Fang's Bites

The Big Dozen Sports Media Stories of 2011

Time for the Fang’s Bites Sports Media Year in Review. The year isn’t big enough for a Top Ten, but it is big enough for a Big Dozen. Let’s get to the list and we’ll count down from 12 and also have some Honorable Mentions.

12. ESPN The Book

One of the most anticipated books of the year for the sports media was “Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN” co-authored by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller. Some of the more salacious and sensational stories were leaked and released before its publication. But when all was said and done, the tome was more of a detailed history lesson of how ESPN was created and rose to become the biggest content provider in sports media. The book became a New York Times best seller and is being made into a major motion picture by 20th Century Fox.

11. ESPN vs. NBC

The battle lines have already been drawn between the two networks, but with owner, Comcast, merging its cable sports properties of Versus, Golf Channel and the Comcast SportsNet regional affiliates under the NBC Sports Group, the Peacock is positioning itself to become a major competitor to ESPN. NBC Sports has already obtained Major League Soccer and horse racing, increased NHL content, announced an Olympic presence and will create a Sunday NFL pregame show for Versus which will be rebranded this weekend.

ESPN is not sitting back aggressively expanding its college sports portfolio and keeping Monday Night Football.

With MLB, NASCAR and the BCS up for bid in 2012, NBC Sports could be strengthened with more content for its cable properties or ESPN could continue its monolithic path to World Domination.

10. UFC Signs With Fox

Mixed Martial Arts went mainstream with the Ultimate Fighting Championships signing an 8 year, multi-million dollar contract with Fox. The first UFC bout on Fox in November didn’t last very long, but it did do well in the key male demographics. Starting in January, UFC programming will be seen on various Fox platforms including FX and Fuel. Both sides expect to reap huge benefits and I would not doubt to see UFC get big bids for its second network contract in eight years.

9. Long-time Executives Leave Their Respective Networks

Just before NBC Sports was about to present its bid for the Olympics, Emperor Dick Ebersol resigned over a contract dispute. While observers thought it would leave NBC Sports vulnerable, it still won the rights for four Olympiads and kept Sunday Night Football. While he may have clashed with the new Comcast administration, Ebersol’s legacy on the network over two decades cannot be diminished. He is still working for NBC as a consultant on Sunday Night Football and will assist on the 2012 London Olympics.

HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg resigned in July after being with the network for 33 years. Under his tenure, Greenburg increased HBO’s commitment to documentaries and created the successful 24/7 reality series, not just focusing on the network’s signature sport of boxing, but reaching out to NASCAR and the NHL. Greenburg is now producing content for both NBC Sports and the NHL.

And George Bodenheimer announced late this year that he would leave as President and become Chairman of the Alleged Worldwide Leader. He’ll be succeeded by Vice President of Content John Skipper. Bodenheimer steered ESPN into high definition and helped to create ESPN 3D. Plus, he was able to make Monday Night Football into a cable series after 35 years as a network TV mainstay. Bodenheimer, who I’ve jokingly labeled the ESPN Dictator will no longer be in a day-to-day role with ESPN.

8. NBA/NFL Lockout Coverage

Two sports leagues stressed out their fans by making them wait out negotiations over collective bargaining agreements with their players. Instead of anticipating the draft or schedule releases, coverage over labor talks dominated sports media. As negotiations dragged on, reporters were camped out waiting for the latest news which came out as quickly as toothpaste being pushed out of a tube.

NFL Network and ESPN went wall-to-wall with non-stop coverage as a deal neared. The same for NBA TV.

Both leagues finally hashed out agreements and brought labor peace. Eventually, the NFL only lost a preseason game after a ten year CBA with its union. The NBA wasn’t as lucky as almost two months of its schedule was lost and it had to proceed with a reduced 66 game schedule.

7. ESPN/Univision Lose the World Cup to Fox/Telemundo

Honestly, who saw this coming? ESPN’s signature global sports event has been the World Cup. It’s been carrying the event since 1994. Univision’s history with the World Cup dates back to 1978. Both networks have been known for carrying the World’s biggest soccer games. However, that will change in 2015 when Fox and Telemundo take over the English and Spanish language US rights respectively  for two Men’s and Women’s World Cups through 2022.

ESPN and Univision were simply outbid by Fox and NBC, the owner of Telemundo. One could argue that the World Cup whose ratings have been steadily going up became a desired property thanks to ESPN’s and Univision’s coverage.

ESPN and Univision get one more World Cup to bid farewell to FIFA and that will be in Rio in 2014.

6. NBC Sports Group Keeps The NHL

Fending off a spirited bid by ESPN, NBC signed a 10 year deal to keep the NHL in the fold in a combined network and cable bid. After pledging to increase games on cable and also give fans national access to all postseason games on its platforms, NBC Sports Group was able to keep the NHL rights. Now the NHL has a permanent place to call its home and NBC has firmly committed to hockey which pleases the sport’s fans to no end.

And please, let’s not mention that ESPN would be better for the NHL.

5. ESPN’s Influence on College Sports including The Longhorn Network

It’s amazing to see how much inventory ESPN has collected in college sports. Not only has it signed the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC, several non-BCS conferences and a few individual schools to long-term contracts, it also has created the Longhorn Network for the University of Texas. The whole concept of the Longhorn Network has led to massive upheaval among the BCS conferences with Texas A&M leaving the Big 12 and heading to the SEC, the Big East’s Pittsburgh and Syracuse leaving for the ACC and other schools wanting to leave their leagues for bigger exposure and more ESPN cash.

And not only does ESPN have a hand in these chess games (despite massive denials), it has to cover all of this leading to conflicts of interest. And while ESPN pays megabucks for the NFL, its roots are firmly entrenched in college sports as we have seen with its new contract with the NCAA to air several championships.

ESPN also owns a whole host of bowl games and college basketball tournaments all of which are needed inventory for programming. By owning the games, ESPN doesn’t have to pay a rights fee. Crowds aren’t needed because ESPN makes money once the ads are sold and fees are paid by the cable and satellite providers.

ESPN’s influence in college sports will be a story that will followed for several years to come.

4. #freebruce

This story became a story thanks to SportsbyBrooks and social networking. Without these two combinations, an ESPN internal suspension might not have been noticed, reported and scrutinized. This all began with then-ESPN.com college football writer Bruce Feldman co-authored a book with former Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach. In the book, Leach alleged that then-ESPN college football analyst Craig James had a hand in his firing from the school over treatment of James’ son.

Feldman says he informed his bosses that he was writing a book with Leach and got their blessing. When the book was released, ESPN suspended Feldman. It was there that blogs and social networking got involved. SportsbyBrooks reported that Feldman was suspended. ESPN denied it. Other college football writers who follow Feldman on Twitter noticed he wasn’t tweeting. The story boomeranged on ESPN. It didn’t end until Feldman left ESPN for CBS Sports.

But this whole story made observers wonder why ESPN chose to hang its hat with James.

3. CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC Renew the NFL at a Hefty Price

Starting in 2014, the NFL will receive an estimated $5 billion in rights fees from its TV partners. That’s a huge increase from the current amount from the four networks. In addition, all of the current packages will remain with the current networks so there will be no upheaval as in the past three NFL TV contracts.

All of the networks except for ESPN have signed on for 9 years. ESPN reupped for 8. ESPN looks like it will enter the postseason with a Wild Card Playoff game. NBC gains a Thanksgiving Night game, a Divisional Playoff game and more flex scheduling. CBS and Fox also get some flex scheduling to boost their ratings.

And with CBS, Fox and NBC paying on the average of $1 billion each, the NFL has fattened its war chest. Expect another partner for a Thursday Night Football package to be announced sometime in 2012.

The NFL is the ratings king and the money is proof.

2. NBC Keeps the Olympics at a Hefty Price

There were indications before the bidding for the 2014/16 Olympics that NBC was vulnerable (see #9 above). Long-time NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol had left. ESPN and Fox showed indications that they wanted to take the Games away from NBC which had been broadcasting the Olympics since 1988. It looked like the International Olympic Committee was poised go with another TV partner. But when all was said and done, NBC had ponied up $4.38 billion for four Olympiads from 2014 through 2020 and the Olympics were firmly under the NBCUniversal umbrella.

What happened? ESPN bid for only one set of Olympics, 2014/16 and Fox made two separate bids and came close at $3.4 billion. However, when it came time to step up, NBC did and kept the Games in a very spirited bid to the IOC.

After losing money on the 2010 Winter Olympics, NBC’s parent company, Comcast claims it will be profitable on the four set of Games. That remains to be seen.

1. Penn State/Syracuse Media Coverage

Scandal once again dominated the sports media. However, in the case of Penn State, it wasn’t sports writers who uncovered the alleged molestation of young boys by former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Taking the lead in the coverage was the Harrisburg Patriot-News and in particular, crime reporter Sarah Ganim. Also, Penn State’s student newspaper, the Daily Collegian didn’t sit tight either reporting the story. The national media finally caught up and Bob Costas’ interview of Sandusky on NBC’s Rock Center raised eyebrows. And while ESPN tried its best to report the story, it was way behind. The Sandusky scandal will continue as it goes to trial and it won’t be going away any time soon.

As for the Syracuse story on the alleged molestations by former Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine, ESPN had a tape of Fine’s wife, Laurie, talking to one of the accusers. The problem was, it was 8 years old and ESPN gave the appearance that it sat on the story. While network bosses tried to explain their decision, some accused ESPN of not giving what they had to the police. No matter of the explanations, ESPN’s role in this story will be debated and whatever it says won’t be enough for some critics.

There were lessons learned in the reporting of both scandals. We learned that local reporters on the ground will always have an advantage over national correspondents. And we learned that while ESPN has a good stable of reporters, it can’t be everywhere.

Honorable mentions:

• ESPN Fires Ron Franklin
• CBS/Turner 1st Partnership on the NCAA Tournament is Successful
• NFL Films Founder Ed Sabol Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• ESPN Nabs Wimbledon from NBC
• Los Angeles Lakers Sign Long-Term Deal to Create a Regional Sports Network With Time Warner Cable
• Los Angeles Dodgers Fight with Fox Over Media Rights
• Gus Johnson Leaves CBS for Fox
• Women’s World Cup Scores For ESPN
• Hank Williams, Jr. Pulled From Monday Night Football
• Matthew Barnaby Loses ESPN Gig

Coming up before the year is over, Best and Worsts in Sports Broadcasting in 2011 and Predictions for 2012.

Cranking Out Some Tuesday Linkage

We have some linkage for you. It’s a bit late, but better late than never.

First, Mike McCarthy at USA Today writes that former NBC Football Night in America analyst Tiki Barber is reportedly “devastated” that no NFL team called him to inquire about his comeback.

Sports lllustrated’s Richard Deitsch provides his annual NFL broadcasting guide.

At the Wall Street Journal, Matthew Futterman reports on the NFL’s mega sponsorship deal with Pepsi.

Tim Baysinger at Broadcasting & Cable writes about NBCUniversal going all out to promote the NFL regular season opener.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News delves into the PGA Tour’s new TV contracts.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek notes that NBC has brought in a record haul for Super Bowl ad sales and is just about sold out which contrasts to Super Bowl XLIII where it had to wait until the final week to sell out its inventory.

Gabriel Beltrone of Adweek reviews the NFL’s “Back to Football” ad that’s been airing throughout the preseason.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life says NBC has to sell five more ads to sell out the Super Bowl in February.

Karen Hogan of Sports Video Group says despite having its best ratings for the NFL in its history, Fox is not resting on its laurels and is looking to improve its game presentation this season.

Brandon Costa of SVG writes that ESPN and DirecTV raised the bar for their US Open Mix channel.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at Chad Pennington calling the NFL on Fox for this season and the Tennis Channel dispute with Cablevision and Verizon FiOS.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has the video of NBC’s Jimmy Roberts catching himself about to swear before changing course.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post kills ESPN for ignoring certain facts that are just important to him.

Sean Daly of the Post wonders with sales of 3-D TV’s in the crapper, will ESPN finally pull the plug on its minimally watched 3-D network?

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says a local radio station will carry just the first half of Thursday’s Mets doubleheader with the Braves.

Al Gregson of the York (PA) Daily Record has praise for CBS’ Jim Nantz.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun writes that the weekend of motorsports in the Charm City, while a success in person, might not have been on TV.

Alan Blondin of the Myrtle Beach (SC) Sun News talks with “The Voice of Golf” Peter Kessler about his adjustment from leaving Golf Channel to doing radio.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times tries to explain the reasons why NFL Network still hasn’t been picked up by Time Warner Cable/Bright House.

Tom Patri at the Naples (FL) Daily News asks if the PGA Tour gave CBS, NBC and Golf Channel a hometown discount to renew their TV deals?

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle catches up on some of the college football sports media news from the last couple of weeks.

Gina Mizell of the Daily Oklahoman says Oklahoma States loves playing one Thursday night football game a year on ESPN.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has highlights of ESPN’s NFL conference call with Chris Berman, Tom Jackson & Company.

Scott Dochterman of the Iowa City Gazette notes that Iowa’s men’s basketball team will be seen at least six times on the ESPN family of networks in the 2011-12 season.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that ESPN college football analyst Trevor Matich has former DC NFL team coach Steve Spurrier to thank for going into TV.

The Big Lead notes that an ESPN NBA beat writer has quietly left the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing offers the quintessential primer on the whole “Free Bruce”/ESPN dispute.

Ben Koo of AA reviews the first week of college football on TV.

Dave Kohl of The Broadcast Booth reviews how the networks handled the massive weather delays during various events this past weekend.

The Angry Asian Man blog takes FoxSports.com to task for producing a racist bit on Asians and their knowledge of football.

And that’s where I’ll leave it for now.

Bringing Out Some Sunday Links

I’m linking in the middle of doing some badly needed DIY projects here at the Fang’s Bites abode so I might be a bit scarce today. I’ll do what I can on this lazy Sunday, the middle of the Labor Day Weekend.

The ESPN Ombudsman, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute responds to Bruce Feldman’s allegations about his (alleged) suspension.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Cablevision and Verizon FiOS dropped Tennis Channel this morning as part of yet another installment of their long-running dispute.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid has video of ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza pulling a Heidi Watney and gagging on air after taking a swig of pickle juice. Or it hearkens to when Tracy Wolfson tried Cammy Cam Juice.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post has some suggestions for the NBA Players Association.

Page Six of the New York Post says Andy Roddick dislikes John McEnroe so much that he refused to do an ESPN interview until he left the set.

Joseph Barracato of the Post ridicules CNBC’s Darren Rovell’s Versus show even before it takes air.

Steve Politi of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger says the Bayonne Bleeder, Chuck Wepner, will get his story of his 1976 fight with Muhammed Ali told by Hollywood and ESPN in separate projects.

In the Washington Examiner, Jim Williams talks with the multifaceted Trevor Matich of ESPN and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

In Texas Monthly, Jason Cohen takes a look at the trials and tribulations of the Longhorn Network.

Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News says the Longhorn Network will pick up five Texas-San Antonio games this season.

EPL Talk says the interesting battle in soccer will be Fox vs. NBC.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

SMW says the first leg of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup did not do well.

Joe Favorito takes a look at MetLife buying the naming rights for New Meadowlands Stadium.

And that will do it for the Sunday links.

Getting The Friday Megalinks Done

Let’s get these megalinks done as I hope to give you a weekend full of posts for the three day holiday. That’s my plan, at least. They could get changed due to family or weather. You never know.

I have the sports and entertainment programming in the Weekend Viewing Picks. Let’s get to the linkage now.

National

Michael Hiestand of USA Today discusses the NFL Films documentary on Bill Belichick that followed him for the entire 2009 season and got some rather interesting footage.

Sports Business Daily’s John Ourand speaks with a Fox Soccer exec about having English Premier League games air on the Fox mothership.

John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable reports that President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress next Thursday will not cut into the NFL regular season opener on NBC.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Big Ten Network’s BTN2Go service has been picked up by four cable and satellite providers.

Timothy Burke of SportsGrid says former NFL cheap shot artist Chuck Cecil got off to an inauspicious start to his broadcasting career on Thursday.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has some really bad network typos from the last week.

Sports Media Watch looks at the extension of the PGA Tour’s deal with CBS Sports, Golf Channel and NBC Sports.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says the NHL’s TV partners should lead the discussion on head injuries and how they could lead to tragedies such as the deaths of Wade Belak, Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien.

Joe Favorito says the Los Angeles Dodgers are using social media this month to try to get closer to the fans.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe looks at the PGA Tour’s extension with its TV partners and he talks about Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle talking with various area radio stations.

In SBNation Boston, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch has the ESPN Monday Night Football crew previewing this season’s Patriots team.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about college football writer “Free Bruce” Feldman leaving ESPN.com to go to CBS Sports.

Larry Dorman of the Times writes about the PGA Tour’s new contract with CBS, Golf Channel and NBC.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post continues to plaster hate all over his wretched columns.

Justin Terranova of the Post has five questions for Monday Night Football’s Jon “This Guy” Gruden and Ron “I’m Telling You, Jaws” Jaworski.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says a local TV station is in its 13th year producing a high school football highlights show.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call tells football fans not to worry about President Obama’s speech interrupting the Saints-Packers NFL season opener on Thursday.

Laura Nachman has a press release announcing the winner of a Philadelphia sports radio talk show host contest.

DCTRV.com’s Dave Hughes in Press Box notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s Russ Thaler moves to Versus for a national gig.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has a few notes about this Sunday’s Baltimore Grand Prix.

Jim has Fox’s college football crew discussing the potential departure of Oklahoma from the Big 12.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald looks at some of the changes in the NFL TV broadcast booths for this season.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times has a preview of the weekend on sports television.

Bud Kennedy of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the Longhorn Network will help Texas down the road, but it’s already hurting its relationship with other schools.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle reveals that Texas and Texas A&M were in talks to create a joint TV network four years ago.

David says University of Houston quarterback Case Keenum gets a national showcase on Fox Sports Net this weekend.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with the new voice of the Oklahoma Sooners.

In his notebook, Mel looks at the new Fox Sports studio team for college football.

Gina Mizell of the Oklahoman talks with ESPN Sport Science host John Brenkus about how an Oklahoma State athlete was chosen for a feature.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer is still rooting for the late Reds announcer Joe Nuxhall to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

And John has a couple of local TV news and notes.

Mike Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with ESPN college football analyst Chris Spielman about the rivalry that is Michigan-Ohio State.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asks if social media has a place in sports broadcasts.

Scott Cooper Williams of the Green Bay Gazette says a bunch of NBC shows will be town to help hype the Saints-Packers NFL season opener on Thursday.

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

Tina Akouris of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about Dick Vitale’s new children’s book.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says Utah fans should be happy that a local TV station is picking up the team’s games for this season.

J. Patrick Coolican of the Las Vegas Sun says UNLV’s TV contract through the Mountain West Conference just plain sucks.

Jay Posner from the San Diego Union-Tribune says Padres fans should expect to watch games on a new channel next season.

John Maffei of the North County Times says there will be a plethora of college football games this weekend.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star notes the return of former Dodgers broadcaster Ross Porter to play-by-play, but this time online.

Jim says Fox Sports West will be extensively covering high school football online.

Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times says Hall of Fame Kings announcer Bob Miller has signed a new contract that will bring him to 40 seasons with the team.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News also writes about Miller’s new deal.

Tom talks to network executives and producers about how and when to incorporate Twitter into a sports broadcast.

And that’s going to do it for the megalinks. If you’re traveling this weekend, be safe and if you’re still recovering from Hurricane Irene, I hope all returns to normal soon.