Fang's Bites

Breaking Out Some Thursday Linkage

Let’s do the Thursday linkage. We’re doing well so far this week, knock on wood.

Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal reports NBC’s overnight rating for Wednesday’s Olympic Primetime was up from Beijing.

Tripp Mickle of Sports Business Journal says YouTube is looking to further strengthen its live sports portfolio after streaming Olympic content in Africa and Asia.

Austin Karp of SBJ says NBC’s Olympic ratings remain ahead of Beijing’s pace.

Michael Katz of USA Today notes that USA gold medal-winning gymnast McKayla Maroney taught NBC’s Jenna Bush how to do the Dougie. Can’t wait for Colin Cowherd to criticize both for their upbringings.

Speaking of McKayla, Erin Carlson of the Hollywood Reporter notes that one of the funniest internet memes has come Maroney’s reaction to winning the silver medal last week in the individual vault event. Here is the site, “McKayla Maroney is not Impressed” which is being updated quite frequently.

Major League Baseball has released the 2012 Postseason schedule with networks.

John Eggerton at Broadcasting & Cable says Comcast is still fighting an FCC decision requiring the cable provider to make room for Tennis Channel.

Dan Alexander at Forbes writes that the U.S. Fierce Five gymnasts stand to make a lot of money in endorsements.

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age says the 2012 Olympics may be winding down, but NBCUniversal has already sold a portion of its ad time for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life says NBC’s strategy to put the Olympics on NBC Sports Network is paying off.

Steve Lepore at SB Nation provides his rankings for NBC’s Olympic announcers.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report is surprised to learn that CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus and golf producer Lance Barrow aren’t concerned with slow play in golf.

Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says critics of NBC’s tape delays should be focusing their anger at something else.

Steve Myers at the Poynter Institute says a new Gallup Poll finds viewers want their Olympics live in primetime.

Stephen Douglas at The Big Lead has video of Fox’s Erin Andrews and Eddie George dancing to “Call Me Maybe”.

NBC Sports provides a sneak peek at its new digs currently under construction in Connecticut.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group explores how the Olympics are being sent to Australia.

Bill Carter of the New York Times writes that female Olympic athletes are finding the spotlight and scrutiny rather harsh, especially Lolo Jones.

Arthur S. Brisbane, the Times’ public editor believes Jeré Longman’s article that began the public takedown of Jones was too harsh.

Sam Borden of the Times says viewers of women’s water polo are getting a bit more exposure than they anticipated.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette notes that ESPNU won’t airing any college hockey regular season games again.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that local radio stations will be picking up national college and NFL broadcasts this fall.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will be all over the Baltimore Ravens and DC NFL Team in the preseason.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun looks at a poll which shows a majority of Americans like how NBC is handling the Olympics.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says MLB Network’s Kevin Millar and ESPN’s Dick Vitale (?) are weighing in on the Nationals’ strategy to shut down pitcher Stephen Strasburg.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that NBC is setting viewership records both online and on TV for the Olympics.

At the Bleacher Report, Jim looks at Telemundo’s coverage of the 2012 London Games.

Back to Eric Deggans, this time in his home newspaper the Tampa Bay Times, says NBC’s syndicated Olympic Zone program blurs the line between real news and advertising.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that the Reds’ hot July pumped Fox Sports Ohio’s ratings.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Big Ten Network’s college football announcers have some local ties.

Danny Ecker of Crain’s Chicago Business writes that local TV ratings for the Olympics are good, but not at the top of the country.

David Brauer of the Minnesota Post looks at Minneapolis-St. Paul’s radio ratings including the sports radio wars.

Scott D. Pierce from the Salt Lake Tribune says Salt Lake has the highest ratings in the nation for the Olympics once again.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says it’s about time for the annual Vin Scully announcement on whether he’ll return for another season.

Sports Media Watch has some of the bottom feeders among the local ratings for the Olympics.

Joe Favorito says the soccer exhibition “friendlies” may now be over in the U.S., but they helped to grow the game.

The latest Awful Announcing podcast has ESPN’s Darren Rovell as the guest.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth looks at some teams making flagship radio station moves.

And that’s going to finish us for today.

ESPN Family To Air Nine Exhibition Soccer Games This Summer

Starting tonight, the ESPN Family of Networks will air a total of nine exhibition soccer games featuring European and MLS teams. The series starts tonight in Seattle as the MLS’ Sounders host the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup Champions Chelsea from the English Premier League. In addition, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur from the EPL, Real Madrid from Spain’s La Liga, Celtic from the Scottish Premier League, Milan and Roma from Italy’s Serie A plus Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy and New York Red Bulls will be involved in the series.

Eight of the nine games will air on ESPN2. One will be exclusive to ESPN3.

We have the press release from ESPN.

2012 ESPN Summer Soccer Series

The 2012 ESPN Summer Soccer Series – nine international club matches over three weeks featuring legendary European and Major League Soccer clubs on ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPN Deportes – will kick off tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET with the 2012 European club champions Chelsea FC visiting the Seattle Sounders. The series will conclude Saturday, Aug. 11, at 1:55 p.m. with Spain’s La Liga champions Real Madrid FC vs. Scottish Premier League title holders Celtic FC. Eight of the nine matches will be aired live across ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPN Deportes, with one on ESPN3.

The schedule (subject to change):

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Networks
Wed, July 18	9:30 p.m.	Seattle Sounders vs. Chelsea FC Adrian Healey, Taylor Twellman and Alexi Lalas Ricardo Ortiz and Andres Agulla (ESPN Deportes)	ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Tue, July 24	10:30 p.m.	Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Tottenham Hotspur	ESPN3
Wed, July 25	6:30 p.m.	Liverpool FC vs. AS Roma Derek Rae and Robbie Mustoe Richard Mendez and Tato Noriega	ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sat, July 28	1 p.m.	Liverpool FC vs. Tottenham Hotspur Rae and Mustoe Ciro Procuna and Mario Kempes	ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
	6:30 p.m.	Chelsea FC vs. AC Milan Healey and Twellman Jorges Ramos and Hernan Pereyra	ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Tue, July 31	7 p.m.	New York Red Bulls vs. Tottenham Hotspur Healey, Twellman and Lalas Mendez and Giovanni Savarese	ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Thu, August 2	10:30 p.m.	Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Real Madrid Healey, Twellman, Lalas and reporter Monica Gonzalez Ortiz and Kempes	ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Wed, August 8	8 p.m.	Real Madrid vs. AC Milan Healey and Twellman Procuna and Kempes	ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes
Sat, August 11	1:55 p.m.	Real Madrid vs. Celtic FC Healey and Mustoe Procuna and Kempes	ESPN2 / ESPN3 / ESPN Deportes

All matches and times subject to change

The ESPN Summer Soccer Series includes three teams each from the English Premier League, Major League Soccer, two from Italy’s Serie A, and one from Spain’s La Liga and the Scottish Premier League. Highlights:

• AC Milan:  With seven European cup titles and 18 Italian Serie A championships, AC Milan is one of the legendary football clubs in Europe.  Its roster consists of some of the top international players, such as Alexandre Pato, Robinho (Brazil), Kevin-Prince Boateng, Sulley Muntari (Ghana), and Ignazio Abate, a key defender in Italy’s UEFA EURO 2012 team.
• A.S. Roma: Three-time Serie A winners and new professional home for U.S. international midfielder Michael Bradley, who completed a transfer to Roma after signing a four-year contract on Sunday.
• Celtic FC: Reigning Scottish Premier League champions with 43 Scottish titles, Celtic FC is one of the two clubs that have dominated Scottish football over the years.  The club is led by Greece’s Giorgos Samaras, who scored against Germany in the EURO 2012 quarterfinals.
• Chelsea FC: Current UEFA Champions League and England’s FA Cup winners, Chelsea FC is one of the premier clubs in English football.  The roster includes many of the players who participated in the UEFA EURO 2012 – John Terry, Ashley Cole (England), Juan Mata, EURO 2012 Golden Boot winner Fernando Torres (Spain), Petr Cech (Czech Republic), Raul Meireles (Portugal), and Florent Malouda (France).
• Liverpool FC: With 18 English titles, second most all-time in English football, and five European Cup titles, Liverpool FC is one of the legendary clubs in European football.  Its roster includes six players who represented England in the just-concluded UEFA European football Championship 2012 in Poland-Ukraine – captain Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing and Martin Kelly.
• Los Angeles Galaxy: Currently MLS Cup champions, the Los Angeles Galaxy are one of the Major League Soccer’s preeminent clubs with three of professional soccer’s accomplished players – former England captain David Beckham, U.S. Men’s national Team star Landon Donovan, and current Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane.

• New York Red Bulls: One of Major League Soccer’s founding clubs, the New York Red Bulls feature 1998 FIFA World Cup champion Thierry Henry and captain of Mexico’s national team Rafa Marquez.
• Real Madrid: The reigning La Liga champions, Real Madrid has won 32 La Liga titles and nine European Cups.  On its roster are 10 players who represented four different nations in the UEFA EURO 2012 – Iker Casillas, Xavi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Raul Albiol, Alvaro Arbeloa (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe (Spain), Mezut Ozil and Sami Khedira (Germany), and Karim Benzema (France).
• Seattle Sounders: After playing its first match in Major League Soccer in March 2009, the Seattle Sounders have won three straight U.S. Open Cup titles. The team features U.S. Men’s National team player Eddie Johnson and Argentine playmaker Mauro Rosales.
• Tottenham Hotspur:  With American goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who has started Premier League-record 304 straight matches, the team has finished among the top-five for three straight seasons in the Premier League. Tottenham Hotspur added new manager Andre Villas-Boas and had three players who competed in the UEFA EURO 2012 – Jermain Defoe, Scott Parker (England), and Rafael van der Vaart (Netherlands).

That is all.

Some Rare Sunday Linkage

It used to be that I would be able to provide linkage all seven days of the week, but my schedule has been crazy lately especially on the weekends. My apologies for not being able to provide more weekend content.

But as I’m free right now, let’s not dilly-dally any longer and here are some links for you on this Sunday.

Christoper S. Stewart of the Wall Street Journal looks at NBC’s massive undertaking to provide online content for NBCOlympics.com.

Eddie Kim of Variety says it’ll be consumers, not the television networks who will decide how second screen usage in sports viewing will evolve.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable writes that NBC’s owned-and-operated will be sending reporters to cover the 2012 Olympics in London.

At The Sherman Report, Ed Sherman says ESPN Radio and Big Ten Network failed in covering the Louis Freeh report on Penn State and Joe Paterno.

Ed hears from fired San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Tim Sullivan who landed on his feet in Louisville.

The excellent ESPN.com college basketball writer Dana O’Neill has a response to those who feel female sportscasters must be hot in order to be on television, knowledge in sports be damned. Thanks to Trenni Kusnierek of WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee for the link.

The Associated Press has announced its Olympic coverage plans.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos looks at some of the more interesting ideas in sports and social media.

Sports Video Group has looks at the Olympic venues that we’ll be seeing over the 16 days of competition starting on July 27. Actually a couple of days earlier if you count the Soccer Tournament. Here’s Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Joe Favorito looks at the return of the New York Cosmos.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe notes that despite a .500 season, NESN still drew viewers in the first half of the 2012 campaign.

Chad also has the Boston radio ratings for the Spring Arbitron book.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes about baseball stadia increasingly putting out the welcome mat for soccer exhibition games to generate new revenue.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post says the Freeh Report on Penn State shows that football was above the law.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that the local NBC affiliate has a conflict with the Olympics and the New York Giants preseason opening game.

Pete has NFL Network’s extensive preseason game schedule.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Giants fans will have to do a little searching for the team’s preseason games in August.

Ken has the Olympic Basketball Tournament viewing schedule.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News looks forward to hearing the dulcet tones of Peter Alliss on the Open Championship this week.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner recaps the local reaction to the release of the Penn State report.

Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times wonders if the future of talk radio lies with sports rather than politics.

Stephen F. Holder of the Times writes that the Buccaneers will adhere to the new NFL TV blackouts bucking what the Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers and Tennessee Titans had already announced.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Sentinel writes that the MLB All-Star Game received its lowest local ratings since 2005.

Back to Ed Sherman, he has an article in today’s Chicago Tribune on NBC’s new thinking about presenting every Olympic event live online.

Eric Zorn of the Tribune remembers a blind sportscaster who did his job so well, many listeners had no idea he was sightless. Thanks to Ed Sherman for the link.

The Reno Gazette-Journal talks with ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that reports of Heather Cox replacing Erin Andrews on the sidelines for Saturday Night Football may be premature.

Sports Media Watch has a look at Fox’s primetime MLB ratings over its eight week span.

SMW says Detroit leads all local markets in the MLB ratings.

Paul M. Banks at the Sports Bank wonders if it’s time for Matt Millen to leave ESPN.

Media Rantz looks at the NFL teams deciding not to adhere to the new TV blackout rules.

EPL Talk has the schedule for some of exhibition soccer games on TV over the next few weeks.

And that’s going to complete our links for today. I hope to have another post for you later. I hope time will allow me to do so. It’ll be good, I promise.

Let’s Do Some Wednesday Links

Lots of stuff to get to. Let’s not waste time.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reports on ESPN’s signing of four of its NFL insiders to long-term contracts.

SI’s Tom Verducci gives us some myths and truths about the MLB All-Star Game.

Tim Kenneally of The Wrap says the All-Star Game won the night for Fox in overall ratings and younger demographics.

At the Biz of Baseball, Maury Brown notes how surprised he is about the MLB All-Star Game’s overnight ratings seeing an increase from last year despite being a blowout.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today writes about the All-Star Game’s increased overnight ratings from last year.

To the Daily Beast where Howard Kurtz says NBC is betting that you’ll watch the Olympics despite not knowing anything about the sports inside the Games.

Andy Fixmer and Alex Sherman at Bloomberg Businessweek note that NBC expects to draw many cable viewers to watch the Olympics online.

Meg Carter at Co-Create notes how BBC is attempting to build the very first social Olympic Games.

Radio World says Fox Sports Radio will have a big presence at the London Olympics.

The Big Lead continues to break sports media stories this year. First, it breaks news that Fox and possibly NBC are interested in hiring ESPN Sunday Night Baseball voice Dan Shulman.

And then Jason McIntyre of TBL reports that CBS is making overtures at ESPN Radio’s Doug Gottlieb to work on its new radio network, become a college basketball analyst and host a show on its cable network.

Brian Clapp at Sports TV Jobs wonders if the competition is out for blood in poaching ESPN’s talent.

Barstool Sports in Boston somehow got its hands on a video featuring New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft making an audition tape with his 30 year old aspiring actress girlfriend, Ricki Noel Linder.

The video has gone viral and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio says Kraft has issued a statement on that video going public.

Isaac Rauch of Deadspin has an interesting story on how ESPN.com entertainment writer Lynn Hoppes has apparently lifted several passages from Wikipedia either verbatim or with very few changes and inserted them into his features.

Patrick Burns of Deadspin sees what subjects ESPN is devoting its time covering on SportsCenter.

Glenn Davis from SportsGrid has video of Fox & Friends criticizing the U.S. Olympic team’s Opening Ceremony attire as looking too French. Seriously?

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report is still suffering from Ozzie Guillen Fatigue and isn’t enthused about tonight’s Showtime premiere of “The Franchise: A Season with the Miami Marlins.”

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group looks at MLB International delivering the All-Star Game to a worldwide audience.

Brian Stelter of the New York Times reports on the NBC and Facebook partnership for the 2012 Olympics.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY says WPIX in New York will pick up an NFL Network Thursday Night Football game involving the defending Super Bowl champs, the New York Football Giants, in September.

Bob’s Blitz notes that ESPN Radio NY despite a new powerful FM signal fell further behind WFAN in the June Arbitron ratings period.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette looks at Fox’s ratings increase for this year’s MLB All-Star Game.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says a local college will be part of ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon in November.

Keith Groller from the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says a local cable sports channel will be all over a Minor League Baseball All-Star Game this week.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says a former Texas native is coming home to work in the local market as a TV sportscaster.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman looks at the local weekend ratings.

Mark Alesia and Phil Richards of the Indianapolis Star write that the Colts will adhere to the old NFL TV blackout rules and will not have games air in the local market unless a game is totally sold out. The NFL relaxed the rules to 85% this season.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that CBS’ Lesley Visser gets her chance to run in the Miller Park Sausage Race on Friday.

Jordan Kobritz of the Prescott (AZ) Daily Courier looks at the MLB TV rights negotiations.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail explores a popular English-language sports radio station in Montreal flipping to French leaving many fans in the cold.

Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette says English speaking sports fans have lost a voice to vent.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says the Home Run Derby had a big audience in Canada.

Sports Media Watch notes that the MLB All-Star Game had its second lowest overnight rating ever.

Joe Favorito looks at a very unique way a New York soccer team found a sponsor.

At the Broadcast Booth, Dave Kohl explores the reasons why the NFL slightly relaxed its TV blackout rules.

And that’s going to do it for today.

Let’s Do The Friday Megalinks

Time for Friday linkage.

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

National

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MediaRantz looks at the top 5 ESPN plagiarism scandals.

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

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

East and Mid-Atlantic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

South

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

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

Midwest

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

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

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

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

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

West

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

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

Tom also links to reaction to his Erin Andrews column.

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

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

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

Jim has his Weekend Viewing Picks.

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

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

And that will conclude our links for today.

The Thursday Linkage

So weird to have the 4th of July in the middle of the week. You get the holiday after two work days and then have two work days afterwards. Some of you have the entire week off which is good, but for me, there’s no such thing as a vacation. In fact, I haven’t had a vacation since August 2001. That’s true. Anyway, you don’t care about that. Let’s get to the links.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today lists which sports media personality has donated money to which politician.

Michael says ESPN NASCAR pit reporter Jamie Little will work her last race for a few months this weekend.

The BBC reports that a single yellow cable that will carry the Olympics from London to Europe was almost cut in Belgium.

Trefis Team at Forbes says ESPN contributes heavily to Disney’s stock price, but that could be reduced over time.

Keach Hagey of the Wall Street Journal looks at the new NBC Sports/Sports Illustrated partnership.

Mike Barnes of the Hollywood Reporter says former mustachioed Oakland Raiders defensive lineman turned pitchman Ben Davidson has died at the age of 72.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that ESPN set a viewership record for the EURO 2012 final.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life reports that NBC is close to selling out its Olympic ad inventory.

The Associated Press says the ACC has signed a 12 year deal with the Orange Bowl.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report talks with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo about his two decade long partnership with WFAN’s Mike Francesa.

Joe Lucia at Awful Announcing writes that ESPN’s Chris Fowler gave John McEnroe a lesson about Twitter parody accounts at Wimbledon this week.

Joe tells us about reporter-on-reporter Twitter crime between ESPN’s Buster Olney and CBS’ Jon Heyman.

Melissa Jacobs at the Football Girl agrees with Erin Andrews’ assessment that sideline reporters are a necessity when used correctly.

Speaking of Erin, she speaks with Adam Silverstein of the Only Gators blog about moving to Fox.

Dave Nagle in ESPN’s Front Row public relations blog notes the network’s new broadcast position at Wimbledon.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Barclays’ recent troubles are trickling down to the Brooklyn Nets as they prepare to occupy their new home.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post reports that The Whistle, a sports media company geared towards kids, will have a programming block on NBC Sports Network starting in September.

Dan Steinberg in the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that DC NFL Team radio analyst Sam Huff will work a reduced schedule this season.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman says the U.S. Olympic Trials topped the local ratings this past weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that Annika Sorenstam joins the NBC golf team this weekend at the U.S. Women’s Open.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch urges the White Sox to calm down in asking people to do last-minute voting for the All-Star Game.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says the Pac-12 Network will be a success in Utah knowing the failings of the mtn.

Bill Mooney of the Thoroughbred Times says Fox Sports Net will air the West Virginia Derby next month.

Media Rantz notes that the NBC President who was responsible for the “Heidi Game” and forever changed how sports was aired on TV has passed away.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog says CTV will bring back a few features for this year’s Olympics that were used in 2010 for Vancouver.

EPL Talk has a partial list of English Premier League games that will be aired in the States on ESPN2 and Fox Soccer.

Sports Media Watch says TNT took a ratings hit for last Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest notes that the US Olympic Committee will pass on bidding for the 2022 Games dashing hopes for a couple of cities. It means the earliest an Olympics will be held in the United States will be 2024.

And those are the links that I could manage to squeeze out of the internet today.

Jonesing For Tuesday Linkage

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Darren Rovell bids farewell to CNBC.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And we’re done.

Doing Some Monday Linkage

Let’s bring out some Monday links today.

Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, he talks with Fox’s Erin Andrews (weird to write that) about her decision to leave ESPN.

A.J. Perez of Fox Sports has Erin’s reaction to joining the network.

Jane Kellogg and Alex Ben Block of the Hollywood Reporter write about Erin Andrews leaving ESPN for Fox.

As for replacing Erin at ESPN, Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead seems to be in Samantha Steele’s corner.

Back to Hiestand at USA Today, he notes that the U.S. Olympic Trials scored for NBC this past weekend.

Michael says the CBS Sports golf crew did as best as they could in a difficult situation when heavy storms ravaged the Washington, DC area and affected the AT&T National PGA Tour stop.

John Ourand at Sports Business Daily talks with NBCUniversal’s CEO on how important the Olympics are important to the company.

Ryan Wilson at CBS Sports notes that the NFL has changed its blackout policy, reducing the requirements for local teams to ensure games will be seen in local markets.

Also at CBS Sports, Dennis Dodd writes that the Big 12′s TV contract has still yet to gain approval from the league’s presidents.

To Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report and he remembers the passing of Jack Buck ten years later.

Ed also looks at Erin Andrews leaving ESPN for Fox.

Scott Roxborough of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the EURO 2012 Final racked up the ratings in Europe.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that Comcast SportsNet Chicago has entered the game show arena.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek says the broadcast networks are looking to sports and reality to attract viewers during the dead summer season.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life notes NBC’s plans for the London Olympics later this month.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost writes that NBC is mostly sold for the Tour de France.

Kevin Iole at Yahoo’s Boxing Experts Blog writes about NBC Sports expanding its boxing portfolio.

Evan Weiner of Examiner.com says no matter how you look at it, the NFL is a monopoly.

Jason Dachman from Sports Video Group notes the amount of cameras ESPN is using at the X Games.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after college athletics once again.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says a local minor league hockey announcer is moving on.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times-Herald Record talks with some area sports radio personalities about WFAN’s 25th anniversary.

The Scranton (PA) Times-Tribune notes that an announcer with local ties will be part of NBC’s Olympic broadcast team.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s Chick Hernandez was hit by a Tiger Woods drive this weekend.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times still yearns for the faulty BCS.

Gary Brown of the Canton (OH) Repository notes that a Golf Channel crew was in town to do a story on a local golf pro.

At the Denver Post, Dusty Saunders says the U.S. Olympic Trials serve as an appetizer for the main course later this month.

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

In the Toronto Globe and Mail, Bruce Dowbiggin pays tribute to a colleague who’s retiring this month.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing looks at the free agent frenzy among the TV networks over the last year.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has the video of gymnast Nastia Liukin doing a horrific faceplant off the uneven bars during last night’s US Gymnastic Olympic Trials.

Paul M. Banks at the Sports Bank says a popular Comcast SportsNet Chicago reporter picked up a lot of Twitter love when she joined the service a few days ago.

MediaRantz notes that WFAN’s Boomer and Carton could be nationally syndicated on CBS Sports Radio in January.

Joe Favorito talks about the growth of American soccer.

And those are all of the links I could squeeze out today.

Some Quick Monday Sports Media Thoughts

Time for some quick sports media thoughts. As always, they come in bullet form.

• The free agent frenzy at ESPN is over. Overall, ESPN lost two out of three major free agents, Erin Andrews and Michelle Beadle while keeping Scott Van Pelt. Beadle and Van Pelt were not surprises, but Andrews’ departure can be classified as a mild one. The fact that Erin decided to leave and part ways after ESPN aggressively tried to keep her shows me that the network still valued her, however, Fox stepped up wupith a role she felt comfortable with.

  As Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reported on Sunday, one of Erin’s goals was to work on the NFL, an opportunity that she was passed over at ESPN. She’ll now have that chance at Fox plus some postseason MLB work as well.

  ESPN tome co-author James Andrew Miller tweeted that one could consider that both Erin and Micelle came out winners.

• Nice to see that NBC pulled tape delayed shenanigans for the U.S. Olympic Trials. The West Coast had to wait three hours to watch the gymnastics, swimming, and track & field trials over the last week. NBC will argue that the trials were available live across the country online, but that’s not good enough in this age.
• Great job by ESPN’s soccer unit on EURO 2012. Great coverage. World Cup 2014 in Rio is next.
• Starting today and going through Wednesday, ESPN and ESPN2 will have simultaneous coverage of Wimbledon with the Mothership focusing on Centre Court and the Deuce airing outer court action. It will be a tennis smorgasbord.
• Is there a more overblown event than The ESPY’s? Who votes on the awards? Does anyone think they make any sense?
• A couple of non-sports media thoughts: Ann Curry got screwed by NBC over the Today show and I like “The Newsroom” on HBO.
• Lastly, can we get Bonnie Bernstein a role on the Olympics? Or at least have her host a major network NFL studio show? Please?

Enjoy your Monday or least try to enjoy it.

It’s A Friday Megalink Day

And can you believe I’ve been able to do linkage for most of the week? Hasn’t been like that in a long while. Glad I’ve been able to get it done.

Time for your Friday megalinks. As usual, we provide the Weekend Viewing Picks which has plenty of MLB and U.S. Olympic Trials action.

Let’s go to the links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at ESPN extending its current deal with the Rose Bowl.

Michael looks at Erin Andrews’ departure from ESPN.

Sports Business Journal has a sampling of what some sports business and sports media figures addressed to the graduating Class of 2012 at the nation’s colleges and universities.

At the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman explores the strange dispute between the Arizona Diamondbacks and TV voice Daron Sutton.

Ed also notes some media bashing of Chris Berman a few months in advance of his Monday Night Football debut.

Stuart Kemp of the Hollywood Reporter writes that the BBC has launched a new Facebook app to allow UK users to watch the Olympics online.

John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable says the Supreme Court has let stand a lower court ruling throwing out the FCC fine against CBS for the infamous Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. Man, that was a long time ago.

Tim Baysinger of B&C says NASCAR Digital Media has hired five executives in advance of the sport’s takeover of its digital rights from Turner Sports next year.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group notes ESPN’s X Games production evolution.

The Nielsen Wire blog ponders the question of whether NBA Draft picks can do well in marketing products.

Deadline reports that ESPN’s ratings for the EURO 2012 semifinals this week are way up from EURO 2008.

One more week of writing, “CNBC’s Darren Rovell”. Today, CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that with less than a month to go until the Olympics, a major ticket dispute has erupted.

Joe Favorito notes how Delta Airlines’ sponsorship of English Premier League team Chelsea shows that the company wants to go outside of the US to gain awareness.

Sports Media Watch has a look at some of NBC’s Olympic assignments for London.

The Big Lead notes that ESPN and Bill Simmons removed a potential offensive part of his NBA Draft diary that is way too long for anyone to read.

Ryan Yoder of Awful Announcing has the winners and losers from Thursday’s night’s NBA Draft coverage on ESPN.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe writes about a documentary on an Olympic hopeful who is attempting to gain a spot on the US women’s gymnastics team.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette talks with the Voice of the Worcester Tornadoes minor league baseball team.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY talks with WFAN’s Mike Francesa on whether he’ll return to the station when his contract expires in two years.

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post is not happy about Chris Berman calling Monday Night Football.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes that local sports anchor Andrew Catalon gets another Olympics assignment.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union notes that the NBA Draft’s ratings on ESPN were down from the year before.

Pete looks at 25 years of WFAN.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record analyzes the NBC Olympic assignments.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call talks about the later start time for the NFL national Sunday afternoon game.

Keith has some fun facts about WFAN’s 25th anniversary.

Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com says Philadelphia Union voice JP Dellacamera will be calling Olympic soccer games for NBC.

DCRTV’s Dave Hughes in Press Box says the Baltimore Orioles’ ratings on MASN are up.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog has the Nationals’ radio ratings.

Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner speaks with NBC’s Phil Liggett about the Tour de France which kicks off this weekend.

South

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald culls media opinions regarding the Heat’s chances to repeat.

Jimmie E. Gates of the Jackson (MS) Clarion Ledger says a lawsuit against ESPN over a 30 for 30 documentary can proceed in state court.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says the Rockets are changing radio stations.

David writes the person who helped launch Houston’s original regional sports network will be part of the team that launches the city’s newest RSN.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman says a local sports radio network will be slightly affiliated with the new CBS Sports Radio.

More links later.

UPDATE, 9:20 p.m.: Time for more linkage.

Midwest

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley says Fox has replaced Daron Sutton from this Saturday’s Arizona-Brewers game.

Robert Channick of the Chicago Tribune says WMAQ sports anchor Mike Adamle who’s been on leave from the station is expected to return soon.

Paul Christian in the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin goes over the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2012 series.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times talks with TBS’ Cal Ripken about the MLB All-Star Game.

Jim Carlisle in the Ventura County Star rails against the current format of the All-Star Game.

Jim reviews some of this week’s sports media news in his notebook.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times says the NFL has laid down guidelines for the league to return to the nation’s second biggest market.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News isn’t thrilled about NBC pulling tape delayed shenanigans for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Tom has more notes in his blog.

And we are finally done.

Providing Your Thursday Linkage

Looks like I’m going to be busy today so I’m going to do the linkage a bit early for me at least.

David Bauder of the Associated Press writes that even though he’s no longer NBC Sports Emperor, Dick Ebersol’s presence will still be felt at the London Olympics.

Michael Hiestand at USA Today says NBC will utilize Late Night’s Jimmy Fallon and Shaun White as guest commentators during the Olympics.

Reid Cherner of USA Today writes that ESPN the Magazine has released the roster for its annual “Body” issue.

Alex Sherman of Bloomberg says NBC Sports Network is the key to Comcast turning a profit when NBC’s new Olympic deal begins in 2014.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter says NBC is hoping the Olympics will give its struggling Today show a ratings boost.

Scott Roxborough in the Reporter writes that the EURO 2012 semifinal between Spain and Portugal set a ratings record in Europe.

Neil Reynolds of Sky Sports in the UK has New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft lobbying for an NFL franchise in London and increasing the amount of regular season games in the UK from one to two.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable reports NBC expects to lose money on the London Olympics.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says NBCUniversal is pushing people to authenticate in order to watch the Olympics online.

Anthony Crupi at Adweek looks at NBC’s nearly $1 billion take from Olympic ad sales.

Rocco Pendola of The Street wonders if NBC can make a run at ESPN.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report notes how polarizing Chris Berman can be.

Eric Goldschein of SportsGrid doesn’t quite understand the vitriol thrown Berman’s way.

Natan Edelsburg at Lost Remote says NBC is making the London Olympics a truly social media experience. That will make Bob Costas so happy to read Twitter and Facebook promos.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says NBC’s going all in online at the Olympics.

Jack Bell at the Times looks at ESPN’s EURO 2012 ratings.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY notes that the NBA Finals beat Mets-Yankees in New York.

Jerry talks with the first voice ever to be heard on WFAN when it launched 25 years ago.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette says Buffalo Sabres TV voice Rick Jeanneret will do the entire team’s schedule.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says even with a new playoff system, there will still be debates in college football.

In the Washington Examiner, Jim Williams talks with ESPN’s Jay Bilas about tonight’s NBA Draft.

Ron Green, Jr. of the Charlotte Observer also talks with ESPN’s Jay Bilas about the Bobcats’ choices at the Draft.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle reports that the Rockets have changed flagship radio stations.

W. Scott Bailey of the San Antonio Business Journal says local native Michelle Beadle has come a long way from covering Professional Bull Riding.

Ryan Sharp at The Oklahoman has proof that the Big 12 pursued Notre Dame to increase its TV value.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman reviews the weekend’s TV ratings.

Paul M. Banks in Chicago Sports Media Watch wonders what will happen to the BCS brand now that a college football playoff is firmly in place.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Fox Sports San Diego will air November’s Syracuse-San Diego State college basketball game on board the USS Midway.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the West Coast is getting screwed again with NBC’s coverage of the Olympic Trials.

Sports Media Watch has some ratings news and notes.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says the viewership for the NHL Draft and NHL Awards Show was down.

The Brothers Yoder at Awful Announcing have some random sports that ESPN should televise and I totally agree with the number one choice.

And that’s going to do it for the linkage today.

Breaking Out Some Wednesday Linkage

Time for some Wednesday links. Won’t be a full set as I’ll be monitoring NBC’s Olympic conference call.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio discusses Chris Berman heading to the Monday Night Football booth for two games.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing says national nightmare Berman in the booth is not what NFL fans want.

Doug Farrar of Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner says it isn’t Berman who we should be worried about.

Matt writes about ESPN replacing Craig James on Thursday Night college football.

Michael Smith in Sports Business Daily writes that the PGA has a new sponsor for its developmental tour.

Scott Foxborough at the Hollywood Reporter notes the huge increase for EURO 2012′s ratings on ESPN from the last event four years ago.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable says MLB Network has upgraded its production control room for its signature MLB Tonight show.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the Sportsman Channel is gaining ground for its HD network.

Patrick Hipes of Deadline notes the TV bidding for the new college football playoff system to begin with the 2014 season will be worth beaucoup bucks.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report talks with the former owner of WFAN and how it was a risk to start an all-sports radio station 25 years ago.

Ed says no matter what you think of him, Don Imus’ move to WFAN helped save the sports radio format and sent it flying to new heights.

Ed says ESPN’s public relations blog fired salvos on behalf of ESPN Radio at CBS and NBC.

Jason Dachman from Sports Video Group says Fox Sports Net has developed an MLB app for second screens.

In GoLocalProv, former WBZ-TV anchor Bob Lobel gives one of the greatest moments in his career when he brought Boston legends Bobby Orr, Larry Bird and Ted Williams together for one show. I watched that when it happened. It was a great show.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY talks with WFAN 20/20 Sports update man John Minko.

Jerry also talks with another WFAN original, Steve Somers who schmoozes S-P-O-R-T-S every night.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes about Chris Berman and Trent Dilfer being teamed for two Monday Night Football games.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says Nationals’ ratings on MASN are way up from last season.

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald reviews LeBron James’ appearance on Late Show with David Letterman last night.

Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic talks about the strange removal of Daron Sutton from Diamondbacks broadcasts.

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com says the Diamondbacks have suspended Sutton for “insubordination” and won’t say anything more.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News notes that the Pac-12 won the most NCAA Championships this academic year.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders if it’s soccer time to shine in Canada and the U.S.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog looks at CBC and CTV dropping their joint bid for the 2014/16 Olympics.

Sports Media Watch looks into the move to put Chris Berman into the Monday Night Football booth.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead says bitter little hedgehog Danny Sheridan is buying Twitter followers.

Dave Kohl in The Broadcast Booth talks about multiple national sports radio networks.

And that’s going to do it today. Had to cut the links short because today will be quite busy. Leaving the afternoon free for the NBC Olympics announcements.

ESPN’s Viewership For EURO 2012 Quartersfinals Up Significantly From EURO 2008

It seemed four years ago when ESPN began its commitment to soccer with EURO 2008 that getting ratings anything near to what the network saw for the EURO 2012 tournament would be a pipe dream. However, not only have the ratings for EURO 2012 skyrocketed as compared to EURO 2008, but the numbers have been quite consistent. Even with matches playing mid-afternoon on the East Coast, the viewership on average for the 28 group stage and quarterfinal matches has been 1.144 million people and that’s way up about 63% from four years ago.

And for the Italy-England match on Sunday that went to penalty kicks, ESPN saw an average viewership that almost reached 3 million. That’s the second most watched European Championship game on the networks of ESPN with only the 2008 Final between Spain and Germany on ABC being higher.

Quite impressive going into today’s All-Iberian Peninsula semifinal game between Portugal and defending champion Spain. By the way, the great Ian Darke and Steve McManaman will call the match. For tomorrow’s Germany vs. Italy semi, it’ll be Adrian Healey and Robbie Mustoe in the commentary box.

Here’s ESPN’s press release.

ESPN Audience for UEFA EURO 2012 Quarterfinals Up 31 Percent vs. 2008

England vs. Italy Sets UEFA European Football Championship Record for ESPN Deportes; Audience on ESPN Digital Platforms Surges

Last Sunday’s UEFA EURO 2012 quarterfinal match between Italy and England, a 0-0 tie won by Italy 4-2 in a penalty-kick shootout, on ESPN was seen by an average of 2.968 million viewers, bigger than any UEFA European Football Championship match in 2012 or 2008, except the 2008 final on ABC (3.760 million for Germany vs. Spain).

The four UEFA EURO 2012 quarterfinal matches (June 21–24) delivered an average of 1.463 million television households and 1.918 million viewers – up 31 percent in both households (1.116 million) and viewers (1.459 million) compared to the quarterfinal round in 2008.

Audiences for UEFA EURO 2012 and 2008 quarterfinals matches:

Date	Network	Match	Households/Viewers (P2+)
Sun, June 24, 2012	ESPN	England vs. Italy	2,117,000/2,968,000
Sun, June 22, 2008	ESPN	Spain vs. Italy	1,387,000/1,911,000
Sat, June 21, 2008	ABC	Netherlands vs. Russia	1,384,000/1,838,000
Sat, June 23, 2012	ESPN2	Spain vs. France	1,301,000/1,758,000
Fri, June 22, 2012	ESPN	Germany vs. Greece	1,203,000/1,446,000
Thu, June 21,2012	ESPN	Czech Republic vs. Portugal	1,068,000/1,238,000
Thu, June 19, 2008	ESPN	Germany vs. Portugal	881,000/1,106,000
Fri, June 20, 2008	ESPN	Turkey vs. Croatia	798,000/962,000

Through 28 matches (group stage and quarterfinals) of the UEFA European Football Championship 2012, ESPN’s live English-language presentation is averaging 889,000 households and 1,144,000 viewers — up 61 percent and 63 percent, respectively, versus the same 28 matches in 2008 (552,000 households and 703,000 viewers).

The top 10 metered markets through the group stage include: New York (1.9), Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (1.8), Providence (1.5), Los Angeles (1.3), Washington, DC (1.3), San Francisco (1.2), Richmond, Va. (1.2), Atlanta (1.2), Austin, Texas (1.2), and San Diego (1.1).

ESPN Deportes:
Last Sunday’s England vs. Italy on ESPN Deportes was viewed by an average of 424,000 Hispanic household, based on an 8.1 Hispanic household coverage rating, making it the most-watched UEFA European Football Championship match on the 24-hour Spanish-language sports network.  The telecast beat the network’s previous high – UEFA EURO 2008 final between Germany and Spain with 357,000 Hispanic household impressions.

On ESPN Deportes, the quarterfinals averaged a 5.5 Hispanic household coverage rating with 287,000 Hispanic household impressions – up 57 percent and 133 percent from 2008 respectively. (In 2008, ESPN Deportes televised one of the four quarterfinal matches on delay.)

Through the 24 live matches in 2012, ESPN Deportes has delivered an average 3.5 Hispanic household coverage rating with 184,000 Hispanic HH impressions – up 46 percent and 117 percent respectively.  UEFA EURO 2012 news and information programming has also delivered strong ratings: Fuera de Juego Euro Edition has aired 42 live telecasts, averaging a 1.3 Hispanic household coverage rating with 68,000 Hispanic household impressions.

ESPN Digital Platforms:
From June 21-24, through four days of EURO 2012 quarterfinals play, ESPNFC.com and ESPNsoccernet.com globally averaged 878,000 daily visitors, 3.1 million page views per day and 10.2 million minutes per day (source: Adobe/Omniture). Compared to ESPNsoccernet.com during the same time period for EURO 2008, the site is up 24 percent, 13 percent and 132 percent, respectively. In total, ESPNFC.com, ESPNsoccernet.com and ESPNdeportes.com generated 13.3 million total page views during the quarterfinals, up 14.6 percent compared to EURO 2008.

Mobile coverage of the EURO 2012 quarterfinals across ESPNFC, ESPNsoccernet and ESPNdeportes mobile Web sites as well as the ESPNsoccernet app for iPhone and Android logged an average of 1.4 million page views per day, up 238 percent compared to EURO 2008.

Through the quarterfinals (June 8-24) across computers, smartphones, tablets and Xbox, ESPN3 and WatchESPN has logged an average minute audience of 83,607 per match and a total of 344.7 million live minutes to both English and Spanish language feeds. On computers alone, there were a total of 2.1 million unique viewers. Additionally, fans consumed 300.2 million live minutes on computers, up 688 percent compared to EURO 2008.

The England vs. Italy quarterfinal took the top spot as the new most watched match of the tournament thus far on ESPN3 and WatchESPN, logging 422,000 unique viewers, 27.8 million live minutes and an average minute audience of 147,745.

UEFA EURO 2012 Semifinals and Final on ESPN Networks
ESPN’s comprehensive presentation of UEFA European Football Championship 2012 in English and Spanish will continue Wednesday, June 27, and Thursday, June 28, with the semifinals, and conclude Sunday, July 1, with the title match live from Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine.  Schedule (Subject to change):

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Networks
Wed, June 27	2 p.m.	UEFA EURO Report	ESPN
		Fuera de Juego: EURO Previa	ESPN Deportes
	2:30 p.m.	Semifinal I – Portugal vs. Spain Ian Darke and Steve McManaman Jorge Ramos and Hernan Pereyra	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	5-6 p.m.	Fuera de Juego: EURO 2012	ESPN Deportes
	5-5:30 p.m.	EURO 2012 Tonight	ESPN2
Thu, June 28	2 p.m.	UEFA EURO Report	ESPN
		Fuera de Juego: EURO Previa	ESPN Deportes
	2:30 p.m.	Semifinal II – Germany vs. Italy Adrian Healey and Robbie Mustoe Fernando Palomo and Rafa Puente	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	5-6 p.m.	Fuera de Juego: EURO 2012	ESPN Deportes
	5-5:30 p.m.	EURO 2012 Tonight	ESPN2
Sun, July 1	2 p.m.	UEFA EURO Report	ESPN
		Fuera de Juego: EURO Previa	ESPN Deportes
	2:30 p.m.	EURO 2012 Final Darke and McManaman Ramos, Pereyra and Puente	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	5-6 p.m.	Fuera de Juego: EURO 2012	ESPN Deportes
		EURO 2012 Tonight	ESPN2

We have one more ESPN EURO 2012 press release and we’ll need a jump break. (continue reading…)

Your Tuesday Linkage

Let’s do some Tuesday links.

We’ll start with Matt Hayes of AOL Sporting News and he writes that the BCS is looking for a $5 billion TV deal over a decade for its new college football playoff.

In the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley says the new college football playoff still can be improved.

Eric Fisher and John Ourand of Sports Business Journal write that the Washington Nationals and MASN continue to be at odds over what the team’s TV rights are worth.

Maury Brown in Baseball Prospectus goes inside the Nats/MASN TV rights dispute.

Mark Buteau and Alex Duff of Bloomberg report that NBC has signed a long-term extension to lock in the Tour de France.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter says CBC and CTV are dropping their joint bidfor the 2014/2016 Olympic Games.

Charlie Warzel of Adweek says the PGA and Turner Sports are parting ways as the golf association will handle its digital rights in-house and no longer outsource it to Turner.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable writes that Ion will provide the WWE with a third night of programming.

In Multichannel News, Tim has an article about NFL Network’s NFL AM show.

Media Life Magazine notes that a Spanish language ad ran during ABC’s NBA Finals broadcasts.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead says CBS’ Jim Nantz is now pimping his own wine label. Surprised it’s not called “Hello, Friends.”

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has the amazing video of Mike Tyson on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption giving a preview of his new one-man Broadway play.

Dmitry Chesnokov of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy notes that the KHL has officially announced plans to play in the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn while trashing New York’s Madison Square Garden in the process.

The ESPN Front Row blog fires a shot at the new upstarts CBS Sports Radio and NBC Sports Radio Network on behalf of ESPN Radio.

Ben Lee at Digital Spy UK says Wimbledon’s primetime coverage on BBC2 drew over a million viewers.

Tara Pringle Jefferson at Loop 21 has six questions for ESPN’s Sage Steele.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says NBA Draft prospect Anthony Davis has trademarked his unibrow.

Darren wonders if US Olympic 100 meter sprinter Justin Gatlin can be marketable once again after sitting out a four year ban for steroids.

Sports Video Group notes that NESN has signedanother content sharing agreement with a third New England TV station, this time in Vermont.

All Access interviews a radio industry analyst who feels the new CBS Sports Radio will do well for the parent company.

Ian Bethune at Sox & Dawgs has the funny video of NESN’s Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy entertaining the viewers during a Red Sox rain delay last night.

Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston writes about the Red Sox being in no rush to replace their late public address announcer Carl Beane.

Claire Atkinson of the New York Post reports that a positive FCC ruling for Tennis Channel in its carriage dispute against Comcast could lead to more viewers for the network and make it more attractive to potential buyers.

Bob’s Blitz has WFAN’s schedule for Sunday when it celebrates 25 years as the Nation’s first sports radio station.

Kimberly A. Martin of Newsday notes that E! will air a special on New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow.

Neil Best of Newsday looks at ESPN’s start-to-finish coverage of Wimbledon.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has MLB Network’s live game schedule through the end of July.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call profiles a former local sports anchor who’s making his mark in Detroit.

Laura Nachman says a part-timer at Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is now part of the regional sports network’s starting team.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that Washingtonian magazine readers aren’t enamored with the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin.

Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times chastises readers who complained about weather alerts about Tropical Storm Debby that cut into sports action.

At the Miami Herald, Barry Jackson looks at anti-Heat media comments almost a week after the team won the NBA Championship.

Marc Weiszer of the Athens (GA) Banner-Herald writes that ESPN is producing a documentary on the 2008 SEC Tournament game between Alabama and Mississippi State that was interrupted by a tornado that ripped through Atlanta.

Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times Picayune reports that the Hornets will have the soon-to-be Fox Sports New Orleans to call their home. Fox Sports NO will replace Cox Sports which is getting out of the pro sports business.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says NFL Network will air clips of a Brett Favre interview all week long.

Danny Ecker of Crain’s Chicago Business says the local Comcast SportsNet affiliate will launch a new trivia game show.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a clip of Frank Deford’s appearance on last night’s Colbert Report.

Simon Houpt and Steve Ladurantaye of the Toronto Globe and Mail look at CBC and CTV ending their joint bid for the 2014/16 Olympics after two prices were rejected.

Ann Dempsey from the Toronto Star also has a story on the CBC/CTV disbanding.

Bill Harris in the Toronto Sun says Olympic viewing in Canada after this year is up in the air.

Monika Warzecha of Toronto Life wonders if Canadians will be stuck watching NBC for the 2014/16 Olympics.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes TSN did well in showing the NHL Draft and EURO 2012.

Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest says NBC and Shazam have teamed up to provide interactive coverage of the London Olympics.

And that’s going do it for our linkage.

A Few Tuesday Sports Media Thoughts

Time for some sports media thoughts. These have been percolating in my head all day Monday. It’s fine time to pour them out and have you peruse through them. As always, they’re in bullet form.

• Monday’s announcement from NFL Network regarding its new morning show could be a game changer for sports television. If “NFL AM” is successful, it could lead other sports networks to follow NFL Network’s lead. But if the show fails to catch on, then it will be back to the status quo with repeats of the previous night’s highlights program. With “NFL AM” set to launch on July 30 from 6-10 a.m. ET, one wonders if there will be enough content to fill the time, but as a director once told me when I was working at a Providence TV station, “Have no fear. We’ll find a way to fill the show. I’ve never had a half-hour of black,” meaning he never had to show a blank screen. That will have to be the philosophy of NFL Network for “NFL AM”. Plus with people going to work and school, not everyone will see the entire four hours.

  If the show works, I can see other league-owned channels attempting similar ventures. MLB Network’s Quick Pitch airs on a loop on most days from 1 a.m. – noon ET. That’s too long. An MLB Network morning show could work as would a morning NBA program.

  But before we get to the point of multiple live morning sports programs, “NFL AM” has to get off the ground successfully. By this time next year, we’ll have an idea whether NFL Network’s “NFL AM” is a success or a failure.

• When I began this site five years ago, Erin Andrews was the darling of the sports blogosphere. Any picture or even a slight mention of her would increase a site’s traffic. There was a reason why she was nicknamed “Erin Pageviews”. Before she re-signed with ESPN in 2010, Erin seemed to be in demand. Her star never shone brighter and it appeared that she could have the pick of any job.

  Now cut to 2012 and it appears Erin is no longer the darling of sports bloggers. Others like Michelle Beadle, Jenn Brown, Charissa Thompson and Molly Qerim et.al. have become favorites as well. This isn’t to say that the Internet is ignoring her, TMZ still pays attention even speculating that she had a boob job. And she was referenced twice in the premiere of the new HBO series, “The Newsroom”.

  Deadspin which once championed her (and was the first to link to the infamous hotel room video in 2009) came out with an article this month pointing out that Ms. Andrews seemingly has no place to go other than ESPN.

  Deadspin reported that Erin is no longer working for Good Morning America and she’s removed the reference to GMA from her Twitter bio.

  Does this necessarily mean that Erin has no other place to go than ESPN? If you believe the speculation from Deadspin and The Big Lead, the answer is yes. But does it mean that she hasn’t had any other offers or couldn’t get work if she decided to walk away from Bristol, CT?

  She can still attract viewers and page views. The NHL thought Erin had enough star power to invite her to its annual awards show last week and present two trophies. Could a league-owned channel like NHL Network find room for Erin? I’m sure it could if the opportunity was presented. But we have not heard of any offers asides from her present employer.

  Overall, I still think Erin can move the meter on the Internet and she’ll continue to so for a while. Just for how long she’ll be at ESPN is anyone’s guess.

• Without any EURO 2012 action until Wednesday’s semifinal game between Spain and Portugal, I went into soccer withdrawals. International soccer is a sport that ESPN continues to excel. Understated coverage with Bob Ley heading the studio and Ian Darke the main play-by-play man, I can easily say this is a Golden Age for soccer on American television. Couple this with having Martin Tyler calling English Premier League games on Fox Soccer and fans have been hearing some of the best announcing of the sport.

  Granted, we get hiccups like Fox’s silly dumbing down of the Champions League Final last year, but overall, the coverage on ESPN, Fox Soccer and Gol TV has been good.

  With ESPN having just the FIFA World Cup in Brazil left to broadcast, it is setting the bar very high. Fox will have a long ways to go to match ESPN’s coverage and while this year’s Champions League Final was an improvement over 2010, the network will have a big hill to climb to equal or surpass the Alleged Worldwide Leader on soccer.

• Count me as one who loved the premiere of “The Newsroom” on Sunday. I enjoyed Jeff Daniels as the erascible anchor Will McAvoy and Emily Mortimer as his idealistic Executive Producer MacKenzie McHale. Yes, in typical Aaron Sorkin fashion, some of the dialogue was overwritten, but I enjoyed the show and I hope it has a long life on HBO. As long as Sorkin doesn’t go overboard on preaching, I think the show will do just fine.

I went longer than I expected on the thoughts. That’s to your benefit.

Our Monday Linkage

Let’s do some links on a rainy Monday in Southern New England.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at NFL Network’s new morning show.

Michael says ESPN has not confirmed whether Chris Berman will call a Monday Night Football game on the opening weekend of the season.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reports that CBS is about 80% sold for the Super Bowl.

Terry Lefton of Sports Business Journal says Pepsi has signed a deal to sponsor the Super Bowl halftime show.

Mike Ozanian of Forbes notes that the Miami Heat is on the verge of getting a huge deal with Fox Sports Florida.

Former ESPN First Take co-host Dana Jacobsen writes in her blog that she was molested as a child. Courageous for her to speak publicly about this.

Scott Roxborough and Stuart Kemp of the Hollywood Reporter note that yesterday’s Italy-England EURO 2012 Quarterfinal game became the highest-rated and most watched game of the tournament in Europe.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News looks at ESPN going all in at Wimbledon.

Rich Thomaselli of Advertising Age wonders now that LeBron James has won a championship, will he reach Michael Jordan levels in marketing?

Staci D. Kramer of paidContent says ESPN’s streaming of the NBA Finals drew a decent audience.

Ed Sherman from the Sherman Report writes that sportswriter Frank Deford will appear on tonight’s Colbert Report.

The Big Lead looks at alleged bias by the HBO Boxing crew from the Manny Pacquaio-Timothy Bradley fight.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing reviews the train wreck that was Charlie Sheen’s guest appearance on Fox Saturday.

Matt analyzes the moves by CBS and NBC to create their own sports radio networks.

Dylan Murphy at SportsGrid says a French soccer player cursed out a reporter after the team’s loss at EURO 2012 last week.

Also from SportsGrid, Dan Fogarty notes that Oprah Winfrey will interview LeBron James and the Miami Heat this weekend which has train wreck potential written all over it.

Evan Weiner at Examiner.com writes that the NFL has a long way to go to get a foothold in Europe.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with some of the people who have worked at WFAN during its past 25 years.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick says college presidents’ pleas to pray for the Jerry Sandusky abuse victims ring hollow. Did Phil want them to go to Jerry Sandusky’s jail cell and shoot him dead?

And Phil goes after his favorite target, WFAN’s Mike Francesa.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY talks with WFAN Operations Manager Mark Chernoff about the nation’s oldest radio station turning 25.

Jerry says a 1010 WINS sports anchor wants to go after those who mispronounce “Wimbledon”.

Bob’s Blitz has the WFAN 25th Anniversary lineup for this Sunday.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says a New York-Penn League minor league baseball team won’t have a radio partner this year.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News talks with Jim Rome about his CBS Sports Network show.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that ESPN will be providing a lot of tennis action over the next fortnight.

At Chicago Sports Media Watch, Paul M. Banks talks with Danica Patrick about her transition from IndyCar to NASCAR.

Dusty Saunders at the Denver Post writes about ESPN’s extensive Wimbledon coverage.

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

Brent Schrotenboer of the San Diego Union-Tribune says all of San Diego State’s football games will be seen on TV, the question is where?

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail suggests that the NHL expand Hockey Night in Canada to Sundays.

Raju Mudhar with the Toronto Star writes about technology and sports melding together.

At Frontstretch, Amy Henderson writes that TV is actually hurting NASCAR and turning fans off.

Back to Paul M. Banks at the Sports Bank and he has video of ESPN’s Jenn Brown taking batting practice at the College World Series.

MediaRantz reviews WFAN at 25.

MediaRantz says noted Florida sports radio bad boy Dan Sileo could be headed to the new CBS Sports Radio.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media says NBC’s shuffle of the NHL Draft wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

Sports Media Watch says the NBA Finals’ ratings were down from last year.

SMW writes that MLB on Fox took a hit opposite the U.S. Open.

But SMW says this past weekend, MLB on Fox did significantly better.

Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo’s The Dagger blog writes that ESPN expects to replace analyst Hubert Davis with Jalen Rose on College GameDay.

Paul Magno at Yahoo says boxing may return to network TV as Oscar de la Hoya tries to bring a fight to CBS.

Kris Hughes at Rant Sports asks if Time Warner Cable could purchase the Longhorn Network from ESPN?

Gaslamp Ball talks with the head of Fox Sports San Diego.

And that will do us for today.

Some Thursday Links

After an outage that ruined things from Sunday through Tuesday and being busy yesterday, my goal to have links every day this week has gone out the window. However, I can get a few links out to you today.

Let’s get to them.

Starting with Ed Sherman from the Sherman Report who talks with ESPN resident Prince of Darkness Vince Doria who not only hates Twitter, but is concerned that the social media site could bring “diminished standards.” No, hiring Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith brings “diminished standards.”

Ed feels ESPN’s hiring of Darren Rovell away from CNBC is a good move for all sides.

Christopher Botta and John Ourand from Sports Business Journal write that despite having ratings downturns for the NHL Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final, NBC and its sponsors are happy with the results.

Christopher notes that a budding Northwest US MLS rivalry is bringing excellent sponsor activation in the region.

At the Bleacher Report, Dan Levy asks ESPN to respond to the heavy viewer criticism brought forth to the network every time Chris Berman does the U.S. Open.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says the ESPN Family is doing well with EURO 2012.

Peter Kafka at All Things Digital writes that the on-again/off-again Turner purchase of the Bleacher Report seems to be on again. I promise my friends over at Bleacher Report that I won’t publish the Tsunami screengrab like Deadspin does.

Speaking of Deadspin, John Koblin tells us that CNBC’s Darren Rovell, will be getting $500,000 from Disney to work at ESPN and ABC News.

The Big Lead notes that Jalen Rose will be heading to the basketball version of ESPN’s College Gameday.

Simon Dumenico of Advertising Age notes the high amount of Tweets devoted to Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Media Life Magazine notes NBC’s ratings for last weekend’s US Open.

Evan Weiner at Examiner.com says while Roger Clemens was acquitted by a jury of his peers, he still has to get by the Hall of Fame jury known as the Baseball Writers of America.

Lance Venta at Radio Insight reports that with CBS Radio starting a new sports network, ESPN Radio will lose two affiliates in Florida.

To espnW where Amanda Rykoff went to an event which honored women in sports business including Kim Williams, the Chief Operating Officer of NFL Network.

Matt Rudnitsky at SportsGrid says today is D-Day for many Sports Illustrated employees. Godspeed to them.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group looks at how TNT tries to expand the fan experience during its six NASCAR Sprint Cup productions.

Jerry Barmash of FishbowlNY talks with MSG Network’s Walt “Clyde” Frazier about his popularity among Knicks fans.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says SNY’s Gary Cohen will be taking two rare days off this week.

Ken says WFAN will be airing Team USA Olympic basketball games.

And Ken talks about the launch of CBS Sports Radio.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says the Philadelphia Phillies’ troubles have become fodder for the local talk shows.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle notes that the city is about to get its 5th sports radio station thanks to the new CBS Sports Radio.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says Game 4 of the NBA Finals set another local ratings record.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Reds’ ratings are up and they’re being noticed by Fox Sports.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Brewers analyst Bill Schroeder will work Saturday’s game against the White Sox for a different audience.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper guest tweeted on the White Sox official account this week.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily has begun a list of the top sports media voices of the landmark Title IX that gave women the opportunity to play sports. His first honoree is sports broadcasting pioneer Donna de Varona. Next is Mary Carillo. She’s followed by Ann Ligouri. Pam Ward is next. Basketball Hall of Famer Ann Meyers Drysdale follows. Read about Jeannine Edwards. Then look at the bio of Christine Brennan. Then there’s Michele Tafoya. Then Jamie Little. Next is Suzy Kolber. And she’s followed by Sally Jenkins. Great stuff by Tom.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail reports that the NHL doesn’t want Maple Leafs rightsholders Rogers and Bell to form a consortium to bid for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada and they’ve been told to provide separate bids.

Michael Hill from Dolce Vita magazine profiles CTV Olympic host Brian Williams (not to be confused with NBC’s Brian Williams) about the many Games he has hosted over the years for either CBC or CTV.

Sports Media Watch speculates that NBC could be moving its NHL Game of the Week to Saturday afternoons for the 2012-13 season.

Tony Manfred at the Business Insider Sports Page has a slideshow on ESPN’s Erin Andrews who remains a free agent at this time.

Joe Favorito looks at the NBA possibly shutting the door on its players participating in the Olympics.

And that will do it for us today for the links.

Cranking Out Some Friday Megalinks

Ok, linkage has been really scarce over the last month and a half and I apologize for that. My schedules have been quite busy and it’s been tough to sit down for the time it takes to gather the links. I hope that changes over the next month or so.

I have some National links for you right now. I’ll follow up with more stuff later.

Here are the Weekend Viewing Picks for you.

National

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch speaks with the people at the Poynter Institute who are the ESPN Ombudsman.

Nate Davis at USA Today’s The Huddle has the Miami Dolphins not so enthusiastic about being on Hard Knocks this season.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with ESPN’s Sean McDonough who will undergo brain surgery later this year.

Ira Boudwell of Bloomberg Businessweek says ESPN is getting out of the high school sports business saying it’s not broad enough.

Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski says this week’s blowout between David Stern and Jim Rome proves that the NBA Commissioner needs to go.

John Ourand of Sports Business Daily says Fox Sports San Diego is launching an ad campaign against Time Warner Cable which has still not picked up the regional sports network.

Good Morning America’s and former ESPN SportsCenter host Robin Roberts says she will beat the rare blood disorder that will require a bone marrow transplant.

Michael O’Connell of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the NBA Finals are pacing ABC to good ratings this week.

At Broadcasting & Cable, Tim Baysinger writes that this week’s Dream Team documentary gave NBA TV its best viewership ever.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says GolTV scored with this week’s soccer international friendly match between Brazil and Argentina.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life reports that NBC will debut two new sitcoms right smack dab in the middle of the Olympics.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report looks at the geriatric broadcasting team calling the NBA Finals for ESPN Radio.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid notes that even after the winning the Stanley Cup this week, the Los Angeles Kings still aren’t getting respect from the local media.

Former Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio returns to his former stomping grounds to do a massive takedown of Jay “The Rat” Mariotti.

Also from Deadspin, John Koblin writes that there doesn’t seem to be a clamoring for Erin Andrews beyond ESPN.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group says NBA TV and NBA Entertainment are appealing to the hardcore basketball fan for their Finals coverage.

Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead says Sports Illustrated could be laying off part of its staff.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has tweets from people who hated Chris Berman on the U.S. Open yesterday.

Sports Media Watch notes that this year’s Stanley Cup Final did not resonate with viewers.

SMW also has some various ratings news and notes.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Brooklyn Nets gear is selling very well.

MediaRantz tells us that Sean Salisbury will be getting a new internet radio gig.

UPDATE, 4:30 p.m.: Time for more linkage here.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe reports that May was a very good month for sports radio station WEEI as it finished ahead of 98.5 The Sports Hub.

At SB Nation, Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch writes about golfer David Duval taking a turn in the broadcast tower at the U.S. Open.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette discusses Johnny Miller holding court for NBC at the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco this week.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with ESPN college baseball analyst Kyle Petersen who will be introducing many Long Islanders to the College World Series today.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after the Yankees for pricing out fans from the “Beautiful People” seats at Yankee Stadium.

Jerry Barmash at Fishbowl NY notes that SNY will unveil the all-time Mets team at a gala event on Sunday.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the US Women’s National Soccer Team will be on TV and the web this weekend.

Ken says local Time Warner Cable subscribers will have access to the new Pac-12 Networks this summer.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette says NBC Sports Group has announced the 2012 Summer at Saratoga schedule.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union talks with Jim Rome who marks his 16th year in New York’s Capital Region.

Pete says one of harness racing’s famous races changes networks this year.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call profiles a local cable TV sports reporter who is filling a double role this summer.

Keith has more on her in his blog.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes of DCRTV.com writes that a decision on the Washington Nationals TV rights has been delayed.

South

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald has some NBA Finals Game 2 postgame reaction as well as Jon Barry saying he’s not a Miami Heat Hater.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Fox Sports Houston was well-prepared and staffed for Wednesday’s perfect game thrown against the Astros by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants.

Mel Bracht at The Oklahoman writes that ESPN on ABC was all over the non-foul call against the Thunder’s Kevin Durant during Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The Oklahoman rounds up what sports reporters are saying on Twitter about the NBA Finals.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says an all-star high school football game will be shown locally this weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that ESPN is dropping its high school sports operation.

Bob criticizes Jim Rome for his questioning of NBA Communist China Sympathizer David Stern.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch says Cubs announcers Len Kasper and Bob Brenly were silent when comedian Jeff Garlin brought up trading Alfonso Soriano.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin notes the rare occurrence of the U.S. Open and the NBA Finals going head-to-head on TV this Father’s Day.

Dan Caesar from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that viewers of Fox Sports Midwest may need a scorecard to tell who’s in the Cardinals TV booth over the next few days.

Dan notes that next week will mark a decade since the passing of Jack Buck and Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile.

West

Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman says this fall’s Boise State-Southern Mississippi game will get the Fox treatment.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune says Utahans are nervous about getting the Pac-12 Networkcomparing it to their experience with the ill-fated the mtn.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes that Fox Sports San Diego has set its sights squarely on Time Warner Cable.

Jim Carlisle at the Ventura County Star says ESPN’s NBA Countdown show seems to work fine without a host.

Jim talks with NBC’s Johnny Miller about the U.S. Open.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Melissa Rohlin of the Los Angeles Times says Game 2 of the NBA Finals drew a good overnight number for ABC.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with former Kings voices about the Stanley Cup victory.

Tom has some more in his blog.

Canada

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin blames both Jim Rome and David Stern for their ugly exchange this week.

The Toronto Sports Media Blog says the NBA and NHL Commissioners are taking it on their chins this week.

And that’s going to do it.

EURO 2012 Off To A Fast Start On ESPN

The UEFA 2012 European Championships, better known as EURO 2012, are off to boffo ratings on ESPN. For the first three days of matches, six contests in all, ESPN is averaging just about 1.33 million viewers per game. It’s up 214% from the last European Championship, EURO 2008.

The most watched game thus far in the first three days of tournament was the Italy-Spain game which registered over 2.1 million viewers on Sunday, the most for any European Championship game on the ESPN Family of Networks except for the EURO 2008 Final between Spain and Germany on ABC which received an average of 3.76 million people. Pretty good numbers for ESPN.

And for ESPN Deportes, the same games are averaging a 3.2 Hispanic household coverage rating which I guess is pretty good.

Here is the ESPN press release.

UEFA EURO 2012 Off to a Great Start on ESPN

Triple-Digit Viewership Increases vs. 2008 on Television; Surge on ESPN Digital Platforms

Last Sunday’s UEFA EURO 2012 match between Italy and Spain at on ESPN, a 1-1 tie and tournament opening match for both Group C teams, was seen by an average of 2.113 million viewers, bigger than any UEFA European Football Championship 2008 match except the final on ABC.  That game, Germany vs. Spain, was watched by an average of 3.760 million viewers.

Through six matches, ESPN’s English-language presentation of the event is averaging 1,007,000 households and 1.328,000 viewers — up 198 percent and 214 percent, respectively, versus the first six games of the UEFA EURO 2008 (338,000 households and 423,000 viewers in ’08).  The second most-watched game to-date in 2012 is Saturday’s Portugal-Germany matchup – a 1.1 household coverage rating, 1,244,000 households, and 1,798,000 viewers, second to only one ESPN game in all of 2008.

ESPN Deportes:

ESPN Deportes delivered strong ratings for the kickoff of UEFA EURO 2012. Through the first three days (six matches), the matches averaged a 3.2 Hispanic household coverage rating (+66 percent from 2008) with 166,000 Hispanic households (+147 percent from 2008). The Spain vs. Italy match on Sunday, June 10, was the highest-rated and most-watched match so far, delivering a 6.0 Hispanic household coverage rating with 313,600 household impressions.

ESPN Digital Platforms:

Since the start of EURO 2012 on June 8, ESPNFC.com globally logged 876,000 daily visitors, 8.5 million page views and 33 million minutes (source: Adobe/Omniture).  Compared to the first three days of EURO 2008, the site is up 45 percent, 11 percent and 191 percent, respectively.

Additionally, through the first three days of EURO 2012, ESPN3 and WatchESPN generated 65.8 million minutes to both the English and Spanish language feeds across computers, smartphones, tablets and Xbox.  On computers alone, it generated an average minute audience of 80,000 and an average of nearly 231,852 daily unique viewers that logged a total of 57.5 million minutes to all six EURO 2012 matches.

That’s all for this post.

Guest Column: Al Jazeera: A Player in The US Sports Media? Believe It

As we continue with the guest columns this week, we have this one from reader Matt Lichtenstadter. In this post, Matt writes about the possibility of Al Jazeera’s new US soccer channel making in-roads through obtaining the rights to the English Premier League. It’s a fascinating scenario and one that could change the landscape of sports in the US if Al Jazeera is successful.

Matt looks at Al Jazeera’s attempts to obtain programming and start a war with ESPN and Fox.

It’s no secret now that soccer is becoming more and more popular in the U.S, especially the club variety. The English Premier League is quickly becoming a rights commodity for FOX and ESPN alike, and it’s almost time to negotiate TV rights for the 3 seasons starting in 2013. These negotiations worldwide will net the Premier League over $1.5 billion (for comparison, the new NFL deals in total netted around $3 billion for 8 years). While the British rights are often the most interesting to follow, the US rights may be more interesting than that. Not only will FOX and ESPN duke it out, there will be a new player in the mix that may cause quite a stir.

Al Jazeera is often thought of as the network for the Middle East, and it is one of the largest media networks in the world. They have a large sports division that covers sports for the Middle East as well. Now, with money backed up by the Qatari royal family, they have started a sports network called beINSport USA, which next year will cover La Liga from Spain, Serie A from Italy, and Ligue 1 from France. They have already poached the famous duo of Phil Schoen and Ray Hudson from GolTV most likely, and the Premier League will very likely be their next rights target. They have tons of money to play with, as seen with some of the club teams that Qatari’s own, but will that be enough to sway the pendulum away from the status quo?

Al Jazeera English, the news arm of the network broadcast in English, is only carried by Dish Network right now, and it’s assumed that they will also carry the new sports network. But aside from that, they have no other apparent carriage deals in the hopper. It’s very likely that most of the country will be shut out from watching 3 of Europe’s biggest club soccer leagues this year because of carriage issues. If Al Jazeera wants to grab Premier League rights, they’ll have to expand their footprint on American carriers, fast. ESPN obviously has an incredibly wide distribution, and FOX Soccer has a good network as well. FOX and ESPN have a lot to play for in these rights negotiations, especially considering these networks are the home of the World Cup up until 2022. FOX wants to keep its soccer profile high leading up to the World Cup in 2018, and since John Skipper is a major proponent of soccer at ESPN, you know he’ll be very interested in getting the major package for his network in order to keep their soccer profile high after they lose FIFA events after the next World Cup.

It’s no doubt that Al Jazeera has plans for their brand new sports network, and the Premier League could be at the top of their wish list. They have the money to make it happen, but can they compete with the likes of FOX and ESPN, especially considering what they have at stake with their soccer broadcasts? Time will tell, but if you want to see how well Al Jazeera is doing, check on their carriage rights deals and see how many they have by December, when the rights will most likely be sealed. There’s a new player on the US soccer scene, and everyone better take them seriously.

Bio: Matt Lichtenstadter has his own sports blog, Matt’s Sports Musings, which you can find at http://www.mattssportsmusings.com/. He’s also written a few pieces like this for other blogs as well. He wants more work. Help his pour blogging soul. He’s also on twitter @JagsFan93.

The guest columns continue through tomorrow. Thanks to those who have provided the guest columns this week and I’ll be back Monday.

ESPN Announces Studio Teams For EURO 2012

ESPN has given us the studio hosts and analysts for EURO 2012. The main host will be the great Bob Ley who was also the main host for the Women’s World Cup last year. Joining him will be ESPN UK host Rebecca Lowe, who became the first woman to host a major soccer championship game in UK television history, and Max Bretos.

Among the studio analysts for EURO 2012 will be Alexi Lalas, Taylor Twellman, Michael Ballack and Tommy “The ol’ Onion Bag” Smyth.

We have the announcement from ESPN will the bios of those who will be part of the studio coverage of EURO 2012.

ESPN’s Studio Team for UEFA EURO 2012

Bob Ley, José Ramón Fernández, Rebecca Lowe and Max Bretos to Host; Michael Ballack, Mario Kempes, Alexi Lalas, Tato Noriega, et al, to Serve as Studio Analysts; Four Reporters in Poland-Ukraine

ESPN today announced its studio teams for the English and Spanish presentations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2012 (June 8 to July 1) in Poland and Ukraine.

Outside the Lines host Bob Ley, ESPN UK football presenter/reporter Rebecca Lowe, and SportsCenter anchor Max Bretos will combine to host English-language studio programming for the event. Veteran Spanish-language television journalist José Ramón Fernández will be primary host for ESPN Deportes studio programs for the UEFA EURO 2012.

The studio hosts will work with a team of former players who excelled in professional soccer: former German National Team captain Michael Ballack, 1978 FIFA World Cup champion and Golden Boot winner Mario Kempes, former U.S. National Team defender Alexi Lalas, former U.S. National Team and Premier League goalkeeper Kasey Keller, former Mexican National Team player Jose Antonio “Tato” Noriega, and more.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes will combine to present more than 200 hours of live UEFA EURO 2012 programming, including all 31 matches live on English-language networks and 27 on ESPN Deportes, the most comprehensive presentation ever of the quadrennial European championship in the United States.

ESPN UEFA EURO 2012 Studio Team

Hosts:

• Bretos – The SportsCenter anchor and ESPN host of MLS Cup joined ESPN in 2010 from Fox Soccer. He will make his debut hosting major international soccer on ESPN with the UEFA EURO 2012.
• Fernández – A veteran sports journalist who has covered nine FIFA World Cups since 1978 and eight Olympic Games, Fernández appears on several programs on ESPN Deportes and ESPN in Latin America, as well as other multimedia platforms, including online and audio.
• Ley – Host of Outside the Lines and numerous ESPN in-depth news specials, Ley was one of three primary hosts during ESPN’s award-winning presentation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup from South Africa and 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany. He earned the Honorary All-America Award by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 1999 for his contributions to the sport.
• Lowe – ESPN UK football presenter, Lowe made her U.S. debut last year hosting ESPN’s critically acclaimed coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011. On May 5, she became the first woman to host the FA Cup Final on television at Wembley Stadium, working ESPN UK’s daylong coverage.

Analysts:
Ballack, Keller, Kempes and Noriega will headline a team of studio analysts that also includes Andrés Agulla, José Hernández, Richard Méndez, Fernando Palomo, Tommy Smyth and Taylor Twellman.

• Agulla – A Spanish-language commentator, Agulla will bring years of experience covering soccer and a variety of other sports to ESPN Deportes’ studio coverage.
• Ballack – Former German National Team captain and current professional footballer, Ballack will be making his debut as a television analyst in the U.S.
• Hernández – ESPN Deportes and ESPN Dos (Mexico) soccer commentator, Hernández has called major European leagues such as Serie A, La Liga and UEFA Champions League for the networks. He is currently an expert panelist on ESPN Deportes’ soccer studio program Fuera de Juego.
• Keller – A former U.S. National Team goalkeeper who played professional football for 16 years in Europe, Keller retired last year after three seasons with the MLS Seattle Sounders FC. He serves as a studio analyst for U.S. Men’s National Team matches and select MLS telecasts.
• Kempes – The 1978 FIFA World Cup champion from Argentina has been with ESPN Deportes (U.S.) and ESPN in Latin America since 2004, providing Spanish-language studio commentary on the European leagues and FIFA World Cup events.
• Lalas – The former U.S. Men’s National Team defender is ESPN’s lead English-language studio analyst for soccer. He played professional soccer in Italian Serie A and was among a pioneer group of U.S. players who launched Major League Soccer.
• Méndez –Méndez, who has been with ESPN since 2006, is a Spanish language sports journalist who combines roles as a match commentator, studio host and analyst. He is also a columnist for ESPNDeportes.com.
• Palomo – Palomo will combine his ESPN Deportes match commentator role with periodic appearances on studio segments including co-hosting the pre-game show for the title match, live from Kyiv, Ukraine, on July 1.
• Smyth – One of the most knowledgeable analysts on European football in the U.S. having called more 2,500 matches from European and South American leagues for ESPN International, Smyth is best known for his hard-hitting punditry on ESPNsoccernet Press Pass – a daily soccer news and opinion program.
• Twellman – One of the most-prolific strikers in eight (2002-2010) Major League Soccer seasons, Twellman is the match analyst for MLS and U.S. Men’s National Team matches on ESPN.

Reporters:
Reporters Martin Ainstein, former Australian Women’s National Team player Alicia Ferguson, Vito De Palma and Alex de la Rosa, will be in Poland and Ukraine throughout the tournament.  Ainstein, De Palma and de la Rosa will primarily work for ESPN Deportes, while Ferguson, a studio commentator on ESPN’s 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup and reporter for ESPN’s Premier League telecasts, will report primarily for ESPN, ESPN2 and English-language studio programming.

That’s it.

ESPN Provides Announcing Assignments For EURO 2012

The press release speaks for itself. Take a look as you scroll and see what announcing teams will call the games in one of the most exciting soccer tournaments in the world.

ESPN and ESPN Deportes Commentator Assignments for UEFA EURO 2012

ESPN’s comprehensive coverage of the UEFA European Football Championship (June 8-July 1) will feature all 31 matches televised live and in high definition in English on ESPN and ESPN2, as well as 27 matches live with four tape-delayed in Spanish on ESPN Deportes. Additional coverage includes ESPN3, WatchESPN, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN Deportes Radio. Today, ESPN senior vice president and executive producer Jed Drake announced the ESPN commentator assignments for the group stage of the tournament. Highlights:

Key matchups in the group stage:

• On Saturday, June 9, at 2:45 p.m., Derek Rae and Kasey Keller (ESPN), and Jorge Ramos and Hernan Pereyra (ESPN Deportes) will call Germany vs. Portugal. Germany has beaten Portugal in their last two matches – at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO 2008. Each team will need a result in the first of their three Group B matches.
• Spain vs. Italy (Sun, June 10 at 12 p.m. on ESPN) – a matchup between the last two FIFA World Cup champions in their first Group C match, where both teams are favored to advance – will feature Ian Darke and Steve McManaman (English), and Fernando Palomo and Rafa Puente (Spanish).
• Traditional powers in European soccer – France vs. England – are entering the tournament with a recent history of underachieving in marquee tournaments. Monday, June 11, telecast on ESPN will feature Darke and McManaman at 12 p.m. Ramos and Pereyra will call the match on ESPN Deportes.
• Darke and McManaman (ESPN) and Palomo and Puente (ESPN Deportes) will call Netherlands vs. Germany on Wed., June 13, at 2:45 p.m. ET – the matchup of traditional European rivals and two of the top teams in the world playing in the second of three matches in Group B, the tournament’s “group of death.”
• Adrian Healey and Robbie Mustoe (ESPN2), and Ramos and Pereyra (ESPN Deportes) will call the Italy vs. Republic of Ireland match on Monday, June 18 – a rematch of the 1994 FIFA World Cup when Ireland upset Italy at Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands.

UEFA EURO 2012 will mark most comprehensive coverage of the three-week competition by any media company in the United States. In 2008, ESPN2, ESPN, ESPN Classic and ABC combined to present live all 31 matches of the UEFA European Football Championship.  ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-language home of the championship, also televised all 31 matches – four on tape-delay.

Match schedule (Subject to change):

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Networks
Friday, June 8	12 p.m.	Poland vs. Greece Ian Darke and Steve McManaman Fernando Palomo and Rafa Puente	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Russia vs. Czech Republic Derek Rae and Kasey Keller Ricardo Ortiz and Tato Noriega	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
Saturday, June 9	12 p.m.	Netherlands vs. Denmark Adrian Healey and Robbie Mustoe Palomo and Puente	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Germany vs. Portugal Rae and Keller Jorge Ramos and Hernan Pereyra	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
Sunday, June 10	12 p.m.	Spain vs. Italy Darke and McManaman Palomo and Puente	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Republic of Ireland vs. Croatia Healey and Mustoe Ortiz and Noriega	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
Monday, June 11	12 p.m.	France vs. England Darke and McManaman Ramos and Pereyra	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Ukraine vs. Sweden Rae and Keller Palomo and Puente	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
Tuesday, June 12	12 p.m.	Greece vs. Czech Republic Healey and Mustoe Jose Hernandez and Noriega	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Poland vs. Russia Rae and Keller Richard Mendez and Puente	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
Wednesday, June 13	12 p.m.	Denmark vs. Portugal Healey and Mustoe Ramos and Pereyra	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Netherlands vs. Germany Darke and McManaman Palomo and Puente	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
Thursday, June 14	12 p.m.	Italy vs. Croatia Rae and Taylor Twellman Ortiz and Noriega	ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Spain vs. Republic of Ireland Darke and McManaman Palomo and Puente	ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
Friday, June 15	12 p.m.	Ukraine vs. France Rae and Twellman Palomo and Puente	ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Sweden vs. England Healey and Mustoe Ramos and Pereyra	ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
Saturday, June 16	2:45 p.m.	Czech Republic vs. Poland Rae and Twellman Mendez and Puente	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Greece vs. Russia Healey and Mustoe Ortiz and Barak Fever	ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes at 5 p.m.
Sunday, June 17	2:45 p.m.	Portugal vs. Netherlands TBD*** Ramos and Pereyra	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Denmark vs. Germany TBD*** Hernandez and Puente	ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes at 5 p.m.
Monday, June 18	2:45 p.m.	Croatia vs. Spain Rae and Twellman Palomo and Puente	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Italy vs. Republic of Ireland Healey and Mustoe Ramos and Pereyra	ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes at 5 p.m.
Tuesday, June 19	2:45 p.m.	England vs. Ukraine Darke and McManaman Hernandez and Noriega	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes
	2:45 p.m.	Sweden vs. France Rae and Twellman Ortiz and Fever	ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPN Deportes at 5 p.m.

* ESPN Deportes match coverage will begin at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
* ESPN and ESPN match coverage begins at 11:45 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
* Each of the two commentator teams – Darke and McManaman, and Healey and Mustoe – will call the matches

That’s all.

NBC Sports Network Airs Soccer “Friendly” Between USA and Canada

Tonight in Toronto, NBC Sports Network continues its 2012 soccer tour into Canada as the U.S. Men’s National Team gets another test in anticipation of World Cup Qualifying for the 2014 tournament in Rio de Janeiro.

The US will take on Canada at BMO Field.

NBC Sports Network’s MLS team of Arlo White will be high above the field with analyst Kyle Martino in between the American and Canadian benches. Russ Thaler will be on hand to host from Toronto.

The game will begin airing at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. We have the preview from NBC Sports below for you. Check it all out.

THE U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM TAKES ON CANADA IN A “FRIENDLY” THIS SUNDAY ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK

Primetime Match Sunday at 7 p.m. ET
“After the 4-1 defeat to Brazil in D.C. on Wednesday night, Head Coach Jürgen Klinsmann has called on his team to be ‘nastier’ in future games.” – Arlo White on USA Team

NEW YORK – NBC Sports Network’s soccer coverage continues tonight when the U.S. Men’s National Team faces Canada in a ‘friendly’ game live from BMO Field in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. The game is another test for the team as they look to their upcoming World Cup Qualifying matches.

COMMENTATORS: The NBC Sports Group’s lead soccer commentary team of Arlo White (@arlowhite, play-by-play), and Kyle Martino (@kylemartino, “Between the Benches” analyst) will call the game in Toronto. Russ Thaler (@RussThaler) will host the pre-game, halftime and post-game segments live from the stadium.

WHITE ON THE USA TEAM: “After the 4-1 defeat to Brazil in D.C. on Wednesday night, Head Coach Jürgen Klinsmann has called on his team to be ‘nastier’ in future games. In short, he wants the U.S. to get ‘stuck in’ and be more physical. Maybe we’ll see a reaction to that against Canada, which would make an already fierce rivalry, even feistier. The U.S. created plenty of chances against Brazil, and U.S. Soccer fans may finally see their wish granted. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey could start an International together under Klinsmann’s reign, for the first time.”

WHITE ON THE CANADIAN TEAM: “This game is being played to celebrate the centenary of the Canadian Soccer Association, and Canada is also preparing for the start of their World Cup qualifying campaign. Look out for the current MLS MVP Dwayne De Rosario for the home side. He’s a magnificent player who is aware that he has one chance left to make it to a World Cup Final.”

That’s all.

Let’s Get To Some Linkage

Before the day is through, let’s do some linkage for you.

Steve Berkowitz from USA Today looks at the Pac-12′s TV contract which is the richest in college sports (for now).

Speaking of USA Today, Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report says the newspaper is restructuring its sports department and about a dozen staffers have been laid off. That includes Friend of Fang’s Bites Mike McCarthy and Game On! blogger Tom Weir. Very sad to see this. I met Mike a few years ago when we covered an event at ESPN. Good reporter and writer. I hope to be linking to him again soon.

Ed also writes about ESPN holding onto the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry of the Poynter Institute watches ESPN’s interviewing guru critique the questioning style of some of its reporters.

Marisa Guthrie at the Hollywood Reporter looks at NBCUniversal’s plans to offer some 5,500 hours of coverage on the Olympics.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says Golf Channel will have live coverage of U.S. Open qualifying on June 4.

Tim Baysinger at B&C recaps last night’s Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily’s Sports Business Awards.

Rich Thomaselli from Advertising Age says the NHL’s social media and traditional ad campaigns have helped bring casual fans to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After being disrespected by its own local media last week, the Los Angeles Kings made this infographic giving a brief history on its logo, names of players and number of times the team has been in the postseason. This season, the Kings have stepped its social media campaign and website to provide fans with a very humorous, but also informative experience. Keep it up, Kings. You guys rock!

Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Times, writing in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, notes the difficultly for women to find a proper role in sports television.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton’s past is preventing collectors from lining up at his doorstep.

Congratulations to Steve Lepore of Puck The Media who has become SB Nation’s NHL Media writer. Steve is a hard worker who has created a very good niche for himself. And his first column for SB Nation is about the ratings for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final clincher.

Steve also writes about the controversy over NHL on NBC charlatan Pierre McGuire’s withholding of information over an incident between the benches during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Jerry Barmash of Fishbowl NY says MSG Network will air two specials on the upcoming Belmont Stakes in which I’ll Have Another will go for horse racing’s Triple Crown.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says in addition, MSG Plus will air some horse races this summer.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes that ESPN has expanded its 3-D coverage of Wimbledon.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Al Jazeera will be launching two soccer channels this summer.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call looks at ESPN on ABC’s plans for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says former ESPN’er Dave Feldman is leaving the local market to go home to his native Northern California.

Dan says former DC NFL Team running back and sports radio host John Riggins will be hosting an outdoors show next year.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says a deadline is fast approaching in which the Nationals will find out how much MASN will be paying them for TV rights.

Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times says the Rays are paying tribute to Fox Sports MLB reporter Ken Rosenthal by wearing bow ties.

Tom Jones of the Times says MLB Network analyst Mitch Williams ripped Tropicana Field.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle looks at the proposed uses for the abandoned Astrodome.

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports is on the Reds’ bandwagon.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig is holding firm to his retirement date.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch says the Big Ten Network has helped to expand the league and in part, raise Northwestern’s profile.

Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune says even though the Utah Jazz bought the sports radio station where he works, he’ll remain an independent voice.

Chris Jenkins from the San Diego Union-Tribune says Fox Sports San Diego’s Mark Sweeney is a natural fit as Padres analyst.

Tim Sullivan of the Union-Tribune says he enjoys listening to the Padres on the radio.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth can’t believe he’s seeing a farmers dating service ad on NBC Sports Network.

Laura Stone of the Toronto Star writes that a new feature by CBC for the NHL Stanley Cup Final has some hardcore female sports fans hopping mad.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin looks at the Twitter police for college sports programs.

Sports Media Watch notes the increased ratings for the series-clinching game of the NHL Stanley Cup Western Conference Final on NBC Sports Network.

Joe Favorito examines the right way and the wrong way to attract Twitter followers.

Dave Kohl at The Broadcast Booth marvels at the LA media for getting the Kings logo and players wrong during local newscasts.

And I’ll end the linkage there for now. Enjoy the rest of your day.

ESPN Names Its Analysts For Euro 2012 Tournament

Some familiar names from ESPN’s soccer coverage will be coming over to call the EURO 2012 soccer tournament starting next month in Poland and the Ukraine. Combined with the play-by-play men already unveiled, the announcing teams will be quite strong for EURO 2012.

Lead analyst for ESPN2′s English Premier League coverage, Steve McManaman will be teamed with lead announcer Ian Darke.

Robbie Mustoe who was on ESPN’s World Cup coverage in 2010 will pair with Adrian Healey. MLS analysts Taylor Twellman and Kasey Keller will alternate working with ESPN UK announcer Derek Rae.

ESPN has also named those analysts working EURO 2012 on ESPN Deportes.

We have the announcement below.

ESPN’s English and Spanish Language Analysts for UEFA EURO 2012 Matches

ESPN today announced the match analysts for its presentation of the UEFA European Football Championship 2012 (June 8 to July 1) in Poland and Ukraine.

The English-language analysts will be led by Steve McManaman, a Liverpool FC legend and former England National Team player who had his best performances representing his country at the UEFA European Football Championship 1996.  McManaman’s inspired play propelled England to its only semifinal appearance in the UEFA European Championship. McManaman will be paired with the lead play-by-play commentator and his English Premier League booth partner Ian Darke as the primary team.

Other English-language match analysts include former Premier League midfielder Robbie Mustoe, former U.S. Men’s National Team goalkeeper Kasey Keller, and former New England Revolution and U.S. Men’s National Team striker Taylor Twellman. Mustoe, a match analyst for ESPN International who was part of ESPN’s award-winning presentation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, will be paired with ESPN’s Major League Soccer voice Adrian Healey. Keller and Twellman will split match analyst roles working with ESPN UK’s Derek Rae, while also contributing studio analysis.

On ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-language booth analysts include Hernan Pereyra, former Mexican National Team players Rafa Puente and José Antonio Noriega.

Pereyra, who has covered several FIFA World Cups, the Mexican soccer league, and other marquee international sporting events, will be paired with Jorge Ramos. Puente, the former Mexican Men’s National Team goalkeeper who later coached Mexican first division clubs such as Pachuca, Club Atlante and Tecos UAG, will work with veteran commentator Fernando Palomo. Rounding out the team is former Mexican Men’s National Team midfielder Noriega, who will be paired with Ricardo Ortiz.

From Friday, June 8, through Sunday, July 1, three ESPN television networks – ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes – will combine to present more than 200 hours of live coverage of the UEFA EURO 2012 including all 31 matches live on English-language networks and 27 on the Spanish-language sports network ESPN Deportes. This will mark the most comprehensive presentation ever of the quadrennial European championship in the United States.

Brief bios:

• Keller – Currently the record holder as the most-capped goalkeeper in the U.S. Men’s National Team with 102 appearances, Keller started two of three matches in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France and played all matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. His professional career took him to two of Europe’s best leagues – German Bundesliga and English Premier League – before returning to the U.S. to play three seasons for the Seattle Sounders FC. An analyst for Sounders matches on local television, Keller is also a studio analyst for ESPN’s MLS and U.S. National Team matches.
• McManaman – After earning critical acclaim for his work on ESPN’s 2010 FIFA World Cup coverage, McManaman joined the company as the analyst for Premier League matches and studio analyst for key international events such as FIFA World Cup and U.S. Men’s National Team matches. One of England’s best players in his prime, McManaman is a legend at Liverpool FC after nine seasons and 364 appearances for the club. He was the first English player to win the Champions League with a non-English club while playing for Real Madrid FC.
• Mustoe – He played for 12 seasons in the midfield for Middlesbrough FC (1990-2002). Following his retirement from professional soccer, Mustoe moved to the United States and began coaching soccer. He primarily works on ESPN International’s coverage of top soccer leagues such as Spain’s La Liga, German Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League, and more.
• Noriega – played professional soccer with various clubs in the Primera Division de Mexico from 1988–2004 and was a member of the Mexican national soccer team from 1993-2002. In 16 professional seasons, Noriega played for six Mexican clubs, most notably, UNAM (1988-1992), Monterrey (1992-96), Santos Laguna (1997-99) and Morelia (2000-02). Currently works for ESPN International and ESPN Deportes, where he mostly appears on Fuera de Juego.
• Pereyra – a veteran Spanish-language radio and television commentator for soccer, Pereyra has covered numerous FIFA World Cups (1998, 2002 and 2010). He is cohost of the weekday afternoon show Jorge Ramos y su Banda, where he is paired with Jorge Ramos on ESPN Deportes Radio (simulcast on ESPN Deportes). Ramos (commentator) and Pereyra (co-commentator) will replicate their on- and off-air chemistry commentating on UEFA EURO 2012 matches for ESPN Deportes.
• Puente – a former goalkeeper for the Mexican National Team and for several Mexican first division clubs who serves as an analyst for ESPN Deportes and ESPN International, including co-host role on Fútbol Picante and Los Capitanes studio programs. Prior to becoming a TV broadcaster, Puente also coached several Mexico first division clubs such as Pachuca, Club Atlante and Tecos UAG.
• Twellman – a former Major League Soccer MVP and New England Revolution’s most prolific scorer who serves as the lead match analyst for MLS on ESPN and U.S. Men’s National Team. His career highlights include leading the Revolution during its most-successful era – four MLS Cup appearances in six years. Twellman played 30 matches for the U.S. senior team after emerging as one of the stars of the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria.

More stuff coming up.

NBC Sports Network is Soccer-Heavy This Weekend

NBC Sports Network is slowly transitioning to its summer schedule as the number of NHL games it has left to air is dwindling to single digits (one or two more games in the Eastern Conference Final, then Games 3 & 4 of the Stanley Cup Final).

This weekend, NBCSN will carry two MLS games and one International Friendly match between the US Men’s Soccer Team and Scotland.

It also marks the return of veteran soccer play-by-play man JP Dellacamera to the national stage as he’ll call the Sporting KC vs. San Jose Earthquakes game on Sunday.

The main MLS on NBC soccer team of Arlo White and Kyle Martino will call the US vs. Scotland match Saturday night from Jacksonville.

And also on Saturday, NBC Sports Network will air the MLS Cup rematch between Houston Dynamo vs. LA Galaxy.

We have the details below.

THREE SOCCER GAMES – INCLUDING USA FRIENDLY AGAINST SCOTLAND – HIGHLIGHT THIS WEEKEND’S COVERAGE ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK

USA vs. Scotland in Primetime Saturday at 8 p.m. ET
Rematch between 2011 MLS Champion LA Galaxy against Houston Dynamo Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET
San Jose at Kansas City Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET
“These guys take massive pride in representing their country. I think Scotland will feel the full force of that in Jacksonville on Saturday.” – Arlo White on USA Team

NEW YORK – May 23, 2012 – NBC Sports Network’s soccer coverage will expand this weekend to include coverage of the U.S. Men’s National Team against Scotland in a ‘friendly,’ live from EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be seen as a litmus test for each team’s overall performance as the countdown to the World Cup Qualifiers inch closer.

Additionally, two MLS games will air this weekend beginning Saturday with a 2011 MLS Cup rematch between Houston and 2011 MLS Champions LA Galaxy at 2:30 p.m. ET, followed by Sunday’s game in Kansas City as Sporting KC host the San Jose Earthquakes at 4:30 p.m. ET.

COMMENTATORS: The NBC Sports Group’s lead soccer commentary team of Arlo White (@arlowhite, play-by-play), and Kyle Martino (@kylemartino, “Between the Benches” analyst) will call the game in Jacksonville. Veteran soccer commentator JP Dellacamera (play-by-play) and former MLS player Brian Dunseth (analyst) will call the MLS coverage with Ivan Carter, from Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, joining them on Sunday to host pre-game, halftime and post-game segments live from LIVESTRONG Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.

Steve Busfield The Guardian sports blogger on Arlo White: “Arlo is fantastic. My Seattle friends all miss him, but you can’t blame NBC for picking him up.”

WHITE ON THE USA TEAM: “This is a tremendous thrill for us. We can’t wait to show the U.S. National team as they prepare for the start of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Head Coach Jürgen Klinsmann has some star names to call upon against Scotland. Clint Dempsey has become a massive star in the English Premier League, Landon Donovan is an MLS Champion with LA, and Tim Howard is regarded as one of the top goalkeepers in the world. Then there are the young players like Terrence Boyd and Juan Agudelo who are desperate to make an impact and launch their international careers. The battle for international caps is intense. These guys take massive pride in representing their country. I think Scotland will feel the full force of that in Jacksonville on Saturday.”

MARTINO ON THE MATCH: “It’s business time. Only three games left for the United States before World Cup Qualifying begins. Scotland will prove to be a great test for Klinsmann and his side as they make their final preparations.”

UPCOMING MLS GAMES ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK: (All Times ET, Home Team Listed First)

Sun., June 17, Chicago vs. New York, 5 p.m.
Sun., June 24, New York vs. D.C, 7 p.m.
Fri., June 29, Kansas City vs. Chicago, 8 p.m.

And I’ll have another soccer-centric post coming up.

Some Monday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

Let’s do some sports media thoughts for you on this back to work Monday. As usual, they’re in bullet form.

• Last week’s news that TBS would pick up the new single elimination MLB Wild Card Playoff games for this year and next was not a surprise. TBS has pleased MLB with its postseason coverage since 2007, gaining all of the League Division Series and one League Championship Series, sharing that round with Fox. Not only would TBS pay an extra $10 million for the new playoff games on top of its current fee, but it would also give two LDS games to MLB Network. Now that was a surprise.

  It gives MLB Network its first foothold into postseason games after increasing the amount of regular season game telecasts steadily over the network’s first four years of existence. As Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reported on Friday, MLB Network will have Bob Costas and Matt Vasgersian call the LDS games with yet to be named analysts (expect to see Jim Kaat and Mitch Wiiliams or even John Smoltz). It’s a big move for MLB Network. Just as with TBS’ postseason package, the games will be exclusive with no local simulcasts. However, it does give MLB Network some leverage with cable and satellite providers to spread its reach beyond the current 69 million households.

• Also last week, NBC Sports Group announced coverage plans for NBC Sports Network, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC and Telemundo. With each NBCUniversal channel assigned to certain carry certain sports, it will be a virtual feast for viewers to see the athletes compete. Add this to the live streaming that will be provided on NBCOlympics.com, fans should not miss anything from London this summer.

  Now the hosting assignments give us some interesting food for thought. Fred Roggin hosting boxing on CNBC shows consistency from 2008. I was quite surprised about the return of Pat O’Brien to the Olympics. While he really hasn’t been on the national radar since losing his job at Entertainment Tonight and The Insider due to his personal problems, it hasn’t stopped him from working at Fox Sports Radio and making regular appearances on Fox News Channel. I’ll be happy to see Pat make his puns and illiteration attempts from the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon during Olympic tennis.

  And I’ll be interested to see how Kelly Tilghman does on MSNBC as she’ll be hosting events there. Kelly has been host and done play-by-play for Golf Channel. I hadn’t seen her as an Olympic host and while she’s been polarizing to golf fans during her stint on GC, I think she’s been pretty decent as a studio host and interviewer, although she sometimes has her strange moments.

  We’ll be waiting to see who else will be hosting on NBC Sports Network and on NBC in London.

• And who would have thunk that Al Jazeera, the network known for ruffling feathers in the Middle East could be a player for soccer rights? It’s been steadily obtaining rights to soccer in the Middle East and is about to start networks in France and in the United States. Al Jazeera has the US rights to Spain’s La Liga, France’s La Ligue, and Italy’s Serie A. These had been previously on Gol TV as well as Fox Soccer. Some games were sublicensed to ESPN throughout the years. Now with Al Jazeera obtaining the games, it will create two networks called beIN Sport as Multichannel News’ Mike Reynolds reports. The whole issue is if beIN Sport’s channels, one in English, the other in Spanish can gain wide distribution. If Al Jazeera gets the English Premier League US rights over Fox Soccer and ESPN, then expect plenty of cable and satellite carriage pickups before the summer is out.

That’s going to do it.

A Trio of Sunday Sports Media Thoughts

Happy Mother’s Day.

It’s been quite the day in sports already. A few thoughts in bullet form.

• Fox promised us unprecedented coverage on the last day of the English Premier League season and it delivered. Using FX, Fox Sports Net, Fuel and Speed in addition to its Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus on online platforms, it provided full coverage of the final day of the EPL season as teams were scrambling for the Title, Champions and Europa League spots and avoiding relegation. With ESPN2 allowed to air the Manchester City-Queens Park Rangers match, Fox focused on the other 9 games of the day. Using FX as its main hub, there were real time updates on the Fox Box as well as cut-ins by Rob Stone showing scores from other games.

  If Fox retains the US rights for the English Premier League, I would love to see more of this coverage not only for what was dubbed “Survival Sunday” by Fox, but for the Opening Weekend of the season as well.

  I admit I wasn’t a fan of Rob Stone when he was at ESPN, but he’s grown on me as host of the Premier and Champions League on Fox Soccer. And the way Fox utilized its platforms today was excellent. One could argue they should have been doing this all along.

  If Fox is going to do this next year, then open up the pay platforms of Fox Soccer Plus, Foxsoccer.com and Fox Soccer2Go for the weekend. Those of us who don’t subscribe to those platforms were shutout today.

• One pet peeve I have about Fox is that it won’t allow online streaming of its sports properties. Whether it be MLB, NASCAR, college football or NFL, the network makes us watch its product on television. If we can’t be in front of a TV, then we’re pure out of luck. Some the online rights are locked with the league as with the case of MLB and the NFL, but ESPN, NBC and CBS have been diligent in getting online rights. Fox remains steadfast in not streaming its events. I hope that changes as the network goes forward with the NFL and any other sports properties it obtains from here on out.
• And Friday’s development that Michelle Beadle is leaving ESPN is not a surprise. While there has been no firm confirmation from neither ESPN, NBC where she’s reportedly heading nor from Michelle herself, she’s about good as gone.

  I told you in the past that sports is not what Michelle wants to do full-time. By keeping a hand in special events like the Olympics and the Super Bowl should be enough for her. And by co-hosting Access Hollywood, it gives NBCUniversal a versatile personality.

  She’ll do well for NBC.

That’s going to do it for now.

Fox Sports To Air UEFA Champions League Final on May 19

Coming next Saturday, Fox Sports and Fox Deportes will air the UEFA Champions League Final live from Munich, Germany.

Bayern Munich from Germany’s Bundesliga and Chelsea from the English Premier League face off in the Final to be played at Bayern’s home field, the first time that’s ever happened in CL history.

Fox Sports will air the match starting at 2 p.m. Curt Menefee will be the event host and set the scene in Munich. Rob Stone will be the on-site studio host and will be joined by Eric Wynalda and Brad Friedel. Martin Tyler and Gary Neville will call the match.

We have the details from Fox Sports.

FOX SPORTS & FOX DEPORTES TO TELEVISE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

Bayern Munich & Chelsea FC Square-Off in Munich for World’s Most-Coveted Club Soccer Prize on May 19
Viewership Has Increased 10-Fold in 10 Years

Los Angeles – Only two teams and one game remain in the 2012 UEFA Champions League, the world’s most-watched elite club soccer tournament. On the grandest stage of European soccer, German club Bayern Munich and England’s Chelsea FC face off inside UEFA Fußball Arena Munchen on Saturday, May 19 in Munich, Germany. Bayern has the advantage of being the first team to play a UEFA Champions League Final in its home stadium, while Chelsea is on a quest to capture its first European Cup. For the third consecutive year, FOX Sports is broadcasting this showcase event live, with coverage beginning at 2:00 PM ET.

Live from Munich, FOX Sports’ Curt Menefee serves as event host, with FOX Soccer’s Rob Stone hosting on-site studio coverage. FOX Soccer analyst and American National Soccer Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda joins Tottenham goalkeeper and former United States National Team player Brad Friedel for pre-game, halftime and post-match analysis. Legendary Sky Sports play-by-play announcer Martin Tyler calls the match with analysis from former Manchester United defender Gary Neville.

FOX Soccer’s pre-game coverage begins at 1:00 PM ET preceding FOX Sports’ over-the-air programming. FOX Deportes is carrying the match live in Spanish, and FOX Soccer re-airs the match at 8:00 PM ET on Saturday night with FOX Soccer Plus doing the same at 5:00 PM ET on Sunday, May 20.

After a week of lead-up programming, FOX Deportes, the nation’s leading Spanish-language sports cable network, begins its coverage on May 19 at 1 PM ET with UCL Final Preview, live from Munich.  Match coverage begins at 2:30 PM ET, followed by the post-match celebration at 5:00 PM ET on Lo Mejor de la UCL.  At 5:30 PM ET, FOX Deportes airs La Ultima Palabra, a special one-hour postgame show live followed later on by an encore match presentation at 10:30 PM ET.  Manning FOX Deportes’ Los Angeles studio are Mauricio Cardenas and Bruno Vain.  John Laguna, Christian Bozzo and Daniel Brailovsky are on-site in Munich with reporters Nelson Vignolles and Alejandro Blanco.

U.S. viewership of the UEFA Champions League Final has exploded in recent years. 2011 was the seventh straight year that English-language viewing increased in the U.S.  Over the last 10 years, the audience has increased almost 10-fold, from 264,000 viewers on ESPN in 2002 to 2.6 million on FOX in 2011.

The 2011 Champions League Final is the highest-rated and most watched in U.S. history.  FSMG’s coverage on FOX (1.4 HH rating, 2.6 million viewers) and FOX Deportes (0.7 HH rating, 1.6 million viewers) combined to generate a 2.1 household rating and 6 share, drawing an audience of 4.2 million viewers nationally, dwarfing the ratings and audience of 2010 by +75% (1.2) and +91% (2.2 million), respectively.  Significantly, the 2011 match on FOX and FOX Deportes also bettered the 2009 match, which featured the same Barcelona and Manchester United clubs, by +62% on rating (2.1 vs. 1.3) and +24% on viewership (4.2 million vs. 2.1 million).

Completing one of the most stunning comebacks in UEFA Champions League history, Chelsea is riding significant momentum into Munich after knocking out reigning champion FC Barcelona. After falling behind 2-0 on the road in its second-leg clash with the Catalans, Chelsea stormed back to secure a 2-2 draw, allowing the Blues to advance to the Final 3-2 on aggregate. Remarkably, Chelsea pulled off this feat down a man, after captain John Terry was red carded in the first half. In order to hoist the famed Champions League trophy, Chelsea will have to defeat Bayern without Terry and suspended teammates Ramires, Branislav Ivanovic and Raul Meireles. This is Chelsea’s first Final since 2008, when the Blues lost to Manchester United.

Bayern Munich returns home to Bavaria and has the support of is home fans in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final. The club already has four European Cups/Champions League titles to its name, having last won the competition in 2001. Managed by Jupp Heynckes, Bayern advances to the tournament’s final stage after defeating Real Madrid on penalties in the second-leg of the semifinals. Bolstered by wingers Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery, the German side has one of the most potent attacks in Europe. Bayern forward Mario Gomez is the second leading scorer in this year’s Champions League (12).

There you have it.

Fox Sports Announces Game Network Assignments For English Premier League Survival Sunday

With teams fighting to stave off relegation to the lower Football League, Sunday is going to be a very interesting day in the English Premier League. We already know that Blackburn and Wolverhampton are going to be out of the EPL next season. Queens Park Rangers and the Bolton Wanderers are fighting for that last spot to stay in.

In addition to relegation, there’s the final standings which determine which teams go to the UEFA Champions League for next season (top four places go) and which teams go to the UEFA Europa League (5th and 6th place teams). It’s all quite interesting and will be a day to behold.

With that said, Fox Sports Media Group is devoting nine of its platforms to nine of the ten games being played on this last day of the English Premier League season. FX, Fuel, Fox Sports Net, Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Deportes, Speed as well as Fox Soccer2Go and Fox Soccer.com will be utilized in this unprecedented day of soccer coverage in the United States.

The only game not covered by Fox will be Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers and that will be aired on ESPN2. All games will begin at 10 a.m. ET with pregame coverage a half-hour earlier.

We have the entire game and network lineups for Sunday. This will be a big day.

FOX SPORTS MEDIA GROUP UNVEILS SURVIVAL SUNDAY GAME SCHEDULE

FSMG Presents Nine Live English Premier League Matches Simultaneously on Season’s Final Day

LOS ANGELES – Finally, the wait is over – Survival Sunday has arrived. For the first time in U.S. television history, nine live games from the most dramatic day in soccer are being carried on one family of outlets. On Sunday, May 13, the final day of action from the Barclays Premier League, FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) presents the best in international soccer, as England’s top teams compete for financial survival, hardware and European honors.

Led by FX, FOX’s fully-distributed cable powerhouse, FSMG networks SPEED, FSN, FUEL TV, FOX Soccer, FOX Soccer Plus and FOX Deportes, along with digital platforms FOXSoccer.com and FOX Soccer 2Go, are carrying all nine matches live at 10:00 AM ET. Pre-match coverage begins at 9:30 AM ET on all networks with the exception of SPEED, with all outlets carrying post-match coverage of this hallmark event. FX anchors halftime coverage. Pre-match, halftime and post-match coverage (English) is hosted by Rob Stone, with analysis from Eric Wynalda, Warren Barton and Brian McBride. All FSMG outlets are showing the Barclays Premier League trophy presentation following the day’s events along with highlights from all 10 Survival Sunday games.

Today FSMG announced its full lineup for Survival Sunday, highlighted by Manchester United’s must-win match at Sunderland to keep its title hopes alive on FX and in Spanish on FOX Deportes. Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United are currently behind Manchester City and Manchester United in the race for highly lucrative UEFA Champions League positions. All three clubs fight for their place among the elite on Survival Sunday, with Arsenal traveling to West Bromwich Albion on FSN, Tottenham hosting Fulham and American superstar Clint Dempsey on FOX Soccer, and Newcastle battling Everton carried by FOXSoccer.com.

Chelsea faces recently-relegated Blackburn Rovers on SPEED ahead of their 2012 UEFA Champions League Final clash with Bayern Munich (May 19/FOX Sports). Liverpool looks to rebound from FA Cup disappointment at Swansea City on FUEL TV, while Bolton must win at Stoke City to stay alive in the Barclays Premier League (FOX Soccer Plus).

Teams live and die with each goal on Survival Sunday, and fans can follow all of the action at once via FOXSoccer.com/SurvivalSunday with real-time standings updates after every change. Twitter conversations surrounding all games will be streamlined on FOXSoccer.com/SurvivalSunday, allowing fans to follow the day’s events simultaneously (hashtag #SurvivalSunday). There will be live play-by-play for all 10 Survival Sunday matches with FOX Soccer MatchTrax, along with exclusive video highlights from every game throughout the day.

WHAT: Survival Sunday – the final day of England’s Barclays Premier League, where all 20 teams face off at the same time (9:30 AM ET). The bottom three teams are relegated from the BPL (clubs 18-20), while the top four sides ensure passage to the world’s most prestigious (and lucrative) club tournament – the UEFA Champions League. Teams finishing in fifth and sixth place can qualify for the 2012-2013 UEFA Europa League.

WHEN:  Sunday, May 13 – 9:30 AM ET (except SPEED, who will join at 10:00 AM ET).

Sunderland v Manchester United — FX & FOX Deportes
Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United visits Sunderland needing a win to keep title hopes alive in the race against Manchester City.

Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers — SPEED
Chelsea’s midseason revival continues against recently doomed Blackburn. Rovers were relegated following Monday’s defeat to Wigan, and Chelsea needs to win in order to remain in the hunt for European qualification.

Swansea City v Liverpool — FUEL TV
Following FA Cup disappointment against Chelsea, English giant Liverpool and captain Steven Gerrard look to finish their season on a high note against upstart Swansea City.

West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal — FSN
In a vital match for Arsenal, the Gunners aim to secure their place in next season’s UEFA Champions League by winning at West Bromwich Albion.

Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham — FOX Soccer
Chasing an all-important UEFA Champions League position, Tottenham hosts Fulham and American superstar Clint Dempsey at North London’s White Hart Lane.

Stoke City v Bolton Wanderers — FOX Soccer Plus
At one of the most intimidating venues in English soccer, Stoke City hosts a Bolton team desperately seeking to avoid relegation at the Britannia Stadium. Sitting in the relegation zone in eighteenth place, Bolton must win to avoid dropping into the English second division.

Everton v Newcastle United — FOXSoccer.com
In one of the most important clashes on Survival Sunday, Newcastle looks to secure its place in next season’s UEFA Champions League, while Everton needs to win for a shot at UEFA Europa League qualification.

Norwich City v Aston Villa — FOX Soccer 2GO
In its first season since gaining promotion to the Barclays Premier League, Norwich City has impressed and looks to go out on a high against Aston Villa at Carrow Road.

Wigan Athletic v Wolverhampton Wanderers — FOX Soccer 2GO
Safe from relegation after defeating Blackburn Rovers on Monday, a resurgent Wigan team celebrates its Barclays Premier League survival at home against last place Wolverhampton.

Manchester City v Queens Park Rangers — ESPN2/MatchTrax
Manchester City seeks to capture its first Barclays Premier League title against a Queens Park Rangers team fighting to avoid relegation.

That’s all.