Fang's Bites

Doing Our Friday Megalinks

Haven’t been able to provide the Friday megalinks in a while. Let’s do an edition today.

Normally I include a link to the Weekend Viewing Picks, but I’ll be doing that tonight so you can find it on my site when it’s posted. If you follow me on Twitter or have an RSS feed, you’ll be updated as soon as it posts. If not, you can find it later.

Let’s do the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand wonders what effect the gold medal win by the US Women’s Soccer National Team will have on the sport in the long run.

Michael also live blogged Thursday’s Olympic Primetime on NBC.

Jeffrey Martin of USA Today looks at the grand experiment that’s known as the Pac-12 Networks.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the NBCUniversal’s handling of the 2012 Olympics.

At the Sports on Earth blog, Joe Posnanski chronicles his day in covering the Olympics.

Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily says with NFL preseason games airing in many local markets on Thursday, NBC Olympic overnight ratings took a hit.

Bill King of SBD says CBS Sports is forging ahead with a show featuring the professional debut of several US Olympic boxers despite their poor performance in London.

Ryan Baucom of SBD writes that several Olympic athletes are getting a boost in Twitter followers after their success in the London Games.

Tripp Mickle of SBD says Universal Sports broke out an ad on NBC Thursday trying to promote its Olympic sports programming. Good luck with that.

Eric Fisher of SBD says Yahoo is declaring victory over NBCOlympics.com for unique pageviews.

Sohrab Amari of the Wall Street Journal reviews an NBC News documentary fronted by Tom Brokaw which will air on NBC’s Olympic coverage on Saturday.

Sarah Kwak of Sports Illustrated talks with Lolo Jones about the media firestorm that swelled just before she ran her 100 meters hurdles race.

In the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman talks with outgoing Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan about his first job. Ryan will be missed in the pages of the Globe.

Sports Media Journal’s Keith Thibault and I have an Olympic-themed podcast with Richard Sandomir of the New York Times and Bruce Beck of WNBC-TV.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Today Show host Matt Lauer had an icy reunion with former co-host Ann Curry on NBC’s London Olympics set.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable writes that the FCC has already denied a Comcast request to stay its decision requiring the cable provider to give space to the Tennis Channel.

Christopher Heine of Adweek says Olympic marketers have failed to medal in their social media campaigns.

But Simon Dumenco of Advertising Age looks at the Olympic sponsors that managed to get a boost through social media.

Michael Learmonth of Advertising Age says NBC and the International Olympic Committee have to fix the Olympic business model before it breaks down.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life notes that NBC’s ratings for Wednesday Olympic Primetime show drew better viewership numbers than Atlanta in 1996.

Brandon Costa of Sports Video Group says CBS Sports is preparing for all type of weather conditions for this weekend’s PGA Championship.

Karen Hogan of SVG looks at NBC New York Olympic operations.

Ken Kerschbaumer at SVG says Denmark TV has a floating barge studio for the London Olympics. Now that’s pretty cool.

And Birgit Heidsiek of SVG says Eurosport TV is producing the Olympics in 3-D.

Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute and writing as the ESPN Ombudsman investigates a plagiarism incident at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

Ronnie Ramos at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that the Pac-12 Conference is readying an aggressive digital strategy that will go along with its television distribution.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead goes after former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol for being out of touch in defending the tape delayed Olympics.

The Big Lead looks at the Pac-12 being in the forefront of digital distribution after being marred for years of being behind the curve.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the Miami Dolphins will take advantage of the NFL’s relaxed TV blackout policy this weekend.

Emmett Jones of Sports Business Digest notes that Buffalo Wild Wings has purchased naming rights for a college bowl game. Looks like it will be going to overtime every year.

Sports Media Watch says with NBC committed to the Olympics this year, the NFL Hall of Fame preseason game was aired on NFL Network and naturally suffered a big viewer dropoff.

SMW reports that NBC got another ratings increase for the Olympics.

TVNewsCheck says Gannett is declaring victory saying three of its stations are the top-rated local NBC affiliates in key demographics.

Alex Weprin of TVNewser looks at NBC’s Today Show operations in London.

At TVSpy, Alex tours NBC’s operation center for its local affiliates in London.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with Celtics TV voice Mike Gorman who’s been calling Olympic handball off a monitor for NBC.

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen discusses Golf Channel’s meteoric rise and its plans to cover the PGA Championship this weekend.

Jane L. Levere of the New York Times writes about ESPN’s new ad campaign for Monday Night Football.

Verne Gay at Newsday notes that a long-time NBC Sports director is retiring after the Olympics.

Newsday’s Chris Serico wonders if NBC’s Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera will be a bit more subdued during the Olympic Closing Ceremony on Sunday than their talkative performance during the Opening Ceremony two Fridays ago.

Neil Best of Newsday catches up with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski who’s filling a new role at the network after being in the Monday Night Football both.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is in another one of his moods today.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes a local radio station’s high school football schedule.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Pac-12 Networks will be seen on Time Warner Cable locally.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says despite a lost season, the Philadelphia Phillies TV crew still has plenty to talk about during games.

Tim Richardson in Press Box looks at the business of fantasy football as leagues get ready to hold their drafts soon, if not already.

Sarah Kogod of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that more people were watching the DC NFL Team in area sports bars last night as compared to the Nationals.

Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog says the Nationals radio team tried to explain the term “ball bag”.

South

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald reviews HBO’s Hard Knocks on the Dolphins.

Craig Davis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says the Dolphins have announced their TV blackout policy today.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says a local high school sports TV show expands to a new market.

Midwest

The Cincinnati Enquirer says ESPN’s College GameDay could be visiting the Queen City in February.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at Dick Ebersol’s latest comments on tape delaying Olympic events.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks with a local sports radio host who’s perturbed at a former employer.

Dan notes that the Olympics and the St. Louis Cardinals ratings have been hurt by each other.

West

Patrick Finley of the Arizona Daily Star says the Pac-12 Networks are ready to launch next week, but without a few major cable and satellite providers.

John Maffei of the North County Times talks with a former NBC Olympics analyst who was fired on the spot after calling a race.

To the Ventura County Star where Jim Carlisle talks about the increased spotlight on the Pac-12 through its new TV networks.

Jim says Twitter has become an Olympic event.

Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times has the Irish radio call of boxer Katie Taylor’s victory giving the country its first gold medal of the Olympics.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says this is a critical time for beach volleyball as the sport is in transition now.

Tom has some Olympic TV notes in his blog.

And those are your supersized megalinks for today.

The Olympics Are Here; Let’s Do Some Links

Olympics start today with women’s soccer and there’s more soccer action tomorrow on the men’s side. Let’s bring you some linkage before I get distracted by the live streaming.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand reports that Erin Andrews will get some high profile NFL assignments working with the Fox Sports “A” announcing team of Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver on Thanksgiving and the postseason.

Roger Yu of USA Today looks at NBC’s Olympic online streaming plans.

Reid Cherner of USA Today says the Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies will not be streamed online by NBC. Both will be held for primetime broadcast. Grrrrr.

David Bauder of the Associated Press has your Olympics Viewing Guide.

I have my own Olympics Viewing Guide.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report wonders if NBC will force Bob Costas to back of his pledge to honor the slain Israeli athletes from the 1972 Munich Olympics during this year’s Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Jason Fry and Kelly McBride of the Poynter Review Project as the ESPN Ombudsman review ESPN’s coverage of the Penn State story on Monday.

Sports Business Daily Global notes that the Olympics are the second most valuable brand worldwide.

ESPN may not be the Olympics rightsholder in the US, but it does have the rights in Latin America and John Ourand at Sports Business Journal’s Olympic site looks at its sponsors for the Games.

UK Radio personality Polly James of Absolute Radio has started an Olympics blog and it’s quite good.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says Showtime and CBS will team up to show the professional debut of several Olympic boxers.

John Eggerton of Mulitchannel writes that Tennis Channel won a huge victory from the FCC in its carriage battle with Comcast.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel says Netflix feels that growth will be stunted in the current quarter due to the Olympics.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable notes that NBC News will use Storify to piece together certain stories of the Olympics.

Christopher Heine of Adweek reports that one Penn State sponsor has dropped the school in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY talks with former CBS News and WCBS anchor Dave Marash who covered the 1972 Munich tragedy.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that CBS Sports Network will air some US Open Tennis on Labor Day Weekend.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has Fox Sports college football analyst Charles Davis talking about the Penn State sanctions.

Laura Nachman notes that ESPN SportsCenter anchor Ducis Rodgers will be joining the Philadelphia ABC affiliate.

Tim Richardson in Press Box writes that the military will continue its sports sponsorships in the mid-Atlantic region.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the DC NFL Team has already e-mailed the media on quarterback Robert Griffin III’s availability.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman talks about the Olympic streaming smorgasbord online.

Mel also looks at the local ratings from the weekend.

Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Bengals aren’t going to relax their requirements to ease TV blackouts.

Robert Feder of TimeOut Chicago says a popular Comcast SportsNet reporter is leaving the Windy City.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune has NBC’s Bob Costas lashing out at those who write about Olympic tape delays.

Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News has Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott optimistic about getting DirecTV on board for the Pac-12 Networks.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail talks with CTV Olympic Daytime host James Duthie.

Sports Media Watch looks at NBC Sports Network’s new highlight show.

Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing says the Olympics going digital.

AA’s Matt Yoder feels Fox should ditch the local announcers on its MLB broadcasts.

That’s going to do it.

Let’s Do Some Wednesday Linkage

Time for the links on this Wednesday. Let’s check out what we have.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter talks with NBC’s Bob Costas about the Olympics, Jerry Sandusky and being short. That’s right.

Daniel Kaplan from the Sports Business Journal writes that the NFL will not sign a telecommunications partner this season and will see how the Wi-Fi experience goes at five stadiums before deciding.

Owen Gibson of the London (UK) Guardian reports that BBC has scored the rights to the Olympics through 2020.

BBC Director-General Mark Thompson blogs about the Beeb keeping the UK rights to the Olympics.

I have the BBC press release on the new Olympics contract.

Jeff Labrecque of Entertainment Weekly says ESPNU will have its own late night entertainment/talk show premiering in late August.

Also from EW, Dan Snierson says disgraced former Cincinnati Reds star Pete Rose will get his own TLC reality show. The question is, who doesn’t have a TLC reality show?

Brian Moran at Broadcasting & Cable says World Team Tennis will get live national coverage this weekend on Tennis Channel and the Comcast SportsNet regional affiliates.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life writes that ratings for the Home Run Derby were up while the All-Star Game took a hit.

The SportsCasters speak with Sports Illustrated writer Jon Wertheim about Joe Posnanski’s book on Joe Paterno.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report wonders why SI passed on printing an excerpt of Posnanski’s book.

Ed notices that the promotional video for the Paterno book has been removed from YouTube.

Ed talks with an ESPN executive on the network now using its own cameras instead of relying on the BBC to cover the Open Championship.

Reinhardt Krause of Investor’s Business Daily look at how cable providers are finding ways to drive up sports rights fees.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center talks with Real Sports’ Frank Deford about his updated piece on marching band hazing at historically black colleges.

SportsGrid’s Eric Goldschein has video of Los Angeles Dodgers voice Vin Scully scolding the team for its failure to execute a rundown play.

Patrick Burns at Deadspin says the Joe Paterno story dominated ESPN’s news coverage last week.

Deadspin’s John Koblin notes that Sports Illustrated is beginning to use the photo sharing site, Instagram.

The London (UK) Mirror provides 100 bizarre facts about the Olympics.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN’s Paul Azinger about the Open Championship.

Brandon Marcello of the Jackson (MS) Clarion-Ledger says the SEC Storied documentary series will produce a film on a former Mississippi State football coach.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman notes that with the Thunder’s Kevin Durant, USA basketball vs. Brazil on ESPN drew very well locally.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer wonders what exactly will the new TLC Pete Rose reality show be about?

John says a local internet service provider will add ESPN3 in August.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times looks at ESPN paying the Rose Bowl $80 million per year starting in 2015.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a preview of tonight’s “The Franchise” episode on Showtime which will show the Marlins’ Giancarlo Stanton going under the knife.

Joe Flint of the Times has Comcast appealing to the government to butt out of its programming decisions i.e., Tennis Channel.

Sports Media Watch notes that TNT’s NASCAR season finale saw increased ratings.

SMW has some ratings news and notes.

Chinwe Nwadike at Chinwe’s Corner wonders why some in the media are angry at Fox’s Erin Andrews.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest says the WWE has established a social media hub for investors.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has a screengrab of the Longhorn Network taking one final shot at Texas A&M before it leaves the Big 12 for good.

Jason Boog at Galleycat says an NBC Sports producer has published a children’s book on the Olympics.

That will do it for today.

Tennis Channel Airs U.S. Open Series

Starting tonight with the WTA’s Bank of the West tournament, Tennis Channel will cover just about all of the tournaments of the U.S. Open Series leading up to the U.S. Open in late August.

The coverage includes five ATP Tour events and three WTA tournaments plus one combined event. That means nine of the 10 events in the U.S. Open Series will be seen on Tennis Channel.

Calling the tournaments will be Ted Robinson, Leif Shiras, Ian Eagle and Brett Haber. The analysts include Lindsay Davenport, Justin Gimestob and Jimmy Arias. Sideline reporters will be Corina Morariu and Ashley Fisher.

Tennis Channel will do mostly the weekday coverage before handing off to ESPN2 or CBS for the weekend action.

Here is the Tennis Channel announcement.

TENNIS CHANNEL’S US OPEN SERIES COVERAGE TO INCLUDE MORE THAN 100 HOURS OF LIVE AND SAME-DAY MATCHES

 Weekly Tournament Schedule Features Nine Events During Summer Hard-Court Season before US Open

LOS ANGELES, July 11, 2012 – Tennis Channel will cover nine US Open Series events during the seven weeks between now and the US Open, offering more than 100 match hours from the annual North American summer hard-court season. The network’s lineup includes five men’s ATP and three women’s WTA tournaments, along with a combined event with both men’s and women’s draws at the same venue. Featuring singles semifinal, quarterfinal, and early round action – in addition to select doubles play – series coverage will first air Thursday, July 12, and run through Friday, August 24.

In all, Tennis Channel will cover nine of the 10 US Open Series tournaments, with the women’s New Haven Open at Yale as the lone exception. The network’s lineup: ATP – Atlanta Open (Atlanta), Farmers Classic (Los Angeles), Citi Open (Washington, D.C.), Rogers Cup (Toronto) and Winston-Salem Open (Winston-Salem, N.C.); WTA – Bank of the West Classic (Stanford, Calif.), Mercury Insurance Open (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Rogers Cup (Montreal). Tennis Channel will also showcase the men’s and women’s Western & Southern Open (Cincinnati).

This summer marks the ninth consecutive year that Tennis Channel has covered the US Open Series, continuing a streak that began when the USTA created the circuit in 2004. As it has done since 2008, the network will produce all coverage for itself and fellow series broadcasters ESPN and CBS Sports, other than the Cincinnati and Canada-based events.

On-Air Talent
Tennis Channel’s US Open Series play-by-play team features network regulars Ted Robinson, Ian Eagle, Brett Haber and Leif Shiras. The analyst roster includes Lindsay Davenport, Justin Gimelstob and Jimmy Arias, with Ashley Fisher and Corina Morariu handling sideline reporting duties. Former player, sports agent, promoter, broadcaster and all-around tennis go-to guy Donald Dell also will make a special booth appearance during Tennis Channel’s coverage of Washington’s Citi Open, a tournament he co-founded in 1969.

Tennis Channel’s 2012 US Open Series live and same-day telecast schedule (all times ET) and on-air talent follows: For encore replays, visit www.tennischannel.com/schedule.

July 12-13 — Bank of the West Classic (WTA)
Thursday, July 12 – 5 p.m.-9 p.m.; 11 p.m.-1 a.m. (singles round of 16)
Friday, July 13 – 5 p.m.-9 p.m.; 10 p.m.-12 a.m. (singles quarterfinals)
Talent: Play-by-Play – Robinson, Analyst – Davenport, Sideline Reporter – Morariu

July 20-21 — Atlanta Open (ATP)
Friday, July 20 – 9 p.m.-11 p.m. (singles quarterfinal)
Saturday, July 21 – 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (singles semifinal)
Talent: Play-by-Play – Haber, Analyst – Arias, Sideline Reporter – Fisher

July 21 — Mercury Insurance Open (WTA)
Saturday, July 21 – 1 a.m.-3 a.m.; 5 p.m.-7 p.m. (singles quarterfinal; singles semifinal)
Talent: Play-by-Play – Robinson, Analyst – Davenport, Sideline Reporter – Morariu

July 26-29 — Farmers Classic (ATP)
Thursday, July 26 – 5 p.m.-9 p.m.; 10:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (singles round of 16)
Friday, July 27 – 5 p.m.-9 p.m.; 10:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (singles quarterfinals)
Saturday, July 28 – 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. (doubles semifinal)
Sunday, July 29 – 10 p.m.-11:30 p.m. (doubles final)
Talent: Play-by-Play – Shiras, Analyst – Arias, Sideline Reporter – Fisher

Aug. 2-4 — Citi Open (ATP)
Thursday, Aug. 2 – 4 p.m.-8 p.m. (singles round of 16)
Friday, Aug 3 – 2 p.m.-4 p.m.; 9 p.m.-11 p.m. (singles quarterfinals)
Saturday, Aug. 4 – 7 p.m.-9 p.m. (singles semifinal)
Talent: Play-by-Play – Shiras, Analysts – Arias and Dell, Sideline Reporter – Fisher

Aug. 6-9 — Rogers Cup (ATP/WTA)
Monday, Aug. 6 – 1 p.m.-9 p.m. (ATP singles early round action)
Tuesday, Aug. 7 – 1 p.m.-9 p.m. (ATP/WTA singles early round action)
Wednesday, Aug. 8 – 1 p.m.-9 p.m. (ATP/WTA singles early round action)
Thursday, Aug. 9 – 6 p.m.-10 p.m. (WTA singles early round action)
Talent:   ATP: Host – Shiras, Play-by-Play and Analyst – TPL World Feed Commentators
WTA: Play-by-Play – Haber, Analyst – Davenport

Aug. 13-15 — Western & Southern Open (ATP/WTA)
Monday, Aug. 13 -11 a.m.-10 p.m. (ATP/WTA early round action)
Tuesday, Aug. 14 – 11 a.m.-11 p.m. (ATP/WTA early round action)
Wednesday, Aug. 15 – 11 a.m.-11 p.m. (ATP/WTA early round action)
Talent: Play-by-Play – Eagle and Haber, Analyst – Davenport and Gimelstob

Aug. 23-24 — Winston-Salem Open (ATP)
Thursday, Aug. 23 – 5 p.m.-7 p.m. (singles quarterfinal)
Friday, Aug. 24 – 9 p.m.-11 p.m. (singles semifinal)
Talent: Play-by-Play – Shiras, Analyst – Arias, Sideline Reporter – Fisher

And that does it.

Your Tuesday Linkage

Let’s do some Tuesday links.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

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

And that’s going do it for our linkage.

Tennis Channel Announces New Deal For Host Bill Macatee; Also Revamps Wimbledon Primetime

Just received from Tennis Channel, it’s announcing a contract extension for host Bill Macatee. Bill has been the host for all four Grand Slams, in particular, the French Open. He’ll continue to host French Open Tonight and Wimbledon Primetime for Tennis Channel. And he’ll be the on-site host for the Australian and U.S. Opens. No terms of the new agreement were disclosed.

Tennis Channel also announced that Wimbledon Primetime will air throughout the fortnight of the tournament. Previously, it had stopped airing after the first ten days of Wimbledon. The show will hit the air at 5 p.m. with a four hour program showing matches, interviews and features. Then a second all-new three hour show will immediately follow and air until midnight ET.

Details of the Tennis Channel announcement are below.

TENNIS CHANNEL EXTENDS BILL MACATEE’S GRAND SLAM ROLE ON EVE OF WIMBLEDON

Multiyear Agreement Keeps Sports Broadcasting Star at all Four Majors
Changes in store for Fifth Year of Wimbledon Primetime as Mary Carillo Joins Telecast and 14-Hour Coverage Windows are Unveiled with New, State-of-the-Art Set

That is it.

Guest Column: Grading French Open TV Coverage

We continue the guest columns today. I hope you had a chance to read the first column written by Paul Lebowitz on Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. We’ll continue with the guest columns throughout the week and we certainly have quite a bit of good material for you.

This comes from recent college graduate Ryan Scheb. A tennis fan, Ryan has been watching the French Open on ESPN, NBC and Tennis Channel and he gives his grades to all three rightsholders.

2012 French Open: Media Grades

Three networks, ESPN, The Tennis Channel and NBC have all teamed up to provide all but round-the-clock coverage of tennis’ most grueling tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros. While the three networks are playing nice together, which is a great benefit to viewers, each network still has their own unique style. Here I’ll spend some time analyzing and grading each of the network’s coverage.

ESPN

Last year, ESPN and the Tennis Channel decided to swap coverage windows. ESPN now owns the rights to all courts from 5AM – 10AM Eastern. While ESPN lauded the move as being able to show more live tennis, the French Open schedule makers have put the best matches later in the day – outside ESPN’s viewing window.  Many times, the 3^rd match on Court Phillipe Chatrier (Roland Garros’ Center Court) has been the premiere match of the day. This usually starts around 9:30AM, Eastern Time. As ESPN’s window ends at 10AM, they have sometimes elected to not even show the beginning of the match because they will obviously not be able to show it to its conclusion.

That being said, one of the greatest assets of ESPN’s coverage is their ESPN 3 website and Watch ESPN app for iPhones and iPads. Both allow a viewer to watch live coverage of ongoing matches that are not currently airing on ESPN as well as ESPN’s coverage if a television is not available.

While their coverage window at the French Open continues to be somewhat frustrating, their coverage remains first class. I have long said that ESPN’s tennis crew has the best chemistry in all of sports. Tennis, by its very nature, has a bit of a club-like mentality. Because almost all of the broadcasters are put of this club, they all seem to know each other quite well. This makes watching the ESPN coverage of tennis so much fun because viewers can tell that the commentators are more than colleagues, they are friends.

Unfortunately, this exclusive club causes conflicts of interest that some broadcasters have trouble getting over. Patrick McEnroe is the Director of Player Development for the USTA; he also serves as lead analyst for ESPN. McEnroe is a pretty good analyst and he does a fairly good job of overcoming his bias. While he (and the rest of the ESPN team) root for Americans, he seems able to be objective in his commentating.

The same cannot always be said for Mary Joe Fernandez, the captain of the Women’s Fed Cup team. While she is an adequate analyst, although I find her a little boring, I was frustrated with her early in the tournament when she refused to answer a question about which up and coming American tennis player had the best chance to really make it. The response of “they all have some chance” does not serve the viewer well.

Led by the versatile Chris Fowler of College GameDay fame, the entire ESPN crew is the best in the business. Fowler serves as occasional host, although more and more he is calling matches.  It is clear that he really enjoys tennis which viewers appreciate.  Darren Gilbert, Brad Gilbert, Chris Evert and Pam Shriver join McEnroe and Fernandez as analysts for ESPN. All are good analysts and very comfortable on television. Gilbert is quirky but provides good strategic analysis (he was a very successful coach.) He was at his best during the Djokovic-Tsonga quarterfinal on Tuesday Cahill who joined the team when Gilbert left to coach Andy Murray has really grown into his role as a commentator.

Shriver is a personal favorite, although she can be polarizing. I believe she is the most objective commentator on the team. Ironically, she is the most separate from the “tennis club” mentioned before. Chris (Chrissie) Evert is the newest member of the team; she replaced the outspoken Mary Carillo. Evert is smart, well-spoken and ready to be critical when necessary. But, even with Shriver and Evert, Carillo is missed. (More on her later.) Both Shriver and McEnroe have begun to call matches as “play-by-play commentators” with another analyst. Of course, unlike in other sports, tennis commentators do not actually talk during the points, so very few descriptions of what is happening take place. Nevertheless, both have done well in this role.

Chris McKendry serves as host for the network’s coverage and does a good job. She does a much better job in that role than Hannah Storm. Cliff Drysdale, who was one of ESPN’s first ever employees, continues to call matches with the team. He was not in Paris for the French Open but will rejoin the crew for Wimbledon.

The Grade: A-. Great announcing team, solid production and online streaming give the ESPN tennis team production a very respectable grade.

How to Improve: Cliff Drysdale has probably seen his better days; it is time for him to retire. I’d like to see ESPN get Ted Robinson to help them with Wimbledon and the US Open since he will not be working during either of those tournaments. Also, I’m not a huge fan of Mary Joe Fernandez. She adds little to the commentary and struggles to remain objective. Getting Carillo back would be a HUGE win for ESPN.

Tennis Channel

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 10 years since the Tennis Channel was launched. In these quick nine years, it’s come a long way. What once started as an outlet for tennis fanatics to watch no-name tournaments has turned into a must have network for even the faintest of tennis fans. Their turnaround is no more obvious than at the French Open, where they signed their first contract at a Grand Slam back in 2007. Since then they have acquired some sort of rights at all four slams.

Despite having come a long way, there is still room for improvement. Their graphics package looks like it comes from the 1980s and the lack of online streaming is a major drawback. Sunday morning when Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were struggling, I would have liked to be able to watch both matches. If this took place during ESPN’s television window, that would have been simple with the aforementioned ESPN3. Tennis Channel did not offer that opportunity. This continued during the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were in a tight match on Chatrier while Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro were battling on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Tennis Channel, which had coverage until 1PM Eastern Time was only able to show one match at a time. When ESPN took over coverage, I was immediately able to watch both matches thanks to online streaming.

Without question, the French Open is their biggest event of the year. As such, they bring their best crew to Paris. With NBC, they share Ted Robinson, John McEnroe and Mary Carillo. Simply put, there is no better broadcast booth in tennis. Robinson is a pro and he knows how to handle McEnroe, who despite being tennis’ best analyst can be overly talkative. Carillo, although toned down when McEnroe is in the booth, is no stranger to highly opinionated commentary. Carillo is so respected that she is constantly pegged by Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch as one of the best broadcasters of any sport. (Note: For Tennis Channel’s coverage, Carillo does not join Robinson and McEnroe in the booth. Despite the fact that the two are good friends, this is per McEnroe’s request.) The fact that the Tennis Channel uses the best commentary team in all of tennis is impressive.

Unfortunately, the highlights end there. Other analysts for the Tennis Channel include Lindsay Davenport, Rennae Stubbs, Justin Gimelstob and Jon Wertheim. Ian Eagle, Brett Haber, Bill Macatee and Cari Champion round out the team. Davenport and Stubbs are average analysts, but both, Davenport especially, seem extremely shy. Gimelstob is polarizing. While some, including CNBC’s Darren Rovell have given their approval, many others find him annoying, myself included. Tennis Channel’s analysts, save for Carillo and McEnroe, are just a little wet behind the ears. They definitely know the game, but they lack the TV presence that make ESPN’s team such a pleasure to watch.

The Grade: I’ll give the Tennis Channel a B-. Not bad for a network that three years ago would have gotten a D.

How to Improve: Time will help Tennis Channel’s newer analysts. Better graphics and online streaming would greatly enhance their coverage.

NBC

NBC offers very limited coverage of the French Open. Robinson, McEnroe and Carillo do all the commentating for the network. As mentioned, they are a great crew. Frankly, there isn’t too much else to say about the network. They own a three hour window on the weekend days of the tournament and then air some of the men’s semifinals on Friday and the two finals on the final weekend. NBC has been doing tennis for a long time and they know what they are doing, except when it comes to airing live coverage outside of the Eastern Time Zone on weekdays.

The Grade: Not much to grade, so I’ll give them an “S” for Satisfactory. They do the job and do it well.

How to Improve: Live Coverage to all time zones on semifinal Friday.

Overall, tennis fans are treated to pretty good coverage. ESPN is by far the superior network, but both the Tennis Channel and NBC do a nice job rounding out the coverage.  Looking ahead, ESPN has complete coverage of Wimbledon this year, from the first serve to championship point. Mercifully, gone are the days where NBC would take over midday during the 2^nd week of the tournament and then refuse to air live coverage to the entire country. ESPN will air the tournament live to the entire country, plus every television court will be available on ESPN 3/Watch ESPN throughout the tournament, including the finals. This is a great victory for tennis fans!

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Ryan Scheb graduated from the University of Florida; he majored in Finance. This fall he will move to New York City where he will join the Volunteer Program at Cristo Rey New York High School. Ryan is a diehard Packers fan/owner and longtime tennis fan. He has always had an interest in sports media and loves to write so he had a lot of fun writing this guest column.

And we have more guest columns coming tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Tennis Channel Re-Airs Serena Williams-Virginie Razzano Match

Earlier today, Serena Williams lost her very first match in a Grand Slam Tournament first round. She had previously won all of her 45 first round Grand Slam tournament matches, but after winning the first set 6-4, she lost the last two sets, 7-6 and 6-3. The last game was epic taking over 20 minutes and Serena fighting off 8 match points before finally succumbing.

The match lasted three hours and three minutes. If you missed any part or all of the match, Tennis Channel will air it in its entirety on French Open Tonight which is on three times at 7 p.m., 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.

If I heard it right, Ian Eagle and Lindsay Davenport called the match.

Here’s the press blurb from Tennis Channel.

Tennis Channel French Open Programming Alert

Serena Williams lost in the first round of a major tournament for the first time in her career, falling to Virginie Razzano of France 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 Tuesday at the French Open.

Tennis Channel will show this match in its entirety tonight (May 29) at 7 p.m., 10 p.m., and 1 a.m. ET as the first part of French Open Tonight.

That’s it.

Tennis Channel Announces French Open Coverage Plans; New Start Time

As the primary cable TV rightsholder for the French Open, Tennis Channel will carry the bulk of the action live from Roland Garros and the red clay in Paris.

Ted Robinson, Ian Eagle and Brett Haber will be call matches as will Mary Carillo. On the analysis will be John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, Lindsay Davenport, Justin Gimblestob and Rennae Stubbs. Bill Macatee will be the host during live action as well as French Open Tonight which airs nightly at 7 p.m. ET.

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim will be the insider for Tennis Channel’s coverage.

For the first six days of the tournament, Tennis Channel will hit the air at 10 a.m. ET and lasting until the final match is concluded. During the first weekend of play, Tennis Channel will be on all morning starting at 5 ET and going until NBC starts its coverage.

Then in the second week, Tennis Channel’s coverage will be on Monday (June 4), Tuesday (June 5) and Friday (June 8).

We have Tennis Channel’s plans for you.

TENNIS CHANNEL’S FRENCH OPEN COVERAGE BEGINS MAY 27

McEnroe, Navratilova, Davenport, Carillo, Macatee, Robinson, Eagle, Haber, and Others Headed to Paris for Network
More than 250 Hours of Overall Tournament Coverage to Run from May 27-June 10, with 59 Live-Match Hours, 36 First-Run Hours of French Open Tonight and 12 Hours of Daily French Tennis Federation Highlights
At Least 300 Live-Match Hours Available for Free on www.tennischannel.com

LOS ANGELES, May 21, 2012 -Tennis Channel, the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle, will offer close to 60 hours of live matches and more than 140 match hours overall during its sixth year of French Open coverage, from Sunday, May 27, to Sunday, June 10. The network will air almost two dozen hours of encore men’s and women’s singles semifinal and championship telecasts as part of a programming format that will see the channel’s 24-hour schedule almost entirely dedicated to the world’s most prestigious clay-court competition for two weeks.

A typical day’s French Open schedule on Tennis Channel this year will feature live matches from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. ET, followed by four hours of encore coverage of the tournament’s best competitions, regardless of whether they first ran on Tennis Channel or broadcast partners NBC or ESPN2 (a complete schedule follows, below). At 7 p.m. ET French Open Tonight, hosted by Bill Macatee, will showcase three hours of interviews, analysis, highlights, encore match segments and special reports, set on a stage above the tournament’s central Musketeer Plaza. In all, Tennis Channel will air 36 first-run hours of the nightly prime-time show (with 114 hours overall). Following two consecutive French Open Tonight encores, at 4 a.m. ET daily tournament highlights of the French Tennis Federation (the governing body of the event) will run for an hour before a new day of coverage runs on ESPN2 from 5 a.m.-10 a.m.

Tennis Channel and ESPN2 have worked together since 2007 to bring viewers virtually non-stop, 24-hour coverage of the French Open. Each network cross-promotes the other’s schedule while using its own on-air talent, with Tennis Channel producing all telecasts for both channels.

On-Air Talent

As it has done since its first year of French Open coverage in 2007, Tennis Channel will field an all-star team of on-air talent this year in Paris, with Hall of Famers John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova taking the helm as lead analysts for the sixth consecutive year. The lineup also features Grand Slam-champion Lindsay Davenport and sportscaster Mary Carillo who, through her heartfelt special reports for numerous networks and refreshingly candid demeanor, is one of America’s most popular television sports presences today.

“It’s always great to get back to Paris with John, Mary, Bill, Lindsay and the rest of the Tennis Channel team,” said Navratilova. “It will be interesting to see if the two thirty-somethings – Roger Federer and Serena Williams – will be able to stay the in-form players and win on what is their least favorite and favorable surface.”

Household television-sports names Ted Robinson, Ian Eagle and Brett Haber will handle play-by-play responsibilities during Tennis Channel’s 2012 French Open coverage, with assists from analysts and former players Justin Gimelstob and Rennae Stubbs. Sports Illustrated‘s voice of tennis Jon Wertheim will add his expert opinion throughout the two-week event, while Tennis Channel Court Report host Cari Champion will maintain increasingly expanding social media duties. Macatee, as host of French Open Tonight, will once again interview the players, coaches, industry executives and others who will write the storylines at this year’s tournament.

Broadband Coverage

This year during the French Open more than 300 hours of live matches will be available for free on Tennis Channel’s Web site, www.tennischannel.com, an increase of more than 100 hours over 2011. Also new, online streaming will run from 5 a.m. ET through the end of the day’s play, marking the first time broadband matches will be available live regardless of whether or not Tennis Channel’s television-coverage window is taking place. Viewers can access up to five courts at the same time during live windows the first week of the tournament and then view on-demand archived matches after play has stopped each evening. The site will also feature daily highlights, interviews, features and segments from French Open Tonight, along with real-time scoring, interactive tournament draws, sweepstakes information, photos and the network’s “Racquet Bracket” tournament prediction game. Digital offerings also include regular updates from veteran tennis reporters Steve Flink, Joel Drucker and Matt Cronin, in addition to posts from tennis blogger Erwin Ong.

Tennis Channel’s Live 2012 French Open Match Schedule
(Men’s/Women’s Singles Unless Otherwise Specified)

Date                                        Time (ET)                  Event                                     

Sunday, May 27                      10 a.m.-3 p.m.             First-Round Action

Monday, May 28                    10 a.m.-3 p.m.             First-Round Action

Tuesday, May 29                    10 a.m.-3 p.m.             First-Round Action

Wednesday, May 30               10 a.m.-3 p.m.             Second-Round Action

Thursday, May 31                   10 a.m.-3 p.m.             Second-Round Action

Friday, June 1                         10 a.m.-3 p.m.             Third-Round Action

Saturday, June 2                     5 a.m.-Noon                Third-Round Action

Sunday, June 3                        5 a.m.-1 p.m.               Round-of-16 Action

Monday, June 4                      10 a.m.-3 p.m.             Round-of-16 Action

Tuesday, June 5                      8 a.m.-1 p.m.               Quarterfinals

Friday, June 8                         7 a.m.-11 a.m.             Men’s Semifinal

Tennis Channel will also offer same-day replays of singles quarterfinal and semifinal matches, and encore coverage of the men’s and women’s championships after the close of play on the final Sunday (ET):

Wednesday, June 6 – 1 p.m.-7 p.m.: men’s and women’s singles quarterfinals

Thursday, June 7 – 1 p.m.-7 p.m.: women’s singles semifinals

Friday, June 8 – 5 p.m.-midnight: men’s semifinals

Sunday, June 10 – 2 p.m.-6 p.m. and 8 p.m.-midnight: men’s final; 6 p.m.-8 p.m.: women’s final

Tennis Channel’s French Open Tonight Schedule

French Open Tonight airs Sunday, May 27-Thursday, June 7. Most nights the program airs from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. (all times ET), and is repeated twice upon conclusion, from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. and 1 a.m.-4 a.m. There are two exceptions during the tournament’s middle weekend. Saturday, June 2, French Open Tonight will first run from 3 p.m.-6 p.m., followed by three-straight encores: 6 p.m.-9 p.m., 9 p.m.-midnight, 12 a.m.-3 a.m. The schedule on Sunday, June 3, is similar but begins one hour later, with a 4 p.m.-7 p.m. premiere, and 7 p.m.-10 p.m., 10 p.m.-1 a.m. and 1 a.m.-4 a.m. repeats.

That will do it.

Let’s Get Some Linkage Out

I’ve accumulated a lot of links. They’re slowing down my browser so let’s clear them so I can let my computer get back some memory. Lots of stuff going on.

Let’s start with ESPN stuff as it dominated the news today with its network upfront presentation to advertisers and also confirmed personnel moves.

First, Sports Media Watch talks about Scott Van Pelt reupping with ESPN.

The ESPN Front Row blog has a Q&A podcast with Van Pelt in which he explains why he decided to remain with the Bristolians.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today recaps today’s ESPN upfront presentation in New York.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today notes that with Michelle Beadle leaving ESPN, the network is now focusing on keeping Erin Andrews in the fold.

The Hollywood Reporter goes over some ESPN upfront news including its plans to bring back the 30 for 30 documentary series.

Stuart Levin from Variety also has a story on the new set of 30 for 30 docs.

Jeannie Poggi of Advertising Age also reviews ESPN’s upfronts.

Alex Weprin from TVNewser says ESPN and ABC News will co-produce an interview series to be fronted by Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts.

Mike Shields from Adweek says ESPN.com will now partner to sell ads.

ESPN’s Vice President of College Sports Programming, Burke Magnus responds to a Dan Wetzel/Yahoo Sports article on the new ACC TV contract.

Chad Scott at ChuckOliver.net explains how third tier media rights work in college sports.

Andy Fixmer and Alex Sherman at Bloomberg report on how ESPN may expand its WatchESPN app to Apple TV platforms.

Andy Fixmer of Bloomberg says CBS is ready to take the coveted 18-49 ratings title from perennial winner Fox with the airing of Super Bowl XLVII next season.

The great SportsbyBrooks tweets that Erik Kuselias’ move to NBC Sports Network from Golf Channel’s Morning Drive is being considered a demotion by network higher-ups. I had a feeling this was the case. Do you consider this tweet inane, Mike Francesa?

Ed Sherman from The Sherman Report enjoyed watching Survival Sunday on the Fox Sports platforms, but wondered why the most important English Premier League game was on another network.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has four different calls of the same moment when Manchester City won the EPL title on Sunday.

John Ourand from Sports Business Journal writes about a now-defunct Twitter account that got under the skin of several sports network executives.

Earlier today, WFAN’s Mike Francesa ranted on how much he hates Twitter.

If you want to see Mike’s veins popping out during this rant, you can see it here on the YES Network website.

And while Francesa seemingly hates Twitter, Media Rantz points out that Francesa has an app where he does something similar to Twitter.

Bruce Jenkins from Sports Illustrated says Tennis Channel failed to serve the WTA Tour’s Madrid Open like it did with the ATP’s side of the same tournament.

Phil Allaway at Front Stretch looks at ESPN’s coverage of this past weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide Race.

BBC Sport has announced it will have 24 live HD streams dedicated to the Olympics this summer.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says NBCUniversal has set the Olympics programming lineup for Bravo, CNBC and MSNBC.

John Eggerton at Multichannel News notes that a Federal Appeals Court has upheld an FCC ruling that Time Warner Cable did not discriminate against MASN when it refused to put the regional sports network on its North Carolina systems.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the college conference realignment game won’t be settled for at least another decade.

Matt Boutwell of Maine Sports Media looks at a case I wrote about three years ago, about the mysterious tweeter, BrianAdExec.

NESN goes behind the scenes with Jenny Dell and the network’s production team on what goes on during a typical Red Sox gameday.

Rich Elliot of the Connecticut Post has SNY’s president talking about the regional sports network’s plans to air UConn Women’s basketball next season.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with NBC Sports’ Mike Emrick about calling his old team, the New Jersey Devils in the NHL Eastern Conference Final.

In the New York Times, Jay Schreiber talks about the last time the Devils and the New York Rangers met in the Eastern Conference Final and how he had to monitor the series without smartphones back then.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports on ESPN’s plans to bring back 30 for 30.

Jerry Barmash from Fishbowl NY writes that MSG Network will provide of wraparound coverage of the NHL Eastern Conference Final.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says YES Network will air a Yankeeography on David Wells this week.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that MSG Network will begin airing the WNBA’s New York Liberty starting this weekend.

Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer says two local global conglomerates including Comcast expect to make some big money from the London Olympics.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com Sports goes behind-the-scenes with ESPN’s MLS production.

Jeff Barker from the Baltimore Sun says the Orioles and the Washington Nationals are waiting word from MLB on a decision on how much MASN should pay the Nats.

Over to Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog who writes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is making a change in its DC NFL team beat reporter.

Dan talks about former Post columnist Howard Bryant ranting against Washington Nationals ownership.

Mike Finger at the Houston Chronicle says the Longhorn Network may offer more Texas football games in another attempt to get carriage from state cable providers.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman writes that the Oklahoma City Thunder on TNT set another local ratings record.

In Chicago Sports Media Watch, Paul M. Banks goes over some hate mail.

Scott D. Pierce at the Salt Lake Tribune writes that Utahans should be able to see the Running Utes thanks to wider distribution of the Pac-12 Networks than the soon-to-be defunct the mtn.

Tuesday night, KNBC-TV did a story on the busy postseason in Los Angeles, but aired the wrong graphic for the Kings and showed the Sacramento Kings instead of the LA Kings. C’mon, man!

Martin Miller of the Los Angeles Times says ESPN upfront presentation showed the network was ready for some football.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media is telling everyone that a New York Rangers-Los Angeles Kings Stanley Cup Final might not mean boffo ratings as some NHL observers are saying.

Jay Koot of Busted Coverage is disgusted by Erik Kuselias’ engagement to Morning Drive news reader Holly Sonders.

And that’s where we’ll end the links tonight.

Grinding Out The Monday Linkage

Let’s go for some linkage now.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says ESPN and NFL Network have agreed not to show prospects on the phone spoiling the suspense of the NFL Draft.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated goes behind-the-scenes with ESPN and NFL Network as they prepare for their NFL Draft coverage later this week.

Congrats to Jimmy Traina at SI for 10 years of Hot Clicks. The site has been very good to Fang’s Bites since first linking here in 2008.

Patrick Stiegman of ESPN.com writes a guest editorial in Sports Business Journal responding to another guest editorial from last month criticizing the network’s journalism ethics.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com says the Big Ten Conference will have a lot of say at the next BCS meetings thanks to its TV network.

In the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman talks with NBC Sports Network programming chief Jon Miller about the channel’s lowly ratings at its outset.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos gives praise to MLB’s social media efforts.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Time Warner Cable has added ESPN and several other sports networks to its mobile and tablet apps.

Sam Laird at Mashable says ESPN is launching a social campaign to determine where the next College GameDay promo will be shot.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine writes that the NHL’s TV ratings are red hot.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing says it appears that the Atlanta Falcons have turned down HBO to go on Hard Knocks this season.

At Pro Sports Communications, Martine Charles stresses that in a crisis, hiding from the media is the worst thing to do.

Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy wonders if parity in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs could hurt the TV ratings in the long run.

The Connecticut Post says ESPN SportsCenter anchor Sara Walsh will host a business breakfast meeting next month.

Tanzina Vega at the New York Times notes that Jeep has become a USA Basketball sponsor in time for the 2012 Olympics.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post labels Yankees radio voice John Sterling a fraud. Wow.

The New York Post points out that Tennis Channel’s Mayleen Ramey is the new host of SNY’s Beer Money quiz show.

Dr. Doom & Gloom at the New York Daily News says the growing feud between the Giants and Jets is the main reason why Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning was pulled from ESPN Radio NY which is the Jets flagship radio station.

Richard Huff at the Daily News speaks with MLB Network’s Sam Ryan.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union feels Fox’s coverage of Philip Humber’s perfect game on Saturday was flawed.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News says be prepared for an online Olympic smorgasboard.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that MASN’s Kristina Akra has been doused with Gatorade by the victorious Nationals again. This is three times by my count. In fact, here’s the video of Kristina getting doused with the bucket by Rick Ankiel and Chad Tracy. Good angle from behind the Nats dugout.

Guyism notes the first two Gatorade baths.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN NFL Draft analyst Bill Polian about former Baylor QB Robert Griffin III.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times looks back at the weekend in sports TV.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel says a local sports anchor who’s been taking heat for his reporting of the Magic’s Dwight Howard story this season responded to criticisms.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle links us to his appearance on NPR over the weekend.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune says a new BCS Championship system will be bandied about this week and get a lot of interest from the networks.

Dan Whitney of the Cherokee (IA) Chronicle Times says thanks to NBC’s blanket coverage of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, he’s a fan of hockey again.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post notes the increasing coverage of the NFL Draft.

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

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin says the ratings show that Blue Jays fans are being patient with the team.

Sports Media Watch says NBA TV will produce its own playoff telecasts which is a departure from the last few years.

SMW says Fox garnered good overnight numbers for its Saturday Baseball broadcast thanks to Philip Humber’s perfect game and the Yankees stunning comeback against the Red Sox.

And SMW says the NHL on NBC drew very good ratings over the weekend.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says a Western Conference Semifinal featuring Nashville and Phoenix may not be as disastrous as some observers think.

Joe Favorito has his weekly sports business roundup.

A.T. Faust III at AppAdvice says ESPN’s iPad website fails to take advantage of the tablet’s strengths.

Bike World News says Fox Sports Net will pick up the Tour of Utah cycling race again this year.

And that’s going to do us for today.

Late Monday Night Links

As promised earlier today, I’m giving you more links. I was out earlier today and I’ll be out again tomorrow so it’s going to be a bit crazy for me. So let’s get to the linkage right now.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch looks at the media circus that was the Tim Tebow press conference at the New York Jets practice facility on Monday.

Speaking of Richard, he and CNBC’s Darren Rovell were locked in Round 2 of their Twitter feud. This was fun while it lasted as Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing recaps.

Matt notes that Al Trautwig of MSG Network had a slip of the tongue.

And Matt is gleeful that ESPN’s Jonathan Coachman also had a similar slip.

Christina Settimi of Forbes looks at baseball’s biggest local cable TV rights deals.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN has promoted an executive to handle its international digital media efforts.

Sam Laird of Mashable notes that the Boston Bruins have launched their own social media portal, believed to the first in pro sports.

Todd Cunningham at The Wrap says with Tiger Woods win this past weekend, CBS now looks forward to having masterful ratings for The Masters^® in two weeks.

Dale Buss of Brand Channel writes that Jockey brand underwear welcomed Tim Tebow to New York as only it could.

Kevin Kaduk of Yahoo’s Big League Stew has one of the funniest on-screen graphics pulled by Fox Sports Midwest during a St. Louis Cardinals exhibition game.

Jesse Sawyer of the Avon (CT) Patch says ESPN’s Kenny Mayne has sold his Connecticut home over half a year after he moved his family to Washington State.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post hates everybody.

Breaking the Bob Raissman ban to note that the New York Daily News curmudgeon feels Tim Tebow is already a pro at handling the Big Apple media circus.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that the ratings for the NCAA Tournament this past weekend took a huge hit thanks to Tiger Woods.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News writes about ESPN’s three month-long initiative to celebrate Title IX.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call talks about the departure of local native Meredith Marakovits for the bright lights of New York.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog tells us that he’s going to have a partner on the blog.

And Sarah Kogod introduces herself to DC Sports Bog readers in her first post.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Tennis Channel’s Mary Carillo.

Tom Jones from the Tampa Bay Times reviews the weekend in sports television.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman notes that the Oklahoma City Thunder set a new ratings record.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says a nationally syndicated radio morning show will be in town for Reds Opening Day.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Wisconsin-Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 did well in the local ratings.

Scott D. Pierce at the Salt Lake Tribune says BYU basketball coach Dave Rose has a future in TV if he so chooses.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times says an investment bank helped to broker the Pac-12 media rights contract with ESPN and Fox plus other huge sports and entertainment megadeals.

Joe reports that DirecTV and Tribune are in a dispute over the company’s TV stations and this could include WGN America which carries a bunch of sports programming.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail has yet another amazingly uninformed column not realizing that CBS and Turner share the NCAA Tournament and CBS no longer regionalizes games. Many Canadian college basketball fans are aware of this, yet Bruce is not.

Sports Media Watch looks at the lower ratings generated by the NCAA Tournament over the weekend.

SMW has the viewership for the first primetime effort by ESPN2′s First Take.

To Macgasm where we learn that ESPN is teaming with Apple to make sports scores available on the Siri voice platform on the iPhone 4S.

Joe Favorito asks does UFC really needs New York to be successful?

Jim Connelly at USCHO.com wonders if ESPN is doing more to hurt the NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament than help promote it.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball wonders when MLB Network will hit Canada.

And we’ll end it there. Good night.

Tennis Channel To Rank 100 Greatest Players of All-Time

Coming up in March, Tennis Channel will air a five part series counting down the 100 Greatest Player in the sport of all-time. The weeklong special titled “100 Greatest of all Time” will air from March 19-23 and will span from the sport’s beginnings all the way through today. You would have to think Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Steff Graf, Ken Rosewall, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal would be on the list somewhere along with other greats like Bill Tilden, Althea Gibson, Venus and Serena Williams and so many others.

Tennis Channel says a panel of journalists, players, coaches, historians and “industry representatives” chose the 100 Greatest.

We have details from Tennis Channel below.

TENNIS CHANNEL TO COUNT DOWN HISTORY’S TOP 100 PLAYERS MARCH 19-23

Special Series, 100 Greatest of all Time, will Unfold Across Five Nights, Reveal Best Tennis Player Ever

That is it.

Wringing Out Some Friday Megalinks

Let’s do your media megalinks since last week you did not get any.

Hard to believe that college baseball, college lacrosse and NASCAR seasons are starting up, but they are and they’re included in the Weekend Viewing Picks along with the regular Golf, NBA, NHL, Skiing, Soccer, Tennis and Entertainment recommendations.

To your links now.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says Jeremy Lin will make his nationwide broadcast network debut this weekend.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable notes that Floyd Mayweather’s next pay per view fight has been set by HBO for the spring.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that Jeremy Lin continues to drive the MSG Network ratings engine.

Mike Shields of Adweek looks at CBS/Turner Sports’ plans to charge to view the NCAA Tournament online.

Ted Johnson of Variety talks with Ken Solomon of Tennis Channel on his ongoing battle to get a better footing with Comcast.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says the Jeremy Lin media coverage is over the top.

Sports Media Watch notes the increased viewership for the NHL on NBC Sports Network.

SMW says Pardon the Interruption’s Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon have lent their voices to a Disney XD cartoon series.

Andy Hall at ESPN Front Row PR blog celebrates the 5th anniversary of NASCAR’s return to the network.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell speaks with Jeremy Lin’s agent.

Andrew Bucholtz writing his first article for Awful Announcing looks at the reaction to Jeremy Lin in Canada.

Mat Yoder at AA says the ratings for last weekend’s Pebble Beach National Pro-Am show fans are still interested in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

Joe Favorito explores the steady growth of college lacrosse.

Mark J. Miller of Brandchannel says NASCAR fans don’t like it when drivers juggle sponsor logos throughout the Sprint Cup season.

The Big Lead has ESPN’s Erin Andrews out and about during New York’s Fashion Week.

Chris Chase at Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner notes that ESPN has been coaching Jon Gruden to use his words judiciously.

Harrison Mooney of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy says Jeremy Lin’s drawing power might indirectly benefit the New York Rangers, Islanders, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils which have been missing from Time Warner Cable systems in addition to the Knicks.

David B. Wilkerson at MarketWatch wonders if the MSG/Time Warner Cable feud will eventually push sports into a premium tier.

East and Mid-Atlantic

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn gets some advice for new NESN Red Sox field reporter Jenny Dell from MSG’s Tina Cervasio.

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch pays tribute to Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan who announced he’s retiring after the London Olympics.

Surviving Grady has a podcast with Jen Royle.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the new charge for viewing the NCAA Tournament online.

Richard writes about the increased ratings for Knicks games since Jeremy Lin arrived on the scene.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post is in rare form today even for him.

Brett Cyrgalis of the Post has five questions for CBS college basketball analyst Bill Raftery.

The Post’s David Seifman reports that the New York City Council is pressuring MSG Network and Time Warner Cable to work out a deal.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News writes that ESPN bumped tonight’s Hornets-Knicks game not realizing it would be another opportunity to showcase Jeremy Lin.

Jerry Barmash from Fishbowl NY has reaction from various NYC sports anchors to the death of former Mets catcher Gary Carter.

Mike Silva at the Sports Media Watchdog feels hockey coverage in New York is woefully inadequate.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that a local sports TV reporter received a New York Emmy nomination.

Pete lists his top studio analysts.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes has the latest in Baltimore-Washington DC sports media news in Press Box.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has a clip of Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon as cartoon characters.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner says talks with sports business writer Evan Weiner about the NFL’s antiquated blackout rules.

South

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald has some thoughts on Shaquille O’Neal’s rookie season at TNT and ESPN’s decision to remove Ron Jaworski from Monday Night Football.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Astros plan to bring in former players to their radio booth to celebrate the team’s 50th season.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman notes the first network appearance of Jeremy Lin is this Sunday.

Midwest

The Detroit Free Press notes that all of the Tigers games will be on TV this season.

Bob Wolfey of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Dick Enberg told a captive audience at Marquette University about the art of the pause and when to use it in broadcasting.

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

To the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin where Paul Christian writes that Fox Sports North will be all over the Minnesota Twins this season.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the Cardinals have mostly put the kybosh on late afternoon games at Busch Stadium this season.

Dan says a local sports radio host is recovering after undergoing heart bypass surgery.

West

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the new Fox Sports San Diego is set to launch next month.

Jay writes the San Diego Padres stand to double their rights fees from Fox as compared to Cox a year ago.

John Maffei at the North County Times says the official announcement between Fox Sports San Diego carrying the Padres is due any time now.

At the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle says NBC and the NHL have become very good partners.

Jim feels ESPN should not have jettisoned Ron Jaworski from Monday Night Football.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times notes that ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham is up for a Best Documentary Oscar.

Bill Shakin of the Times says Frank McCourt’s legal problems are holding up Fox’s announcement with the Padres.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News recaps a lecture from three noted network broadcasters discussing TV coverage of the Olympics.

And that’s going to conclude the megalinks for today.

Our Mid-Week Linkage

Time for some sports media links for today. Let’s get to them without further delay.

Let’s start with USA Today and Michael Hiestand who looks at the record online numbers for the first live legal stream of the Super Bowl.

Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated lists the best and worst NFL announcing teams.

Over to Mike Farrell of Multichannel News who writes that the MSG Network/Time Warner Cable dispute could last a long time and there’s no end in sight.

Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter says a magistrate judge has blocked an attempt by several former athletes wanting access to NCAA TV contracts in a dispute over EA Sports using their likenesses for video games.

Lacy Rose of the Reporter writes that actor/director Clint Eastwood is spearheading the launch of a new golf TV network.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that the FCC has refused to reverse a decision against Comcast requiring it to carry Tennis Channel.

Tim Baysinger of B&C notes that Animal Planet’s annual Puppy Bowl received a lower viewership than last year.

Adweek has all of your Super Bowl ads in 2 minutes.

Andrew Gauthier of TVSpy says an Old Milwaukee Beer spot with Will Ferrell that ran on Super Bowl Sunday in the 2nd smallest market of the country, is getting some of the biggest buzz this week.

Erin Gloria Ryan at Jezebel notes that ESPN had a section for commentors to complain about female announcers. ESPN has taken it down and issued a statement.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says NBC missed obscuring the now-infamous M.I.A. middle finger in the Madonna Super Bowl halftime show by less than on second.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says USA Network will air an inspirational NFL Films documentary on Friday.

TVNews Check has WCBS-TV claiming an NYC ratings victory for its coverage of Tuesday’s New York Giants Super Bowl parade.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says WNBC-TV won the New York ratings for last week thanks to the Giants playing in Super Bowl XLVI.

Laura Nachman says the Philadelphia 76ers’ ratings on Comcast SportsNet are way up over last year.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle notes that Doritos and M&M’s were TiVO’s most watched Super Bowl ads for this year.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman writes about NBC’s ratings for Super Bowl XLVI.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says a Great American Ballpark scoreboard operator will represent the Reds in MLB Network’s Baseball IQ game show.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers pleased with his guest analyst stint on NBC Sunday.

Robert Feder from Time Out Chicago notes a local sportscaster who has a side gig with a podcast on science fiction and pop culture.

To Crain’s Chicago Business and Ed Sherman who says this year’s Super Bowl ratings in the Windy City were down significantly from last year.

Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune says a local sports radio talk show host was fired after calling a women’s college basketball analyst for the mtn. not just one but several derogatory terms.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reports that Hall of Fame Dodgers voice Vin Scully won’t be calling Spring Training games until the team returns from Arizona.

Michael Passanisi of Fenway West is not a fan of the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy. Not many of us are.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes here and here.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog compares NFL to CFL ratings in the Great White North.

Mike Silva in Sports Media Watchdog looks at Mad Dog Radio’s Dino Costa ranting about teams removing media credentials.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has video of MSG Network host Al Trautwig pounding the table after the New York Rangers lost to the New Jersey Devils after a no goal call on Tuesday.

And Tim Ryan has a photo of NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar posing with the dainty Zooey Deschanel? It’s not sports media, but I’ll take any excuse to post a link to a Zooey Deschanel pic.

Ok, we’re done. Enjoy your Wednesday and the college basketball games tonight.

Tennis Channel Airs US vs. Belarus Federation Cup

This weekend in Worcester, MA, it will be the first round of the Federation Cup, the women’s tennis team competition. The USA team will be stocked with Venus & Serena Williams, up-and-comer Christina McHale and Liezel Huber. Belarus has Anastasia Yakimova, Darya Kustova, Olga Govortsova and Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.

Tennis Channel will air all of the matches live from the arena formerly known as the Worcester Centrum starting Saturday at 2 p.m. Sunday’s action will begin at noon.

Not sure if Tennis Channel will pull a cheapo and have its announcing crew in Los Angeles calling the matches off a monitor. We’ll see.

Here’s the press release.

SERENA WILLIAMS LEADS U.S. TEAM IN FIGHT FOR FED CUP SPOT THIS WEEKEND ON TENNIS CHANNEL

Sisters Serena and Venus Williams, Christina McHale and Liezel Huber Battle Belarus and Australian Open Champion Victoria Azarenka to Compete for 2013 Cup

That will do it.

Some Mid-Week Sports Media Thoughts

Time to do some original content here. The thoughts come to you in bullet form as always.

• As the Super Bowl fast approaches, we hear from those who know more than your humble blogger that Sunday’s Big Game could set a viewing record. Super Bowl XLV on Fox between Green Bay and Pittsburgh set the standard with an average of 111 million viewers. I do expect we’ll see an average of 115 million for Pats-Giants with a total viewership reaching 170 million. I’ll also predict a rating of 47.5 with a 70 share. Based on last year’s numbers, my prediction would be on track. Patriots owner Robert Kraft feels Super Bowl XLVI will be the most watched program of all-time and I agree with him.
• I wish ESPN would cover every event like it does tennis. The announcing from Chris Fowler, Cliff Drysdale, Patrick McEnroe, Darren Cahill, Chris Evert, Mary Jo Fernandez, Pam Shriver, Brad Gilbert to host Chris McKendry was stellar throughout the Australian Open. I have not been enamored with Fowler’s play-by-play in the past, but I thought he was very good especially in calling the men’s semifinals of Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic-Andy Murray and extremely good for the epic Rafa-Djoker final.The men’s final had so many ups and downs and so many shifts of momentum. Fowler and McEnroe were on top of potential shifts and correctly first guessed many points. ESPN2 was on top of the play on Sunday And Tennis Channel was very good as well. It’s too bad that neither ESPN2 or Tennis Channel could pick up John McEnroe for the Aussie Open. He will be on the French Open for Tennis Channel and NBC.

  However, ESPN2′s efforts appear not to be rewarded as the ratings were off from last year. I’ll have more on that later today.

• And one more item from the weekend, I thought the HBO/NFL Films documentary on Joe Namath was fantastic. As with past HBO efforts, it did not sugarcoat Namath’s life and career. It delved into his partying lifestyle during his heyday with the New York Jets in the 1960′s during the height of the Sexual Revolution. In addition, it did not whitewash his alcoholism nor his most infamous moment in 2003 when he was drunk during a live interview with Suzy Kolber on ESPN. The film made great lengths to show that while Namath loved the bright lights of Broadway, he still had his home of Beaver Falls, PA deep in his soul. From the rarely seen footage of his high school days, to his college career at Alabama and through to the AFL and NFL, “Namath” captured the essence of the man. Another solid documentary from HBO, definitely Emmy Award-worthy.
• Just 19 days until pitchers and catchers report. Can’t wait.

That does it for now. This should be another busy day for sports media.

And one quick self-serving note. This week’s edition of the Sports Media Podcast will have a record amount of guests. I’m not going jinx it by pre-promoting them, but suffice to say if everything holds true, you will love the Super Bowl edition of the podcast.

I’ll be back later in the day.

Some Early Monday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

Time for some sports media thoughts once again. I owe you some since I wasn’t able to do them after last Monday’s post. As always, they come in bullet form.

• Since I was out for most of the afternoon on Sunday, I missed the Pregame coverage and 3/4 of the AFC Championship Game, but I was able to see the entire 4th quarter and watched all of the NFC Championship. From what I saw of the AFC Championship Game, I thought CBS did a decent job, but there was a glaring omission in the last minute.

  First, by not having a rules analyst like Fox with Mike Pereira, CBS really didn’t delve into whether a ruled incompletion thrown by Joe Flacco to Lee Evans should have been reviewed or discussed whether it was an incompletion in the first place. As it was later explained later, it was ruled correctly, but not until after CBS went off the air.

  And CBS never tried to get an answer as to why Ravens place kicker Billy Cundiff ran onto the field late, influencing his missed game tying field goal attempt. Jim Nantz didn’t even mention Cundiff’s tardiness as it was happening. And the NFL Today postgame show didn’t discuss either issue.

  For the NFC Championship, Fox was on its game from the call of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, to key replays showing that 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams muffed fielding a kick when the ball glanced off his knee. Replays were very conclusive. I thought Fox had one of its best broadcasts of the season and it ended the 2011-12 NFL campaign by going out in top.

  CBS could have done a better job by servicing its viewers at the end of the game.

• Thanks to its third overtime in the last five NFC Championship Games, I expect Fox to get a huge viewership number, somewhere near 60 million viewers. I’m not kidding. If records were set for the NFL Wild Card and Divisional Playoffs, why not for Championship Sunday?

  And NBC has to love having the New England Patriots and the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. With two teams with national followings, plus a rematch of Super Bowl XLII, I think another viewership record will be broken this year for the Big Game.

• Two changes on the national radio coverage of the NFL. First, Westwood One has been officially taken over by Dial Global. The two companies merged last year, but earlier this month, Westwood One was rebranded as Dial Global Sports.

  In addition, Dial Global’s broadcasts of the Conference Championship Games and the Super Bowl are no longer blacked out in the home markets. In Boston, Dial Global affiliate WEEI aired the AFC Championship opposite New England Patriots radio flagship WBZ-FM. And WEEI will air the Dial Global’s feed of the Super Bowl as well. So stations that carry Dial Global’s NFL schedule won’t have to stop with the Divisional Playoffs in case the team in their local market makes it to the Conference Championship and beyond.

• Being a tennis fan, I am loving the combined Tennis Channel/ESPN2 coverage of the Australian Open. I also love as a DirecTV subscriber having six channels to choose from, either the network coverage, or individual court channels showing commercial-free, uninterrupted action.

  A couple of complaints. ESPN2 could spend some more time showing live matches instead of constant talking from the set. I don’t mind postmatch interviews with players, but sometimes, ESPN2 falls into the trap of too much discussion while matches are underway.

  We are definitely missing Mary Carillo in Melbourne. For some reason, she chose to take this year’s Australian Open off and her presence has been missed. I do love having Tracy Austin on Tennis Channel this year and I hope she’ll be used during the French Open. And could John McEnroe be borrowed from Fox Sports Australia for ESPN2 or Tennis Channel? He’s been missed also.

That will do it. Enjoy your Monday.

Bringing Out Friday Megalinks

The last few Fridays, I haven’t been able to provide you with the megalinks. I have to do some today otherwise you’ll stop visiting me.

We begin as always with the Weekend Viewing Picks and there are quite a few for this snowy weekend in Southern New England.

Now to your links.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with Fox Sports’ Terry Bradshaw about Tim Tebow and the upcoming NFC Championship.

Jason Fry, part of the ESPN Poynter Review Project hears sideline reporter Holly Rowe’s side of the story regarding about her now-infamous incident where she shoved a Sugar Bowl staffer away to get an interview with Michigan coach Brady Hoke.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter looks at HBO’s new unscripted series on boxing trainer Freddie Roach.

The Tampa Bay Times’ Eric Deggans has a review of the Freddie Roach series in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable says Massachusetts Senator John Kerry has written a letter to the FCC asking the agency to get involved in the Sunbeam-DirecTV dispute which could affect how viewers in Boston see the Super Bowl.

John says Comcast is seeking a reversal of a Federal decision that ruled in favor of Tennis Channel in their dispute.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says DirecTV has signed a rights deal to distribute Big Sky football and basketball games.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says History Channel has purchased a longer ad to promote its series, “Swamp People” during Super Bowl XLVI.

Brian Steinberg from Advertising Age tells us who’s buying what in Super Bowl XLVI.

AdAge looks at the 12 ads that changed Super Bowl marketing forever. Three guesses on number one and the first two don’t count.

Brian says marketers are going longer with their Super Bowl ads this year in an attempt to stand out.

Finally, Brian writes that even though we’re not thinking about next year’s Super Bowl XLVII, CBS already is and has been working on getting an early start on ad sales for that Big Game.

Inside Radio says all of Cumulus’ Bay Area radio stations will simulcast Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

From across the pond, Amy Lawrence of The Guardian in the UK says Fox airing an English Premier League game live over the air is a big deal.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo looks into NBC Sports Network’s first foray into boxing.

Dan Levy at the Bleacher Report wonders which network can muster enough former NFL talent to drum up a flag football game.

Mac Nwulu of ESPN’s Front Row PR blog has an inside look at the preparation of Sunday NFL Countdown.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing chronicles this week’s Twitter feud between Sports Illusrated’s Richard Deitsch and CNBC’s Darren Rovell.

Speaking of feuds, The Big Lead looks at an internal ESPN squabble between college basketball analyst Jay Bilas and insider Andy Katz.

Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN is making a major scheduling change for the WNBA this year.

SMW has a look at some local NBA and NHL ratings.

Tennis Channel laments not being picked up by Cablevision.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group takes a look at CBS’ and Fox’s preparation for the NFL Conference Championship Games.

Sports TV Jobs has an interesting graphic of sample camera positions at various stadia and arenas.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe talks with a former Baltimore Raven who now works in Boston as a weekend sports talk show host.

Bill Doyle at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette interviews legendary Patriots radio voice Gil Santos.

Newsday’s Neil Best says local TV is gearing up for the NFC Championship.

Neil talks with former New York Giants running back and NBC analyst Tiki Barber who makes his return to TV this weekend.

George Vescey at the New York Times looks forward to seeing Sunday’s English Premier League game live on Fox.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is not a fan of the NFL replay review process.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for CBS Sports’ and WFAN’s Boomer Esiason.

The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty has some NFL TV analysts break down the four quarterbacks still playing for a shot in the Super Bowl.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has Fox’s Troy Aikman talking about the NFC Championship.

Ken has more from Troy in his blog.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com notes in Press Box that last week’s Texans-Ravens game set a local ratings record.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun attempts to get answers from CBS on having Subway endorser Ndamukong Suh on last week’s NFL Today postgame show.

And David has former Ravens QB and current ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer opining on Ed Reed’s comments on current QB Joe Flacco.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post says the Nationals are hoping to get more money from MASN as the sides negotiate a new contract.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with the radio voice of the Wizards about his busy schedule.

South

Keith Jarrett at the Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times says the Big South may have to move its Conference Championship Game venue which could effect ESPN’s scheduling.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham (AL) News says SEC partners CBS and ESPN want better scheduling for next football season.

Jerry Tipton of the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader writes that the SEC’s basketball coaches aren’t happy over the scheduling-for-TV moves this season.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans’ flagship radio station hopes to build on the team’s momentum when their new contract kicks in next season.

David has some news and notes that didn’t make his column.

Nancy Sarnoff of the Chronicle says NBC Sports Group is looking for a new facility to house the Comcast SportsNet Houston regional sports network which launches later this year.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman notes that the Texas Rangers will have multiple appearances on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says HBO continues its string of acclaimed sports documentaries.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says don’t expect NFL Conference Championship Sunday to change its format for the foreseeable future.

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

Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune feels Fox Sports North just cheerleads for Minnesota teams and won’t criticize them.

Paul Christian from the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin looks at Fox Sports North’s Hockey Day in Minnesota schedule.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has CBS Sports President Sean McManus wanting to keep the status quo for NFL Conference Championship Sunday.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times looks at MLB Network’s first-ever game show which premieres next week.

Jim Carlisle from the Ventura County Star says CBS was hoping to get Tim Tebow for its NFL Today pregame show on Sunday, but he declined.

At the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth profiles Fox Sports West host Patrick O’Neal and has his list of best and worst local sports anchors.

Tom has a bit more on O’Neal.

Canada

Bob Weeks in the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that CBC has gotten out of the curling business, a sport it has televised since 1962.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail says the Raptors may be suffering on the court, but not on TV.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog looks at the International Olympic Committee throwing out CTV/CBC’s joint bid to air the 2014/2016 Games.

And that is it. Glad to be able to provide the Megalinkage for you.

Some Tuesday Links

Don’t have time to provide a full set of links today so I’ll give you what I’ve culled thus far. Some good stuff here.

Some stories from this week’s Sports Business Journal.

First, John Ourand reports that ESPN and MLB could butt heads over TV Everywhere streaming rights. ESPN has its model. MLB has its silly subscription model. We’ll see where it ends.

SBJ’s Liz Mullen talks with Fox NFL Sunday’s Michael Strahan about the transition from his playing career to a broadcasting career and goes inside his day on the Fox set during NFL season.

Liz chronicles the NFL Broadcast Boot Camp held every year to give players a taste of being in front of the camera.

And SBJ lists some of the current players and coaches who could make a go at broadcasting when they decide to leave the field.

One story that bears watching. Last week, the FCC opened a review on the antiquated NFL blackout rules and Todd Shields of Bloomberg has a story on it.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times wrote about the FCC blackout review as well.

Gary Holmes at MediaPost looks at how the NFL continues to be a ratings draw over a 40 year span.

Tennis Channel announced on its Facebook page that it’s back on Verizon Fios systems.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News has a story on the new Tennis Channel/Verizon agreement.

John Eggerton of Multichannel says Tennis Channel wants the FCC to force Comcast to adhere to an Administrative Law Judge ruling stating the cable provider has to offer the network to its subscribers as an equal to its own Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network.

Broadcasting & Cable’s Ben Grossman talks with NASCAR head honcho Brian France about the future of the sport on TV and how ESPN needs to improve its presentation.

Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter says a throwaway line from the Baltimore Ravens’ Terrell Suggs on Sunday Night Football back in November is now the subject of a nasty trademark dispute.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has details on the budding feud between UFC’s Dana White and ESPN over a report on Outside the Lines that looked at fighter pay.

Timothy Burke’s Mocksession site has a funny error from ESPN promoting tonight’s Big Ten basketball game.

Nate Smeltz at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog provides an inside look at how a game becomes SportsCenter highlight.

Shirley Brady at Brandchannel previews some of the Super Bowl ads that will air during the Big Game.

Sports TV Jobs looks at the Ten Worst Moments in Sports TV history.

At Boston Sports Media Watch, former Comcast SportsNet New England anchor/reporter Jackie Pepper chronicles her rise from covering sports in a very small market to Boston, the 7th largest in the country.

Newsday’s Neil Best tweeted that Josh Lewin of the Lisping Lewins is a candidate to join the New York Mets radio booth.

Neil says WFAN’s Mike Francesa has a new name for his show.

Neil says Giants-Packers topped the ratings on Sunday.

Back to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times who looks at Fox Sports’ NFL Rules analyst Mike Pereira making a rare disagreement over a call during Sunday’s Giants-Packers game.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union notes a local sports reporter has been suspended for making an obscene gesture on the air.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun says it appears the Ravens set a viewing record for Sunday’s game against the Texans.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams joins a local radio station as an analyst.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans-Baltimore game set a local ratings record.

David says a local TV station made a tasteless report on the Detroit Pistons’ emergency landing on Monday.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at the ratings for the Giants-Packers playoff game.

Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times says new TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal is enjoying his new role on TV.

Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star says the International Olympic Committee has thrown out the joint bid by Bell Media/CBC for the 2014/2016 Games.

Mike Silva in his Sports Media Watchdog introduces Mets fans to Josh Lewin.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that NBC got a decent rating for the NHL last Saturday.

That’s going to do it.

Tennis Channel’s Coverage of the 2012 Australian Open Begins Monday

For the first time in its history, Tennis Channel will have continuous coverage of the Australian Open beginning with the second day of the tournament, Monday, January 16 and lasting through the quarterfinals on January 25. Through its new agreement with ESPN2, Tennis Channel will have early evening coverage (late morning/early afternoon in Melbourne) beginning at 7 p.m. ET, usually lasting until 9 p.m. Tennis Channel will be allowed to stay through to the conclusion of the match that it’s showing before totally yielding to ESPN2.

Calling the matches will be called by Bill Macatee and Bret Haber. Justin Gimelstob and Martina Navratilova will be the analysts and joining Tennis Channel this year is Tracy Austin who had been with Australia’s 7 Network previously for the Aussie Open. Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim will be the on-site reporter. All of Tennis Channel’s coverage will be produced by ESPN2.

And Australian Open Today will air live at 7 a.m. to wrap up the day’s event and be repeated at 3 p.m. ET.

Here’s Tennis Channel’s press release.

HALL OF FAMER TRACY AUSTIN JOINS TENNIS CHANNEL BROADCAST BOOTH DURING AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Network Analyst and Tennis Channel Academy Series Host to Join Martina Navratilova, Bill Macatee for Channel’s Fifth Year in Melbourne
Thirteen Days of Live Match Coverage Set for Two-Week Major, First of Four Slams

And that completes our Australian Open press releases.

Some Tuesday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

I haven’t written a sports media thoughts post in quite some time. I owe you one do let’s do this without further delay. As always, they come in bullet form.

• Last night’s BCS National Championship Game between Alabama and LSU was another dull affair, just like their first game in the regular season. ESPN did its best to step up for the game. Brent Musburger seemed to be in hype mode more than usual. Kirk Herbstreit was on his game as analyst. As Alabama’s defense was in lockdown mode, not allowing LSU past mid-field until midway of the 4th quarter, Brent and Kirk were quick to point out the differences in approach by coaches Nick Saban and Les Miles.Production of the game was also championship-worthy. Replays were sharp and close calls were resolved through ESPN showing the correct angles.However, ESPN overused last year’s BCS National Championship Game coaches, Gene Chizik of Auburn and Chip Kelly of Oregon. Both were dull and in need of personality transfusions. ESPN barely used their own analysts for College GameDay.Because the game was so dull, Musburger could not make a tie-in to sponsor Allstate as he did last year for Tostitos. He did overuse “Honey Badger.” What last night’s game did was to assist the skeptics’ screams for a college football playoff or at least a Plus One game. Overall, I give ESPN a B+ for the game.
• Still no word on whether NESN is any closer to a replacement for Heidi Watney as Red Sox field reporter. Of the candidates NESN has conducted interviews and those I’ve been able to confirm through several sources include Erin Hawksworth of Fox Seattle, Courtney Fallon of ABC6 in Providence, and Britt McHenry from WJLA-TV in Washington. I told you last month that Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle was interviewed and is not believed to be a candidate at this time. If anything happens, I’ll certainly let you know.
• You have to believe that CBS is happy to be riding the Tim Tebow wave as it heads to Foxboro, MA this weekend as Denver takes on the New England Patriots in the NFL Divisional Playoff round. The only game during Wild Card Weekend to see massive gains over last year was Sunday’s Pittsburgh-Denver game, garnering an amazing 25.9/43 overnight number for CBS. This would mark the 5th straight week CBS and its number one team, Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will have called the Broncos and Tebow. No matter how you feel about Tebow, he draws ratings and makes people watch. I don’t expect Saturday night’s game to draw near the Wild Card ratings because Saturday is not a big TV night, however, if Denver-New England is close going down to the wire, expect big numbers.
• Here’s looking forward to ESPN2/Tennis Channel’s coverage of the Australian Open starting Sunday night. Coverage will begin every night at 7 p.m. ET. Finals will take place in the wee hours of the morning at 3:30 a.m. on the East Coast, but it will lead to some very good tennis. The 16 hour time difference between Melbourne and the US Eastern time zone means for some disjointed viewing, but it’s always fun to see the summer weather from the Southern Hemisphere. Here’s looking forward to hearing from Chris Fowler, Cliff Drysdale, Pam Shriver, Patrick McEnroe, Darren Cahill, Bill Macatee, Martina Navratilova and Justin Gimelstob for two weeks.

And that’s going to it for the thoughts this morning.

Tuesday Linkage

Let’s do some links for today. Lots of stories and lots of stuff going on. From the NFL announcing the online streaming of Super Bowl XLVI to some mind blowing revelations about reporters, this has been an amazing day. It will call for some sports media thoughts later tonight. First the links.

I’ll begin with a story that’s breaking now. Nancy Phillips of the Philadelphia Inquirer breaks the story about Baseball Hall of Fame writer Bill Conlin being accused of molesting four children in the 1970′s. For his part, Conlin denies the allegations and has resigned from his columnist position at the Philadelphia Daily News. Last month, Conlin wrote the following about the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

In what has to be a giant conflict of interest, we learn from TMZ and the Crossing Broad blog that Jay Gray of NBC News was arrested on DUI charges after leaving a party thrown by Sandusky attorney Joe Amendola who invited a bunch of reporters to his house to curry favors for interviews of his client down the line.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin notes the ESPN Monday Night Football debut of sideline reporter John Sutcliffe of ESPN Deportes. For such a big game, ESPN brought in someone who had not worked on the MNF package on the Mothership (he has been sideline reporter for Deportes) and it didn’t work.

Last night on Twitter, I said something about Sutcliffe that I should not have. It was wrong. You will not find that tweet now. I’ve deleted it. I apologize and it will not happen again.

Sam Mamudi of Marketwatch.com writes that ESPN’s ratings for Monday Night Football are down this season.

The Futon Critic notes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football won the ratings last night not just on cable, but across all networks.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter writes about the NFL’s plan to stream Super Bowl XLVI online.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter talks with an industry analyst regarding the new NFL TV deals.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times also has a story on the Super Bowl going online for the first time.

Aaron Kuriloff of Bloomberg reports on the potential increase of the Thursday Night Football schedule on NFL Network as early as next season.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the war of words between MSG Network and Time Warner Cable over their carriage talks is ratcheting up.

Mike says ESPN has ponied up $500 million to expand its deal with the NCAA.

John Eggerton of Multichannel writes that Tennis Channel has won a key FCC Administrative Law Judge ruling against Comcast.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says ESPN’s ad sales for 33 college football bowls are red hot.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated has his NBA Broadcasting Guide for the upcoming season.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid talks about ESPN’s plans to overhaul its NBA pregame show.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell suspects Nike will raise prices to make up for lost revenue.

Elizabeth Kim of the Stamford (CT) Advocate goes in-depth on how NBC Sports decided to move to Connecticut.

Brian Stelter and Amy Chozick of the New York Times say you pay for sports on your cable bill whether you like it or not.

Newsday’s Neil Best reports that Fox has assigned Kenny Albert, Moose and Goose for the battle of New York this Saturday.

Laura Nachman says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia aired CSN Mid-Atlantic’s coverage of the 76ers road game against the Washington Wizards last week.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman looks at the local weekend ratings.

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Bengals ratings on Sunday weren’t very good.

John says a local sports radio talk show host who left his regular gig earlier this month may have another one in line.

And I’ll end it there for now. I’ll try to bring some more linkage later.

A Few Sunday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

I’ll be away for most of the day as my Sunday has been planned behind my back once again. I’ll have the Sunday NFL pregame quotage later in the afternoon.

Let’s provide some sports media thoughts. As always, they’ll go in bullet form.

• In its first college football conference championship weekend, Fox Sports had a mixed bag. Not only was the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday between UCLA and Oregon not a good game, Fox’s production was very choppy. While the announcing team of Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster were fine, the audio for the Pac-12 was at times muffled and the crowd sometimes overpowered Davis’ analysis. Gus went into breaks rather awkwardly and there were times the replay didn’t show the proper angle. It wasn’t until the second half when the production hit its stride, but by that time, the game was already decided and most of the audience had probably tuned out.

  For the Big Ten Championship, the regular College Football on Fox production crew that had been working with Gus, Charles and Tim all season on FX was on hand in Indianapolis and this was a much better production. Replays were sharp, the picture was much better than in Eugene for the Pac-12.

  As for the other parts of the production, the college football studio needs improvement. Lots of improvement. Kevin Frazier is an awful host. He’s bad on Tennis Channel. He’s bad on Fox. He comes off unprepared. Marcus Allen is a very weak analyst. John Lynch did a decent job at the Pac-12 and Dhani Jones when he wasn’t trying to ask questions was ok at the Big Ten. Last year, Fox utilized Darrin Horton for its college football host and I don’t know it didn’t keep him for this season. Kevin Frazier must go.

  And I want to talk about why Tim Brewster starts off every question with “talk about.” It’s almost as annoying as when Paul McGuire started off every replay with “Ha ha! I’ll tell you what!” on ESPN’s Sunday Night Football. It’s obvious Tim Brewster wants to coach again because he’s not polished on TV.

  As for Gus Johnson and Charles Davis, they were on their “A” game for both the Pac-12 and Big Ten. They’ve formed one of the best announcing teams in college football. Gus was back in his realm in the national spotlight especially with a barnburner in the Big Ten. If Gus was auditioning for Joe Buck’s spot on the NFL on Fox, he passed with flying colors. While it’s great to have Gus in college football, he really belongs back on the NFL.

• If Tennis Channel wants to be taken seriously, it really should send announcing crews to the events rather than having them call matches off a monitor in its Los Angeles studios. For tournaments like the WTA World Tour Finals and this weekend’s Davis Cup Finals between Spain and Argentina, Tennis Channel has had Brett Haber, Ted Robinson and Leif Shiras call matches off a TV. You may not notice the difference, but when the satellite picture is lost, the announcers have to vamp and act like they’re there. Tennis Channel does send crews to the Grand Slam tournaments, but it should start treating other tournaments the same way as it does the Australian, French, US Opens and Wimbledon. In addition, the announcers are held hostage to the world feeds and cannot give us a sense for the atmosphere or giving us a sense of how the players look off camera. Tennis Channel needs to step up its game or it will continue to be treated as a bastard stepchild.
• The Big Lead is reporting that Sports Illustrated baseball writer Jon Heyman is leaving to take a job with CBSSports.com. That would be a huge get for CBS which has brought in Bruce Feldman from ESPN.com and a couple of other writers. I’m thinking this is part of a bigger picture upgrade for CBS and to possibly set up content for CBS Sports Network which currently is stuck in the ghosts of its previous brand, CBS College Sports. Maybe CBS decides to bid for baseball for CBS Sports Network. It would certainly help as the channel currently doesn’t have much summer programming besides from college sports repeats.
• ESPN is trying to sell us the BCS as a major event. While the ratings for the BCS National Championship Game have been good, until the college presidents decides on a way to decide on a legitimate postseason playoff system, we’re going to be stuck with the potential of an LSU-Alabama game every year. Not the two teams, but the way the final teams for the mythical college football national championships are chosen. The NCAA has over 60 championships including college football, but not in what is called the Football Bowl Subdivision or whatever they’ll name it in the future. As ESPN has so much invested in college sports, it may be up to the Alleged Worldwide Leader to throw some money around to help develop a way for a college football tournament to come to fruition. Until then, we’ll hear BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock give infuriating explanations as to why the BCS is good for college football.
• Nothing new to report on the continuing soap opera that is NESN’s search to replace Heidi Watney. Jen Royle of 105.7 FM in Baltimore was brought in for an interview last week. I heard it went well. Erin Hawksworth of the Fox affiliate in Seattle is also in the running. I believe it’s down to these two and as you know, I’m fully behind Jen in this. If you need any further convincing, let us remind you of Erin’s most famous moment from two months ago.

  I don’t think I need to add anything more.

Enjoy your Sunday

Tennis Channel Airs Fed Cup Final

The Federation Cup Final between Russia and the Czech Republic is this weekend, taking place in Moscow. Vera Zvonereva leads the Russian team against Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

Tennis Channel airs the matches Saturday and Sunday using the World Feed. Should be some interesting matchese.

The matches begin Saturday and will end on Sunday. Here are the particulars from Tennis Channel.

RUSSIA CHASES FIFTH FED CUP TITLE THIS WEEKEND ON TENNIS CHANNEL

Top-Ranked Russian Vera Zvonareva Leads Russia Against the Czech Republic and Reigning Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova

And that’s it.

Tennis Channel Renews Contract For WTA Events Through 2016

In the wake of ESPN’s recent renewal with the Women’s Tennis Association to put 11 tournaments a year on ESPN3.com, Tennis Channel has reached an agreement with the WTA through 2016. This also includes “TV Everywhere” rights meaning Tennis Channel will have the ability to stream its coverage on computers, mobile phones and tablets.

The press release is below.

TENNIS CHANNEL AND WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION
EXTEND RIGHTS AGREEMENT THROUGH 2016

Network to Continue to Feature WTA Tennis for Next Five Years
Deal Includes More than a Dozen WTA Premier Events and Year-End Championships

LOS ANGELES and ST. PETERSBURG, FLA., Oct. 26, 2011 -Tennis Channel and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the governing body of women’s professional tennis, have extended their programming agreement through 2016, ensuring the network’s place as the year-round home of such stars as Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters, and sisters Venus and Serena Williams. The six-year deal keeps at least a dozen Premier-level tournaments on the network each season, as well as the WTA’s year-end Championships, which will take place in Istanbul, Turkey for the period 2011-2013.

Tennis Channel has been the television home of WTA tennis since 2004. Under the new agreement, the network will continue to hold U.S. television rights to at least a dozen Premier-level tournaments from Australia and Asia to Europe and the Middle East. This is highlighted by its coverage of the women’s season-ending competition, the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, which features the season’s top-eight singles players and top-four doubles teams battling for WTA’s year-end World No. 1 ranking. This year’s tournament takes place in Istanbul October 25-30. Tennis Channel will air every match of the six-day event.

“Tennis Channel has been a fantastic partner for the WTA,” said Stacey Allaster, CEO of the WTA. “The extensive coverage and promotion that they provide for our WTA events has been a key ingredient in the growth and popularity of women’s tennis in the United States.”

In total, the rights extension represents 170-to-190 live or first-run match hours per year on the network. Tennis Channel also gains “TV Everywhere” rights under the extension.

“Women’s tennis is uniquely valuable in the world of major professional sports, with star power, sponsorships, prize money, ratings and ticket sales that are the envy of so many others,” said Ken Solomon, chairman and CEO of Tennis Channel. “Stacey and the WTA have built the foremost brand in women’s sports today, and a critical component of our on-air schedule. Year-round women’s competition is one of the most important things that set Tennis Channel apart from any other network.”

The WTA’s Premier-level tournaments are the most significant events on the women’s tennis calendar. On top of at least a dozen weeks of these tournaments, Tennis Channel airs more than 30 other women’s tennis events, offering a regular, week-after-week schedule of women’s tennis throughout the year. These include the four majors: Wimbledon, US Open, French Open and Australian Open.

In addition to the year-end championships, the WTA Premiere tournaments that are part of the agreement and slated to air on Tennis Channel in 2012 are: Brisbane International (Brisbane, Australia) Medibank International (Sydney), Open GDF SUEZ (Paris), Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), Qatar Ladies Open (Doha, Qatar), Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart, Germany), Internationali BNL d’Italia (Rome), Mutua Madrid Open (Madrid, Spain), Brussels Open (Brussels), AEGON Classic (Eastbourne, England), Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo), China Open (Beijing) and Kremlin Cup (Moscow). Tennis Channel’s complete, year-round tournament schedule can be found online at www.tennischannel.com.

The WTA broadcast rights extension comes on the heels of recent long-term rights extensions Tennis Channel has made with the French Open (through 2022) and Wimbledon (through 2023).

That will do it.

Tennis Channel To Air WTA Championships

Starting next Tuesday, Tennis Channel will have extensive live and same day coverage of the year-ending event on the women’s tennis calendar, the WTA Championships. This year’s event takes place in Istanbul, Turkey after being in Doha, Qatar. Those expected to take part include Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki, Li Na and Samantha Stosur. Tennis Channel expects to carry 35 hours of coverage throughout the week and will carry much of the action live.

Calling the matches will be Leif Shiras and Ted Robinson from the Tennis Channel studios in Los Angeles. Doing the analysis will be Lindsay Davenport and Corina Moriariu. Renae Stubbs will be on-site in Turkey.

Tennis Channel will have the doubles final live next Sunday morning, October 30, but will carry the singles final on tape delay in primetime that evening. ESPN2 will have the singles final at 1 p.m. ET, also on tape delay.

We have Tennis Channel’s schedule and press release below.

TENNIS CHANNEL TO AIR WOMEN’S YEAR-END CHAMPIONSHIPS NEXT WEEK

Close to 35 Live Hours Planned During Six-Day
WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey
Daylong Coverage to Include all Singles and Doubles Matches
Between Season’s Top Points Earners; Prime-Time Encores for U.S. Audiences

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20, 2011 – Tennis Channel will once again offer complete coverage at the women’s tennis season-ending championship competition, with close to 35 hours of live, week-long match play at the WTA Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, October 25-30. The network will follow six-and-a-half hours of live weekday telecasts with comprehensive encore coverage each evening in prime-time, for close to 80 hours of additional programming.

With the likes of singles stars Maria Sharapova and top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki along with American doubles players Liezel Huber, Lisa Raymond and Vania King, the prestigious year-end competition pits the world’s top-eight singles players and top-four double teams against each other, respectively, in the final tournament of the WTA season.

During weekdays, Tennis Channel’s live coverage will begin at 10 a.m. ET, with weekend coverage times varying (complete schedule follows). A similar schedule is on tap for the prime-time encore matches, which begin each weeknight at 8 p.m. ET. Veteran sportscaster Ted Robinson will share play-by-play duties with former player Leif Shiras, both of them long-time Tennis Channel on-air booth presences. Lindsay Davenport, who won the year-end singles title in 1999 and doubles crowns in 1996, 1997 and 1998, will split analyst time with Corina Morariu, who reached the No. 1 doubles ranking during her playing days. Rennae Stubbs, also a doubles star on the court, will handle on-site feature reporting for the network.

Each autumn for the last competition of the women’s professional season, the WTA separates its top-eight singles points earners into two groups of four for a round-robin tournament format. After three nights in which each woman plays the other three women in her group, the top two in each group advance to a traditional, single-elimination semifinal and championship stage. The system ensures fans of seeing the eight best players of 2011 play at least three matches during the week, all against the other top performers of the season.

Beyond Sharapova and Wozniacki, this year’s singles field will include Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, Li Na, Vera Zvonareva and U.S. Open winner Samantha Stosur, with the eighth and final spot waiting to be claimed this week.

The doubles championship is determined in a traditional single-elimination format, with the top-four teams qualifying for the event. In addition to U.S. players Huber, Raymond (teammates) and King (who pairs with Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova), the doubles brackets will include Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik and Gisela Dulko/Flavia Pennetta.

Tennis Channel’s Web site, www.tennischannel.com, offers additional WTA Championships information.

Tennis Channel’s 2011 WTA Championships Schedule

Date                            Time (ET)                   Event                         

Tuesday, Oct. 25           10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.          Round-Robin Action

Wednesday, Oct. 26      10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.          Round-Robin Action

Thursday, Oct. 27          10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.          Round-Robin Action

Friday, Oct. 28              10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.          Round-Robin Action

Saturday, Oct. 29          6 a.m.-7:30 a.m.            Doubles Semifinal

8 a.m.-1:30 p.m.            Singles Semifinals, Doubles Semifinal

Sunday, Oct. 30             8:30 a.m.-10 a.m.          Doubles Final

8 p.m.-10 p.m.               Singles Final

That’s it.

Tennis Channel To Continue With Wimbledon Primetime Through 2023

In the wake of its announcement of carrying the French Open until 2022, Tennis Channel announced this week a renewal of an agreement with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet to continue airing “Wimbledon Primetime” through 2023. While ESPN2 has the rights to air live tennis starting next year, Tennis Channel has been airing BBC’s coverage of the matches through the semifinals throughout the fortnight.

The new agreement allows Tennis Channel to air its program all the way until the end. Bill Macatee has been the host and Martina Navratilova has been the analyst. They will continue their roles with the program for the foreseeable future.

We have the announcement from Tennis Channel.

WIMBLEDON PRIMETIME TO AIR ON TENNIS CHANNEL THROUGH 2023

Network to Expand Coverage from First Monday through Final Sunday During Prestigious Grass-Court Tournament

That’s going to do it.

Doing Some Tuesday Linkage

Having spent most of the day at the Providence Civic Center and the Rhode Island Convention Center for a seminar, I wasn’t able to provide linkage. I’ve collected quite a few links for you today so let’s get to them.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today goes over the ratings from the weekend and notes that the NFL regular season had no problem in the ratings with the MLB Postseason.

Lindsay Powers from the Hollywood Reporter writes that the Anti-Defamation League is setting its sights on Hank Williams, Jr. for his remarks on President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner which led ESPN to pull his open from last night’s Monday Night Football game.

Sports Business Daily has a recap on the entire Hank Williams, Jr. controversy.

John Ourand at Sports Business Journal says the Philadelphia Phillies climbed to the top of the local MLB ratings for this season.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News reports on the Tennis Channel’s long-term extension to carry the French Open.

Andy Katz of ESPN.com reports that the Big 12 member schools have agreed on a plan that will distribute TV rights money equally among the institutions.

Tom Van Riper of Forbes.com reports that a Nielsen study has found that women make up a large portion of the sports audience.

Maggie Hendricks of Yahoo wonders when female sports reporters will stop being the target of some cruel male fans.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy writes that with the NHL season fast approaching, the league has yet to sign a deal to air its games in all of Europe. Yes, ALL of Europe.

Phil Swann of TV Predictions says TBS has gotten it right with its HD coverage of the MLB Postseason.

At Media Bistro’s TVSpy, Andrew Gauthier has the video of a Seattle TV reporter not editing out the swears while reading live on the air a Seahawks fan chat from the station’s website.

The Big Lead has a picture of ESPN’s Erin Andrews and her trophy boyfriend.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has video that shows two things on one play, first the Cowboys’ Felix Jones is is not a MENSA candidate and Joe Buck and Troy Aikman had no idea it was 4th down.

To Bob’s Blitz which has audio of WFAN’s Mike Francesa pulling a nutty on the New York Jets for their performance in Baltimore on Sunday Night Football.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell finds that using the color pink in the NFL’s Breast Cancer Awareness campaign may be counterproductive to its message.

Darren wonders why Mercedes-Benz chose the New Orleans Superdome to purchase naming rights.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks into the extremely lengthy NFL Network-Time Warner Cable dispute.

Richard also delves into the Hank Williams, Jr./Monday Night Football mess.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says local college hockey will be heard on two stations.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that Time Warner Cable also gets into the local college hockey act.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog talks with MASN Nationals analyst F.P. Santangelo on his first year on the job.

Dan says Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has raided MSG Network for its new Capitals studio host.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says both Sunday Night Football and the MLB Postseason are doing well in the ratings.

Michael Kruse and Lane DeGregory of the St. Petersburg Times looks at two fans who made both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Buccaneers games on the same night.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle has a look at some local college football and NFL ratings.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says ESPN’s E:60 will do a story on former Bengals running back Ickey Woods and his foundation to promote asthma and organ donation awareness.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Green Bay Packers drew their largest ratings of the season on Sunday.

Bob says Versus’ Turning Point will focus on the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the Dodgers will be changing flagship radio stations next season.

Sports Media Watch says the opener for the NLDS between Arizona and Milwaukee was a mixed bag for TBS.

SMW says Cards-Phils Game 1 was down.

SMW notes that Tigers-Yankees didn’t do well either.

To the NFL, SMW notes that Fox was the ratings winner in Week 4.

SMW tells us that CBS continues in a downward spiral for the NFL.

SMW informs us that NBC’s ratings for Sunday Night Football were down.

And Monday Night Football also took a big hit according to SMW.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the final numbers for Versus’ preseason NHL games.

That’s going to do it.

Tennis Channel Renews Its Rights Deal With The French Open Into The Next Decade

This just in from Tennis Channel. It has renewed its rights deal to be the main US cable TV rightsholder for the 2nd Grand Slam on the tennis calendar. The new contract will through 2022 ensuring the the event will be on Tennis Channel for a full decade. Tennis Channel began as the main cable rightsholder in 2007, sharing coverage with ESPN2. Starting next year, Tennis Channel and ESPN2 will begin a new schedule with ESPN2 starting its French Open coverage at 5 a.m. Eastern with Tennis Channel taking over the rest of the day at 10 a.m. ET. Previously Tennis Channel started at 5 a.m. with ESPN2 taking over at noon.

The new agreement with the French Open includes all digital rights. We have the press release from Tennis Channel below.

TENNIS CHANNEL EXTENDS FRENCH OPEN RIGHTS AGREEMENT: WILL COVER PARIS GRAND SLAM THROUGH 2022

For Next Decade Network to Remain Home of Roland Garros, Sport’s Most Prestigious Clay-Court Championship and First of the Summer Season’s Three Coveted Majors

LOS ANGELES and PARIS, Oct. 4, 2011 -Tennis Channel and the French Tennis Federation (FFT) have agreed to a multi-year extension of the French Open rights package that has been in place since 2007, keeping the network as the primary non-broadcast home of the world’s preeminent clay-court championship for years to come. Today Gilbert Ysern, general manager, FFT, and tournament director, French Open; Michel Grach, media and sponsorship director, FFT; and Ken Solomon, chairman and CEO, Tennis Channel; announced the extension, which runs through 2022.

Tennis Channel has covered Roland Garros (commonly referred to as the French Open) since 2007. The new agreement continues the network’s previously existing exclusive U.S. non-broadcast media rights to all French Open matches. In addition to television, this includes streaming, digital, mobile, video on demand and “TV Everywhere,” as well as access to the FFT’s extensive media archives.

“It is wonderful to extend our relationship with Tennis Channel on a long-term basis,” said Ysern. “Our partnership has led to an innovative and exciting way for Americans to celebrate and enjoy Roland Garros, with far more live coverage than ever and groundbreaking prime-time and late-night telecasts.”

“Tennis Channel has uniquely framed the French Open with a respect for the history of our event and our host city Paris,” added Grach. “Our partnership is integral as we evolve Roland Garros’ future, and we look forward to many great tournaments and champions together in the decade ahead.”

“We couldn’t be more thrilled that Tennis Channel is going to be the French Open’s home for at least another 10 years,” said Solomon. “As the first Grand Slam that we ever covered, Roland Garros holds a special place in our hearts. Together with the FFT, we proved that the more tennis you put on TV, the more American audiences want to watch; they simply can’t get enough. Our partnership has helped grow awareness for the sport itself – with 24-hour scheduling, multiple broadband streams, digital television multi-screens and 3-D – and we’re thankful and excited to continue this arrangement.”

Tennis Channel altered the Grand Slam television landscape with its initial coverage of the French Open in 2007, the first of the sport’s four majors to appear on the network. The network became “The Roland Garros Channel,” in effect, with round-the-clock coverage that remained focused on the two-week competition. It showcased more than 70 live-match hours and more than 100 overall, and brought in an on-air talent roster that included Hall of Famers John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova, and sportscasters Bill Macatee, Ted Robinson and Ian Eagle. The team has since grown to feature Lindsay Davenport, Bud Collins and, this past spring, the Emmy Award-winning Mary Carillo.

The network also shifted the traditional tennis-coverage paradigm by introducing high-production prime-time-and-late-night series French Open Tonight, hosted by Macatee. Because much of the French Open takes place while American audiences are at work or school, French Open Tonight gave fans a nightly opportunity to catch up on the day’s on-court action, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET and airing throughout the night, into the following morning. Encore matches, highlights and special features were supported by Macatee’s signature, extensive interviews with players, coaches, journalists and representatives from all other areas of the sport. The “Olympic style” show became the model for similar daily shows during Tennis Channel’s coverage of each of the other three Grand Slams: Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open.

Tennis Channel’s French Open coverage has also led the way digitally. Beginning with the initial telecast in 2007, visitors to the network’s Web site could access broadband streams of live and on-demand matches, and select distribution partners enabled viewers to access a special “mosaic” channel of multiple courts at the same time or the opportunity to select whichever match they preferred. This year the network became the first in American television to offer 3-D coverage of the French Open, which took place during Memorial Day weekend, May 28-30.

More than countless hours of tournament-dedicated programming and enabling audiences to choose what they wanted to watch, one of the most significant changes Tennis Channel brought to its French Open telecast was its immersive “Grounds Pass” approach. While the greatest players in the world make a two-week journey on the hallowed red clay of Stade Roland Garros each May, the network did not limit its focus to what was happening on the courts. It wanted viewers to feel as though they were out on the tournament grounds themselves, taking in the people and food, activities and culture that make the French Open unique. This method was not confined to the tournament. The French Open is distinctively Parisian, and spring is a time of year when the magical city is praised the world over. Tennis Channel wanted its audiences to experience everything that generates the City of Light’s international charm, and gave the host city its due with special segments throughout its coverage. The formula proved successful with viewers, and has been in place ever since.

And there you have it.