Fang's Bites

How To Avoid Paying The $3.99 Fee To Watch March Madness Online

There has been plenty of confusion over the $3.99 fee to watch the NCAA Tournament online, whether it be through NCAA.com or the March Madness Live app for Android, iPhone and the iPad. First, the original press release promoted the fee and did not clearly explain how you could avoid paying it.

Well after fiddling around with the app this week, I’ve finally figured this out. First download the app for free either from the Android Marketplace or the Apple App Store. Once you’ve downloaded the app, go to the settings button on upper left of the iPad app or hit “Settings” on the mobile app. Touch “My Channels” and put in your zip code, hit “go” and then choose your cable or satellite provider.

Then in “My Account” or “Login” put in your e-mail and set up your password, confirm it and you should be all set to watch all the games. One password will work for the online login at NCAA.com, the iPhone app as well as the iPad app.

You can also watch games through truTV.com, TNT.tv and TBS.com and all you have to do is put in your zip and choose your provider as well as putting in your password. Games at CBSSports.com can be viewed for free, no login is required.

And having seen the video on the March Madness Live mobile and iPad apps, the quality is excellent, however, video did not work for the early game between Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State. It was up for the BYU-Iona game.

I also watched at truTV.com and again, the video stream was very good. The online ads are different from what’s shown on TV, but that’s expected.

I do expect the demand on Thursday to cause the video to lag on all online platforms, but should be rectified as the wears on.

So there is the way to watch games on the March Madness Live app without having to pay. As long as your cable or satellite company has an agreement with Turner for streaming, you should be all set.

UPDATE, 03/15/12 — 7:20 p.m.: Turner Sports says if you’re still having trouble authenticating, call 855-566-5483 and techies will walk you through it.

Doing Some Monday Linkage For You

Let’s do some long overdue linkage for you. It’s been owed big time.

We begin with Mike McCarthy of USA Today who writes that a San Diego sports anchor is in trouble for referring to NASCAR driver Danica Patrick as a “B.”

Michael Hiestand from USA Today says the NBA All-Star Game’s overnight ratings are down from last year.

Michael says Fox did its best to hype Danica Patrick during Sunday’s Daytona 500 rain delay coverage.

John Daly at the Daly Planet is doing yeoman’s work in updating his site on Fox’s plans for the Daytona 500 which is now scheduled to air at 7 p.m. ET.

The Nielsen Wire blog says despite her lack of multiple victories, Danica Patrick remains the most known motorsports driver.

The Associated Press says Fox Sports is looking to extend its current rights deal with NASCAR that will expire in 2014.

Michael Schottey at Bleacher Report has some suggestions on how to improve NFL Scouting Combine coverage.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Universal Sports has picked up a carriage deal with Dish Network giving the satellite provider “TV Everywhere” rights.

Jeanine Poggi of Advertising Age says CBS/Turner will make a big marketing push for March Madness.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with new Mets radio voice Josh Lewin.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post finds something to complain about today.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes that ESPN has unveiled its primetime ACC football schedule.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog looks at one local anchorman’s thoughts about changing the name of the DC NFL Team.

Skyler Swisher of the Daytona Beach (FL) News-Journal talks with ESPN motorsports pit reporter Jamie Little.

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

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says the paper’s readers blame ESPN for ruining Ryan Braun’s reputation.

Shane Nyman of the Green Bay Gazette feels ESPN is overgushing over Jeremy Lin.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post reviews ESPN’s documentary on Magic Johnson’s announcement that he was HIV Positive.

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

Andrew Bucholz at Awful Announcing writes about ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham winning an Oscar for Best Documentary feature last night.

That will do it for now.

Terms of the New NFL TV Deal

As reported by Daniel Kaplan and John Ourand in this week’s issue of Sports Business Journal, the NFL’s broadcast TV partners, CBS, Fox and NBC are about to finalize a deal to renew their contracts with the league. The deals would begin with the 2014 seasons. Each network would pay over $1 billion per season which would be a 60% increase from their current rights fees.

According to the SBJ story, it would be an eight year deal extending through the 2021 season. Here are some of the particulars as outlined by Kaplan and Ourand.

• CBS, Fox and NBC would be able to stream games on tablets possibly as early as next season.
• The NFL has the right to hold back games from CBS and Fox to create an early season cable Thursday Night Football package.
• Sunday Night Football could get the right for flexible scheduling earlier in the season. Currently, flexing begins in Week 11.
• Mobile phone streaming rights would still be retained by Verizon.
• All contracts are based on a 16 game season.

The rights fees from the networks when the deal is said and done would amount to over $24 billion. That’s an amazing number. And the networks are willing to pay the fees because of the power of the NFL and the ratings the games generate.

The league is not commenting on the story. The networks have not made anything public. The deals are expected to be finalized sometime later this month. Official announcements according to the Sports Business Journal may not be made until next month.

Of course, we’re following the story. It all means that the upheaval the NFL saw in its last three TV contracts (Fox replacing CBS for the NFC in 1994, CBS kicking out NBC for AFC rights in 1998 and NBC and ESPN displacing ABC for primetime in 2006) is over. There will be stability among the main five TV partners for 16 seasons when the new deals are said and done. There will be a record 6th TV partner coming into the league very soon.

CBS, Fox & NBC To Renew NFL Deals for Over $1B/Season Each

We’re hearing that the NFL is about to close renewals with its over the air TV partners, CBS, Fox and NBC. Sports Business Journal is reporting that all three networks will continue in their present packages, the AFC, NFC and Sunday Night Football, respectively for another 8 seasons starting in the 2014 season.

All three partners would pay an increase on the average of 60% and their fees would be over one billion dollars. This would include digital rights and TV Everywhere meaning streaming on mobiles and tablets.

We’ll have more as the story develops. Keep it here.

NASCAR Race Buddy and Races Available on WatchESPN.com & Mobile Apps

NASCAR fans who had been complaining that they could not see races online will now be able to do so via ESPN’s apps. NASCAR, Turner Sports which manages NASCAR.com and ESPN have announced that the popular RaceBuddy online companion to the races will be made available to WatchESPN. In addition, the rest of ESPN’s NASCAR schedule will be on WatchESPN which is available online, mobile phones and tablets. Previously, anyone who wanted to see NASCAR while they were away from their TV was pure out of luck.

This development will give subscribers to participating cable providers Time Warner Cable, Bright House and Verizon FiOS access to the WatchESPN app and NASCAR races. This does not effect ESPN3.com as races will still not be made available there.

The press release.

Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup To Be Seen Like Never Before

NASCAR, Turner Sports and ESPN to Make RaceBuddy and WatchESPN Available to Fans for the First Time Ever During the Chase

Heading into the start of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR, ESPN and Turner Sports, which manages NASCAR.COM, announced today details of a new partnership that will provide race fans with a never-before-seen digital viewing experience during the sport’s postseason run. NASCAR.COM’s RaceBuddy product will be available for the first time ever during the Chase while NASCAR content will appear for the first time ever in ESPN’s WatchESPN.com platform and WatchESPN app.

RaceBuddy, NASCAR.COM’s popular, interactive live video product, will feature two mosaics with a mix of eight in-car and stationary cameras positioned around the track for the nine Chase races airing on ESPN. Fans wanting to watch ESPN’s live telecast on their computer, smartphone or tablet will now be able to do so through ESPN’s groundbreaking application, WatchESPN and WatchESPN.com.

“Enhancing the viewing experience and improving the sport’s digital and social presence for our millions of fans, at the track, at home and everywhere in between, is a goal we never lose sight of,” said Marc Jenkins, NASCAR’s vice president of digital media. “Being able to offer this series of interactive products during the Chase will further engage our fans with a robust digital presence that will forever change how the championship points battle is consumed.”

RaceBuddy on NASCAR.COM, which debuted in 2008 and has predominantly served as an enhancement to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races on TNT, will return on September 18 for the Geico 400 from Chicagoland Speedway (ESPN, 2 p.m. ET). In addition to the two mosaics with a total of eight camera angles, RaceBuddy on NASCAR.COM will continue to offer DVR Functionality, the Enhanced LIVE Leaderboard and RaceView’s position tracker.

“Turner Sports is delighted to partner with NASCAR and ESPN to expand the award-winning RaceBuddy on NASCAR.COM to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup,” said Matthew Hong, senior vice president and general manager, sports operations, Turner Sports. “Feedback from fans has been that they wish RaceBuddy were available for additional races outside the TNT portion of the season, so we’re proud to be able to bring them ‘ChaseBuddy’ and extend the interactive and immersive experience of RaceBuddy to nine playoff races.”

WatchESPN and WatchESPN.com, which give sports fans access to 24/7 live programming from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU, will, for the first time ever, exclusively feature the live ESPN telecasts of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. WatchESPN is available on computers, smartphones and tablets through WatchESPN.com and the free WatchESPN app, which are accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated provider.

Also, ESPN2’s daily NASCAR news and information program, “NASCAR Now”, will be available on multiple devices to NASCAR fans for the first time ever through WatchESPN and WatchESPN.com. Telecasts of NASCAR Nationwide Series races on ESPN and ESPN2 will also be available. ESPN first launched an online-accessible authenticated version of ESPN in October, 2010.

The Chase races will air on ESPN at 2 p.m. ET, with the exception of the Bank of America 500 on Oct. 15 (ABC, 7:30 p.m. ET) and the final three races of the year, all of which will air on ESPN at 3 p.m. ET.

“Our mission is to serve sports fans anytime, anywhere, and with WatchESPN and our new partnership with NASCAR and Turner, we can now extend that mission by making our NASCAR programming available to race fans wherever they might be,” said Julie Sobieski, ESPN vice president, programming and acquisitions. “I can’t think of a more perfect time to launch this than the beginning of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.”

That’s all.

Quickie Thursday Links

Today, I’ll be at a secret location in CT. It has to do with sports. It’s at a company that has four letters and is located in the central part of the state. The company was the subject of a recent book and a movie on it is in the option stage. Besides that, I can’t say anything more. Maybe later I can say where I am and what I’m doing there, but for now, it’s all on the DL. That’s not to be confused with Dan Levy’s On the DL, ok?

To the links.

A couple of big stories regarding college sports. The Pac-12 announced the formation of 6 regional and 1 national sports network that will air some 500 events including football, basketball and Olympic sports. So far, four cable providers have jumped on board. We’ll hear of more to come later.

And the Big 10 Network has announced a “TV Everywhere” mobile app. Time Warner Cable, DirecTV and Dish Network subscribers have already signed up. More are expected to follow as well.

We’ll start the links with those two stories.

First, the Pac-12 networks.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times explains what all this entails.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says the key content of the networks will be all conference football games that the national networks don’t air.

Jon Wilner from the San Jose Mercury News has details of the cable partnership and what will be seen on the channels.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the six regional Pac-12 networks.

Diane Pucin in the Los Angeles Times says the channels will be accessible to almost 50 million viewers.

Michael C. Lewis from the Salt Lake Tribune says Utah fans will see plenty of inventory thanks to the regional networks.

Kyle Ringo at the Boulder (CO) Daily Camera says the regional networks will offer hyper-local content.

Jeff Metcalfe at the Arizona Republic says the networks will launch in August of 2012.

Now the Big Ten Network “BTN2Go” TV Everywhere app.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News has details of the new app.

Now to the other links.

ESPN.com’s Ed Hinton pays loving tribute to his late wife.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says the Los Angeles Times have laid off two very good writers.

SportsGrid’s Glenn Davis writes that suspended/not suspended ESPN.com writer Bruce Feldman is back writing for the sports behemoth.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that the lockout will make the NFL even more popular with fans now.

Kristi Dosh, the lovely Sports Biz Miss has an interview with Texas A&M Athletic Director Bill Byrne about the impact of the Longhorn Network on college sports.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union looks at the extensive and comprehensive ESPN college football schedule.

Dustin Long of the Virginian-Pilot has focus group comments about NASCAR’s TV coverage.

Strange story coming out of South Florida. David J. Neal at the Miami Herald says former CNN anchor Rick Sanchez, fired for making comments about Jews in the media, will be the new voice of Florida International University football.

Scott Travis from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes that Sanchez will be working the games for free.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle has an interesting story noting that ESPN is in an unenviable position of being a partner with the University of Texas on the Longhorn Network, but on the other hand, it suing the school in an open records case.

Mel Bracht at the Daily Oklahoman looks at Fox Sports unveiling its college football announcing teams for this season.

Mike Martindale and Doug Guthrie of the Detroit News report on ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose getting jail time for a DUI conviction.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel can’t believe the Pittsburgh Pirates are getting some national TV love.

Baxter Holmes at the Los Angeles Times says ESPN’s X Games continue to grow into a huge global entity.

Barry Janoff of The Big Lead talks with an Olympic marketer about the London Games changing the size of the medals. They’re as big as your chest now.

Ryan Yoder at Awful Announcing suggests different scenarios for the upcoming ESPN movie.

Sports Media Watch has some news and notes on sports media personalities.

Dave Kohl of the Major League Programs blog looks at the week in sports media.

And that will do it for the links today. I hope I will be able to explain what I’m doing at the secret location later.