Fang's Bites

Grinding Out Some Tuesday Links For You

Let’s do some links. Couldn’t get to them yesterday. Time to grind some out today.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says ESPN won’t be an oasis away from political advertising this fall.

Michael also has the ratings on Wimbledon and NASCAR.

Bill King of Sports Business Journal looks at NBC bringing back boxing to network television.

Sports Business Daily Global notes that the Wimbledon men’s final drew well in both the US and the UK.

SBD says the International Olympic Committee is under fire for renewing sponsorship deals with McDonald’s and Coke in the midst of an increasing obesity crisis.

And Eric Fisher of SBD notes that MLB will allow players to Tweet during tonight’s All-Star Game.

Jason Fry of the ESPN Ombudsman’s Poynter Review Project notes that the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s reporting has changed thanks to Twitter.

Alicia Jessop at Forbes writes that Kansas City expects a big financial windfall from the MLB All-Star Game.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group looks at Fox’s ever-changing production of tonight’s All-Star Game.

Chris Ariens of TVNewser has a clip of Erin Andrews’ interview with Fox News’ Shepard Smith in Kansas City.

Glenn Davis from SportsGrid notes that one cover of ESPN the Magazine’s Body issue will feature a nekkid Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots.

A rare link to Grantland finds a 15,612 word oral history of WFAN written by Alex French and Howie Kahn. It’s really good, but read it at your own pace and not all at once.

Tim Baysinger at Broadcasting & Cable says the Gentlemen’s Final at Wimbledon drew ESPN’s best tennis ratings ever.

Tim says NBA TV is all over Summer League games in the next two weeks.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News notes that the combined TNT/truTV effort for last Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race brought the highest ratings for the Daytona 400 in four years.

Ann Killion of Adweek says Olympic athletes are trying to get their piece of marketing gold in the midst of companies getting all of the sponsorship money.

Also from Adweek, Anthony Crupi writes that NBC and Turner Sports appear to be fighting for the main cable rights to MLB.

Lifestyle Mirror has a fantastic photo shoot with Fang’s Bites fave Charissa Thompson.

To The Sherman Report where Ed Sherman has Part 1 of a two part series with Fox Sports MLB analyst Tim McCarver. And here’s Part 2.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times is amused that SNY, the home of the Mets, has erected a billboard at the Yankee Stadium subway train stop.

Richard says Jerry Seinfeld, a big baseball fan, will break down the iconic Abbot & Costello comedy skit, “Who’s on First?” on MLB Network.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says a local TV station has hired a new sportscaster.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says WFAN and ESPN Radio NY will split Dial Global Radio’s Olympic coverage later this month.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that new DC NFL Team QB Robert Griffin III was asked on local sports radio if he’s already more popular than the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin.

Dan says DC NFL Team radio analyst Sam Huff has worked so long on the game broadcasts that the network feels he can call his own shots now.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Fox Sports’ Tim McCarver.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times writes that a local TV station has signed to air NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football Bucs-Vikings game.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says MLB Network airs a documentary on the life and death of former Astros pitcher Darryl Kile.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says ESPNU will re-air four games involving Sooner State schools in its top college football games of the season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that despite the U.S. Women’s Open being played locally, there wasn’t much interest either on ESPN2 or on NBC.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Fox Sports Florida sideline reporter Laura McKeeman was crowned Miss Florida over the weekend.

SportsRantz also profiles Ms. McKeeman.

Sports Media Watch says last night’s MLB Home Run Derby had a slight ratings decline from last year.

SMW says Fox’s Baseball Night in America ended its 8 week run on a high note thanks to Yanks-Red Sox.

NBC Airs The U.S. Women’s Open This Weekend

This from the NBC Sports Group. The U.S. Women’s Open has begun and both ESPN2 and NBC will share coverage under their contracts with the US Golf Association. NBC will have weekend coverage from Blackwolf Run in Kohler, WI. Dan Hicks will be at the tower on the 18th green with Dottie Pepper. Joining them will be Hall of Fame golfer Annika Sorenstam who makes her NBC debut. Assisting NBC in the coverage will be tower reporter Gary Koch, on-course reporters Roger Maltbie, Kay Cockerill and Jane Crafter.

Golf Channel will provide studio coverage for the event, but there will be no live golf action from the U.S. Women’s Open on the network.

Here’s the NBC Sports press release.

NBC SPORTS GROUP TO AIR MORE THAN 30 HOURS OF U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN PROGRAMMING

Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam to Join Tournament and News Coverage
Six Hours of Weekend Tournament Coverage on NBC
Golf Central Team to Broadcast On-Site
Golf Central to Air on NBC Saturday and Sunday
“It will be a test of patience and perseverance.” – Annika Sorenstam
“Highlight of my season to cover the greatest championship in women’s golf.” – Dottie Pepper

ORLANDO, Fla., / NEW YORK – July 3, 2012 – NBC Sports Group will present more than 30 hours of combined, live tournament and wraparound news coverage of this week’s 2012 U.S. Women’s Open Championship – the third major championship on the women’s schedule this year – on both Golf Channel and NBC

“Golf Channel on NBC’s” weekend coverage on NBC will include three hours of live tournament action each day, which, for the first time, will be complemented by Golf Channel’s Golf Central pre-game show. Golf Channel’s wraparound coverage will originate from the tournament site throughout the week, featuring news, talk and instructional programming. GolfChannel.com also will provide comprehensive online coverage of the championship.

ANNIKA SORENSTAM TO MAKE NBC DEBUT – Hall-of-Famer and three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Annika Sorenstam will make her NBC on-air debut, joining analyst Dottie Pepper and play-by-play host Dan Hicks for a portion of the weekend tournament coverage. Sorenstam also will contribute to Golf Channel’s news shows throughout the week, including Golf Central, Golf Central Pre Game and Morning Drive.

TOURNAMENT BROADCAST TEAM – Host Dan Hicks and lead analyst Dottie Pepper will anchor coverage from the 18^th tower. They will be joined by tower reporter Gary Koch and on-course reporters Roger Maltbie, Kay Cockerill and Jane Crafter. Sorenstam will join Hicks and Pepper in the booth for a portion of the coverage each day.

ON-SITE NEWS COVERAGE – Golf Channel will provide the most extensive news coverage of the U.S. Women’s Open in its history, featuring live news reports, inside analysis, player interviews, special guest appearances and compelling features from the women’s third major championship of 2012.

Golf Central will broadcast live and on-site from Blackwolf Run throughout the week and will originate from a dedicated set near the 13th green – delivering news coverage before and after tournament play. Morning Drive, the network’s live, weekday morning show, will feature daily special guests from the tournament site. The Grey Goose 19^th Hole (Thursday night at midnight ET and Friday night at 2 a.m. ET) will feature news, highlights and interviews from the U.S. Women’s Open. Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee and Tom Abbott will anchor Golf Central and will be joined by contributors Annika Sorenstam, GolfChannel.com senior writer Randall Mell and other NBC analysts throughout the week.

GOLF CENTRAL ON NBC – For the first time at the U.S. Women’s Open, Golf Channel will prep NBC’s weekend tournament action with a 30-minute Golf Central on NBCpre-game show, airing exclusively on NBC from 2:30-3 p.m. ET. Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee and Tom Abbott will host the shows, and will be joined by NBC analysts and contributors.

U.S. Women’s Open Programming

Show	Network	Airtime (all times ET)
Thursday, July 5
Morning Drive	Golf Channel	6:30-8:30 a.m.
Golf Central Pre Game	Golf Channel	1:30-3 p.m.
U.S. Women’s Open	ESPN2	4-8 p.m.
Golf Central	Golf Channel	7-7:30 p.m.
Golf Central	Golf Channel	11:30 p.m.-Midnight
Grey Goose 19th Hole	Golf Channel	Midnight-12:30 a.m.
Friday, July 6
Morning Drive	Golf Channel	6:30-8:30 a.m.
Golf Central Pre Game	Golf Channel	1:30-3 p.m.
U.S. Women’s Open	ESPN2	4-8 p.m.
Golf Central	Golf Channel	7-7:30 p.m.
Golf Central	Golf Channel	1:30-2 a.m.
Saturday, July 7
Golf Central Pre Game	Golf Channel	1-2:30 p.m.
Golf Central on NBC	NBC	2:30-3 p.m.
U.S. Women’s Open	NBC	3-6 p.m.
Golf Central	Golf Channel	6-6:30 p.m.
Golf Central	Golf Channel	11:30 p.m. – Midnight
Sunday, July 8
Golf Central Pre Game	Golf Channel	1-2:30p.m.
Golf Central on NBC	NBC	2:30-3 p.m.
U.S. Women’s Open	NBC	3-6 p.m.
Golf Central	Golf Channel	6-7 p.m.
Golf Central	Golf Channel	11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.

DIGITAL COVERAGE – GolfChannel.com senior writer Randall Mell will contribute daily columns, news articles, features and breaking news from the U.S. Women’s Open throughout the week.

That does it.

The Thursday Linkage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our Monday Linkage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MediaRantz reviews WFAN at 25.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And that will do us for today.

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.

NBC Crows About US Open Ratings

With Tiger Woods in contention for most of the tournament, NBC reaped the benefits in the third and final round on Fathers Day weekend. According to NBC, the network saw an increase of 65% in its third round ratings on Saturday and a spike of 43% on Sunday from the year before.

And while Tiger fell by the wayside on Sunday, viewers continued to watch as Webb Simpson came through to win his first major.

Saturday’s viewership saw an average of 7.6 million viewers and a 5.0 rating with a 12 share. Sunday registered a 6.0 rating, a 12 share and 9.6 million viewers. All of the numbers are up significantly from the year before when Rory McIlroy won the Open.

In addition, having the first primetime Open in four years also helped increase the numbers.

Here’s the press release from NBC Sports.

U.S. OPEN FINAL ROUND IS MOST WATCHED SINCE 2008

Sunday’s Final Round Averaged 9.6 Million Viewers, Up 30% vs. Last Year
Saturday’s Third Round Averaged 7.6 Million Viewers, Up 65% vs. Last Year and Best in a Decade
Weekend Coverage Averaged 8.6 Million Viewers, Up 43% vs. Last Year & Best Since 2008
Golf Channel’s News Coverage Produces Most-Watched “U.S. Open Week” Ever

NEW YORK – June 20, 2012 – Thirteen hours of weekend coverage of the 112^th U.S. Open Championship from the Olympic Club in San Francisco on NBC produced: the most-watched final round in four years; the most-watched third round in a decade; and the most-watched combined Saturday-Sunday coverage in four years; according to data released by The Nielsen Company. In addition, Golf Channel’s news coverage of the championship, highlighted by its signature series Live from the U.S. Open, produced the most-watched U.S. Open Week in the channel’s 17-year history.

With the Open being played on the west coast, it allowed for extensive primetime viewing in much of the country. Previous west coast U.S. Opens that allowed for extensive primetime coverage came in 2008 from Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., and 2010 from Pebble Beach, Calif.

Following are viewership highlights:

Final Round

• Sunday’s final round broadcast averaged 9.6 million viewers, up 30% vs. last year (7.4 million) and the best since 2008 (12.1).
• Sunday received a 6.0 household rating and a 12 share, up 33% vs. last year and the best in four years (2008, 7.5/17)
• The rating peaked at a 7.5/12 in the 10–10:30 p.m. ET half-hour.
• This year’s U.S. Open, while going head-to-head with Game 3 of the NBA Finals, generated a higher rating (6.0/12) and more viewers (9.6 million) than Pebble Beach in 2010 (5.8/13 and 9.3 million), which was the last Open with primetime viewing.
• The top five markets in household rating were:

1. Fort Myers, Fla. 10.0
2. Columbus, Ohio 9.8
3. West Palm Beach, Fla. 9.4
4. Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C. 9.1
5. Indianapolis 8.8

• San Francisco registered an 8.0 household rating and 22 share, up 129% vs. last year (3.5/13) and the best for the market since the 2000 U.S. Open (11.4/32) at Pebble Beach.

Third Round

• Saturday’s third round coverage averaged 7.6 million viewers, up 65% vs. last year (4.6 million) and the most-watched since 2002 (8.2 million).
• NBC’s third-round coverage (4-10:30 p.m. ET) received a 5.0 household rating and a 12 share, up 61% vs. last year and the best in a decade (2002, 6.0/17).
• Saturday’s coverage surpassed both 2010 (3.7/9 and 5.6 million) and 2008 (4.6/11 and 6.6 million) in ratings and viewership.

The combined Saturday-Sunday household rating (5.5/12) and viewership (8.6 million) were the best since 2008 (6.0/14 and 9.3 million), and up 41% and 43%, respectively, vs. last year (3.9/10 and 6.0 million viewers).

Golf Channel

• Golf Channel’s news coverage, which included its signature Live from the U.S. Open, had its most-watched U.S. Open Week in its 17-year history.
• Golf Channel had its most-watched U.S. Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
• U.S. Open Week continued Golf Channel’s streak of “most-watched weeks,” which include Masters Week and PLAYERS Week.
• It was also the best ever U.S. Open Week for GolfChannel.com in page views (+178% vs. 2011), unique users (+266%), video streams (+356%) and page views for the Golf Channel mobile app (+209%).

There you have it.

Guy Interrupts Bob Costas Interview of U.S. Open Winner Webb Simpson

We’ve had videobombs before, but nothing quite like this. As NBC’s Bob Costas was getting ready to interview U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, some alien dressed in British colors blocks the camera and does a strange bird call. Luckily, Simpson had a good answer and took it in stride. Costas looked mildly perturbed.

In case you were watching the NBA Finals, Sunday Night Baseball, the College World Series or something else, then here’s your first look at this very strange videobomb.

That’s it.

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.

Golf Channel To Cover “Golf’s Longest Day”

While many of you will be heading to work on this Monday, more than 1,000 golfers will be attempting to qualify for this year’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot in New York. Today is the day for U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying at sites all over the country. Only 79 slots are open for the qualifiers and you have over 1,000 men hoping to gain one of those open spots.

It’s like a megadose of Indianapolis 500 Bump Day as the golfers will be waiting for their scores and hoping to hear their named called.

Golf Channel’s coverage of what it’s calling “Golf’s Longest Day” will begin at 7 a.m. ET today during a special four hour edition of Morning Drive hosted by Gary Williams. It will continue with special editions of Golf Central sprinkled throughout the day.

We have the announcement from Golf Channel.

GOLF CHANNEL PREPARES FOR MAJOR TV FEAT AND ‘GOLF’S LONGEST DAY’

June 4 to be Golf’s Version of ‘Super Tuesday’
Reporters at 14 U.S. Sites Will Follow More Than 1,000 Hopefuls Attempting to Qualify for the U.S. Open Championship

ORLANDO, Fla. — Dreams of playing on one of golf’s brightest stages either will be realized or dashed on June 4 for nearly 1,000 golfers who will attempt to qualify for a mere 79 slots available in the final field of 156 players for the 2012 U.S. Open Championship. Through a first-of-its-kind golf television undertaking, Golf Channel will devote an entire day of programming and updates in order to follow these compelling stories during what the network is calling Golf’s Longest Day, or more commonly known as U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying.

Starting at 7 a.m. ET and lasting until Midnight (or when final results are in), Golf Channel will feature interviews, analysis and scoring updates delivered by a team of more than 50 reporters and production professionals embedded at 14 locations throughout the United States. In addition to the 11 USGA Sectional Qualifying sites, the network also will have reporters located at The Olympic Club in San Francisco – site of next month’s U.S. Open – and at USGA headquarters in Far Hills, N.J. All of the content throughout the day will be hosted by Steve Sands and Kelly Tilghman from Golf Channel’s Orlando studios.

Golf’s Longest Day will begin with an expanded, four-hour version of Morning Drive, hosted by Gary Williams. The telecast will include live and taped reports from the 11 sectional qualifiers, as well as interviews with USGA members past and present. Mark Hill, former executive director of the Kentucky Golf Association who ran USGA qualifiers for many years, will serve as a special in-studio expert and will be featured on Golf Channel throughout the day. Hill now serves as USGA senior director of competitions, overseeing the Association’s 12 national amateur events.

Three Golf Central special presentations (1-2 p.m. ET; 6-8 p.m. ET; and 10 p.m.-12 a.m. ET) will cover emerging stories, interviews with medalists and other qualifiers, and studio analysis from Tripp Isenhour (who has qualified for the U.S. Open three out of seven attempts in the past) and Hill. In between, frequent news updates throughout the day will keep viewers up to date on all the news and scores.

GolfChannel.com also will serve as a source for U.S. Open qualifying news and information, with feature stories written by correspondents in the field, scoring updates and posting social media content from Golf Channel reporters covering the Sectional events.

Golf’s Longest Day
News Team and Featured Guests

Gary Williams, host, Morning Drive
Holly Sonders, co-host, Morning Drive
Steve Sands, host, Golf Central
Kelly Tilghman, co-host, Golf Central
Tripp Isenhour, analyst, Golf Central
Tim Rosaforte, Golf Channel Insider (San Francisco)
Mike Davis, USGA Executive Director
Jeff Hall, USGA Managing Director of Rules and Competitions
Tom O’Toole, USGA Executive Committee Member
Mark Hill, USGA Senior Director of Competitions
Jerry Foltz, Golf House (USGA Headquarters)
Whit Watson (Columbus, Ohio)
Scott Walker (Memphis, Tenn.)
Rex Hoggard (Lecanto, Fla.)
Win McMurry (Suwanee, Ga.)
Kay Cockerill (Daly City, Calif.)
Jeff Rude (Glen Ellyn, Ill.)
Alex Miceli (Rockville, Md.)
John Hawkins (Summit, N.J.)
Jason Sobel (Springfield, Ohio)
Steve Burkowski (Creswell, Ore.)
David Marr III (Houston, Texas)

One more post before we move on to something else.

Let’s Get To Some Linkage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NBC Sports Group Boasts About 33 Sports Emmy Award Nominations

Overall, the NBC Sports Group has the second highest amount of Sports Emmy Award nominations after ESPN’s 52. Combined with NBC Sports, Golf Channel, Versus (now NBC Sports Network) and NBCSports.com, the Group has a whole slew of nominations.

Some of the more notable nominations include Studio Host (Bob Costas & Dan Patrick), Play-by-Play (Al Michaels & Mike Emrick), Game Analyst (Cris Collinsworth), Game Analyst (Mike Mayock), Sports Reporter (Michele Tafoya & Pierre McGuire), Live Sports Special (NHL Stanley Cup Final on both NBC/Versus), Live Sports Series (Sunday Night Football), Playoff Coverage (NFL Wild Card Saturday) and Weekly Studio Show (Football Night in America).

So as you can see, the Group has been nominated in several major categories. We have the NBC Sports Group press release crowing about its nominations.

NBC SPORTS GROUP GARNERS 33 SPORTS EMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS

Total Nominations for NBC Sports Group Up from Last Year
NBC Leads All Broadcast Networks with 23 Nominations
Sunday Night Football & Football Night in America Nominated for Outstanding Live Sports Series & Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly
NBC/VERSUS* Nominated for Outstanding Live Sports Special for 2011 Stanley Cup Final
On-Air Personalities Costas, Michaels, Emrick, Collinsworth, Mayock, Patrick, Tafoya & McGuire Nominated
Bob Costas’ Halftime Essays Nominated for Dick Schaap Writing Award

NEW YORK – March 20, 2012 – The NBC Sports Group received 33 total Sports Emmy Award nominations for 2011, the first year it produced programming as a single sports media company. The 33 nominations received by NBC Sports Group is the second-highest number of nominations for any sports media company or network. NBC led all broadcast networks with 23 nominations. The announcement was made today by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The winners will be announced by the Academy on Monday, April 30.

Highlights of NBC Sports Group’s nominations include:

• Once again, Sunday Night Football on NBC was nominated for Outstanding Live Sports Series.
• Football Night in America was nominated for the second consecutive year for Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly.
• NBC’s NFL Wild Card Saturday received its first nomination for Outstanding Playoff Coverage.
• For the first time as a joint production team, NBC/VERSUS* was rewarded with a nomination for Outstanding Live Sports Special for the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.
• Golf Channel was nominated for Outstanding Live Event Turnaround for Inside the PGA Tour.
• The newly created show, NFL Turning Point, which debuted on VERSUS* in the fall of 2010, received the nomination for Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology in its premiere season.
• NBCSports.com was again nominated for Outstanding New Approaches Sports Programming for its live stream platform, Sunday Night Football Extra.
• Along with co-writer Aaron Cohen, Bob Costas, a 22-time Emmy Award winner, who is again nominated for Outstanding Sports Personality, Studio Host, was nominated for the Dick Schaap Writing Award for his halftime essays on Sunday Night Football.
• Nominations in individual talent categories:

o Bob Costas (Studio Host)
o Al Michaels (Play-by-Play)
o Mike Emrick (Play-by-Play)
o Cris Collinsworth (Event Analyst)
o Mike Mayock (Event Analyst)
o Dan Patrick (Studio Host)
o Michele Tafoya (Reporter)
o Pierre McGuire (Reporter)

*VERSUS was rebranded NBC Sports Network on January 2, 2012.

“I am incredibly proud that the NBC Sports Group has earned an impressive 33 nominations for the work done in our first year together as a company,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group. “Aligning our assets to produce the highest-quality programming across our national broadcast, cable and digital platforms has clearly made a difference.”

All of the national platforms of NBC Sports Group — NBC Sports, VERSUS*, Golf Channel and NBCSports.com — received a nomination. Most notably, NBC, VERSUS* and NBCSports.com received 16 nominations related to NFL coverage, and NBC/VERSUS* received four nominations for its coverage of the NHL. Golf Channel earned two nominations and NBCSports.com was honored with one.

The complete list of NBC Sports Group nominations are as follows:

• Outstanding Live Sports Special: 2011 Stanley Cup Final (NBC/VERSUS*)
• Outstanding Live Sports Series: Sunday Night Football
• Outstanding Live Event Turnaround: 2011 Track & Field World Championships
• Outstanding Live Event Turnaround: 2011 Tour de France (VERSUS*)
• Outstanding Live Event Turnaround: The USA Pro Cycling Challenge (VERSUS*)
• Outstanding Live Event Turnaround: Inside the PGA Tour (Golf Channel)
• Outstanding Playoff Coverage: NFL Wild Card Saturday
• Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology: NFL Turning Point (VERSUS*)
• Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology: World of Adventure Sports
• Outstanding Studio Show – Weekly: Football Night in America
• Outstanding Short Feature: Football Night in America – “The Greatest Gift”
• Outstanding New Approaches Sports Programming: Sunday Night Football Extra (NBCSports.com)
• Outstanding Sports Personality, Studio Host: Bob Costas
• Outstanding Sports Personality, Studio Host: Dan Patrick
• Outstanding Sports Personality, Play-by-Play: Al Michaels
• Outstanding Sports Personality, Play-by-Play: Mike Emrick (NBC/VERSUS*)
• Outstanding Sports Personality, Sports Event Analyst: Cris Collinsworth
• Outstanding Sports Personality, Sports Event Analyst: Mike Mayock
• Outstanding Sports Personality, Sports Reporter: Michele Tafoya
• Outstanding Sports Personality, Sports Reporter: Pierre McGuire (NBC/VERSUS*)
• Outstanding Technical Team Remote: US Open Championship (Golf Channel/NBC)
• Outstanding Camera Work: 2011 Ford Ironman World Championship
• Dick Schaap Writing Award: NBC Sunday Night Football – Bob Costas Essays
• Dick Schaap Writing Award: The Kentucky Derby
• Outstanding Graphic Design: Sunday Night Football
• Outstanding Production Design/Art Direction: Sunday Night Football
• George Wensel Technical Achievement Award: America’s Cup Highlight Show – Live Line (VERSUS*)
• Outstanding Sports Promotional Announcement – Episodic:
  • NFL Kickoff
  • 2011 Stanley Cup Final – No Words

A complete list of nominees is available here.

*VERSUS was rebranded NBC Sports Network on January 2, 2012.

That’s all for this post. One more Sports Emmy-related post tonight.

The Best in Sports Broadcasting in 2011

I’m not going to go too wild on this. Other sites are doing similar posts as well.

I’ll provide what I feel are the best calls in Sports Broadcasting this year. The only way to do this is to post videos and that’s what I’ll do. I know I said Best and Worst earlier, but the search is taking too long. We’ll provide the best calls in 2011.

We’ll go sport-by-sport and you can either agree or disagree.

Baseball

Dan Shulman, ESPN Radio — Game 6, World Series, David Freese Walk-off home run

Gary Thorne, MLB International — Same as above. Two great calls of the same moment.

Boxing

Larry Merchant vs. Floyd Mayweather, HBO Pay Per View — Floyd cursed out Larry and then Larry had the comeback of the year.

College Basketball

Gus Johnson, CBS Sports — Pac-10 Championship, Isiah Thomas hits the game-winning shot. “COLD BLOODED!”

College Football

Joe Tessitore, ESPN — “TOUCHDOWN! THEY DID IT!!” Iowa State upsets Oklahoma State knocking the Cowboys out of the BCS.

Joe Tessitore, ESPN on ABC — “Iowa State, USC and Baylor just made a mess of the BCS.” Baylor upsets Oklahoma less than 24 hours later and Joe Tessitore was there.

Golf

Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller and the Golf Channel on NBC crew — The 72nd hole for Rory McIlroy as he wins the US Open at Congressional. Great job by Dan and Johnny as they describe Rory McIlroy winning his first major championship.

Horse Racing

Larry Collmus, NBC — The 137th Kentucky Derby. It marked Larry’s first race for NBC as he replaced Tom Durkin who left in 2010. And he got a huge upset as Animal Kingdom won the race.

Jack Edwards Calls of the Year

Living in New England and having access to NESN and Jack Edwards is the gift that keeps on giving. He was in rare form in 2011. We begin with Jack mocking Chad LaRose of the Carolina Hurricanes with a “Yapping, yapping, yapping all the way to the box.” Classic Jack.

“GET UP!” In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Roman Hamrlik of the Montreal Canadiens went down and Jack decided to yell at him.

In Game 7, Hamrlik went down again, but the Bruins went on to score and Jack decided to rub it in.

And after the B’s closed out the Habs, Jack decided to make some puzzling final comments about royalty and having fun. Eight months later, I’m still trying to figure them out.

NFL

none

NHL

Mike Emrick, Versus — Tim Thomas makes a tremendous save in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Women’s World Cup

Ian Darke, ESPN — “ABBY WAMBACH HAS SAVED THE USA’S LIFE IN THIS WOMEN’S WORLD CUP!” Ian Darke had a tremendous call of the goal that tied Brazil in extra time in the quarterfinals.

And that will do it for us.

Two NBC Sports Group Press Releases

I’ll post two press releases that pertain to The Group, one for NBC Sports and the other for Versus. One has to do with the U.S. Senior Open and the other to the second installment of Summer at Saratoga. You can guess which event goes where.

Here’s NBC Sports’ release on what it’s airing today and tomorrow.

U.S. SENIOR OPEN THIS WEEKEND ON NBC

Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Fuzzy Zoeller and Bernhard Langer Highlight the Field
Dale Douglass Set to Break Arnold Palmer’s Record

NEW YORK – July 27, 2011 – Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Fuzzy Zoeller and returning champion Bernhard Langer lead an impressive field at the 2011 U.S. Senior Open from the historic Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, this Saturday and Sunday from 3-6 p.m. ET live on NBC.

The golf legends return to Inverness for the first time since 2003 for the most prestigious senior event. Host Dan Hicks and analyst Gary Koch anchor coverage from the 18th hole tower. They are joined by tower reporter Mark Rolfing and course reporters Roger Maltbie and Dottie Pepper. Golf Channel’s Dave Marr will also be on site reporting for Golf Central throughout the week.

Langer will defend his title against an impressive field, including Toledo native, John Cook, who has already won three events this year (Mitsubishi Electric Championship, Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, Montreal Championship). Cook is looking to claim his first title on his home turf.

Dale Douglass will break a record this weekend when he tees off in his 26^th consecutive Senior Open. Douglass is currently tied with Arnold Palmer with 25 straight appearances.

This is the U.S. Senior Open’s second trip to Inverness Club, marking the club’s ninth major championship. In addition to two U.S. Senior Opens (2003, 2011), Inverness has also hosted four U.S. Opens (1920, 1931, 1957, 1979), a U.S. Amateur Championship (1973) and two PGA Championships (1986, 1993) since it was established in 1903.

NBC SPORTS/U.S. SENIOR OPEN (all times ET):

Saturday
Third Round Live 3-6 p.m. NBC

Sunday
Final Round Live 3-6 p.m. NBC

And the next one is form Versus regarding the Summer at Saratoga series.

NBC SPORTS GROUP COVERAGE OF “SUMMER AT SARATOGA” SERIES CONTINUES TODAY, 5 P.M. ET ON VERSUS

Seven Straight Weekends of Coverage from Saratoga Continues Today on VERSUS With the Diana and Jim Dandy
Stay Thirsty and Brilliant Speed Expected to Run in Jim Dandy

NEW YORK – July 27, 2011 – The NBC Sports Group’s seven straight weekends of “Summer at Saratoga” live horse racing from Saratoga Race Course continues this Saturday, 5-6 p.m. ET on VERSUS with coverage of the Diana and Jim Dandy.

The Grade 1, $500,000 Diana, run at 1 1/8 miles on the turf, is expected to draw a stellar field including graded stakes winners Aruna, Aviate, and Giants Play, while the 1 1/8 mile Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy, Saratoga’s steppingstone to the August 27 Travers (on NBC), expects to draw Stay Thirsty and Brilliant Speed, graded stakes winners that ran second and third in the prestigious Belmont Stakes, respectively, along with Peter Pan winner Alternation.

COMMENTATORS: Saturday’s coverage will be hosted by Laffit Pincay, III alongside analyst Randy Moss. They will be joined by handicapper Mike Battaglia and reporter Kenny Rice. VERSUS will take the race call from the Saratoga track announcer, the legendary Tom Durkin.

ABOUT THE BROADCAST: In addition to the two grades stakes races (Diana and Jim Dandy), coverage will include a feature on Stay Thirsty and his owner Mike Repole.

NBCSports.com will feature highlights and features from every race, plus online-only features by NBC Sports and VERSUS’ on-air talent.

In May, The New York Racing Association (NYRA) and the NBC Sports Group announced a partnership to broadcast “Summer at Saratoga,” the most extensive live national television coverage of racing from Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., over seven weekends this summer beginning this Saturday and including the famed $1 million Travers Stakes on August 27.

NBC SPORTS GROUP SUMMER AT SARATOGA REMAINING COVERAGE (All Times ET)

Today, Diana and Jim Dandy, 5-6 p.m., VERSUS
Aug. 6, Whitney and Test, 5-6 p.m., VERSUS
Aug. 7, Vanderbilt and Honorable Miss, 5-6 p.m., VERSUS
Aug. 13, Sword Dancer, 5-6 p.m., VERSUS
Aug. 20, Alabama, 5-6 p.m., NBC
Aug. 27, Travers and King’s Bishop, 5-6 p.m., NBC
Sept. 3, Woodward and Forego, 5-6 p.m., VERSUS

Saratoga Race Course was named one of the world’s top 10 venues of the 20^th century by Sports Illustrated. From late July through Labor Day, many of the sport’s top owners, trainers, jockeys, and horses gather in Saratoga Springs for the premier thoroughbred racing meet in the country. First held in 1863, the Saratoga meet now draws more than 20,000 passionate racing fans to the track on a daily basis.

A couple of more press release posts are next.

US Women’s Open To Conclude Monday On ESPN2

Due to inclement weather during the entire U.S. Women’s Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO, the final round of the championship will conclude on Monday on ESPN2. NBC showed primetime action of the final round on Sunday until darkness fell. So due to the delays all weekend, the coverage of the US Women’s Open will resume at 10 a.m. ET on Monday on ESPN2. It will be simulcast on ESPN3.com.

Received a short e-mail from ESPN and I wanted to pass the note along in case you wanted to know.

NBC Sports Group All Over The U.S. Women’s Open

NBC Sports will have weekend coverage of the U.S. Women’s Open. ESPN2 has the first two rounds today and Friday. Even though Golf Channel does not have any live action, it will still cover the tournament. Here’s a press release from the NBC Sports Group.

NBC SPORTS GROUP HAS THE U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN COVERED

More than 25 Hours of Live Tournament and On-Site News coverage
Terry Gannon moderates Golf Talk Live, featuring LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan, Annika Sorenstam, Judy Rankin & Dottie Pepper
“Altitude and wicked greens will be the story, as well as whether world No. 1 Yani Tseng can complete the career grand slam and extend her current winning streak to three in a row.” Golf Channel on NBC’s Dottie Pepper
“Paula Creamer’s breakthrough U.S. Open victory at Oakmont while enduring the pain of an injured thumb was a fairy tale. It seems the U.S. Open produces that type of story every year. I’m sure this year’s Open will be no exception.” Golf Channel analyst Charlie Rymer

NEW YORK – July 5, 2011 – The NBC Sports Group is primed to deliver an unprecedented 25+ hours of combined, live tournament and wrap-around news coverage of this week’s 2011 U.S. Women’s Open Championship – the third major championship on the ladies schedule this year – on both Golf Channel and NBC.

Contested on the East Course at the historic Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colo., “Golf Channel on NBC” will present six hours of live coverage over Saturday and Sunday, with Golf Channel providing wrap-around news coverage originating from the course throughout the week. NBCSports.com and GolfChannel.com will team to provide comprehensive online coverage of the championship, including live chats and a special weekend wrap-up show offered exclusively online.

NBC

Dan Hicks will host Golf Channel on NBC’s coverage alongside analysts Johnny Miller and Dottie Pepper, who competed in 19 U.S. Women’s Opens during her illustrious career. They will be joined by tower reporter Gary Koch, and on-course reporters Roger Maltbie and former LPGA players Jane Crafter and Kay Cockerill.

“Golf Channel on NBC” live coverage (all times ET):

Saturday: 3-6 p.m.
Sunday: 3-6 p.m.

GOLF CHANNEL

Golf Channel will provide the most extensive news coverage of the U.S. Women’s Open in its history, featuring live news reports, inside analysis, player interviews, special guest appearances and compelling features from the women’s third major championship of 2011.

Golf Central will broadcast live and on-site from a dedicated set overlooking the 18^th hole at The Broadmoor Thursday-Sunday, delivering wrap-around news coverage before and after tournament play. Morning Drive, the network’s live, weekday morning show, will expand to seven days this week, featuring daily special guests on-site from the tournament.

On Wednesday from 8-9 p.m. ET, Golf Channel will present a special U.S. Women’s Open edition of Golf Talk Live, when Golf Channel and “Golf Channel on NBC” personalities will discuss the hot topics in women’s golf. Moderated by Terry Gannon, the discussion will include LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan, 10-time major winner and three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Annika Sorenstam, Hall-of-Famer and current commentator Judy Rankin and two-time major winner and “Golf Channel on NBC” commentator Dottie Pepper.

Anchoring Golf Channel’s on-site news coverage will be Tom Abbott, Charlie Rymer and Whit Watson. GolfChannel.com senior writer Randall Mell will contribute to the shows throughout the week, as will Golf Channel on NBC analysts.

Golf Channel U.S. Women’s Open Programming (all times ET)

Thursday
Golf Central Pre Game 1:30-3 p.m.
Golf Central 9-9:30 p.m.

Friday
Golf Central Pre Game 1:30-3 p.m.
Golf Central 9-9:30 p.m.

Saturday
Morning Drive 7-8:15 a.m.
Golf Central Pre Game 12:15-2 p.m.
Golf Central 6-6:30 p.m.

Sunday
Morning Drive 7-8:30 a.m.
Golf Central Pre Game 12:30-2 p.m.
Golf Central 6-7 p.m.

DIGITAL

• Live U.S. Women’s Open Wrap-up Shows, presented by Lexus, will air online after the conclusion of Saturday and Sunday’s rounds of play on NBCSports.com and GolfChannel.com. Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis and Jason Sobel will host the shows.
• ProGolfTalk will provide daily coverage throughout the week and can be accessed from the Sports Talk apps as well (on iPad, iPhone and Android devices).
• GolfChannel.com senior writer Jason Sobel will host a live chat on Wednesday from 8-9 p.m. ET during Golf Channel’s Golf Talk Live special.
• Sobel, Randall Mell and Jay Coffin will contribute to the newly formed GolfTalkCentral blog, along with daily columns, news articles, features and breaking news on GolfChannel.com.

And that will do it.

ESPN Platforms To Show U.S. Women’s Open Live

ESPN2 will carry the first two rounds of the U.S. Women’s Open next week. The tournament which will take place from the Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, CO. Yani Tseng who seems to win LPGA Tournaments every week is the favorite. This is the third major on the LPGA calendar after the Dinah Shore (I know it’s not called that anymore, just for references) and the LPGA Championship. ESPN2 will carry the U.S. Women’s Open from 5 — 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. ESPN3 will stream the coverage live.

NBC will have the weekend coverage.

Here’s the press release.

Eight Hours of Live U.S. Women’s Open Championship to Air on ESPN Platforms

As the best players in women’s golf tackle the longest course in the history of the U.S. Women’s Open, ESPN2 and ESPN3.com will air four hours of live coverage of each of the first two rounds of the tournament on Thursday and Friday, July 7-8, from 5-9 p.m. ET from the Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado Springs, Col.

While Paula Creamer will be looking to defend her U.S. Women’s Open championship, Yani Tseng, coming off her recent win in the LPGA Championship, will be trying to complete a career Grand Slam by winning each of the four women’s major tournaments. The 22-year-old sensation already is the youngest golfer, male or female, ever to win four professional majors.

Terry Gannon will anchor ESPN’s coverage, joined for analysis by World Golf Hall of Famer Judy Rankin. ESPN’s U.S. Women’s Open team for the Thursday and Friday telecasts also will include two-time U.S. Open champions Curtis Strange (hole announcer) and Andy North (on-course reporter) and reporter Tom Rinaldi.

All U.S. Women’s Open programming on ESPN2 will also be available on computers, smartphones and tablets through ESPNnetworks.com and the free WatchESPN app, which are accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated provider. And ESPN Mobile TV will have live mobile video simulcasts of ESPN2’s first- and second-round telecasts.

In addition, ESPN.com and espnW.com will have full coverage of the event with veteran golf writer Mick Elliott on location in Colorado Springs.

That’s all.

Some Quick Thursday Links

Trying to squeeze linkage in while I can. This won’t be a full set of links. I will do the megalinks tomorrow, but today will be a quickie links day.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports that the ratings for the USA-North Korea game in the Women’s World Cup drew decently for ESPN.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News says industry analysts expect 3-D TV sales to be very slow this year, but eventually ramp up by mid-decade.

Edmund Lee of Advertising Age talks with the publisher and co-founder of The Awl, Bill Cho, who’s leaving to go to join Captain Blowhard’s Grantland site.

Phil Swann at TV Predictions explains why the sales of TV’s in the 3rd dimension are tanking.

David Goetzl from MediaPost says NBC Sports is raising its profile for the Tour de France which begins this weekend.

The St. Petersburg Times’ Eric Deggans writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says David Tyree’s anti-gay stance brings some strong challenges for journalists.

This story has been burning up the sports blogosphere since Wednesday afternoon. A.J. Daulerio of Deadspin says Hollywood movie producers are thinking of making a movie from the tome, “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside The World of ESPN”.

Alexandra Kuczynski-Brown of SportsGrid says the BBC has developed a product that will reduce the grunting and shrieking at Centre Court in Wimbledon.

Andy Blesser at Beet TV talks about the Watch ESPN mobile app.

Brandon Costa of the Sports Video Group discusses ESPN 3D going live from Wimbledon this week.

Dave Nagle of ESPN’s Front Row PR blog talks with ESPN2′s Chris Evert on her return to TV at SW19 for the fortnight.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at what lies ahead of NBA Communist China Sympathizer David Stern as the lockout is now in full effect.

Kurt Helin of NBC’s Pro Basketball Talk has the organizers of last year’s “The Decision” starring LeBron James and his talents, surprised by the backlash against the made-for-TV event. Really? C’mon, man.

All Access reports that personalities from Philadelphia’s sports radio WIP will guest host Comcast SportsNet’s Daily News Live starting next week.

The Around the Rings blog says BBC Sport has been named as the UK rightsholder for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir writes about General Electric’s increased sponsorship of the Olympics.

Newsday’s Neil Best wonders why NBC did not air today’s Maria Sharapova-Sabine Lisicki Wimbledon semifinal match live.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the MLB Network live game schedule for July.

The Centre Daily (PA) Times previews tonight’s ESPN presentation of Penn State coach Joe Paterno and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

From Capitol File magazine, ESPN’s Erin Andrews answers a few questions.

KIMT-TV in Mason City, Iowa says a local cable company will pick up 16 extra Minnesota Twins games ending a dispute with Fox Sports North.

Jay Heater of the Idaho State Journal says a Pocatello radio station is changing its affiliation from ESPN Radio to Fox Sports.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News previews tonight’s ESPN program with Penn State’s JoePa and Duke’s Coach K.

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area notes that Bob Costas and Al Michaels will make a guest appearance on its local broadcast of July 8th’s New York Mets-San Francisco Giants game. The pair will call most of the game on MLB Network, but will slide over to CSN Bay Area for a half inning.

The Maui News says NBC golf reporter Mark Rolfing will no longer be the organizer for a PGA Tour event.

Marty McGee of the Daily Racing Form talks with NBC’s horse racing reporter Donna Brothers.

Noel Murray at the A.V. Club looks at the ESPN book.

The Football Girl is not a fan of a full NFL Thursday Night Football schedule.

Stars Entertainment speaks with Tennis Channel anchor Angela Sun. The story mentions that she worked for ESPN, but I have never seen her on ESPN. Yahoo, yes. Tennis Channel, yes. ESPN? No. I’ve never seen her there. Maybe you have.

Sports Media Watch notes that the U.S. Open’s ratings were down for all four rounds.

SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

And SMW has some news and notes on some coming attractions.

Barry Janoff from The Big Lead speaks with prolific reality TV producer Mark Burnett.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs reviews the latest in sports media.

And I found more links than I thought and that’s a bonus for you. Back later tonight.

Let’s Do Some Wednesday Linkage

On this rainy Wednesday in Southern New England, let me do some links. I hope the weather where you are is dry and sunny.

I’ll start today off with John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal who says Comcast may have appeared to have overbid for the Olympics, but it may pay off in the long run.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with Dick Enberg who’s calling his final Wimbledon this year.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has video of Dick Enberg discussing “bloody blue balls” at Wimbledon and his on-air partner, Chris Evert making the perfect response.

SportsGrid also has the HBO Real Sports segment with Tiki Barber that was quite compelling TV.

Patrick Rishe of Forbes says Mark Cuban owning the Los Angeles Dodgers needs to happen soon.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans from the St. Petersburg Times writes that Barber is on a media redemption tour while David Feherty is learning the ropes in another manner.

Kirk Honeycutt of Reuters reviews the ESPN Films documentary on transsexual tennis player Renee Richards. The film was shown at the Los Angeles Film Festival and will premiere on ESPN in the fall.

Lacey Rose at the Hollywood Reporter writes that HBO has assembled some All-Star production talent to develop a new drama based on the early life of Mike Tyson.

Andrea Morabito of Broadcasting & Cable says CBS Sports Network has signed a multiyear deal with the Patriot League for various sports.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says the NFL’s TV partners are hopeful after hearing negotiations to end the league’s lockout are making substantial progress.

One thing to come out of the talks between the NFL and the Players Association is a full 16 week Thursday Night Football schedule that could begin in 2012. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains what that means for the players and fans.

Jeff Fedotin at the National Football Post claims this guy, Jon Gruden of ESPN’s Monday Night Football, has the potential to be this generation’s John Madden. That remains to be seen.

Eric Spanberg of the Christian Science Monitor reviews the ESPN book.

The Lost Letterman blog has video of ESPN’s Erin Andrews confronting a fan at last year’s College World Series. I like Erin’s spirit in this and the guy was being an asshole.

Congratulations to ESPN.com baseball writer Jonah Keri who will be writing the quintessential history of the Montreal Expos.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times says there are plenty of marketing opportunities surrounding the 3,000th hit of Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

Jack Bell of the Times talks about legendary women’s soccer star Mia Hamm joining espnW to provide analysis on the Women’s World Cup.

At the New York Observer, Kat Stoeffel talks with ESPN Radio New York’s Jared Max about his decision to come out.

Matthew Margolis from the East Hampton (NY) Patch writes that a young actor got to do some voiceover work for ESPN’s Little League World Series coverage.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that Jimmer Fredette’s YouTube channel has a big following.

Mark Wogenrich at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call explores the new deal between CBS Sports Network and the Patriot League for four sports.

Jack Bogaczyk of the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail feels it was smart of the Big East to turn down ESPN’s $1 billion offer to get a feel for the marketplace.

The Naples (FL) Daily News reports that locally, the U.S. Open scored well in the ratings.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that a local sports radio morning drive host has been let go.

Doug Moe at the Wisconsin State Journal speaks with Randall Mell of the Golf Channel.

Sandra Guy in the Chicago Sun-Times looks at the new street-level studios for ESPN Radio Chicago.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks about Dick Enberg’s final fortnight at Wimbledon.

Matthew Fleischer of Fishbowl LA writes that ESPN WNBA analyst Rebecca Lobo tweeted about her plane’s emergency landing while heading to SoCal this week.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that Americans will get a nice dose of the CFL on the NFL Network.

George Dickie of zap2it talks with David Feherty about his new Golf Channel show.

Sports Media Watch says the CONCACAF Gold Cup has been a ratings hit for Univision and its sister network, Galavision.

SMW says the NHL Winter Classic goes back to primetime on January 2.

The Big Lead says Friend of Friend’s Bites Michelle Beadle is single once again. Sorry, Michelle, I had to put this one in.

The Sports Tube has an appreciation of Dick Enberg who’s making his final rounds at Wimbledon and the US Open this year.

That will do it.

Digging Out Some Tuesday Linkage

Time for the links on this Tuesday. Lots of good stuff to get to.

Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal looks at MLB Commissioner Bud Selig rejecting the Los Angeles Dodgers’ deal with Fox which now throws Frank McCourt’s ownership of the team into jeopardy.

In Sports Business Journal, Broadcasting & Cable Editor-in-Chief Ben Grossman has some suggestions for Major League Soccer on how to grow the sport in the U.S.

From the ESPN Ombudsman, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute says Bill Simmons’ Grantland site shows potential, but needs to do more.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has his June Media Power List.

Richard also talks with the CEO of the polarizing Bleacher Report.

Had to catch up with those last three links from last week. I was so far behind after not doing linkage Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Curtis Eichelberger of Bloomberg writes that NFL quarterback Chad Pennington is taking a year off and will work for Fox Sports when the league comes back from lockout.

Lesley Goldberg of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Comedy Central has canceled two sports-themed shows after just one season.

Marisa Guthrie of the Reporter notes that the U.S. Open’s final round ratings improved from Saturday’s numbers, but were still far below last year’s.

John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable has NBC being very apologetic about cutting “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance during Sunday’s coverage of the U.S. Open.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says NBA’s digital platforms are all over this week’s NBA Draft.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine says Rory McIlroy has yet to prove he’s a ratings draw.

Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports.com says the Big East turned down a big payday from ESPN to risk checking the free agent market.

Sam Mamudi of Marketwatch.com notes that you may not know that Turner Sports has a rather large online presence in golf.

Alex Weprin of SportsNewser recaps Comcast CEO Brian Roberts’ comments on NBC’s successful Olympics bid.

At SportsGrid, Dave Levy writes that Grantland failed to live up to the hype.

Dave says Bill Simmons could have left ESPN to create Grantland somewhere else.

And Dave has thoughts on Grantland here, here and here.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid says the Dan Patrick Show has an unusual proposal on how to end the NFL lockout.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that flamboyant tennis fashionista Bethanie Mattek-Sands (who came to Fang’s Bites’ attention in 2007) has signed a new endorsement contract for an nontraditional tennis product.

Jay Busbee of Yahoo’s From the Marbles blog looks at Fox’s proposal to move some of its NASCAR races to cable in its next contract.

At the Daly Planet, John Daly has some thoughts on what this potential move means for the future of Speed.

Diane Mermigas of the Business Insider says innovation could help NBCUniversal pay for its $4.38 billion pricetag for the Olympics.

Olympic sports beat writer John Powers of the Boston Globe finally gets to write about NBC winning the rights to four Olympic Games.

Tom Rock of Newsday has some quotes of tonight’s HBO Real Sports profile of former New York Giants running back and NBC analyst Tiki Barber.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times looks at MLB rejecting the Los Angeles Dodgers’ deal with Fox.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that Rory McIlroy doesn’t move the TV ratings meter like Tiger Woods did.

Nate Mink writing for the Philadelphia Daily News recaps an ESPN taping of a program involving legendary coaches Joe Paterno of Penn State and Mike Krzyzewski of Duke.

Joseph Santoliquito of the Marple Newtown Patch has a profile of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia anchor Ron Burke.

Greg Augman of the St. Petersburg Times notes that Jon Gruden is taping a session of his ESPN “QB Camp” series with former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

Ken Sugiura of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an interview with Georgia Tech’s Athletic Director on a few subjects including the impact of the ESPN/SEC contract on the school.

Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram notes that Golf Channel is giving David Feherty a platform for his humor.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley has Keith Olbermann not impressed with the tome on ESPN.

Justin Albers at the Chicago Sun-Times chronicles ESPN’s Baseball Tonight’s visit to the Windy City on Sunday.

Robert Feder of Time Out Chicago says the local ESPN Radio affiliate is about to move to new streetside studios.

Chad Purcell of the Omaha World-Journal goes behind-the-scenes with ESPN’s crew at the College World Series.

Bill Shaikin and David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times have a story on MLB rejecting the Fox offer to Dodgers’ owner Frank McCourt and putting the team into limbo.

The Spokane (WA) Spokesman-Review has a profile of Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis who used to work in the area.

Kenyon Wallace of the Toronto Star responds to ESPN the Magazine ranking the Canadian city as the worst in all of pro sports.

Cathal Kelly of the Star says there are cities worse off than Toronto.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has its version of the NHL TV Awards.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing feels it’s time for Joe Buck to leave Fox Saturday Baseball. I called for this two years ago.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball writes that Frank McCourt is threatening legal action to hold onto the Dodgers.

Barry Petchesky of Deadspin has video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy being amused by a Red Sox fan wearing a chicken hat. I found out later that she’s the sister of writer Joe Meloni who covers the Hockey East conference for College Hockey News.

And that’s where I’ll leave it for now. Lots of links today.

Time For Monday Linkage

I’m at home today waiting for workers to finish doing some renovations at the office so I’ll take the opportunity to do some blogging. Wasn’t able to do the megalinks on Friday or do what I wanted to do over the weekend so while I have the chance, I’ll bring you linkage.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that while NBC is hoping for big ratings from the U.S. Open, evidence suggests otherwise.

Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal tweets the overnight ratings for the U.S. Open’s final round coverage on NBC were down significantly from last year.

At Sports Business Journal, Tripp Mickle and John Ourand report that Fox is looking to put some of its 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule on Speed in its next contract.

The Associated Press previews an HBO Real Sports story on Tiki Barber’s battle with depression after losing his NBC job and his marriage.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Wimbledon is back today with plenty of coverage for the tennis fan.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes that NBC had to apologize for omitting “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance that aired at the beginning of its U.S. Open coverage on Sunday.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser says someone forgot to renew Grantland.com’s domain name yesterday.

Awful Announcing has the video of Joe Buck forgetting the score during Saturday’s Yankees-Cubs game.

The Big Lead has video of the Washington Wizards’ John Wall showing off his horrible baseball skills throwing out the first pitch at a Nationals game.

Ryan Ballengee at Pro Golf Talk says the Chicago Daily Herald messed up a headline on Rory McIlroy in this morning’s edition.

We know about the picture of the kissing couple at the Vancouver riots after the Bruins clinched the Stanley Cup last week. CBC News found them and we now know that it was not a sudden moment of passion.

Over to ESPN Front Row, Carrie Kreiswirth speaks with ESPN the Magazine editor Chad Millman about moving operations to Bristol, CT with the rest of ESPN.

Ken Kerschbaumer at Sports Video Group looks at ESPN’s operations at the U.S. Open at Congressional.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says tonight, MSG Network will air rare footage of a brutal hockey fight involving the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers from 1958.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick got sick of hearing how NBC kept harping on Rory McIlroy’s collapse at The Masters back in April.

Phil also trashes CBS Sports Network for hiring former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez blaming him for everything wrong with college football dating back to the 1960′s.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with NBC Sports’ Jimmy Roberts.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times writes about the incredible shrinking sports reports on TV newscasts.

Tom says NBC stirred up an unnecessary controversy over the Pledge of Allegiance during the U.S. Open yesterday.

Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean writes that satellite radio subscribers will finally be able to hear the Titans radio feed of the team’s games. Thanks to Sports Business Digest for the link.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a couple of ESPN analysts’ takes on the Bucks draft plans.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says BP is back to sponsoring the Cubs-White Sox series after dropping out last year due to the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune says the untimely death of local sportscaster Daryl Hawks left a huge void with his family on Father’s day.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post writes that ESPN’s Jay Bilas gets to show off his inner Mel Kiper, Jr. during the NBA Draft.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune has Dick Enberg announcing that this year will be his last Wimbledon ever.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times visits Dan Patrick and the Danettes at their Milford, CT studios.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has this week’s SoCal sports calendar.

Bruce Dowbiggin with the Toronto Globe and Mail explores the launch of a new Canadian sports magazine.

And I’m heading to the office now. I’ll do more links later.

Bringing Back The Linkage

Even though I didn’t links on Wednesday, it feels I haven’t done them in ages. You’re owed a chunk of them. Here goes.

Nathan Vardi of Forbes reports that ESPN basketball writer Chris Sheridan is suing New York Post basketball chameleon Peter Vecsey for libel. Interesting. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

David B. Wilkerson at Marketwatch.com says ESPN is not worried about losing NFL programming.

At NPR, Frank Deford says there has to be a reason why ESPN didn’t bid hard for the Olympics.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter notes that Universal Sports has finally signed a long-awaited distribution deal with DirecTV.

Lindsay Rubino of Broadcasting & Cable writes that last night’s Stanley Cup Final Game 7 won the night for NBC in key demographics.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News reports that CBS Sports Network picks up Comcast subscribers in three Southern markets.

Mike talks with Comcast SportsNet Chicago’s Jim Corno about running the area’s various sports networks over the years.

Emma Bazilian of Adweek writes that NBCUniversal has signed a deal with comic book creator Stan Lee’s Guardian Media Entertainment to market the NHL’s Superhero franchise which to date, no one understands. I saw the Guardians unveiled during the NHL All-Star Game earlier this year and I had no idea what it was supposed to represent.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life says Stanley Cup Final Game 7 finished rather well for NBC last night.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser has video of ESPN’s Michelle Beadle admitting on Live with Regis & Kelly that she’s watched internet porn.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid has some videos from last night’s crazy riots in Vancouver that took place after Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. Now imagine if the Canucks had won!

Here’s today’s front page of the Vancouver Province showing what the story was last night.

The Vancouver Sun’s front page had what the story should have been.

This is the front page of the Boston Herald. I like this picture.

And the Brockton (MA) Enterprise with a classic front page.

Noah Davis at the Business Insider Sports Page says it’s obvious that tablets are the future of magazines.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Chinese tennis star Li Na has signed an endorsement deal with Mercedes Benz.

The Big Lead has tennis analyst John McEnroe calling for a Hard Knocks-type reality series to help market the sport.

All Access says the St. Louis Rams have signed a new deal to remain in their current flagship radio station.

John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant writes that Comcast SportsNet New England will air select Connecticut Sun WNBA games.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union talks about CBS signing a new six year deal with the Big Ten for basketball.

The Buffalo Sabres have announced a new broadcast team for selected road games for next season.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog says local ratings for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final were very good. They were certainly higher than the national number.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner talks about the NHL’s ratings for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Jim says the U.S. Open at Congressional will be covered like a wool blanket this week.

Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram talks about the launch date for ESPN’s Longhorn Network.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle has a couple of sports media notes.

Mike Finger of the Chronicle discusses the launch of the Longhorn Network plus its quest to get carried throughout the Lone Star State and beyond.

Michigan Live says the University of Detroit will name its basketball court after ESPN’s Dick Vitale. He coached there before going to the NBA and then to ESPN in 1979.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal notes that Cincinnati Bengals Dhani Jones gave NFL Network a list of the top NFL linebackers that includes himself.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says Cubs owner Ed Ricketts did not help himself by talking to the media this week.

Scott Dochterman in the Iowa City Gazette discusses CBS signing a new deal with the Big Ten for basketball.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the Wimbledon finals can be seen in 3-D at various theaters around SoCal.

In another uniformed column, the Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin feels Twitter is what ails everything in sports.

Sports Media Watch looks at the NBC’s overnight ratings for the Stanley Cup Final Game 7.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the half hour overnight ratings breakdown of Game 7.

Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski explains how NBC got good ratings for Game 7 despite having a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup Final.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing can’t believe the wallpaper Don Cherry used as a suit for CBC’s Coach’s Corner last night.

SportsbyBrooks looks into yet another plagiarism charge against Denver Post columnist Woody Paige.

Chris Hadley at The Sports Tube remembers NBC’s failed Olympics Triplecast experiment for the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs feels sports radio in both Dallas and Miami failed by not having local programming immediately following the NBA Finals Game 6 to give fans opportunities to vent or celebrate.

We’ll leave it there for now.

NBC Sports Group All Over The U.S. Open at Congressional

Golf Channel has already begun its coverage of The U.S. Open from the Congressional Country Club at Bethesda, MD. NBC will begin its four round coverage starting on Thursday, then the network will really begin its coverage in earnest with a total of 12 hours airing across the country. And locally, you have Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic on the case as well with various reporters and former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams analyzing the tournament.

Here’s the press release from the NBC Sports Group outlining its coverage.

NBC SPORTS GROUP PRESENTS 16 HOURS OF LIVE COVERAGE ON NBC & NEARLY 50 HOURS OF NEWS COVERAGE ON GOLF CHANNEL FOR 2011 U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP FROM CONGRESSIONAL

Actioncam Makes U.S. Open Debut Providing Unique Views of 18^th & 10^th Holes
Weekday Coverage to be Simulcast Live and in HD on NBCSports.com
“Patriotism right now is running pretty high in this country and I think it’s really exciting to have the national championship back in the nation’s capital.” – Dan Hicks
“It’s just the hardest championship to win.” – Johnny Miller

NEW YORK – June 15, 2011 – The NBC Sports Group will present unprecedented national, regional and digital coverage this week of the 2011 U.S. Open Championship from Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

“Golf Channel on NBC” will present 16 hours of live coverage this Thursday-Sunday, making the U.S. Open the only tournament with weekday network-television coverage. Golf Channel will provide nearly 50 hours of news coverage on site from Congressional throughout the week and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will be at the course providing robust coverage to its local viewers. NBCSports.com and GolfChannel.com are teaming up to provide the most comprehensive digital coverage of the championship in their respective histories, including a simulcast of NBC’s weekday coverage.

NBC
Bob Costas will serve as event host for all four rounds of NBC’s coverage the 2011 U.S. Open Championship. Host Dan Hicks and analyst Johnny Miller, together for their 12^th season, anchor coverage from the 18th-hole tower. Hicks and Miller are joined by tower reporters Gary Koch and Peter Jacobsen; on-course reporters Roger Maltbie, Mark Rolfing and Dottie Pepper; interviewer/essayist Jimmy Roberts and Golf World’s Tim Rosaforte.

Following is “Golf Channel on NBC” live coverage this week (all times ET):

Thursday: 3-5 p.m.
Friday: 3-5 p.m.
Saturday: 2-8 p.m.
Sunday: 1:30-7:30 p.m.

ACTIONCAM: For the first time in its history, NBC will utilize Actioncam, an overhead cable-suspended aerial camera system, to cover the U.S. Open. It will ‘fly’ over the small lake that separates the 18^th and 10^th holes, providing unique, first-of-its-kind images.

For the U.S. Open, Actioncam will be setup as a wireless two-point system. Actioncam has developed advanced software and hardware that allows it to fly up to 50 miles per hour while remaining agile and stable. It typically takes two days to set up the system.

Actioncam is one of 55 cameras being used by NBC Sports to produce the Open. Following are some additional production elements by the numbers:

1 Actioncam
1 Blimp
55 Cameras
128 Microphones
1,080,000 Feet of Fiber Optic Cable

Golf Channel
Golf Channel is primed to deliver nearly 50 hours of comprehensive news coverage of this week’s U.S. Open featuring live news reports, inside analysis, player interviews, special guest appearances and compelling features of the men’s second major championship of 2011.

Live From the U.S. Open will deliver wrap-around news coverage before and after tournament play. Morning Drive, the network’s live, weekday morning show, will air bonus shows and expand to seven days this week, featuring daily special guests from Congressional. The Grey Goose 19^th Hole will broadcast live from Congressional, Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET, featuring PGA TOUR Professional Steve Flesch as a guest panelist.

David Feherty will join Golf Channel’s Live From coverage as a contributing analyst throughout the week on-site at Congressional. Joining Feherty on the broadcast team will include Kelly Tilghman, Rich Lerner, Kraig Kann, Steve Sands, Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo, Charlie Rymer, Mark Lye, Mark Rolfing, John Feinstein, Alex Miceli, Todd Lewis, Ken Schofield, Tim Rosaforte, Jason Sobel, Rex Hoggard, Jay Coffin, Randall Mell and John Hawkins. Golf Channel on NBC analysts Dottie Pepper, Roger Maltbie and Gary Koch also will join Live From throughout the week, and Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller will join for weekend news coverage.

On Wednesday from 8-9 p.m. ET within Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel will air Golf Talk Live, where Golf Channel and “Golf Channel on NBC” on-air personalities will discuss the hot topics in golf. Moderated by Rich Lerner, the show will feature panelists David Feherty, Brandel Chamblee and Mark Rolfing.

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
‘SportsNet Central’ will serve the viewers in the Washington/Baltimore region throughout the week-long tournament with expanded editions, special guest analysts and on-site news, analysis and opinion from Congressional. The daily news program – which airs live at 6 p.m., 10 p.m., 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. – will be presented in a special one-hour format from 6-7 p.m. each day of the tournament (June 13-19), as well as at 10 p.m. on Sunday, June 19. The program’s multiple other daily airings will also feature complete coverage of the U.S. Open throughout the week.

Brent Harris will lead ‘SportsNet Central’ coverage of the U.S. Open from Congressional, with Kelli Johnson and Russ Thaler reporting. Special guest analyst Gary Williams, the former head coach of Maryland’s men’s basketball team, will be on location with Comcast SportsNet from Friday, June 17, to Sunday, June 19. Julie Donaldson and Chris Miller will anchor the 6 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. editions of ‘SportsNet Central’ each day from the studio – with the exception of Monday – and will be joined by Golf Channel’s Mike Ritz, who will serve as in-studio analyst. Michael Jenkins will host the 1 a.m. ‘SportsNet Central.’

In addition to its regular live airings at 5 p.m. each weekday, ‘Washington Post Live with Ivan Carter’ will also be presented live at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 16, and Friday, June 17. The daily half-hour talk show will feature a host of golf-related guests – including Ritz and John Feinstein – throughout the week to deliver news, analysis and opinion surrounding the event.

Digital

• NBCSports.com and GolfChannel.com will fully integrate their sites to produce one U.S. Open digital platform for golf fans that will share popular on-air commentators and digital writers. The highlights of this new combined effort include:
• Live HD simulcast of “Golf Channel on NBC” coverage Thursday and Friday (3-5 pm ET), including the ability to pause, rewind and slow-mo any part of the coverage.
• Live HD coverage of Congressional’s “Featured Holes” (Nos. 10 & 18) on Saturday (2-8 p.m. ET) and Sunday (1:30-7:30 p.m. ET).
• Live U.S. Open Wrapup Shows, presented by Lexus, after the conclusion of all four rounds of play. The talent will be from Golf Channel for the first time.
• Live mobile simulcast of all four rounds of “Golf Channel on NBC” coverage on VCAST and MobiTV.
• A live Twitter feed of some of the top personalities and analysts in golf available as a companion to all the live-streaming video.
• Full highlights and interviews from on-site all four days of play.
• ProGolfTalk will provide live updates and interviews from on-site at Congressional all four days and can be accessed from the Sports Talk apps as well (on iPad, iPhone and Android devices).
• GolfChannel.com writer Jason Sobel will blog each day of the competition to keep fans up to date as the action unfolds.
• Golf Channel personalities Kelly Tilghman and Steve Sands will host live chats Saturday and Sunday. Golf Channel contributor John Hawkins also will host live chats Thursday and Friday.
• World-renowned swing coach Hank Haney’s twitter updates during play on Thursday and Friday will be fed directly to GolfChannel.com.
• Jason Sobel, Rex Hoggard, Randall Mell, Jay Coffin and Ryan Ballengee will contribute to the newly formed GolfTalkCentral blog, along with daily columns, news articles, features and breaking news on GolfChannel.com.
• Morning and evening updates from Golf Channel’s Live From the U.S. Open team will be available each day.
• “Tee to Green” features with Frank Nobilo as seen on Live From will be available online.
• In addition, CSNwashington.com will provide extensive written content and exclusive video surrounding the U.S. Open throughout the week-long tournament. A team of experienced reporters, including longtime golf writer Len Shapiro, John Eisenberg, Ryan O’Halloran and Rich Tandler, will lead the site’s in-depth coverage.

And we have the highlights of an NBC Sports Group conference call after the break.

(continue reading…)

Working On Your Tuesday Links

It’s been a busy day for me as I’ve been working on the story on NBC approving plans for a Stanley Cup Final Viewing Party at TD Garden in Boston. Amazing how things fall into place on a story like that. But still working to confirm on the Bruins and Garden end of the story. Once that happens, the story will be complete.

Let’s do links while I can.

Sports Business Daily notes that the NBA Finals finished as the 2nd most watched NBA Finals since 2004, but still finished below last year’s Celtics-Lakers series.

The Sporting News picks up a story from the Sports Business Journal’s Tripp Mickle about Fox’s increased ratings for NASCAR this season.

Sarah Kuta of the Associated Press Sports Editors page notes that economic realities have hit newspaper sports coverage quite hard.

Ken Campbell of the Hockey News gives us this item that hockey charlatan Pierre McGuire is being offered a full-time position at NBC/Versus (scroll down).

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy has the overnight ratings from Monday night’s Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry shares his thoughts on the launch of Grantland.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry says the Miami Heat’s crash and burn in the NBA Finals is not what the script doctor ordered.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter writes that ESPN Classic will become home to ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 documentaries and all future projects.

Anthony Crupi from Adweek says ABC scored with the NBA Finals.

And Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life also writes about the NBA Finals’ ratings.

Matt Hegerty of the Daily Racing Form says this year’s Belmont Stakes received higher ratings on NBC than last year’s race on ABC.

Cam Martin at SportsNewser notes that ESPN NFL analyst Tedi Bruschi unveiled Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s media rules.

Ben Axelrod of SportsGrid notes that today is the “24th Anniversary” of the Keith Hernandez spitting incident made famous on Seinfeld.

David Goetzl of MediaPost says the NFL Network is tapping the podcast for actual programming.

ESPN.com’s David Ubben talks with Big 12 Commissioner Don Beebe about the new revenue distribution and the TV appearance formula for member schools.

Richard Lawler from Engadget HD looks at the expansion in programming at ESPN 3D.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says tickets for Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final are a hot commodity due to the lack of a secondary ticket market in Vancouver.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times notes that NBA Finals Game 6 brought in the viewers as compared with last year.

Richard says a LeBron James critic writing a book on the Miami Heat star got the happy ending he was hoping for.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the Wimbledon TV schedule.

Pete says Fox NASCAR analyst Darrell Waltrip will be inducted into the sport’s Hall of Fame later this year.

Evan Weiner in the New Jersey Newsroom says LeBron James’ attack of his critics shows us what’s wrong with sports.

Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says a recent reairing of Super Bowl XIV gave him an appreciation of Pat Summerall as a play-by-play man.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that DC United’s TV ratings are way, way up this season.

Del Milligan of the Lakeland (FL) Ledger says get ready for plenty of TV coverage from the U.S. Open.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says Game 6 of the NBA Finals brought in record ratings locally.

Fox Sports Southwest will air the Dallas Mavericks victory parade this week.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman writes that the local ABC affiliate saw a ratings record for the NBA Finals.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the local minor league hockey team returns to radio next season.

Mark Snyder at the Detroit Free Press says former Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez heads to the broadcast booth for the upcoming season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the NBA Finals did not do as well locally as compared to last year.

Bob says Packers coach Mike McCarthy revealed in a radio interview that he had his players sized for Super Bowl rings the night before the game!

Robert Feder from Time Out Chicago says the Tribune is losing its media critic (and a good resource for Fang’s Bites as well).

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business continues his talk with White Sox analyst Steve Stone.

Mark Faller of the Arizona Republic isn’t a fan of the Longhorn Network ads.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that one website recognizes Pac-12 Commish Larry Scott as a pretty powerful guy.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog notes that CBC Hockey Night in Canada Radio host Jeff Marek is quite in demand now that his contract is up.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog reviews the first two weeks of Canadian sports television.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that an estimated 12 million people watched Stanley Cup Final Game 6 across the US and Canada.

Sports Media Watch says Gold Cup Soccer is gathering a strong audience for Univision’s networks.

TV Technology notes that NBC/Versus tapped a Swiss company for its telestrator graphics on the Stanley Cup Final.

Ryan Ballengee of Pro Golf Talk has the video of a new Golf boy band that debuted on Golf Channel.

Emma Carmichael of Deadspin talks about her time working for the NBC Olympics unit.

Ty Duffy of The Big Lead reviews “Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside the World of ESPN”

And that will end the links.

Bringing In The Monday Links

I thought this weekend would be quiet and I would be able to do some good blogging like Saturday and Sunday linkage, some Sunday thoughts and a few press releases thrown in, but it turned out to be very busy. Don’t understand it, but it happened. Can’t go back now. Just moving forward so it’s time to provide the linkage for today.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that this week will be chock full of US Open coverage on three networks.

Ryan Nakashima of the Associated Press says Comcast’s $4.4 billion expensive pricetag for four Olympics may end up paying dividends in the long run.

Tripp Mickle of the Sports Business Journal takes us inside the meetings that left NBC firmly entrenched as America’s Olympic Network.

John Ourand of SBJ looks at ESPN’s and Fox’s perspective on the Olympic bidding.

Lindsay Powers at the Hollywood Reporter notes that Miami Heat star LeBron James was mocked on Twitter after his team lost in the NBA Finals on Sunday.

John Eggerton of Multichannel News says a US Court of Appeals ruling closes the FCC terrestrial loophole exemption, but still allows Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia to keep its programming off DirecTV and Dish.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel writes that Versus saw double digit percentage ratings declines for the NHL Stanley Cup Final.

Mike says Golf Channel’s new show with David Feherty will line up a mix of interesting guests.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine tells us about NBC’s ratings bump for the Belmont Stakes.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable writes that NASCAR.com is launching its first social media-based game.

Andrew Gauthier at TV Spy notes that the now-infamous tape of the Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade and LeBron James mocking the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki’s fever shot by a Dallas CBS affiliate proved to be a turning point in the NBA Finals.

Cam Newton of SportsNewser says reserve members of the German Women’s World Cup soccer team appeared in the German version of Playboy.

Cam says Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban spewed an “S” bomb live on ESPN’s SportsCenter last night.

Dashiell Bennett at the Business Insider Sports Page has media reaction to the Miami Heat’s loss in the NBA Finals.

Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe reports that the Vancouver Canucks’ attempts to sell the broadcast rights to a potential Stanley Cup victory parade were shot down.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the potential conflicts of interest when TV analysts are hired as coaches, but still work for their networks.

Karen Crouse of the Times talks with CBS golf analyst David Feherty about his new Golf Channel show and his role at the network.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has your U.S. Open broadcast schedule.

Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer chronicles how Comcast bigwigs helped NBC to land four Olympic Games.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic anchor Julie Donaldson who has bounced back after a domestic assault incident in Boston in 2008.

Bill Starr of The State (SC) remembers former sportswriter and television editor Doug Nye who passed away recently.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times gives his thoughts on the weekend in sports television.

Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that the Miami Herald has some egg on its face after running an ad for a Macy’s Heat “Championship” shirts. It would be understandable if this came after Game 7, but Game 6?

The Madison (IN) Courier says former TNT NASCAR voice Bill Weber will be calling hydroplane racing on Versus.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business talks with White Sox TV analyst Steve Stone about his new book.

The Denver Post’s Dusty Saunders wishes Charles Barkley had a bigger role at the NBA Finals.

Over to Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News who has the Southern California sports calendar for this week.

Irwin Block of the Montreal Gazette reports that local media are shocked over the death of a locally-based Reuters photographer who suddenly died over the weekend covering the Canadian Grand Prix.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail wants the media to focus on NHL referees who have vendettas against players. Why don’t you do that on your own, Bruce?

My podcast partner Keith Thibault has unveiled a new look at Sports Media Journal. Tell Keith you like it.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the overnight ratings for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final were an improvement from 2009, but a decrease from 2010.

Joe Favorito says in minor league hockey, timing is everything.

And that is where I’ll leave the linkage for today.

Golf Channel Is All Over The U.S. Open At Congressional

With the U.S. Open kicking off this week, Golf Channel will be airing its signature Golf Central shows live from Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD. In addition, Golf Channel will fully staff the U.S. Open with reporters and analysts. David Feherty officially joins Golf Channel with his analysis and NBC’s announcers from the U.S. Open will also be on the air live throughout.

Let’s check out the schedule for Golf Channel this week.

Golf Channel Has the U.S. Open Covered

Nearly 50 Hours of Live News Coverage from Congressional
Morning Drive Special Editions Monday-Sunday
David Feherty Joins Live From Team as Contributing Analyst
Wall-to-Wall Coverage on All-New GolfChannel.com

ORLANDO, Fla. (June 12, 2011) – Golf Channel is primed to deliver nearly 50 hours of comprehensive news coverage of this week’s U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., featuring live news reports, inside analysis, player interviews, special guest appearances and compelling features of the men’s second major championship of 2011.

Nearly 50 Hours of On-Site Coverage: Golf Channel’s news coverage will begin Monday with live news reports and updates throughout the day from Congressional, leading into an hour-long Golf Central at 6 p.m. ET.  Tuesday and Wednesday, Live From the U.S. Open will begin with pre-tournament news conference shows, followed by two-hour shows in prime time each evening.  Thursday-Sunday, Live From the U.S. Open will deliver wrap-around news coverage before and after tournament play.  Morning Drive, the network’s live, weekday morning show, will air bonus shows and expand to seven days next week, featuring daily special guests from Congressional.  The Grey Goose 19^th Hole will broadcast live from Congressional, Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET, featuring PGA TOUR Professional Steve Flesch as a guest panelist, and Monday at 7 p.m. ET, Michael Breed will host a special The Golf Fix from the Congressional driving range.

News Conferences: Golf Channel coverage of the pre-tournament news conferences will begin Monday with a special hour-long Morning Drive at 11 a.m. ET.  Golf Channel will break into scheduled programming with live news conferences and updates throughout the day.  News conference shows will air Tuesday from noon-4 p.m. ET, and on Wednesday from noon-2 p.m. ET.

Live From the U.S. Open: Headlining Golf Channel’s coverage will be the network’s franchise news program, Live From the U.S. Open, originating from two sets at Congressional – the main stage overlooking No. 18 and a round-table stage on the driving range.  Beginning Tuesday, Live From the U.S. Open will provide more than 25 hours of news coverage of the U.S. Open during the week, including player interviews, analysis, early highlights, up-to-the-minute leader board updates and daily features from Golf Channel’s team of anchors, reporters and contributors.

New Camera Angles: Golf Channel will utilize a series of new cameras and camera positions at the U.S. Open, including:

• Action Cam – An overhead action camera angle made popular in sports broadcasts, the Action Cam will make its golf debut at the U.S. Open on Golf Channel on Thursday.  The Action Cam will be shared by Golf Channel and NBC Sports, and will be featured during Live From the U.S. Open news coverage Thursday-Sunday.
• Robotic Cam – A robotic camera will be positioned behind No. 18 green for vantage points and views of the 18^th green and fairway, as well as the 10^th green.
• Range Cam – A stationary camera position for views of the players preparing for their rounds of play each day.

Golf Talk Live – Wednesday from 8-9 p.m. ET within Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel will air Golf Talk Live, where Golf Channel and Golf Channel on NBC on-air personalities will discuss the hot topics in golf.  Moderated by Rich Lerner, the show will feature panelists David Feherty, Brandel Chamblee and Mark Rolfing.

Live From the U.S. Open Broadcast Team: David Feherty will join Golf Channel’s Live From coverage as a contributing analyst throughout the week on-site at Congressional.  Joining Feherty on the broadcast team will include Kelly Tilghman, Rich Lerner, Kraig Kann, Steve Sands, Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo, Charlie Rymer, Mark Lye, Mark Rolfing, John Feinstein, Alex Miceli, Todd Lewis, Ken Schofield, Tim Rosaforte, Jason Sobel, Rex Hoggard, Jay Coffin, Randall Mell and John Hawkins.  Golf Channel on NBC analysts Dottie Pepper, Roger Maltbie and Gary Koch also will join Live From throughout the week, and Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller will join for weekend news coverage.

Live From the U.S. Open Scheduled Features:

• Nobilo Takes on Congressional: Golf Channel analyst Frank Nobilo scouts the holes at Congressional prior to the start of the tournament in segments that will air throughout the week.
• Ben Crane Newest Video World Premiere – Tuesday night on Live From the U.S. Open, Golf Channel will premiere the latest installment of Ben Crane’s entertaining videos.  Crane, Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler and Bubba Watson will join the show live for the premiere of their original music video.
• Ken Venturi Recalls 1964 U.S. Open Win – Rich Lerner visits with Ken Venturi to reflect on his U.S. Open victory in 1964 at Congressional.
• Don Cheadle Voices U.S. Open Moments – Academy-award nominee Don Cheadle will voice a number of “U.S. Open Moments” that will air throughout the week.

Morning Drive Expands to Seven Days: Kicking off Golf Channel’s U.S. Open coverage will be Morning Drive, hosted by Erik Kuselias and Gary Williams.  Golf Channel’s popular weekday morning show will expand to seven days during U.S. Open week and will include special expanded bonus coverage throughout the week, featuring live guests from Congressional, daily.

Wall-to-Wall Coverage on GolfChannel.com: GolfChannel.com will feature expanded editorial content and interactive capabilities with fans timed to the U.S. Open next week, including:

Blogs & Live Chats

• Jason Sobel will blog each day of the competition to keep fans up to date as the action unfolds.
• Golf Channel personalities Kelly Tilghman and Steve Sands will host live chats Saturday and Sunday.  Golf Channel contributor John Hawkins also will host live chats Thursday and Friday.
• World-renowned swing coach Hank Haney’s twitter updates during play on Thursday and Friday will be fed directly to GolfChannel.com.

Editorial Coverage

• Jason Sobel, Rex Hoggard, Randall Mell, Jay Coffin and Ryan Ballengee will contribute to the newly formed GolfTalkCentral blog, along with daily columns, news articles, features and breaking news on GolfChannel.com.

Exclusive Online Video Content

• Morning and evening updates from Golf Channel’s Live From the U.S. Open team will be available each day.
• “Tee to Green” features with Frank Nobilo as seen on Live From also will be available.

Live From the U.S. Open Programming (all times ET)

Monday, June 13
Morning Drive — 7-9 a.m.
Morning Drive — 11 a.m.-noon
Golf Central — 6-7 p.m.
The Golf Fix — 7-8 p.m.

**Golf Central will break into programming throughout the day for live news updates and news conferences

Tuesday, June 14
Morning Drive — 7-9 a.m.
Live From the U.S. Open — noon-4 p.m. (news conferences)
Live From the U.S. Open — 6-8 p.m.

Wednesday, June 15
Morning Drive — 7-9 a.m.
Grey Goose 19^th Hole — 6-7 p.m.
Live From the U.S. Open — noon-2 p.m. (news conferences)
Live From the U.S. Open — 7-9 p.m. (Golf Talk Live, 8-9 p.m.)

Thursday and Friday, June 16-17
Live From the U.S. Open — 6-8 a.m.
Morning Drive — 8-10 a.m.
Live From the U.S. Open — 7-9 p.m.

Saturday, June 18
Morning Drive — 8-11 a.m.
Live From the U.S. Open — 11 a.m.-1 pm.
Morning Drive — 1-2 p.m.
Live From the U.S. Open — 8-10 p.m.

Sunday, June 19
Morning Drive — 8-10:30 a.m.
Live From the U.S. Open — 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Morning Drive — 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Live From the U.S. Open — 7:30-9:30 p.m.

That will do it.

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic To Cover US Open At Congressional

Starting Monday, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will have extensive coverage of the U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD. Included in the coverage will be former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams who has been used by the network in the past as a golf analyst. Williams is an avid golfer and has plenty of time to play now that he’s no longer the coach at Maryland. In addition to using Williams, CSN Mid-Atlantic will expand its nightly SportsNet Central program to an hour for all of its editions throughout the week in order to bring the latest news from Congressional.

There will also be coverage on Comcast SportsNet’s website, CSNWashington.com. We have Comcast SportsNet’s press release.

COMCAST SPORTSNET TO PRESENT COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE 111^th U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP AT CONGRESSIONAL JUNE 13-19

ON-AIR HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE EXPANDED ‘SPORTSNET CENTRAL’ FORMAT, LATE ‘WASHINGTON POST LIVE’ EDITIONS AND SPECIAL GUEST ANALYST GARY WILLIAMS
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT TO BE FEATURED ON CSNWASHINGTON.COM THROUGHOUT TOURNAMENT

Bethesda, Md. (June 10, 2011) – Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will present comprehensive coverage of the 111^th U.S. Open Championship at Congressional Country Club from Monday, June 13, to Sunday, June 19. The extensive on-air programming and online content surrounding the event will be guided by the network’s large stable of expert analysts, reporters and special guests, including former University of Maryland men’s basketball coach Gary Williams.

‘SportsNet Central’ will lead Comcast SportsNet’s on-air coverage of the U.S. Open throughout the week-long tournament with expanded editions, special guest analysts and on-site news, analysis and opinion from Congressional. The daily news program – which airs live at 6 p.m., 10 p.m., 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. – will be presented in a special one-hour format from 6-7 p.m. each day of the tournament (June 13-19), as well as at 10 p.m. on Sunday, June 19. The program’s multiple other daily airings will also feature complete coverage of the U.S. Open throughout the week.

‘SportsNet Central’ coverage of the U.S. Open will be led by Chick Hernandez and Brent Harris from Congressional, with Kelli Johnson and Russ Thaler reporting. Special guest analyst Gary Williams will be on location with Comcast SportsNet from Friday, June 17, to Sunday, June 19. Julie Donaldson and Chris Miller will anchor the 6 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. editions of ‘SportsNet Central’ each day from the studio – with the exception of Monday – and will be joined by Golf Channel’s Mike Ritz, who will serve as in-studio analyst. Michael Jenkins will host the 1 a.m. ‘SportsNet Central.’

In addition to its regular live airings at 5 p.m. each weekday, ‘Washington Post Live with Ivan Carter’ will also be presented live at 10:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 16, and Friday, June 17. The daily half-hour talk show will feature a host of golf-related guests – including Ritz and John Feinstein – throughout the week to deliver news, analysis and opinion surrounding the event.

CSNwashington.com will provide extensive written content and exclusive video surrounding the U.S. Open throughout the week-long tournament. The site’s in-depth coverage will be led by a team of experienced reporters, including longtime golf writer Len Shapiro, John Eisenberg, Ryan O’Halloran and Rich Tandler.

There you have it.

Cranking Out Some Friday Megalinks

Ok, it’s getting late and in the work day and I need to get these megalinks done. I’ve traveled to the MA office and now back in RI. Let’s get this done so I can watch the Bruins tonight.

All of your Weekend Viewing Picks are right here.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand reviews the HBO documentary on the Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe rivalry.

David Bauder of the Associated Press analyzes how new NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus got to keep the Olympics in the network fold.

At Forbes, Mike Ozanian goes inside Comcast’s numbers to see how it can profit from its Olympic bid.

Craig Wolff at the Wall Street Journal says maybe the time has come for sportswriters to abandon the locker room interview.

Sam Eifling of the Columbia Journalism Review looks at Grantland’s debut.

Jonathan Landreth at the Hollywood Reporter notes that a record audience in Communist China watched Li Na win the Women’s Final at the French Open.

Lindsay Rubino from Broadcasting & Cable says Game 5 of the NBA Finals took home a ratings win for ABC on Thursday.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News talks with TNT NASCAR analyst Kyle Petty about the network’s Summer Season of races.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life says the NBA Finals also pulled a win in key demographics on Thursday.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser says last month’s Manny Pacquaio-Shane Mosley fight drew the most buys for a Pacquaio pay per view bout.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid notes that the TD Garden in Boston quickly became enamored with actress and Bruins fan Rachel McAdams.

Joe Favorito looks at how the NBA is trying to engage social media throughout its platforms.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the Yankees might be losing money on Derek Jeter’s chase for 3,000 career hits.

Awful Announcing has Fox Sports’ MLB analyst Mark Grace’s mugshot taken shortly after being arrested for DUI on Memorial Day Weekend.

At Captain Blowhard’s site, we have this great article by Alex French and Howie Kahn on the late, great sports daily, The National, which was way ahead of its time.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs looks at the news of the week in sports media.

Chris Hadley at The Sports Tube reviews the ESPN on ABC production of Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the final ratings of Games 3 & 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final on Versus.

Sports Media Watch notes that Boston (which is more fixated on the Bruins) is not watching the NBA Finals.

SMW looks at how NBA Finals Game 5′s overnight ratings finished lower than last year.

Erik Malinowski of Wired writes how ESPN is trying to keep ESPN 3D in the forefront and not let it slip away.

The Big Lead says ESPN 3D is trying to break out from being a niche channel.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer misses listening to Chicago Cubs radio analyst Ron Santo.

Michael Zuidema at the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with MLB Network host Ahmed Fareed about growing up in Michigan and hitting the national stage.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel hears from ESPN’s US Open analysts Andy North and Curtis Strange.

Bob reviews HBO’s McEnroe/Borg documentary.

And Bob looks at ESPN’s new logo for Monday Night Football.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business has his weekly winners and losers in sports business.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about one local sports radio station that turns to a new program director.

And Dan has a few news and notes.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune talks with CBS’ Jim Nantz who was in Utah when the Tiffany Network plucked him to be its college football host in 1985.

John Maffei in the North County Times reviews the McEnroe/Borg HBO doc.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth writes that Vin Scully’s start on the Hollywood Walk of Fame needs fixing.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe notes that NBC/Versus analyst Mike Milbury isn’t making any friends on the Vancouver Canucks during the Stanley Cup Final.

Thomas Grillo of the Boston Herald says win or lose, several Bruins players could cash in as commercial pitchmen after the season.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette looks at Comcast SportsNet New England’s Bruins studio hosts.

The Springfield (MA) Republican notes that the Basketball Hall of Fame has named its print and broadcasting inductees for this year.

Newsday’s Neil Best chronicles his day in the MLB Man Fan Cave.

Neil has more on his day at the Fan Cave and the two men who are spending the entire MLB season inside.

Neil has his thoughts on NBC’s promise to go live at the Olympics.

Justin Terranova of the New York Post has five questions for ESPN’s Andy North on the upcoming US Open.

Bob’s Blitz recaps Jenn Sterger’s appearance on WFAN’s Boomer and Carton show today.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says the US Open will be missing a big storyline when ESPN opens its coverage next week.

Jeff DiVeronica of the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle says local soccer and Brazilian superstar Marta will be featured on an ESPN documentary.

Evan Weiner at the New Jersey Newsroom says the new Olympics deal with NBC/Comcast will help to increase your cable television bill.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun notes that former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams will be an analyst on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s US Open coverage next week.

Dave Hughes in Press Box says the host of a University of Maryland sports-themed show hopes to expand it outside of the Baltimore area.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that Tony Kornheiser has reached his limit of shows for the local ESPN Radio affiliate.

In the Washington Examiner, Jim Williams notes that Dan Patrick will be joining NBC’s coverage of the Stanley Cup Final for the rest of the series.

South

Jocelyn Syrstad of the Virginian-Pilot says ESPN is interested in a local beach soccer tournament.

Mark DeCotis of Florida Today profiles a local woman who will be working behind the scenes on TNT’s NASCAR coverage.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald talks about the health struggles of two ESPN personalities working the NBA Finals.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times reviews NBC’s big win in the Olympics bidding this week.

At the Houston Chronicle, David Barron notes that Astros broadcaster Bill Brown will be honored for his service to the team this weekend.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks about the McEnroe/Borg and the Olympics bidding.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says looks at the first ratings in city’s sports radio war.

And that’s going to do it.

ESPN’s Coverage Plans For The U.S. Open At Congressional

If it’s Father’s Day weekend, it means U.S. Open golf. And it also means ESPN is all over it. It also means we get to hear Chris Berman’s irritating play-by-play for the first two rounds, “Eh, ah, uh, let’s send it to Roger “Chocolate” Maltbie!” I can’t wait for the social media reaction to Berman next week. It’s going to be rather ugly.

Anyway, ESPN will have extensive coverage of the first two rounds of the U.S. Open at the fabled Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MA. ESPN’s coverage will begin at 10 a.m. and run until 7 p.m., with a two hour break from 3 – 5 p.m. when NBC steps in.

In addition to TV, ESPN Radio will have live coverage all four days and of course, ESPN’s coverage will be seen online at ESPN3.com. We have the particulars of the coverage for you.

ESPN’s 30^th Year at U.S. Open Includes 44 Hours of Golf on TV, Unique Live Coverage Across Radio, Multimedia Platforms

ESPN celebrates its 30^th year of coverage of the 111^th U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., June 14-20 with 44 hours of programming on television as well as expansive analysis, news and information on radio, online and mobile devices.

ESPN and ESPN3.com will air seven hours of live coverage of each of the first two rounds of the tournament on Thursday and Friday, June 16-17, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. ET. An edited encore presentation will air on ESPN in prime time each night from 8-11 p.m. and re-air overnight. ESPN also will air edited highlights from Saturday and Sunday’s third and final round action in the overnight hours.

ESPN’s flagship news and information program, SportsCenter, will originate from the tournament site with special SportsCenter at the U.S. Open programs for six consecutive days beginning Tuesday, June 14, as well as extensive reports throughout the day.

Chris Berman, who has covered the U.S. Open for ESPN every year since 1986, will host the live telecasts on Thursday and Friday as well as the weekend highlight programs. ESPN’s U.S. Open team for the Thursday and Friday telecasts also includes two-time U.S. Open champions Curtis Strange (hole announcer) and Andy North (on-course reporter). Mike Tirico will call the action on the 18^th hole during the middle portions of the broadcast days, joined for analysis by 1993 PGA champion Paul Azinger, while other hole announcers will be Scott Van Pelt, Terry Gannon and Sean McDonough. Joining North as on-course reporter will be Bill Kratzert. NBC will again produce the telecasts, with announcer contributions from analyst Roger Maltbie, who will join Berman at the 18^th hole at the beginning and end of each day.

Among features that will be presented during ESPN’s coverage of the U.S. Open:

• A profile of Dustin Johnson, who led last year’s U.S. Open headed into the final day but finished eighth after a disaster of a start.
• A Father’s Day feature with Ernie Els.
• ESPN Sport Science on “The Rough” at the U.S. Open.
• ESPN The Magazine’s Rick Reilly with an essay on Tiger Woods.

ESPN began televising the first and second rounds of the U.S. Open in 1982. The tournament has been in the ESPN/ABC family of networks since 1966.

SportsCenter at the U.S. Open
One-hour SportsCenter at the U.S. Open programs air Tuesday and Wednesday, June 14-15, at 2 p.m. on ESPN and Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 16-19, at 11 p.m. on ESPN2. There also are programs on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 12:30 p.m., both on ESPN. Scott Van Pelt will host the programs with analyst Andy North and reporter Tom Rinaldi. SportsCenter also will have reports from the U.S. Open in the morning hours prior to the beginning of live play with hosts John Anderson and Mike Tirico, analysts Curtis Strange and Paul Azinger and ESPN The Magazine’s Rick Reilly.

The U.S. Open on ESPN Online
In addition to television coverage, there will be extensive U.S. Open offerings for fans online across ESPN.com, espnW.com, ESPN3.com and ESPNnetworks.com.

ESPN.com

• Columns/articles by national columnist Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com golf writer Bob Harig and ESPN The Magazine’s Rick Reilly.
• “Digital Drive,” an exclusive ESPN.com program hosted by Rick Reilly, will be produced each day Tuesday-Sunday of the tournament.
• Extensive video content, including highlights, analysis, clips from SportsCenter and press conferences each day during tournament week.
• ESPN.com GolfCast application featuring live scoring and CoverItLive analysis daily with ESPN’s golf team.
• A golf-themed fantasy game – the second installment of the ESPN Best Ball Challenge
• Streaming of coverage from ESPN Radio.

espnW.com
ESPN’s first dedicated content and digital business designed to serve, inform and inspire female athletes and fans, espnW.com will be on location at the U.S. Open with veteran golf writer Mick Elliott and espnW contributor Melissa Jacobs. In addition to daily reports, planned items include:

• A signature of espnW – Top 5 storylines to watch from the U.S. Open.
• Can you be a top golfer and still have fun? Many pros look really stressed out while they play, while others, such as Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson, still find a way to have fun and win too.
• Where do fans stand on Tiger Woods, given his fall personally and professionally? Is he still their favorite golfer, even though he’s not currently winning?
• For Father’s Day, players talk about their memories of their dads and how many played a big role in developing their love of golf in their childhoods.

ESPN3.com
In addition to the simulcast of ESPN’s live coverage of the first two rounds of the U.S. Open, ESPN3.com, ESPN’s signature broadband sports network, will offer several unique views for golf fans. Viewers can watch action on the 10^th and 18^th holes at Congressional Country Club on ESPN3.com from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. during the first two rounds, and they also will be able to follow a featured group. Jim Kelly and John Anderson will host the feature group coverage with analyst Tom Weiskopf and reporter Mark Donaldson. In addition, ESPN3.com will offer a Spanish-language telecast.

ESPNnetworks.com
All U.S. Open programming on ESPN and ESPN2 will also be available on computers, smartphones and tablets through ESPNnetworks.com and the free WatchESPN app, which are accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated provider.

The U.S. Open on ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio’s second straight broadcast of the U.S. Open tees off Wednesday, June 15, with a one-hour preview special at 7 p.m. leading to the network’s 24 live hours of tournament play Thursday-Sunday. Commentators contributing to ESPN Radio’s live coverage from Congressional include Doug Bell, Bill Kratzert, Sean McDonough, Dennis Paulson, Bill Rosinski, Curtis Strange and Bob Wischusen. Chuck Wilson will host U.S. Open studio programming. ESPN Radio’s coverage will be distributed in eight of the top 10 markets, and 43 of the top 50 markets.

ESPN Radio will air live coverage of tournament play from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, June 16-17, with a midnight airing of SportsCenter Tonight’s U.S. Open Special. Coverage airs from 2-8 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, with 11 p.m. airings of SportsCenter Tonight’s U.S. Open Special. ESPN Radio will broadcast complete 18-hole coverage of each weekend day’s final group.

ESPN Radio’s U.S. Open coverage also will be available on satellite radio (ESPNXtra, Sirius XM channel 85) and play-by-play and studio content will be simulcast on ESPNRadio.com.

For golf fans on location at Congressional, ESPN Radio will have signals for fans to listen to audio from 4-7 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday via special earpieces that will be distributed on site. The audio will be from ESPN Radio’s broadcast from 4-5 p.m. and from the ESPN telecast from 5-7 p.m.

Additional coverage of the U.S. Open on ESPN platforms:

ESPN International
Coverage of the U.S. Open on ESPN platforms will reach some 133 countries and more than 218 million international households, with coverage in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin and Cantonese. Latin America will also feature live coverage and exclusive feeds (Hole 18 and the second Feature Group of the day) via ESPN Play (broadband).

ESPN the Magazine
In the issue that hit newsstands June 2, ESPN the Magazine has a Play department page on five players with “something to prove” at the year’s U.S. Open – Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, KJ Choi, Dustin Johnson and Lee Westwood.

ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS will offer all the latest U.S. Open news beginning Tuesday, June 14, with interviews, pre- and post-round news conferences and analysis.

ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic will feature 27 consecutive hours of classic U.S. Open golf films leading into live coverage of the first round of the U.S. Open on ESPN. The U.S. Open Golf Marathon begins Wednesday, June 15, at 7 a.m. and runs through Thursday, June 16, at 10 a.m.

ESPN on Demand
Available in more than 38 million households, ESPN on Demand will offer viewers the opportunity to watch some classic U.S. Open tournaments from the past, including Tiger Woods’ victories in 2000, 2002 and 2008, Jack Nicklaus’ last win in 1980 and Payne Stewart’s 1991 and 1999 wins.

ESPN Mobile
Live mobile video simulcasts of ESPN’s first- and second-round telecasts on June 16-17 and SportsCenter at the U.S. Open preview shows prior to the third and final rounds.

Interactive Television
The four-screen U.S. Open Mix will air on DirecTV (channels 701-705) for all four days of the championship. Channel 1 will carry the live ESPN or NBC television coverage, while Channels 2 and 3 will cover Featured Groups 1 and 2, respectively (players in both groups to be determined). Channel 4 will cover the 10^th and 18^th holes.

ABC SUPERSIGN
ESPN’s live coverage of the second round of the U.S. Open on Friday, June 17, will be simulcast live on the ABC SuperSign in New York City’s Time Square from 5-7 p.m.

U.S. Open – Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, MA

Day/Date	Program	Start	End	Network
Tue., June 14	SportsCenter at the U.S. Open	2 p.m.	3 p.m.	ESPN
Wed., June 15	SportsCenter at the U.S. Open	2 p.m.	3 p.m.	ESPN
Thu., June 16	First Round (Part 1)	10 a.m.	3 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN3.com
Thu., June 16	First Round (Part 2)	5 p.m.	7 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN3.com
Thu., June 16	Best of the U.S. Open	8 p.m.	11 p.m.	ESPN
Thu., June 16	SportsCenter at the U.S. Open	11 p.m.	Mid.	ESPN2
Fri., June 17	Best of the U.S. Open	1 a.m.	4 a.m.	ESPN2
Fri., June 17	Second Round (Part 1)	10 a.m.	3 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN3.com
Fri., June 17	Second Round (Part 2)	5 p.m.	7 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN3.com
Fri., June 17	Best of the U.S. Open	8 p.m.	11 p.m.	ESPN
Fri., June 17	SportsCenter at the U.S. Open	11 p.m.	Mid.	ESPN2
Sat., June 18	Best of the U.S. Open	3 a.m.	6 a.m.	ESPN
Sat., June 18	SportsCenter pres. by IBM at the U.S. Open	1 p.m.	2 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., June 18	SportsCenter at the U.S. Open	11 p.m.	Mid.	ESPN2
Sun., June 19	Best of the U.S. Open	3 a.m.	6 a.m.	ESPN
Sun., June 19	SportsCenter at the U.S. Open	12:30 p.m.	1:30 p.m.	ESPN
Sun., June 19	SportsCenter at the U.S. Open	11 p.m.	Mid.	ESPN2
Mon., June 20	Best of the U.S. Open	1 a.m.	5 a.m.	ESPN2

(44 hours of programming, including re-airs of SportsCenter specials)

That’s all.

Sirius XM Extends Agreement with The PGA Tour

We learned just before the end of 2011, Sirius XM came to an agreement with the PGA Tour to keep PGA Tour Radio and coverage of golf on the satellite radio provider. From all accounts, this was pretty close to not happening and having all golf events removed from Sirius XM. But things came out ok and Sirius XM is announcing that it will have the entire PGA Tour 2011 season as well as the four majors, The Masters, the US Open, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship.

SiriusXM Announces Comprehensive Coverage of 2011 Golf Season

SiriusXM will broadcast more live play-by-play than any other TV or radio broadcaster, offering the Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship, plus PGA TOUR events including THE PLAYERS

Sirius and XM listeners get expert analysis on PGA TOUR Network channel

NEW YORK, NY – January 5, 2011 – Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) today announced that it will provide comprehensive coverage of the 2011 golf season, offering more live play-by-play than any other TV or radio broadcaster and giving listeners nationwide access to the full schedule of events featuring the world’s best golfers. 

SiriusXM will broadcast live play-by-play of the 2011 PGA TOUR season, featuring THE PLAYERS Championship (May 12-15 from TPC Sawgrass, FL), and all four major championship events – the Masters (April 7-10 from Augusta National Golf Club, GA), the U.S. Open Championship (June 16-19 from Congressional CC, MD), The Open Championship (July 14-17 from Royal St. George’s GC, Kent, England) and the PGA Championship (August 11-14 from Atlanta Athletic Club, GA).

SiriusXM’s coverage will also include the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup: The Barclays (August 25-28 from Plainfield CC, NJ), Deutsche Bank Championship (September 2-5 from TPC Boston, MA), BMW Championship (September 15-18 from Cog Hill GC, IL) and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola (September 22-25 from East Lake GC, GA).

Sirius and XM listeners will have access to hole-by-hole coverage every day of tournament play for each event, as well as expert analysis on the PGA TOUR Network channel, the only radio channel dedicated to professional golf.

Live tournament coverage and the PGA TOUR Network channel are available to all XM subscribers and to Sirius subscribers who purchase the “Best of XM” programming package, and are available nationwide on XM channel 146 and Sirius channel 209.

Play-by-play coverage of the U.S. Open Championship will air on ESPN Radio, Sirius channel 120 and XM channel 140.

Sirius and XM listeners will also be able to access live tournament play-by-play and the PGA TOUR Network channel online at www.sirius.com and www.xmradio.com as well as on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry and Android-powered mobile devices using the SiriusXM Premium Online App.

For more information, please visit www.xmradio.com or www.sirius.com.

That is all.

Some Weekend Programming Releases

Grouping a few weekend releases together. We have NASCAR in Chicago, the U.S. Women’s Open in Oakmont, PA and some other stuff that may capture your fancy. Here we go.

The last NASCAR Sprint Cup race for TNT is tonight in primetime. It’s in Chicago and ends a decent year for the Turner network.

TNT’s NASCAR Coverage Concludes with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago on Saturday, July 10

Pre-race coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. (ET); green flag drops at 7:30 p.m. (ET)

TNT wraps up its NASCAR coverage for the season with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Racing from Chicago on Saturday, July 10 live from Joliet, Ill. at Chicagoland Speedway. The network will air exclusive coverage of the LifeLock.com 400 beginning at 7:30 p.m. (ET) with play-by-play announcer Adam Alexander calling the race alongside analysts Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach in the booth. In addition, analyst Larry McReynolds will make frequent contributions from the in-field as he breaks down crew strategy and analyzes car adjustments.

The network’s pre-race coverage will get underway at 6:30 p.m. (ET) with Countdown to Green featuring Lindsay Czarniak (host), Petty and McReynolds, along with reports from pit reporters Ralph Sheheen, Marty Snider, Phil Parsons and Matt Yocum. No. 18 Kyle Busch will join TNT’s infield rig for an interview prior to the race to discuss his current season on the track. In addition, the pre-race show crew will talk to No. 29 Kevin Harvick who is the current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader.

TNT’s acclaimed Pride of NASCAR series will feature the late Alan Kulwicki who was the 1986 NASCAR Rookie of the Year and, in 1998, was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.

Dallenbach will once again break down race strategy during Wally’s World, as he is superimposed into live race footage from last season’s race in Chicago. He will virtually walk along the track to discuss its nuances, with the ability to stop the race footage.

Throughout this year’s NASCAR on TNT Summer Series, the network will join forces with NASCAR.COM, the official site of NASCAR, to provide TNT RaceBuddy a multiplatform experience for race fans which features live feeds from the racetrack including pit road and in-car cameras, as well as live chats and polls.

NBC Sports continues its coverage of US Golf Association events with the U.S. Women’s Open this weekend.

WORLD NO. 1 CHRISTIE KERR HEADLINES FIELD AT 2010 U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP AT OAKMONT THIS WEEKEND ON NBC SPORTS

“It’s the greatest championship in women’s golf.” – NBC Sports’ Dottie Pepper

“It’s the ultimate test.” – NBC Sports’ Johnny Miller on Oakmont

NEW YORK – July 7, 2010 – Christie Kerr, the No. 1 women’s player in the world, leads an impressive field attempting to win the most prestigious event in women’s golf, the 65^th U.S. Women’s Open Championship from historic Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. NBC Sports provides third- and final-round coverage this Saturday and Sunday from 3-6 p.m. ET.

Dan Hicks hosts NBC Sports’ coverage alongside analysts Johnny Miller and Dottie Pepper, who competed in 19 U.S. Women’s Opens during her illustrious career. Miller won the men’s U.S. Open at Oakmont in 1973 when he famously shot a final-round 63 in what is regarded as one of the most impressive rounds in Open history. They are joined by tower reporter Gary Koch, and course reporters Roger Maltbie and former LPGA players Jane Crafter and Kay Cockerill.

Kerr, who recently vaulted to the top of the world rankings, has a strong U.S. Open resume with five career Top 10s, including a 2007 win and tie for third last year. She has had an impressive 2010 season so far, earning five Top 10 finishes and claiming two victories – the LPGA State Farm Classic and the LPGA Championship.

Kerr will be challenged by a strong field that features all Top 20 players in the world and 28 of the Top 30, including Japan’s Ai Miyazato (No. 2), Australia’s Karrie Webb (9), and the USA’s Michelle Wie (10) and Paula Creamer (13). Last year’s champion, Eun-Hee Ji from Korea, is also competing.

Regarded as one of the great courses in the United States, Oakmont has hosted 17 major championships, including the 1992 U.S. Women’s Open Championship, won by Patty Sheehan.

PEPPER ON OAKMONT: “It’s a huge compliment to the way the women play to come back to Oakmont a second time. The last time the Open was here, there was a lot of rain. I expect a much faster track this time. It’s set up fair, more fair than last time. The greens are holding good shots. The bunkers may end up telling the story. They are severe.”

MILLER ON OAKMONT: “It’s regarded as one of the hardest courses in the United States. It has treacherous greens. Anyone that wins at Oakmont should feel good because it’s the ultimate test.”

PEPPER ON THE OPEN: “It’s the greatest championship in women’s golf. It’s the best courses under the toughest conditions. It’s the focal point on everyone’s schedules. Players play extra practice rounds. They want to win this badly.”

PEPPER ON KERR: “She’s worked very hard to get to where she is. The tussle for No. 1  in the world is great for the LPGA. The rankings can change quickly and that’s a great conversation piece. Christie is built for Opens. She drives it long enough and she’s a grinder. That’s what it takes to win majors. Plus, she’s a ‘feel’ putter and that’s a big asset here.”

MILLER ON KERR: “The big thing about Oakmont is that you have to hit it well but you also need to be a delicate, almost natural putter. Christie is a fantastic putter with a gorgeous stroke. Oakmont should suit her well.”

PEPPER ON THE FIELD: “Suzann Pettersen has put in a lot of extra time here. She’s plenty long enough for this course. Keep an eye out for Song-Hee Kim. She’s earned 10 Top 10s out of 11 tournaments this year, including two runner ups in her last two events. Jennifer Song has lived here for the past two weeks. She won the Futures Tour event by shooting a final-round 61.”

MILLER ON THE AMERICANS: “I’m looking forward to see if some of the young American woman – Paula Creamer, Michelle Wie, Natalie Gulbis – can step up and win a Unites States Open.”

More coming up after the break.
CBS Sports has some stuff on Sunday.

CBS SPORTS GOES YARD AS COLLEGE BASEBALL’S TOP SLUGGERS COMPETE IN FIRST EVER “TD AMERITRADE COLLEGE HOME RUN DERBY” ON SUNDAY, JULY 11

CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR introduces some of baseball’s next generation of superstars as they face off in the first ever TD AMERITRADE COLLEGE HOME RUN DERBY on Sunday, July 11 (1:00-2:00 PM, ET; taped 7/7) from historic Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.  Highlighted by Fresno State’s Jordan Ribera and Siena College’s Dan Paolini, eight of the premier sluggers of college baseball from colleges around the country go yard for yard as the COLLEGE HOME RUN DERBY provides an exciting new television event in college baseball from one of the storied ballpark’s final collegiate competitions.  National Baseball Hall of Fame member Mike Schmidt and 2010 inductee Andre Dawson serve as ceremonial hitting coaches for the participants.  CBS Sports’ Adam Zucker, along with 1993 and 1994 American League Most Valuable Player Frank Thomas, and Tracy Wolfson reporting, call the action for CBS Sports.  CBS Sports’ Deb Boulac serves as coordinating producer.

CBS SPORTS TO AIR SECOND INSTALLMENT OF “LUCAS OIL OFF ROAD RACING SERIES” ON SUNDAY, JULY 11

CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR presents the second chapter of the LUCAS OIL OFF ROAD RACING SERIES on Sunday, July 11 (2:00-3:00 PM, ET; taped 6/26-27) from Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.  This series includes 11 classes of vehicles ranging from ATVs to full-bodied trucks.  Multi-time off road champion Rob MacCachren races the Stronghold Engineering, Pro 4 Unlimited, while Ricky Johnson races in the Pro 2 class. Newcomers Bryce Menzie and Rodrigo Ampudia are emerging as serious contenders of this short course off road talent.  Cameron Steele, Ken Stout and Rob Klepper call all the action for CBS Sports.  CBS Sports’ Ryan Galvin serves as coordinating producer.

And NBA TV has coverage of Summer League basketball live from Las Vegas throughout the weekend and into next week.

NBA Digital Heads to Las Vegas for the Remainder of 2010 NBA Summer League on NBA TV and NBA.com

NBA Digital continues its extensive Summer League coverage with NBA TV and NBA.com airing 39 live game broadcasts starting Friday, July 9 and continuing through Sunday, July 18 in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center and the COX Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas. 

The NBA TV crew of Matt Winer, Rick Kamla, Joel Myers and Chad Andrus will call play by play alongside analysts Kevin McHale, Chris Webber, Brent Barry, Steve Smith, Mike Fratello and Dennis Scott.   In addition to the live games, NBA TV will offer live daily studio programming with NBA GameTime. Host Kyle Montgomery, Vince Cellini, analyst Eric Snow and special in-studio guests will highlight players, stories and news that develop this summer.

Among the young stars expected to compete will be 2010 NBA number one overall draft pick John Wall.  Other top selections from this year’s draft that are expected to play include Wesley Johnson, the fourth selection by the Minnesota Timberwolves and DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings (fifth overall).  Sophomore standouts that are expected to play include Sacramento Kings guard Omir Casspi and Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson.

Fans will also have the opportunity to watch every game live on NBA.com through the NBA SUMMER LEAGUE BROADBAND.  NBA SUMMER LEAGUE BROADBAND is a subscription service offering fans a full slate of live NBA Summer League game webcasts via nba.com/summerleaguebroadband. The complete package will be $14.95 for access to all summer league games on a live basis, as well as on a video-on-demand basis for up to one week following the conclusion of the league’s final game. A late season package will also be available beginning July 15, for $9.95.  

NBA TV SUMMER LEAGUE PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE:

JULY 10 – JULY  11

SATURDAY, JUL.10

4 – 6 p.m – Toronto Raptors vs. Phoenix Suns, Joel Myers, Matt Winer, Brent Barry, Kevin McHale, David Aldridge

6 – 8 p.m – Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets

8 – 10 p.m – Detroit Pistons vs. Golden State Warriors

10 p.m – 12 a.m – Dallas Mavericks vs. Houston Rockets

12 – 12:30 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Kyle Montgomery

12:30 – 1 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Kyle Montgomery

SUNDAY, JUL. 11

4 – 6 p.m – New York Knicks vs. Denver Nuggets, Joel Myers, Matt Winer, Brent Barry, Kevin McHale, David Aldridge

6 – 8 p.m – Portland Trail Blazers vs. Houston Rockets

8 – 10 p.m – Washington Wizards vs. Golden State Warriors

10 p.m – 12 a.m – Miami Heat vs. New Orleans Hornets

12 – 12:30 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Kyle Montgomery

12:30 – 1 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Kyle Montgomery

JULY 12 – JULY 18

MONDAY, JUL. 12
4 – 6 p.m – Los Angeles Lakers vs. New York Knicks, Joel Myers, Matt Winer, Rick Kamla, Steve Smith, Brent Barry, Kevin McHale, David Aldridge
6 – 8 p.m – Sacramento Kings vs. Detroit Pistons
8 – 10 p.m – Dallas Mavericks vs. Milwaukee Bucks
10 p.m – 12 a.m -  Washington Wizards vs. Los Angeles Clippers
12- 12:30 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini
12:30 – 1 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini

TUESDAY, JUL. 13
4 – 6 p.m -  Denver Nuggets vs. Chicago Bulls, Joel Myers, Rick Kamla, Matt Winer, Chris Webber, Steve Smith, David Aldridge
6 – 8 p.m – Cleveland Cavaliers vs. D-League
8 – 10 p.m – Milwaukee Bucks vs. Memphis Grizzlies
10 p.m – 12 a.m -  Portland Trail Blazers vs. New Orleans Hornets
12- 12:30 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini
12:30 – 1 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini
 
WEDNESDAY, JUL. 14
4 – 6 p.m. - Denver Nuggets vs. Houston Rockets, Matt Winer, Joel Myers, Rick Kamla, Steve Smith, Chris Webber, Kyle Montgomery
6  – 8 p.m – New York Knicks vs. Toronto Raptors
8 – 10 p.m – Los Angeles Clippers vs. Chicago Bulls
10 p.m – 12 a.m -  Sacramento Kings vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
12- 12:30 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini
12:30 – 1 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini
 
THURSDAY, JUL. 15
4 – 6 p.m – Los Angeles Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs, Matt Winer, Rick Kamla, Chad Andrus, Eric Snow, Chris Webber, Dennis Scott, Kyle Montgomery
6 – 8 p.m – Golden State Warriors vs. Phoenix Suns
8 – 10 p.m – Washington Wizards vs. Dallas Mavericks
10 p.m – 12 a.m -  Los Angeles Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
12- 12:30 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini
12:30 – 1 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini

FRIDAY, JUL. 16
4 – 6 p.m – Detroit Pistons vs. New York Knicks, Rick Kamla, Joel Myers, Chad Andrus, Mike Fratello, Eric Snow, Dennis Scott, Kyle Montgomery
6 – 8 p.m -  Toronto Raptors vs. Sacramento Kings
8 – 10 p.m – Washington Wizards vs. New Orleans Hornets
10 p.m – 12 a.m -  Memphis Grizzles vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
12- 12:30 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini
12:30 – 1 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini

SATURDAY, JUL. 17
4 – 6 p.m - New York Knicks vs. Washington Wizards, Joel Myers, Rick Kamla, Chad Andrus, Mike Fratello, Eric Snow, Dennis Scott, Kyle Montgomery
6 – 8 p.m -  Miami Heat vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
8 – 10 p.m -  Los Angeles Clippers vs. San Antonio Spurs
10 p.m – 12 a.m - Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Portland Trail Blazers
12- 12:30 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini
12:30 – 1 a.m -  NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini

SUNDAY, JUL. 18
4 – 6 p.m -  Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Milwaukee Bucks, Rick Kamla, Joel Myers, Chad Andrus, Eric Snow, Mike Fratello, Dennis Scott, Kyle Montgomery
6 – 8 p.m – Chicago Bulls vs. Portland Trail Blazers
8 – 10 p.m – Dallas Mavericks vs. Sacramento Kings
10 p.m – 10:30 p.m – NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini
10:30 – 11 p.m – NBA GameTime, Vince Cellini

We’re done.