a studio analyst for the 2012 season.

Michael Hayes of the Clinton (CT) Patch says ESPN will report from the geological center in between Gillette and Met Life Stadiums on Sunday.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has an interesting story on a small Connecticut NPR station which has a sports talk show that is not your typical run-of-the-mill program.

Judy Battista of the Times notes that the NFL will address head safety in one its in-house ads during the Super Bowl.

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News says rivals WFAN and ESPN Radio New York are squaring off in their Giants Super Bowl coverage.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes the release of ESPN’s Bracketbusters schedule.

Stacy Jones of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger says Super Bowl advertisers are hoping to hook viewers from their computers and mobile devices as well as through their TV’s.

Neal Zoren of the Delaware County Daily Times notes Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia’s countdown of the worst sports villains of all-time.

Long-time New Orleans sports anchor Jim Henderson is retiring from WWL-TV, however, he’ll remain as Voice of the Saints.

Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times-Picayune gets reaction Henderson on his retirement.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle discusses the busy Super Bowl week and the ads.

Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer speaks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews about sports, life and her hosting the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission Annual Awards Banquet this week.

Tim Evans of the Indianapolis Star says Radio Row at the Super Bowl is the perfect place for star gazing this week.

Emily Hatton of the Indy Star gives us an inside look at ESPN’s Pan Am Plaza set.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has NBC’s Bob Costas calling for a revote if National League MVP Ryan Braun of the Brewers loses his appeal for testing positive for steroids last year.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says ESPN College GameDay visits the Missouri campus this weekend.

Brian Gomez of the Colorado Springs Gazette says ESPN may pull the Winter X Games out of Aspen after an 11 year relationship.

Jason Blevins of the Denver Post writes that ESPN has been airing this year’s Winter X in 3-D.

Jill Painter of the Los Angeles Daily News says longtime UCLA voice Chris Roberts was honored by his peers as was Daily News sports media writer Tom Hoffarth.

And Tom writes an appreciation for being honored last night.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has videos of the Big Ten Network going behind the scenes with Gus Johnson.

Josh Tinley of Midwest Sports Fans explains how the Super Bowl got its name and why every game has Roman numerals.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes the NHL All-Star Game did really well for CBC.

And that will do it for now.