Fang's Bites

A Few Wednesday Sports Media Thoughts

I’ll provide a few thoughts as we hit midweek. They’ll be in bullet form, of course.

• First, here’s hoping the people of New Orleans will be ok in the midst of Hurricane Isaac. They’ve put up with way too much from Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Gustav and the BP oil spill, I pray they endure this without major damage.
• I’m going to be interested to see how Fox Sports’ new primetime college football package is going to fare against ESPN’s venerable lineup. Fox will focus on the Big 12 and Pac-12. ESPN/ABC can tap plenty of major conferences from the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and place any big game it wants on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. We’ll see if Fox can hold its own.
• As both CBS and NBC attempt to get their sports radio networks off the ground, both are hoping to get that big name to anchor their lineup. CBS has Doug Gottlieb thus far. The rest of the dayparts have to be filled. NBC has Erik Kuselias plus a few other hires including Rodney Harrison for a weekend show. One of the X Factors for NBC is if it can land Dan Patrick and lure him away from DirecTV/Fox Sports Radio and get him for the 9 a.m. – noon ET slot. That would give NBC some credibility, stations and a big hole filled.
• Original MLB Network reporter Trenni Kusnierek, who’s been co-hosting an afternoon drive radio show in Milwaukee, is shipping up to  Boston where she will become an anchor/reporter for Comcast SportsNet New England. In effect, she replaces Nicole Zaloumis who is at NFL Network.
• While the Pac-12 Networks have launched up and down the West Coast, it has yet to sign satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network. Issues include the high price per subscriber and the seven networks under the Pac-12 umbrella. DirecTV just wants to carry the national network, but the league wants it to pick up everything. No sign of an agreement with either provider in the near future.
• And speaking of disputes, Time Warner Cable continues its holdout of NFL Network. While the network was able to pick up Cablevision this month, it still can’t get Time Warner in the fold. And it appears that there isn’t an agreement in sight. Time Warner can create its own Southern California regional sports network and attempt to get the Dodgers, but it remains steadfast in its refusal to provide NFL Network and also continues to be stubborn in not picking up MASN in North Carolina. It’s all about power and money in these disputes and who will blink first. Right now, neither Time Warner nor NFL Network are willing to talk. That’s too bad for the consumer.
• It’s unfortunate that none of NBCUniversal’s networks will carry the Paralympics live which begin this week in London. NBC Sports Network will air taped specials in September. Not good enough. Many of these athletes are quite courageous and it would be nice to get some live coverage to learn their stories. It’s not necessary for NBC to pick it up, but how about NBC Sports Network or Universal Sports? They need the inventory. C’mon, NBC.

And we’re done.

Your Tuesday Linkage

Let’s do some Tuesday links.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

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

And that’s going do it for our linkage.

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.

NBC Sports Group and Dial Global Radio Announce “NBC Sports Radio Network”

This from the NBC Sports Group, NBC and Dial Global Radio are forming the NBC Sports Radio Network. It will begin operation in September with hourly sports news updates and various commentaries. Then long form programming will start later with shows that will be streamed at both NBCSports.com and DialGlobal.com.

Programming will be made available as podcasts for personal downloading. Expect to hear commentaries from the likes of Bob Costas, Al Michaels, Erik “The Butcher” Kuselias, Michelle Beadle, Russ Thaler and others. Not sure if Dan Patrick’s radio contract would allow him to take part in this venture, but with Dial Global’s reach, perhaps he could change distributors down the line.

Here’s the announcement.

NBC SPORTS GROUP AND DIAL GLOBAL PARTNER TO FORM THE NBC SPORTS RADIO NETWORK

New National Sports Radio Network Begins in September, to Include Regional Daily Sports Updates

NEW YORK, NY, June 11, 2012 – The NBC Sports Group and Dial Global (NASDAQ: DIAL) announced a partnership today to create the NBC Sports Radio Network. Beginning in September, the network will be distributed to radio stations nationwide by Dial Global.

The network’s content will include hourly sports news updates, daily features as well as full-length shows.
In addition to distribution on terrestrial radio stations, NBC Sports’ audio content will be available on a wide variety of digital platforms. Live shows will be streamed onNBCSports.com, DialGlobalSports.com, affiliate stations’ websites and other streaming services. On-demand short-form audio content will also be distributed online and through podcasts and other digital applications. Dial Global will be the exclusive ad and affiliate sales representative to the network.

“We are thrilled to bring the rich heritage of NBC Sports to listeners across national radio for the first time,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group. “By adding radio to our broadcast, cable, regional, and digital assets, the NBC Sports Radio Network will give sports fans a new way to interact with the NBC Sports Group day in and day out.”

“Dial Global is excited to partner with NBC Sports Group to expand upon Dial Global’s live play-by-play platform. We are confident that with NBC’s sports assets, we will create a leading full service sports network and bring great sports audio to listeners across America,” said Spencer Brown, Co-CEO of Dial Global.

Tapping into the NBC Sports Group’s unique mix of national and local assets, the NBC Sports Radio Network will provide stations both national and regional sports content. Listeners may hear hourly sports updates, long-form shows and features hosted by national NBC Sports voices, NBC Sports Regional Networks on-air personalities, or NBC affiliate sportscasters, depending upon location. Specific programming and commentator details will be announced at a later date.

“Dial Global is the perfect partner for us in this new endeavor because of their unsurpassed national radio experience, relationships and infrastructure,” said Rob Simmelkjaer, Senior Vice President, NBC Sports Ventures and International. “We look forward to growing the NBC Sports Radio Network together.”

“With the combination of Dial Global’s market-leading play-by-play and the growing NBC Sports Group’s brand and talent, we are building an exciting and unique opportunity for the market that will bring new voice to sports radio that will quickly make an impact” said Chris Corcoran, Executive Vice President/GM of Dial Global.

This partnership expands upon the existing radio relationship between Dial Global and NBCUniversal, which includes NBC News, The Weather Channel, NBC Olympics and more. Earlier this year, NBC News partnered with Dial Global to create NBC News Radio—a 24-hour radio news network distributing news reports and content to over 700 stations nationwide.

Back in the mid-1980′s under owner General Electric, NBC got out of the radio business, selling its radio network to Westwood One. Now under Comcast, NBC is getting back into radio through Westwood One’s new owners in Dial Global. What’s old is new again. And I’m happy to see NBC back into radio.

We’ll see if it can make a dent in a crowded sports network lineup that includes ESPN, Fox and Yahoo.