Fang's Bites

Mike Francesa Signs Long-Term Contract to Remain on WFAN

He’s been fodder for plenty of jokes, been caught falling asleep on live television, allegedly received a police escort and held up a plane to New Orleans earlier this year, yelled at numerous callers and has made countless handwaves to numerous producers, but it all doesn’t matter. After plenty of speculation that Mike Francesa would leave New York sports radio powerhouse WFAN when his current contract expired comes word from CBS Radio that the long-time afternoon drive host will remain in his timeslot for many years to come.

Newsday’s Neil Best says the deal runs through 2017 and will pay Francesa $5 million annually which would be on the same terms as his current deal that would have expired after Super Bowl XLVIII.

Under the new deal, Francesa’s NFL Now show will runs Sunday mornings on WFAN during football season will be aired nationally on CBS Sports Radio.

Francesa started with WFAN in 1987 and began as a midday host with Ed Coleman, then in 1989, was partnered with Chris Russo in afternoon drive to create “Mike and the Mad Dog” which became the template for other sports radio stations across the country. In 2008, Russo left for SiriusXM and Francesa has remained with the FAN.

Without Russo, Francesa has not missed a beat remaining number one in afternoon drive in New York fending off challenges from ESPN Radio most notably from New York Yankees TV voice Michael Kay. So Francesa will remain at WFAN at least through the middle of the current decade. After that, who knows?

Here’s the CBS Radio press release.

MIKE FRANCESA SIGNS MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION WITH CBS RADIO’S WFAN

Local Sports Radio’s Most Listened To Host Will Remain With Nation’s First And Most Successful All-Sports Radio Station

Sports Radio WFAN (660AM/101.9FM) announced today it has signed a long term agreement with Mike Francesa, keeping the venerable personality as host of PM drive (weekdays, 1:00-6:30PM, ET) on the award-winning station for several years to come. Francesa joined WFAN in 1987, the same year the station launched as the country’s first all-sports station, and boasts more listeners than any other local sports radio host.

As part of the agreement, Francesa will also bring his long running Sunday morning “The NFL Now” show to CBS Sports Radio beginning this fall. The program is broadcast live on WFAN from 9:00AM-12:00Noon, ET and will be available to more than 250 affiliate radio stations nationwide.

“Mike has earned his place in radio history as a great broadcaster and we’re thrilled to continue our relationship with sports radio’s most celebrated host,” said Dan Mason, President and CEO, CBS RADIO. “WFAN and Mike Francesa are synonymous with the absolute best in sports programming excellence. These two powerful brands have endured the test of time, and remain a very relevant force in the industry nearly three decades after they first went on the air.”

Added Mark Chernoff, Vice President, Sports Programming, CBS RADIO and WFAN Program Director, “Mike represents the heart and soul of WFAN, and we’re proud he will continue to make the station his long-term broadcast home. Like no one else, Mike can take a story to the next level and involve his listeners in thought provoking ways with topical and opinionated conversation. He has set the standard for what represents an entertaining and informative radio program.”

“I’m very proud of what we have accomplished at WFAN,” says Francesa.  “I am also honored and thankful to CBS RADIO for its continued commitment, and most of all to the listeners for their enduring loyalty.”

Francesa has anchored afternoons on WFAN for more than 25 years. He has been recognized with two NAB Marconi Radio Awards, and was voted top sports personality by radio industry publications Talkers and Radio Ink. In addition, he was the recipient of the inaugural Cynopsis: Sports Media Award for Best Radio Program in 2012.

WFAN is available across a variety of multi-media platforms including 660 AM, 101.9 FM, www.wfan.com, and via the Radio.com app for iOS and Android devices. In addition, Francesa’s weekday show can also be seen on The YES Network.

As for a possible reunion with Russo, while it’s not totally out of the question, it’s probably not in the cards for now.

Some Wednesday Linkage

Let’s do some linkage while I have some time.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand notes NBC’s hiring of Tiger Woods pal Notah Begay to its golf team. He replaces Dottie Pepper who went to the PGA of America.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand profiles ESPN PR pioneer Rosa Gatti who is retiring from the network after working there since the early days.

John & Tripp Mickle write that NBC remains as a wild card in the NASCAR Sprint Cup talks.

Over to the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center where Manny Randhawa definitely had an agenda in an interview with Deadspin editor Tommy Craggs over the site’s Manti Te’o coverage. Craggs shoots down several of Randhawa’s loaded questions.

To the Bleacher Report where King Kaufman analyzes the Craggs interview. It should be noted that Randhawa did some writing for B/R, but not now.

Michael O’Connell of the Hollywood Reporter says thanks to the Super Bowl and the Grammys, CBS will win the February sweeps while NBC without the NFL has fallen harder than a 3 ton boulder.

In Multichannel News, Broadcasting & Cable’s Tim Baysinger writes about ESPN getting out of the UK and selling its channels to BT Group.

At The Sherman Report, Ed Sherman notes that Leigh Montville is still producing high quality columns.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell says NASCAR needs to find a way to keep the increased audience that watched the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

Sports Video Group tells us that the MLS’s FC Dallas has signed a TV rights deal with Time Warner Cable. Fox Sports Southwest previously held the rights.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says the Iron Pigs announcers will call some Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training games.

Eric Deggans from the Tampa Bay Times writes about the shaky debut of CBS Radio’s FM sports radio station.

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Reds Radio Network has switched games to air Aroldis Chapman’s Spring debut.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch says it’s time to end the live postgame interviews.

Houston Mitchell of the Los Angeles Times says ESPN’s Brent Musburger autographed a Katherine Webb poster.

Mark Blaudschun of A Jersey Guy looks at ESPN and the Big East getting back together again.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says the proposed NHL realignment is good for TV, but not necessarily good for some teams.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media wonders how Olympic hockey would look on CBC and NBC.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news.

And we’ll end it there for now.

A Saturday Sports Media Notebook

Fridays are becoming way too busy for me. I need to find a way to stop it. Anyway, I have some links and thoughts for you in this latest edition of the notebook.

ESPN’s Sean McDonough hopes to return to the broadcast booth after undergoing surgery to correct a rare inner ear condition that caused him to hear things unusually loud. McDonough talked with Chad Finn of the Boston Globe and Michael Hiestand of USA Today about his condition and how it’s prevented him from going back to work.

Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock has this takedown of ESPN’s First Take and Rob Parker.

So ESPN is dialing back the Tebowmania? Apparently not as Awful Announcing discovered.

Ben Koo of AA found out that NFL Films is producing an edition of “A Football Life” devoted to Steve Sabol. I’m looking forward to seeing this when the documentary is finished. To be honest, just one hour on Sabol’s career will not do justice to his impact on sports television.

As the future of The Big East is still being determined, the Catholic 7 all-basketball schools that have broken away from the conference appear to be talking to both Fox and NBC Sports Network to place their games on one or the other or both. Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated has an extensive article on the Big East’s future. I would think Fox would be the favorite or perhaps, ESPN might jump in to get a package of games.

If you want to know why NBC’s Sunday Night Football is the number one show in primetime television, you have to go back to its genesis when producer Fred Gaudelli worked for ESPN and was producing Sunday night games for the Alleged Worldwide Leader. Deadspin’s John Koblin has a great article on the teamwork between Gaudelli, analyst Cris Collinsworth and director Drew Esocoff.

Another good article from Deadspin on how NFL RedZone is cannibalizing the Sunday afternoon game broadcasts.

Former US Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton admits to the Wisconsin State Journal that she was a high-priced Las Vegas escort.

While Dan Patrick is on vacation for the holidays, Fang’s Bites fave Bonnie Bernstein will sub for him on Christmas Eve, next Friday and on New Year’s Eve.

In the latest edition of the Sports Media Weekly podcast, you heard former 98.5 The Sports Hub nighttime host Damon Amendolara talking about his new gig as the overnight host for CBS Sports Radio. The Boston sports radio station has named his replacement and it’s a familiar voice to sports radio listeners in the New England area.

For the next Sports Media Weekly podcast on Wednesday, December 26, it’s going to include several sports media observers providing their stories of 2012 and predictions for 2013. I’ve been gathering the stories and predictions from previous guests of the podcast. I hope you’ll enjoy them.

Awful Announcing has Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talking about his year-end sports media awards.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner says college sports are all about the money.

And Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times provides his top sports media stories of 2012 in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center.

That will do it.

A Long Overdue Sports Media Thoughts Post

Time for some long overdue sports media thoughts.

First I want to apologize for the lack of content over the last three days. I’ve been helping in dealing with a family crisis and that’s been taking my time. Suffice to say that it might influence the number of posts this week into next. I’ll do my best to continue posting as much as I can during that period. Thanks for your patience in advance.

Ok, some sports media thoughts in bullet form

• It’s in vogue to criticize TBS’ coverage of the MLB Postseason from the announcing to massive spelling fails to the production, but I’m going in the opposite direction. Count me as one of the few who likes what TBS is doing. Their coverage of the four two Wild Card Games, 18 League Division Series into the American League Championship Series has been understated and stellar. While there have been obvious errors (Dick Stockton? Why?) like “Willie Mayes,” Turner has for the most part gotten the job done. You can yearn for ESPN, but you can rest assured that we would have Chris Berman shoved down our collective throats and see Curt “38 Studios Fail” Schilling in the studio.

  Brian Anderson was very good in calling the National League Wild Card and the Cincinnati-San Francisco series. Don Orsillo and Buck Martinez had good chemistry paired on Detroit-Oakland and Ernie Johnson has been doing well, although Anderson would be my pick as the TBS “A” team announcer.

  I like John Smoltz and Ron Darling, although Darling should not play a doctor on TV especially when attempting to diagnose Derek Jeter’s injury. Cal Ripken was bit dry as a game analyst although there were times when he successfully first guessed moments and spotted trends. Bob Brenly and Joe Simpson were very competent in their stints.I wish Turner brought back Victor Rojas this year in place of Dick Stockton. And it seemed that Craig Sager’s loud wardrobe is more subdued this year.

  Overall, I give TBS a B minus for its coverage thus far.

• With Fox Sports 1 becoming closer to reality, it appears to be in position to be the true challenger to ESPN than NBC Sports Network. After a very good spring with the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and a great August with the Olympics, NBCSN has crashed to earth faster than Felix Baumgartner’s free fall from 127,900 feet above New Mexico.

  Hoping to gain a foothold in the BCS conferences and MLB, NBC Sports Network finds itself on the outside looking in. While it has been able to gain contracts with mid-major conferences like the A-10, CAA and the Ivy League as well as the Mountain West, NBCSN hasn’t been able to grab that major conference as of yet. And while the Big East is the last college conference up for bid among the majors, confidence among sports media observers for NBCSN to grab a part of the TV contract is not high.

  Ratings since the Olympics for NBC Sports Network have fallen well below regular viewing levels. And the NHL Lockout has been a killer after the playoffs last Spring were so well received. If the lockout is resolved soon, then NBCSN can depend on some original content, but if the lockout continues, college football and MLS are finished in the fall and NBCSN can’t depend on college hockey to carry the network. And while obtaining Formula 1gives NBC Sports Group some live programming, it needs much more.

  With Fox collecting sports properties like college football, MLB, NASCAR and UFC for its impending all-sports cable network, it’s in quite a good position for carriage among the major cable and satellite providers. NBC Sports Group must be wondering if it will ever get over the hump.

• Last week, CBS Radio announced the purchase of a New York FM station which will become the home of the nation’s first all-sports radio station, WFAN. CBS quickly announced that the station will become a 660 AM/101.9 FM simulcast. And while the simulcast will take shape starting later in the fall, this move was a pre-emptive strike at ESPN Radio and its hopes of putting the New York Yankees on FM.

  During the summer, ESPN Radio New York moved to the FM dial. Now WFAN has followed suit just a few months later. This is going to set up a bidding war for the radio rights to the Yankees next year. This season, the Yankees signed a new contract to remain on WCBS-AM, their flagship station since 2002.

  That contract expires after the 2013 season and the team has made it clear of its desire to go on FM in the future. Expect the bidding between CBS Radio and ESPN to get heated with the loser getting the Mets whose rights also expire after next season.One move CBS Radio could make for 2013 is to air the Yankees on WFAN-FM while the Mets stay on 660 AM.

  This is going to make for some interesting sports media fodder in 2013.

That will conclude your thoughts for now.

CBS Radio Purchases New York FM Station, Plans To Put WFAN on Signal

This news has broken over the last hour. CBS Radio has announced that it has purchased the 101.9 FM frequency in New York, currently a rock station operated by Merlin Media. CBS plans to put its venerable sports radio station, WFAN on the FM dial, maintaining an AM/FM simulcast for the time being. WFAN has been broadcasting on 660 AM in New York and it can be heard up and down the East Coast from Maine to Florida at night and into Massachusetts down to Pennsylvania during the day.

Mike Francesa made the announcement to WFAN listeners and YES viewers at the opening of his show. So WFAN will be heard on 660 AM and 101.9 FM starting sometime in November.

I do expect the Yankees to be heard on FM as the team has been yearning to be on the FM side for quite some time. Will the 660 AM frequency flip to another format? I expect it will, but to keep listeners happy, the simulcast will most likely stay into 2013 before CBS decides to flip it or even sell the station. We shall see.

Here’s the press release from CBS Radio.

CBS RADIO To Acquire New York Radio Station 101.9 FM

WFAN-AM, The Nation’s Most-Listened-To Sports Radio Station, To Be Simulcast On FM
New Station Will Change Its Call Letters To WFAN-FM

CBS RADIO, a division of CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A and CBS), today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase 101.9 FM from Merlin Media for $75 million. In late fall, CBS RADIO will begin its operation of the station under a Local Marketing Agreement, launching a simulcast of the company’s premier sports franchise, Sports Radio 66 WFAN.

This move will immediately broaden the audience and reach of WFAN’s award-winning programming, which will continue to be broadcast on-air at 660 AM, online at www.wfan.com, and via the Radio.com app for a variety of mobile devices.

“This is an extremely exciting opportunity to expand our radio presence in the nation’s largest market,” said Dan Mason, President and CEO, CBS RADIO. “Sports is a very popular format and a huge growth category for our business. As a result of this new asset, we look forward to The FAN building on its position as the leading sports radio franchise in the country.”

WFAN pioneered the all-sports format when it launched on July 1, 1987, becoming the first radio station where listeners could hear and talk about sports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It has been the most-listened-to station of its kind since it signed on the air.  WFAN is home to leading personalities Mike Francesa, Boomer Esiason, Craig Carton, Joe Benigno, Evan Roberts and Steve Somers, and is the flagship station for the New York Giants, New York Mets, Brooklyn Nets and New Jersey Devils.

Additionally, WFAN is the recipient of four prestigious Marconi Awards from the National Association of Broadcasters, including most recently Mike Francesa being honored as Major Market Personality of the Year (2012).

The transaction is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory and other approval.

The WFAN move to FM is part of CBS Radio’s nationwide initiative to have sports radio on FM. It put WIP-AM in Philadelphia on 92.3 FM and this follows moves in markets such as Boston and others.

Checking Out Some Wednesday Linkage

Let’s provide some mid-week linkage before I get too busy later on.

Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily writes that NBC’s overnight rating for Tuesday’s Olympic primetime was up from the comparable night four years ago.

Tripp Mickle of SBJ says NBC is about to set up a set of exhibition beach volleyball matches between the US and China later this year.

In an SBJ podcast, Tripp meets with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch to talk about the media coverage of the 2012 Olympics.

Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter will not complain about NBC’s Olympic coverage.

Daniel Miller of the Reporter says swimmer Ryan Lochte is in discussions to star in his own reality TV show.

Also from the Reporter, Marisa Guthrie has five lessons NBC should learn from the 2012 Games.

Another from the Reporter, a majority of those polled think Ryan Seacrest is doing a good job at the Olympics? Who is being polled?

And finally from the Reporter, Eriq Gardner reports that the NCAA has been ordered to hand over TV licensing revenue documents in a case involving video game manufacturer Electronic Arts which is using likenesses of student-athletes without permission from the athletes themselves.

Stephen Douglas at The Big Lead has video of Lolo Jones breaking down on the Today Show this morning.

Meanwhile, Glenn Davis of SportsGrid has video of medal winners Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells being rather candid about their opinions on Lolo with Michelle Beadle this morning.

Jen Floyd Engel at FoxSports.com says despite what the media says, this is not the Olympics of the Woman as the media is stating.

Graeme McMillan of Time asks if NBC should offer the Olympics as reality TV or just straight sports?

Joe Posnanski talks with former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol about working his last Olympics for American television, the 2012 London Games.

Reid Cherner of USA Today’s Game On has a look at the upcoming slate of 30 for 30 documentaries.

Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated profiles ESPN’s Joe Tessitore who is getting a high profile college football assignment after years of taking on crazy schedules.

SI’s Richard Deitsch has a college football roundtable featuring writers Stewart Mandel, Andy Staples and Holly Anderson on what they expect from the TV side of the sport this season.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable says NBC Sports Network is setting viewership records with Olympic programming.

Tim writes that AT&T U-Verse has signed a new agreement to carry NFL Network and RedZone.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the 2012 Olympics are on pace to become the most-watched TV event in US history.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that online sports viewers can tolerate the bombardment of ads seen during the Olympics.

Thomas Pardee of Advertising Age says the Olympics are topping social TV sites like GetGlue, but HBO’s True Blood is showing its reach.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life looks at the winners and losers from broadcasting the Olympics.

Phil Swann at TV Predictions says DirecTV may be adding five new channels including one sports network run by Al Jazeera.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report notes that a former Boston Globe college sports columnist is now on his own and got a big scoop this week.

Ed has a couple of NBC Sports-related announcements that have nothing to do with the Olympics.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group looks at NBC’s operations at Olympic Stadium.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell notes that it’s better for sponsors that Michael Phelps remain retired instead of him being an active Olympian.

CBS Radio has officially announced that Scott Zolak will be the radio analyst for New England Patriots games starting this Thursday. He replaces Gino Cappeletti who retired last month.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that NBC is getting a mixed ratings bag for the Olympics from the last few days.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union tells readers where they can find this week’s New York Giants preseason opener.

Pete has ESPN’s schedule of MLB games for most of this month.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that former Jets and Giants coach Bill Parcells will appear on ESPN Radio NY opposite his buddy, WFAN’s Mike Francesa during NFL season.

Ken says NBC Sports Network will have Olympic reruns throughout August.

From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that ESPN Radio Hack Colin Cowherd is up to his old tricks again.

Eric Deggans from the Tampa Bay Times wonders if the Olympic promos for the NBC’s “Go On” might actually hurt the show in the long run.

Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald looks at last night’s Hard Knock premiere on HBO.

Izzy Gould at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes that the Miami Dolphins put the team up for display on Hard Knocks.

Gould says Hard Knocks did not explore the Dolphins’ injuries.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman says the local NBC affiliate’s ratings are down from 4 years ago.

T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times talks with Vin Scully about calling Sandy Koufax’s perfect game back in 1965.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Scully made a great argument for using instant replay in baseball during an argument on the field Monday night.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says while viewers in the Great White North are complaining about Olympic coverage, the ratings are saying otherwise.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing goes in-depth into the Turner Sports purchase of the Bleacher Report.

Matt Yoder of AA defends Lolo Jones against the very strange media backlash that began over the weekend in the New York Times.

John Koblin of Deadspin writes that even our troops stationed abroad are victims to NBC’s tape delays and can’t watch the Olympics live!

Sports Media Watch says UFC on Fox set yet another record low for mixed martial arts on network TV.

The Big Lead, in a sponsored post, speaks with CBS’ Clark Kellogg.

That is going to do it for today.

Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks

Time for Friday linkage.

The Weekend Viewing Picks have your sports and entertainment suggestions. Let’s get cracking.

National

Michael Hiestand from USA Today looks at TNT’s plans to go mostly split-screen during breaks for Saturday’s NASCAR race.

Tom Perrotta of the Wall Street Journal reports that the one Wimbledon souvenir the players want is the towel.

Alex Sherman at Bloomberg Businessweek talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the Olympics.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says enhancing the NFL fan experience might bring more people to games.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report is happy to learn that Jeremy Schaap’s ESPN Radio show is now available as a podcast.

Bob Pockrass at The Sporting News says NASCAR hopes that NBC Sports will be a bidder for the sport’s TV rights.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says ESPN Deportes scored with the EURO 2012 Final last Sunday.

Mike says Golf Channel has selected the venue for the next season of “Big Break”.

Christopher Heine of Adweek says MLB’s allowing Twitter votes for the All-Star Game for the first time may have had a hand in deciding which league hosts the World Series.

Jason Del Ray of Advertising Age says the impending Turner Sports purchase of Bleacher Report makes sense.

Wayne Friedman at MediaPost says the NFL easing requirements on local TV blackouts shows the league wants to reach the casual fan.

Dan Daley at Sports Video Group says ESPN will be utilizing plenty of microphones at the MLB Home Run Derby.

Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder has a screengrab of a Canadian TV station messing up the Steve Nash trade to the Lakers.

And Matt has found an episode of Judge Sapp. Yes, that’s Warren Sapp.

The Big Lead soaked up the latest Twitter battle between ESPN’s Darren Rovell and Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch.

MediaRantz looks at the top 5 ESPN plagiarism scandals.

Nick Bromberg of Yahoo’s From the Marbles blog wonders what is the big deal with the TNT/truTV simulcast of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup race on Saturday.

Joe Favorito likes how MLS has adopted “Food Week” to get fans to explore its markets’ restaurants.

East and Mid-Atlantic

At SB Nation Boston, Bruce Allen says it was time for Erin Andrews to leave the ESPN Mothership.

Jerry Barmsah of Fishbowl NY says CBS Radio’s WFAN could be headed to FM and could take the Yankees with it.

Yes, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post, we know you hate ESPN.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for ESPN tennis analyst Brad Gilbert.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the MLB Extra Innings pay per view package will be free next week.

Don Laible of the Utica (NY) Observer-Dispatch talks with the NHL on NBC’s Dave Strader about calling Olympic basketball.

Ken says a local minor league baseball team has found a new radio home.

Dave Sottile of the Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News says there are no plans to bring Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic to the local area.

Tim Richardson in Press Box looks at the differences between the Washington Nationals and MASN over the team’s TV rights fee.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network’s Chris Rose.

South

Kyle Veazey of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal says a popular local sports radio host is changing stations.

At the Houston Chronicle, David Barron writes that the new Comcast SportsNet Houston will air Conference USA football featuring the University of Houston.

Midwest

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says MLB feels it has restored integrity to the All-Star Game. It’s an exhibition game!

Paul M. Banks of the Chicago Sports Media Watch wonders who had the best mock NBA Draft?

Paul Christian at the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says the new TV voice of the Minnesota Wild will have an exciting team to call this season.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch talks about Erin Andrews making her Fox debut next week.

Dan writes that Blues analyst Darren Pang turned down a full-time offer from TSN and will remain in St. Louis.

West

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has this harsh takedown of Erin Andrews.

Here’s Tom’s column which has a little more on the last post.

Tom also links to reaction to his Erin Andrews column.

Matt Rudnitsky of SportsGrid replies point-by-point to Hoffarth.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes about Erin Andrews joining Fox.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star talks with Fox’s Joe Buck on the challenges of calling the MLB All-Star Game.

Jim has his Weekend Viewing Picks.

Matthew T. Hall at the San Diego Union-Tribune wonders where’s the fan outrage in the Fox Sports San Diego-Time Warner Cable dispute leaving Padres games off TV.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News tries to clear up some confusion over the Pac-12 Network.

And that will conclude our links for today.

Jonesing For Tuesday Linkage

Ok, maybe you’re not jonesing for the linkage, but at least you can read them at your leisure. Sometimes I think way too long about the title of the post and this is the case today. Anyway, let’s get to the links.

Joel Schectman of the Wall Street Journal reports that NBC and Google are preparing for possible hacking or denial of service attacks of online Olympic streams next month.

Lindsay Rubino at Broadcasting & Cable writes that NBC with U.S. Olympic Trials coverage in Track & Field, Swimming and Gymnastics won primetime on Sunday.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says ESPN and ESPN2 are seeing huge ratings gains from Wimbledon.

Mike writes that NBC Sports Group has expanded its commitment to its Fight Night.

Anthony Crupi at Adweek says Fox Sports has sold out its ad inventory for the MLB All-Star Game.

Crupi says NBC scored with the U.S. Olympic Trials over the last week and a half.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost says if Sunday is any indication, NBC should do really well with the Olympics later this month.

George Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter notes that BBC’s sports broadcasts of EURO 2012 and Wimbledon are leaving rival ITV in the ratings dust.

Nat Ives from Advertising Age notes that NBC and Sports Illustrated are teaming up for a monthly show.

Sam Marmudi of Marketwatch.com says NBC is getting ready for an Olympic takeover.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! writes that MLB’s antiquated blackout policy is hurting the sport.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com says the media could be allowed to see the college football playoff selection process.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans from the Tampa Bay Times writes that Erin Andrews is another example of ESPN losing another big name star.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report talks about why it’s important for Fox to have Erin Andrews make her debut next week at the MLB All-Star Game.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says ESPN plans to change its production model of the X Games as it expands globally.

Darren Rovell bids farewell to CNBC.

At the ESPN PR Front Row blog, Mike Humes says the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest brings back memories for college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla.

Timothy Burke of Deadspin notes that Texas Rangers TV voice Dave Barnett who had a strange on-air moment last month, will be taking a medical leave for the rest of the season.

Andy Smith of the Providence Journal writes that almost a million people watched the America’s Cup World Series races on NBC over the weekend.

To Richard Sandomir of the New York Times, who looks at the on-going MLB TV rights negotiations. Some interesting news from Richard in the article.

Newsday’s Neil Best discusses MLB All-Star voting with Commissioner Bud Selig and Fox’s Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

Bob’s Blitz has video of some of the WFAN gang with CBS Radio bigwigs ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange last week.

The Albany Times-Union’s Pete Dougherty says the PGA’s AT&T National on CBS set a six year ratings high.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record reports that NESN National is available to local Verizon Fios subscribers.

Ken says NBA TV is gearing up for Summer League games.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Bog has ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian predicting good things for the Nationals.

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

Shannon Owens of the Orlando Sentinel recaps Erin Andrews’ appearance on the Dan Patrick Show today.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says Samantha Steele of the Longhorn Network could be the beneficiary of Erin Andrews’ departure from ESPN.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman talks about Dave Barnett’s decision to take a medical leave from calling the Texas Rangers.

Gregg Tunnicliff of the Flint (MI) Journal talks with a long-time racing commentator.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has MLB Commissioner Bud Selig not having a problem with the sudden surge of fan voting from the Bay Area for the All-Star Game.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says the Pac-12 Network is set to launch in 40 million homes next month.

Michael Gehiken of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the eased NFL blackout rules probably won’t affect the Chargers this coming season.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news on the U.S. Olympic Trials and Baseball Night in America.

SMW notes that Wimbledon as an all-cable event is performing on par with last year.

Jason Lisk at The Big Lead is happy to note that ESPN blowhard Skip Bayless is wrong about racial profiling American white players in the NBA Draft.

Matt Yoder has some thoughts on ESPN’s EURO 2012 coverage.

Joe Favorito wonders if brands can make their Olympic sponsorship gambles pay off despite not having a name athlete to cling to.

And we’ll wrap up with Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth who looks back at WFAN’s 25 years in operation.

And we’re done.

CBS To Launch CBS Sports Radio in 2013

Breaking now, we learn that just a week and a half after NBC Sports had announced earlier this month that it would launch a radio network with Dial Global, CBS Radio has unveiled its plans to launch a sports radio network of its own partnering with Cumulus Media.

And it’s quite interesting that CBS and Dial Global were once partners through the old Westwood One which CBS once owned and sold off.

So CBS will launch CBS Sports Radio’s 24/7 talk lineup on January 2, 2013. The network will be heard on CBS owned-and-operated sports radio stations in Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, New York, Tampa, Washington and other markets. Cumulus will make the network available to its 67 radio stations across the country.

Before the talk lineup launches, CBS Sports Radio will offer hourly updates on various breaking news and sports scores. So CBS Radio joins ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, Yahoo and now, NBC Sports Radio. It’s a crowded lineup. And we’ll see if CBS Sports Radio will bid for some of its old properties like the NFL and the NCAA Tournament which are now with Dial Global.

Here’s the press release.

“This is a great day for CBS RADIO and sports fans nationwide,” said Dan Mason, President and CEO, CBS RADIO. “For more than two decades we have owned local sports radio and appreciate great talent and programming that resonates with listeners and elicits passionate dialogue and debate. We are bullish our expertise and prior achievements will allow us to successfully complement our existing businesses while expanding into what until now has been a largely unchallenged sector of the radio business.”

“In this era of growing multimedia platforms, the addition of a national radio network to CBS Sports’ broadcast, cable and digital properties allows us to extend the storied CBS Sports brand to radio listeners across the country,” said Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports. “We are pleased CBS Sports Radio will allow fans to consume CBS Sports content on a different platform from some of the most recognizable and respected broadcasters in the industry.”

Elements of CBS Sports Radio will include:

• 24/7 all-sports talk radio lineup to debut on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. Original programs across multiple weekday and weekend time periods will feature expert sports commentary and interviews with major sports figures along with listener calls and fan interaction. All shows will broadcast live with an array of hosts, anchor teams and contributors.

• Opportunities for affiliates to regionalize their lineup by choosing from select programs currently featured on CBS RADIO or Cumulus sports stations.

• Beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 4, CBS Sports updates can be heard on all network affiliate stations (see attached list). Headlines, breaking news and scores from the day’s major events and stories will be heard hourly.

• Contributions from sport-specific experts, as well as a prominent role on the network from CBS Sports, CBS Sports Networks and CBSSports.com’s roster of high-profile personalities delivering analysis, features and special reports.

• Online streaming of live network broadcasts.

The following CBS RADIO stations will add various components of CBS Sports Radio programming to their lineup:

• WFAN-AM (New York)
• WSCR-AM (Chicago)
• KRLD-FM (Dallas)
• KILT-AM (Houston)
• WJFK-FM (Washington, D.C.)
• WIP-FM (Philadelphia)
• WBZ-FM (Boston)
• WXYT-FM (Detroit)
• WSJT-FM (Tampa)
• WJZ-FM (Baltimore)
• WFNZ-AM (Charlotte)

• KDKA-FM (Pittsburgh)
• KHTK-AM (Sacramento)
• WKRK-FM (Cleveland)

The following CBS RADIO stations will broadcast CBS Sports Radio programming as their 24/7 lineup when the network debuts on Jan. 2, 2013:

• KIKK-AM (Houston)
• WIP-AM (Philadelphia)
• WXYT-AM (Detroit)
• WQYK-AM (Tampa)
• WJZ-AM (Baltimore)
• WBCN-AM (Charlotte)
• KRAK-AM (Riverside)
• KYDZ-AM (Las Vegas)

The following Cumulus radio stations in the Top 100 markets will broadcast CBS Sports Radio programming:

• KNBR-AM (San Francisco)
• KTCT-AM (San Francisco)
• KTCK-AM (Dallas)
• WCNN-AM (Atlanta)
• WGFX-FM (Nashville)
• WSJZ-FM (Orlando)
• WHGB-AM (Harrisburg/Lancaster)
• WJOX-A/F (Birmingham)
• WBBL-FM (Grand Rapids)
• WWLS-A/F (Oklahoma City)
• KNML-AM (Albuquerque)
• WMTI-FM (New Orleans)
• KARN-AM (Little Rock)
• WNML-A/F-WNRX-FM (Knoxville)
• KCUB-AM  (Tucson)
• WWBU –FM (Roanoke)
• WTRX-AM (Flint)
• WLQR-FM (Toledo)
• WBGG-AM (Des Moines)

• WNKT-FM/WYMB-AM (Columbia, S.C.)
• WUMP-AM (Huntsville)
• WSKO-AM (Syracuse)
• KLTD-FM (Waco)
• WXSM-AM (Tri Cities)
• KCSF-AM (Colorado Springs)
• WZAT-FM/WJLG-AM (Savannah)

We’ll have more on this later. Certainly some interesting news.

Some More Overdue Sports Media Thoughts

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

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

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

  A few things to improve upon for the future.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Knocking Out Some Wednesday Linkage

Time for some linkage again.

Starting with Sports Business Daily which gauges media reaction to last night’s extravagant NFL regular season schedule release on both ESPN and NFL Network.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News reviews both the Monday Night and expanded Thursday Night Football schedules.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report has your potential hits and misses in the 2012 NFL regular season schedule for all of the league’s TV partners.

Dan Levy of the Bleacher Report talks with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch about Skippy Bayless, ESPN’s free agents and Twitter.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that NBC is now going all in to provide a live online Olympic experience.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today says the NFL Schedule Release Shows on ESPN and NFL Network filled fans’ thirst for football news.

Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press says thanks to a NASCAR-less Sunday, IndyCar’s race on NBC Sports Network got a ratings bump.

Stuart Kemp and George Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter says London is hoping to build buzz for the XXX Olympic Summer Games in the days leading up to the Opening Ceremony.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable notes the FCC is appealing to the Supreme Court, the ruling from a lower court throwing out its decency complaint over CBS’ airing of Janet Jackson’s nekkid boob during Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Sarah Mahoney of MediaPost’s Marketing Daily says advertisers are jumping on the Olympics 100 Day Countdown.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center writes that cable provider Comcast is proving to be a very good broadcast competitor.

Jason McIntyre of the Big Lead says a lawsuit brought forth by a former ESPN.com writer against New York Post NBA big mouth Peter Vescey has been settled out of court.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid talks with ESPN’s Michelle Beadle about what her next move is.

Ken Kerschbaumer at Sports Video Group notes that NBCOlympics has tapped AT&T to manage private networking systems for the London Summer Games.

Zac Wassink in Yahoo! says MLS on NBC Sports Network is doing decently in the ratings.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe has the local sports radio ratings and CBS Radio continues to be on top.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says NBC will stream all Olympic events live online, but there’s a bit of a catch.

Richard says the NBA is looking at allowing jersey sponsorships.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY notes the passing of a former Yankees, Islanders and Nets radio announcer.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette notes the good ratings for the NHL on NBC.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has a viewing primer for the upcoming NFL season.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call discusses and dissects NBC’s Sunday Night Football schedule.

Keith says the NHL’s Battle of Pennsylvania is drawing big ratings in the Keystone State.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com’s Goalkeeper blog says a Spanish League soccer game on ESPN2 beat MLS on NBC Sports Network in the ratings last weekend.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has pictorial proof of the Space Shuttle Discovery passing various local sports venues on its last flight to the Smithsonian yesterday.

Tom Robinson at the Virginian-Pilot reports that the United Football League could have a TV contract with CBS Sports Network.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Texas Rangers’ ratings on Fox Sports Southwest are way up this season.

Mike Bailey of the Houston Chronicle talks with a local golfer who took part in the upcoming season of Golf Channel’s Big Break reality show.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman says a local sports radio show moves from middays to afternoon drive.

Mel has the local weekend TV ratings.

Berry Tremel of The Oklahoman writes that NBC’s Sunday Night Football is the NFL’s premier TV package.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer remembers a former NBA announcer.

Bill Shea at Crain’s Detroit Business says the Tigers are looking at a big payday for their TV rights.

Robert Channick in the Chicago Tribune profiles Comcast SportsNet Chicago head man Jim Corno.

Eric Goodman at Mile High Sports feels he wasted three hours of his life watching ESPN’s NFL regular season schedule release special.

Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic says Phoenix Coyotes TV analyst Tyson Nash is feeling the wrath of Chicago Blackhawks fans for comments he made about a hit on ‘Hawks star Marian Hossa.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News mourns the passing of a former Kings radio voice.

Tom Cheredar of Venture Beat talks about NBC’s extensive plans to stream the Olympics online.

Sports Media Watch notes the rise of NHL ratings for a couple of regional sports networks.

SMW talks about CBS passing on broadcasting this upcoming season’s Pro Bowl.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says NBC may air both Bruins-Capitals NHL Playoffs games this weekend.

Joe Favorito says sometimes, it’s a little idea at a major network that could catch fire elsewhere.

And that is all for now.

Bringing Out The Mid-Week Linkage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WGHP also has a special section devoted to Brenner.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/darrenrovell/statuses/174684002865774593"]

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

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/darrenrovell/statuses/174686172033990656"]

And we’ll end it there for today.

Some Quick Thursday Links

Ok, going to attempt some linkage here. Quite busy, but I’ll try to sneak some stuff for you.

Eric Fisher of Sports Business Daily looks at the new $3.99 charge for the new March Madness Live app for the NCAA Tournament.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News/Broadcasting & Cable also writes about the new March Madness Live app.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with ESPN’s Ron Jaworski about being removed from the Monday Night Football booth.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio has the impression that ESPN’s Jon Gruden didn’t agree with the decision to take Jaws out of the MNF booth.

Former New York Times columnist George Vecsey is now on Twitter and he’s a bit apprehensive about it.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid is confused about yesterday’s Colin Cowherd interview with Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit cover girl Kate Upton.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has audio of CNBC’s Darren Rovell explaining his Valentine Day’s proposal to Kate Upton.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball says not every local MLB deal is equal and fair.

Anthony Crupi from Adweek notes that CBS El Capo di Tutti Capi Les Moonves predicts record ad rates for Super Bowl XLVII which will be aired on the Tiffany Network next year.

Adweek has a video with NASCAR CEO Brian France on the upcoming Sprint Cup season.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says thanks to the Super Bowl, NBC leads the February sweeps by a 2-1 margin over CBS.

Sam Eifling of The Big Lead talks with a Memphis sports radio host who kept grinding and has been rewarded with national recognition.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos talks about how to maximize your Facebook and Twitter strategies.

Also at the National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times cautions traditional media about falling into prejudicial traps when writing about Jeremy Lin.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group explains the logistics for CBC’s Hockey Day in Canada.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says one sporting goods chain is going all in for Jeremy Lin.

Kevin Lincoln at the Business Insider’s Sports Page notes that Time Warner Cable is sending out small refund checks for those missing MSG Network.

WEEI’s Kirk Minihane lists the best and worst Boston TV announcers.

The Boston Herald’s Inside Track found Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez going through the ESPN “Car Wash” yesterday.

To the Worcester Telegram & Gazette where Bill Doyle gets Comcast SportsNet Celtics sideline reporter Greg Dickerson to talk about epilepsy and Tourette syndrome which have plagued him.

Over to the New York Times’ Richard Sandomir who looks into ESPN’s Monday Night Football personnel move.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the New York Mets Spring Training TV schedule.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record posts the Yankees Spring Training TV and Radio schedules.

Ed Barkowitz at the Philadelphia Daily News says Jaws being taken off Monday Night Football doesn’t mean the end for him at ESPN.

From the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says DirecTV has added Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s overflow channel in HD, finally.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner says a two man booth will benefit Monday Night Football.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times writes that local sports radio talk show host is out of a job today.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Astros voice Milo Hamilton may be retiring after this season, but the team won’t be losing him altogether.

The Houston Astros website has an entire section devoted to Hamilton’s career including some of his most famous radio calls.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers will be featured at least six times on Fox’s Saturday baseball package.

Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times says the NHL finally has a TV partner which is fully promoting the league.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has reaction to Bob Ryan’s announced retirement from the Boston Globe.

Barry Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News gets some details of the new Pac-12 Network from league commissioner Larry Scott.

Blogs and reporters are constantly receiving public relations pitches. Here’s one regarding Jeremy Lin and it’s a bit over the top.

Sports Media Watch notes that the 2012 MLB on Fox schedule is reduced from last year due to the 2012 Olympics.

SMW says Golf Channel set a ratings record last Sunday.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the sports TV viewership numbers for last week.

Mike Silva of the Sports Media Watchdog has a review of the new CBS Radio Mike Francesa Show app.

Joe Favorito says the Phoenix Suns are using the Samsung Galaxy tablet on the sidelines.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the numbers for the NHL on NBC Sports Network from early this week.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing notes that ESPN is not tiring of the Jeremy Lin overkill.

Lou Clinton at 38 Cliches is rooting for former Red Sox announcer Jerry Trupiano.

And that’s where we’ll end it. Enjoy your Thursday.

The Friday Night Megalinks

I’ve been to Newton, MA and back, South Kingstown, RI and back and all over my hometown of North Kingstown, RI and all of this today. It’s time to do the megalinks and get them all done in one sitting.

There’s the Weekend Viewing Picks for your sports and entertainment programming.

National

Sports Business Daily goes over the UFC/Fox agreement that will put four live MMA events on network TV and plenty of ancillary programming on Fox’s cable networks.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that Fox Sports Media Group El Presidente Por Vida David Hill has done an about face on airing Mixed Martial Arts.

Sergio Non of USA Today writes that UFC will revamp its shows when they move from Spike and Versus to Fox’s networks.

Sergio has those who will take part in the first UFC on Fox card in November.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writes in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center that the success of the UFC on Fox all depends on whether the sport can have a breakout star.

Dave Meltzer at Yahoo! says UFC President Dana White couldn’t be happier in making this deal with Fox.

Also from Yahoo!, Kevin Iole says it will be the fighters who will benefit the most from the new UFC on Fox contract.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser has Spike announcing that the new season of UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter will be the last on its airwaves, naturally.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek looks into the particulars of the UFC on Fox deal.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine writes that the Fox contract gives UFC some instant mainstream credibility.

There will be more UFC on Fox stories sprinkled throughout the megalinks. Let’s move on to other stories now.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Goodman wonders if Showtime’s “The Franchise” is bringing down the San Francisco Giants this season.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter reports that Comcast has withdrawn a lawsuit against DirecTV over an ad campaign for NFL Sunday Ticket.

David Goetzl of MediaPost notes that DirecTV plans to expand its fantasy offerings for NFL Sunday Ticket.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at Versus/NBC Sports Network’s new exclusive NHL night in the first year of its new 10 year contract with the league.

Andrew McMains of Adweek looks at a new inspiring web video produced for the US Olympic Committee.

All Access says the ESPN Radio affiliate in Minnesota’s Twin Cities has chosen the hosts for its midday show.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy explores which teams won and lost in the new NHL TV schedules.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser writes that former voice of the North Carolina Tar Heels, Woody Durham, will be honored for his contributions to college football.

The Big Lead wonders if Jay Bilas is the most respected voice at ESPN.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid investigates how former 2 Live Crew leader Luther Campbell managed to appear to appear on the Dan Patrick Show and the Colin Cowherd Show at the same time.

And Tim presents the Atlanta Braves’ Shake Cam and how it can make fans a bit too excited.

Sports Media Watch says the U-20 World Cup is scoring for Galavision.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has a look at some interesting sports media typos.

Matt shows us how the Baseball Tonight crew had trouble demonstrating its new touchscreen.

Joe Favorito looks at what’s new with professional lacrosse.

Patrick Stafford of Smart Company in Australia speaks with the owner of Footytips.com about how he sold his site to ESPN.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says the limited classic programming on NBA TV during the current league lockout can only take the channel so far.

Sox & Dawgs has the video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy wearing chicken hats in the booth.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes on how regional sports networks have increasing power and money to be a game changer for some professional teams.

Richard looks at the UFC on Fox deal that puts Mixed Martial Arts into the mainstream.

Dan Levin from the Times has a good story on how some athletes in Communist China are trying to buck their archaic system.

Mark DeCambre of the New York Post notes that the new Meadowlands Stadium now will have a sponsor when the new NFL season begins.

Justin Terranova in the Post looks at how Fordham University was a training ground for several NYC announcers.

Justin has five questions for SNY Jets analyst Anthony Becht.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes about Fox signing UFC for seven years.

Pete says local sports anchor Andrew Catalon’s call of tonight’s Browns-Lions game will be seen on NFL Network this weekend.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says a local radio station will air a full high school football schedule.

Ken says the NBC Sports Group is increasing its commitment to horse racing this fall.

And Ken writes that a new local sports radio talk show will be debuting soon.

To Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record who says the New York Rangers will be featured extensively on the national NHL TV schedules.

Crossing Broad has the audio of Philadelphia’s sports radio station WIP announcement that it’s taking over WYSP’s FM frequency killing off a heritage rock station.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News says ‘YSP staffers were melancholy about CBS Radio’s announcement killing off the station.

Jeff Wolfe of the Delaware County Times writes about WIP’s displacement of WYSP just as the rocker’s ratings were increasing.

Mike White in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says two local high school games hit the ESPN family of networks this fall.

Shelly Anderson of the Post-Gazette says the Penguins TV announcing crew will return for another season.

In the Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik explains where Ravens fans can find the team on TV and radio.

Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that the Ravens did extremely well in the ratings in both Baltimore and Washington, DC in their NFL preseason opener.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with DC NFL Team radio voice Larry Michael.

And Jim writes that the Washington Capitals will have plenty of appearances on NBC/Versus (NBC Sports Network).

Mike Madden in the Washington City Paper says the local sports anchor is becoming a thing of the past.

Keith Loria of the Fairfax (VA) Times says native Lindsay Czarniak is about to make her debut on ESPN.

South

The Charleston (WV) Gazette notes that Root Sports Pittsburgh will carry some West Virginia and Marshall programming.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Bob Griese will be joining the Miami Dolphins radio broadcast team replacing the late Jim Mandich.

Andy Kent of the Miami Dolphins website has Griese’s thoughts about joining the broadcast team and also sharing thoughts about Mandich.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has some thoughts on the UFC/Fox deal, the Little League World Series on TV and CBS’ production of the PGA Championship.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel says Yahoo! Sports does a better job of investigating college sports than the NCAA.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that Saturday’s US National Gymnastics championships get a network primetime slot.

Mike Finger and Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express-News says the Longhorn Network hasn’t given up on airing high school football games in one form or another.

The Daily Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht looks at UFC getting a big payday from Fox.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with NBC’s Cris Collinsworth who’s going into his third season as Sunday Night Football analyst.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal now knows why DirecTV was so willing to give him a free subscription to NFL Sunday Ticket after learning that the service will be offered to Sony Playstation 3 owners.

The Grand Rapids (MI) Press’ Michael Zuidema notes that a Big Ten Network analyst feels Nebraska is a perfect fit for the conference.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is amazed at ESPN’s ever-expanding army of NFL analysts and mountain of NFL programming.

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

Scott Dochterman in the Iowa City Gazette says NFL Network has picked up Mediacom for cable subscribers in the Hawkeye State.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says it’s not known which network will air the October 15th contest between BYU and Oregon State.

Dick Harmon of the Deseret (UT) News speaks with BYUtv’s Executive Director in a lengthy interview. Part I of which is here. Read Part II here.

Larry Bohannan at the Desert (CA) Sun says there’s evidence of not much live golf shown in a PGA Tour telecast.

John Maffei of the North County Times weighs the pros and cons of airing the Little League World Series.

In the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle looks at the contrasting opinions that John and Patrick McEnroe had on the state of American tennis on HBO’s Real Sports this week.

Jim explores the UFC on Fox deal.

Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times says Fox paid a pretty penny to get UFC into the fold.

Meg James of the Times also writes about the UFC on Fox deal.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says when it came down to it, Fox didn’t have much of a choice but to sign UFC.

Tom says one sidebar to the UFC on Fox deal is the fact that Fox Sports Radio will also air MMA events.

Tom writes that former Dodgers radio voice Ross Porter has found his latest gig, calling high school sports online.

Canada

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin feels TSN Radio isn’t getting the job done.

The Winnipeg Free Press notes that the Jets will get 22 games aired on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.

And the number of links today are hearken back to the first two years of this blog. Lots of links. That’s it.

Let’s Do Some Thursday Linkage

Today is going to be a busy day with the UFC on Fox press conference and the NHL TV schedule announcement. I figure now would be a good time to linkage and I hope I don’t get interrupted here at work.

The big news that broke late yesterday was DirecTV announcing that it would offer its NFL Sunday Ticket package to Sony Playstation 3 platforms. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News writes that the package will be offered to both non and current DirecTV subscribers.

In Sony’s official Playstation 3 blog, Philip Rosenberg explains what Playstation fans will see with the NFL Sunday Ticket offering.

Kari Lipschutz of Adweek tells us what this move means for Playstation owners.

CBS Radio continues to kill off its heritage rock stations and flip them to FM sports. It killed off rock stations in Boston and Cleveland in favor of new FM sports stations. Today’s it’s Philadelphia’s turn as long-time rocker WYSP will go by the wayside for a simulcast of WIP which was the 2nd station in the country after WFAN to go all-sports. All Access says the flip to sports will occur after Labor Day.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News has the full details of the format change.

The Crossing Broad blog provides its reaction to the move.

The 700 Level analyzes what this all means for the Philly sports fan.

Back to Multichannel News, Mike Reynolds writes that the University of Hawaii will launch its own regional sports network on Friday, beating the Longhorn Network’s launch by a week.

Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com says a big payday for the Big East’s TV contract could lead to major changes in the conference.

The LPGA has announced that it’s hired long-time Golf Channel anchor Kraig Kann as its chief communications officer.

Bob Cook at Forbes.com detests ESPN’s coverage of the Little League World Series.

Brandon Costa at Sports Video Group says the New York Jets will add a 1st and 10 line to its in-house game productions.

At SportsGrid, Timothy Burke has the audio of USA Today’s Danny Sheridan backing off a promise to name the money provider in the Cam Newton scandal and then he attacked bloggers. Not a good way to go, Danny.

To CNBC’s Darren Rovell who wonders why the NFL Players Association settled for as little as it did with the NFL.

At the Business of College Sports, the SportsBizMiss, Kristi Dosh goes over why the SEC did not formally invite Texas A&M to join its conference.

Tim Walker of the Independent in the UK explores the launch of ESPN.com’s Grantland and praises the site.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald says former WEEI personality Pete Sheppard resumes his duties at Patriots.com next month.

Joe Drape at the New York Times says NBC Sports will air horse racing from the Keeneland Race Course in Kentucky in October.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has a look at the ACC Network schedule.

Laura Nachman notes that Vince Papale won’t be hosting Eagles Confidential this season.

Mike White of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that Root Sports will change its night for high school football programming where it can show most of it live.

Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel wants to know who should be added to the Miami Dolphins radio broadcast team.

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes that the Grizzlies will be changing radio stations when the NBA returns from lockout.

B.J. Bethel of the Dayton Daily News says ESPN is part of the problem with college football.

James Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press says Lions fans won’t be heckling Matt Millen as he’s been taken off ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown show.

The Holland (MI) Sentinel reports that Fox Sports Detroit will increase its high school football coverage this fall.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that NFL Network will air the 2010 Packers edition of America’s Game the night before the NFL regular season opener.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business notes that a new book on the late Walter Payton will be published in October.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reviews an HBO Real Sports segment comparing and contrasting the Brothers McEnroe’s opinions on how to revive American tennis.

Tom talks with two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion Danielle Kang.

Gary Lycan of the Orange County Register writes about the New York Jets being heard on Southern California radio this season.

Sports Media Watch notes that the first preseason Monday Night Football game received lower ratings from last year’s opener.

SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

Joe Favorito wonders if the NBA’s D-League can benefit from the NBA lockout.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing looks at ESPN’s reluctance to cover the Miami payment scandal that was uncovered by Yahoo! Sports this week.

Scott Christ at Bad Left Hook takes a look at boxing’s TV ratings this year to date.

I’m going to end the links there. It’s going to be a busy day here. Keep your RSS and Twitter feeds updated. The posts could get fast and furious this afternoon.

A Few Late Night Links

Due to the fact that I had to go in and out of the office five times for various errands and meetings during the day, I was not able to provide linkage. And due to the fact that there are some good stories lingering, I don’t want to leave you without some links. So I’ll do a quick set of links now and hopefully will be able to do a full set on Wednesday.

Let’s start with Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated who talks with ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit who sets the record straight about why he moved away from his beloved Columbus to Tennessee.

Matthew Belloni of the Hollywood Reporter says a federal judge has shot down Comcast’s request to block a DirecTV ad campaign on offering “free” NFL games.

Jon Lafayette at Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News says ESPN helped to steer parent company Disney to higher earnings in the 3rd quarter of its fiscal year.

From Mike Reynolds from Multichannel, ESPN saw its highest viewership for an MLB contest dating back to 2007 thanks to Yankees-Red Sox on Sunday.

Mike writes that NFL Network saw its best Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony audience ever since it began airing the event in 2003.

Bill Cromwell at Media Life Magazine writes that media buyers are skeptical that the 2011-12 NBA season will begin on time if it’s played at all.

Writing for Forbes, the SportsBizMiss, the always lovely Kristi Dosh says revenue sharing might be how the NBA solves its labor problems.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser says two MLB.com writers were robbed outside the Great American Ball Park after a Cincinnati Reds game.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Mike Tyson’s autograph is a hotter commodity now than it was when he was in his boxing prime.

Jeré Longman of the New York Times says despite increased attendance and TV ratings for Women’s Professional Soccer since the Women’s World Cup, the league’s future is very much in doubt.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union has the Syracuse football schedule and the networks airing the games.

Ken McMillan in the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that Red Sox fans in the Catskill Mountains have a radio station to listen to their favorite team.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes NASCAR drama is truly reality TV.

Dan Steinberg in the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic is expanding its relationship with the Baltimore Ravens. This comes a year after the Ravens severed its relationship with MASN just before last season.

Dan discovers that two DC-area natives co-anchored ESPN’s SportsCenter last weekend.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner also writes about CSN Mid-Atlantic taking in more Ravens programming.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman looks at the local ratings for sports.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says four Brewers originally not scheduled for air will be picked up for TV.

The Cleveland Frowns blog wonders why CBS Radio is bringing in an outsider to be part of its daily lineup for its new FM sports radio station.

Bob writes that a local TV station is teaming up with the local ESPN Radio affiliate to produce a weekly show.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business reports that Tiger Woods has lost another sponsor and Ed also wants Tiger’s former caddie to shut up.

David Zahniser of the Los Angeles Times writes that a deal to build an NFL stadium at the Staples Center site received unanimous approval on Tuesday.

Times NFL writer Sam Farmer talks about what the deal approval means.

The Canadian Sports Media blog has some thoughts on what’s been happening in the Great White North.

CSMB notes that TSN is no longer airing the UEFA Champions League.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog wonders if anyone would buy Rogers’ attempt at a sports magazine in this day and age.

Sports Media Watch says Yankees-Red Sox had ratings drawing power during this past weekend.

And SMW notes that three of MLB’s TV partners saw ratings gains for Yanks-Red Sox.

Brian Packey at Awful Announcing refuses to call the hair on top of Bill Simmons’ lip that was seen on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, a porn mustache. Brian may not, but I will. That thing is hideous.

Dave Kohl at his renamed “Broadcast Booth” blog looks at sports radio ratings for various markets.

Ok, that’s going to do it. I found more links than I thought I would and it’s approach 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. I need sleep. Back later today.

A Thursday Grind Linkage

Let’s get the linkage out on this Thursday. The weekend is almost here.

Here’s an interesting article and I’m watching to see how it plays out. Eriq Gardner at Hollywood Reporter writes that Comcast is suing DirecTV over “deceptive claims” of free televised NFL games and exploiting the end of the lockout to conduct a false and misleading advertising campaign. Rut ro.

This is something I wasn’t expecting to read so soon. Anthony Crupi of Adweek reports that NFL Network is negotiating with Time Warner Cable for a long-term carriage agreement. TWC is the last of the 7 largest cable providers to not carry NFL Network.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today has your first look at an NFL ad that shows us all ready for some football.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says Galavision is seeing its best ratings ever this summer thanks to soccer programming and comedies.

Keith Idec at BoxingScene says the network that will air the Manny Pacquaio-Juan Manuel Marquez fight should be announced by this weekend.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if DirecTV should be charging for more its NFL Sunday Ticket package. Hell no. I pay enough as it is.

Darren chronicles his singing of “O Canada” and the Star Spangled Banner before today’s Toronto-Tampa Bay game.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy asks if the NHL shucking ESPN for Versus was the right move.

All Access says CBS Radio is flipping a Cleveland FM station from Alternative Rock to all-sports.

Deadspin has ESPN’s Michelle Beadle denying rumors that she conducted in inappropriate behavior after the ESPY’s last month. I’m giving Michelle the benefit of the doubt here.

Nellie Andreeva from Deadline notes that Access Hollywood’s Maria Menounos is leaving the program to co-host Extra. Maria was listed in Fang’s Bites’ People You Should Follow on Twitter, Part 9 so this is quite relevant.

Neil deMause of Slate notes that the sports ticket market is stuck in molasses.

Michael Grotticelli from Broadcast Engineering profiles an ESPN executive who will oversee the network’s technology upgrades.

Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch notes that my predecessor at BSMW, David Scott (Scott’s Shots) is now working for ESPN’s public relations department.

Kimberly Primicerio of the Meriden (CT) Record-Journal goes in-depth on ESPN’s plans to expand its Bristol headquarters and add up to 800 new jobs.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about the humorless, witless and talentless Eric Mangini joining ESPN.

Neil is sad to hear about the death of former NFL star and ad pitchman Bubba Smith.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has some thoughts on Mangini’s hire at ESPN.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that Time Warner Cable will air Syracuse football’s media day.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says two area radio stations will pick up Compass Media’s Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys schedules.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun notes that CBS and Showtime are teaming up for a new program on the Army-Navy football game.

To the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog and Dan Steinberg who notes that ex-MASN analyst Rob Dibble who lost his job last year after criticizing Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is back at it again now.

Nakia Hogan from the New Orleans Times-Picayune says Crescent City native and former NFL running back Marshall Faulk has successfully transitioned to a TV analyst.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel does a straight story on the hiring of Eric Mangini by ESPN.

Fox Sports Kansas City says Saturday’s game against Detroit will be sent via satellite to our troops stationed in Afghanistan.

In the Tucson Citizen, Victor Rodriguez goes over an interview with former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach regarding ESPN college football analyst Craig James.

Sox & Dawgs has the video showing NESN’s Heidi Watney hustling to interview Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury after he hit a walkoff home run against the Cleveland Indians last night.

Craig Lyndall of Waiting For Next Year reacts to Cleveland getting an FM all-sports station.

The Big Lead has some confirmed media moves and some that aren’t.

Joe Favorito says he wouldn’t mind seeing more niche Olympic sports like fencing aired on TV.

Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder has the great audio of an Atlanta sports radio host defending his homerism by yelling that he’s not a homer.

And that’s going to do it for today.

Finally, Our Tuesday Links

Thanks to the server host getting a Denial of Service attack last night, Fang’s Bites has been down for most of the day. Not happy for not being able to blog for most of the day, although I’m back up for now. I apologize for the inconvenience. I’ll give you linkage now and hope you’ll be able to continue to visit throughout the night. And I’ll try to catch up with press releases tonight.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes that former CBS bitter curmudgeon college basketball analyst Billy Packer agrees with ESPN’s Jay Bilas in bashing VCU’s selection to the NCAA Tournament.

ESPN’s corporate blog, Front Row has launched before its official midnight unveiling.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal notes that Turner Sports accomplished its mission by getting fans to find truTV for the NCAA Tournament.

Tom Van Riper of Forbes notes that three DirecTV-owned FSN regional sports networks will be re-branded as of April 1.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry says two programs this week won’t forget what the NCAA Tournament is really about.

Royce Young of CBSSports.com notes that ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose was arrested earlier this month on DUI charges, something the Mothership is looking into.

Carolyn Giardina of the Hollywood Reporter explains why tonight’s Blackhawks-Bruins game is being transmitted via satellite to CinemaCon in Las Vegas.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News writes that Time Warner Cable has received cease and desist letters over its iPad app.

Paige Albiniak at Broadcasting & Cable reports that March Madness ate into syndicated TV’s ratings.

To the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center reviews Frontline’s documentary on March Madness.

Marcus Vanderberg from SportsNewser writes that MLB Extra Innings will be free to all for the first week and a half of the season.

Andrew Gauthier at TVSpy notes that a TV live truck got mobbed during the VCU Final Four celebration on Sunday.

At SportsGrid, Dan Fogarty notes that Jay Bilas continues to pound the case that he was right in his VCU assumption.

Joe Favorito says the Cleveland Baseball Team is totally embracing social media.

Joe looks at the ever-shrinking television newscast in the biggest market in the country.

Newsday’s Neil Best has Fox’s Tim McCarver saying that the Wilpon family will have to sell the New York Mets over their off the field troubles.

Neil talks with ESPN’s Bobby Valentine over his new gig.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call recaps an appearance by ESPN/ABC’s Matt Millen.

Neal Shaffer of Bmore Media reviews Jen Royle’s tumultuous year after joining MASN and CBS Radio.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks about the total audience that has viewed at least a portion of the NCAA Tournament.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times notes that the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg drew decent ratings on Sunday.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News says a local sports radio personality is switching stations.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says CBS is bringing back a classic version of “One Shining Moment” next week.

David also has a preview of tomorrow’s Real Sports on HBO.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Friend of Fang’s Bites Trenni Kusnierek will be joining a local radio station. She had hinted to me that she would be doing something locally after leaving MLB Network. Congrats to her on her new gig.

Bob Young of the Arizona Republic notes that Phoenix Suns voice and longtime network announcer Gary Bender is retiring at the end of the season.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News gets predictions on the Dodgers from a couple of network MLB analysts.

Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times says Fox is testing out a new camera during tonight’s Dodgers-Angels game on Fox Sports West.

NHL.com has posted some of the best calls of Edmonton Oilers voice Rod Phillips as he’s calling his final games with the tea.

Sports Media Watch notes that UConn steered ESPN to its highest NCAA Women’s Tournament ratings in eleven years.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that Sunday Night Baseball is back on TSN2 this season.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media wonders if CBS could brand the Final Four to draw viewers.

Emmett Jones of Sports Business Journal looks at ESPN Front Row.

And we’re done.

Our Thursday Linkage

Let’s do the Thursday links. Been up since 4 a.m. and I’m already dragging, but you don’t care. You want links so let’s provide them.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy has ESPN’s Mel Kiper really down on NFL quarterback prospect Cam Newton.

Mike says ESPN and Sunday NFL Countdown analyst Cris Carter are negotiating a new contract.

Louisa Ada Seltzer at Media Life Magazine says college basketball is the main attraction on TV this week.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that Apple TV picks up two sports out of market packages.

Jesse Lawrence at the Business Insider’s Sports Page says Madison Square Garden and New York are back as the Mecca of Basketball.

Multichannel News says Big Ten Network is running a sweepstakes tied to the Big Ten Tournament.

Dan Fogarty from SportsGrid has audio of WFAN’s Mike Francesa going ballistic after the Rutgers-St. John’s game which had an absolutely bizarre ending.

Brad Cohen of SportsGrid says a Philadelphia sports radio host unwittingly threw on “F” bomb on live TV.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the once harmonious NFL labor talks have now gotten stuck over financials.

Darren writes that a Miami bar owner is losing money over the Heat’s current six game losing streak.

Darren explains why Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel should have been fined more for covering up NCAA violations.

Newsday’s Neil Best raves about ESPN Films’ new documentary on Michigan’s Fab Five.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has CBS’ Gus Johnson and Clark Kellogg talking about Penn State’s chances to get into the NCAA Tournament.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call talks with Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia’s 76ers sideline reporter Meredith Marakovits about her first season on the job.

Keith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News says the MLS’ Union is talking with Comcast SportsNet Philly to put most of its games on the regional sports network.

John Smallwood of the Daily News wonders if Charles Barkley will make CBS and Turner regret using him on the NCAA Tournament.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Turner’s Marv Albert who gets to call the NCAA Tournament again after a nearly 30 year absence, although Marv did call college basketball with NBC throughout the 1980′s.

The Pee Dee (SC) Morning News says ESPN wants people to attend a live appearance of Mike & Mike in the Morning when it comes to Myrtle Beach next month.

Gary Smits of the Florida Times-Union says a relaxation of PGA Tour rules on groupings has allowed for a marquee trio to appear on Golf Channel today and tomorrow.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says the local sports radio talk show host who was arrested on DUI charges last week has now been suspended by his station.

Ed says the Big Ten Network has finally unveiled who’s the top Conference icon of all-time.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times says the local host has been suspended for the rest of the week.

Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says CBS-owned WCCO-AM has lost the rights to University of Minnesota sports after a 7 decade relationship.

The Canadian Press says CBC has a new executive director for its sports properties.

And the Canadian Press says a former head of CBC Sports now has a position with the Commonwealth Games.

The Canadian Sports Media blog goes over the controversial comments made by a Toronto sports radio host in regards to International Women’s Day.

The Toronto Sports Media blog looks at more lineup changes at one local sports radio station.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing looks at the migration of sports from free TV to cable.

New York Sports Journalism feels online viewing of March Madness will surge this year.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest says Domino’s Pizza has signed an endorsement deal with the NCAA.

Sports Media Watch has some various NBA ratings notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says Versus had another good ratings month for the NHL.

Joe Favorito says there’s plenty of sponsor value to be had in March Madness.

And we are ending it there.

Let’s Try To Do Some Friday Megalinkage

Ok, I have some time to do some blogging this evening and I figure I’ll do the Friday megalinks, something which has been sorely lacking here. Let’s get cracking on the links.

As always, you can check the Weekend Viewing Picks for all of your weekend in sports and primetime TV.

Now let’s do your linkage.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy debate whether the U.S. Army should be throwing $7 million at sponsoring NASCAR.

Speaking of NASCAR, Hiestand talks about Fox using a new camera at the Daytona 500 that can pick up heat fluctuations.

At Quickish, Dan Shanoff feels the new Captain Blowhard project at ESPN.com will succeed.

Andrea Morabito of Broadcasting & Cable looks at Fox Soccer Channel extending its rights deal with Major League Soccer.

Ryan Ballengee of NBC’s Pro Golf Talk says Golf Channel’s Jim Gray was clearly in the wrong to interrupt golfer Dustin Johnson during the 1st round of the Northern Trust Open. Following Gray’s interview with Johnson, the reporter got into a heated argument with Johnson’s caddie which led to Golf Channel removing him from the broadcast for the rest of the weekend.

Emma Carmichael at Deadspin finds an excerpt from a 1990 book which recounts an incident where former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mario Soto found a way to get revenge on Jay Mariotti.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid notes that Tony Kornheiser is wary of blogs and the internet in general. Whatever. Mr. Tony really shouldn’t be talking anymore.

Sports Media Watch notes that the PGA’s Pebble Beach National Pro-Am got a big ratings increase from last year for CBS.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says gets info from NBC Sports how Hockey Day in America will be presented on Sunday.

Awful Announcing has the video of an awkward interview between TNT’s Craig Sager and Washington Wizards rookie John Wall.

Joe Favorito says the New Jersey Devils are bringing fans closer to the game by allowing them to live tweet during games at the game and bring bloggers and broadcasters into the mix.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says a new ruling regarding the use of likenesses could allow athletes to go after video game manufacturers.

Fred Hickman, formerly of CNN, ESPN, YES and Fox Sports Net, has launched his own media training company for athletes. The question is, will Fred actually show up for his training sessions? Fred’s reputation precedes him.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn at the Boston Globe wonders what’s going on at WEEI?

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette also discusses the WEEI lineup changes.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that New York Mets tickets are selling well despite the team’s troubles on and off the field.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir looks at a new Broadway sports play being produced by the same people who brought “Lombardi” to the Great White Way.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Times attacks ESPN for allowing its personalities to sign endorsement contracts.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says Mets owner Fred Wilpon is not ducking questions about convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union says NASCAR has to learn to be able to take punches when people like Tony Kornheiser make silly statements about their sport.

Pete has a composite Spring Training TV schedule.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com says the effects of the Orioles leaving the CBS Radio-owned sports station are still being felt now.

Dave talks with former Baltimore Sun sports media writer Ray Frager who’s now the managing editor at the CSN Baltimore and CSN Washington websites.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says NFL Network will be all over the Scouting Combine next week.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times talks about Kornheiser’s NASCAR comments and other sports media issues.

The Chattanoogan previews ESPN’s new documentary on Tennessee’s first African-American quarterback.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Fox will have plenty of storylines for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that the late Dale Earnhardt still casts a big shadow over NASCAR.

Kirk Bohls from the Austin American-Statesman says the traditional Texas-Texas A&M Thanksgiving Night football game might be moved to accommodate the Big 12′s TV contract.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman talks with Turner Sports’ Kevin McHale about the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk competition.

Mel has his media notebook featuring Fox Sports MLB primetime games.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter from the Cincinnati Enquirer says former Reds teammates Eduardo Perez and Barry Larkin are reunited at ESPN.

Micheal Zuidema at the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with an area native who covers NASCAR for the Motor Racing Network.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times looks at how Comcast is bringing NBC to work together with its sports networks.

Neal Justin of the Minneapolis Star Tribune notes that the Minnesota Twins have gone all-cable with its new TV deal with Fox Sports North .

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that the whole Albert Pujols contract dispute with the Cardinals has become a feeding media frenzy.

West

The Salt Lake Tribune notes that Fox Soccer Channel will pick up a couple of Real Salt Lake MLS games.

John Maffei at the North County Times marks the 25th anniversary of the great movie, “Hoosiers”.

John talks about how NASCAR’s Super Bowl takes place at the beginning of the season, not at the end.

Jim Carlisle from the Ventura County Star says the new Los Angeles Lakers channel to be run by Time Warner Cable is a gamechanger.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times talks about Jim Gray’s dismissal from the Northern Trust Open.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News says the Time Warner-Lakers deal will have far-reaching effects.

Tom catches up on the two weeks in sports media and has his extensive media news and notes.

Tom also writes about Jim Gray being sent home by Golf Channel.

Jon Wilner from the San Jose Mercury News has an extensive look at the Pac 12 TV negotiations.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that CBC’s announcers for the Heritage Classic differ on how the game will affect Montreal and Calgary down the line.

The Canadian Sports Media blog notes that curling is back on TSN this weekend.

And we are done.

Thursday’s Linkage

Let’s do some links for you on this Thursday. I hope to be able to do a bit more in the later part of the week unlike previous weeks where the links stop on Wednesday. Plenty of stuff to go over.

Michael Hiestand has a couple of articles on CBS/Turner changing the way we’ll watch the NCAA Tournament starting in March. First, he says times will be staggered and games will be spread out more so we can watch games from noon until midnight in the first three rounds of the tourney.

Mike says cable will change the way we’ll be viewing the tournament from now on.

Sports Illustrrated’s Richard Deitsch has the starting times and networks for the first week of the NCAA Tournament.

Sports Business Daily also goes over CBS/Turner’s plans for the NCAA Tournament.

This has nothing to do with sports, but more with the power of social media and establishing a brand. Douglas Alden Warshaw writes in Fortune about Conan O’Brien’s fast rise on Twitter and how he uses social media to engage with his audience.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable writes that the Chevy Camaro Super Bowl ad is now the most-watched TV commercial ever.

Mike Stern of Media Life Magazine says while the Super Bowl became the most watched TV program in US history, it may also be the most listened to program as well.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek reports that ESPN is selling ads faster than any other network.

Jonathan Berr from Daily Finance notes that Comcast is not willing to allow its SportsNet Philadelphia to go on satellite without a huge fight.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell tries to find out how much the Super Bowl flyover cost taxpayers.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says several fans are now suing the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL over not being able to see the games after local fire marshals deemed their seating unsafe.

Bobby Cassidy of Newsday says CBS will air portions of Showtime’s Fight Camp 360 series to promote the Manny Pacquaio-Shane Mosley fight.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that SNY is the crown jewel of the New York Mets owners’ empire.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette has the start times for the first rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record is happy that two 50,000 watt heritage radio stations have regained the rights to baseball teams in their respective local markets.

Matt Palmer at Press Box notes that Orioles radio announcers Joe Angel and Fred Manfra will be moving with the team to its new home at WBAL.

DCRTV‘s Dave Hughes writes in Press Box about the O’s decision to leave CBS Radio’s FM sports station to return to WBAL.

The lovely Jen Royle of MASN says while the Orioles have left CBS Radio, Baltimore where she works full-time, she’ll figure out her next move soon.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says the Capitals’ Vice President of Communication is leaving his post and will be missed in local circles.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says it’s time to get ready for NASCAR.

Gary Smits of the Florida Times-Union praises the PGA Tour and Golf Channel for getting behind some marquee groupings during the early rounds of golf tournaments to help ratings and on-site attendance.

Gary notes that former CBS Sports pioneering golf producer Frank Chirkinian will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport.

Jeff Shain of the Orlando Sentinel says Chirkinian’s stamp on televised golf is still being felt today.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says there’s a future for 3-D TV, just not in sports. I totally agree.

Cheryl Hall of the Dallas Morning News says after a slow start due to the weather, area businesses did see an economic impact from the Super Bowl.

Mitchell Schnurman of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the Metroplex failed to get the job done during Super Bowl Week.

John Fay at the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Fox Sports Ohio will carry a handful of Reds exhibition games.

The Detroit News says all but one of the Tigers regular season games will be seen on local TV.

Jacob Newkirk of the Evansville (IN) Courier-Press isn’t happy that most of the St. Louis Cardinals schedule will be on cable.

The Milwaukee Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says Vince Lombardi, or Dan Lauria playing Vince Lombardi assisted David Letterman on a Top 10 list.

Sharon Roznik of the Fond du Lac (WI) Reporter says the son of the late ESPN reporter Adrian Karsten is telling high school students about his alcoholism and how he almost met the same fate as his father.

Carrie Muskrat of MLB.com has the Chicago Cubs releasing its 2011 TV schedule.

The White Sox have released their broadcast schedules as well.

To Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business who says the Cubs will have almost all of their Spring Training games aired on radio, TV or the the internet.

The Belleville (IL) News-Democrat talks about the Cardinals TV announcing team for this season.

The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that Fox Sports Midwest will carry 152 regular season games.

The Phoenix Business Journal notes that the Suns’ TV ratings are up from last season while the Coyotes’ are down, the Cardinals beat them all.

Larry Bohannan of The Desert (CA) Sun reports that the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship will move to Golf Channel this year after being split between ESPN2 and CBS.

Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News wishes the Pac 10 would get rid of its current archaic TV contracts and begin anew. Right now.

Sports Media Watch talks about the ratings for the Super Bowl postgame shows on ESPN and NFL Network and other events.

SMW wonders with the NBC Sports takeover of Comcast’s sports properties, does it mean that viewers of Comcast SportsNet’s NBA properties in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, the Bay Area and Portland could hear the old NBA on NBC theme once again? As if you needed a reminder, here it is, the best theme in all of sports.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media speaks with Versus’ Brian Engblom about his new role as the on-ice analyst.

Mike Vitello of Awful Announcing explains how the NFL really dropped the ball regarding Super Bowl XLV and social interaction.

And that’s where we will end it for today.

A Set of Monday Links

Let’s provide some linkage today. Plenty of stuff to get to.

We begin with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk who writes that the NFL Network has been approached by the Atlantic Coast Conference on carrying a package of football games.

Portfolio picks up a story from Eric Fisher of the Sports Business Journal regarding the NFL expanding its online content to Hulu and Yahoo.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that ESPN college basketball “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi will be getting a lot of facetime this week.

Writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry says sportswriters need to look beyond breaking news to get noticed and read in the new journalism.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable writes that ESPN has deemed one of its 3D-TV tests a success. 

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life writes that NBC won the February sweeps thanks to the Olympics, something it couldn’t do four years ago.

BusinessWeek picks up a Bloomberg News story from Tariq Panja on ESPN’s UK unit which will not reduce its subscription price next year when its slate of English Premier League games shrinks from 46 to 23 games. 

John Altavilla of the Hartford Courant says ESPN may pick up the last 30 seconds of tonight’s UConn-Notre Dame women’s Big East semifinal to show the Huskies’ record setting 71st consecutive win.

Brad Stone of the New York Times looks at MLB Advanced Media taking over the streaming of live events for ESPN3.com starting next month.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick now shifts his hate to golf announcers.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says Time Warner Cable will air the first two games of an ECAC college hockey postseason series this weekend.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says four local CBS Radio sports stations will be banded together as listeners can hear their content through HD sets.

Jim says Notre Dame will play one of its 2011 “home” games at the DC’s NFL team’s stadium in primetime on NBC.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times talks about the HBO “Bird/Magic” documentary, bad NHL marketing and the possible expansion of the NCAA Tournament in his review of the weekend in TV sports.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer wonders why a public TV documentary on thoroughbred racing did not include shots of one local horsetrack.

Douglas Fink in the Zanesville (OH) Times Recorder feels NBC did a decent job during the Winter Olympics, but could have done better in certain areas.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune writes that Cubs players are split down the middle over the possible installation of a Jumbotron at Wrigley Field.

Phil Rosenthal of the Tribune says Comcast SportsNet Chicago will stream the rest of the Bulls regular season games for no extra cost, provided a subscriber already has access to CSN on cable or satellite. 

In the Denver Post, Dusty Saunders reviews the latest ESPN “30 for 30″ documentary on Reggie Miller’s rivalry with the New York Knicks.

Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times says Kings Hall of Fame TV voice Bob Miller will miss the team’s next two games due to an illness. He already missed Saturday’s game against Montreal.

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

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star is looking forward to hearing more baseball this spring.

William Houston in Truth & Rumours says CBC Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean singled out CTV Olympics host James Duthie for some praise on Saturday.

Sports Media Watch says despite the suspension of Tony Kornheiser, ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption rolls on.

SMW says NBC’s first NHL game after the Olympics put up decent ratings.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media feels NBC is getting consistent numbers for the NHL this season.

Deadspin notes while ESPN’s Erin Andrews will be on Dancing with the Stars this season, she won’t be at the NFL Draft as in past years. 

The Big Lead says the Miami Herald’s Dan Lebatard knows where sports journalism is heading.

Len Berman gives you his Top 5 Sports Stories.

That will do it for today.

Monday’s Links

Let’s do the Monday links. Pretty eventful weekend. Conan O’Brien’s last Tonight Show on Friday night, Upset Saturday in college basketball and then NFL Championship Sunday which leaves Vikings fans with a very bitter aftertaste.

A couple of reactions before I go to the linkage. Conan O’Brien went out the right way. I saw David Letterman’s last Late Night on NBC before he went to CBS. He had Bill Murray and Bruce Springsteen and I thought it was the best last late night show on TV before Conan’s on Friday. Conan refused to bash NBC in his last comments and came out extremely classy. Then the final song, Free Bird led by Will Farrell with ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Beck and an all-star band including Conan himself playing a mean guitar gave the show the correct ending. And Will Farrell hitting the cowbell had many of us on Twitter calling for more. I edited down the original video from the Hulu site to show the last 12 minutes.

Yes, that is Will Ferrell’s wife. Great stuff.

And last night, Joe Buck’s overgushing on Brett Favre and Fox’s constant cutaways to his wife, Deanna, got to the point of sickening. I lost count how many times Fox cut to Deanna’s reaction. And Joe’s constant gushing got to the point of near-Thom Brennaman love of Tim Tebow in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.

Well, the gushing and the cutaways of Deanna went so over the top that I had had enough and wrote the following on Twitter.

The required cutaway to Deanna Favre and his daughter. I’m sure there are more coming.

Joe Buck could make a Roman orgy sound extremely boring. 

And Joe Buck made that AP (Adrian Peterson) touchdown sound like a ground ball to Albert Pujols.

Which is worse? Buck overgushing on Brett Favre or Thom Brennaman overgushing on Tim Tebow?

Fox is officially enamored with Deanna Favre cutaways. Soon, they’ll show her reaction to the State of the Union address.

As Brett Favre walked off the field gingerly after a New Orleans sack: Coming up next, Joe Buck asks Brett Favre to sit on his lap so he can rub the injured ankle.

After a fumble on a handoff to Peterson: Joe Buck will now say that fumble wasn’t Favre’s fault and then give him a hug after the game.

Joe Buck is hoping to massage Brett Favre’s bruises after the game.

Fox is going to hire Deanna Favre to join Sarah Palin for Favre-Favre/Counter Favre on Fox News Channel.

Joe Buck leads Troy Aikman with the question, “Don’t you think Brett Favre has tremendous eyes?”

As the game ended: Coming up next, Joe Buck hosts a career retrospective for Brett Favre. Joe will be weeping constantly.

Yes, I was a bit angry watching the game.

Ok to the links now.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says the Super Bowl is lining up for good ratings.

Dan Levy of On The DL writes in the Sporting News about the differences of a good storyline and a good story in the Super Bowl.

Bill Gorman at TV by the Numbers says the NFC Championship Game drew monster ratings for Fox.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News feels Brett Favre’s late interception in the NFC Championship might have cost the Super Bowl a viewing audience of 100 million people.

Beth Snyder Bulik of Advertising Age writes that Intel is returning to the Super Bowl ad roster after a 13 year absence.

Claire Atkinson of Broadcasting & Cable writes that local stations are selling Super Bowl ads with a vengeance as marketers are shying away from national ads.

Glen Dickson of B&C tells us CBS won’t be making monumental changes to airing the Super Bowl as compared with the last time it aired the game.

One more from B&C, Ben Grossman talks with NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson whose 24/7 series debuts on HBO tomorrow.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says NBC is revising its revenue loss to $250 million for the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Anthony adds that TNT is seeing a sales ad resurgence for NBA All-Star Weekend.

Katy Bachman of Mediaweek says CBS Radio is expanding its FM sports radio station portfolio.

Writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry talks to a Twitter pioneer who gives some Tweeting advice.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says a Super Bowl ticket should be cheaper this year.

Darren also gives us a sneak peek of his CNBC documentary on the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issie.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick is really reaching on his criticism of CBS’ Phil Simms.

In the New York Daily News, Bob Raissman is throwing stuff at the wall in hopes it sticks.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the kickoff time for Super Bowl XLIV.

And Pete has the times for the Pro and Super Bowls over the next two weeks.

Laura Nachman shared her thoughts as she watched the NFC Championship.

Kevin Cowherd of the Baltimore Sun says Fox cut away to Deanna Favre way too much during the NFC Championship. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner breaks news that Anita Marks is leaving her Baltimore sports talk show after failing to come to a contract agreement with CBS Radio.

Tim Lemke isn’t sure that Super Bowl XLIV will be the most watched game in history.

Tom Jones in the St. Petersburg Times feels CBS and Fox got the job done in their respective NFL Conference Games.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle says the failure of figure skater Sasha Cohen to make the U.S. Olympic team could cost NBC some viewers in February.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with a former sports talk show host who returns to the air next month.

On his 92nd birthday, national treasure Ernie Harwell expresses some thoughts for the Detroit Free Press. 

Ernie adds that writing the column was a victory over laziness.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Jounal Sentinel says the NFC Championship featuring former Packer Brett Favre drew extremely high ratings locally.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman wonders if the Windy City could get a third sports radio station.

Michael Miner in the Chicago Reader says former Tribune and Rocky Mountain News sports columnist Bernie Lincicome is ready and willing to return to writing.

Dusty Saunders in the Denver Post feels Fox didn’t go overboard in gushing over Brett Favre. I disagree.

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

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the Vancouver Canucks are boycotting CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada as a show of support for Alex Burrows.

Chris Zelkovich in the Toronto Star isn’t a fan of CBS or Fox.

Michael David Smith at Fanhouse has the video of ESPN’s John Buccigross being insulted as a “jagoff” by Kentucky jagoff John Calipari. 

Chris Byrne in the Eye on Sports Media has some funny tweets as people began to make fun of ESPN’s Chris Berman and Tom Jackson as they overgushed on Brett Favre last night.

Joe Favorito tells us why offseason baseball fan fests work in keeping fans close to their favorite teams and in keeping team brands active during the winter.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media wonders if the NHL should forsake TV and stream all of its games on the internet. It’s going to happen one day, one sports league will shuck TV for internet rights.

Steve adds that the NHL on NBC held its own on NFL Championship Sunday.

And we’ll end with Len Berman’s Top 5 sports stories at That’s Sports.

We’ll have press release posts throughout the day so keep your RSS and Twitter feeds updated.

Farewell WBCN

As I listen to static after WBCN signed off for the last time tonight, I’m sad that one more part of my childhood is gone. WBCN was one of the first FM rock stations in the country. It began in 1968 and quickly grew into one of the most influential rock radio stations.

Growing up in Rhode Island, we did not have a real rock radio station, so it was either get a tape cassette deck or use my home radio to get a station out of Boston or Hartford. Living near the University of Rhode Island, I was in a decent position to bring in a rock station from one of the two cities. So I was happy when I could bring in WCOZ, WAAF and WBCN from Boston or WHCN and WCCC from Hartford.

Now only WAAF survives as WCOZ went by the wayside in the early 1980′s. WBCN is gone after 41 years of breaking great acts. Bruce Springsteen’s first radio appearance was on WBCN. U2′s first U.S. commercial airplay was on WBCN and the group regularly made appearances on the station when it stopped in Boston.

When I started listening to WBCN regularly, it had that renegade attitude. The staff wanted to stay away from corporate radio. The DJ’s chose the music. They played album cuts instead of the regular crap aired on other stations.

The attitude caught on with listeners. And other stations in the market tried to copy their formula. WCOZ and WAAF came in. WCOZ and WBCN were locked in a radio war that gave listeners great music.

WBCN was known as “The Rock of Boston”. WCOZ’s slogan was “Kiss Ass Rock ‘n Roll”. WBCN won that war when ‘COZ changed formats.

There’s a scene in the movie “FM” when listeners rally to keep the station alive and prevent it from being shut down. That is supposedly based on a rally for WBCN. If it was or even if it wasn’t, it adds to the legend of the station.

Boston acts like Aerosmith, the Dropkick Murphys and the Mighty Mighty Bosstones were friends of the station and knew they could get regular airplay from WBCN.

The station was home to great jocks like Charles Laquidara who was the morning man for 25 years. Howard Stern who wanted to be on the station from his days attending Boston University eventually got his wish and took us from the 1990′s into the 2000′s. Oedipus was the long time program director who had a great knowledge of music and hosted his own show, Nocturnal Emissions. It also was a pioneer in hiring women for the on-air staff.

I even memorized the lineup. Laquidara in the morning, Ken Shelton middays, then Mark Parenteau in the afternoon followed by Tami Heide at night.

In addition, it was one of the first FM stations to purchase the rights for an NFL team, the New England Patriots and have the games aired in full Dolby stereo. Great to listen to.

However, as times changed, so did the station’s owners. It went from being independently owned to being bought by Infinity which was run by Mel Karmazin, who eventually sold his stations to CBS.

It was with CBS where the station began to slowly die. With Howard Stern’s departure for Sirius Satellite Radio, the station tried several morning options, the ill-fated David Lee Roth and Opie & Anthony, force-fed by the New York corporate offices. Both did not reach the ratings heights reached by Laquidara and Stern. And Oedipus was forced out by corporate.

When news came down last month that CBS Radio was killing WBCN to make way for an FM sports station, there was initial shock, but no real surprise as the rock format had been rumored to be dying for a few years.

But when you have a station like WBCN whose history to rock music is so vast and rich, it’s tough to put into words what this loss will mean.

CBS Radio has said that the station will live on in different forms on HD Radio, but to be honest, no one really knows what it means let alone have an HD set.

As WBCN spent its final four days not only reliving some of the best moments of its history, it was also a funeral to bury a station format that is getting less and less support not only from CBS Radio, but from Clear Channel and other huge radio monoliths. There seems to be less interest in the music and more interest in the bottom line. I speak from experience having worked at a Clear Channel in Providence.

As I listened to Bradley Jay host the final hour, I could not help to think about my days in high school and college, listening to WBCN and being amazed at what the jocks could get away with. And then on my commutes to work, being able to survive long drives thanks to Howard Stern. But now, those are just memories and a mainstay on the FM radio is gone. At 11:45 p.m., I Feel Free by Cream, one of the first songs to be when WBCN launched was aired, followed by Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond. It was a reminder what rock radio used to be and what it can’t be now.

Tonight, Oedipus said he was optimistic that WBCN would reemerge. I wish I could share his optimism. It’s sad the station is gone, but at the same time, a relief knowing that CBS wasn’t trying to needlessly keep it afloat. Farewell, WBCN. You will be missed.

BREAKING NEWS: Jerry Trupiano Returns

This afternoon on WBCN, former morning man Charles Laquidara was on with afternoon drive personality Hardy and was listing every single person with whom he had worked on the air throughout his 25 year career. In the middle of this long reading, Laquidara suddenly congratulated Hardy on his new gig at The Sports Hub, CBS Radio’s new sports radio station that premieres this Thursday.

At first, Hardy tried to stop him, but as Laquidara kept on congratulating, Hardy then announced that he will be hosting a weekend show on 98.5 The Sports Hub/WBZ-FM with former Red Sox announcer Jerry Trupiano. It’s not known the exact timeslot, I’m efforting that right now. It’s nice to know that Jerry will be back on the local airwaves.

Jerry was let go from Red Sox radio broadcasts after the 2006 season and had been freelancing for Westwood One Radio for the College World Series and other college sports. Recently, he had begun hosting his own podcasts. Now he’ll have a larger forum for his opinions.

UPDATE, 8/11, 2:33 p.m: Hardy during a crossover with WBCN’s Adam 12 says the show with Trup premieres this Saturday at 8 a.m. I’ll be listening.

Interview with Chuck Wilson

In the wake of the news of CBS Radio’s announcement that it will create an FM sports radio station in Boston this August, I got in contact with former ESPN Radio talk show host Chuck Wilson to talk about the upcoming battle between WEEI and the new WBZ-FM (aka “The Sports Hub”). I felt Chuck could give some interesting perspective having been a long-time talk show host in the New England area and also on the national level.

Chuck is well known in New England having moved to Providence in 1981 where he first worked for news/talk WEAN where he hosted “Chuck Wilson on Sports”. His show was the first in New England to use weekly contributors such as Peter Gammons, Bob Ryan and Mel Kiper, Jr.

He moved to WICE-AM in 1986 after WEAN was sold and remained there until 1989 when he switched to WPRO-AM. In 1993, Chuck left WPRO and joined ESPN Radio full-time where he had helped to launch the national network two years earlier.

Wilson left ESPN Radio in July 2005 and joined XM Satellite Radio soon afterward as a host on its MLB Home Plate Channel. He left in November of last year, a victim of the Sirius XM merger.

Chuck is currently living in Rhode Island. He has a website that offers his opinions on sports.

We exchanged e-mails over the last two days on WEEI and WBZ-FM. The interview is seen below.

Fang’s Bites: You’ve worked in New England area, most notably Providence and you’ve observed WEEI from RI. What is it that makes WEEI the 800 lb. gorilla in the region?

Chuck Wilson: WEEI has produced compelling sports talk for a long time and become one of the most successful radio stations in the country mostly due to smart, talent-driven programing. It has a clear, consistent identity. No one has done what they’ve done any better.

WEEI has understood from the beginning the value of having hosts passionate about hot-button issues.

WFAN in New York with Mike and the Mad Dog provided the dual-host blueprint. It isn’t easy. You want hosts that approach sports from different points-of-view, but you can’t just throw two individuals together and expect magic. You need them to develop an on-air chemistry, and that is something that can’t be forced. It either happens or it doesn’t.

WEEI Program Director Jason Wolfe knows talent and he has been effective, as was Glenn Ordway, at putting together combinations of hosts that create sparks and can play off each other. That’s number one.

Second, WEEI has done an excellent job covering sports news. If there has been a breaking story in Boston sports, WEEI has been THE station to tune to for coverage. The station has also benefited by its arrangements with athletes and teams for regular appearances on the station as a means to develop on-air relationships, break news and limit the access other talk stations have to some high-profile, professional athletes. WEEI “broke” a lot of stories thanks to its relationship with Curt Schilling and the weekly exclusive appearances of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have been valuable in promoting listener loyalty and increasing TSL (time spent listening), key factors in building ratings.

FB: You’ve mentioned the strengths of WEEI such as its strong personalities and covering sports news. Is there an area where WEEI is vulnerable?

CW: The minute you think you’re the best and can’t be beat, you‘re in trouble. Any station is vulnerable to strong competition. It would be a surprise if “The Sports Hub” doesn’t mount a significant challenge. With the backing of CBS, they will have the resources. WEEI will respond and raise its game. Some listeners have formed strong attachments to particular shows and personalities but if “The Sports Hub” gets off to a good start, many listeners figure to go back and forth deciding day-to-day which station is more informative and entertaining — which station covers the teams better, has better guests, and provides smarter, more compelling talk.

FB: What can The Sports Hub do that other competitors (1510 AM/ESPN890) could not against WEEI?

CW: There has been a peculiar station ownership dynamic in the Boston media market. Until now, no station with a strong signal has challenged WEEI in the market.

That was the fundamental reason why the efforts on 1510 AM and 890 AM (ESPN Radio Boston) really were doomed from the start — weak signals.

In radio, you can’t compete if you can’t be heard.

The decision to put “The Sports Hub” on the 98.5 FM signal is a smart move. Its coverage area is excellent and FM has the advantage of “no static”. It’s easier to listen to an FM signal than an AM signal. That’s a vital first step — WBZ-FM has the signal strength to compete.

FB: Should The Sports Hub try to be a clone of WEEI or try to make itself totally different?

CW: This is an interesting question. WEEI is such an established entity that it seems logical to provide an alternative approach.

What approach?

Everything today is based on immediacy. That is a strength of radio. Take advantage of it. Cover the local sports scene better than anyone else. Take listeners inside the game as much as possible. Provide as much insight and informed opinion as you can through interviews, team coverage and expert opinion. Tell listeners something they didn’t know — inform and entertain them.

To me, THE most important challenge for “The Sports Hub” is to establish credibility with sports fans. That doesn’t just mean hiring on-air hosts with credibility. It means being everywhere, hustling for stories, interviewing athletes and being seen. It means establishing trust with the local teams and players. And when a story “breaks”, they’ll have to be all over it. You don’t have to be first with every story, but you can’t be second.

Many listeners to WEEI like what they hear but others listen even if they aren’t fans of a particular show. They listen because they know if sports news breaks, WEEI will have it. “The Sports Hub” must create the mindset with its listeners that if you tune out, you are going to miss something important.

That perception, that trust, won’t be earned overnight. It will take strong, on-site beat reporters; smart, aggressive producers and hosts asking the right questions. The attention is always paid to the on-air talent but the reporters, producers and engineers will have a significant impact on the success of the new station.

Callers can add a lot to a show if used to further the goal of providing insight and perspective in an entertaining way. Shows are best aimed at listeners, not callers. 98% of listeners don’t call in to talk shows. Keep callers focused and on topic. If callers don’t have something constructive to add to the conversation, don’t put them on-the-air. But if they have a good point, let them make it and in cases where the caller has a good point, but uses a poor example, dismiss the example but address the good point rather than just make fun of the caller . In other words, bring out the “best” of what callers have to say rather than the “worst”.

FB: Do you think The Sports Hub should use single hosts or go with a duo or trio for its shows?

CW: The dual-host approach has several advantages. Two opinions on any topic tends to spark more entertaining conversations. It gives a show two personalities to attract listeners and callers. It provides continuity in the case of illness or vacation by having at least one of the co-hosts on the air. And it usually results in better interviews. One added benefit is that it discourages monologues and solo rants that go on too long.

It sounds as if “The Sports Hub” may go with solo hosts in the mid-day and afternoon drive with a rotating co-host for each show. That can be effective, too, though on-air chemistry may differ day-to-day and there may be times when a story breaks in one sport while you have an expert in another sport as co-host.

More than two in the booth can be very entertaining depending on the mix of personalities. One dominant voice can overpower the show but it can work well, especially if the show doesn’t take calls. When you add callers to a three-person show, it tends to lead to a lot of talking over one another.

FB: Would it behoove WBZ-FM to tie in with the sports staff of WBZ-TV to help cover the local sports teams?

CW: You would think that the station will look to take advantage of every available synergy. WBZ-TV’s “Patriots All-Access” could provide some exclusive content.

FB: WBZ-FM has the Patriots game broadcasts while WEEI has Patriots Monday and other ancillary programming surrounding the team. Could the Patriots become a big battleground between the two stations?

CW: There is no question about it. When you have the broadcast rights, you make the most of it with as much team-related programing as possible, while trying to contractually limit what other stations can do. If you don’t have the contract, you try to be creative and aggressive in forging relationships with the team so that you can position yourself as a strong alternative for coverage.

What WEEI has done with the Patriots as a non-rights holder with its Patriots Monday and Friday shows featuring Tom Brady and Bill Belichick provide a textbook example of how to do it. Sponsors want to be associated with popular teams, so stations look for every way possible to tie-in sponsors to team-related programs. Much of the stations’ sales revenue is dependent on this dynamic, so look for the two stations to continue to look for ways to bring the players and teams closer to the fans.

FB: With the area pro sports teams divided between WBZ-FM (Patriots and Bruins) and WEEI/WRKO (Red Sox and Celtics), do you foresee a bidding war for the properties as long as CBS Radio and Entercom keep their stations afloat?

CW: All-Sports stations have to have Play-by-Play of local teams to be successful. Even when the rights fees are high (such as with the Red Sox and Patriots), stations have to have these anchors for programing and especially for sales. Add to it that Play-by-Play properties are more important in the Boston market than in almost any other market in the country because Boston-area fans are all about the local teams. Big national events like the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Playoffs do not rate as well in Boston as in other big markets unless a local team is playing. So, sure, the two companies will compete for local play-by-play, but it will be more of an issue down the road since the local team contracts are tied-up for right now.

FB: WEEI’s owner, Entercom has expanded the station’s brand through a radio network and a web presence. Do you think CBS Radio will have to do that with WBZ-FM?

WEEI wisely added 103.7 FM in Rhode Island to simulcast the AM product. That move increased the reach and audience numbers and effectively eliminated any on-air competition from Rhode Island while boosting coverage in parts of Massachusetts.

With its strong FM signal, “The Sports Hub” doesn’t have to be concerned about covering the metro Boston area but it would make sense to add stations and increase its regional footprint over time.

As for a strong web presence, that figures to be a goal for “The Sports Hub”.

The internet and multimedia distribution is the future. With listeners getting information instantly on-line and through hand-held devices, everyone has to take advantage of the digital platform and the emerging technologies. Websites offer stations a way to cross-promote the name brand and open up important new revenue streams. For sports fans, it’s another way to stay on top of the sports they care about. WEEI is doing it well. CBS has a strong brand name. It can use sports talent from its other network affiliates and it’s national personalities to provide exclusive insights, both on-air and on the new website. Expect CBS to use that strength on all of its owned stations. Content is king. Both WEEI and WBZ-FM will be touting their exclusivity.

FB: Do you see this as a marathon between Entercom and CBS Radio or will there be a real clear cut winner between the two?

CW: When “The Sports Hub” first hits the air next month, there will be a curiosity factor. Many sports talk listeners will check out the new station. So getting out of the blocks with few glitches is important.

It is a challenging market place with diminished national and regional advertising dollars. What level of resources will CBS devote to this new venture? How well will CBS take advantage of its national and affiliate talent to provide exclusive regular appearances on “The Sports Hub”? How quickly can the new station attract the advertising revenue needed to support what is an expensive format?

There is room for two sports station given the passion of Boston-area sports fans. The numbers WEEI has with male listeners has been coveted in the Boston market for some time. CBS has decided to go after them.

If WBZ-FM provides its own brand of compelling content, WEEI likely will respond by sharpening its approach. The competition figures to bring out the best in both — two sports stations with strong signals.

It’s a win-win for area sports fans.

I’d like to thank Chuck for taking the time to respond to my e-mails. I hope to have Chuck talk about other subjects at Fang’s Bites in the near future.

Mid-Week Linkage

Time to give you some linkage today. Quite a few good links today.

First, I’ll give you Kristine Leahy’s “The Five” segment from WEEI.com today. I have to admit this is a conflict of interest. Kristine and I have become Twitter buddies and we’ve exchanged Tweets so I’m giving her some love today.

To get the full effect of “The Five” linkage, check out Kristine’s page at WEEI.com.

The great Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch takes a look at what the new WBZ-FM means for WEEI.

More links on this story.

James Reed and Erin Allsworth of the Boston Globe write about the death of WBCN in favor of keeping Adult Contemporary station Mix98.5 geared towards women and creating an FM sports radio station.

Don Aucoin of the Globe writes about CBS Radio creating FM sports talk to rival the 800 pound gorilla, WEEI.

The lovely Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald has Boston Entercom General Manager Julie “Koo-Koo for Coco Puffs” Kahn boasting that WEEI and co-owned rocker WAAF are true winners in listeners minds. Maybe in Entercom’s minds, but not in listeners’. Crazy woman.

Jessica has an overview of the station format flips.

Jessica also has some rather arrogant statements from WEEI morning co-host Gerry Callahan and afternoon drive blowhard Glen Ordway.

And Jessica says the format switch is emblematic of a talk invasion on the FM dial.

SportsKat Girl asks CBS Radio to hire a woman for the new Sports Hub.

Adam Reilly and Mike Miliard of the Boston Phoenix explain why WBCN is being killed off.

Over to USA Today and Michael Hiestand who writes about ESPN hiring former TV producer Don Ohlmeyer as its new ombudsman.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at Under Armour’s new suit that helps athletes recover from their workouts.

After being gone for two weeks, Newsday’s Neil Best returns from vacation and tries to catch up on what went on.

Ray Frager of the Sports Media Journal has some thoughts on Don Ohlmeyer becoming ESPN’s new ombudsman.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union feels Fox Sports blew its live shot of President Obama’s first pitch at the All-Star Game last night. And at the end of the game, Pete had some more observations.

Friend of Fang’s Bites Ken Schott writes that the ratings for this year’s Home Run Derby were down from last year.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner reports that CBS Radio’s WJFK-FM goes all-sports on Monday.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times was at the Verizon Center on Tuesday to cover the announcement of FM sports talk arriving in the DC area.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times says a long time local sports anchor is leaving in September after his contract was not renewed.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News gets on Fox for its side angle of the Presidential first pitch at the All-Star Game last night.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says the White Sox could not have asked for better advertising with President Obama wearing their jacket last night.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says local ratings for the Home Run Derby set a record on Monday.

Dan Caesar of the Post-Dispatch says Fox recovered nicely after failing to show President Obama’s first pitch from the proper angle.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols gave the Brewers’ Prince Fielder some love during ESPN’s coverage of Monday’s Home Run Derby.

John Ryan from the San Jose Mercury News says organizers of this week’s Lake Tahoe Celebrity golf tournament were caught off guard by the breakup of Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail feels President Obama was the one and true All-Star during last night’s game. And Bruce says the alleged two year agreement between NBC Sports and the National Hockey League is expected to be announced soon. When? Inquiring minds want to know! (UPDATE, 2:15 p.m.: The announcement was made today)

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star is surprised to see the Calgary Stampede top the ratings in Canada.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News says DirecTV will offer an iPhone app for its NFL Sunday Ticket package provided subscribers paid for the SuperFan plan.

The lovely Christy Hammond of the Sports PR blog has an explanation on whom should blog and why. Very good post.

Joe Favorito says tennis failed to pick up the ball after a wonderful Wimbledon fortnight. Joe says global sports organizations continue to look for American expertise to expand their brands.

Let’s go to the Sports Media Watch for some ratings news. First, TNT’s last NASCAR race of the season fell in the ratings yet again. You get some various news and notes. And you have the weekend ratings.

The great Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says Hall of Fame announcer Mike Emrick will narrate a documentary on the Boston University-Boston College rivalry. I put BU first at the request of alumnus Kristine Leahy.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball offers his thoughts on the All-Star Game telecast.

Ok, I’ll end it there. I should be doing work.

An All-Star Break Linkfest

Let’s give you some linkage today.

Adam Reilly of the Boston Phoenix tells us that CBS Radio is moving Mix 98.5 to heritage rock station WBCN’s 104.1 FM frequency and that a new FM sports radio station will be on the 98.5 frequency. Thanks to Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch for the link.

I’ve also written a story on this late breaking news at the Fang’s Bites page at Boston Sports Media Watch.

Lance Venta from Radio Insight also has a look at the Boston sports radio flip.

The lovely Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald says the Boston Bruins will be joining the new CBS Radio sports station.

Major props to Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated for breaking the story on Twitter that ESPN has hired former NBC Sports Executive Producer and Monday Night Football producer Don Ohlmeyer to be its new Ombudsman. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link. I don’t like this selection seeing that Ohlmeyer really doesn’t have a journalism background, he comes from TV production. I liked Le Anne Schreiber who was not afraid to be critical and question ESPN’s policies. We’ll see how this works out.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today has the ratings of various events from the weekend.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell tells the LPGA players who ousted commissioner Carolyn Bivens that the right players need to win for the tour to get sponsors.

Darren looks at General Motors cutting its sports spending in order to get out of bankruptcy.

Darren writes that you can bet on whether President Obama’s first pitch at the All-Star Game will bounce before it crosses home plate.

Darren also looks at MLB attendance.

Wayne Friedman of Mediapost’s TV Watch blog looks into NBC’s problem with the US Olympic Network.

Boston Globe Olympics reporter John Powers feels the announcement of the USON was bad timing for the Chicago 2016 Olympics bid.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says TV is what helped to make the MLB All-Star Game special.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette tells us that HBO will honor the late boxer Arturo Gatti by replaying his trilogy with Irish Mickey Ward starting this Friday.

Keith Groller in the Allentown Morning Call says NBC and ESPN focused more on Saucon instead of the Saucon Valley during the U.S. Women’s Open.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with St. Louis native Joe Buck of Fox Sports on why the Gateway City is such a great baseball town. Jim gives us his All-Star Game viewing and listening planner.

From the Washington Times, Tim Lemke has official word on WJFK-FM’s flipping to all-sports.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News looks at the final four of 4th and Long.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says being at the Home Run Derby was better in person than watching on TV. Ed says he wasn’t surprised at the firing of Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon last night.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviews the HBO documentary on Ted Williams.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times talks about ESPN and YouTube forging an alliance.

The Sports Media Watch says the ratings for the U.S. Women’s Open were down from last year.

The University of Arkansas’ Steve Dittmore looks at a study that concludes bloggers are not sports journalists.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball says the MLB All-Star Game is suffering from an identity crisis.

The Right Field Bleachers blog has evidence of Erin Andrews’ bruise from getting hit with a line drive on the chin last week.

That will do it for now. Back later with press release stuff. Because of the CBS Radio Boston and DC announcements and ESPN Ombudsman release, this post was delayed several hours. I’m happy to have it up now.

CBS Radio Makes It Official – All-Sports FM Stations in DC and Boston

CBS Radio has come out and made it official on its worst kept secrets about flipping two of legacy FM stations to all-sports. It means WBCN, one of the first FM rock stations in the country and WJFK-FM, one of the first FM news/talk stations are either flipping formats or going away completely. The company is also making the move with other stations under its umbrella in major markets. Here’s the press release from CBS Radio.

CBS RADIO STEPS UP TO THE PLATE AND LAUNCHES FM SPORTS STATIONS IN BOSTON AND WASHINGTON, D.C.

Company’s Leading All-Sports Stations Show More Than 20% Increase In Audience Share Year To Date; Advertisers Capitalizing On Opportunity To Reach Captive Upscale Male Audience

Boston’s “98.5 The Sports Hub” and “106.7 The Fan” in Washington, D.C. Join CBS RADIO’s Growing Roster of Sports Properties Including Market Leaders WFAN in New York, “The Score” In Chicago, WIP in Philadelphia, and “The Ticket” in Detroit

As the nation’s enthusiastic appetite for sports continues to grow at a feverous pitch, CBS RADIO announced today it is launching all-sports formatted stations in Washington, D.C. and Boston on Monday, July 20 and Thursday, August 13, respectively.

Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub and 106.7 The Fan in Washington, D.C. will feature deep rosters of live, local talent; detailed sports reports, discussion and commentary; play-by-play coverage, and a variety of on-site events to capture the spirit of game day excitement. Both stations will be available on-air, online and via numerous mobile smartphones devices, including the iPhone and Blackberry.

“There’s no better way to reach large numbers of male listeners than through exclusive sports programming,” said Dan Mason, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS RADIO. “We’re seeing impressive ratings growth at a number of our stations and clients continue to make big investments in sports marketing. Captive audiences, association with revered names in sports, and the ability to speak directly to the consumer in-game, on-site, online and on-the-go 24/7 are sponsorship benefits exclusive to radio advertisers producing incredible return on investment.”

Vice President of Programming Chris Oliviero added, “Sports is a decidedly local business appealing first and foremost to fans of the professional and college teams in the cities where they live. Knowing that passion exists has allowed us to create one of a kind properties that excel in being the go to destination to rant, rave, debate, argue, agree or disagree about every aspect of the day’s headlines.”

Designed with the most passionate sports fan in mind, The Sports Hub and 106.7 The Fan will launch with exclusive content partnerships with CBSSports.com, one of the leading sports destinations on the Internet with an average of more than 12 million unique visitors a month. The station’s websites, powered by CBSSports.com, combine the best assets of the renowned national brand with a uniquely local approach. Original commentary from distinguished columnists and local beat reporters; blogs from station personalities; premium video highlights available on-demand; in-depth community participation; fantasy football, baseball, basketball, and hockey leagues; polls; real-time scores; breaking news alerts; and high school coverage are among the many features of the sites.

Advertisers will have an array of opportunities to brand themselves on the website using text, audio, and video, along with the capability to target consumers down to a specific zip code.

Additionally, play-by-play coverage will feature prominently on both stations. Bostonians can tune in for game day presentation of the three time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots and the NHL’s Boston Bruins. And when the Washington Wizards take to the court under the direction of new head coach Flip Saunders, 106.7 The Fan will be live from tip-off to the final buzzer.

CBS RADIO owns and operates all-sports stations in 12 markets, including eight of the Top 15 markets:

New York (WFAN-AM)
Chicago (WSCR-AM)
Dallas (KRLD-FM)
Houston (KILT-AM)
Philadelphia (WIP-AM)
Washington, D.C. (WJFK-FM)
Boston (WBZ-FM*)
Detroit (WXYT-AM/FM)
Tampa (WQYK-AM)
Baltimore (WJZ-FM/WJZ-AM)
Charlotte (WFNZ-AM/WFNA-AM)
Sacramento (KHTK-AM)

*pending call letter change

With sports radio stations in New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, DC among others, CBS Radio has a big block where it can obtain sports properties and use CBSSports.com to bring corporate synergy.

A Mid-Week Linkfest

Let’s do some linkage today. Then I’ll do a massive press release post or two.

Starting with Jon Show of the Sports Business Daily, he writes that DirecTV will have three dedicated channels to the U.S. Open complimenting the ESPN and NBC coverage for all four rounds.

Austin Karp of the SBD says five of the top six rated network TV programs this year to date are sporting events.

Tripp Mickle of the SBD reviews what happened in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix regarding the possible Coyotes move to Southern Ontario and the setting of a relocation fee to the NHL.

The Sporting News picks up a Sports Business Journal story from Daniel Kaplan stating that NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol is countering company claims that the network lost money on the Super Bowl.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says MLB Network will begin its own reality series this Saturday (I’ll have more on this series coming up later).

The USA Today Game On! blog says Selena Roberts’ book on Alex Rodriguez is not selling well after initially debuting on the Best Sellers List in its first week of publication.

Neil Best of Newsday writes that last night’s Super Tuesday of Sports certainly lived up to the hype. Neil says Game 3 of the NBA Finals beat out baseball and hockey in the New York ratings last night.

The New York Post says ESPN’s Rick Sutcliffe has cleared the air with Yankees Mark Texeira and Alex Rodriguez after he said A-Rod was tipping pitches for Texeira.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell goes over some of the more marketable names from last night’s MLB Draft. Darren says the Bodog sportsbook stands to lose a lot of money if the Lakers win the NBA Finals.

Keith O’Brien of the Boston Globe says the New York Times is looking to sell the Globe.

From the “What the Hell?” Department, Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch has a headscratcher of a press release from NESN stating that a morning personality from a Boston urban radio station will join the network’s Red Sox postgame show to read comments and e-mails. What? Couldn’t host Tom Caron do this? Talk about a waste of money.

On the other hand, NESN is actually airing something that might do some good. Frederick Ellis Dashiell, Jr. of the Bay State Banner says NESN will pick up a series of episodes from Northeastern University’s Sports in Society center.

Laura Nachman says there’s cause for concern over the health of a popular Philadelphia sports TV anchor.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post wants to institute some new rules in sports broadcasting.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has part two of his series on how the Lakers went Hollywood.

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says ACC football fans will overdose on a lot of games on TV during the first three weeks of the season.

Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wonders how ESPN can keep getting the Brett Favre story wrong.

Jeff Woods of the Nashville Scene feels ESPN is engaging in “Gotcha” journalism with Lane Kiffin and the University of Tennessee.

Evan Grant from “D” Magazine writes that Texas Ranger radio voice Eric Nadel has been given the go ahead to return to work after having retinal surgery. Thanks to Barry Horn for the link.

Barry has the overnight ratings from the Metroplex for the sports action.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business talks to the President of the MLS Fire who went to a game incognito as a fan to learn what the paying customer has to endure. Mad props to him.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the video of the Angels’ Ervin Santana telling Fox Sports West, “Fuck it! Let’s pitch!”

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star writes that TSN hopes to add some color to its CFL studio show.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the AVP Beach Volleyball Tour has signed rights deals with Comcast and Universal Sports.

The Radio Business Report reports that the MLS’ FC Dallas soccer team will have its games broadcast on the local ESPN Deportes radio affiliate.

Radio Online says CBS Radio plans to flip WJFK-FM in Washington from talk to all-sports in July.

The BBC reports that Setanta Sports has stopped taking subscriptions.

The Sports Media Watch says Game 3 of the NBA Finals drew strong numbers last night, but are still off from last year. SMW says Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals drew its high overnight ratings of the series, but are still down from last year.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals drew decent numbers against Game 3 of the NBA Finals last night.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog says despite the good numbers, NBC is blaming the NHL for bringing down Conan O’Brien’s ratings against David Letterman last night.

Bob Mantz from the great Bob’s Blitz blog writes that the NHL.com store jumped the gun by declaring the Detroit Red Wings the winners of the Stanley Cup.

That’s going to do it for now. Lost of good linkage for you today.