Fang's Bites

Al Jazeera’s beIN Sport Picks Up Time Warner/Bright House Cable

Just announced by the Al Jazeera-owned beIN Sport, the network that has rights to La Liga of Spain, Serie A of Italy and Ligue 1 of France, has been picked up by the Time Warner Cable/Bright House combo meaning it increases its availability across the country.

In addition to the three leagues, Al Jazeera’s beIn Sport airs away games of the US Men’s National Team in World Cup qualifiers and English League games.

Not sure if this is a sports tier deal, but soccer fans who have missed La Liga and Serie A since their move from Gol TV in August will now get access as long as they have Time Warner/Bright House.

The two providers have agreed to pick up both the English and Spanish feeds of beIN.

Here’s the announcement.

Time Warner Cable & Bright House Networks To Launch beIN SPORT, The New Soccer and International Sports Network

beIN SPORT Scores New Affiliation Agreement with Country’s Second and Sixth-Largest Cable Operators

MIAMI, FL – November 2, 2012 – beIN SPORT, the new independent 24-hour global network dedicated to live and exclusive coverage of the world’s best soccer and international sports, today announced it will be carried by Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks.

Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks will offer the network in English and a separate network in Spanish on TV and on demand. Additionally, both networks will be made available to authenticated subscribers through the TWC TV website (www.twctv.com) and applications inside the home and through beIN SPORT’s website (www.beinsport.tv) and applications inside and outside the home.

With beIN SPORT, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks customers will have access to exciting soccer and international sports programming, including top soccer leagues and tournaments from Europe and South America, including games from Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, South American World Cup Qualifiers and Copa America 2015. The network also carries the away games of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team in the qualifying rounds of the 2014 World Cup.

Availability of both channels will vary by market.

“U.S. international sports fans are underserved and beIN SPORT fulfills that need. Our original programming and vast, exclusive coverage is designed to meet the desire of viewers to ‘be in’ the game and be involved in the international sports community,” said Yousef Al Obaidly, managing director of beIN SPORT. “We are excited to offer Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks customers the unmatched play of international competition captured only on beIN SPORT.”

That’s it.

It’s Official! NFL Network is Now on Bright House & Time Warner Cable Sytems

It took seven years, but finally, NFL Network and its companion channel, NFL RedZone will make their debuts on Bright House and Time Warner Cable in time for Sunday’s games.

Officials for Bright House/Time Warner say that both channels will be on this weekend with full debuts made before Thursday Night Football’s Week 4 game on September 27.

Time Warner had been the lone holdout of the major cable and satellite providers and hope seemed bleak for an agreement this season before Bloomberg News broke the agreement this morning.

This allows fans in 12 NFL markets including New York, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Kansas City, Dallas, Green Bay-Mikwaukee among others to gain access to NFL Network.

Time Warner says NFL Network will be on digital basic while RedZone will be placed on a sports tier.

Here’s the announcement.

TIME WARNER CABLE & BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS SIGN MULTI-YEAR DEALS TO CARRY NFL NETWORK & NFL REDZONE

NFL Network reached multi-year agreements with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, the country’s respective second- and sixth-largest cable providers, for carriage of NFL Network and the NFL RedZone channel, it was announced today.

NFL Network and NFL RedZone will debut in Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks homes beginning this Sunday September 23, with full launch before Thursday, September 27.

“We’re delighted to have reached an agreement for NFL Network and NFL RedZone that provides a good value to our customers,” said Melinda Witmer, Executive Vice President and Chief Video and Content Officer for Time Warner Cable. “The additional games this year and the proven appeal of NFL RedZone will certainly prove to be a draw for our customers. We look forward to a long and productive relationship with the NFL.”

“We thank our customers for their patience while a fair deal was reached for all involved,” said Steve Miron, CEO, Bright House Networks. “It is especially rewarding to say yes to our customers who have requested NFL Network’s award-winning coverage.”

“We are excited to work with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks to bring fans football 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” said NFL Network President and CEO Steve Bornstein. “Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks subscribers will be able to enjoy our weekly Thursday Night Football schedule, our award-winning Sunday NFL GameDay shows, NFL Total Access, NFL Films programming and much more. In addition, the NFL RedZone channel is a truly exciting way to enhance your Sunday football viewing experience each and every week.”

Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks are major cable providers in the home markets for 12 NFL teams (Buffalo, Carolina, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Kansas City, New York Giants, New York Jets, San Diego and Tampa Bay). For Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, NFL Network will be available on the Digital Basic and Sports Pass tiers, and NFL RedZone will be available to Sports Pass customers.

NFL Network is the home of Thursday Night Football — 13 primetime NFL regular season games from September through December — and is the destination for all that happens around the sport of football. NFL Network airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and provides viewers with more than 2,500 hours per year of original programming, including: NFL Total Access, NFL GameDay, the new four-hour NFL AM weekday morning show, Top 10, Playbook, NFL Replay, NFL Classic Games plus the Emmy award-winning Sound FX and America’s Game.

NFL Network also features every NFL preseason game, the Senior Bowl, plus more coverage of the NFL Draft, Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremony, NFL Scouting Combine and Super Bowl than anyone else.

The extraordinarily popular NFL RedZone, produced by NFL Network, whips around every NFL game on Sunday afternoons, delivering the touchdowns and most exciting moments as they happen and in high definition. When a team goes inside the 20-yard line, fans see the crucial plays live. The channel keeps fans up-to-date in real time, switching from game to game with live look-ins, highlights and a chance to see every important play. For more information on NFL RedZone, visit www.nfl.com/redzonetv.

That will do it.

NFL Online and Tablet Streaming For 2012

As we approach the 2012 NFL regular season, let’s take a look at the online streaming plans for the League’s TV partners. Believe it or not, online real-time streaming of games began back in 2007 when DirecTV released its Supercast app for computers (for Internet Explorer only!) and allowed subscribers to its NFL Sunday Ticket service to watch the Sunday afternoon games online. At that time, streaming to mobiles was just in its infancy and the quality on a 3G network was horrible.

The following year, NBC announced it would stream its entire Sunday Night Football schedule online.

Since then, the NFL has taken baby steps in streaming. DirecTV’s Sunday NFL Ticket has expanded to mobiles and tablets as well as a gaming platforms. ESPN’s Monday Night Football now streams on the WatchESPN service, but only for authenticated subscribers of Bright House, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon Fios systems. And the NFL has provided mobile streaming rights to Verizon meaning only customers of the cell phone provider can watch Sunday, Monday and Thursday Night Football on their devices.

With the new TV contracts signed at the end of last year, the NFL’s broadcast and cable partners have limited streaming rights. I’ve asked several networks about their streaming plans and I’ll provide answers, where applicable, on how this season shapes up online, on mobiles and on tablets.

• CBS — No streaming plans.
• DirecTV — NFL Sunday Ticket streamed online, mobiles and on tablets. Also on participating gaming consoles.
• ESPN — Monday Night Football streamed online and on tablets at WatchESPN only for authenticated cable customers (Bright House, Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon Fios)
• Fox — No streaming plans.
• NBC — Sunday Night Football streamed online at NBCSports.com also available on tablets through browsers. Not available through the NBC Sports Live Extra app.
• NFL Network — Thursday Night Football streamed on mobiles through NFL Live on Verizon devices only. Awaiting word if there will be streaming on tablets this season.

Sunday and Monday Night Football are streamed on mobiles through NFL Live on Verizon devices only.

While Super Bowl XLVI was streamed through NBCSports.com only on computers, there’s no word yet whether CBS will receive permission to stream Super Bowl XLVII. It had sought to stream Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, but was turned down by the league. We’ll see if the NFL decides to allow CBS to show the Super Bowl online in 2013.

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 03/03 & 03/04/12, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Saturday, March 3

Men’s Schedule

College GameDay live from Durham, NC — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.

Atlantic Sun Championship, Macon, GA
Belmont vs. Florida Gulf Coast — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Big South Championship, Asheville, NC
VMI vs. UNC-Asheville — ESPN, noon

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, Richmond, VA
Quarterfinals
Drexel vs. UNC-Wilmington — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic & New England)/The Comcast Network, noon
Old Dominion vs. Delaware — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic Plus & New England)/The Comcast Network, 2:30 p.m.
VCU vs. William & Mary — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic Plus & New England)/CSS/The Comcast Network, 6 p.m.
George Mason vs. Georgia State — Comcast SportsNet (Mid-Atlantic Plus & New England)/The Comcast Network, 8:30 p.m.

Horizon League Tournament, Valparaiso, IN
Semifinals
Detroit vs. Cleveland State — ESPN3, 6 p.m.
Butler vs. Valparaiso — ESPNU, 8:30 p.m.

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, St. Louis, MO
Semifinals
Wichita State vs. Illinois State — Fox College Sports Central/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 2:30 p.m.
Creighton vs. Evansville — Fox College Sports Central/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 5 p.m.

Ohio Valley Conference Championship, Nashville, TN
Murray State vs. Tennessee State — ESPN2, 2 p.m.

Patriot League Tournament (Home Sites)
Semifinals
Lafayette at Bucknell — CBS Sports Network, 2 p.m.
American at Lehigh — CBS Sports Network, 4:30 p.m.

Summit League Tournament, Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinals
Oral Roberts vs. IPFW — Fox College Sports Central, 7 p.m.
South Dakota State vs. IUPUI — Fox College Sports Central, 9:30 p.m.

West Coast Conference Tournament, Las Vegas, NV
Semifinals
San Francisco vs. St. Mary’s — ESPN2, 9 p.m.
BYU vs. Gonzaga — ESPN2, 11:30 p.m.

noon
Wake Forest at Georgia Tech — ACC Network
West Virginia at South Florida — Big East Network: Bright House/MASN/MSG Network/Root Sports Pittsburgh
Memphis at Tulsa — CBS
George Washington at Dayton — CBS Sports Network
Pittsburgh at UConn — ESPN

12:30 p.m.
Nebraska at Minnesota — Big Ten Network

1:30 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Kansas State — Big 12 Network
South Carolina at Georgia — SEC Network

2 p.m. 
Charlotte at Xavier — A-10 Network: Fox Sports Ohio
Georgetown at Marquette — Big East Network: MASN/SNY
LSU at Auburn — CBS
Washington at UCLA — CBS
Cincinnati at Villanova — ESPN
Southern Mississippi at Marshall — Fox Sports Net (national)

2:30 p.m.
Boston College at Miami — ACC Network
Northwestern at Iowa — Big Ten Network

4 p.m.
URI at UMass — A-10 Network: Comcast SportsNet (New England & Philadelphia)/CSS
Missouri at Texas Tech — Big 12 Network
Texas A&M at Oklahoma — Big 12 Network
Louisville at Syracuse — CBS
Vanderbilt at Tennessee — ESPN
Colorado at Oregon State — Fox Sports Net (national)
Boise State at New Mexico — NBC Sports Network
Alabama at Mississippi — SEC Network
Colorado State at Air Force — the mtn.

5 p.m.
Arkansas at Mississippi State — Fox Sports Net (regional): Fox Sports South/Sun Sports

6 p.m.
Seton Hall at DePaul — Big East Network: Altitude/MASN/MSG Network

7 p.m.
North Carolina at Duke — ESPN
San Diego State at TCU — the mtn.

8 p.m.
St. John’s at Rutgers — Big East Network: MASN/MSG Network

9 p.m.
Texas at Kansas — ESPN

10 p.m.
Wyoming at UNLV

Women’s Schedule

ACC Tournament, Greensboro, NC
Semifinals
Georgia Tech vs. North Carolina State — ESPNU, 11 a.m.
Maryland vs. Wake Forest — ESPNU, 1:30 p.m.

Big Ten Tournament, Indianapolis, IN
Semifinals
Ohio State vs. Nebraska — Big Ten Network, 5 p.m.
Penn State vs. Purdue — Big Ten Network, 7:30 p.m.

SEC Tournament, Nashville, TN
Semifinals
Kentucky vs. LSU — ESPNU, 4 p.m.
Tennessee vs. South Carolina — ESPNU, 6:30 p.m.

noon
Iowa State at Baylor — Fox Sports Net (national)

Sunday, March 4

Men’s Schedule

Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, Richmond, VA
Semifinals
Drexel vs. Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/CSS/The Comcast Network, 2 p.m.
VCU vs. George Mason — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/CSS/The Comcast Network, 4:30 p.m.

Missouri Valley Championship, St. Louis, MO
Creighton vs. Illinois State — CBS, 2 p.m.

Northeast Conference Tournament (Home Sites)
Semifinals
Robert Morris vs. Wagner — Fox College Sports Atlantic/MSG Network, noon
Quinnipiac vs LIU — Fox College Sports Atlantic/MSG Network, 6 p.m.

Summit League Tournament, Sioux Falls, SD
Quarterfinals
Western Illinois vs. North Dakota State — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
Oakland vs. Southern Utah — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Detroit, 9:30 p.m.

noon
Kentucky at Florida — CBS
Clemson at Florida State — ESPN2

1 p.m.
Illinois at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network
Michigan at Penn State — ESPN

2 p.m.
Virginia at Maryland — ACC Network

3:30 p.m.
Arizona at Arizona State — Fox Sports Net (national)

4 p.m.
Ohio State at Michigan State — CBS

5:30 p.m.
Cal at Stanford — Fox Sports Net (national)

6 p.m.
Purdue at Michigan — Big Ten Network
North Carolina State at Virginia Tech — ESPNU

Women’s Schedule

ACC Championship, Greensboro, NC
Maryland vs. Georgia Tech — ESPN2, 2 p.m.

Atlantic 10 Tournament, Philadelphia, PA
Semifinals
St. Bonaventure vs. St. Joseph’s — CBS Sports Network, noon
Temple vs. Dayton — CBS Sports Network, 2:30 p.m.

Big East Tournament, Hartford, CT
Quarterfinals
Georgetown vs. West Virginia — ESPNU, noon
Notre Dame vs. DePaul — ESPNU, 2:30 p.m.
St. John’s vs. Louisville — Big East Network: SNY, 6 p.m.
UConn vs. Rutgers — ESPNU, 8:30 p.m.

Big Ten Championship, Indianapolis, IN
Nebraska vs. Purdue — ESPN2, 4 p.m.

SEC Championship, Nashville, TN
LSU vs. Tennessee — ESPN2, 6 p.m.

1 p.m.
Texas A&M at Texas — Fox Sports Net (national)

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 02/11 & 02/12/12, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports on TV

Saturday, February 11

College GameDay live from Nashville, TN — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN,11 a.m./ESPN, 8 p.m.

11 a.m.
Butler at Cleveland State — ESPN2
Ball State at Kent State — ESPNU

noon
DePaul at Notre Dame — Big East Network: Cox Sports Television/MASN/SNY
James Madison at Towson — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/The Comcast Network
Louisville at West Virginia — ESPN
IPFW at Oakland — Fox College Sports Atlantic/Fox Sports Detroit

Women’s: Navy at Army — CBS Sports Network

1 p.m.
Miami at Florida State — ACC Network
Virginia at North Carolina — ACC Network
UConn at Syracuse — CBS
Arkansas-Little Rock at Middle Tennessee — ESPN2
Nebraska at Penn State — ESPNU
Dayton at Fordham — YES

1:30 p.m.
Baylor at Missouri — Big 12 Network
Georgia at Mississippi State — SEC Network
South Carolina at Arkansas — SEC Network

2 p.m.
Virginia Commonwealth at Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS/The Comcast Network
Kansas State at Texas — ESPN
Western Kentucky at Troy — Fox College Sports Central
Utah at Arizona — Fox Sports Net (national)

2:30 p.m.
Navy at Army — CBS Sports Network

3 p.m.
New Mexico State at Utah State — ESPN2
Cincinnati at Marquette — ESPNU

3:30 p.m.
Wyoming at New Mexico — the mtn.

4 p.m.
Duquense at St. Bonaventure — A-10: CSS/The Comcast Network
Oklahoma at Kansas — Big 12 Network
Texas A&M at Iowa State — Big 12 Network
Maryland at Duke — ESPN
Cal at UCLA — Fox Sports Net (national)
Clemson at Wake Forest — Fox Sports Net: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Fox Sports Arizona Plus/Fox Sports Florida/Fox Sports North Plus/Fox Sports South/NESN
San Diego State at UNLV — NBC Sports Network
Tennessee at Florida — SEC Network

Women’s: Georgetown at UConn — Big East Network: Comcast SportsNet New England/MASN/SNY

4:30 p.m.
Women’s: Charlotte at Duquense — CBS Sports Network

5 p.m.
Wichita State at Creighton — ESPN2
George Washington at Richmond — ESPNU

6 p.m.
Pepperdine at BYU — BYU TV/Fox Sports West
Michigan State at Ohio State — ESPN

Women’s: Texas A&M at Baylor — Fox Sports Net (national)
Women’s: Air Force at Boise State — the mtn.

6:30 p.m.
Colorado at Arizona State — Fox College Sports Pacific/Root Sports Rocky Mountain/Fox Sports Arizona

Women’s: TCU at Colorado State — CBS Sports Network

7 p.m.
Alabama at LSU — ESPN2
Harvard at Princeton — ESPNU
Auburn at Mississippi — Fox Sports Net: Fox Sports Houston/Fox Sports South/Fox Sports Southwest/Sun Sports

8 p.m.
Western Illinois at Oral Roberts — Fox College Sports Central

8:30 p.m.
Colorado State at TCU — the mtn.

9 p.m.
Boise State at Air Force — CBS Sports Network
Kentucky at Vanderbilt — ESPN
Xavier at Temple — ESPN2

11 p.m.
Women’s: USC at Cal — Fox Sports Net (national)

Sunday, February 12

noon
Pittsburgh at Seton Hall — Big East Network: Altitude/Bright House/Cox Sports Television/CSS/MASN/SNY
Stony Brook at Vermont — CBS Sports Network

1 p.m.
Illinois at Michigan — CBS
St. John’s at Georgetown — ESPN
Wisconsin-Green Bay at Detroit — Fox Sports Pacific/Fox Sports Detroit

Women’s: Penn State at Northwestern — Big Ten Network
Women’s: Duke at Florida State — Fox Sports Net: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Fox Sports South/NESN/Sun Sports
Women’s: Kansas at Kansas State — Fox Sports Net (national)

2 p.m.
Women’s: Southern Mississippi at SMU — CBS Sports Network

2:30 p.m.
Play for Kay
ESPN2 Coverage Map
Women’s: Arkansas at Auburn — ESPN2
Women’s: Iowa State at Texas Tech — ESPN2
Women’s: Marquette at DePaul — ESPN2
Women’s: Miami at Maryland — ESPN2

3 p.m.
Bradley at Missouri State — Fox Sports Central/Fox Sports Midwest/Comcast SportsNet Chicago

Women’s: Michigan State at Iowa — Big Ten Network
Women’s: UCLA at Stanford — Fox Sports Net (national)

3:30 p.m.
Women’s: West Virginia at Notre Dame — ESPNU
Women’s: Mississippi at Mississippi State — Fox Sports Net: Fox Sports Southwest Plus/SportSouth/Sun Sports

4:30 p.m.
St. Francis (NY) at Long Island University — Fox Sports Atlantic/MSG Network

5 p.m.
Play for Kay
ESPN2 Coverage Map
Women’s: Florida at South Carolina — ESPN2
Women’s: Purdue at Ohio State — ESPN2
Women’s: St. John’s at Rutgers — ESPN2
Women’s: Wake Forest at North Carolina State — ESPN2

5:30 p.m.
Washington at Oregon State — Fox Sports Net (national)

6 p.m.
Northwestern at Purdue — Big Ten Network
Boston College at Virginia Tech — ESPNU

7:30 p.m.
Stanford at USC — Fox Sports Net (national)

8 p.m.
Evansville at Drake — ESPNU

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 02/04 & 02/05/2012, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports on TV

Saturday, February 4

College GameDay live from Columbia, MO — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m./ESPN, 8 p.m.

11 a.m.
South Florida at Georgetown — ESPNU

noon
LaSalle at St. Joseph – A-10 Network: CSS/The Comcast Network
Seton Hall at UConn — Big East Network: Bright House/MASN/SNY
Syracuse at St. John’s — ESPN
Detroit at Butler — ESPN2

1 p.m.
Virginia at Florida State — ACC Network
Wake Forest at North Carolina State — ACC Network
Marquette at Notre Dame — CBS
Vanderbilt at Florida — CBS
Boston College at Georgia Tech — ESPNU
Xavier at Memphis — Fox Sports Net (national)

Women’s: St. Joseph’s at Richmond — CBS Sports Network

1:30 p.m.
Baylor at Oklahoma State — Big 12 Network
Arkansas at LSU — SEC Network

2 p.m.
Delaware at James Madison — CSS/The Comcast Network
Ohio State at Wisconsin — ESPN
Temple at URI — ESPN2

Women’s: Providence at Villanova — Big East Network: Comcast SportsNet New England/SNY

3 p.m.
Penn State at Iowa — ESPNU
Arizona at Stanford — Fox Sports Net (national)

Women’s: San Diego State at TCU — CBS Sports Network

4 p.m.
Rutgers at Louisville — Big East Network: Bright House/MASN/SNY
Texas A&M at Kansas State — Big 12 Network
Clemson at Virginia Tech — Fox Sports Net: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/Fox Sports Florida/Fox Sports North Plus/Fox Sports South/NESN
New Mexico at Boise State — NBC Sports Network
Auburn at Mississippi State — SEC Network
UNLV at Wyoming — the mtn.

5 p.m.
Air Force at Colorado State — CBS Sports Network
Old Dominion at George Mason — ESPNU
UCLA at Washington State — Fox College Sports Atlantic/Root Sports Northwest
Creighton at Northern Iowa — Fox College Sports Central/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest

Women’s: Central Florida at Memphis — Fox Sports Net (national)

6 p.m.
Kentucky at South Carolina — ESPN
Iowa at Oklahoma — ESPN2

7 p.m.
DePaul at Cincinnati — Big East Network: Bright House/MASN/SNY
Indiana at Purdue — Big Ten Network
Northeastern at VCU — Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS/The Comcast Network
Richmond at Duquense — ESPNU
Texas Tech at Texas — Longhorn Network

Women’s: Wyoming at UNLV — the mtn.

8 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama — ESPN2
South Alabama at Western Kentucky — Fox College Sports Atlantic
Georgia at Tennessee — Fox Sports Net: Fox Sports Houston/Fox Sports North Plus/Fox Sports South/Fox Sports Southwest

8:30 p.m.
Portland State at Northern Arizona — Fox College Sports Pacific

9 p.m.
Kansas at Missouri — ESPN
Cal-Santa Barbara at Cal State-Fullerton — ESPNU
Oregon at Cal — Fox College Sports Central/Root Sports Northwest

10 p.m.
BYU at Portland — BYU TV
Indiana State at Wichita State — ESPN2
TCU at San Diego State — the mtn.

11 p.m.
USC at Washington — Fox Sports Net (national)

Sunday, February 5

11 a.m.
Women’s: Dayton at Xavier — ESPNU

noon
West Virginia at Providence — Big East Network: Altitude/Bright House/Cox Sports RI/Cox Sports Television/CSS/MASN/SNY

Women’s: UTEP at Rice — Fox Sports Net (national)

1 p.m.
Minnesota at Nebraska — Big Ten Network
Michigan at Michigan State — CBS

Women’s: DePaul at Notre Dame — ESPNU
Women’s: Wake Forest at Boston College — Fox Sports Net (regional): Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Fox Sports Fox Sports Florida/Fox Sports South/NESN

2 p.m.
Villanova at Pittsburgh — ESPN

Women’s: Missouri at Texas Tech — Fox Sports Net (national)
Women’s: Auburn at Tennessee — SEC Network

3 p.m.
Northwestern at Illinois — Big Ten Network
Miami (FL) at Duke — ESPNU

Women’s: Georgia at Alabama — Fox Sports Net (regional): Fox Sports Florida/SportSouth

4 p.m.
Women’s: Washington at USC — Fox Sports Net (national)

College Basketball Viewing Picks for 01/21 & 01/22/2012, All Times Eastern

Men’s Schedule Courtesy of Matt’s College Sports on TV

Saturday, January 21

College GameDay live from Pittsburgh, PA — ESPNU, 10 a.m./ESPN, 11 a.m./ESPN, 8 p.m.

11 a.m.
Maryland at Temple — ESPNU

noon
Fordham at St. Bonaventure — A-10 Network: Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/CSS/The Comcast Network
Wake Forest at Boston College — ACC Network
Rutgers at Georgetown — Big East Network: Bright House/Cox Sports Television/MASN/SNY
Alabama at Kentucky — CBS
Purdue at Michigan State — ESPN

Women’s: Texas at Oklahoma — Fox Sports Net (national)

1 p.m.
Xavier at Dayton — ESPN2
Villanova at St. John’s — ESPNU

Women’s: St. Joseph’s at Xavier — CBS Sports Network

1:30 p.m.
Kansas State at Oklahoma State — Big 12 Network
South Carolina at Auburn — SEC Network

2 p.m.
Michigan at Arkansas — CBS
Missouri at Baylor — ESPN
Central Florida at UAB — Fox Sports Net (national)

Women’s: West Virginia at Pittsburgh — Big East Network

2:30 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Clemson — ACC Network

3 p.m.
Indiana State at Creighton — ESPN2
Cincinnati at West Virginia — ESPNU

Women’s: Wyoming at Colorado State — CBS Sports Network
Women’s: Utah Valley at North Dakota — Fox College Sports Central

3:30 p.m.
Boise State at TCU — the mtn.

4 p.m.
Oklahoma at Texas A&M — Big 12 Network
UConn at Tennessee — CBS
Kansas at Texas — CBS
Northeastern at Drexel — Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS/The Comcast Network
Towson at George Mason — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet Philadephia
URI at LaSalle — Cox Sports RI
Florida State at Duke — ESPN
UCLA at Oregon — Fox Sports Net (national)
Mississippi at Georgia — SEC Network

5 p.m.
UMass at Richmond — CBS Sports Network
San Francisco at Portland — Comcast SportsNet California Plus/Comcast SportsNet Northwest

6 p.m.
Syracuse at Notre Dame — ESPN
Arizona at Colorado — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Arizona
LSU at Florida — Fox Sports Net (regional)
Colorado State at Wyoming — the mtn.

7 p.m.
Marquette at Providence — Big East Network: Bright House/Cox Sports RI/SNY
Mississippi State at Vanderbilt — ESPN2
Long Island at Wagner — ESPNU

8 p.m.
Ohio State at Nebraska — Big Ten Network
BYU at Pepperdine — BYU TV/Fox Sports West
Old Dominion at VCU — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS/The Comcast Network
Oakland at Oral Roberts — Fox College Sports Central

9 p.m.
Louisville at Pittsburgh — ESPN
Murray State at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville — ESPNU

10 p.m.
New Mexico at UNLV — CBS Sports Network
Air Force at New Mexico State — the mtn.
Fresno State at Nevada — WAC Sports Network

10:30 p.m.
USC at Oregon State — Fox College Sports Atlantic/Fox Sports Prime Ticket/Root Sports Northwest

11 p.m.
Long Beach State at Cal-Santa Barbara — ESPNU

Sunday, January 22

noon
NC State at Miami (FL) — ACC Network
Penn State at Indiana — Big Ten Network

Women’s: URI at St. Louis — CBS Sports Network

1 p.m.
Women’s: North Carolina at NC State — Fox Sports Net (regional)

1:30 p.m.
Women’s: South Carolina at Vanderbilt — ESPNU

2 p.m.
Wisconsin at Illinois — Big Ten Network
Lehigh at Lafayette — CBS Sports Network

2:30 p.m.
Women’s: Texas Tech at Iowa State — Fox Sports Net (national)

3 p.m.
Women’s: Iowa at Penn State — ESPN2
Women’s: Arkansas at LSU — Fox Sports Net (regional)

3:30 p.m.
Women’s: Maryland at Duke — ESPNU

4 p.m.
Northwestern at Minnesota — Big Ten Network

4:30 p.m.
Women’s: Colorado at Arizona — Fox Sports Net (national)

5 p.m.
Women’s: Louisville at Georgetown — ESPN2

6 p.m.
Virginia Tech at Virginia — ESPNU

6:30 p.m.
Women’s: Washington State at Cal — Fox Sports Net (national)

8 p.m.
Drake at Northern Iowa — ESPNU

8:30 p.m.
Women’s: Memphis at UAB — Fox Sports Net (national)

Cranking Out Some Tuesday Linkage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pac-12 Conference Announces Formation of Pac-12 Networks

Once again, you must credit Pac-12 Conference Commissioner Larry Scott for thinking outside the box. Instead of signing one company to run a Pac-12 Network, Scott gets four companies on board to create six regional sports networks that will offered inside the conference and a national network to be offered outside the league’s West Coast footprint. We’re talking Bright House, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable. For now, I’ll post the press release. Later, we’ll analyze what this all means.

PAC-12 CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF PAC-12 NETWORKS IN HISTORIC JOINT DEAL WITH COMCAST,TIME WARNER CABLE, COX COMMUNICATIONS AND BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS

Deal to bring 850 Pac-12 events annually to almost 40 million cable TV households nationwide
Agreement also includes six regional networks across Pac-12 footprint

NEW YORK –In an innovative arrangement providing unprecedented exposure for its athletic and academic programs, the Pac-12 Conference announced today the creation of Pac-12 Networks, which will include a national network and six regional networks, in conjunction with four of the nation’s largest cable operators: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Bright House Networks.

In addition to broadly distributing the Pac-12 Networks, the four cable operators are utilizing iN DEMAND to provide certain production and operations services to the Pac-12 Networks, which will continue to be wholly owned by the Pac-12 Conference.

This transformative arrangement, set to begin in August 2012, marks the first time a U.S. collegiate conference or any other programmer has launched a collection of networks across a variety of platforms rather than a sole network. And it includes “TV everywhere” rights, permitting the networks to be viewed outside customers’ homes on any digital device, such as smartphones and tablet computers, creating a virtual “Pac-12 Everywhere.”

Expressing his excitement with the new agreement, Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said, “As we explored the potential for a Pac-12 network, it became clear that we could customize programming towards local interests and provide our students, alumni, and many fans the widest possible range of events with the best opportunity to see the schools they care about most.”

Scott praised Melinda Witmer as Chairman of iN DEMAND for bringing iN DEMAND and its potential to the discussions. “This is an example of how innovative organizations can collaborate to create something that is entirely original and that willserve the college sports fan better than anything that has existed before,” he said. “We look forward to taking advantage of our cable partners’ vast production, marketing and advertising resources to serve our fans both through the regional networks and the national network.”

Ms. Witmer, who is also Executive Vice President and Chief Video and Content Officer for Time Warner Cable, said: “iN DEMAND is proud to be part of this groundbreaking plan to bring millions of Pac-12 fans a unique blend of national and regional programming. This innovative deal demonstrates the strengths of the cable platform, and the unique ability we have to provide deep local, regional and national programming on multiple platforms and multiple devices – giving our customers the ability to watch their favorite teams anywhere. We are pleased to be associated with these leading universities, and look forward to working with them and the Conference to make this innovative arrangement a success.”

The six regional networks will be established in Northern California, Southern California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Mountain regions.

The deal complements a major national broadcast and cable agreement announced in May. At that time, the Conference announced the creation of Pac-12 Media Enterprises, the first step in creating the TV networks that are being announced today. Pac-12 Media Enterprises is also expected to eventually announce distribution arrangements covering satellite and telco transmission.

Regional and National Network Programming
Under the agreement announced today, Pac-12 Networks eventually will telecast a total of 850 live events annually – 350 on the national feed and 500 on the regional feeds — including every football game and every men’s basketball game that isn’t carried by national telecast partners. Additional events will include spring football, and every sport played by Pac-12 programs including all conference championships. Pac-12 also will be working to launch additional content on broadband.

The agreement will provide unprecedented exposure for women’s sports, as well as exposure for both men’s and women’s programs that have been traditionally underserved on television.  This includes extensive coverage of Pac 12 athletes in Olympic sports, where the Pac-12 has had more success than any other U.S. conference. Over 200 Pac-12 athletes competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and if the Pac-12 were its own country it would have finished sixth in the total medal count.

Pac 12 Networks will feature extensive educational, academic and lifestyle programming from the Pac-12 Institutions, some of the most renowned and recognizable higher education institutions in the world. Programming will extend beyond athletics to other subjects of interest to students, faculty, alumni and fans of the Pac-12 universities.

Through this agreement Pac-12 Networks will be available nationwide to almost 40 million cable customers. Within the Pac-12 Conference’s six-state footprint, Pac-12 Networks will be broadly distributed and available to Pac-12’s far-flung alumni and fans across the country.

Terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

More on this later and this will be discussed on the Sports Media Weekly podcast which will be recorded tonight.

Bringing Out Some Saturday Linkage

While I’m at work on this Saturday, I’ll do some linkage for you.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser notes that Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson used a gay slur to berate a caller on a Sirius XM radio show last week.

At The Grio, Marcus looks at the legacy of the train wreck that’s known as “The Decision” a year later.

According to The Wrap, ESPN Classic will become the home of the recently wrapped “Friday Night Lights” series.

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at the record viewership for the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN.

At the Buffalo News, Greg Connors reviews HBO’s documentary on Curt Flood.

In the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner has written a FAQ on the NBA and NFL lockouts.

From the Baltimore Sun, Matt Vensel writes that a local sports radio talk show host is on the streets looking for a new gig.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that Capitals voice Joe Beninati and John Feinstein will call Kastles World Team Tennis matches this summer.

The St. Petersburg Times tells readers not to expect the NFL Network on Bright House cable systems anytime soon.

The Dallas Morning News’ Barry Horn says the incident from Thursday’s Oakland-Texas game where a fan died trying to catch a ball tossed into the stands by Josh Hamilton was greatly mishandled by both of the networks covering the contest.

Andrew Ferraro of the Houston Chronicle writes that an exhibition NHL game scheduled for Reliant Stadium in September has been canceled and Fox Sports Southwest is now looking for another way to get the Dallas Stars into the Houston market.

Berry Tremel at the Daily Oklahoman says the Longhorn Network taking a Big 12 Conference game from Fox Sports Net is opening a can of worms for fans.

Rick Noland from the Elyria (OH) Chronicle-Telegram says we should forget about celebrating any anniversary of “The Decision.”

Steve Watkins of the Cincinnati Business Courier says the ratings for the Reds on Fox Sports Ohio are up significantly from last season.

Dave Lubach of the Sheboygan (WI) Press recaps an appearance by CBS/Golf Channel personality David Feherty at a charity golf event.

Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says Fox Sports North will be airing a Minnesota Wild reality show over the next few months.

Tavis Govindjie of the Marin (CA) Independent Journal gives us this profile of a Comcast SportsNet Bay Area graphic designer.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Oakland A’s TV voices Glen Kuiper and Ray Fosse have come under fire for being insensitive during the incident in Arlington that killed a fan. In their defense, they did not know how far the fan fell nor did they know his condition. It’s easy to sit here and criticize, but at the time, they did not know how serious the situation was.

Cam Inman of the Oakland Tribune talks with former ABC/CBS/NBC NFL analyst John Madden about the lockout and the Madden NFL ’11 video game.

The Hamilton Spectator in Canada notes that some recently found CFL footage discovered in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame has been digitized and put online.

Derek Zona of SB Nation ranks all of the NHL TV broadcasters from top to bottom.

Mike Silva’s New York Baseball Digest didn’t think the Bob Costas-Al Michaels mashup for last night’s Mets-Giants game was anything special. I disagree.

Dave Kohl in Major League Programs explains why ESPN went all in for its Wimbledon bid.

World Cup Buzz says ESPN is doing the Women’s World Cup right this year.

EPL Talk has the US TV schedules for the English Premier League “friendlies” that will take place this month.

Quite a few links today which is good to see after working into the wee hours of this morning on the Megalinks. I’ll be back tomorrow with more linkage.

“Watch ESPN” App Now Available For Android Platforms

The Watch ESPN app which allows subscribers of Time Warner Cable/Bright House and Verizon FiOS systems to see the linear ESPN on smartphones and tablets. This announcement made in the last hour by ESPN. The app had been previously released for Apple platforms last month. Now, those with an Android device can watch the ESPN networks, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Buzzer Beater as well as ESPN3.com. As someone who’s sampled the Watch ESPN app on a trial basis, it’s really good and provides a quality picture. Those who get Time Warner/Bright House and Verizon FiOS will love the ability to take ESPN everywhere you go.

Here’s the announcement.

‘WatchESPN’ App Now Available on Android Devices

App Gives Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV Subscribers Live Access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com Content on Android Phone and Tablet Devices

NEW YORK, N.Y. – ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com are now available on Android phone and tablet devices to Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV subscribers who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their video subscription. The WatchESPN App, can be downloaded via the Android Market beginning today. ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Buzzer Beater will also be available when those networks are in season.

The free App – first launched to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch in April, 2011 – features a simple user interface that takes the live viewing experience to the high-resolution, Multi-Touch displays of Android devices. Once a user downloads WatchESPN from the Android Market, he will receive instructions to enter the appropriate cable subscriber credentials to begin accessing ESPN content from the device.

The WatchESPN App is available free for Android devices from the Android Market and for Apple devices from the App Store.

ESPN first launched an online-accessible authenticated version of ESPN in October, 2010. Authenticated versions of ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line launched in January, 2011. Consumers can access the channels through a centralized website, ESPNnetworks.com.

There you have it.

Saddling Up Some Tuesday Links

Let’s provide some linkage on another snowy day in the Northeast. Seriously, this isn’t funny any more. One or two snowstorms to remind us that it’s winter is fine. Not one every other day as it seems. It took me an hour to get into work when it normally takes 20-30 minutes. And sometimes on a bad day, it can go for 40. But an hour was really bad. And we’re all bracing for another big one on Wednesday which will just wreak havoc with work schedules for snow removal. It’s all fun. And again, no comments about moving to Arizona or New Mexico or “You chose to live there”. Any of those comments will be immediately deleted.

Let’s do the links now.

We start with a story that is just hitting here, but started across the Atlantic where Sky Sports soccer analyst Andy Gray has now been fired stemming from another video showing him harassing a female host. Gray was suspended over the weekend for remarks he made about a female linesperson and a female soccer executive.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid also has reaction to Gray’s sacking.

Sports Illustrated’s Bryan Armen Graham has details on the new HBO Sports documentary on the Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe rivalry.

USA Today has a media gallery on the women who have starred in memorable Super Bowl ads. Danica Patrick and Betty White anyone?

Ron Callari at Inventor Spot talks about the social media aspect to this year’s Super Bowl commercials.

Sports Business Daily has the results of a new Harris Poll showing which are the U.S. favorite sports. No surprise about which one is on top.

Reid Cherner of USA Today’s Game On! blog says EA Sports is denying that there’s a glitch that allows for topless women on its Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’11 video game.

Fanhouse’s Milton Kent notes the stellar ratings for both the AFC and NFC Championship Games.

The Hollywood Reporter says Canadian network CTV has chosen the show that will follow Super Bowl XLV on February 6.

Brian Lowry of Fox Sports.com likes Troy Aikman of Fox Sports. Hmmmm.

My Twitter Trophy Wife, Amanda Rykoff of espnW, talks about how a last-minute decision to attend a breakfast turned out to be breaking news from New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman.

Todd Spangler at Multichannel News writes that ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN’s Buzzer Beater will be made available online for Time Warner Cable and Bright House subscribers as of today.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel says Syfy had good numbers for its Friday showing of WWE Smackdown.

Anthony Crupi in Mediaweek discusses the high ratings for the NFL Conference Championships on Sunday.

Crupi also writes that NBC Sports has created a new agency designed to market all aspects of the newly merged Comcast/NBC sports entities.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says all signs point to a ratings record for Super Bowl XLV.

Kevin Baumer at the Business Insider Sports Page tells us there was a fake press release regarding New York Jets coach Rex Ryan and a Dr. Scholl’s Super Bowl ad.

Jay Busbee at Yahoo’s From the Marbles blog says Fox Sports El Jefe del Mundo David Hill wants shorter NASCAR races.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell finds out which NFL jerseys are among the most popular with women.

Darren notes that Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger isn’t too concerned about his marketing possibilities in the wake of recent off the field problems.

Darren reports that the secondary ticket market is making a good mint off selling space for people who want to see the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium, but off a big TV.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir writes that Fox Sports’ Troy Aikman was not as hard as others regarding Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler’s injury during the NFC Championship.

Bob Raissman in the New York Daily News feels CBS’ Phil Simms got the job done on Sunday.

Raissman says CBS dealt with Roethlisberger’s suspension from earlier this season head on while ESPN tiptoed around it.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes that CBS College Sports stumbled upon a big college basketball game this week.

Dustin Long of the Virginian-Pilot has the transcript of a press conference between NASCAR reporters and Fox Sports El Jefe del Mundo David Hill.

Mike Triplett of the New Orleans Times-Picayune notes that Saints coach Sean Payton will be an ESPN employee during Super Bowl Week.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News has a preview of tonight’s HBO Real Sports feature on Troy Aikman.

John Henry of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says workers will try desperately to keep annoying grackles away from ESPN’s Super Bowl downtown set.

Pete Alfano from the Star-Telegram writes that organizers are expecting good weather for Super Bowl Week.

Mel Bracht from the Daily Oklahoman also previews Troy Aikman’s interview on Real Sports.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that his friend Peter King of Sports Illustrated will be profiled on Real Sports.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says this is a dark week on Chicago sports radio.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman says he can no longer tolerate NFL Network’s Deion Sanders.

Ed says the Jay Cutler saga showed that it’s open hunting season on Twitter.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune notes that the NFC Championship Game did better in the local ratings than Super Bowl XLI when the Bears lost.

Frank Burlison of the Long Beach Press-Telegram says a local high school basketball team will get the national spotlight from ESPN next month.

Midwest Sports Fans says Tiger Woods may have helped his image by going on Twitter today.

Sports Media Watch notes the most watched NFL Championship Sunday since 1982.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog gets on CTV and Global for some bad decisions during NFL Championship Sunday.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media notes that the NHL on NBC season premiere on Sunday saw a ratings increase from last year.

Steve tells us that Sirius XM Howard 101 host Scott Ferrall gets some duties for NHL Radio this week.

Joe Favorito says the Jay Cutler story shows the perils of social media.

And that is going to do it for us now. We’re officially finished with the linkage.

ESPN2, ESPNU and Buzzer Beater Now Available Online To Certain Customers

Just received this press release from ESPN. Subscribers to Time Warner Cable and Bright House Cable systems and also receive their internet through those companies will be able to see ESPN2, ESPNU and the college basketball cut-in channel, Buzzer Beater online. This is in addition to ESPN which was made available to customers late last year.

Right now, subscribers will be able to watch via their computers, but it’s expected that access through smart phones and tablets will be made down the line. We have the details from ESPN.

ESPN2, ESPNU and Buzzer Beater Now Available Online

Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks Customers Are First to Have Access to Latest Authenticated Networks

NEW YORK, N.Y. and BRISTOL, Conn. – Beginning Jan. 25, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks customers will be able to watch ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Buzzer Beater on their computer. Access to these authenticated services is contingent upon the customer having a video subscription to the networks. Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks customers already have similar access to ESPN and ESPN3.com online, services which were added in October as part of a wide-ranging agreement between the companies.

The networks – ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN Buzzer Beater – are accessible through a central website, ESPNnetworks.com, which will also include a link to ESPN3.com. Users will have the option to view the main channels in several views, including picture-in-picture, simultaneous viewing of more than one channel and full-screen viewing of a single channel. Access through certain other Internet enabled devices such as mobile phones and tablets is expected in the near future.

To preregister, Time Warner Cable customers can go to http://myservices.timewarnercable.com and Bright House Networks Customers should visit www.brighthouse.com/myservices. Customers can also go directly to ESPNnetworks.com to register or sign in and view the programming.

Interesting stuff.

The Post-World Series Links

Now that baseball is done, and doesn’t it seem right that it’s over by Election Day (Go vote!), it’s time to shift focus totally to the NFL, college football, NHL and college basketball, not necessarily in that order. Of course, there’s the baseball Hot Stove which now begins in earnest today with free agency, but still, time to get ready for the winter sports. Let’s go over the linkage for Tuesday. I don’t think I’ll get interrupted for two hours like I did yesterday, but let’s get started.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy looks at the ratings from the weekend.

Mike says World Series Game 5 beat Monday Night Football, but again, it’s network vs. cable, apples and oranges here.

Tim Goodman of the Hollywood Reporter felt Fox’s dependence on East Coast teams in the World Series showed in this year’s Fall Classic.

Carolyn Giardina of the Hollywood Reporter cites a study which says as many as 20% of viewers may not be able to watch 3-D TV.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable notes that NFL Network has hired a new senior Vice President of Programming.

Jon Lafayette from B&C says ESPN 3D has added three college football games including the Fiesta Bowl to its schedule.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that NESN National is being picked up by Bright House in Michigan.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life Magazine speaks with the founder of a Super Bowl ad-tracking site about Fox selling out the Big Game so quickly.

Darren Rovell from CNBC says Evoshield is getting big buzz from athletes just before it hits the mass market.

David Brown at Yahoo’s Big League Stew blog says San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum’s bowtie entrance at the World Series vindicated Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal’s choice of attire. 

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times talks about the NFL beating the World Series head-to-head in the ratings for the first time.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News is happy to see NBC’s Tony Dungy give an edgy opinion. Yes, he’s doing it just for you, Bob.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says Time Warner Cable will air two local high school football championships this weekend.

Neal Zoren at the Delaware County Times says Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia had to pay off on a bet to Comcast SportsNet Bay Area over the National League Championship Series.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says Mike Shanahan’s decision to bench DC NFL Team QB Donovan McNabb on Sunday still remains unpopular with the local and national media.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner has a sampling of national media going off on Shanahan.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says this year’s World Series stands to be one of the lowest rated in history.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer notes the ratings for the Bengals finished above the norm on Sunday.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says the many from the 1985 Bears Super Bowl team made the transition to the business world.

Chicago Tribune Olympics writer Philip Hersh says ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on Marion Jones has left some facts out of the film. 

Mike Clark at the Chicago Sun-Times says ESPN3.com will pick up the Illinois state high school football finals.

Mary McNamara from the Los Angeles Times reviews tonight’s ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on Marion Jones.

Ferd Lewis of the Honolulu Advertisers says fewer Hawaiians will be able to see Saturday’s Hawaii-Boise State game as it will air on ESPNU which does not have wide access on the islands.

Sports Media Watch notes World Series Game 4 was the lowest rated Game 4 ever, but was this year’s series high.

SMW says the battle of unranked Georgia and Florida did not draw viewers as did for CBS last year.

SMW says NBC is still getting low ratings for Notre Dame football.

And SMW says Saturday Night Football did well for ABC despite being opposite the World Series.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says extra games are actually bringing Versus’ NHL ratings down.

SportsbyBrooks notes that LeBron James is angry at a celebrity gossip blog.

That will conclude the links for now.

NESN National Hits Michigan

NESN National hits its third area, it’s first in the Midwest, through Bright House Cable in Michigan. Those who have access to Bright House’s sports tier will be able to watch NESN programming like NESN Daily! Charlie Moore Outdoors! Dennis & Callahan! Dirty Water TV! Well, maybe Dirty Water TV can be blacked out to the rest of the country, anyway, subscribers to Bright House will see NESN’s programs other than the Red Sox and Bruins. They’ll have to subscribe to MLB Extra Innings and NHL Center Ice to see out of market games.

Here’s the release.

BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS LAUNCHES NESN NATIONAL IN MICHIGAN

November 1, 2010 – Bright House Networks has launched NESN National on the Bright House Networks’ sports tier, Sports Pass, in the Michigan communities of Farmington, Farmington Hills, Livonia, Novi and Redford. 

NESN National is the national television service of New England Sports Network, a sports television network owned by the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins. Last month, Bright House Networks launched NESN National in the Tampa Bay and Central Florida (Orlando) areas. Now fans in Michigan also have the best opportunity to follow New England sports and the Red Sox, and Bruins, particularly those who also have MLB and NHL league packages.

“The inclusion of NESN National to Sports Pass, along with a number of other additions made to our sports tier, is yet another example of how Bright House Networks serves sports fans throughout the Detroit area,” said Robert McCann,  President of the Division. “The Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins are two of the best known franchises in professional sports and our re-launching of Sports Pass demonstrates our commitment to continually improving our customers experience. We are thrilled to be offering these sports additions.“

“Fans of New England sports in the Bright House Networks Michigan service area can now enjoy our regular pre and post-game Bruins shows and game rebroadcasts as well as our extensive off-season Red Sox coverage,” said Sean McGrail, NESN’s president and CEO.  “Additionally, in just a couple of weeks we’ll debut a simulcast of the top-rated Dennis & Callahan sports radio show which New England fans and sports fans in general will no doubt find entertaining and informative.”

Throughout the year, Bright House Networks’ Sports Pass customers will be able to watch NESN’s Bruins and Red Sox pre and post-game shows, which are among the most comprehensive in regional sports television. Bruins Face-Off Live, is a 30-minute pre-game show that features host Kathryn Tappen and former Bruins stars Mike Milbury, Barry Peterson and Gord Kluzak. The same team of experts also provides 30 minutes of post-game coverage on Bruins Overtime LIVE. NESN’s Red Sox pre and post-game coverage similarly delivers expert game-day coverage before and after each and every Red Sox game with studio host Tom Caron and MLB Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley, Jim Rice and Peter Gammons as analysts.

Additionally, NESN National also includes Bruins replays and classic games; NESN Daily, a live sports news and debate program; minor league baseball; college hockey and basketball; and many of the network’s Original NESN Entertainment (ONE) productions such as The Instigators, Pocket Money and After the Game.

NESN National can now be found on Bright House Networks channel 568 in Farmington, Farmington Hills, Livonia, Novi and Redford, Michigan.

A few more releases before I call it a night.

NESN National Launches on Bright House Systems in Florida

This release came on Thursday and it marks another area where NESN will be seen. Last month, it was announced NESN National would be seen in the Carolinas on Time Warner Systems. And starting yesterday, NESN began airing on Bright House systems in Central Florida.

We have the press release for you.

BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS LAUNCHES NESN NATIONAL IN FLORIDA

September 30, 2010 – This week, Bright House Networks launched NESN National on the Bright House Networks’ sports tier, Sports Pack, throughout the Tampa Bay and Central Florida (Orlando) areas. Sports Pack is available to more than 2 million Bright House Networks customers in these markets. 

NESN National is the national television service of New England Sports Network, a sports television network owned by the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins. Bright House Networks is the second Multiple System Operator (MSO) to launch NESN National, which provides fans outside New England the best opportunity to follow the Red Sox, Bruins and all New England sports, particularly those who also watch Red Sox and Bruins games through MLB and NHL league packages.

“The inclusion of NESN National to Sports Pack, along with a number of other additions made to the sports tier, is yet another example of how Bright House Networks serves sports fans throughout our markets,” said Mike Robertson, President of Bright House Networks Tampa Bay Division. “The Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins are two of the best known brands in professional sports and our re-launching’ of Sports Pack demonstrates our commitment to continually improving our customer offerings. We are thrilled to be offering these sports additions to our customers. “

“The Bruins are getting ready to begin the regular season with a historic trip to Prague and NESN Daily continues to provide complete and compelling Patriots coverage with insight from Patriots Kevin Faulk and David Givens. This is a great time for Bright House Networks’ customers in Florida to begin receiving NESN National,” said Sean McGrail, NESN’s president and CEO. “We’re sure fans in Bright House Networks service areas will enjoy our regular pre and post-game Bruins shows and game replays as well as our extensive off-season Red Sox coverage.”

Throughout the year, Bright House Networks’ Sports Pack customers will be able to watch NESN’s Bruins and Red Sox pre and post-game shows, which are among the most comprehensive in regional sports television. Bruins Face-Off  Live, is a 30-minute pre-game show that features host Kathryn Tappen and former Bruins starts Mike Milbury, Barry Peterson and Gord Kluzak. The same team of experts also provide 30 minutes of post-game coverage on  Bruins Overtime LIVE. NESN’s Red Sox pre and post-game coverage similarly delivers expert game-day coverage before each and every Red Sox game with studio host Tom Caron and MLB Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley, Jim Rice and Peter Gammons as analysts.

Additionally, NESN National also includes Bruins replays and classic games; NESN Daily, a live sports news and debate program; minor league baseball; college hockey and basketball; and many of the network’s Original NESN Entertainment (ONE) productions such as The Instigators, Pocket Money and After the Game.

NESN National can now be found on Bright House Networks channel 813 in the Tampa Bay market and channel 183 in Central Florida area (Orlando), Florida.

Live game telecasts of the Red Sox and Bruins, Red Sox replays or classic games, and certain other programs will not be available on NESN National due to league restrictions.  When these programs are airing on NESN in New England, Bright House Networks customers will see other programming.  Bright House Networks customers can receive virtually all of NESN’s Red Sox and Bruins game telecasts by subscribing to MLB Extra Innings and NHL Center Ice packages respectively.

For more information on how to access NESN through Bright House Networks’ Sports Pack, visit brighthouse.com.

More releases coming up. They’re coming fast and furious now.

The Mid-Week Linkage

Ok, gathering plenty of good links for you and let’s not waste any time.

I do have one piece of upcoming attractions for you. On Friday, we start up our College Football Viewing Picks once again and every week, I’ll list the college football games of note for viewing on the major networks and syndicators. If you’re new to the blog, here’s a sample from last year. You’ll see them around 9 a.m. and when pro football begins, the NFL Viewing Picks will be up around 10 a.m. followed by the Weekend Viewing Picks at 11 a.m. So you’ll have plenty of features on Friday over the next few months. To the links.

John Ourand in the Sports Business Journal gives us five things to watch with NBC Sports when Comcast and NBC finally merge.

Emily Fredix of the Associated Press reports that the NFL will spend $50 million on a new advertising campaign to promote the return of the league this season. 

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans from the St. Petersburg Times looks at a pioneering NASCAR executive bringing the sport to BET.

Sean Leahy at USA Today says the NFL is trying to attract fans back to the stadium as they battle HDTV and its own RedZone channel.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that there will be a lot of college football games streaming on ESPN3.com this season.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry says the NFL’s TV partners don’t want to discuss the looming lockout.

Karen Rosen of TV Guide speaks with NFL Commish Roger Goodell. 

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says SNY has begun its UConn football coverage in earnest this week.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse weighs in on the Washington Post suspension of Mike Wise.

The Sports COMMENTary speaks with Fox Sports Detroit’s Mateen Cleeves on how he made the transition from NBA player to TV analyst.

Alex Farber of Broadcast Now says ESPN UK will launch a British version of Pardon The Interruption.

Josh Stewart in the Syosset (NY) Patch speaks with NFL PR guru Greg Aiello who says Twitter has become a legitimate news source.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog has the video of a new Alex Ovechkin/Capital One ad. Yes, vikings are in it.

Tom Robinson of the Virginian-Pilot enjoys NBC’s Cris Collinsworth on Sunday Night Football. 

Scott Anderson of the Anderson (SC) Independent Mail feels ESPN should not be televising high school football games. 

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times says Bright House cable has renewed a rights deal with the University of South Florida.

Robert Napper at the Florida Independent notes that ESPN has been taunting Tampa Bay Rays’ attendance problems. 

The Naples (FL) Daily News says the local ESPN Radio affiliate will carry plenty of college and professional football games this season.

Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post has ESPN’s NFL analysts Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden talking about the Miami Dolphins’ chances.

Victor Godinez of the Dallas Morning News says Time Warner Cable and Disney are expected to announce a carriage deal today which keeps ESPN, ABC and other channels online.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that a former Jim Rome radio show producer will become a local sports talk show host.

David explains why the Rodgers move was made in his blog.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Aroldis Chapman’s debut for the Reds garnered big ratings for Fox Sports Ohio.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business notes a White Sox subsidiary has landed a technology deal to help move TV into 3-D.

Ed says Mike North will be doing two shows a weekend for Fox Sports Radio.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times talks with North about his weekend shifts. 

The Sioux City (SD) Argus Leader notes that South Dakota State University will have a weekly sports show on Fox Sports North.

Norm Clarke of the Las Vegas Journal-Review says ESPN NASCAR pit reporter Jamie Little is getting married (scroll down).

But The Big Lead wonders if the marriage will conjure up charges of conflict of interest.

Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic profiles NBC’s Al Michaels.

James Rainey of the Los Angeles Times notes ESPN has been making inroads with its local websites, but not as big as the Alleged Worldwide Leader would like.

Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings.

SMW has ratings info on Fox’s Sunday night NFL preseason game and CBS’ two preseason games last week.

Joe Favorito is disappointed in Mike Wise’s behavior this week.

John Daly at the Daly Planet says get ready for plenty of NASCAR Nationwide Series pre-emptions and interruptions on ESPN2 now that college football season is getting underway.

Some of my favorite women on Twitter, Amanda Rykoff, Susan Shan and Jaqueline Hadley Conrad all took part in a baseball fantasy player roundtable at the Fantasy Fix.

Susan Shan has an ACC football preview at her site.

From The Stands Sports Media talks with ESPN’s Lindsay McCormick.

Dave Kohl at the Major League Programs blog wonders why baseball fans in Japan can watch MLB games on YouTube while we in the US cannot.

We’ll finish it here for now.

The Late Summer Megalinks

We have less than a month to go in summer and with our Labor Day weekend coming next week, we all know that September means school, end of vacations and the like. It also means football in earnest. Where I’m going with this thought I don’t know, but I’m feeling melancholy that the summer is almost done.

Let’s do the megalinks and there are plenty of stories for you to read. Of course, the Weekend Viewing Picks give you what’s happening in sports and entertainment, but please do not point out to me that I’ve omitted the Emmys. It’s on NBC and I do not recommend NBC primetime or late night programming. Ever since the whole Jay/Conan thing, I’ve been boycotting NBC’s entertainment programming. Being a sports media blogger, I can’t boycott NBC Sports.

Now to the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand points out that a possible victim of an 18 week NFL regular season might be the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

At Sports Business Daily, John Ourand writes that CBS has almost sold out of its NFL regular season ad inventory. 

Milton Kent of Fanhouse says another possible victim to the expanded NFL regular season might be The Oscars.

Milton enjoyed listening to CBS US Open analysts John McEnroe and Mary Carillo square off over the ATP and WTA Tour schedules.

Kelly Riddell and Andy Fixmer of Bloomberg write that a hangup in the Disney/Time Warner dispute is the fees over the ESPN3.com broadband service.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says Gol TV in HD gets picked up by Time Warner Cable in New York.

Lucia Moses at Mediaweek writes that Golf Magazine is feeling bullish about the sport despite its problems this year.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred says journalists who try to build a personal brand do so at their own risks.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell feels a webcast on Ralph Lauren’s website might be the future of sports marketing. 

Darren notes that there’s a prime parking spot available at The Barclays this week.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest notes that Reebok is using an au naturel Kelly Brook to sell shoes.

Emmett says the NHL might create an all-women’s league to help the competitive balance in Olympic hockey.

Sports Media Watch has a few news and notes.

From Yahoo!, Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy looks at the five things learned from this week’s World Hockey Summit.

Brett Barrouquere of the Associated Press reports on a Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader who won a huge libel and slander award against a gossip website. 

Bob Stockton of World Tennis Magazine says this year’s US Open Tennis Series garnered good ratings for ESPN2.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn from the Boston Globe says Hard Knocks with the New York Jets has become Must See TV.

Brian Ballou of the Globe reports that the son of NESN Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy was arrested this week for allegedly groping a woman.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that Jay Mariotti is now wearing the shoe on the other foot after being bombastic throughout his career.

Bob Raissman at the New York Daily News feels Hard Knocks is riding the Darrelle Revis train despite his training camp holdout. Is Raissman actually watching the show?

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post says YES failed to cover all bases during an incident in a Yankees-Blue Jays game on Monday.

Claire Atkinson of the Post looks at how NFL fans can now watch games on their cell phones. 

Brett Cyrgalis of the Post writes that a lack of American players will hurt U.S. Open ratings for CBS, ESPN and Tennis Channel. 

Brett has five questions for SEC on CBS analyst Gary Danielson.

In NY Sports Journalism, Barry Janoff has the results of a readers poll of the greatest sports broadcast calls of all-time.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the new local AHL team is planning to be proactive on local TV and radio.

Pete has more on the Albany Devils broadcast hopes.

Pete says Saturday’s Travers Stakes at Saratoga goes to regional television after being on national TV for a quarter century.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record has a partial college football schedule for the MSG Networks.

Ken says get ready for preseason hockey.

Steve Sampsell of the Centre (PA) Daily Times talks with ESPN NASCAR analyst Tim Brewer.

The Delaware County Times says College Gameday will be visiting the Villanova campus in February.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV writes in Press Box that the Baltimore Ravens have signed with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic for most of its TV programming.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN/ABC college football analyst Jesse Palmer on Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen.

South

The Virginia Gazette picks up a story from William & Mary’s newspaper written by Virginia Nadler regarding ESPNU using school students to produce programming.

Tim Clodfelter of the Winston-Salem (NC) Journal says it’s getting down to the wire between Time Warner Cable and Disney. 

The State in Charleston, South Carolina says it’s moving its Go Gamecocks website to a pay model.

Josh Hoke of The State writes that big name high school recruits bring the big lights to town. 

Dave Scheiber of Fox Sports Florida has Rays analyst Kevin Kennedy recalling the moment when he got the networks’ attention.

John Lembo of the Bradenton (FL) Herald notes that ESPN is in town for a high school football game tonight.

John looks at the reasons why ESPN chose Bradenton as a broadcast location.

In the Orlando Sentinel, Shannon Owens has ESPN’s Lee Corso being bullish on the Florida Gators.

Stan Diel of the Birmingham (AL) News says the clock is ticking down in the talks between Bright House cable and ESPN.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News writes that the Texas Rangers continue to rack up the ratings.

Matt Heika of the Morning News says the Dallas Stars will have a new radio studio host this season. 

Ray Buck at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram looks at former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach going to TV this season.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that the local Little League baseball team is pulling in the ratings.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN’s Lee Corso hopes to fulfill his new contract with the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

Midwest

Michael Zuidema from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says high school football will be covered heavily by local TV throughout the season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at NFL Films’ new documentary series that will air on NFL Network throughout the fall.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business has this week’s winners and losers.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune looks at the Fanhouse suspension of former Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti.

Interestingly enough, Mariotti’s former paper, the Sun-Times, uses wire reports to report on his suspension.

Paul Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes that the Wild will have all of its games on TV for the first time since entering the NHL.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says a minor league baseball broadcaster still can’t over the death of a player last weekend.

West

Jay Drew of the St. Lake City Tribune looks at the factors, including ESPN, that led BYU to remain with the Mountain West Conference after briefly flirting with the WAC. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News says BYU has long been owed a bigger slice of the TV pie due to the audience it brings to the table.

Jay Posner at the San Diego Union-Tribune says long-time Padres broadcaster Ted Leitner will return for another season.

To the North County Times where John Maffei talks with Texas Rangers/San Diego Chargers voice Josh Lewin who will also be doing duties for Fox this weekend.

At the Ventura County Star, Jim Carlisle writes about Notre Dame requesting NBC to reduce its commercial breaks for football games this season.

In the Los Angeles Times, Diane Pucin has CBS/NBC/ESPN2/BBC/7 Network analyst John McEnroe’s controversial comments about women’s tennis schedule being too demanding for its stars.

Joe Flint of the Times says an 18 game NFL schedule could bring a new TV partner and a permanent date for the Super Bowl. 

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the Sport Science franchise which ESPN picked up from Fox Sports Net.

Tom has more with Sport Science host John Brenkus who has been the human guinea pig for the show.

Tom also reviews the week in blogging and more.

Mark Glover of the Sacramento Bee says high school football is growing in the national spotlight.

Matt Phelps and Megan Managan of the Kirkland (WA) Reporter preview an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on a monumental Little League World Series upset from the early 1980′s.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders when a local sports radio station will name a morning show host.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the war of words over the new Rogers Sportsnet one is really heating up.

And we’re done. Thanks for reading.

Doing Our Tuesday Links

Let’s get some linkage done while I can.

Starting with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch who looks at the arrest of Jay “The Rat” Mariotti over the weekend and ESPN’s Jenn Brown endorsing Icehouse Beer.

Rich Rovito of the Business Journal of Milwaukee reports that ESPN has apparently put the kybosh on Brown’s endorsement contract.

Richard tweets that he is not responsible for ESPN nixing the deal. 

Nando Di Fino of the Wall Street Journal looks at the lack of reporters rushing to Mariotti’s defense following last weekend’s arrest on domestic assault charges.

John Ourand from the Sports Business Journal notes that NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol was spotted at Golf Channel headquarters in Orlando leading to speculation that Comcast will tap the Emperor to lead its sports division when it takes over NBC.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry looks at the ESPN/Time Warner Cable dispute. 

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News writes that FoxSoccer.com is expanding its broadband subscription service.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel says DirecTV will be offering its Sunday NFL Ticket to non-subscribers on broadband.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable says MASN has picked up a carriage agreement in North Carolina, but it’s still not the one it really wants.

Bill Cromwell at Media Life Magazine looks at the very good overnight ratings for Sunday’s Vikings-49ers preseason NFL game on NBC.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times says the Mariotti arrest, the Tiger Woods divorce and Jason Whitlock’s LeBron James-like announcement on leaving the Kansas City Star shows the sports media today is in a state of flux.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has the ratings for selected events from the weekend.

Nick Bromberg of Yahoo! Sports advises the IndyCar Series to break away from Versus. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says a company matching athletes for simple internet ad campaign is doing quite well.

Darren notes that Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg has made about $3 million for the team in the games he pitched.

Mike Hale of the New York Times reviews tonight’s 30 for 30 offering on Michael Jordan’s trek through minor league baseball.

Richard Sandomir of the Times says MLB is searching for the person or persons responsible for leaking classified financial data for several teams. 

Bob Raissman at the New York Daily News feel that it’s about time YES jumped on the Roger Clemens steroids bandwagon.

In SB Nation New York, broadcasting historian David Halberstam lists the top 25 sportscasters in New York.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the WNBA playoffs TV schedule for this week and beyond.

Pete says the ESPN networks will be all over the FIBA World Championships from Turkey.

Laura Nachman says the Philadelphia CBS affiliate is promoting a former Eagle to back up sports anchor.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg looks at the battle of two former DC NFL teammates, Joe Theismann and John Riggins discussing current QB Donovan McNabb.

Mark Story in the Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader writes about former Kentucky quarterback and tremendous Cleveland Browns bust Tim Couch becoming an analyst for Fox Sports Net this fall.

Sarah Lundy at the Orlando Sentinel reports that ESPN and Bright House cable are negotiating a new carriage deal.

Mike Bianchi of the Sentinel says now that Tiger Woods divorce from Elin Nordegren is final, sports journalism will never be the same. Thanks to Gail Sideman of the public relations firm, Publiside for the link.

Dave George at the Palm Beach Post says ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit is happy to be talking college football.

In the Dallas Morning News, Barry Horn has a few thoughts on the Cowboys-Chargers game production from last week.

The Morning News says Texas Rangers pitcher Cliff Lee is brandishing ESPN Radio hack Colin Cowherd, “a liar”.

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron says ESPN’s Craig James and CBS College Sports’ Mike Leach are talking a lot, but not about each other as a lawsuit looms.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has his sports media notebook.

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox has picked up a Reds game for national consumption next month.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business notes that Jay Mariotti’s arrest is driving traffic to various blogs.

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says a Big East TV Network could generate significant revenue for the conference.

Warren Gerds of the Green Bay Press Gazette says Aaron Taylor will get increased duties at CBS College Sports this season. 

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Derrick Gold says Cardinals TV voice Dan McLaughlin took a two game leave after a DUI arrest last week.

Dave Noreiga of KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, UT says BYU leaving the Mountain West Conference and becoming an independent hinges on ESPN. 

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has an extensive review of tonight’s 30 for 30 documentary.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says last Friday’s Blue Jays game against the Red Sox topped the ratings in Canada. 

Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal says the Oilers have a new play-by-play man.

In the Biz of Baseball, Maury Brown wonders who’s responsible for leaking financial data from several MLB teams.

Maury says a new study shows that independent blogs are the least trusted media sources among sports organizations.

Pete Toms in the Biz of Baseball looks at the importance of Regional Sports Networks to baseball.

Ben Koo of Koo’s Corner examines what happened to sports blogging social media site Ballhype which collapsed this week. A bit of disclosure, Fang’s Bites was a member of Ballhype and I really appreciated the boost it gave me when I joined three years ago.

Deadspin notes that Tiger Woods is back in the media’s good graces again.

A.J Daulerio at Deadspin looks inside the Jay Mariotti arrest.

SportsbyBrooks says Fanhouse has yet to turn off the comments on Mariotti’s archives.

And we’re finished here.

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.

Squeezing Out Some Tuesday Links

Well, I don’t have to rush back to another office today so I’ll provide some much desired linkage. We’ve already heard about Brett Favre this morning and I don’t want to suckered into another summer of “Will he or won’t he” again. Tired of the whole machinations and ESPN having Rachel Nichols stationed in Mississippi reporting every 15 minutes on SportsCenter. I saw the news break on Twitter. Just glad I wasn’t watching ESPN when the news broke.

Ok, to the links.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand crunches some of the TV ratings numbers from the weekend.

Brian Lowry in Fox Sports.com isn’t a fan of TV dictating game times.

Fox Sports Net Vice President of Public Relations Chris Bellitti breaks news on Twitter that Fox will not bid for the Texas Rangers.

Darren Everson of the Wall Street Journal notes that NFL training camps have become giant reality shows. 

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says DirecTV is about to do an all-out blitz for its NFL Sunday Ticket package.

Milton Kent of Fanhouse says be prepared to see Kurt Warner on Dancing with the Stars this season.

Clay Travis at Fanhouse talks with SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and how he got the richest media rights deal in college sports. 

Trey Kirby of Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie blog says expect to see a lot of the Miami Heat on national TV.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says despite taking a hit to his image, Upper Deck still believes in LeBron James.

Darren wonders why the Miami Heat had to fire its entire season tickets sales staff. 

To the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center and Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times who writes that Shaquille O’Neal is giving us a lesson on how the sports media world has changed in the 21st Century.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call notes that Speed is the closest thing a NASCAR fan has to a 24/7 channel dedicated to the sport.

Bob Flounders of the Patriot-News (PA) profiles Michael Barkann of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

Bob has a little more with Barkann.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV writes about the Baltimore Ravens and MASN splitting ways after a five year partnership.

Sam Sessa of the Baltimore Sun saw ESPN’s corporate letter announcing the closure of the ESPNZone restaurants. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner tells us to look for the Ravens to partner with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says LaVar Arrington will join the Post to write a blog.

Hal Boedecker of the Orlando Sentinel says Bright House cable customers are used to disputes as ESPN is in danger of being pulled in September.

Jeff Shain of the Sentinel looks at Whit Watson joining the Golf Channel. 

And Hal says Erin Andrews begins her Good Morning America gig on Thursday.

Barry Shlachter of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that News Corp. will not bid for the Rangers.

Jennifer Floyd Engel in the Star-Telegram feels Mark Cuban is in for the Texas Rangers bidding for himself and not the fans.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will put all of its games, except for those picked exclusively by TNT or ABC, on Fox Sports Oklahoma.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer tells us that Brian Collins who gave us, “Boom Goes The Dynamite” is now looking for a new job.

Eric Hansen of the South Bend (IN) Tribune looks at Mike Mayock as the new TV analyst for Notre Dame football.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune says the local Fox affiliate is surprised over losing a sports anchor.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says the White Sox refute manager Ozzie Guillen’s claims about MLB’s treatment of Latin players.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times reports of the long term agreement between CBS and Comcast that carries coverage for CBS College Sports as well. 

John Consoli of The Wrap says ESPN is selling BASS, LLC. to a former Time Inc. executive. 

AJ Daulerio of Deadspin says it appears the new book on ESPN is going to be a blockbuster.

The Big Lead tells us about some rumblings at Yahoo! Sports. 

Steven Collins at Bristol Today notes that actor Mark Wahlberg put ESPN’s public relations at Defcon 4 after an interview with Moviefone.

Sports Media Watch says NASCAR’s ratings bounced back on Sunday.

SMW notes that the Miami Heat will have two big national games in December.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media teases a five part series on the future of the NHL on US TV.

Emmett Jones in Sports Business Digest praises DirecTV for making its SuperFan package available to all NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers instead of a select few.

SportsbyBrooks notes that ESPN writer Arash Markazi has had stories spiked before.

Bob’s Blitz has video of NESN’s Heidi Watney throwing out the first pitch for the Lowell Spinners during her Bobblehead night.

That will do it.

Three Cable Providers Sign Up To Offer NASCAR Sprint Cup Race in 3-D

As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Race on July 3 is fast approaching, three cable providers signed up to distribute the 3-D telecast which will be co-produced by Turner Sports and NASCAR Media Group. These three companies are added to DirecTV which originally announced it would offer the race to its subscribers. So we have the press release. As long as you’re one of the six people who have made the plunge for 3-D and are a subscriber to one of these four providers, you can watch the race in this extra dimension on your television.

COMCAST, TIME WARNER CABLE AND BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS TO OFFER THE COKE ZERO 400 IN 3D IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NASCAR MEDIA GROUP AND TURNER SPORTS

Sprint Cup Race from Daytona International Speedway on July 3^rd will be Presented in 3D for the First Time in NASCAR’s Storied History

Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, in partnership with NASCAR Media Group, a media, marketing and entertainment company, and Turner Sports, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., announced they will air NASCAR’s first foray into 3D programming, the Coke Zero 400, in next generation 3D. The event will take place on July 3, 2010. Full race coverage will air on TNT beginning at 7:30 p.m. (ET). 

The 3D production will feature two custom racing feeds produced specifically for 3D. The first will provide a unique look at the racing action from strategically placed cameras around the track designed to maximize the effect of 3D. The second stream will bring the mayhem of pit row into the third dimension creating a one-of-a-kind visual experience. In order to experience the event in 3D, viewers will need a 3D TV display with matching 3D glasses.

The 3D production will also be made available through TNT RaceBuddy on NASCAR.COM (NASCAR.COM/RaceBuddy3D), serving as a complement to the special Wide Open television presentation on TNT that features continuous race coverage free of national commercial breaks and provides more unobstructed race action than that of a standard telecast by using a letterbox widescreen format. Earlier this week, DIRECTV announced it will also air the Coke Zero 400 in 3D. 

NASCAR Media Group is the exclusive rights holder of NASCAR event footage, race data and content and its credits include Dale and The Ride of Their Lives, NASCAR-themed movies for Viacom distributed on TV and via DVD.

We’re done. Good night.

BREAKING NEWS: Fox and Time Warner Cable Reach Carriage Deal

In a deal that was reached late on Friday, Fox and Time Warner agreed to a deal that keeps local Fox stations and several Fox cable channels on the cable provider. Extensions had kept the channels on board and no subscriber saw any interruption in service. Fox had been seeking revenue for its local channels, but a price that Time Warner had deemed unacceptable. After some posturing by both sides, the deal was finally agreed upon late Friday afternoon.

Let’s get some links.

Brian Stelter of the New York Times says the agreement averts a blackout of several BCS and NFL games this weekend.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times writes that while subscribers can be happy about this development, there may be some bad news for their wallets.

Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable says the deal also includes Bright House Cable.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News reports that the agreement also includes several of Fox’s regional sports networks and national cable channels.

So Fox gets retransmission fees for the first time for its local stations, Time Warner won’t lose Fox channels and everybody’s happy except for subscribers who have to foot the bill.

The New Year’s Eve Linkage

Our last set of links for 2009 is coming your way. It appears my day has been planned for me on New Year’s Day so I won’t be doing links on Friday. They’ll return on Saturday.

As it’s snowing quite heavily here in Walpole, MA so I’ll do the links quickly and head home.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell looks at one of the stories that broke this morning, AT&T dropping its sponsorship of Tiger Woods.

Former Washington Times sports business writer Tim Lemke, now blogging until he gets a job (more on this later), takes a look at the AT&T/Tiger situation.

To our other big story today, the Fox/Time Warner/Bright House cable negotiations and they aren’t going very well. It appears that Time Warner subscribers will not see certain Fox channels after tonight. Some Fox-owned local stations may be pulled from cable systems including in New York and Florida. In addition, some cable channels including Fox Soccer Channel, Speed, Fox Sports en Espanol and the Fox Sports Net regional networks may be pulled as well.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times says Fox is resigned to the fact that it won’t be on Time Warner systems after midnight tonight.

Anika Myers Palm of the Orlando Sentinel writes that an attorney is seeking an injunction to keep Fox stations on Bright House Cable so Florida Gator fans can watch the Sugar Bowl tomorrow night.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times explains how we got to this point.

Lorena Anderson of Myrtle Beach (SC) Sun News says there doesn’t seem to be any movement in the Fox/Time Warner spat.

Kellis Robinett of the Wichita Eagle says Fox Sports Kansas City could be pulled leaving Kansas State fans in the lurch. 

Milton Kent of Fanhouse says the dispute is fast approaching the midnight hour.

Kelly Riddell of Bloomberg says Massachusetts Senator John Kerry is threatening Federal intervention if Fox and Time Warner don’t resolve their differences. 

We’ll keep an eye on this as the deadline approaches. To the other sports media and sports business links now.

Phil Taylor of Sports Illustrated calls 2009, the Year of Sleaze. 

Back to CNBC’s Darren Rovell who looks at the most influential sports tweeters of the year. 

Richard Sandomir and Ken Belson of the New York Times write that the NHL Winter Classic has become a cash cow for the league and NBC.

Richard writes that boxing has been thriving over the last ten years despite its glamor heavyweight division not producing any big names.

Jim Motavalli of the New York Times writes about ESPN’s airing of a human sacrifice tonight. 

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says ESPN will use USC coach Pete Carroll as a guest analyst for the BCS National Championship Game. 

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that the Lehigh University public address announcer saw a long streak come to an end this week.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com writing in the Baltimore-centric Press Box says MASN and Comcast have settled a carriage dispute. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says ESPNU will be airing plenty of lacrosse games in 2010. 

Brian McNally of the Examiner says skier Lindsay Vonn’s wrist injury gave NBC a big scare as the network is using her to help promote the Winter Olympics.

Noah Feit of the Aiken (SC) Standard says ESPN Classic is being sent to a lower subscribed tier on the local cable system. 

Sarah Talalay of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel looks at some of the gift items for the Orange Bowl teams and the ticket prices for the Super Bowl in Miami.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes about ESPN Regional Television taking ownership of the Texas Bowl.

Victor R. Martinez of the El Paso Times says the Sun Bowl hopes to renew its rights agreement with CBS.

Michael Rand of the Minneapolis Star Tribune talks with a Fox Sports North exec on the decision to drop high school hockey games in 2010.

Tom Carothers of the Woodbury (MN) Bulletin says one high school is particularly sad about Fox Sports North’s decision.

Russ Mitchell of the Spencer (IA) Daily Reporter writes residents won’t be watching today’s Insight Bowl on NFL Network as Mediacom doesn’t carry the channel.

Jeff Hutton from the Ottumwa (IA) Couirier says fans of Iowa State will have to go a sports bar or find other means of watching the Insight Bowl.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says Wednesday’s CTV webcast of the Canadian Olympic men’s hockey team went well with a few gltiches.

Chris says technical advancements are changing the way we’re watching sports.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the Canadian Olympic men’s hockey team announcement was pure entertainment. I watched it online and wonder what Bruce was watching.

William Houston at Truth & Rumours gives TSN the edge in covering the Canadian Olympic team announcement.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Monday Night Football ended 2009 with record ratings.

Mike says NHL Network and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia have developed plenty of wraparound programming for the Winter Classic.

Thomas Umstead of Multichannel writes that cable including ESPN increased its dominance over the broadcast networks in the last ten years.

Tom Ziller of Fanhouse looks back at the last ten years in sports blogging.

Michael David Smith of Fanhouse also looks at the last ten years of sports and the internet.

Back to Tim Lemke who gives us his first blog post of his post-Washington Times era. Someone hire this man. Great sports business and media writer.

Former Times NBA beat reporter Mike Jones tries to make the best of his firing. 

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball is sad to see the elimination of the Washington Times sports section. 

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media wishes you all a Happy New Year.

The Sports Media Watch looks at the biggest NHL stories of the last ten years. 

Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal is making some changes at his blog. Best of luck, my friend.

Chris Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media breaks news that ESPN will use Bob Davie to replace Craig James on the Alamo Bowl.

Dave Kohl of the Major League Programs blog looks at the last ten years in televised sports. 

The Stiles Points blog remembers the late ABC Sports college football host, Dave Diles.

Well, this is certainly more than a quick linkfest. But since this is the last linkage of 2009, I wanted to go out with a bang rather than a whimper. I’ll post some press releases before the year is out.

Tomorrow, you’ll have the viewing picks, maybe some late night linkage and a slew of press releases. Have a Happy New Year and I’ll see you in earnest in 2010.

First Friday Megalinks of 2009, Part I

I’ll do the Friday megalinks in two parts today. I’m still trying to find out what happened with the launch of the MLB Network last night. I’ve now heard from a subscriber in Alexandria, VA who said he could not watch the channel through Comcast. Besides the problems with Time Warner Cable in Albany/Schenectady, NY as reported by Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette, much of the problems appear to be with Comcast. I do expect a statement from MLB Network and when I receive it, I’ll post it here.

Because I want to get to the links right away, I’ll do the Weekend Viewing Picks in the Part II of the Megalinks.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand grades the NFL TV networks’ performance this season.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball reports on the confusion over the MLB Network launch.

Mark Newman of MLB.com liveblogged the MLB Network launch last night.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell responds to reader reaction to his post on imposing a salary cap in baseball. Darren says the NHL Winter Classic was a hit again this year. And Darren says Madoff memorabilia is hard to come by.

The Sports Media Watch finishes its look at 2008 by reviewing the ratings for the Olympics. Paulsen’s story of the year was the economic downturn affecting sports. The SMW reviews its predictions from last year. Now we get the SMW’s predictions for this year. The blog wonders if TNT should discipline Charles Barkley after his arrest this week. And the SMW says the NHL Winter Classic drew higher overnight ratings from last year.

The Big Lead says Mike Patrick might have gone overboard with an analogy during the Capital One Bowl yesterday.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch reports that WBZ Radio has laid off sports anchor Tom Cuddy.

Neil Best of Newsday writes about the MLB Network launch. Neil says while MLB Network did well last night, it’s better to judge the channel when the regular season begins in April. Neil writes that Chris Carlin did his final stint on WFAN today. And Neil wonders how coaches and managers will fare in 2009.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick blames the media for enabling Charles Barkley’s behavior. That’s a pretty broad brush. The Post’s NBA writer Peter Vescey feels Barkley is out of control.

Justin Terranova from the Post talks with Fox Sports’ Charles Davis and Barry Switzer about the BCS National Championship Game. And Justin has five questions for Fox Sports’ Brian Billick.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says Fox Sports’ Barry Switzer spent a lot of time defending his former Oklahoma Sooners team.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says TV could bring some good karma to the Ravens this weekend.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes about ESPN’s Dick Vitale’s return to the NBA after 24 years.

Dave Darling from the Orlando Sentinel gives us the top sports media stories of 2008.

Kyle Hightower of the Sentinel writes that Magic fans will have to upgrade to digital cable to get Fox Sports Florida as Bright House cable recently added the channel to its lineup.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram also talks with Fox Sports’ Barry Switzer.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle says a new sports radio station made headway in the ratings.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News tells us that Bill Cowher has signed an extension with CBS Sports. Barry says former Texas Ranger broadcaster Victor Rojas will be the answer to a trivia question. And Barry notes that 60 Minutes will interview Texas Tech coach Mike Leach on Sunday.

The Daily Oklahoman’s Mel Bracht talks with Fox Sports’ Charles Davis who will call the Florida-Oklahoma BCS National Championship Game next week.

That will do it for Part I of the Megalinks. Part II coming up tonight.

Friday Night Megalinks. Again.

I can’t believe how busy at work I’ve been over the last month. One of these weeks, I’ll be back doing the Megalink thing during the day. And now that I’ve watched another episode of South of Nowhere, I’m ready to provide you with massive linkage. But before we do that, I give you the Weekend Viewing Picks.

For the first time this season, ESPN’s College Gameday goes to a site that is not an ABC or ESPN family of networks game. Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and a cast of thousands will broadcast live from the Alabama-LSU game in Baton Rouge, LA that be broadcast live on CBS later in the day. Other games of interest include Penn State at Iowa on ABC and Cal at USC, also on ABC. The College Football Viewing Picks has the entire national TV schedule.

In the NFL, some of the more intriguing matchups including the undefeated Tennessee Titans taking on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, Green Bay at Minnesota, Buffalo at New England, Indianapolis at Pittsburgh, then the Giants at Philly in primetime on Sunday. The NFL Viewing Picks not only has the schedule for Sunday, but CBS and Fox coverage maps, DirecTV, Sirius and XM channel assignments.

As for your other viewing this weekend, there’s the NASCAR Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 on ABC this Sunday at 3:45 p.m.

There’s a great matchup in boxing’s light heavyweight division as Joe Calzaghe takes on Roy Jones, Jr. on HBO Pay Per View Saturday night at 9.

As the PGA Tour limps to the finish of its season, the Children’s Miracle Network Classic takes place at Disney World on the Golf Channel throughout the weekend.

The women’s tennis season ends with the WTA Championships finals in Qatar on ESPN2, Sunday at noon.

Now to your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that Barack Obama’s win on Tuesday is a big boost to Oregon State’s men’s basketball coach Craig Robinson who happens to be the President-elect’s brother-in-law.

Deadspin is being threatened by the overseas deployed boyfriend of the fired New England Patriots cheerleader.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notices that President-elect Obama wears certain sportswear.

Joe Favorito says the Million Dollar Arm promotion may help baseball’s quest to get back into the Olympics.

From Puck the Media, Steve Lepore has a very good tribute to the best hockey broadcaster bar none, Mike Emrick, who is being deservedly inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Larry Barrett of Multichannel News talks about the ratings for Saturday primetime college football on ABC and ESPN.

Steve McClellan of Adweek writes that Cars.com has purchased a 60 second spot on the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year.

Tom Lowry of BusinessWeek says the University of Texas plans to launch its own cable all-sports channel.

One of my favorite actresses on one of my all-time favorite shows, 24, the lovely Reiko Aylesworth is expected to join my other all-time favorite show, Lost. By the way, Lost returns January 21, 2009 with a 2 hour premiere.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe says a feature by ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge on local eating establishments during games has become a big hit.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with NESN and CBC analyst Mike Milbury who no longer doubts the ability of Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that NBC Sports’ documentary on the Paralympics really tugs at the heartstrings.

Over to the New York Post where Phil Mushnick goes after ESPN and the Big Ten Network.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with Fox Sports NFL analyst Daryl Johnston and NFL Today analyst Bill Cowher about the Jets’ short turnaround on Sunday. And Justin has five questions for CBS’ college football analyst Gary Danielson about Alabama-LSU.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman feels Roy Jones, Jr. is aiming to return to HBO as an analyst. Do we really care?

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union enjoyed watching the Denver-Cleveland game on the NFL Network, but feels bad the rest of the country did not.

Jim Williams of the DC Examiner says NBC Sports’ presentation of the Paralympics and college football are the highlights of the viewing weekend.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald lists some of his annoyances with network football coverage both college and pro.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel says Magic fans are losing out with the Bright House-Fox Sports Florida dispute.

In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ray Buck wonders if Monday Night Football has become irrelevant.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle notes that Brent Musberger is back in the Lone Star State for the third time in four weeks.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News likes Bob Papa over Bryant Gumbel on the NFL Network, but prefers Cowboys’ voice Brad Sham over both of them. Barry says the West Coast won’t see Oklahoma State-Texas Tech Saturday night.

Jerry Garcia in the San Antonio Express-News says President-elect Obama will need a second term to fix the BCS mess.

In the Daily Oklahoman, Mel Bracht talks with ESPN/ABC sideline reporter Lisa Salters. In his media notebook, Mel writes about how Fox switched away from the Green Bay-Tennessee game that was going into overtime. And Mel says not all of Oklahoma’s cable systems are paying up to show Thunder games.

Midwest

Marc Katz of the Dayton Daily News says the NFL Network is still failing to reach a wide audience.

Michael Zuidema in the Grand Rapids (MI) Press says a local radio sports reporter is getting ready for the annual high school football championships.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says former Brewers voice Matt Vasgersian could not pass up the opportunity to join the new MLB Network.

The Chicago Tribune lists the games you should watch this weekend.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin writes that the NFL Network can’t come to an agreement with Charter Communications.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the new format in the World Series of Poker will force ESPN to scramble in a quick turnaround to show the finals. And Dan writes that Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols filmed a “This is SportsCenter” promo.

West

Tyler Lockman of the Arizona Republic has Monday Night Football staffers telling college students that the Cardinals-49ers game will be a tough sell to get ratings.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says there’s a lot of interest in the Padres TV job. And Jay has the ratings from last weekend.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes about the search to replace Matt Vasgersian as Padres play-by-play man.

To the Ventura County Star and Jim Carlisle who writes about NBC’s Paralympics documentary.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times says the West Coast is being neglected by ABC/ESPN for Saturday night’s Oklahoma State-Texas Tech game.

Philip Hersh of the Times strongly recommends you watch the NBC Paralympics documentary on Sunday.

From the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth says the fans are the losers in the Big Cable vs. NFL Network stalemate. Tom has some media news and notes in his blog.

Gary Washburn of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer talks with former Sonics guard Gary Payton who’s having fun being a TV analyst.

Canada

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says a local sports talk show host brought up race when mentioning President-elect Obama.

Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post reports that Versus will pick up TSN’s broadcast of the CFL Grey Cup later this month.

And that will do it for the megalinks today.

Some Thursday Night Links, Not A Lot

I’m actually doing some work tonight, but in between tasks, I’ll give you some linkage.

Tripp Mickle of the Sports Business Journal has five off-the-ice issues to watch for the NHL this season.

Neil Best of Newsday, through the LA Times, has UFC President-for-Life Dana White blasting Elite XC and CBS.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says the NHL has begun its Center Ice free preview on satellite and cable. And Pete felt that Tim McCarver really looked old during his appearance on ESPN’s Outside the Lines yesterday.

From Ken Schott’s blog at the Schenectady Gazette, he provides us with this link to his appearance on FoxSports 980 from Thursday. Ken tells us that Albany River Rats fans can only catch the team’s season opener on Saturday on the net.

The great Jim Williams from the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes that the Senior Players Championship from the Baltimore Country Club can be seen on Golf Channel and NBC.

John Ketzenberger of the Indianapolis Star says the dispute between Bright House Cable and a local CBS affiliate is all over money.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Dallas Stars broadcast team has signed a new long term contract.

Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune says Utah State University is cherishing a rare opportunity to be on national TV this coming Saturday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News previews his Friday media column.

The Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

Multichannel News says Setanta Sports has signed its first cable carriage deal with Cox Communications.

John Consoli from Mediaweek writes that the NFL is off to a solid start in the ratings, five weeks into its season. John says NASCAR is revving up an awareness campaign involving the digital TV switchover.

Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com reports that ESPN will drop its Wednesday Night Fight series to focus its priorities on ESPN2′s Friday Night Fights.

That will do it for now.

Late Sunday Afternoon/Early Sunday Evening Links

I’ve been so busy today and I was also giving my notebook a break from today. I’m all over the place, but at least I have a moment to do some linkage and I’ll also be doing the regular quotage from the Sunday NFL pregame shows, except for the NFL Today (contact me, CBS Sports!).

Let’s get to some links now.

The Sports Media Watch has its usual weekend ratings predictions.

The Sox & Dawgs blog now echoes the call of many Patriots fans in lobbying for the replacement of Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti from the radio booth.

Newsday’s Neil Best marvels at how Fox Sports’ NFL Insider Jay Glazer can get the scoops.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick remembers the late Washington Senator outfielder Mickey Vernon.

Over to the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman who is mad about something.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News says with ESPN’s hiring of Matthew Barnaby, one of his other broadcasting gigs has to go by the wayside.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner is enjoying TBS’ coverage of the MLB League Division Series.

The Detroit Free Press’ Mitch Albom celebrates 20 years of ESPN’s The Sports Reporters.

Chris Sikich of the Indianapolis Star says a dispute between Bright House cable and the local CBS affiliate is forcing Colts fans to scramble for alternatives.

Dave Weekley of the Charleston (WV) Gazette says for the second straight week, the Pittsburgh Steelers get a primetime game.

Mike Tankersley of the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser says a brief mention of a blog during last Saturday’s Tennessee-Auburn game on CBS led to increased traffic.

Kyle Veazey of the Clarion (MS) Ledger says with College Gameday’s visit to Vanderbilt on Saturday, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are now the lone SEC schools not to host the pregame show.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News feels ESPN’s College Gameday will be in Big D on Saturday.

Moises Mendoza of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says Comcast SportsNet Northwest is hoping the Portland Trail Blazers can replace the Sonics.

That will do it for now. I’ll be back later.

A Routine Friday Megalinks

Another Friday, another edition of the Megalinks. Lots of media stories to get to, never enough time so let’s get to them and as always, there’s the Weekend Viewing Picks.

The League Division Series are well underway. Both National League series are 2-0 with possibilities of sweeps on Saturday. The American League series resume tonight and then start again on Sunday. TBS has complete coverage of the LDS throughout the weekend. Tonight, the White Sox try to even their series with Tampa Bay at 6 then the Red Sox-Angels follow with Game 2 of their series at 9:37. On Saturday, both NL series are on tap as the locales change. First pitch for Game 3 of Phillies-Brewers is scheduled for 6:37 p.m., then Cubs-Dodgers is scheduled for 10:07. The schedule of games along with announcer assignments can be seen here.

Over to the NFL where Week 5 is highlighted by Washington-Philadelphia, Chicago-Detroit, New England-San Francisco, Cincinnati-Dallas and then Pittsburgh-Jacksonville in primetime. The entire schedule for Sunday along with announcing assignments, coverage maps, DirecTV channel assignments and satellite radio channels are in my NFL Viewing Picks.

College football has some intriguing matchups in conference play on Saturday. Ohio State-Wisconsin on ABC in primetime and Auburn-Vandy on ESPN are among your featured games. ESPN’s College Gameday continues its exclusive SEC tour by being live from the Vandy campus in Tennessee. College Football Viewing Picks have the nationally and regionally televised games.

The NHL begins the season with a doubleheader in Europe on both Saturday and Sunday. The New York Rangers play a pair of games in the Czech Republic at noon, both days, then 2.5 hours later, Ottawa and Pittsburgh square off in Stockholm, Sweden. CBC will have the opening day doubleheader on Saturday. Versus carries both games on Sunday.

NASCAR heads to Talladega for the Amp Energy 500. ABC has it Sunday at 2 p.m.

HBO’s Boxing After Dark has a tripleheader Saturday night at 10:05.

CBS has what could be its last Mixed Martial Arts Elite XC broadcast, Saturday night at 9.

For golf fans, the PGA Tour heads to the Turning Stone Resort Championship in New York for its first tournament of its Fall Swing. Golf Channel has coverage throughout the weekend at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. NBC has exclusive coverage of the LPGA World Championship, Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m.

Now to the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand discusses ESPN’s excellent Sports Reporters program turning 20.

Christopher Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media blog has a good interview with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.

The Orbitcast blog says the NBA signed a new contract with XM Satellite Radio, but will still be heard on Sirius receivers.

Joe Favorito looks at the way the New Jersey Nets are tapping into different ethnic communities.

Maury Brown’s Biz of Baseball site looks inside the decrease in attendance for MLB this season.

Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable writes about ESPN rebranding its European channel from NASN to ESPN America.

East & Mid-Atlantic

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch looks at the East Coast-West Coast feud between Gerry Callahan of the Boston Herald and TJ Simers of the Los Angeles Times.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe talks with Fox Sports’ Joe Buck about the MLB postseason.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette says the financial crunch has claimed the radio voice of the Tornadoes.

Dan Lamonthe’s Red Sox Monster blog hates TBS’ coverage of the Red Sox-Angels series.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about the preparations of the MLB Network which launches on January 1 on many major cable and satellite systems.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post feels TBS has gone overboard with the Frank TV plugs.

Justin Terranova of the Post talks with TBS’ Cal Ripken, Jr. about the MLB postseason and somehow, Cal’s name is misspelled halfway down the story. Justin has five questions for MSG’s NHL analyst Joe Micheletti about the Rangers’ trip to Europe.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks about SNY/TBS’ Ron Darling getting into shape and also discusses a potential war breaking out at WFAN. In his blog, Neil says he feels partly responsible for the war. Neil has an item that got bumped from his column concerning displaced NFL fans. Neil writes that Islanders fans are angry that their team was not on TV during exhibition season while the Rangers were on plenty of times.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman feels Yankees GM Brian Cashman still has a few things to learn about dealing with the media.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says Dan Patrick is having fun doing his nationally syndicated radio show.

Laura Nachman says Jody McDonald is back on the Philadelphia airwaves after recuperating from heart bypass surgery.

To Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun who writes that the Ravens did not resonate nationally during its Monday night game with the Steelers on ESPN. In his blog, Ray says Orioles TV voice Gary Thorne is returning to MASN for next season.

Tim Lemke of the Washington Times has his five sports picks for viewing.

South

Doug Nye of The State is enjoying TBS’ coverage of the MLB postseason.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says the Dolphins-Chargers game is close to being blacked out in the local area.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel writes that Bright House cable is launching its own sports channel.

Ted Fleming of the Tampa Bay Examiner is not a fan of TBS.

Jeff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal says ESPN’s College Gameday coming to Vanderbilt this weekend was a good choice.

Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says fans without cable or satellite are out of luck for the League Division Series.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News looks at the college football offerings in the Metroplex. Barry talks about two media conflicts at the Dallas Cowboys offices this week.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle says the TV and radio broadcast teams are set for the Rockets.

Midwest

Marc Katz of the Dayton Daily News says baseball is nice, but watching football is better.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that TBS’ crew caught the drama in the at-bat that turned yesterday’s Brewers-Phillies game into Philadelphia’s favor.

Ted Cox of the Chicago Daily Herald has readers’ reaction to the city’s baseball announcers.

Mike Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with a local NASCAR radio announcer.

Paul Christian of the Rochester Post-Bulletin is not happy with TBS’ late MLB playoff games.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says the exile of talk show host Kevin Slaten ends on Monday.

The St. Louis Business Journal says the Blues will have 36 of its games aired in high definition.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) News says tonight’s BYU-Utah State will be available on local TV.

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner speaks with TBS’ Tony Gwynn about the Cubs-Dodgers series. Jay has the ratings from last weekend in San Diego.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes that Padres TV voice Matt Vasgergian would like to return next year, but at a reduced schedule.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star looks at The Sports Reporters’ 20th anniversary.

The Los Angeles Times’ Steve Springer says FSN Prime Ticket’s crew crossed the line in rooting for the Dodgers.

From the Los Angeles Daily News, Tom Hoffarth also analyzes the Sports Reporters turning 20. In his weekly column, Tom writes about Warren Sapp’s week as he multitasks between the NFL Network, Dancing with the Stars and Inside the NFL. Tom has the first part of his extensive media notes. And part 2 of the media notes can be seen here.

Gary Washburn of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says Fox Sports’ Tony Siragusa plays the role of the everyman for the NFL “B” announcing team.

That’s going to do it.

More Wednesday Linkage

Let’s give you some linkage tonight.

David Scott of the Boston Sports Media Watch tells us that the Boston Herald is now talking with noted plagiarist Ron Borges about coming on board. Bad move if you ask me.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union wonders why Bills-Jags is not being shown on the local CBS affiliate this Sunday.

Bob Diddlebock of the Denver Examiner says ESPN did not match the Broncos’ high quality performance on Monday night.

Paula Duffy of the Examiner wonders if Keith Olbermann should be anchoring sports during the election season.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the possible sale of naming rights to the new Giants-Jets stadium and how it has ties to Nazi Germany.

Jeff Z. Klein of the Times blogs that there are many sources to watch the Paralympics from Communist China on the web.

In the Biz of Football, Maury Brown looks at ESPN’s use of virtual technology in a show the Alleged Worldwide Leader is producing with video game producer EA Sports.

Laura Nachman says NFL Films President Steve Sabol will be honored next week.

Adam Rose of the Los Angeles Times talks about ESPN’s College Gameday airing live from the LA Coliseum in advance of Saturday night’s Ohio State-USC game.

Etan Horowitz of the Orlando Sentinel says Bright House cable will add Big Ten Network to its lineup in central Florida.

But in Iowa, Michael Tidemann of the Estherville Daily News says despite Mediacom and BTN coming to an agreement, not all communities in the Hawkeye State can watch the channel.

The Big Ten Network says it will stream live games including some non-conference basketball games and other sports on its website for free. Football will not be streamed on the website.

Here’s CBS Sports’ press release on its live streaming of SEC games on CBSSports.com.

Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks with CBS Sports’ Gary Danielson about the SEC.

Jen Murphy of the Wall Street Journal talks with the vice president of content for CBS College Sports about his workout and his doing color analysis for Rutgers football.

Also from the Journal, Matthew Futterman talks with Fox Sports Head Honcho David Hill about a myriad of subjects.

Dan Slater of the Journal says the son of the late NFL Films voice John Facenda can sue over the use of his father’s voice in a commercial.

Shahaz Mahmud of Adweek writes that ESPN will debut a channel on social networking site Bebo that will offer highlights from SportsCenter and other programming.

Joe Favorito likes the way the George Foreman Grill used the US Open to gain brand recognition.

Keith Thibault of the Sports Media Journal had the opportunity to visit Fenway Park’s press box.

The Associated Press reports that last Thursday, the Washington Nationals scored a record low in the ratings on MASN against the Redskins-Giants game. Ooof.

Christopher Byrne’s Eye on Sports Media has a few posts tonight. We start with the announcement that the New York Times is eliminating its separate sports section to save money. Chris wonders if the Chicago White Sox is trying to buy off the media by allowing reporters first dibs to buy postseason tickets???? And Chris looks at Inside the NFL debuting on Showtime this week.

Bobby “Butch” Burney of the Sulfur Springs (TX) News-Telegram talks about ESPN coming to town to televise a local high school game this Friday.

Jimmy DeButts of the Birmingham (AL) Business Journal says a local sportscaster is suing his old station over a non-compete clause in his contract.

Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune reports that every Utah Jazz game will be televised and that includes all of the exhibition games.

Moving overseas, Dan Sabbagh and Amanda Andrews of the Times of London report that ESPN is seriously considering a bid for the TV rights to the English Premier League. They are currently held by Rupert Murdoch’s British Sky Broadcasting.

Going over to Australia, Paul McIntyre of the Sydney Morning Herald says Yahoo!7 (a consortium of Yahoo and 7 Network) and Telstra are crowing that they made more revenue online than NBC did during the Olympics.

That will do it for now. Since it’s late, I won’t have a review of Inside the NFL tonight. I’ll try to put one up on Thursday. Good night, now.