Fang's Bites

Fox Sports “El Jefe del Mundo” David Hill Promoted To New Position at News Corp.

The man who helped create Fox Sports, David Hill, known on the site as “El Jefe del Mundo” or “El Presidente por Vida”, will no longer be Chairman of the Fox Sports Media Group. In a shakeup at the parent company News Corp., Hill will take a new position, Senior Executive Vice President. Back in 1993, Hill was brought in by News Corp. President and CEO Rupert Murdoch to create the Fox Sports division after the network won the rights to the NFL. During his tenure, Hill helped to obtain the rights to Major League Baseball, the NHL, NASCAR and the World Cup. He also was part of the team that transitioned the old SportsChannel into Fox Sports Net.

Prior to joining Fox, Hill worked for News Corp in the UK creating Sky Television and Eurosport. And he also launched Sky Sports which remains one of the most powerful sports networks in the UK.

This is part of an executive shakeup at News Corp. We have the press release.

News Corporation Elevates Peter Rice To Chairman and CEO of Fox Networks Group

David Hill Transitions to Company-Wide Role as Senior Executive Vice president, News Corporation

NEW YORK, July 23, 2012 – News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) today announced a restructuring of the senior leadership team that oversees the Company’s media and entertainment properties. Peter Rice, who has served as Chairman of Entertainment for Fox Networks Group (FNG) since 2010, has been elevated to Chairman and CEO of FNG, where he will oversee all programming and operations for the group, which includes Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Sports Media Group, FX, Fox International Channels and the National Geographic Channels.

David Hill, who has served as Chairman and CEO of Fox Sports since 1999, has been elevated to Senior Executive Vice President, News Corporation. In this new role Mr. Hill will focus on programming, digital initiatives and other opportunities spanning the breadth of the Company’s operating units across Latin America, Asia, Australia, Europe and the U.S. Mr. Hill will be based in Los Angeles.

In commenting on the promotions, Chase Carey, News Corporation President and COO said: “The contributions that Peter has made to News Corporation over the years are immeasurable. Peter has proven himself at both the Fox Entertainment Networks, and Fox Searchlight before, to be one of the most innovative and strategic leaders in the entertainment industry.”

David Haslingden, President and COO of FNG; and Mike Hopkins, President of Distribution for FNG, both of whom previously reported to Mr. Carey, will now report to Mr. Rice. Randy Freer and Eric Shanks, Co-Presidents of Fox Sports Media Group (FSMG), who previously reported to Mr. Hill, will also report to Mr. Rice. Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company, and John Landgraf, President and GM of FX, will continue to report to Mr. Rice.

Mr. Carey continued: “David has proven himself to be one of the true visionaries in sports and entertainment across three continents during the last three decades and most recently has helped energize our National Geographic Channels. As we continue to grow our content brands across the world, David’s unique leadership and experience will be invaluable.”

“I am honored to work closely with the excellent executive team at FNG to lead these businesses into their next phase and am grateful to Rupert, Chase and James for this amazing opportunity,” said Mr. Rice. “The talented artists, powerful brands, franchises and live events we have in place across our channels are unrivaled in the media business, and will serve as an invaluable foundation as we embark on another wave of incremental growth.”

“After 30 years spent building our sports businesses into global leaders, I’ve been eager to dive into a broader role that enables me to hunt down untapped programming, investment and digital opportunities all over the world. From sports rights in emerging markets to new overseas digital channels, this new role will allow me to explore and experiment with new programming concepts across the whole of News Corporation in a completely new way,” said Mr. Hill. “I am immensely proud of the work we’ve done to revolutionize the television business, both in the U.S. and in Europe, and I leave Fox Sports in an amazing position, with a great team in place led by Randy and Eric.”

Prior to his post as Chairman of Entertainment, Mr. Rice was President of Fox Searchlight, where he served as the driving force behind the success of the specialty film genre, bringing to the screen some of the industry’s most successful and award-winning films, including Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, Little Miss Sunshine, Sideways and Juno. Before that, as Executive Vice President of Production for Twentieth Century Fox, he worked on a wide range of films including Moulin Rouge, Romeo & Juliet and X-Men.

David Hill has been Chairman and CEO of Fox Sports since 1999, leading what has been America’s No. 1 sports network for 13 consecutive years. Previously, Mr. Hill served as Chairman and CEO of Fox Broadcasting Company from 1997 to 1999, overseeing all programming and operations for the network. In 1993, armed with Fox’s new NFL television rights deal, Hill arrived in the U.S. and served as Fox Sports’ founding President. He previously held several News Corp. posts in the U.K. In 1988, he helped launch Sky Television and Eurosport and later took charge of BSkyB Sports Channel, creating Sky Sports in 1991.

This will have a huge effect on Fox Sports. We’ll see how the relationships that Hill has built over the years will move forward.

Report: Fox Plans To Start Cable Sports Network To Challenge ESPN

Bloomberg’s Andy Fixmer and Alex Sherman are reporting that News Corp., the parent company of Fox plans to launch an all-sports cable network to challenge ESPN. Now News Corp. tried this once before in the 1990′s through its Fox Sports Net affiliates, but after a brief, but failed rivalry, Fox decided to shift the focus of FSN from national to local even though some national programming is distributed on the FSN affiliates.

According to the story, Fox hopes to launch the new channel later this year by possibly converting its existing Fuel channel which focuses mostly on action sports and just began to air UFC programming this year, to the new sports network.

Fox has been accumulating inventory with the acquisition of the rights to Pac-12 basketball and football and reportedly is close to expanding its Big 12 rights. In addition, Fox won the rights for the World Cup starting in 2015 plus with the Fox Sports Net channels, could add more sports properties if it expands its current contracts with MLB and NASCAR.

While NBC has been the most visible as a potential competitor to ESPN with its relaunch of NBC Sports Network from Versus this year, the news of the Fox Sports cable network has come as a surprise.

Certainly News Corp. has the money and power to muster a challenge, but as we saw in the 1990′s, ESPN was able to win over Fox. However, with Fox Sports El Jefe del Mundo David Hill leading the new channel, one can never count him nor News Corp. out of any competition.

This will bear some watching.

A Full Tuesday Linkfest! Finally!

For the last week, I haven’t been able to do a full set of links. Work has been crazy, but I hope to give one today. It’s either going to the other office or heading out with the boss to various work sites or head to meetings, but today should be calmer.

I’ve started a series on People You Should Follow on Twitter in response to Sports Illustrated’s list published last week. Part 1 was posted Monday night and Part 2 came out Tuesday night. Look for more installments throughout the week.

Let’s get started.

First, ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute writes about the ESPN/Bruce Feldman suspension/non-suspension and for some reason, doesn’t do full due diligence on the story.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing does an excellent point-by-point takedown of the Ombudsman’s acceptance of ESPN’s company line on the Feldman suspension.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has graphic evidence of ESPN Radio Hack Colon Cowherd being a complete idiot.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand notes that ESPN is about to fully embrace Twitter and social media.

In the Business of College Sports, Kristi Dosh has a fascinating post on which sports turn a profit for BCS schools and which ones don’t.

Mike Reynolds from Mulitchannel News writes about the Women’s World Cup Final resonating with viewers.

Mike says a marketing firm is looking to package two pre-World Cup Western Hemisphere qualifying tournaments to networks.

Emma Bazilian of Adweek looks at Ross Greenburg’s departure from HBO Sports.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life Magazine goes inside the Women’s World Cup’s stellar ratings.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry writes about the marriage between sports and Twitter.

Vinnie Iyer of AOL Sporting News has HBO being optimistic that a new edition of Hard Knocks will be filmed this summer. Thanks to Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser for the link.

Jonathan Wall of Yahoo’s Devil Ball blog critiques ESPN’s coverage of the Open Championship.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall is suing sports apparel manufacturer Champion for dropping him from endorsements after his tweets about Osama bin Laden last month.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe delves into the Boston Celtics buying a large stake into Comcast SportsNet New England.

Roger Catlin at the Hartford Courant says ESPN came out as the real winner of the Women’s World Cup Final.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says ESPN produced a fair and compelling Women’s World Cup Final broadcast.

Richard Huff at the New York Daily News looks at ESPN premiering a Spanish language-edition of E:60.

Michael Blaustein of the New York Post writes that ESPN’s miniature cameras at the World Series of Poker are giving competitors an interesting advantage.

At Fishbowl New York, Jerry Barmash reports that Len Berman is dropping his sports reports on a local radio station and will be replaced by the same man who replaced him at WNBC-TV.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Open Championship final round ratings.

Evan Weiner at the New Jersey Newsroom wonders what the UK phone hacking scandal could mean for News Corp.’s sports partners here in the US.

From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that NFL Today host James Brown didn’t like how DC NFL team coach Mike Shanahan handled QB Donovan McNabb.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner looks at the ratings for the Women’s World Cup Final.

Travis Sawchik of the Charleston (SC) Post & Courier says lucrative TV contracts have helped to make college football a big business.

Candace Carlisle of the Dallas Business Journal says Fox Sports Southwest has hired a veteran writer from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to beef up its online coverage.

Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle says Texas A&M Regents are concerned over Texas’ Longhorn Network and what it means for the future of the Big 12 Conference.

Ryan Sharp of the Daily Oklahoman writes that Big 12 Conference schools can’t be too happy over the Longhorn Network’s airing of Texas high school football games.

Steven Matthews of the Dayton Daily News says the Western & Southern Open will have plenty of new looks including extensive TV exposure this summer.

Tim Prahl of the Muskego (WI) Patch talks with former MLB Network reporter Trenni Kusnierek about returning home to Milwaukee to co-host a radio show.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business notes two games scheduled for the Chicago Bulls that may never get played.

Kyle Ringo of the Boulder (CO) Daily Camera says the University of Colorado is in a unique position where it can sell the TV rights to its games this season.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times goes over some of the changes in the proposed NFL collective bargaining agreement including a new TV package.

Steve Zeitchik of the Times looks at Ross Greenburg leaving HBO.

Elizabeth Salaam of the San Diego Reader says a recent Facebook poll wasn’t kind to Padres TV voice Dick Enberg.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has some thoughts on various topics.

Sports Media Watch has some news and notes.

And we have some more news and notes from SMW.

Joe Favorito looks at who will benefit when the NFL lockout finally comes to an end.

And there is your full set of links.

Squeezing Out Some Tuesday Links

Well, I don’t have to rush back to another office today so I’ll provide some much desired linkage. We’ve already heard about Brett Favre this morning and I don’t want to suckered into another summer of “Will he or won’t he” again. Tired of the whole machinations and ESPN having Rachel Nichols stationed in Mississippi reporting every 15 minutes on SportsCenter. I saw the news break on Twitter. Just glad I wasn’t watching ESPN when the news broke.

Ok, to the links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand crunches some of the TV ratings numbers from the weekend.

Brian Lowry in Fox Sports.com isn’t a fan of TV dictating game times.

Fox Sports Net Vice President of Public Relations Chris Bellitti breaks news on Twitter that Fox will not bid for the Texas Rangers.

Darren Everson of the Wall Street Journal notes that NFL training camps have become giant reality shows. 

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says DirecTV is about to do an all-out blitz for its NFL Sunday Ticket package.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse says be prepared to see Kurt Warner on Dancing with the Stars this season.

Clay Travis at Fanhouse talks with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and how he got the richest media rights deal in college sports. 

Trey Kirby of Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie blog says expect to see a lot of the Miami Heat on national TV.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says despite taking a hit to his image, Upper Deck still believes in LeBron James.

Darren wonders why the Miami Heat had to fire its entire season tickets sales staff. 

To the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center and Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times who writes that Shaquille O’Neal is giving us a lesson on how the sports media world has changed in the 21st Century.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call notes that Speed is the closest thing a NASCAR fan has to a 24/7 channel dedicated to the sport.

Bob Flounders of the Patriot-News (PA) profiles Michael Barkann of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

Bob has a little more with Barkann.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV writes about the Baltimore Ravens and MASN splitting ways after a five year partnership.

Sam Sessa of the Baltimore Sun saw ESPN’s corporate letter announcing the closure of the ESPNZone restaurants. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner tells us to look for the Ravens to partner with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says LaVar Arrington will join the Post to write a blog.

Hal Boedecker of the Orlando Sentinel says Bright House cable customers are used to disputes as ESPN is in danger of being pulled in September.

Jeff Shain of the Sentinel looks at Whit Watson joining the Golf Channel. 

And Hal says Erin Andrews begins her Good Morning America gig on Thursday.

Barry Shlachter of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that News Corp. will not bid for the Rangers.

Jennifer Floyd Engel in the Star-Telegram feels Mark Cuban is in for the Texas Rangers bidding for himself and not the fans.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will put all of its games, except for those picked exclusively by TNT or ABC, on Fox Sports Oklahoma.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer tells us that Brian Collins who gave us, “Boom Goes The Dynamite” is now looking for a new job.

Eric Hansen of the South Bend (IN) Tribune looks at Mike Mayock as the new TV analyst for Notre Dame football.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune says the local Fox affiliate is surprised over losing a sports anchor.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says the White Sox refute manager Ozzie Guillen’s claims about MLB’s treatment of Latin players.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times reports of the long term agreement between CBS and Comcast that carries coverage for CBS College Sports as well. 

John Consoli of The Wrap says ESPN is selling BASS, LLC. to a former Time Inc. executive. 

AJ Daulerio of Deadspin says it appears the new book on ESPN is going to be a blockbuster.

The Big Lead tells us about some rumblings at Yahoo! Sports. 

Steven Collins at Bristol Today notes that actor Mark Wahlberg put ESPN’s public relations at Defcon 4 after an interview with Moviefone.

Sports Media Watch says NASCAR’s ratings bounced back on Sunday.

SMW notes that the Miami Heat will have two big national games in December.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media teases a five part series on the future of the NHL on US TV.

Emmett Jones in Sports Business Digest praises DirecTV for making its SuperFan package available to all NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers instead of a select few.

SportsbyBrooks notes that ESPN writer Arash Markazi has had stories spiked before.

Bob’s Blitz has video of NESN’s Heidi Watney throwing out the first pitch for the Lowell Spinners during her Bobblehead night.

That will do it.

Some Monday Night Links

Looking around, we have some links we can provide. Let’s get to them.

Jon Weinbach of Fanhouse says News Corp., parent owner of the Fox Sports Net affiliates, is heavily weighing a bid for the Texas Rangers in an effort to keep the rights of the MLB team in its fold.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse suggests to ESPN that it disclose its true relationship with LeBron James.

Sports Business Daily looks into ESPN’s decision not to suspend writer Arash Markazi for the spiked LeBron James story.

From Sports Business Journal, John Ourand says one of MLB’s rising executives is leaving the company to join the Wasserman Media Group.

Tripp Mickel writes that MLS’ Board of Governors has voted to extend Commissioner Don Garber deal for four more years.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that shoe company K-Swiss is using “Eastbound and Down” character Kenny Powers in a set of new ads.

Darren says Nike may not be offering a toning shoe, but it is fighting back against Sketchers and Reebok in another way.

The West Palm Beach Post is looking for someone to cover the Miami Heat. Thanks to John Daly of The Daly Planet for the link.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter says DirecTV is providing its SuperFan package of HD games, online service and Red Zone Channel free of charge to its Sunday NFL Ticket package, but it’s also jacking up the price to over $300.

Georg writes that MSG Network is joining the world of sports radio simulcasts.

Completing a Georg trifecta, he tells us that Dish Network will be filing a complaint with the FCC over Comcast’s refusal to offer SportsNet Philadelphia to the satellite provider.

Brooks Barnes of the New York Times looks at a new Facebook app which allows you to get taped messages from sports and entertainment celebrities for your birthday. 

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union says instant replay will be used in the 64th Little League World Series.

David Zurawik and Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun say the Ravens are looking for a TV station to pick up its programming now that its five year partnership with MASN has fallen apart.

The Ravens website is listing WBAL Plus, which is the secondary channel of Baltimore NBC affiliate WBAL, as the carrier for its five TV shows. We’ll see if this becomes official.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that ESPN’s Mike Golic and another reporter have passed the now-infamous Albert Haynesworth physical conditioning test.

Sarah Talalay in the South Florida Sun Sentenel writes that the Dolphins and Heat are assuring season ticket holders their food is safe in the wake of an ESPN Outside the Lines report to the contrary.

Barry Shlachter of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban could be joining a Houston investor’s bid to buy the Texas Rangers.

Scott Dochterman in the Iowa City Gazette says despite the inordinate amount of teams, the Big Ten is going to keep its name.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News feels something isn’t right about the whole ESPN/Arash Markazi/LeBron James situation.

Tom is also feeling uneasy about this whole Twitter thing.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball has been doing yeoman’s work on the Texas Rangers situation and he has the latest which includes Mark Cuban trying to force MLB’s hand in the approval process should he win the auction for the team.

Sports Media Watch says it appears that LeBron James and the Miami Heat will appear on TNT on NBA Opening Night.

SMW cites a New York Daily News report which states the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks will play on Christmas Day.

SMW notes the low overnights for the Greenbrier Classic on CBS on Sunday. 

The Big Lead wonders what’s up with Jason Whitlock at the Kansas City Star?

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media tells us how he would conduct the next World Cup of Hockey.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest suggests the NFL open its books in collective bargaining with the Players Association.

SportsbyBrooks has the real reason why ESPN spiked the LeBron James story.

And that will conclude your Monday Night Links.

Doing The Sunday Links

Well, my day has been planned for me, but I don’t want to leave you without links so I got up early to provide some until I return home sometime after 6 tonight.

Without further ado, here are the links.

Tom Van Riper at Forbes cautions fans who are caught up in the Pac 10/12 media hype.

John Walters at Fanhouse says the Pac 10/12 has many obstacles to overcome including its TV contracts.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that fans are feeling their NFL game tickets are worth more this year than last.

Darren explains why IMG’s purchase of college sports syndicator ISP is good for the game.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Outdoor Channel gets picked up by Comcast in Houston.

Jesse Quinlan of the Stamford (CT) Advocate talks with ESPN’s Steve Young. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that there will be no disciplinary action against ESPN writer Arash Markazi on his story about LeBron James’ Boys Night Out in Las Vegas that was eventually spiked.

Phil “Dr. Doom and Gloom” Mushnick of the New York Post now goes after NFL Commish Roger Goodell on last week’s Town Meeting in Green Bay. In Mushnick’s World, nothing is ever good enough for him.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News notes that the Bills fans can follow their team through Twitter.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog notes that two local TV reporters attempted the same physical conditioning test that Albert Haynesworth failed twice for the DC NFL team. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that the DC NFL team will be well covered by the local media during the preseason.

David Walsh of the Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch talks with the Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner about his familiarity of The Greenbrier Resort, site of this weekend’s PGA Tour stop. 

Walsh adds that the TV exposure thanks to Golf Channel and CBS to The Greenbrier Resort is good for the local area.

The Miami Herald’s Dan LeBatard says ESPN spiked the LeBron James story for the right reasons.  Don’t forget LeBatard appears regularly on ESPN either on Pardon The Interruption or the Sports Reporters.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has a quick blurb on why Mavericks owner Mark Cuban would be interested in buying the Texas Rangers.

Barry talks with Fox Sports’ Daryl Johnston about picking up a new gig with NFL Network.

Mike Heika of the Morning News reports that News Corp., parent company of Fox Sports and Fox Sports Net, is a bidder for the NHL’s Stars. 

MLB Network’s Trenni Kusnierek (and a Friend of Fang’s Bites) suggests we take a break from Facebook and Twitter every once in a while.

Melissa Harris of the Chicago Tribune notes that despite having a championship season, record breaking attendance and TV ratings, the Blackhawks still lost money. 

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times says Dish Network is taking shots at Comcast for keeping SportsNet Philadelphia off the satellite provider.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News loves a new website which alerts you to big things happening on TV.

Tom has more about the website in his blog.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the Blue Jays may be out of the pennant race, but continue to do well in the ratings. 

Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun talks with Stacey Bieber who is one of the golfers taking part in this season’s Big Break Sandals Resort on Golf Channel.

Sports Media Watch has its weekend ratings predictions.

SMW has some ratings news and notes.

And SMW notes comments from ESPN’s John Skipper that I picked up in the Friday megalinks and bear watching that he feels ESPNews and ESPN Classic are not performing to par and could have an announcement on the two channels in the coming months.

Sox & Dawgs has the video of the Red Sox epic comeback against the Detroit Tigers yesterday.

And that will do it. Enjoy your Sunday.

More Monday Links

Against my better judgment, I’m going to give you some more links on this Monday.

Here are some more stories from the Sports Business Journal.

First, Tripp Mickle and John Ourand team up on a story which focuses on the United States Olympic Committee’s attempts to launch a 24/7 all-Olympic sports channel and trying to find a partner.

Jon Show says NBC has reupped home security company, ADT to sponsor its Sports Update segments and a golf event.

Tripp Mickle writes that Major League Soccer is seeing increased attendance, but it’s not translating to TV ratings.

Back to Jon Show, he tells us that the TV networks are still interested in mixed martial arts despite having Elite XC falling by the wayside. And Jon says despite three MMA companies failing this year, those still standing are quite bullish on the sport.

Terry Lefton and Eric Fisher have a wrap up on the World Series.

Our last link from the SBJ, Liz Mullen writes that the Breeders’ Cup plans to reduce ticket prices for next year’s event.

From the Sox & Dawgs blog, we find out that the UConn-Syracuse game on November 15 will be televised at noon on the Big East TV Network.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty says Michael Kay has signed a contract extension with the YES Network.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun has more on Baltimore’s first FM sports radio station.

Jim Williams from the DC Examiner also has more on the new station.

Ryan Sharrow in the Baltimore Business Journal says the new sports station will have an all-local show lineup.

John Kieseswetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says WLW’s Reds Hot Stove League Show premieres tomorrow night.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News has a quick look at the ratings for several events involving local teams. And Barry says the Cowboys’ ratings are slowly declining.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News tells us that the Spanish language edition of ESPN’s Around the Horn premieres on ESPN Deportes today.

Linda Moss of Multichannel News writes that Disney has signed a major carriage deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative for six HDTV channels including ESPNU, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNews.

Ed Meza from Variety says 39 different companies including ESPN and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. are interested in 37 different media packages from the German Bundesliga soccer league.

Jon Lafayette from TV Week says Turner is measuring out-of-home viewing for the MLB Postseason. And Jon writes that starting this week, the NFL Network is preparing to air its slate of 8 live games.

Richard Tedesco of Promo Magazine says NFL Network games can be seen live on cell phones running the Sprint Now Network.

Steve Lepore’s Puck the Media blog praises Versus for putting together a Top Shelf broadcast team for tonight’s New Jersey-Buffalo NHL game, but slaps the network for not showing a game on Tuesday.

I want to congratulate Providence sports anchor Frank Carpano who will be inducted into the Silver Circle of the New England Chapter of the Television Academy. I interned for Frank at WJAR-TV and he could not have been any nicer to me.

That’s going to do it. Expect Primetime and Late Night Viewing Picks later. I should have one more post before then.

BREAKING NEWS

News Corp., owned by Rupert Murdoch, the company that owns Fox Sports and Fox Sports Net and is in a joint venture with Premiere Radio Networks to run Fox Sports Radio, has entered into a preliminary agreement to purchase Dow Jones & Company for $5 BILLION. That’s right, $5 billion. The deal still needs approval. As a person who doesn’t like media consolidation, I’m hoping the Bancroft family which still owns most of Dow Jones will vote against the deal. The agreement includes the Wall Street Journal which Murdoch covets.

You would think with this big story, it would get coverage on CNBC, Fox News, CNN or MSNBC. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. CNBC which is supposed to be a business news channel is stuck in a Mad Money rerun. Great.