Fang's Bites

TNT Extends PGA Championship Coverage

Due to inclement weather, actually more than just inclement, more like extremely stormy weather at the PGA Championship on The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, SC, the third round of the last major of the year on the golf calendar was suspended.

It will be picked up Sunday morning and TNT which originally planned to hit the air at 11 ET will now begin at 8.

TNT Extends Live Coverage of 94^th PGA Championship

Sunday, August 12 from 8 AM – 2 PM ET

August 11, 2012 – Due to suspended play during Saturday’s Third Round of the 94^th PGA Championship from The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, S.C., TNT will extend its live coverage on Sunday, Aug. 12 from 8 AM – 2 PM ET.

That’s all. Short and sweet.

Doing Our Friday Megalinks

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

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

Let’s do the links.

National

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

East and Mid-Atlantic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

South

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

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

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

Midwest

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

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

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

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

West

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

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

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

Jim says Twitter has become an Olympic event.

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

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

Tom has some Olympic TV notes in his blog.

And those are your supersized megalinks for today.

The Pre-Olympic Linkage

The Olympics get started tomorrow with women’s soccer action and while the Games don’t officially begin until Friday with the Opening Ceremony (live in most countries except the United States), today is really the calm before the Olympic storm. Starting tomorrow and going through August 12, this site will be awash in Olympics sports media coverage as it was in 2008 for Beijing and 2010 in Vancouver. While I’ll be covering other sports media news, I’ll be focusing on NBC’s coverage, the business of the Olympics and other news out of London. I hope you’ll continue to visit.

Ok, let’s do the linkage. It’s time to bring it back. I was doing so well last week, six straight days of links, then last Friday, I got bogged down with family stuff and wasn’t able to do what I wanted to. Sometimes that happens. Time to take life back now.

Starting with the great Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated, he has his Media Power List for July.

Ed Sherman of the Sherman Report talks with Big Ten Network’s President about doing an about-face and covering the Penn State story wall-to-wall on Monday.

Ed talks with NBC Olympics Executive Producer Jim Bell who takes the reins from his mentor, former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol, for London.

Sports Business Journal interviews the President of the Jacksonville Jaguars about stadium technology and the NFL Blackout policy.

Daniel Frankel of paidContent says the next sports network carriage dispute will be between the Pac-12 Networks and the two major satellite TV providers.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says NBC will provide an Olympics “Red Zone Channel” that will be online-only.

Shira Ovide of the Wall Street Journal says NBC will delay the Olympics Opening Ceremony and it won’t be seen live on cable or online.

The Big Lead says ESPN lured Brett McMurphy away from CBSSports.com to become one of its college football insiders.

Gabriel Beltone of Adweek looks at some of the best Olympic ads thus far.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says CBS Sports Network will piggyback on CBS’ coverage of the PGA Championship and US Open tennis.

Rich Thomaselli of Advertising Age writes that the Penn State scandal could hurt the school’s marketability down the road.

David Goetzl at MediaPost says McDonald’s has begun its Olympic marketing campaign.

Steve McClellan at MediaPost writes that the Olympics help brand awareness.

Evan Weiner of Examiner.com says the International Olympic Committee should honor the Israeli athletes who were massacred during the 1972 Munich Games.

Sports Video Group notes that the MLB At Bat mobile and tablet app had its 5 millionth download.

Merrill Knox of TVSpy says a former Washington DC sports anchor returns home to the Bay Area.

Excellent story from Jason Schwartz of Boston Magazine on the hard fall of Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios. Nothing to do with sports media, but very good reporting.

The Boston Bruins announced Monday that it has signed an extension with radio flagship WBZ-FM.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says you’ll be able to see all of NBC’s live Olympics streams, provided you sign up.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about Sports Illustrated coming to TV.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says the Open Championship received its highest overnight rating in four years.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes that NBC’s Olympic specialty channels will be picked up locally.

Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer says Comcast will be all over the Olympics on its cable platforms.

David Selig of the Baltimore Sun says an Orioles pitching prospect will be featured on tonight’s premiere of Sports Illustrated on NBC Sports Network.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that the area’s sports radio stations are getting ready for the Robert Griffin III era in DC.

Dan notes that Maryland’s field hockey coach Missy Meharg who will be an Olympics analyst for NBC.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci who will be a part of the magazine’s TV premiere tonight.

KSAT-TV in San Antonio named Jessica Ghawi an honorary member of its sports department. She was one of the 12 victims killed in the Aurora, CO movie theater massacre.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News writes about the KSAT honor for Jessica.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says MLB Advanced Media is bad for baseball.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says NBC’s Olympic coverage begins and ends with the Holy Diminutive One, Bob Costas.

Ben Fong-Torres of the San Francisco Chronicle profiles Ron Barr and his Sports Byline USA network which keeps plugging along from the Bay Area in a world dominated by ESPN Radio.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing says Big Ten Network got the job done in covering the Penn State sanctions on Monday.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says ESPN should air TSN’s SportsCentre to gain street cred with hockey fans.

Tony Manfred of the Business Insider’s Sports page notes that the Olympics helped to transform one of London’s seedier neighborhoods into a showcase.

And that’s going to do it.

2012 Sports Emmy Awards Live Blog

The Sports Emmy Awards are being handed out in New York tonight. Through various sources at the event, I’ll be able to update this post as awards are being doled to the various winners. And no, I’m not there, but I can provide the winners as soon as they become available.

For the full list of nominees, go here.

OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW — WEEKLY
Inside The NBA — TNT

OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT SOUND
MLB on Fox — Fox

OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
America’s Cup Highlight Show — Versus

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN
Sunday Night Football — NBC

OUTSTANDING SHORT FEATURE
(tie)
“Together”-E:60 — ESPN
“Time Out of Mind”-Outside The Lines — ESPN

OUTSTANDING EDITING
24/7 Pacquaio/Marquez — HBO

OUTSTANDING PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT — EPISODIC
(tie)
2011 Stanley Cup Final — NBC
A Game of Honor — Showtime

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY — SPORTS REPORTER
Michele Tafoya — NBC

OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC DESIGN
Sport Science — ESPN

OUTSTANDING SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
A Game of Honor — Showtime

OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM STUDIO
MLB Tonight — MLB Network

OUTSTANDING PLAYOFF COVERAGE
NFL Wild Card Saturday — NBC

OUSTANDING CAMERA WORK
2011 Ironman Triathlon — NBC

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SPECIAL
Joplin: City of Hope — ESPN2

OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION DIRECTION/LYRICS
Men of Mettle-Ed Sabol’s Last Football Movie — NFL Network/NFL Films

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT — INSTITUTIONAL
NBA on TNT: Shaq Get Ready — TNT

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY — STUDIO HOST
Bob Costas — NBC/MLB Network (of course)

OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES SPORTS EVENT COVERAGE
PGA Championship LIVE on PGA.com — PGA.com

OUTSTANDING OPEN/TEASE
NBA on TNT: Live Forever — TNT

OUTSTANDING POST PRODUCED AUDIO/SOUND
Sound FX: All Access — NFL Network

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY — SPORT EVENT ANALYST
Cris Collinsworth — NBC

THE DICK SCHAAP WRITING AWARD
24/7 Flyers/Rangers: Road to the Winter Classic — HBO

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY — STUDIO ANALYST
Charles Barkley — TNT

OUTSTANDING NEW APPROACHES SPORTS PROGRAMMING
A Game of Honor — Showtime

OUTSTANDING EDITED SPORTS SERIES/ANTHOLOGY
The Franchise: A Season with the San Francisco Giants — Showtime/MLB Productions

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR SPORTS
Jack Whitaker — CBS/ABC Sports

OUTSTANDING STUDIO SHOW — DAILY
MLB Tonight — MLB Network

OUTSTANDING LONG FEATURE
Outside The Lines: The Man in the Red Bandana — ESPN

OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL TEAM REMOTE
(tie)
MLB on Fox — Fox
Winter X Games 15 — ESPN 3D

OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SERIES
Sunday Night Football — NBC

OUTSTANDING SPORTS JOURNALISM
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel: The College Bowl Game Money Trail — HBO

OUTSTANDING LIVE EVENT TURNAROUND
Inside The Headsets — Speed

OUTSTANDING LIVE SPORTS SPECIAL
The World Series — Fox

OUTSTANDING SPORTS PERSONALITY — PLAY-BY-PLAY
Joe Buck — Fox

That concludes the Awards for tonight.

CBS’ 2012 Golf Schedule Begins This Weekend

CBS Sports begins its 20 event PGA Tour schedule this weekend with the Farmers Insurance Open live from the famed Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, CA. Jim Nantz and Sir Nick Faldo will be on hand at the 18th green and be joined by the usual cast of characters including David Feherty and Gary McCord to call event.

In addition to the 20 PGA Tour events, CBS will have The Masters^®, The PGA Championship as well as one Champions Tour event.

CBS’ schedule includes the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, The Byron Nelson Classic, The Colonial, The Canadian Open and many others.

Here’s the CBS press release.

CBS SPORTS TEES OFF 2012 GOLF COVERAGE WITH MOST EXTENSIVE SCHEDULE IN NETWORK TELEVISION HISTORY

JIM NANTZ AND SIR NICK FALDO ANCHOR CBS SPORTS’ GOLF COVERAGE
CBS SPORTS’ 2012 PGA TOUR SCHEDULE BEGINS THIS WEEKEND IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AT “FARMERS INSURANCE OPEN” IN SAN DIEGO

The Masters? To Air 57th Consecutive Year on CBS; Network Broadcasts 22nd Consecutive PGA Championship

CBS Sports begins its 2012 golf coverage and continues to offer viewers the most comprehensive lineup in the history of network television. CBS Sports will broadcast 23 golf tournaments this year, totaling more than 155 hours of coverage, including the Masters?, PGA Championship, 20 PGA TOUR events, one Champions TOUR event and seven golf specials.

CBS Sports tees off the 2012 season at the Farmers Insurance Open this weekend on Saturday, Jan. 28 (3:00-6:00 PM, ET) and Sunday, Jan. 29 (3:00-6:30 PM, ET), live from the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif.

Jim Nantz, now in his 27th year overall covering golf for CBS Sports, serves as anchor for the Networks’ golf coverage.  Sir Nick Faldo, winner of six majors and more than 40 tournaments worldwide, returns for his fifth year as lead analyst alongside Nantz in the 18th tower. Nantz and Faldo are complemented by CBS Sports’ award-winning golf announce team of Ian Baker-Finch, Gary McCord, David Feherty, Peter Kostis, Bill Macatee, Verne Lundquist and Peter Oosterhuis.

Highlights of the 2012 schedule:

20 PGA TOUR events: Farmers Insurance Open, Waste Management Phoenix Open, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Northern Trust Open, RBC Heritage,  Valero Texas Open, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Wells Fargo Championship, HP Byron Nelson Championship, Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial,  the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance, FedEx St. Jude Classic, Travelers Championship, AT&T National, The Greenbrier Classic, John Deere Classic, RBC Canadian Open, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Wyndham Championship and The Barclays.

The Masters, the most renowned golf tournament and the longest-running sports event on CBS Sports will be showcased for the 57th consecutive year from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.  Coverage includes a pair of 15-minute highlight shows recounting early-round action on Thursday, April 5 and Friday, April 6 (11:35-11:50 PM, ET, both nights). Live coverage of the third round will be broadcast on Saturday, April 7 (3:30-7:00 PM, ET) and live 18-hole final-round coverage will be presented on Sunday, April 8 (2:00-7:00 PM, ET).

The 94th PGA Championship, the season’s final major which annually hosts the strongest field in championship golf, will be broadcast by CBS Sports for the 22nd consecutive year. Coverage begins with highlights of early-round action on Thursday, Aug. 9 and Friday, Aug. 10 (12:37-1:07 AM, ET, both nights). Live, 18-hole coverage of the third and final rounds will be broadcast on Saturday, Aug. 11 and Sunday, Aug. 12 (2:00-7:00 PM, ET, both days) from the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, S.C.

The Champions TOUR will be featured on Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22 (1:00-3:00 PM, ET, both days) with the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf at Savannah Harbor Golf Resort in Savannah, Ga.

CBS Sports also will broadcast three PGA TOUR Specials and two PGA of America Specials in addition to other golf specials throughout the year. CBS Sports will present “Jim Nantz Remembers Augusta: The 1987 Masters” on Sunday, April 8 (1:00-2:00 PM, ET).

Lance Barrow is coordinating producer and Steve Milton is director for CBS Sports’ golf coverage.

Sean McManus is Chairman, CBS Sports.  Rob Correa is Executive Vice President, Programming, CBS Sports. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

And after the jump break, you’ll see the entire 2012 CBS Golf Schedule.

(continue reading…)

Finally Back To Linking

The last couple of days have been tough to provide links as I was out of the office. Glad to be back linking again, although you never know if I’ll be called away again. I’ll try to do what I can.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today attended the NFL on CBS media day on Tuesday which introduced the network’s announcing teams for this season. Mike got some interesting quotage from NFL Today analyst Boomer Esiason on Denver Broncos third string QB Tim Tebow.

Mike reported earlier this week that ESPN’s Brian Kenny is leaving the network to possibly take a position with MLB Network.

Erik Brady of USA Today writes that the late Al McGuire’s granddaughter, once a basketball player at Virginia, is now an accomplished model.

John Ourand at Sports Business Journal chronicles what NBC Sports Group is doing to position Versus as a major player in sports television.

Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting & Cable says CBS Sports officials were worried about a potential NFL lockout, but continued to sell ads and carried on with its business of getting ready for this season.

Tim Baysinger of  B&C has Marv Albert pleasantly surprised to be calling the NFL on TV again.

Over to Multichannel News and Mike Reynolds who writes that the Pac-12 Conference has hired a sports media veteran to run its seven Pac-12 Networks.

Mike says Tennis Channel has signed a new deal with the National Cable Television Cooperative that takes it off sports tiers on member’s cable systems.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel says MTV2 will air some live Lingerie Football League games starting on Friday.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek writes that concerns over the NFL lockout led advertisers to turn to college football for commercial buys.

Crupi adds that NFL Network has signed up another cable provider leaving Cablevision and Time Warner as the last two major holdouts.

Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk writes that former Patriots, Dolphins and Saints running back Heath Evans will retire and join NFL Network’s large cadre of analysts.

Mike Florio of PFT says NFL owners realize that empty stadiums don’t make for exciting TV.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser writes that ESPN is hiring another WWE veteran to join its on-air staff.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid notes that ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown crew was dressed in SWAT uniforms for an promo shoot.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says the Baltimore Ravens are successfully producing all home preseason TV games in-house rather than outsource production to a local TV or cable network.

The Big Lead’s Barry Janoff recaps the NFL on CBS Media Day.

Rich Arden at ESPN’s Front Row PR blog says you can now put the Monday Night Football schedule into your Google calendar. Seriously!

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that if it’s US Open time, then it must mean another battle between Cablevision and Tennis Channel.

Richard says after many repeated offers, MetLife is finally taking the plunge and buying the naming rights to the New Meadowlands Stadium.

Barry Bearak of the Times profiles former play-by-play announcer Dom Valentino who’s currently fighting several life battles.

Richard Huff of the New York Daily News reports that WCBS-TV sports anchor and sometimes CBS Sports reporter Sam Ryan is leaving to take a job with MLB Network.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at MetLife slapping its name on New Meadowlands Stadium for a rather large fee.

During Tuesday’s NFL on CBS Media Day, Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union asked CBS Sports President Sean McManus about a few non-NFL related issues.

Pete says 18 years later, CBS NFL analyst Steve Tasker is still correcting those who think it was he who prevented Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Leon Lett from scoring at Super Bowl XXVII.

Ken Schott in the Schenectady Gazette says the University of Albany is shifting its football season opener to a different radio station as its flagship has a conflict.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes that Time Warner Cable won’t be airing any local high school football games this season.

Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel talks with ESPN College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard about his new book and his usage of social media.

Henry Unger of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution speaks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about replacing the former Emperor Dick Ebersol.

Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says the ESPN College GameDay crew will be in Austin to help launch the Longhorn Network.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Longhorn Network’s immediate future looks rather murky right now.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman notes that former Sooners safety Roy Williams will be a part of the school’s radio broadcasts this season.

Mel says the NFL preseason topped the local TV ratings.

Mike Baldwin of the Oklahoman says ESPN’s All-Access series on the Sooners is compelling TV.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Bengals garnered a huge local rating on Sunday.

John says the new Joe Morgan radio show is being heard locally.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers will appear weekly on the local NBC station.

The Provo (UT) Daily Herald notes that ESPN has released the 2011-12 West Coast Conference men’s basketball schedule.

Ryan Casey of the Denver Post tells us that Root Sports Rocky Mountain will air the state high school football and basketball championships this year.

The Reno (NV) Gazette-Journal reports NFL Network will be seen on the local cable provider this season.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that CBC is shooting down claims that it’s biased against Western Canadian NHL teams in its new Hockey Night in Canada schedule.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says TSN and CBC are teaming up for coverage of this weekend’s LPGA Canadian Women’s Open.

Sports Media Watch says the PGA Championship’s ratings fell to a three year low.

SMW also has some various ratings news and notes.

Daniel Feuerstein of MLS Talk feels NBC will be a big boost for Major League Soccer.

Joe Favorito writes that Fordham University has been a fertile training ground for several of NYC’s sports voices.

Last night, I had the privilege to be a guest on

The only Steeler fan I really like, Steelergurl, explains why she hasn’t been blogging lately. Get well soon, Lahne.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth looks at what NBC Sports Group is doing to improve Versus.

And that is going to finish out the links today.

Doing Some Tuesday Links

Well, yesterday I was two jobsites. Today, I forgot to bring my computer AC adapter and my phone so for several hours, I was without any communication to the outside world. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but it certainly felt strange not to have connection to the internet or Twitter.

Now that I’m back, I can provide some linkage and also do some press release posts. I’ll do the linkage first.

Big news from John Ourand and Sports Business Daily. We learn that UFC will move its programming from Versus and Spike TV to Fox, FX and Fuel TV with four MMA events a year on Fox.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN will produce the Little League World Series in 3-D for the first time.

Adweek looks at a new ESPN ad that’s being aired in the UK.

Toni Fitzgerald in Media Life Magazine notes that a battle of unknowns in a playoff led to lower ratings for the PGA Championship on CBS.

Tony Manfred at the Business Insider Sports Page says details are coming out on the new ESPN Monday Night Football rights renewal from ESPN book author James Arthur Miller. This story has been out there since January when Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand broke it.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser says ESPN’s Brent Musburger and CBS’s Verne Lundquist will be honored in New York for their contributions to college football.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says a former WABC-TV sports anchor has pleaded guilty inappropriately touching a minor.

SportGrid’s Ben Axelrod has video of Showtime’s Jim Gray berating boxing referee Russell Mora for missed low blows after the Abner Mares-Joseph Agbeko fight. Jim Gray is a real bulldog, let me tell you. This is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen.

Dan Fogarty has video of ESPN’s Jon Gruden saying, “this guy” multiple times during last night’s Jets-Texans game.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says there’s a glut of Terrelle Pryor jerseys. Were they exchanged for tattoos?

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group talks about ESPN going into the third dimension for the Little League World Series.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with CBS Sports Network analyst Rich Rodriguez about working in TV.

Joe Drape of the New York Times reports that NBC is in talks to air a series of Triple Crown prep races each Spring.

Daniel Massey in Crain’s New York Business writes that the Jets are catching up with the Giants as far as the New York tri-state area fan support is concerned.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says a nationally syndicated radio show will be broadcasting live from Saratoga Race Course on Friday.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that Notre Dame football will be heard locally throughout the season.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News writes about the announced departure of Howard Eskin from sports radio WIP.

John Miller at Philadelphia Sports Daily says Howard Eskin will be missed.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says Rick “Doc” Walker will sub for the talkative Joe Theismann for this Friday’s game on the DC NFL team’s local broadcast.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner writes that Texas A&M to the SEC will have a huge fallout in college football.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Mac Engel talks with former Monday Night Football sideline reporter and current Inside Edition reporter Lisa Guerrero.

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron reports that Texans running back Arian Foster has signed to appear on both Yahoo! Sports Radio and a local radio station.

The San Antonio Express-News has a fascinating look at the evolution of every major sport on American TV in the last 21 years.

Jerry Garcia of the Express-News adds his thoughts on the most notable changes in sports television.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has the local ratings from the weekend.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business talks about how Comcast SportsNet Chicago got an interview with embattled Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano.

Tom Hoffarth has the Sports Calendar for this week.

Because of my busy schedule, I haven’t been able to cover the Barstool Sports/Tom Brady baby picture controversy as much I have liked. It’s a big story in Boston as sports radio station WEEI feigned outrage on a slow news day to get ratings. The story went national and Barstool Sports editor David Portnoy found himself today on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show to explain himself (you can go here and here to listen). Perhaps down the road I’ll spend more time on it and go into analytical mode on it.

In The Broadcast Booth, Dave Kohl looks at Howard Eskin’s announcement that he’s leaving his daily WIP show in Philadelphia.

The Canadian Sports Media blog notes that TSN accidentally leaked a portion of its 2011-12 NHL schedule over the weekend.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore says the NHL will finally release its national TV schedule on Thursday.

And that will do it. I’ve been trying to do these links since 3 p.m., but I’ve been interrupted so many times. Glad to finally be done.

TNT Quotage From The 3rd Round of the PGA Championship

We have quotage from today’s early 3rd round coverage of the PGA Championship on TNT. As mentioned earlier, host Ernie Johnson, Jr. was not part of the broadcast as his father, Ernie Johnson, Sr. passed away the night before. Verne Lundquist took Ernie’s place as host and did rather well. We have the quotes from TNT’s coverage as CBS is now on the air.

Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the PGA Championship from Atlanta Athletic Club, Atlanta, GA
Third Round (11 a.m. -2 p.m. ET) – Saturday, August 13, 2011

TNT’s Fourth Round coverage of the PGA Championship continues Sun ., August 14  from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET.

Announcers: Verne Lindquist, Ian Baker-Finch ,  Bill Kratzert and Jim Huber.

Baker-Finch on expectations from the field during the third round: “Guys out there early have to shoot a low number if they are going to contend tomorrow morning. This weekend we could see someone from well back and over par win here. It is not going to be that low of a number that ends up winning the Wannamaker Trophy.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviews Rickie Fowler prior to his third round

Fowler on his weekend prediction:  “(I feel like I’m) in a good spot, obviously a little ways back. We are into the weekend so we have a good chance. If we put together a good round today and get in good position, it could be a pretty successfully weekend.”

Fowler on his colorful wardrobe: “For the majors we lay out in advance what I will be wearing. We’ve chosen light and stayed away from some dark colors and it has helped out this weekend.”

Baker-Finch on Fowler’s  fashionable wardrobe: “The young golfers out there are really enjoying his swash-buckling style, but we just want to see a win out of him.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviews Luke Donald (+1) prior to his third round

Donald on pressure trying to win a Major: “There is pressure because I haven’t won a major. There is always pressure to win one. Even six shots back, I feel like I’m in a place where I can still win one.”

Kratzert on Rory Mcllroy’s wrist injury: “The good news for Rory Mcllroy is that it is tissue damage; nothing structural. So going forward it is just a matter of letting it rest and he should be fine.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviews Matt Kuchar (+2) prior to his third round

Kuchar on the local support: “It is fun to be here in Atlanta. This is great. A lot of Georgia tech supporters and a lot of Georgia fans.”

Kuchar on his weekend performance: “This course allows us to make some birdies and there have been some low scores, but it has been tough. I think if I can shoot a couple of rounds 66, 65 … then I have a chance.”

Baker-Finch on Sergio Garcia (+1): “Sergio has been playing nicely this year. I think he is on the way back. He’s starting to rebuild his confidence.”

Baker-Finch comments on Seung-yul Noh  and the number of very good Asian players on the different professional golf tours: “One of four South Koreans playing in the field today – KT Kim, Y.E. Yang, Seung-yul Noh and K.J. Choi.  So many fine players coming out of Asia – not only Korea but Taiwan, China,Thailand…Pretty amazing the players playing at this high level coming from Asia.”

Baker-Finch comments on club pro Mike Small: “Golf coach at the University of Illinois and good friend of Steve Stricker. Mike Small is one of the best club pros in the business.”

Kratzert comments on Phil Mickelson’s chances today – “Moving Day”: “I think he understands 68 or better puts him in one of the last three pairings tomorrow.”

Baker-Finch comments on the set up of the Atlanta Athletic Club: “The course is immaculately set up, the sand is the one thing the players complain about.”

At the Turn

Lundquist, Baker-Finch and Kratzert discussing the players who teed off early Saturday:
Lundquist: “This has gotten interesting.”

Baker-Finch: “It’s what can happen on a tough golf course when you get out there early. The greens still have a little moisture, the putting is a little easier and you can shoot a low number and get yourself back in the mix. We’ve seen four or five guys – Molinari, Ben Crane, David Toms – climb up there and they could very well be on the first page of the leaderboard by the end of their  rounds. Then the other guys have to go out later in the day and see what they can do with a little more pressure.”

Kratzert: “I expect the scoring to maintain [for the guys playing this morning]. In the afternoon, when the pressure is on these players, the golf course – the fairways – become a little narrower and it is a little tougher to shoot at. There was no pressure when they went out this morning – Hunter Mahan, Molinari, Ben Crane, K.J. Choi – you get those guys out there, they’re free-wheeling it and they start playing well. It’s happened and now they’ve put themselves in position. It’s interesting…I love it. This is what this golf course yields.”

Jim Huber interviewing co-leader Keegan Bradley two hours before his tee time:

Huber: “Two hours before your tee time? Is it something where you don’t want to sit around the hotel room all day?
Bradley: “That’s exactly what it is. It’s fun to be out here in the atmosphere.”

Huber: “How are your nerves?”
Bradley: “My nerves are great right now. I spent the morning playing with my little 10-month-old nephew and it was very relaxing.”

Jim Huber interviewing Jerry Kelly about what’s happening so far on the golf course and the difference between Kelly’s Thursday and Friday rounds.

Kelly: “It was a different golf course [on Thursday morning compared to Friday afternoon].

Kelly on whether or not he looks at the leaderboard when he’s near the top: “I always look at the leaderboard to see what the guys are doing.”

Baker-Finch on the difficulty of the par-3 No. 15 hole playing more than 260 yards at the Atlanta Athletic Club during the week: “Is it unfair? It’s a little too long for my liking.”

Jim Huber interviewing player agent Chubby Chandler on the chances that his client Lee Westwood will help him achieve the “Chubby Slam” – having all four of his clients win major championships this year.

Chandler: “I’m thinking he’s going to be in contention this weekend.”

Jim Huber interviewing Davis Love III on balancing his duties between 2012 Ryder Cup captain and contender for the 2011 PGA Championship:

Love: “Well the Ryder Cup is a long way off. Right now, I’m focused on this Championship and then trying to make Freddy’s team  [Couples' President's Cup team]. My wife is worried about the clothes and picking out the wives rain suits. Day to day stuff, mostly she is doing. PGA Championship has a great staff and they are keeping me on schedule to be ready for the 2012.

That will be it.

TNT & Sirius XM Ramp Up For Live PGA Championship Coverage

We have two press releases, one from our friends at Turner Sports and the other from Sirius XM Radio, both regarding the PGA Championship this week at Atlanta Athletic Club. TNT will have all four rounds, full first and second round airings and early third and final round coverage on weekends before yielding for CBS. For TNT on Thursday and Friday, they’ll have some marquee groups including the three major champions for this year, Charl Schwartzel (The Masters^®), Rory McIlroy (U.S. Open) and Darren Clarke (Open Championship). And the PGA has pieced together a few other groups of interest as well. We have this press release from Turner Sports.

Marquee Groups Highlight 93^rd PGA Championship Coverage on TNT and PGA.com, Aug. 11-14

TNT Tees Off 13^th Consecutive Year of PGA Championship Coverage, Thurs.-Fri, 1-7 p.m. ET and Sat.-Sun, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET; PGA Championship LIVE Features Marquee Groups on PGA.com

Marquee groups highlight TNT and PGA.com’s coverage of the 93^rd PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Beginning on Thursday, Aug 11, a featured group including professional golf’s 2011 major champions to date: Rory McIlroy (U.S. Open), Darren Clarke (British Open) and Charl Schwartzel (Masters) tee off at 1:45 p.m. ET.  Former PGA Champions Martin Kaymer (2010), Y.E. Yang (2009) and Shaun Michel (2007) also will be a featured group as they begin play at 1:15 p.m. ET. TNT’s coverage on Friday, Aug. 12 (1-7 p.m. ET) will have four-time PGA Champion Tiger Woods, 1997 PGA Champion and 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup team captain Davis Love III and 2008 PGA Champion Padraig Harrington teeing off at 1:45 p.m. ET on the second day of coverage. Friday also features a threesome of PGA Champions Phil Mickelson (2005), David Toms (2001) and Vijay Singh (1998) teeing off at 1:25 p.m. ET. Recent Bridgestone Invitational champion Adam Scott, along with Japanese phenom Ryo Ishikawa and Matteo Manassero also will tee off on Friday at 1:05 p.m. ET.

PGA Championship LIVE, PGA.com’s award-winning video player, will be following marquee groups with a combined 21 major championships. This year’s first PGA.com Marquee group, Woods, Love III and Harrington will be the featured troika teeing off on Thursday morning at 8:35 a.m. ET and Friday afternoon at 1:45 p.m. ET. McIlroy, Clarke and Schwartzel will be the other threesome highlighted during Rounds 1 & 2 as they tee off at 1:45 p.m. ET on Thursday and 8:45 a.m. ET on Friday. Marquee pairing for Rounds 3 & 4 will be determined following Friday’s action.

Turner Sports will provide extensive exclusive television, online and mobile coverage as it presents the 93^rd PGA Championship, professional golf’s final major championship of the season, from the Atlanta Athletic Club on August 11-14. TNT will tee-up 18 hours of exclusive live coverage including six hours each day on Thursday and Friday, August 11-12 (1-7 p.m. ET), as well as early live coverage of the third and fourth rounds on Saturday and Sunday (11a.m. – 2 p.m. ET).  TNT’s announce team features two-time Emmy^® award-winning host Ernie Johnson (play-by-play), Ian Baker-Finch (analyst), Billy Kratzert (analyst) and Jim Huber (interviewer/essayist) calling the Championship. This is the 21^st consecutive year that Turner Sports will air the PGA Championship and 13^th straight year on TNT.

PGA.com’s coverage will have Will Haskett (play by play), Michael Breed (analyst), Brian Katrek (reporting) and Craig Sager (reporting) providing commentary, analysis, as well as following all of the storylines throughout PGA.com’s live coverage.

PGA.com will offer live coverage through its broadband channels including multiple live video streams, marquee groups and par-3 coverage from PGA Championship LIVE, the debut of a new 360 degree camera, an enhanced video highlight hub and live action updates from PGA.com writers. In addition, PGA.com’s award-winning mobile coverage returns with a free PGA Championship App for iPhone and iPod Touch. PGA.com’s live player content also will be optimized for the iPad.

Other features slated on PGA Championship LIVE include:

• 360 Degree Camera: For the first time during the PGA Championship, fans will be able to access a 360 degree camera that provides a panoramic look and natural sound of the course. Users can drag the camera right, left, or up and down in a 360 degree circle to see action from various vantage points including the practice range, putting green and other course locations.
• Live Insider: Through live action updates, PGA.com writers will be able to update fans and answer questions about the exciting action on and around the course.
• Video Highlight Hub: In the expanded and enhanced video highlight hub, fans can customize their video experience, search and browse by Player, Round, Hole or Memorable Moment to create an on-demand album from the 2011 PGA Championship.

And Sirius XM will have complete live coverage of the PGA Championship on PGA Tour Radio.

SiriusXM to Broadcast 2011 PGA Championship Nationwide 

Live hole-by-hole coverage airs Aug. 11-14 from Atlanta Athletic Club in Georgia
Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Phil Mickelson, Darren Clarke and others headline major championship field

NEW YORK – August 8, 2011 – Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) announced today that it will broadcast the 93^rd PGA Championship, the season’s final major golf championship, this Thursday, Aug. 11, through Sunday, Aug. 14, on channel 93 on XM and channel 208 on Sirius Premier (formerly known as the “Best of XM”).

SiriusXM’s live coverage, from the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga., will be hosted by Earl Forcey alongside analyst John Maginnes, with hole-by-hole updates from roving reporters Matt Adams, Fred Albers, Mark Carnevale, Michael Collins and Dennis Paulson.

On-course coverage will start Thursday and Friday at 11:00 am ET and Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 pm ET and will continue until the conclusion of each day’s play.  Each evening, immediately following the play-by-play, Maginnes will host his nightly show, Maginnes on Tap, offering listeners a wrap-up of the day’s action with highlights and analysis.

The PGA Championship perennially showcases the strongest field in golf and is returning to the Atlanta Athletic Club for the third time.  This year’s event will feature four-time PGA Champion Tiger Woods, who will be playing in his second tournament following a long layoff due to injury; reigning U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy; world # 1 Luke Donald; 2005 PGA Champion Phil Mickelson; Darren Clarke, who won the 2011 British Open last month; and Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters Champion.  Martin Kaymer is the defending PGA Champion, having won at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin last year.

In the days leading up to the Championship, SiriusXM’s hosts will provide golf fans with daily talk and analysis of this year’s field.  Currently, 100 of the top 102 world-ranked players are in the field for the 2011 PGA Championship.

Fairways of Life with Matt Adams will air live Monday through Wednesday (7:00-9:00 am ET), followed by Teed Off with Brian Katrek (9:00 am – 11:00 am ET), then Making the Turn with Peter Kessler (11:00 am- Noon ET).

Matt Adams will host The PGA Championship Preview Show, featuring tournament analysis and player interviews, with Fred Albers on Tuesday and Wednesday (4:00 – 6:00 pm ET) and alongside Peter Kessler on Saturday and Sunday (11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET).

All shows air on channel 93 on XM and channel 208 on Sirius Premier.

For more information on SiriusXM’s extensive professional golf programming, visit www.siriusxm.com/pgatournetwork.

That will do it.

Golf Channel Will Cover The PGA Championship Like A Blanket

With the golf world focused on Atlanta Athletic Club for the final major of the year, Golf Channel will cover the PGA Championship quite extensively. While it doesn’t have the rights to air the event, Golf Channel will have people on the ground in Atlanta to give it a big event feel. In addition, its signature “Live From” and “Morning Drive’ Shows will on the air throughout talking to guests and providing plenty of coverage for viewers. Let’s take a look at what Golf Channel is saying about its coverage for the PGA Championship this week.

GOLF CHANNEL HAS THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP COVERED

Nearly 50 Hours of Live News Coverage from the Atlanta Athletic Club
Morning Drive Special Editions Monday-Sunday
Wall-to-Wall Coverage and Live Chats on GolfChannel.com

ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 7, 2011) – Golf Channel is primed to deliver nearly 50 hours of comprehensive news coverage of the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga., featuring live news reports, inside analysis, player interviews, special guest appearances and compelling features.

Nearly 50 Hours of On-Site Coverage: Golf Channel’s news coverage of the PGA Championship will be headlined by Live From the PGA Championship, the network’s signature news program from golf’s major championships. Tuesday and Wednesday, Live From the PGA Championship will air news conference shows in the afternoon, followed by two-hour prime time shows at 6 p.m. ET. Thursday-Sunday, Live From will deliver wrap-around news coverage before and after tournament play. Morning Drive, the network’s live, weekday morning show, will expand its Tuesday and Wednesday shows to feature pre-event news conferences. The show also will expand to seven days next week, featuring daily guests from Atlanta Athletic Club. The Grey Goose 19^th Hole will broadcast live from the golf course Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, and Michael Breed will host a special The Golf Fix on Monday at 7 p.m. ET, from the Atlanta Athletic Club driving range.

Live From the PGA Championship: Headlining Golf Channel’s coverage will be Live From the PGA Championship, originating from two sets at the Atlanta Athletic Club – the main stage located near the first tee of the Riverside Course and a round-table stage on the driving range. Live From the PGA Championship will feature player interviews, analysis, highlights, leaderboard updates and daily features from Golf Channel’s team of anchors, reporters and contributors. (Complete airtimes appear at the end of the release)

Live from the PGA Championship Broadcast Team: Golf Channel’s Live From the PGA Championship broadcast team will include Kelly Tilghman, Rich Lerner, Kraig Kann, Steve Sands, Todd Lewis, Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo, David Feherty, Charlie Rymer, Rex Hoggard, Jay Coffin, Jason Sobel, Tim Rosaforte, Alex Miceli and Ken Schofield.

Scheduled Guests: Special guests will join Live From the PGA Championship throughout the week, including Hall-of-Famer Greg Norman, Major Dan Rooney, PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka and PGA of America President Allen Wronowski.

Live From the PGA Championship Scheduled Features

• Nobilo and Chamblee Take on Atlanta Athletic Club – Frank Nobilo will scout the holes at the Atlanta Athletic Club prior to the start of the tournament in segments that will air throughout the week. Nobilo and Brandel Chamblee also will look to re-create the key shots and moments on the course during prime-time news coverage.
• Don Cheadle Voices PGA Championship Moments – Academy-award nominee Don Cheadle will voice a number of “PGA Championship Moments” that will air throughout the week.
• Martin Kaymer – Tim Rosaforte will sit down with Martin Kaymer in a personality profile feature, talking about his passion for fashion on and off the golf course.
• Nick Watney – Rosaforte will visit with Nick Watney, where Watney will discuss what he learned from losing the Sunday lead at the 2010 PGA Championship, along with his love for hip hop, the San Francisco Giants and flat brimmed baseball hats.
• PGA Professional Features – Several PGA of America Professionals competing in the PGA Championship will be featured throughout the week.

Morning Drive Expands to Seven Days: Kicking off Golf Channel’s PGA Championship news coverage will be Morning Drive, hosted by Erik Kuselias and Gary Williams. Golf Channel’s popular weekday morning show will expand on Tuesday and Wednesday to cover pre-tournament news conferences, and also will air seven days next week, featuring live guests from Atlanta Athletic Club, daily. (Complete airtimes appear at the end of the release)

Wall-to-Wall Coverage on GolfChannel.com: GolfChannel.com will feature expanded editorial content and interactive capabilities with fans timed to the PGA Championship, including:

Live Blogs & Chats

• Jason Sobel will blog each day of the competition to keep fans up to date as the action unfolds. Thursday-Friday, 11-3 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 2-7 p.m. ET.
• John Hawkins will chat with fans from 9-11 a.m. ET Thursday-Sunday

Editorial Coverage

• Jason Sobel, Rex Hoggard, Randall Mell, Jay Coffin and Ryan Ballengee will contribute to the Golf Talk Central blog, along with daily columns, news articles, features and breaking news.
• Tuesday, Aug. 9 – Top 10 Major Championship Landmarks feature. Randall Mell will revisit Dustin Johnson’s experience at the 2010 PGA Championship with an accompanying list of the top-10 major championship landmarks – little patches of earth that have become historically significant because of what was won or lost.

Exclusive Online Video Content

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

Live From the PGA Championship Programming (all times ET)

Monday, Aug. 8
Golf Central, 6-6:30 p.m.
The Golf Fix, 7-8 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 9
Morning Drive, 7-11 a.m.
Live From the PGA Championship, noon-4 p.m. (news conferences)
Live From the PGA Championship. 6-8 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 10
Morning Drive, 7-10 a.m.
Live From the PGA Championship, 1-3 p.m. (news conferences)
Live From the PGA Championship, 6-8 p.m.
Grey Goose 19^th Hole, 8-9 p.m.

Thursday and Friday, Aug. 11-12
Morning Drive, 7-9 a.m.
Live from the PGA Championship, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Live From the PGA Championship, 7-9 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 13-14
Morning Drive, 7-9 a.m.
Live From the PGA Championship, 9-11 a.m.
Live From the PGA Championship, 7-9 p.m.

And that will do it.

TNT To Offer Multi-Platform Coverage of PGA Championship

The last major championship on the PGA calendar, the PGA Championship takes place next weekend at the Atlanta Athletic Club. TNT will offer coverage on TV, online and on mobile platforms for all four rounds starting Thursday, August 11 at 1 p.m. ET. TNT will have exclusive 1st and 2nd round coverage, plus early 3rd and final round coverage at 11 a.m. Eastern on the weekend. CBS will start its coverage of the PGA Championship at 2 p.m. ET next Saturday and Sunday.

TNT says the PGA Championship can be followed on the iPhone and iPad through free mobile apps that will be available in the Apple App Store. We have the announcement from Turner Sports right here.

Turner Sports To Offer Extensive Exclusive Television, Online and Mobile Coverage for the 93^rd PGA Championship, August 11-14

New 360 Degree Camera to Debut on PGA.com; Free PGA Championship App for iPhone and iPod Touch

Turner Sports will provide extensive exclusive television, online and mobile coverage as it presents the 93^rd PGA Championship, professional golf’s final major championship of the season, from its own backyard – the Atlanta Athletic Club – from August 11-14. TNT will tee-up 18 hours of exclusive live coverage including six hours each day on Thursday and Friday, August 11-12 (1-7 p.m. ET), as well as early live coverage of the third and fourth rounds on Saturday and Sunday (11a.m. – 2 p.m. ET).  PGA.com will offer live coverage through its broadband channels including multiple live video streams, marquee groups and par-3 coverage from PGA Championship LIVE, the debut of a new 360 degree camera, an enhanced video highlight hub and live action updates from PGA.com writers. In addition, PGA.com’s award-winning mobile coverage returns with a free PGA Championship App for iPhone and iPod touch. PGA.com’s live player content also will be optimized for the iPad.

Additionally, PGA.com also will get fans involved through various social media touch points including Facebook, Twitter and PGA.com’s TheBuzz, the social hub that provides insight into the unique atmosphere of the PGA Championship. Fans can follow the Twitter conversation with the official hashtag #PGAChamp, snap their own instant highlights to share with friends and interact with other golf enthusiasts through The Buzz.  TNT talent Ernie Johnson, Ian Baker-Finch, Billy Kratzert and Jim Huber and also will provide an inside look at the PGA Championship through a series of live chats during the tournament.

“The PGA Championship is an event we look forward to each year and Turner Sports is thrilled to provide exclusive live television coverage and interactive digital offerings for the final major championship of the season,” said David Levy president of sales, distribution and sports, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. “Fans will have a fully immersive viewing experience at their fingertips on TNT, PGA.com, mobile phones and tablets that will allow them to enjoy the excitement of the 93^rd PGA Championship from anywhere.”

Additional highlights throughout the PGA Championship include:

TNT:

• Talent: TNT’s announce team features two-time Emmy^® award-winning host Ernie Johnson (play-by-play), Ian Baker-Finch (analyst), Billy Kratzert (analyst) and Jim Huber (interviewer/essayist)  calling the Championship. This is the 21^st consecutive year that Turner Sports will air the PGA Championship and 13^th straight year on TNT.
• Billy’s Course: In two special features, analyst Billy Kratzert will give fans a glimpse into past monumental moments in PGA history. Using green screen technology, Kratzert will superimpose himself next to golfers as they experience some of the greatest moments in PGA history including: Davis Love III’s 1997 win on the 18^th hole at Winged Foot Golf Club, Bob Tway’s miraculous bunker shot to win the 1986 PGA Championship at Inverness Club, as well as legends Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen as they competed in PGA Championships in the 1920s.
• Championship Moments: Each day during the tournament, TNT will flash back to moments from past PGA Championships including Y.E. Yang’s dramatic win over Tiger Woods in 2009.
• Golf Trax:  TNT and PGA.com will provide viewers with a virtual tour of holes throughout the tournament. Golf Trax provides an aerial view of a player’s ball direction and a 360 degree view of particular holes at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
• Drive to The PGA Championship: TNT will provide viewers insight into what the pros do to prepare for the PGA Championship, while directing them to PGA.com for additional information.
• TNT Tee Tracker: With this technology, viewers have the ability to monitor the flight of select tee shots live during play.

PGA.com:

• PGA Championship LIVE: PGA.com’s award-winning video player will offer fans an enriched viewing experience through multiple simultaneous live video streams, Marquee Groups and par-3 coverage, as well as several interactive components such as player scorecards, and social media integration for a fully-customized experience.
• Marquee Groups: For the first two rounds, PGA.com will follow threesomes (TBA). PGA.com also will feature two marquee groups during the final two rounds. Will Haskett (play by play), Michael Breed (analyst), Brian Katrek and Craig Sager (reporting) will provide commentary and analysis throughout the weekend during PGA.com’s live coverage.
• PGA.com’s Touchscreen: PGA.com’s live coverage also will employ a touchscreen that will allow analyst, and PGA Professional, Michael Breed to demonstrate and diagram the swing techniques of the players. The touchscreen also will contain a course map that Breed will use to preview strategic holes that the chosen group will be facing as they progress through their round.
• 360 Degree Camera: For the first time during the PGA Championship, fans will be able to access a 360 degree camera that provides a panoramic look and natural sound of the course. Users can drag the camera right, left, or up and down in a 360 degree circle to see action from various vantage points including the practice range, putting green and other course locations.
• Live Insider: Through live action updates, PGA.com writers will be able to update fans and answer questions about the exciting action on and around the course.
• Video Highlight Hub: In the expanded and enhanced video highlight hub, fans can customize their video experience, search and browse by Player, Round, Hole or Memorable Moment to create an on-demand album from the 2011 PGA Championship.

Mobile:

• PGA Championship App: With this app, fans can follow the action on-and-off the course using their iPhone or iPod touch. The free app features live video, highlights, push alerts for hole-by-hole scoring updates and breaking news. Since the PGA Championship is the first major to allow mobile devices onto the course, the app is offering special alerts for fans at the Atlanta Athletic Club.  While at the course, fans will be able to locate a player, receive live action updates, and details about happenings at the club. The PGA Championship App is available from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore. 
• Mobile Website: Another added feature includes the PGA.com mobile website, which will be enhanced and offer live scoring,  locate a player feature, news, highlights and live updates.
• Optimized for iPad: The official PGA Championship site and PGA Championship LIVE will be optimized for the iPad. The site and video player will take advantage of the iPad’s large, multi-touch display to provide fans a greater viewing experience.

Social:

• The Buzz:  As the social media gathering point for the PGA Championship, fans can follow tweets from PGA professionals and #PGAChamp chatter, ask questions through the Live Insider,as well as become a fan of PGA.com on Facebook and Twitter.
• Live Fan Chats: TNT talent will answer fans’ questions each day through a live chat available on PGA.com.
• Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2:00 p.m. (ET) – Ernie Johnson
• Wednesday, Aug. 10, 11:30 a.m. (ET) – Jim Huber
• Thursday, Aug. 11, 10:30 a.m. (ET) – Ian Baker-Finch
• Friday, Aug. 12, 11:00 a.m. (ET) – Billy Kratzert

·Snap & Share: While watching the PGA Championship on TNT or PGA.com, fans can snap what they are watching through a feature available via pga.com/snap.  After snapping, fans can share their own instant highlights via Facebook and Twitter.

That’s going to do it.

CBS Sports Extends Agreement To Air PGA Championship

This just in from CBS Sports. It has been announced that CBS and the PGA of America have extended their agreement to golf’s final major tournament of each calendar year, the PGA Championship through 2019. This is an eight year agreement and it comes as the current contract is ending. 2011 marks the 20th year CBS has carried the PGA Championship and would have been the final one had the two sides not come to an agreement. Included in the agreement are various one hour specials promoting the tournament as well as celebrating the PGA Championship’s Centennial which is in 2016.

Here’s your announcement.

CBS SPORTS, THE PGA OF AMERICA AGREE TO LONG-TERM EXTENSION OF PGA CHAMPIONSHIP BROADCAST RIGHTS THROUGH 2019

CBS Sports has reached a new, eight-year agreement with The PGA of America to extend broadcast rights of the PGA Championship through 2019, which includes support of The PGA’s Centennial in 2016. The announcement was made Thursday by PGA President Allen Wronowski, PGA Chief Executive Officer Joe Steranka, and CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus.

“We are extremely pleased to extend our 20-year partnership with the PGA of America,” said McManus.  “The PGA Championship is one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world, and we are thrilled to continue to broadcast this major championship on Network television.  With this long-term extension, CBS Sports will maintain its leadership position as the premier Network of golf programming well into the future.”

“The PGA of America has been fortunate to have a valued partner in CBS Sports that has worked so well with telling the historic story of the Season’s Final Major,” said Wronowski. “The PGA Championship’s trademark is its commitment to annually feature the strongest field in major Championship golf, and the world’s top players have returned by producing some of golf’s most dramatic moments. As The PGA and our 27,000 PGA Professionals celebrate our 95^th Anniversary in 2011, and begin the countdown to our Centennial, The PGA of America is excited about extending this wonderful partnership that brings the PGA Championship story to golf and sports fans around the country.”

Spanning the age of televised sport, CBS Sports has captured the drama of the PGA Championship, which has defined some of the most signature moments in golf history.

“Starting with the first PGA Championship of the stroke-play era in 1958, and continuously since John Daly’s miracle run at Crooked Stick in 1991, CBS Sports has partnered with The PGA of America to bring the spectacle of the PGA Championship to golf fans everywhere, said Steranka. “The PGA of America is delighted to annually deliver one of the most coveted Championships in all of sport to a worldwide audience, featuring the best players from around the globe. And we are thrilled that CBS Sports will also showcase to the nation the talents of PGA Professionals, as the experts in the game and business of golf.”

Each year, CBS Sports will produce five hours of high definition coverage of each of the final two weekend Championship rounds. Additionally, CBS Sports will produce annual one-hour specials on The PGA of America and also the “Road to the PGA Championship” program, which highlights the behind-the-scenes stories of the 20 PGA Professionals participating in the Season’s Final Major. A promotional campaign highlighting The PGA’s Centennial Celebration will appear on CBS Sports during 2016.

The PGA Championship is one of only four major golf events in the world and the only one featuring an all-professional field. It perennially hosts the strongest field and deepest international lineup of any major golf championship. Since 1994, the PGA Championship has featured the most top-100 world-ranked players of any major championship.

Since 1916, golf’s best professionals have been competing for the PGA Championship’s coveted Wanamaker Trophy. Past champions include: Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and recent international stars Padraig Harrington, Y.E. Yang and Martin Kaymer, the defending PGA Champion.

Some good news for CBS, keeping one of its signature events.

Sirius XM Extends Agreement with The PGA Tour

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

SiriusXM Announces Comprehensive Coverage of 2011 Golf Season

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That is all.

Monday Night Linkage

Let’s do some linkage this evening. I’ve found enough links to warrant a post.

From Sports Business Journal, Eric Fisher writes that NBCSports.com will be relaunching in September. 

Eric says the founders of Rivals.com will be launching a new site of their own.

Tripp Mickle of SBJ says the man who created the channels that became ESPN Classic and CBS College Sports is now advising Major League Soccer on its media rights negotiations.

Andrea Domanick of Broadcasting & Cable says a PGA Championship overrun helped CBS to win the Sunday primetime ratings.

An Arkansas radio personality was fired from her job after she wore a Florida hat to a press conference held by Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. 

In the Huffington Post, Brian Frederick who heads up the Sports Fans Coalition says Comcast is not doing right by Portland Trail Blazers fans.

Tim Fitzpatrick who’s the Vice President of Communications for the Comcast Sports Group replies to Frederick.

Noted baseball writer Jonah Keri has a review of MLB Network’s documentary on the 1994 Montreal Expos.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says English Premier League team Blackpool might be the biggest underdog in the history of pro sports.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette looks at the Fox Sports NFL announcing lineup for this season.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog recaps the call made by DC NFL team’s DeAngelo Hall to a local sports radio station in an attempt to fend off criticisms.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says a DC radio producer has a new job in Baltimore.

Sarah Talalay in the South Florida Sun Sentinel says the Orange Bowl could be close to a new sponsor. 

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News notes that former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach will be doing work on CBS College Sports this season.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that some viewers in the local area were not blacked out of the Broncos-Bengals like they were supposed to be.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says a SoCal radio personality, who was also the color man for the Kings, has passed away.

Maury Brown from the Biz of Baseball interviews new Texas Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg.

And that will do it for the links tonight.

PGA Championship Ratings Down Significantly From Last Year

Don’t have a press release and based on the numbers, I don’t expect one. From Sports Business Daily and tweeted by CNBC’s Darren Rovell, the overnight ratings for the final round of the PGA Championships are down 33%. Even though there was drama at the end and there was over an hour overrun, CBS still could not match the ratings of 2009 when Tiger Woods was in final round contention with Y.E. Yang.

We had as many six golfers in contention for the title at the end and a three hole playoff, yet without Tiger Woods, the ratings were still down. The moral of the story? Golf needs Tiger Woods to contend in 2011 otherwise golf on network TV is in trouble.

Doin’ The Monday Links

Let’s do some Monday links today. Here’s a note for you all. Starting from Wednesday afternoon through Saturday, I won’t be here. I’ll be attending a wedding in Boston. I will have some stuff for you that will publish on Thursday and Friday so you’ll see fresh content here, but I won’t be able to post press releases, breaking news or links. I’ll be back Sunday. I’ll post reminders from now until Wednesday just so you know.

In addition, I’m joining the great lineup of blogging talent that Dan Levy of On the DL has assembled at his new site, Press Coverage. I’ll be contributing one post a week, mostly on Mondays or Tuesdays. I’ll be writing about the sports media and I’m honored to be a part of the site. Dan has commitments from some of the greatest talent in the sports blogosphere including Matt Sebek of JoeSportsFan, Bethlehem Shoals from FreeDarko.com and Fanhouse, Dan Shanoff, Jamie Mottram of Yahoo! Sports, Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus and so many others. I’m not quite in that company, but I’m happy to be asked to be a part. I’ll be providing my thoughts on the sports media and review what happened in the previous week. And I’ll link to the posts from here so you’ll be able to read it if you forget to visit the site. Very happy to be part of the site.

Now to our links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about Fox hiring Jim Mora, Jr. and Kurt Warner for NFL coverage and reviews CBS’ coverage of the PGA Championship.

You can review ESPN’s Outside the Lines story on umpires’ missed calls here. 

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry talks with a blogger who has a full season NHL media credential.

Marisa Guthrie of Broadcasting & Cable writes that ESPN is about to give its high school sports brand a weekly series.

The Radio & TV Business Report notes that NBC’s coverage of the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships finished second in primetime on Saturday. 

Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk notes that two media members asked for Tim Tebow’s autograph after last night’s Denver-Cincinnati preseason NFL game. Not smart.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post actually gives praise today to CBS for coverage the PGA Championship controversy at the 18th hole when Dustin Johnson grounded his club in a bunker.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg reviews the double apology issued by MASN’s Rob Dibble.

Missy Frederick of the Washington Business Journal says the closing of the ESPN Zone in DC will mean the loss of over 150 jobs in the city. 

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times looks back at the sporting weekend on TV.

Richard Mullins of the Tampa Tribune says Bright House cable is dropping CBS College Sports, MLB Network, Versus and others from its older systems while keeping them on its digital cable tiers.

Mark Lorando of the New Orleans Times-Picayune says the city will have a Mardi Gras-type parade before the NFL opening night kickoff between the Vikings and the Saints.

Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune says ESPN ends its criss-crossing national NFL training camp tour with both Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter stopping at Saints camp today.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says Manchester United of the English Premier League now has a Windy City connection.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post feels a local sports TV anchorman should not yuk it up.

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

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star notes that mixed martial arts is heading to Ontario and Canadian TV will be all over it.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Blue Jays fans are up in arms over the launch of Rogers Sportsnet One which is leaving them in the dark for now.

And that will conclude our links for today.

Quotage From TNT’s Coverage of PGA Championship, Final Round

I wasn’t able to post this earlier as I was playing chauffeur, but I want to give props again to Turner Sports for sending this out right as TNT was signing off its coverage of the PGA Championship. Tremendous.

Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the PGA Championship from Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. – Final Round – Sunday, August 15, 2010

Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Ian Baker-Finch, Billy Kratzert and Jim Huber

Baker-Finch on Tom Lehman using a wedge to putt a shot close to the hole from the fringe: “well done, if you try and chip those you can look like an idiot very easily.”

Johnson on the virtual map showing Wisconsin and zooming in on Whistling Straits: “There’s Milwaukee. I was born there Kratz (Kratzert), I wonder if they could zoom in to North 68th Street.”

Kratzert on the play of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson: “Every round he’s (Mickelson) struggling to make par. He is working too hard…I watch Tiger and I watch Phil, these guys are struggling. This is as soft as this golf course is going to play and the guys who are playing well are taking advantage of it. The #1 and #2 players in the world, they’re just not playing well.”

Kratzert on Woods’ poor play this year: “This year we’ve been robbed of the ‘Tiger Moments’, frankly because he hasn’t played well and there haven’t been many.”

Baker-Finch on the leaderboard featuring a slew of golfers in their 20’s:  “We’re seeing a little bit of the changing of the guard, with the young guys coming… It’s the guys on that leaderboard that we’ll be seeing for the next 10 years. Previously we’ve seen (Retief) Goosen, (Jim) Furyk, Tiger (Woods), (Phil) Mickelson and (Ernie) Els.”

Baker-Finch on Tiger Woods terrific iron play: “Best iron player in the game; works the ball better than anyone else….and he hits his nine iron while others are hitting five irons and four irons.”

Kratzert on Woods second shot from the bunker on hole #5, which he successfully hit 5 Wood on in Round 3: “If he takes the 5 Wood out here and gets it anywhere near the green I’m walking out of here and walking all the way out there and shaking his hand.”

Johnson sarcastically: “That’ll make his day.”

Johnson following errant shots by Tim Clark and Tiger Woods into/near the grandstands at #6: “They are putting on a clinic on how not to play the sixth hold…bouncing around like a pinball at #6.”

Baker-Finch on the wind conditions being a reason for the leaders to watch the early round TV coverage: “If I was getting ready to play this afternoon I’d be watching this show just to get as much as I could from the early starters.”

Kratzert after a fan yelled ‘Mashed Potatoes’ during Woods’ tee shot on the 9th: “What does that mean?”

Johnson: “I know what it should mean, ‘thanks for coming, see you later, here’s the gate.’”

And that does it for the Turner Sports PGA Championship press releases. I’m sure we’ll CBS Sports PGA Championship press releases on Monday.

Quotage From TNT’s Coverage of The PGA Championship, 2nd & 3rd Round

Once again, the great people at Turner Sports have sent the press release from the PGA Championship within minutes of sign-off. With coverage including the conclusion of the 2nd round and the start of the 3rd, I present this press release.

Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the PGA Championship from Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. – Round Two/Three – Saturday, August 14, 2010

TNT’s Round Three /Final Round coverage of the PGA Championship concludes on Sunday, Aug. 15 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET.

Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Ian Baker-Finch, Billy Kratzert and Jim Huber

Johnson on former PGA Champion Steve Elkington standing at -3 through the second round: “Wow, getting in the ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’. How about Elk heading into the weekend?”

Kratzert on the low scores through the first two rounds at Whistling Straits: “This is the second time they’ve seen it (the course). They are not intimidated as they were in 2004. That’s why we are seeing the guys shoot the scores they’re shooting.”

Kratzert on Vijay Singh: “This has been a very good putting round by Vijay with the putter, he did not miss anything. You can just feel the confidence growing with Vijay with the putter.”

Baker-Finch on Sergio Garcia possibly joining the European Ryder Cup team: “There is no use in including him if Sergio himself is saying ‘I need to shut it down.’ If he’s playing well he’s the first guy on the plane. If he’s not playing well he needs to shut it down and get his confidence back.”

Baker-Finch on Tiger Woods’ aggressive shot from the sand on the 18th: “I don’t understand this, I really don’t. Why wouldn’t Tiger just take his wedge shot?”
Johnson after Woods hit it on the green: “I guess that’s why.”

Jim Huber interviewed Tiger Woods, who stands at -3 after two rounds.

Woods on his performance through two rounds: “I didn’t really have much today or yesterday. I was happy to get the score I did…I’m in good shape, I’m right there in the ballgame (for the tournament).”

Johnson on the 93rd PGA Championship taking place at Atlanta Athletic Club in John’s Creek: “No per diem for me, just a half hour from my house.”

Kratzert on the long hitters having an advantage to win: “I think that’s going to be the story as the longer players will go ahead and seal the deal.”

Kratzert after a visual of Ernie Els way in the distance in the player’s parking lot: “I’m not feeling bad about the parking spot, he’s got the Mercedes.”

Johnson on France’s Gregory Bourdy: “This putt for Birdie, from Bourdy, from Bordeaux (France).”
Baker-Finch: “You’re killing me.”
Johnson: “Facts are facts.”

Baker-Finch on winning Major Championships: “You need to contend in majors before you have a chance to win them.”

Thanks to the great people at Turner Sports PR department for sending today’s quotage from the PGA Championship.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday Night Megalinks

After playing chauffeur all day today, it’s time to do some linkage for you.

As usual, we have the Weekend Viewing Picks. And now to our links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy debate the Jim Gray/Corey Pavin dispute.

Fanhouse’s John Walters was able to go inside ESPN’s college football meetings this week.

John writes that ESPN’s College Gameday is a rolling ambassador for college football.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that ESPN2 and Fox Soccer Channel will be all over the English Premier League for the next three seasons.

Mike says this past Wednesday’s Yankees-Rangers game set a ratings record for Fox Sports Southwest.

Katy Bachman of Mediaweek writes about ESPN the Gas Station continuing for a few more years. I actually wrote about this three years ago.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred goes after the Miami Herald’s Dan LeBatard. Just a mere few weeks since going after the Detroit Free Press’ Mitch Albom.

Bill Krueger at the Poynter Institute feels Deadspin betrayed Jenn Sterger by not waiting for her to confirm the Brett Favre sexting story.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with Nike’s president about two of its most embattled clients.

Darren says Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano is beginning to reap the benefits of being a star in New York.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk says he’s no longer writing for the Sporting News. 

Mike says HBO’s Hard Knocks’ season premiere featuring the New York Jets had a higher viewership than last year’s premiere with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Florio says Green Day will perform at halftime of the opening Monday Night Football game at the new Meadowlands Stadium.

Joe Favorito notes that bloggers are writing better and gaining more notoriety.

Sports Media Watch notices that last Saturday’s Red Sox-Yankees game on Fox actually drew a lower rating than Braves-Reds the week before.

SMW says last weekend’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductions received a huge ratings bump from last year thanks to some star power.

SMW says ratings dropped for ESPN’s NFL preseason opener.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media feels NHL Network should remember some of the league’s teams that no longer exist.

My Twitter trophy wife, Amanda Rykoff, a.k.a. The OCD Chick, has a roundup of reaction to sexist remarks made by MASN’s Rob Dibble earlier in the week.

The always awesome Rebecca Glass in This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes (well, except for the Pinstripes part, but she’s still awesome) tells Dibble to shut up. 

Dave Kohl at the Major League Programs blog notes that baseball local radio ratings don’t often match the local TV numbers.

Emmitt Jones at the Sports Business Digest likes the idea of the University of Oregon soccer scarves doubling as season tickets.

Susan Shan covers a pick-up basketball game between two social media companies. 

Proud Canadian and unabashed Montreal Expos fan Jonah Keri asks us to watch MLB Network’s special on the 1994 Expos on Sunday.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe says there will be plenty of media outlets for new Celtics backup center Shaquille O’Neal to play with this upcoming season.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald writes that NESN is branching out from sports and will carry a program hosted by a former Massachusetts Lt. Governor.

Boston Sports Radio Watch says the local sports radio war is getting even tighter in the ratings.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes on the return of Bob Uecker to the Milwaukee Brewers radio booth after heart surgery.

Neil Best sighting! Neil Best sighting! Neil Best of Newsday talks about seeing ads for New York Football Giants tickets, something he never thought would never happen in his lifetime.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News likes how SNY’s Bob Ojeda doesn’t mince words after another clubhouse incident involving the Mets.

Phil Mushnick at the New York Post wonders if WFAN’s Craig Carton, a noted critic of MSG head James Dolan, will be willing to still criticize now that his radio show will be simulcast on MSG Network.

Mark Cannizzaro of the Post says the Jets give themselves high marks after seeing themselves on HBO’s Hard Knocks.

The Post’s Justin Terranova has five questions for MLB Network’s Jim Kaat.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union catches up with New York Giants left tackle David Diehl who took part in the NFL Broadcasting Boot Camp earlier this summer.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that the Orioles are beginning to make a ratings dent in the nation’s capital.

Dan recaps DC NFL team owner Dan Snyder’s appearance on Friday night’s preseason game telecast.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner talks about the DC NFL team’s broadcast teams ready and rarin’ to go for the season.

Dave McKenna of the Washington City Paper profiles sportscaster Grant Paulsen who had to restart his broadcast career after it stalled after high school.

South

Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot says a local TV station values carrying the DC NFL team, but still isn’t showing the games in HD.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel writes that Florida coach Urban Meyer has a Twitter coordinator.

Jeff Shain of the Sentinel says the Jim Gray/Corey Pavin tiff is another in a line of Golf Channel strife. 

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Ray Buck talks football and baseball with former Fox Sports NFL announcer Pat Summerall.

Mike Graham of the Dallas Morning News says Texas Tech is trying to reach more recruits by producing its own reality show and syndicating it to various cable systems in the South. 

To David Barron at the Houston Chronicle who talks with ESPN Radio hack (my words, not his) Colin Cowherd.

Richard Connelly of the Houston Press notes that ESPN Deportes Radio has arrived in town. 

This story is from last month, but I somehow missed it. From the Daily Oklahoman, Mel Bracht talks with ESPN legendary play-by-play man Ron Franklin about his return to the Alleged Worldwide Leader after originally deciding to retire in February.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer isn’t too happy with the Fox Sports Radio hiring of Pat O’Brien when a perfectly good candidate is working in the local area.

Jeff Bell of Business First of Columbus (OH) says the dispute between Time Warner and Disney which could take ESPN off cable systems follows a familiar pattern. 

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus isn’t too concerned over Tiger Woods’ finish in the PGA Championship.

Duane Dudek of the Journal Sentinel is puzzled over three local TV stations focusing on Tiger Woods’ personal life instead of golf.

Tim Cuprisin in OnMilwaukee looks at the off and on coverage of the Brett Favre sexting story.

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

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has Fox’s Joe Buck still refusing to take responsibility for getting the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez hurt last Saturday.

Dan says the Gateway City’s top-rated sports radio station is forming a partnership with the market’s CBS affiliate to provide content and reports.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News says when Utah heads to the Pac 10/12, finding their games could be just as big an issue as it is currently.

Dick Enberg answered readers’ e-mails for the Denver Post. 

John Maffei at the North County Times writes that even though Fox is picking up the San Diego Padres on Saturday, just the West Coast will see them.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes about how Lakers owner Jerry Buss had the vision to realize how forming a cable channel would only help his team expand its fanbase.

Tom has his extensive sports news and notes in his blog (plus a link back to Fang’s Bites, thanks Tom).

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says the whole Jim Gray/Corey Pavin story is a “he said, she said” affair.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich warns Blue Jays fans about another potential dispute over a new cable sports channel.

That will conclude the megalinks. We’re done.

Quotage From TNT’s Coverage of PGA Championship, 2nd Round

This came one minute. One mere minute after TNT signed off its coverage of the PGA Championship. That’s quite impressive. Thanks to the great people at Turner Sports PR for sending this. Makes my job easier. Here’s the quotage.

Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the PGA Championship from Whistling Straits in

Kohler, Wis. – Round Two – Friday, August 13, 2010

TNT’s Round Three coverage of the PGA Championship continues Saturday., Aug. 14 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET.

Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Ian Baker-Finch, Bill Kratzert and Jim Huber joined by Bill Macatee, Peter Kostis, Verne Lundquist, David Feherty, Peter Oosterhuis and Gary McCord

Baker-Finch on Matt Kuchar being an early leader in the tournament: “(Kuchar) is playing really nicely and smoothly.  He’s played well all season and he’s seventh on the Ryder Cup list.  He’s in the top ten in the FedEx Cup rankings and he’s jumping up in the world rankings as well.  He was a winner at the end of last season.  I really like what I’m seeing with Matt Kuchar.  He’s been working on a swing change and he’s really nestled in and feels comfortable with it.  I’m not surprised to see him (leading) and I expect to see him there on Sunday afternoon as well.”

Kostis on Ernie Els: “Tee to green, (Els) is impeccable right now.  He is operating on all eight cylinders.”

Kostis on the damp playing conditions during the second round: “Clearly evident are the soft conditions of the greens.  Players are able to take dead aim at very difficult hole locations and rely on the ball hitting, sitting and staying in place.  It looks like a links (course), smells like a links but it doesn’t play like a links.  If this golf course got fiery and fast and you had to bounce the ball around…boy, would it be fun.”

Feherty on the difficulty of the final two holes at Whistling Straits: “The finish of this golf course (holes 17 and 18)…what a vision of loveliness and brutality at the same time.”

Baker-Finch on Bryce Molder: “I love the way (Molder) holds the finish (of his swing).  He’s been playing well this season.  He’s been putting beautifully and he really holds the back of the left hand to the target on the way through.”

Baker-Finch on the ups-and-downs of playing at Whistling Straits: “This golf course can giveth and it can also taketh away.  You’ve got a little stretch in the middle of the round where you can make some birdies and there are some down-wind holes.  But then you’ve got that brute of a finish coming up at the end and pars are hard to make.”

Baker-Finch on the composure of Seung Yul Noh: “Notice (Noh’s) demeanor, it hasn’t changed at all.  Birdie or bogey…it stays the same.”

Feherty on if the course is playing differently in the second round compared to the first round: “I think (the course) is a good deal softer and we’re seeing maybe a little more wind than (in the first round).  It’s exacting its revenge in places.  It’s showing its link-side and there are places where you can’t hit it.”

Kratzert on Ernie Els’ putting during the second round: “(Els) has left some out here.”

Baker-Finch: “He hasn’t putted the same today, has he?”

Kratzert: “He’s kind of struggled (today) and you can see the frustration.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Matt Kuchar after finishing his second round at the top of the leaderboard.

Kuchar on finishing his round at the top of the leaderboard with -8: “I’m excited to be in this seat. I haven’t been in this situation, but I feel that my game has been really good this year and got me ready to be at this point. Hopefully, it will be a good weekend for me.”

Kuchar on the prospect of being paired with former Georgia Tech teammate Bryce Molder: “That will be exciting, I’m hoping it continues to work out that way. Bryce (Molder) is a great player, We played a couple of practice rounds this week so it would be a lot of fun if we could play together.”

Baker-Finch on how the remaining golfers should handle the challenging weather conditions: “You don’t wan to shoot yourself in the foot in these difficult conditions. If it does stay like this for the next two or two and a half hours, just take it steady, try and make a birdie on the fifth and sixth (holes) when you get an opportunity, but keep the double bogies off the card. Just keep it out of that long fescue and come back tomorrow and hopefully the conditions will be a little calmer.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Phil Mickelson after finishing his second round at -2.

Mickelson on his second round effort: “I fought hard today. I’m obviously not where I want to be, I want to be up on the leaderboard with all the other guys, but I’m within striking distance. I played a good back nine there to shoot three under for the day and get back in.”

Mickelson on the difficulty of the course and how you need to play it: “It is very penalizing, I missed a number of birdies the first two days. You can’t play for birdies, you can’t get up in the lead unless you get the ball in the fairway. But once you get in the fairway though, you can attack. The greens are soft, they hold shots. Once you’re on the greens you can make some putts.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Nick Watney after finishing his second round at -7, second on the leaderboard.

Watney on having to play his final six first round holes in addition to the entire second round on Friday: “It wasn’t too bad physically, but we always joke that if we’re playing well we wish we could just keep on going. Luckily today I was playing pretty well and I was able to keep going and it just worked out.”

Watney on the importance of his short game: “I played well, I made a lot of key saves which kept my momentum. This is obviously a very difficult golf course and a short game will save you. That’s what I’ll take away most from the day and I’m looking forward to the weekend.”

Feherty on Camilo Villegas’ physique: “(Villegas) is the best athlete on the (PGA) TOUR without question. He’s becoming an incredibly keen cyclist. That’s what he needs, less body fat.”

Nance: “Not a whole lot there, is there?”

Feherty: “Just muscle, sinew, fiber and heart.”

Baker-Finch: “What would he be? Six, seven percent body fat?”

Feherty: “Not even, no. Unfortunately, I’ve had to do commercials with him where I’ve seen him partially clothed. It’s very depressing for any man.”

Baker-Finch on the short game of Tiger Woods: “We have seen a short game clinic over the last five holes. (Woods) doesn’t need a coach there, that’s just hard work.”

Feherty on Rickie Fowler’s long hair: “All of these guys will be glad to get out of this wind. Rickie, I think, would probably take a severe beating from his hair if he had to play all 18 of this round.”

That’s the quotage for tonight.

Quotage From TNT’s Coverage of PGA Championship, 1st Round

Gotta hand it to the people at Turner Sports. The quick turnaround of the quotage from what was a very long broadcast is rather impressive. So if you missed anything from today’s coverage, you have this to refer to.

Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the PGA Championship from Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. – Round One – Thursday, August 12, 2010

TNT’s Round Two coverage of the PGA Championship continues Fri., August 13 from 1 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET.

Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Ian Baker-Finch, Bill Kratzert and Jim Huber joined by Bill Macatee, Peter Kostis, Verne Lundquist, David Feherty, Peter Oosterhuis and Gary McCord

Baker-Finch on the changing of the guard between the established golfers and the young, up and coming golfers: “One of the big themes this week and one of the themes throughout the season this year has been the twenty-somethings.  The guys in their early twenties, like the Australian Michael Sim, they are challenging this guy here (Tiger Woods). We’re really seeing a changing of the guard, we’re seeing Phil (Mickelson) not playing well, not in good health, Lee Westwood is in poor health, had to withdraw last week and again this week, and then these twenty-somethings with this aggressive style of play.”

Baker-Finch on Whistling Straits: “Yes, this is the PGA Championship, not the Open Championship. You see these beautiful vistas across Lake Michigan. It really is a wonderful, wonderful venue. I think the best.”

Baker-Finch on who to watch for to win the 2010 PGA Championship: “It’s hard to pick (the potential winner). There are a few different storylines. Everyone has written off Phil Mickelson, he’s not been feeling well, didn’t play well last week, but he’s No. 2 in the world. Tiger, who is No. 1 in the world, has been playing poorly, people wondered if he’d even make the cut, though he’s turned that around with a birdie, birdie start. To me, the theme this week is the young guys. There are so many guys out there in their early twenties like Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland who loves links golf and grew up on a course similar to this, a very intimidating course. The other young guys, like Ryo Ishikawa from Japan, Hunter Mahan who won last week, so many under the age of 25.  Then also you’ve got those guys like a Bo Van Pelt, guys who are looking to make their way on the Ryder Cup team. Nick Whatney, guys who are playing extremely well and are trying to get on Captain Corey Pavin’s Ryder Cup team in a few weeks. There’s a lot of different things we’re going to see in the next four days, a lot of different guys with an opportunity to win.”

Baker-Finch on whether he would pick Tiger Woods for the U.S. Ryder Cup team: “If I were the Captain I would certainly pick Tiger as well. It’s pretty hard to leave him off the team, but it has to be respectful to the rest of the players who have a chance.”

Macatee on what will happen if Tiger Woods is left off of the U.S. Ryder Cup team: “If you’re (U.S. Ryder Cup captain) Corey Pavin, and you don’t pick the number one player in the world, and you don’t win the Ryder Cup, you’re opening yourself to an awful lot of criticism regardless of how he’s playing.”

Kostis: “Forget about that though, he doesn’t have to pick until September 7. That’s the whole point. If (Pavin) had to pick last Sunday night after (Woods’) performance at Firestone, he doesn’t get picked, that was an awful performance by Tiger. After what he does this week, he may even qualify for the team and it will be a moot point. You don’t have to answer those hypothetical questions right now, just wait until September 7 and it will all work itself out.”

Kostis on Tiger Woods’ strong early first round performance: “Perhaps we’re seeing the beginning of all of the chaos of golf being eliminated; an order being restored if Tiger can keep up his form.”

Kostis on playing too aggressively at Whistling Straits: “Well that’s the cardinal sin on this golf course. You have to take your medicine, you try to get too aggressive with some of these and you just pay a deeper price.”

Lundquist on France’s Gregory Bourdy: “This is too obvious, but it’s (Gregory) Bourdy from Bordeaux.”

Feherty: “Well, he would know his way around the wine cellar.”

Baker-Finch on course designer Pete Dye creating difficult sightlines on the course: “That’s Pete Dye, that’s what he tries to be, visually intimidating. He doesn’t want the players to see all the fare way, he wants to mess with their minds. This is Pete Dye’s best, that’s for sure.”

Feherty on Marc Leishman’s second shot on hole #13: “Would you like French fries or a baked potato with that? Did you see the size of that divot? Nice shot, but a huge clump of Wisconsin came out with that.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Bubba Watson (-4) following his first round

Watson on if Whistling Straits is an overpowering golf course: “No, I putted really well today and my focus was there.  I stayed with every shot and took my medicine when I had to.  I missed a couple of tee shots but the golf course is not easy.  I just made some putts.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Tiger Woods (-1) following his first round

Woods on his play in the first round: “I got off to a good start today which was nice and I’m just trying to grind my way along.  I dropped a few shots, but overall I posted under par.”

Woods on if his work leading up to the PGA Championship paid off after the first round: “I thought I hit the ball pretty good.  It felt like I had control of the ball most of the day, especially with my trajectory which was nice.  I haven’t had that in a while so it felt good to have that.”

Woods on what he needs to improve with his game: “I just need to continue to improve every day.  I need to be a little bit more solidified and today I felt like I had good speed on the greens.  If anything, I was leaving putts a little bit short.  They were a little bit slower than what I was seeing.  I just have to make that adjustment.”

McCord on Seung-yul Noh: “This guy can really hit.  He has a beautiful golf swing and he hits it a mile, way up in the air.  He looks really good to me.”

Feherty on Tiger Woods: “When you think of last week (at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) when (Woods) played like a 12-handicap, he manages to raise his game for the major championships.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Charles Howell III (-4) following his first round

Howell on playing Whistling Straits: “I played here in 2004 and I like (the course).  It has a links (type course) look to it but it definitely played like an American course today.”

Feherty on players stepping up their games while Tiger Woods has struggled recently: “One thing with Tiger (Woods) not having played well by his own standards for the last year, (it) has given us an idea of just how good the rest of the field is.  Players who have been overshadowed for so long (were able to come to the forefront).  You have to take into consideration just how good Woods is in his ability to have beaten these players for so long.”

Feherty on Nick Watney: “What a great attitude Nick Watney has.  He’s going to be a very good player for a very long time.”

Feherty on his observations of the first round: “It’s been an interesting day with the three hour delay.  They started and then stopped (play).  It was ideal to start, the wind was starting up and the course was starting to dry out.  So the scoring really hasn’t been that good.  A four under par (-4) leads and no one has been able to get to five under (-5).  We’ve got Ernie Els out there in fine form.  We’ve got (Phil) Mickelson just hanging on who’s really made some tremendous ups-and-downs and a bunch of young players who have played very well.”

I’m always impressed at how quickly I receive the quotage from Turner.

Your Thursday Links

Let’s do the Thursday links as I have to leave early to avoid Patriots traffic ahead of their preseason game against the Saints tonight.

Onto the links.

Steve Elling of CBSSports.com reports about a confrontation between Golf Channel’s Jim Gray and Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin over a quote Gray reported earlier this week. 

Stephanie Wei of the excellent Wei Under Par golf blog is reporting on the PGA Championship for the Wall Street Journal and she examines the whole Gray/Pavin shouting match which occurred after a press conference on Wednesday.

Mike Buteau of Bloomberg says Tiger Woods falling play and golf’s falling ratings could lead to more PGA Tour stops going to cable in the next TV contract. 

Golf Digest takes a tour of Golf Channel host Kelly Tilghman’s hometown of Myrtle Beach, SC.

Radio Ink Magazine reports that former CBS Sports personality/Access Hollywood/Entertainment Tonight/The Insider anchor Pat O’Brien is now joining Fox Sports Radio as a co-host of an afternoon drive show. I wonder if Betsy will be there (NSFW).

John Walters of Fanhouse says ESPN’s Pat Forde has transformed from Twitter hater to Twitter lover.

Chris Botta at Fanhouse spoke with NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins about NHL Network and other matters.

Georg Szalai in the Hollywood Reporter says Verizon will produce the first NFL game in 3-D TV in just a couple of weeks.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable says Samsung is teaming with ESPN to produce an app for “smart TV’s”.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes about a new three year deal between ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel to air English Premier League games on ESPN2.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek reports that when the new expanded SportsCenter begins on ESPNews at the end of this month, it will have fewer ads so more content can be aired.

Ryan Berenz at Channel Guide has the outlets airing this week’s PGA Championship. 

Andrew Laughlin of Digital Spy UK says ESPN is launching an iPhone app which will provide video of all English Premier League goals scored within minutes after they occurred.

Robert Andrews in paidContent talks about ESPN’s English Premier League mobile and streaming rights in both the UK and the US.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy blog wonders if a “Hard Knocks”-type program would work for the NHL.

Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe writes about colleague Jackie MacMullen who’s being honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame tonight. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at Fox Sports Wisconsin going commercial-free for a Milwaukee Brewers game to raise money for charity.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union notes the passing of former Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Nellie King.

Pete says SNY’s Ron Darling will be honored by Little League Baseball.

Pete also has ESPN’s MLB schedule through Sunday, August 22.

Robert Dvorchak and Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette remember the late Nellie King.

Ron Fritz in the Baltimore Sun has enjoyed listening to Fang’s Bites fave Michelle Beadle subbing on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning.

Jamison Hedley at the Sun notes that the Ravens have formed a TV network that has similar reach to what MASN gave the team.

Fred Bowen in the Washington Post feels women’s sports is getting the shaft on the networks.

Ryan Sharrow writes in the Washington Business Journal notes that Ravens have added DC affiliates to its radio network.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the Ravens have pieced together a new TV network after talks with MASN broke down earlier this month.

Jim says Fox picks up this Saturday’s Orioles-Rays game.

Ben Goessling of MASN says the Washington Nationals will be giving away DVD’s of Stephen Strasburg’s Major League debut during tonight’s game against the Marlins. 

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times says the NHL Network will air the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup clinching game from 2004 on Friday.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Texas Rangers set another ratings record on Fox Sports Southwest which will probably be broken very soon.

Also from the Morning News, Mike Heika reports that Fox is dropping out of the bidding for the Dallas Stars. 

Steve Watkins in the Cincinnati Business Courier says the Reds drew great ratings on Tuesday for its brawl with the St. Louis Cardinals. 

John Kieswetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports Ohio will air three University of Kentucky exhibition games in Canada next week.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business notes that the bank wants to seize memorabilia from the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.

Ed says Bulls fans who want to get their LeBron/Miami Heat fix can also go to Milwaukee to see them.

In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley notes that Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers gave playing tips on the Whistling Straits golf course to ESPN Radio. Whistling Straits is where the PGA Championships is being played this week.

Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel looks at Turner Sports’ 3-D coverage of the PGA Championship.

Benjamin Wideman of the Sheboygan (WI) Journal goes behind the scenes with Turner Sports on its 3-D coverage of the PGA Championship.

Dan Caesear of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Tuesday’s brawl between the Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds led to record ratings for Fox Sports Midwest.

St. Louis’ KMOV-TV has formed a partnership with the ESPN Radio affiliate. 

The Los Angeles Times has a reporters roundup of opinions regarding the whole Jim Gray/Corey Pavin argument.

Dave Boling of The Olympian says Ken Norton, Jr. was plucked from NFL Network to be Seattle Seahawks linebackers coach.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star notes that MLS is not striking a chord with Canadian viewers.

Bruce Dowbiggin in the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN could take a ratings and advertising hit if the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats move from its English-speaking to French-dominant Quebec.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore wants a Hard Knocks edition for the NHL.

Joe Favorito says baseball really needs to become more global.

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann remembers his friend, former Pirates announcer and pitcher Nellie King.

The great Maury Brown at the Biz of Football notes that the Madden NFL 11 video game will be made available for the iPad and iPod Touch.

That’s going to end it for us today. Lots of good links.

CBS Sports Previews The PGA Championship

Earlier this week, CBS held a media conference with its golf announcing crew, production crew and sports division president Sean McManus. They all talked about the upcoming PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Here are highlights from the conference call.

CBS SPORTS BROADCASTS PGA CHAMPIONSHIP FOR 20^th CONSECUTIVE YEAR AUGUST 12-15 FROM WHISTLING STRAITS IN KOHLER, WISC

FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM CBS SPORTS’ PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESS CALL (8/9/10) with Jim Nantz, anchor and host;  lead analyst and six-time major championship winner Sir Nick Faldo;  Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports; Harold Bryant, Vice President, Production, CBS Sports; and Lance Barrow, Coordinating Producer, CBS Golf.

 

(On surge of international players on PGA TOUR)

NANTZ:  This is where the game is going. It’s going young.  It’s going international. Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland – he probably has to be considered the favorite going into the tournament this week.  Then you’ve got an 18-year-old from Japan, Ryo Ishikawa, Oosthuizen, 27, just wins the Open Championship.

This is the game.  This is where it’s going.  It’s young.  It’s fearless.  And, it’s global.  That doesn’t mean that Tiger is not going to have another set where he’s on top of the world.  I just don’t think we’re ever going to see anything dominant like we’ve seen in the past.  It’s definitely not a game that belongs just to the Americans.

We’ve got Americans, if you are trying to identify who they are in this next wave.  I really think a guy like Jeff Overton from Indiana – he’s Top 10 every week now.  This guy is fearless.  He’s long.  He kills it.  He’s kind of a jumpy, jittery guy.  But there’s something about the way he plays that is very appealing.  He’s a big time talent.  Hunter Mahan won yesterday (Sunday). Rickie Fowler hasn’t won yet— he’s 21 — and when he does, we’re all going to be saying, wow.  Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy – this is where the game is.

We had a 10-year stretch where no one from (ages) 20-to-29 in the United States, or globally, really felt comfortable enough to go in there into a major championship and compete with Tiger, mainly Tiger, but with Tiger and Phil, and the upper echelon guys. This is where the game is now.  This is not a one-year thing.  This is where it’s going.

(On difficulty of staying on top of golfing world and sustain yourself physically and mentally, especially in regards to what Tiger is going through)

FALDO: I was fortunate enough to be there for two years, and it does take a kind of mental stamina because obviously you’ve got each week with the spotlight on you. You’ve got more media, more attention from the sponsors, all sorts of things. You still have to organize your own golf game and your own time to yourself.  I know Pete Sampras, in his reign among his 14 Grand Slams (majors), said the five years that he was world number one was also his greatest achievement being able to maintain that stamina to keep it going.  I say the same thing.  When you’re playing well, of course, that makes life a little easier because you’re walking in and talking about a good day.  And with Tiger, things take a turn because he has to face a bad day on a golf course. And that’s obviously very different especially when you are frustrated because you want to get your game turned around, and you want to spend the time to do that.  And in that particular time you want to have even more time to yourself.  That’s the bottom line.  It’s very physically and mentally demanding.

He’s going through a period in his life that no other man has really been through – coming from world number one to slipping down the mountain.  And he’s got a lot to deal with.  Both are going to bounce.  We know what has happened off the golf course.  He’s tried to get on the golf course most of the year.  Now he’s having difficulty on the golf course.

(On Tiger ever being as dominant as he once was)

FALDO: That has a lot to do with Tiger and the determination of the man.  His number one goal in life was to beat Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 majors.  I’m sure that’s still in there.  It’s not a straight road up a mountain.  He’s hit a few rocks on the way up the mountain.  If he maintains that determination, he could get there. But obviously, we know right now he has a lot to deal with, emotionally, mentally, technically, maybe even a few physical issues as well.  Those are the challenges in life.  It’s the golfing gods sending a little message to see how determined you really are to get to that Jack Nicklaus goal.

(On Ryder Cup and strength of European team with or without Lee Westwood)

FALDO: The European team is looking very strong. Lee Westwood was in my top three two years ago and unfortunately only managed to get a half-a-point that week. The European Tour is looking very good right now, same with the Americans.  America has really perked up the past couple of weeks with Hunter [Mahan] making the team.  Jeff Overton is looking very consistent.  He makes a lot of birdies.  Those kinds of guys could be very useful.

The American team has a lot of things against them — obviously coming to Europe. The European players are determined to get another win back.  They have the home advantage.  I would definitely say the European team is favored right now.

NANTZ: I would say the European team is the heavy, heavy favorite whether Lee Westwood is on that team or not. And that’s the one thing he’s [Corey Pavin] going to have going for him.  That is on the American side, no one is going to believe we can match him up, just based on world rankings and what has happened in major championship play.  No one is going to believe, on foreign soil, that the American team can win. It’s going to be one of the great advantages, if they have anything, because there’s enough talent to field a team with just Great Britain and Ireland.  It could be like the old days…They’re just loaded. They’re going to have a real problem who to leave off the team, not who to put on it. Even without Westwood, if he can’t go.

More releases later.

The Tuesday Links Or Getting Through Some Stuff

Dealing with work and trying to finish up some stuff, but while I have a break, let’s do the linkage for you.

First, USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at the ratings from various events from the weekend. 

Mike also writes about Fox NFL Sunday analyst Jimmy Johnson being a contestant on CBS’ Survivor: Nicaragua this fall.

Over at FoxSports.com, Brian Lowry says as Tiger Woods goes, so goes golf’s TV ratings.

Former Fox Sports Radio morning host Steve Czaban breaks his own news by informing fans on his blog that he’s going to be the morning host at Sporting News Radio. Thanks to reader “Tuskaloosa” for the tip.

Milton Kent at Fanhouse has CBS President of News and Sports Sean McManus and Jim Nantz talking PGA Championship.

Milton writes that a major reason why the Baltimore Ravens are no longer on MASN is due to Orioles and MASN owner Peter Angelos’ meddling. 

David Goetzl at Mediapost previews Turner Sports’ 3-D coverage of the PGA Championship.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News writes that former Showtime Sports executive Jay Larkin has passed away after a bout with cancer.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel says SportsCenter’s realm is being expanded to ESPNews at the end of this month.

Ryan Berenz of Channel Guide Magazine has the national TV NFL preseason schedule.

To the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center where the St. Petersburg Times’ Eric Deggans tells us that without Jets holdout Darrelle Revis, HBO’s Hard Knocks will lose some bite.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that the Florida Panthers are taking a page out of Priceline.com.

Darren reports that after a 7 month hiatus, Golf Digest has renewed its relationship with Tiger Woods. 

Darren adds that Frosted Flakes get plenty of free advertising from Shaquille O’Neal.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says the rehiring of the embattled Isiah Thomas by Madison Square Garden couldn’t be a worse public relations move by the company.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News can’t understand it either.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says NBA TV will air the Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement ceremonies this Friday.

Pete says TNT gets the Miami Heat’s (and LeBron James’) first visit to Cleveland this season. 

Pete also has the NFL preseason schedule for this week.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says boxing is being showcased on local TV this month.

Leonard Shapiro in the Washington Post notes that golf gets low ratings when Tiger Woods is not in the proverbial hunt. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Steve Czaban about returning to national sports talk radio. 

Jon Solomon in the Birmingham (AL) News says with Tim Tebow in the NFL, CBS might experience a ratings downturn with SEC football this season.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News feels a Cowboys practice would beat New York Yankees-Texas Rangers in the ratings.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle discusses his brief visit to ESPN and also talks about the ESPNews rebranding.

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports Ohio will air a softball game featuring local celebrities later this week.

The Enquirer looks at Fox Sports Ohio’s High School Football Game of the Week series. 

Tim Feran of the Columbus Dispatch says the NFL Network was booted off the local cable system due to what? A fee dispute, what else?

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman asks why the White Sox aren’t sold out for an important series against the Twins?

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has CBS’ Jim Nantz talking international golf ahead of this week’s PGA Championship.

Judd Zulgad in the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Minnesota Twins have reupped with their radio flagship station for two more years.

Chris Newmaker of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal also writes about the Twins’ renewal with KSTP.

Chuck Schilken of the Los Angeles Times has the video of newly inducted Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith calling NBC’s Al Michaels by a new name.

Sports Media Watch notes Red Sox-Yankees drew well for ESPN, but not as well as in the past.

SMW says this past weekend’s NASCAR race did decently for ESPN, but still lags behind previous editions.

John Daly at The Daly Planet notes that ESPN2 NASCAR Now host Nicole Briscoe took down her Twitter account.

Over to Dan Levy’s new website, Press Coverage, he writes that America really likes football, even the preseason variety.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media concludes his five part series on the future of the NHL on US TV.

Steve also tells us about the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames ending their pay per view outlets after signing a new 10 year deal with Rogers Sportsnet.

The Big Lead speaks with Dr. Lou, ESPN college football analyst Lou Holtz.

That’s going to do it for us today.

Golf Channel Is All Over The PGA Championship

Golf’s final major of the year or “Glory’s Last Shot” as the PGA calls it, is this week. The PGA Championship tees off on Thursday on TNT, but Golf Channel will have plenty of coverage in and around the tournament. Golf Channel will have live coverage of the pre-tournament press conferences in addition to its pre and post-round shows Thursday through Sunday. Here’s the press release.

Golf Channel has the PGA Championship Covered

More than 27 Hours of News Coverage from Whistling Straits

ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 7, 2010) – Golf Channel’s Live From the PGA Championship will take viewers inside the ropes at Whistling Straits with more than 27 hours of live news reports, inside analysis and features in delivering wrap-around news coverage of the final men’s major championship of 2010.

Originating from two set locations at Whistling Straits – at the clubhouse and driving range – as well as from the network’s Orlando studios, coverage will begin Tuesday at 12:45 p.m. ET with pre-tournament news conferences, featuring live coverage of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson’s news conferences. News conferences will continue Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, followed later by two-hour preview shows each evening. Live From the PGA Championship will deliver player interviews, highlights and analysis from Golf Channel’s panel of reporters and expert analysts before and after live tournament coverage Thursday-Sunday.

The Live From the PGA Championship team reporting from Whistling Straits will include Kelly Tilghman, Kraig Kann, Rich Lerner, Steve Sands, Jim Gray, Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo, Tim Rosaforte, Alex Miceli, Rex Hoggard, John Hawkins and Ken Schofield. 

Todd Lewis, Scott Walker, Whit Watson and Charlie Rymer will host the news conferences shows from the network’s studios in Orlando.

GolfChannel.com’s team of writers, as well as the on-air team, will contribute to the network’s popular blogs – Tiger Tracks, Shag Bag and Punch Shots – with entries and posts throughout the week, along with daily columns, features and breaking news. Lerner, Tilghman and Hoggard also will post twitter updates from Whistling Straits, which will be re-posted on Golf Channel’s twitter feed.

Scheduled Live From the PGA Championship features include:

·         Chamblee Takes on Whistling Straits: Brandel Chamblee scouts the holes at Whistling Straits in segments that will air throughout the week.

·         Shot Re-Creations at Whistling Straits: Following each round of play, Brandel Chamblee and Frank Nobilo will hit the course to re-create the key shots and moments from tournament play.

·         PGA Professionals Featured: Throughout the week, Golf Channel will profile select PGA of America Professionals who qualified for the PGA Championship via the PGA Professional National Championship earlier in the summer.

·         Patriot Golf Day – Patriot Golf Day is the flagship fundraiser for the Folds of Honor Foundation. On Labor Day weekend, golfers across the country are asked to add an extra dollar to their greens fees to fund Folds of Honor scholarships. Golf Channel will visit with Major Dan Rooney, founder of the Folds of Honor Foundation and PGA Professional, to discuss the origins and what is in store for Patriot Golf Day 2010.

·         Whistling Straits Founder Herb Kohler –The name Kohler is synonymous with kitchen and bathroom fixtures throughout the world. Herb Kohler oversees a company of 75,000 employees, and with a net worth of nearly 4 billion dollars, he ranks as one of the richest men in the world. His company, however, takes a back seat to his love of golf. Golf Channel’s Jim Gray visits with Kohler to discuss his passion for golf and the development of Whistling Straits into a major championship venue.

·         Course Architect Pete Dye – Golf Channel will visit with Whistling Straits architect Pete Dye and his wife Alice, where viewers will hear the origins of the famous “17^th Hole Island Green” at TPC Sawgrass.

Live From the PGA Championship TV Times (all times ET)

Tuesday, Aug. 10:        12:45-4 p.m. (News Conferences)

                                            6-8 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 11:   1-3 p.m. (News Conferences)

                                            6-8 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 12:      10 a.m.-1 p.m.

                                             8-10 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 13:            10 a.m.-1 p.m.

                                             8-10 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 14:          9-11 a.m.

                                              7-9 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 15:             9-11 a.m.

                                              7-9 p.m.

Lots of stuff.

More Sunday Links

Well, thanks to being informed at the very last minute that I’m having guests today, I had to stop the links earlier today and I had to clean my house. Anyway, as I’m waiting for their arrival, let’s get back to the linkage.

Steve Lepore of SB Nation New York ranks the tri-state area’s best announcers. He has part one here and part two here.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union has the PGA Championship TV schedule.

Bob Grotz in The Trentonian (NJ) talks with NFL Network’s Mike Mayock.

David Stanley Ford of the Daily Oklahoman says the Oklahoma City Thunder being chosen for an NBA Christmas Day game shows the team has truly arrived on the national scene.

Jim Benson of the Bloomington (IN) Pentagraph really enjoys Vin Scully. 

Weston Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay (WI) Press Gazette says ESPN’s, and host of Wipeout, John Anderson will get his own bobblehead this week.

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers will air a game commercial-free to benefit a local charity. 

Bill Shaikin from the Los Angeles Times says calculating future TV revenue for the Dodgers will be difficult as estranged wife of owner Frank McCourt, Jamie McCourt wants a certain percentage.

John Canzano of The Oregonian notes one community is upset with Comcast as they can’t watch the Portland Trail Blazers.

Joe Favorito says having NASCAR return to the New York-area for a race is not a bad idea.

That will complete the links for today.

Here Are Some Thursday Links

Trying to get ahead on some linkage before diving head first into some paperwork. Lots of stuff going on and let’s get busy, shall we?

Tom Weir of USA Today’s Game On blog has ESPN denying LeBron James put pressure on the network to pull a story from its website.

At Fanhouse, Milton Kent discusses ESPN spiking the Arash Markazi story on LeBron in Las Vegas.

To the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center where Dave Kindred mourns the death of Vic Siegel of the New York Daily News.

Glen Dickson of Broadcasting & Cable writes that TNT will air the first two days of the PGA Championship in 3-D.

John Eggerton of Multichannel News says Comcast is talking with DirecTV and Dish about placing its SportsNet Philadelphia regional sports network on both systems which would come as good news to subscribers. 

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes that former Cowboys QB and current Fox NFL analyst Troy Aikman will be participating in Dancing with the Stars this season.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about golfer Fred Couples on the forefront of a new shoe trend. 

Richard Sandomir and Ken Belson of the New York Times has Pac 10/12 Commissioner Larry Scott talking about a TV channel similar to the Big Ten Network.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union says MLB Network is cutting its trade deadline coverage in half as compared to last year.

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says new Miami Heat star Chris Bosh has been making the rounds on national TV and in the local area.

Jay Weiner of MinnPost writes that a noted media critic and women’s sports advocate is joining ESPN to advise the network on increasing its coverage on women.

The Big Lead has video of an ESPN anchor saying what was on most Mets fans minds.

Sox & Dawgs says NESN’s Heidi Watney is getting her own bobblehead doll. There’s a joke there, but I’m not going to say it.

This is not the end of the links. Lunch is beckoning. More links coming up.

Turner Sports To Produce The 92nd PGA Championship In 3-D

2010 will be remembered as the year where 3-D TV really gained a foothold on sports television. Looking back on the test events last year and compare that to the number of events produced in 3-D this year, you have a considerable jump in the amount of sports produced in the 3rd dimension. Well, Turner Sports has announced plans to produce this year’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in 3-D. Already, Turner has picked up a bunch of providers on both cable and satellite to distribute the event to a nationwide audience of about 13. But still, it’s a big step for 3-D.

Turner Sports and The PGA to Offer 3D Coverage of the 92nd PGA Championship Through PGA.com and TNT’s Television Distributors

Vince Cellini to host coverage alongside 2002 PGA Champion Rich Beem

Turner Sports and The PGA of America announced today they will offer coverage of the 92^nd PGA Championship in 3D on Thursday, Aug. 12 and Friday, Aug. 13, on PGA.com and through TNT’s television distributors Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, DIRECTV, and Time Warner Cable. The 3D coverage will focus on the par-3 12^th and 17^th holes at Whistling Straits from 3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET each day. Host Vince Cellini who will be joined by 2002 PGA Champion Rich Beem will provide commentary and analysis on the holes. Beem also will provide analysis throughout the weekend during PGA.com’s extensive 2D online offerings.

The 3D production will utilize eight cameras produced specifically for 3D that will provide a unique look at course action and give fans a one-of-a-kind visual experience to watch the world’s best golfers play the course’s challenging par-3s. In order to experience the event in 3D, viewers will need a 3D TV or PC display with matching 3D glasses. Fans can visit http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2010/3d to get more information about the hardware and software used to view the 3D production online.

In addition to 3D coverage, Turner Sports will also offer 20 hours of television coverage on TNT, live 2D coverage on PGA.com and on mobile devices, with additional details to be announced at a later date.   

“At Turner Sports we continually look to provide the fan with an innovative viewing experience through our ability to test and explore new opportunities,” said Lenny Daniels, Turner Sports EVP and COO. “The PGA Championship has always been a platform for forward thinking and interactive technology. During previous PGA Championship coverage on TNT and PGA.com, we have introduced our marquee follow coverage, live streaming action through mobile apps and included social networking within our linear broadcast. Introducing 3D coverage to this crown jewel event allows us another opportunity to better serve our audience and add to our multitude of platforms.”

“The PGA Championship has perennially been the source of many of the game’s most special moments,” said PGA of America Director of Broadcast & New Media Casey Morton. “The addition of 3D television and online technology unfolding at Whistling Straits, a spectacular venue for viewers, is yet another new level of excitement for fans to follow the world’s premier players. We anticipate that the addition of this bonus for viewers opens another chapter in PGA Championship tradition.”

Each year during the PGA Championship, Turner provides fans with an exclusive and interactive viewing experience combining television, online and mobile. Through TNT’s four days of coverage, the ability to follow marquee groups live on PGA.com and instant player alerts and notifications on the PGA Championship iPhone app, fans get an all-access pass for all the tournament action.

That’s it.

Some Additional Wednesday Links

Ok, let me provide you with some additional linkage here. I got interrupted and posted my original links rather hastily. Then I had to tape this week’s Sports Media Weekly Podcast with Keith Thibault and our guest, Susan Shan so let’s bring you the rest of the linkage now.

We’re getting word that ESPN spiked an article that was posted by writer Arash Markazi. In it, Markazi follows LeBron James in Las Vegas and chronicles his night at the Venetian hotel. For whatever reason, ESPN took it down, but credit Will Leitch of New York Magazine for putting it on Google Docs where it stands right now. According to CNBC’s Darren Rovell, James’ management team denies having anything to do with pulling the story. Whatever the reason, ESPN again looks bad for apparently having a cozy relationship with James. And after the ill-advised “The Decision”, ESPN doesn’t need more black eyes. We’ll monitor this story to see if it has any legs.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today notes that next year’s MLB season will begin earlier and end earlier. 

Whitney Matheson of USA Today’s Pop Candy blog looks at the latest ESPN 30 for 30 doc on BMX.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with Pac 10/12 Commissioner Larry Scott. 

Forbes’ Great Speculations blog notes that ESPN is crucial to Disney’s success or failure.

Portada Online says ESPN Deportes Radio has found a Philadelphia affiliate.

Jessica Heslam & Thomas Grillo from the Boston Herald look into why the Red Sox ratings on NESN are way down from last year. 

D.C. Denison and Alexandra McMahon of the Boston Globe also try to figure out the Red Sox ratings slide.

Jim Shea of the Hartford Courant feels it might be NESN’s presentation that might be turning off viewers.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes MLB Network will have expanded coverage of the trading deadline this Saturday. 

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that a baby recliner designed by Leslie Gudel of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is being recalled after the death of a four month old.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner discusses the MLS All-Star Game which is being carried by ESPN2 tonight.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says Tuesday’s Oakland-Texas Rangers game was the highest rated baseball game of the year for Fox Sports Southwest.

Mike Colias of Crain’s Chicago Business says the Cubs struggles on the field are translating into lower TV ratings.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks about the possible successors to Pat Haden on NBC’s Notre Dame football telecasts.

Tom writes that Minnesota Timberwolves GM David Kahn is now screening his media requests after being fined by the NBA.

SportsbyBrooks gets confirmation from Jay Glazer that he’s going to work at NFL Network while keeping his current position at Fox NFL Sunday.

SbyB also discovers that NFL Network was also targeting Sports Illustrated’s and NBC’s Peter King but was turned down.

The Sports Media Watch has the Weekend Overnight Ratings. 

SMW also has some ratings news and notes.

Digital Journal has the NFL anticipating its highest rated season yet.

TVbytheNumbers notes that TNT plans to produce the PGA Championship next month in 3-D.

Boston Sports Radio Watch explores the war of words and ratings between WEEI and 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Rock Mamota in Chicago Now claims MLB is in need of a ratings transfusion.

That will do it for now.

TNT Will Be All Over The PGA Championship

Turner Sports sent out this release very early considering the PGA Championship is less than a month away, but always good to get some pub for it as much as you can. So here’s the release which includes TNT’s coverage plans.

TNT to Feature 20 Hours of Televised Coverage for the 92^nd PGA Championship

               

PGA.com Will Offer Extensive Complementary Online Coverage August 12-15

Turner Sports will provide extensive coverage of the 92^nd PGA Championship from Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. TNT will air exclusive coverage of the first and second rounds, including seven hours each on Thurs., August 12 and Fri., August 13 from 1 - 8 p.m. (ET). The network will continue with early coverage of the third and fourth rounds on Sat., August 14 and Sun., August 15 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. (ET).

TNT’s announce team will feature  two-time Emmy^® award-winner Ernie Johnson (play-by-play), Ian Baker-Finch (analyst), Billy Kratzert (analyst) and Jim Huber (interviewer/essayist).

In addition to 20 hours of television coverage, Turner Sports will also offer live coverage on PGA.com, the official site of The PGA of America, and on mobile devices, with additional details to be announced at a later date.   

That’s it.