Fang's Bites

New Edition of “Costas Tonight” Premieres Thursday

“Costas Tonight,” NBC Sports Network’s new talk show hosted by the Holy Diminutive One, Bob Costas, will have three guests including two commissioners and the always controversial boxer Floyd Mayweather.

The first airing is on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. We even have partial transcripts and a video for you. No need for me to totally set this up. You can read everything for yourself below.

“COSTAS TONIGHT” ONE-HOUR INTERVIEW SHOW PREMIERES TOMORROW AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK

Bob Costas Interviews NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, NBA Commissioner David Stern and WBC Welterweight Boxing Champion Floyd Mayweather
FULL VIDEO CLIP BELOW: MAYWEATHER DISCUSSES POSSIBILITY OF FIGHT WITH MANNY PACQUIAO
“This is a serious issue. We have medical experts working with us. We’re trying to educate the players.” Bettman on Concussions
“It is a frenzy on a global scale.” –Stern on Jeremy Lin
60-Minute Interview Show from Studio 8G at 30 Rock is First of New Series

New York – February 29, 2012 – Bob Costas, a 22-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and one of America’s preeminent interviewers, premieres his 60-minute interview show Costas Tonight tomorrow 8-9 p.m. ET on the NBC Sports Network.

In his first edition of Costas Tonight, which originates from Studio 8G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and was taped yesterday, Costas discussed the key topics in the NHL with Commissioner Gary Bettman, and the state of the NBA, including the Jeremy Lin phenomenon, with Commissioner David Stern.

Costas also sat down with the controversial, five-division world champion, current WBC Welterweight Champion and undefeated 42-0 professional boxer, Floyd Mayweather and discussed, among other topics, preparations for his May 5 bout against world class fighter Miguel Cotto, the tumultuous relationship with his father, and if there is a chance for a fight with WBO Welterweight Champion Manny Pacquiao.

Below are highlights from the taping for tomorrow night’s Costas Tonight:

Mayweather discusses with Costas if there will ever be a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight

MAYWEATHER ON HIS UPCOMING FIGHT WITH MIGUEL COTTO: “He’s a champion. He’s a guy that I can’t overlook, coming from a Puerto Rican boxing background and me coming from an American boxing family. He poses a threat but it’s a good matchup.”

MAYWEATHER ON GAMBLING: “I’m just about entertainment, you know having personality, being outgoing, being outspoken and, when the gloves are off, I’m just at home on an everyday basis betting on basketball, betting on football. (Tuesday) I placed a bet on Kansas (for the) first half, I bet about 100k and I won about 83k so they came through, (Wednesday) I think I’m going to bet on Duke, for the first half, just before I get on the plane to go to LA. Hopefully it’s not too hot.”

BETTMAN ON IF REMOVING FIGHTING FROM HOCKEY WOULD ALIENATE FANS: “There are those who say if we eliminate it, there are people who aren’t fans who would become fans because they are turned off on it. It is one of the great imponderables.”

BETTMAN ON CONCUSSIONS IN HOCKEY: “We don’t want the head targeted as the principal point of contact, and we actually passed a rule that went into effect this season that prohibits such a hit, but there are a lot of hits in our game. It’s a very physical game where the head is incidentally a point of contact… this is a serious issue. We have medical experts working with us. We’re trying to educate the players. Perhaps the most important thing we’ve done is we are trying to change the culture of the game, where if a guy gets, as they used to say, dinged, it’s ok for a guy to say, ‘I think I have concussion-like symptoms’ and get treatment.”

BETTMAN ON THE BEST THING HE LEARNED FROM STERN WHEN HE WAS AT THE NBA: “I don’t think you can just point to one thing, because it was 12 spectacular years in terms of my professional life. But in terms of doing the right thing, working hard and focusing on what needs to be taken care of, learning how to prioritize, and also managing owners because David has always been extraordinary at that.”

STERN ON SOCIAL MEDIA IN SPORTS TODAY: “I often say and have said that Russell and Chamberlain labored in anonymity compared to today’s athletes.”

STERN ON JEREMY LIN PHENOMENON: “It is a frenzy on a global scale. Jeremy Lin is taking it to another layer on a global scale.”

STERN ON WHETHER HE SOUGHT ADVICE FROM BETTMAN DURING NBA LOCKOUT: “I think it is fair to say that we talk to each other regularly and have a wide range of discussions on relevant topics.”

BETTMAN AND STERN REACTING TO COMMENTS MADE BY BRYANT GUMBEL DURING NBA LOCKOUT ON HBO. GUMBEL SAID: “(Stern) has always seemed eager to be viewed as some kind of modern plantation overseer, treating NBA men as if they were his boys.”

Bettman: “Let me answer first, because I worked with David for over 12 years. That is probably the most ignorant, stupid statement I’ve ever heard. Anybody who knows David knows that nothing could be further from the truth.”

Stern: “Thank you, friend Gary. I actually, you know, sort of enjoyed it to a degree because the flood of phone calls that I got from a very diverse community said ‘What is this guy’s problem?’ And I said, ‘His ratings are going down, it’s a slow news day, he wants some headlines.’ And I wouldn’t say anything publicly, it was taken care of by Charles Barkley and Jesse Jackson.”

Re-Air Dates (All times ET):

Thursday, March 1 – 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Friday, March 2 – 2 a.m., 9 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Saturday, March 3 – 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 4 – 10 p.m.

Costas Tonight builds on Costas’ long and storied career as an interviewer from Later with Bob Costas and Costas Coast-to-Coast to his acclaimed HBO programs, On the Record and CostasNOW. Tomorrow night’s edition of Costas Tonight was taped yesterday in Studio 8G, the home of Football Night in America.

The Costas Tonight: Live From…series continues on Wednesday, April 4, with a discussion of the state of college athletics before a live studio audience at 30 Rock. The next Costas Tonightinterview program will be Thursday, May 31.

And there you have it.

Bringing Out The Mid-Week Linkage

Let’s do our linkage for today. It’s going to snow in Southern New England so I’m doing this early in case I have bug out later.

Starting with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand, we learn that ESPN will be streaming its Championship Week games on Facebook, but not everyone will be able to see the games.

Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk through John Ourand of Sports Business Journal writes that former Indianapolis Colts GM Bill Polian will join ESPN in a couple of weeks.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Michael Bradley advises NBC Sports Network to stay the course and not panic in the wake of low ratings out of the box.

Eric Fisher at Sports Business Daily has the skinny on MLB Advanced Media’s unveiling of the new At Bat mobile app.

Stephen Galloway at the Hollywood Reporter has a fascinating update on cable television pioneer and Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner.

Eriq Gardner from the Reporter writes that former college athletes suing the NCAA over the use of their likenesses in video games and attempting to get information from TV contracts, have been sanctioned by the judge presiding over the case.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says the National Association of Broadcasters has told the FCC to keep the antiquated NFL blackout rule in place.

Tim Baysinger at B&C notes the NFL has moved its regular season opening game back one day to accommodate the Democratic National Convention.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says after some early momentum, TNT saw rating drops for its NBA All-Star Weekend.

Wendy Davis at MediaPost writes that streaming service Justin.TV and YouTube are being sued for illegally showing a boxing pay-per-view fight.

All Access notes that CBS Radio’s WJFK has signed to remain the DC affiliate for Virginia Tech sports.

Greg Doyel of CBS Sports wants to know why ESPN is allowing Bob Knight to show his clear disdain for Kentucky.

The Mansfield (CT) Patch picks up a story from Kenneth Best who went behind the scenes when ESPN’s College GameDay visited the UConn campus last weekend.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at Twitter’s newest darling, NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski.

The Long Island Tennis Magazine says ESPN2 will air the annual BNP Paribas Showdown on tape delay with an MSG Network replay following a day later.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the NFL regular season opener has been pushed back one day to accommodate President Obama.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that the Nationals’ Bryce Harper has deleted his Twitter account.

The Winston-Salem (NC) Journal remembers a local sports anchor who passed away this week.

Deven Swartz of WGHP-TV also remembers Rich Brenner who was a beloved member of the community.

WGHP also has a special section devoted to Brenner.

Amanda Kelley at the Myrtle Beach (SC) Sun-Times says ESPN Radio is changing stations.

Luther Campbell, formerly of 2 Live Crew, in the Miami New Times accuses ESPN’s Skippy Bayless of race baiting.

Jon Solomon at the Birmingham (AL) News writes that the SEC’s member schools are reluctant to expand to 9 conference football games, but the league’s TV partners are seeking more inventory.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Daytona 500 did well in primetime for Fox, but ratings are down from last year.

Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the Padres are wondering why MLB is taking so long to approve its rights deal with Fox Sports.

Brady Green at Awful Announcing has the video of Rich Eisen’s annual 40 yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Andrew Bucholz at AA notes that Captain Blowhard is complaining about something no one cares about.

At the Bleacher Report, Dan Levy looks at the sexism one San Diego sports anchor threw at Danica Patrick and the reaction since.

John Daly of the Daly Planet reviews Fox’s performance at the Daytona 500.

John also explores ESPN’s Brad Daugherty inexplicably coming down hard on driver Brad Keselowski for Tweeting during the Daytona 500.

John Gennaro of the Bolts from the Blue blog looks at how the new Fox Sports San Diego will affect sports fans.

Congratulations to CNBC’s Darren Rovell who now has a baby daughter to take care of. She wasn’t even a day old when Darren signed her up for Twitter.

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/darrenrovell/statuses/174684002865774593"]

And then Darren told us that he signed her up for other social networking services and bought her domain name. Darren? Put down the smartphone and walk away slowly.

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/darrenrovell/statuses/174686172033990656"]

And we’ll end it there for today.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Men’s
Penn State at Purdue — Big Ten Network, 6:30 p.m.
Dayton at Richmond — A-10 Network: CSS/The Comcast Network, 7 p.m.
South Florida at Louisville — Big East Network: Bright House/Cox Sports Television/MASN/SNY, 7 p.m.
Fordham at URI — Cox Sports RI, 7 p.m.
Maryland at North Carolina — ESPN, 7 p.m.
Marquette at Cincinnati — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
St. John’s at Pittsburgh — ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Georgia Tech at Boston College — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/Fox Sports Florida/Fox Sports North/Fox Sports South/Fox Sports West/NESN, 7 p.m.
Iowa State at Missouri — Big 12 Network, 8 p.m.
Tulsa at UAB — CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.
Auburn at Alabama — SEC Network, 8 p.m.
Mississippi State at South Carolina — SEC Network, 8 p.m.
Air Force at New Mexico — the mtn., 8 p.m.
Ohio State at Northwestern — Big Ten Network, 8:30 p.m.
Tennessee at LSU — CSS/Bright House/Cox Sports Television, 9 p.m.
Oklahoma at Texas — ESPN2, 9 p.m.
Iowa at Nebraska — ESPNU, 9 p.m.
Miami (FL) at North Carolina State — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/Fox Sports Florida/Fox Sports North Plus/Fox Sports South/NESN, 9 p.m.
UNLV at Colorado State — CBS Sports Network, 10 p.m.
San Diego State at Boise State — the mtn., 10 p.m.

MLB
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Clubhouse Confidential — MLB Network, 5:30 p.m.
Hot Stove Live — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
Top 100 Right Now: 60-41 — MLB Network, 9 p.m.
Top 100 Right Now: 40-21 — MLB Network, 10 p.m.

NASCAR
Inside NASCAR — Showtime, 9 p.m.

NBA
Chicago at San Antonio — ESPN, 9 p.m.

NHL
Pittsburgh at Dallas — NBC Sports Network/TSN2, 7:30 p.m.
Toronto at Chicago — TSN/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8 p.m.
Buffalo at Anaheim — MSG Buffalo/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 10 p.m.
St. Louis at Edmonton — Fox Sports Midwest/Rogers Sportsnet West, 10 p.m.

NHL Live — NHL Network, 5 p.m.
NHL Live — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Tonight — NHL Network, 10 p.m.
NHL Overtime — NBC Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.

Soccer
International Friendlies
Italy vs. United States, Genoa, Italy — ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
Switzerland vs. Argentina, Bern, Switzerland — Gol TV, 2:30 p.m.
England vs. Netherlands, London, England — Fox Soccer, 3 p.m.

U-21 Qualifier, Middlesbrough, England
England vs. Belgium — Fox Soccer, 1 p.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
The Box Score — Audience Network (DirecTV)/DanPatrick.com, noon
The Scott Van Pelt Show — ESPNews, 1 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — NBC Sports Network, 6 p.m.

Tennis
ATP Tour: Dubai Duty Free Championships, Round of 16 — Tennis Channel, 5 a.m., 7 a.m., 10 a.m. & noon

Entertainment
The Middle — ABC, 8 p.m.
Survivor: One World — CBS, 8 p.m.
Suburgatory — ABC, 8:30 p.m.
Sportfolio — Bloomberg, 9 p.m.
Rock Center with Brian Williams — NBC, 9 p.m.
Sons of Guns: This Time It’s Personal (season premiere) — Discovery, 9 p.m.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — CBS, 10 p.m.
Restaurant: Impossible: Del’s — Food Network, 10 p.m.
American Weed: Weed-Jacked! — National Geographic Channel, 10 p.m.
House Hunters International: A Family Together in France — HGTV, 10:30 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.

Some Long Overdue Sports Media Thoughts

Due to a very hectic schedule, I have not been writing as much as I would like, but with so many sports media stories occurring, I have to give you some of the thoughts that have come to mind. I want to provide them before they become outdated. As usual, they come in bullet form.

• Let’s start with NASCAR and Fox’s coverage of the Daytona 500 in particular. Due to a rainout on Sunday, NASCAR officials decided to postpone the race for the first time in history and move the event into primetime on Monday. By making the race into a primetime event, Fox’s crew showed that not only was it ready, but it shined for most of the broadcast. Yes, there were a lot of wrecks and a two hour delay caused by Juan Pablo Montoya crashing into a jet-fueled blow drying truck might have hurt the ratings a tad, but Fox did a very good job in reporting on the incident, plus keeping viewers updated on the condition of Montoya and the driver of the truck.

  Throughout the night, replays of crashes and key moments of the race were clear. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the moment of impact of Montoya hitting the truck, but we did see flames from the fireball.

  And Fox filled time admirably with driver interviews and getting NASCAR President Mike Helton to talk about the delay. In addition, Fox pit reporters had fun with driver Brad Keselowski who tweeted a picture of Montoya’s accident from inside his car and continued to tweet during the delay, picking up 200,000 followers in the process.

  The coverage was rewarded with what Fox claims was a record viewership for The Great American Race on the network. Imagine the ratings without the two hour delay.

• Monday’s coverage of the NHL Trade Deadline was well covered throughout North America. The two competing Canadian sports networks, Rogers Sportsnet and TSN waged all day battles and based on what I saw online, I give the edge to Sportsnet. Thanks to Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, there was an online stream of Sportsnet’s coverage available for viewers in both Canada and the U.S. TSN’s TradeCentre was simulcast on NHL Network in the U.S. throughout the day then streamed online at NHL.com from noon ET.

  In the past, it was TSN that had all the angles covered, but on Monday, it appeared to be playing catch up to Sportsnet. When trading began to get hot and heavy as the deadline approached, Sportsnet not only broke news, but got the players on the phone immediately to get their reaction. In the case of Brian Rolston going from the New York Islanders to the Bruins, Sportsnet actually broke the news to him.

  Both networks tried some gimmicks, Sportsnet utilizing former General Managers to get their input on the mindset of making a trade. That made for some fascinating TV. TSN used the stunning Alyonka Larionov as a social media reporter to read tweets. That didn’t go over too well, but TSN isn’t utilizing her in the right way.

  Overall, NHL Trade Deadline was well covered, but there’s no need to start coverage at 8 a.m. ET. I give Sportsnet an A minus for its coverage. TSN gets a B minus.

• This leads us to the what I am calling the Death of Hockey Coverage on ESPN. It didn’t go unnoticed that ESPN failed to cover the NHL Trade Deadline on SportsCenter. Ben Koo at Awful Announcing was surprised not seeing a single mention, not even one sentence. Ty Duffy at the Big Lead was not. Neither am I.

  But then came the announcement that ESPN was shuffling the NCAA Frozen Four, the Division I Hockey Championship from ESPNU/ESPN2/ESPN as in the past few years to ESPNU/ESPN2 this year. And as Puck The Media’s Steve Lepore points out, that ESPNU will carry all but one game of its NCAA Hockey Tournament schedule.

  Hockey aficionados know all too well about the incredible shrinking coverage on ESPN. Since giving the NHL the boot in 2005, highlights have gone from being an integral part of SportsCenter to a bit player, if that.

  I went to ESPN last year to take part in a mini-focus group and talk with their producers. While there are many hockey fans in Bristol on the on-air and production staffs, I find it sad that the network continues to treat the sport as a bastard stepchild. And while the producers can tell me that giving hockey more time is constantly debated internally, the result has always been the same, two or three minutes of NHL highlights on SportsCenter, no regular season college hockey games on any of the ESPN platforms nor much coverage of the sport on .com.

  It’s as if in ESPN’s eyes, the sport just doesn’t exist. But as we know, if it’s not on an ESPN platform, the sport is hardly recognized by the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

• This also transitions to our next bullet, the NHL’s current cable home, NBC Sports Network. Last week, Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand wrote a story on the slow start and low ratings for NBC Sports Network since it relaunched in January from being Versus. While some of its programming has been critically acclaimed, ratings are lower than when the channel was under its previous name. And while that development is disturbing, remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint and certainly, the first two months under its new name does not a track record make.

  Expect those numbers to go up as NBC Sports attempts to stock NBCSN with more inventory. Certainly, this summer’s London Olympics and preceding U.S. Olympic Trials will help. And if NBC is able to get a piece of the Big East, NASCAR and/or MLB contracts this year, then the network will be in good shape. I don’t think Comcast and the NBC Sports brass are going to make rash, panicked decisions based on the results thus far. ESPN wasn’t a ratings success out of the gate either back in 1979 and it took a while for it to become successful and turn a profit. There might some tweaks here and there throughout this process, but overall, I do expect a lot of growth from NBC Sports Network down the line.

• And finally, with the NFL making its decision on Tuesday to move the 2012 regular season opening game back a day, it avoids the same situation from four years ago when the league kept its season opener on the same night as John McCain’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. In 2008, the NFL pushed back the opener to 7 p.m. ET only to get a significant drop in the ratings. This year by moving the game from Thursday, September 6 to the night before, it prevents a conflict with President Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention and the NFL can own the coverage without taking a ratings hit.

  It works for all sides.

And that will conclude a very long thoughts column. I had to get these off my chest and now I can move onto other items for you..

Fox Says The 2012 Daytona 500 Results In The Most Watched In Network History

Fox is claiming a victory for the rain-delayed Daytona 500 which ran in primetime for the first time ever. The network says a total of 36.5 million people watched at least a portion of the race, saying that’s the highest total viewership since it started carrying the Great American Race in 2002. Fox adds it’s the 2nd highest viewership ever for Daytona since 2006 when 37 million people watched on NBC.

The interesting thing is the average viewership which Fox says was 13.7 million. That was down from last year’s average of 15.6 million. So the total viewership is up, yet the average viewership is down. The rating for this year’s race is an 8.0 with a 14 share. That’s 8% lower than last year’s rating of 8.7 and makes the 2012 edition of the Daytona 500 the second lowest rated ever on the network.

We have the Fox Sports press release.

WHEN THE SMOKE CLEARED, THE 2012 DAYTONA 500 IS MOST-WATCHED IN FOX HISTORY

Historic Monday Night Running of the Great American Race Captivates 36.5 Million Viewers
Daytona 500 Powers FOX to Primetime Win Against Strong Competition

New York & Daytona – It took 36 hours to complete from its scheduled start time but fans won’t soon forget the 2012 Daytona 500 and the dramatic events delivered for FOX Sports.

For the first time in the race’s 54-year history, rain postponed Sunday’s 1:00 PM ET start until 12:00 PM ET Monday with continued showers in the afternoon delaying the green flag until 7:00 PM ET.

A total audience of over 36.5 million Americans watched last night’s race, according to fast national ratings issued today by Nielsen Media Research, making 2012 Daytona 500 the most-watched in FOX history. The 36.5 million total viewers, a measure of the audience that saw at least a portion of the race, is +22% higher than last year’s total audience of 30 million and +22% better than 2010′s 29.8 million. Yesterday’s total audience is the second best ever for a Daytona 500 on any network behind 37.0 million viewers in 2006 on NBC.

FOX won the primetime night among Adults 18-49 and total audience figures, a significant achievement going up against original episodes of popular network programs like ABC’s The Bachelor, CBS’s How I Met Your Mother and NBC’s The Voice, which was -10% lower in the Adults 18-49 demographic last night than it did a week ago. The Daytona 500 on FOX posted a 4.6 and averaged 14.1 million viewers from 8:00 – 11:00 PM ET, making it FOX’s most-watched Monday night in 16 months, dating back to Game 5 of the 2010 World Series.

The 2012 Great American Race, which included a fiery crash caused when Juan Pablo Montoya hit a safety truck/track-drying engine and red flagged the race for over two hours, earned an 8.0/14 rating/share and averaged 13.7 million viewers. While down slightly from last year’s Sunday afternoon race that occurred without any significant delays, (-8%, 2011 Daytona 500 – 8.7/20), Monday night’s race was up +4% when compared to the 2010 event (7.7/16), which saw lengthy delays for pothole repairs to the track.

Ratings for the 2012 Daytona 500 grew gradually through the first two and a half hours, climbing to an 8.2/12 (14.2 million viewers) in the 9:30 half-hour when the Montoya wreck occurred. Ratings grew further at 10:00 PM, peaking at an 8.8/13 (15.1 million viewers.) When the epic race concluded, Matt Kenseth emerged as the winner, capturing his second Daytona 500 victory in four years.

FOX Sports delivered live coverage of the 54th Daytona 500 for more than 11 hours over the course of three days. The NASCAR on FOX crew started reporting on Sunday from the rainy Daytona International Speedway, bringing viewers live interviews, updates, predictions and analysis from 12:00 – 5:15 PM ET in the hopes of a window opening up for racing.  FOX Sports produced nearly the entire five hours live, including interviews with drivers who came to the Hollywood Hotel prerace set and in their haulers, as well as NASCAR officials in the booth, only briefly going to a replay of the end of the Budweiser Shootout and clips from SPEED’s Top Ten Daytona 500 Moments. The team was back again at 7:00 PM ET the next night for the historic Monday primetime running of the Daytona 500.  The never-before-seen fiery crash halted action on the track for more than two hours, but sent the NASCAR on FOX crew into overdrive interviewing 21 drivers. When FOX Sports signed off Tuesday morning at 1:00 AM ET, another six hours of live coverage was in the books. National ratings for Sunday’s programming won’t be available until Thursday March 1.

Top-rated markets for the Daytona 500 include: Greensboro (18.1/27), Jacksonville (18.1/27), Charlotte (16.7/26), Greenville (16.7/26), Dayton (16.1/25), and Orlando (16.0/26). Markets seeing the biggest growth from last year include:  New Orleans (+46%, 7.3 vs. 5.0), Salt Lake City (+33%, 8.1 vs. 6.1), Ft. Myers (+30%, 15.5 vs. 11.9), San Antonio (+17%, 7.5 vs. 6.4) and Tampa (+17%, 12.5 vs. 10.7).

That’s it.

NFL Annouces Season Opening Game Pushed Back One Day To Wednesday, Sept. 5

This just in from the National Football League, the season opening game to be hosted by the Super Bowl Champions, the New York Football Giants, will be pushed back one day from the originally scheduled Thursday, September 6 to Wednesday, September 5 to avoid a conflict with President Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

Four years ago, the NFL had a similar conflict with Senator John McCain’s speech at the Republican National Convention and at the time, the league chose to move the speech back an hour and a half from 8:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time. As a result, the earlier kickoff sank ratings by 25% from the year before. Coincidentally, the 2008 season opening game also involved the Giants.

So this year, the game will be a day earlier, held at its regular time, and there should not be problems with the ratings.

Here’s the press release from the National Football League offices.

NFL KICKOFF GAME TO BE PLAYED ON WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 5

The 2012 season-opening NFL Kickoff game will be played on Wednesday, September 5 (NBC, 8:30 PM ET), Commissioner ROGER GOODELL announced today.

The game will be played on Wednesday to avoid a conflict with President Barack Obama’s Thursday night speech at the Democratic National Convention.

The Super Bowl XLVI-champion New York Giants will host the season-opener at MetLife Stadium. NBC will televise the game at 8:30 PM ET and NFL Kickoff 2012 beginning at 7:30 PM ET.

That will do us for now.

Our Tuesday Links

Let’s provide some links now.

John Ourand and John Lombardo of Sports Business Journal write that local NBA TV ratings are up thus far.

Eric Fisher of SBJ writes that sports arenas have an issue with providing more bandwidth as fans demand wifi access.

Paul White at USA Today says the newly-renamed Miami Marlins are ready for their reality TV closeup.

Mike McCarthy at USA Today says Los Angeles Lakers radio voice John Ireland was busted by Jay Leno’s Show of Hacks for putting on makeup during a game.

Michael O’Connell at the Hollywood Reporter says thanks to the Daytona 500, Fox won Monday night’s ratings over strong network competition.

John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable reports on a sports fan lobbying group that’s asking the FCC to end the NFL’s archaic blackout policy.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life Magazine says despite lower ratings from last year, the NBA is pleased with the numbers for the All-Star Game.

Mihir Bose of the London (UK) Evening Standard looks at the upcoming bidding for the English Premier League TV rights by talking with an ESPN Europe executive. It’s expected that incumbents Sky Sports and ESPN will have to fend off a heated bid by Al-Jazeera.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says Dan Patrick almost got into a heated exchange with David Letterman last night.

Sports Video Group says ESPNsoccernet has launched a new mobile app.

At Her Campus, Annie Wang talks with a close friend of Jeremy Lin’s on he views Linsanity in Communist China.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says reviews the upcoming ESPN documentary on the 20th anniversary of Magic Johnson’s announcement that he was HIV positive.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that today ends a long streak for Jeremy Lin.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says a local radio station will air a handful of Red Sox exhibition games.

Pete says this year’s MAAC Tournament will be online except for the finals.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says the NBA’s pay per view League Pass package is free for this week.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes that Oklahoma City was the 2nd highest rated local market for the NBA All-Star Game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says rain delay coverage of the Daytona 500 on Sunday scored well in Suds City.

And Bob says Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver is given good odds to win this season’s Dancing with the Stars competition.

Jay Posner of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Fox Sports San Diego has tapped a news anchor to become its first-ever Padres studio host.

Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times talks with ESPN college football analyst Ed Cunningham about winning the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says Twitter scooped TV in breaking NHL trades yesterday.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog kept track of which Canadian networks RDS, Rogers Sportsnet or TSN broke the trades yesterday.

Ben Koo at Awful Announcing says ESPN ignored the NHL Trade Deadline yesterday.

Ty Duffy at The Big Lead explains why ESPN chose to ignore the deadline.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media declares Rogers Sportsnet the winner in NHL Trade Deadline Day coverage.

In Tennis Space, former player Mark Petchey tells how he became a TV analyst.

Barry Petchesky of Deadspin gets an internal ESPN e-mail about Twitter.

Sports Media Watch looks at the Daytona 500′s ratings.

And that’s going to do it for now.

The 1st Ever Primetime Daytona 500 Garners An Impressive Overnight Rating

Due to weather delays, the Daytona 500 was pushed to Monday night in primetime. And thanks to some compelling racing, the Great American Race on Fox received a decent number. According to Nielsen, the overnight rating for the Daytona 500 was a 7.7, down from last year’s race which ran in its regularly scheduled Sunday afternoon time slot as Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand tweets:

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/Ourand_SBJ/statuses/174527603036790784"]

While the rating was down 6% from last year, the race peaked at a 9.2 right when all hell broke loose when Juan Pablo Montoya’s car crashed into a jet-fueled blow drying truck and caused an explosion on the track.

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/Ourand_SBJ/statuses/174528471773626368"]

Austin Karp at SBJ points out that Daytona still could not overcome NBC’s Monday night powerhouse “The Voice.”

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/AustinKarp/statuses/174528085180424192"]

But even during the delay when Fox vamped until racing resumed after midnight on the East Coast, the rating was good.

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/Ourand_SBJ/statuses/174529270939516928"]

Will this lead to Monday night NASCAR races or perhaps a Sunday primetime Daytona 500? Maybe not, but it’s definitely food for thought for NASCAR and its TV partners as the next rights negotiations get underway this year.

ESPN Announces Partial ACC Labor Day & Primetime Football Schedule

Continuing in an ESPN press release theme this morning, we have the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s announcement of its 2012 ACC football Labor Day and primetime schedule. Just five games released thus far, but in particular, the game on November 8th between Florida State and Virginia Tech in primetime has the potential to be a doozy. We’ll have to see how the season plays out, but on paper, it looks like a very good matchup.

For that and the other four games released thus far, check out the blurb below.

ESPN’s 2012 Labor Day and Thursday Primetime ACC Football Schedule

An ESPN Labor Day prime time telecast and four matchups on Thursday nights are among the games involving Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams slated for ESPN’s 2012 college football schedule. Additional games will be announced. Highlights include:

• ESPN’s Labor Day prime time telecast on September 3 will pit Georgia Tech at defending Coastal Division champion Virginia Tech at 8 p.m. ET.
• ESPN’s popular Thursday night series — ESPN College Football Primetime – will feature four ACC matchups, including three telecasts featuring at least one team ranked in an early ESPN.com pre-season poll:
• No. 8 Florida State at No. 20 Virginia Tech on November 8. The two teams last met in the 2010 conference championship, a 44-33 Virginia Tech victory.
• Defending conference champion No. 23 Clemson will take on Wake Forest on October 25.
• In addition to hosting Georgia Tech and Florida State, No. 20 Virginia Tech will visit Miami on November 1.

The 2012 ACC Labor Day and Thursday schedule (additional selections to be announced):

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Mon, Sep 3	8 p.m.	Georgia Tech at No. 20 Virginia Tech	ESPN
Thu, Oct 25	TBD	No. 23 Clemson at Wake Forest	ESPN
Thu, Nov 1	TBD	No. 20 Virginia Tech at Miami	ESPN
Thu, Nov 8	TBD	No. 8 Florida State at No. 20 Virginia Tech	ESPN
Thu, Nov 15	TBD	North Carolina at Virginia	ESPN

There you have it.

Chris Evert Joins ESPN Full-Time

Last year, Tennis Hall of Famer Chris Evert joined ESPN for Wimbledon and the US Open tournaments. She also worked the Australian Open this year and just announced by the Alleged Worldwide Leader, she’ll be working all four Grand Slams for ESPN2 under a new four year contract. In addition to the slams, she’ll work various other tennis events for the network.

The next tournament for Chris will be the French Open in May. Before ESPN, she worked for NBC in the 1990′s, but left the network to become a mother to raise her three sons.

She also runs her own tennis academy.

Here’s the ESPN press release.

Chris Evert to Serve as ESPN Tennis Analyst Year Round

Hall of Famer to Work All Four Majors and More in Four-Year Deal

Tennis great Chris Evert, who joined ESPN at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, has signed a four-year deal to work all four of tennis’ majors and other events. One of the most accomplished players in history, she also recently worked the Australian Open, including the women’s final, on ESPN2. That event completed her “tennis TV Grand Slam,” fitting for someone who won a “career Grand Slam” on the court. Her next assignment for ESPN will be the French Open – a title she won a record seven times.

Evert won 18 major singles championships, including at least one each year for 13 consecutive years (1974-1986).  In addition to her seven wins in Paris, she took home a record six US Opens, plus three Wimbledon championships and two at the Australian Open.  She retired in 1989 with 157 singles titles overall, and a career win-loss record of 1,309-146 (.900), the best of any professional player in history.

“Last year we quickly discovered what Chris brings to our telecasts – the perspective of having been at the sport’s pinnacle, keen knowledge of the game today and a personality that sparkles with both candor and humor,” said John Wildhack, ESPN executive vice president, production.  “She instantly fit well into our hard-working team and it’s appropriate a champion of all the Grand Slam events will work all four for us.”

Evert said, “Everyone from ESPN – from the commentators to the production staff – made me feel part of the family from day one.  I couldn’t ask for a more helpful or engaging group of people to team with. The Grand Slams were such an important part of my life, and I am excited to be going back to them.  I look forward to expressing the emotions, as well as the strategies, that the current players are feeling at these special events.”

I had a crush on Chris Evert growing up. I think a lot of tennis fans in growing up in her era did.

ESPN’s College Basketball Schedule is Highlighted With North Carolina-Duke

This week wraps up the regular season for college basketball. Some conferences are starting their tournaments this week as well, so it’s an eclectic mix of games as we get ready for one of the best parts of sports calendar, March Madness. For me, my three favorite months of the sports calendar are January for the NFL playoffs, March for the conference tournaments and NCAA Tournament and October for the MLB Postseason and World Series.

So we have the beginning of what should be an exciting month of college basketball and it begins with this weekend’s mid-major conference tournaments and the jockeying for positioning for seeding in the “BCS” conferences and we have the 2nd North Carolina-Duke game on Saturday which ESPN will carry.

We have the schedule of games for the ESPN family of networks coming up, but first, ESPN tells us that College GameDay will be live in Durham, NC for Carolina-Duke and for the first time, the show will have a special Friday night presentation on ESPNU.

College GameDay Returns to Duke-UNC Rivalry on Saturday

ESPN’s College GameDay returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke University on Saturday, March 3 (10 a.m., ESPNU & ESPN 3D; 11 a.m. & 6 p.m., ESPN & ESPN 3D). Rece Davis serves as the College GameDay host, and is joined by analysts Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps and Hubert Davis.

The weekly show originates from the site of ESPN’s Saturday Primetime telecast – this week, pitting the top two teams in the ACC – No. 6 North Carolina at No. 3 Duke (7 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN3 & ESPN 3D). Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale and Erin Andrews will call the telecast. GameDay is at the site of the Duke-UNC rivalry for the fourth time since the show’s debut in 2005.

Coverage will begin with a special first-time Friday edition of College GameDay, March 2, at 11 p.m.  The following day, ESPNU will dedicate eight hours of Duke vs. UNC programming, including the recent thriller from February 8 when the Blue Devils stunned the Tar Heels with a last second, three-pointer from freshman Austin Rivers.

Date	Time (ET)	Program	Network
Fri, March 2	11 p.m.	College GameDay: North Carolina vs. Duke Special (Durham, N.C.)	ESPNU
Sat, March 3	3:30 a.m.	Re-air: College GameDay: North Carolina vs. Duke Special (Durham, N.C.)	ESPNU
	4 a.m.	Duke vs. North Carolina (Feb. 5, 1992)	ESPNU
	6 a.m.	North Carolina vs. Duke (Feb. 9, 2005)	ESPNU
	7:30 a.m.	Duke vs. North Carolina (Feb. 8, 2012)	ESPNU
	9 a.m.	Re-air: College GameDay: North Carolina vs. Duke Special (Durham, N.C.)	ESPNU
	9:30 a.m.	First Take: College Basketball	ESPNU
	10 a.m.	College GameDay (Durham, N.C.) Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps & Hubert Davis	ESPNU/ESPN 3D
	11 a.m. & 6 p.m.	College GameDay (Durham, N.C.) Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps & Hubert Davis	ESPN/ESPN 3D
	7 p.m.	Saturday Primetime: No. 6 North Carolina at No. 3 Duke Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale & Erin Andrews	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D

And here’s that ESPN schedule for the rest of the week.

Men’s College Basketball: No. 6 North Carolina at No. 3 Duke Showdown

ESPN’s men’s college basketball schedule will be highlighted by No. 6 North Carolina at No. 3 Duke in a showdown between the ACC rivals, which have identical 12-2 records in the conference. Duke defeated North Carolina in a thrilling 85-84 last-second victory on February 8.

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup	Network
Wed, Feb 29	7 p.m.	Maryland at No. 6 North Carolina John Saunders & Dick Vitale	ESPN/ESPN3
		No. 7 Marquette at Cincinnati Bob Wischusen & Bob Knight	ESPN2/ESPN3
		St. John’s at Pittsburgh Adam Amin & Bob Valvano	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Oklahoma at Texas Jon Sciambi & Fran Fraschilla	ESPN2/ESPN3
		Iowa at Nebraska Mitch Holthus & Miles Simon	ESPNU
Thu, March 1	7 p.m.	No. 16 Michigan at Illinois Dave O’Brien, Stephen Bardo & Jalen Rose	ESPN/ESPN3
		No. 22 Florida State at Virginia Mike Patrick, Len Elmore & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN2/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	Georgia at No. 1 Kentucky Rece Davis & Hubert Davis	ESPN/ESPN3
		Villanova at Rutgers John Saunders & Tim Welsh	ESPN2/ESPN3
	11 p.m.	New Mexico State at Nevada Dave Flemming & Miles Simon	ESPN2/ESPN3
Fri, March 2	7 p.m.	Akron at Kent State TBD & Dan Dakich	ESPN2/ESPN3
Sat, March 3	Noon	Pittsburgh at Connecticut Dave Pasch & Doris Burke	ESPN/ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Cincinnati at Villanova TBD & TBD	ESPN/ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Vanderbilt at Tennessee Brad Nessler & Jimmy Dykesw	ESPN/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 6 North Carolina at No. 3 Duke Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale & Erin Andrews	ESPN/ESPN3
	9 p.m.	Texas at No. 4 Kansas Brent Musburger & Bob Knight	ESPN/ESPN3
Sun, March 4	Noon	Clemson at No. 22 Florida State Mike Patrick & Len Elmore	ESPN2/ESPN3
	1 p.m.	No. 16 Michigan at Penn State TBD & Dan Dakich	ESPN/ESPN3
	6 p.m.	ACC Sunday Night Basketball: N.C. State at Virginia Tech Jon Sciambi, Hubert Davis & Jeannine Edwards	ESPNU

That will do it.

ESPN’s Championship Week Offers 88 Women’s Games Starting March 1

Early this morning, I posted the schedule for the men’s portion of ESPN’s Championship Week. Now, we give the women their turn. Overall, 88 games will offered from the various women’s basketball tournaments. Many will be presented on ESPN’s online service, ESPN3, but a good portion of games will be shown through ESPN2 and ESPNU.

We have the schedule below in an 1,858-word press release.

Championship Week: Women’s Basketball Coverage Begins Thursday, March 1

ESPN’s 2012 Championship Week will present a record 88 women’s college basketball conference tournament games from Thursday, March 1 to Sunday, March 11 across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3. The networks will combine to offer game action from 21 Division I conferences championship games and action from 25 conferences overall, including the Division II CIAA Tournament and Gulf South final.

The exclusive national coverage of 28 women’s games includes action from 15 different conferences and 13 NCAA Championship berths will be secured on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. ESPN3 will show another 60 contests available in local markets via syndication.

Championship Week Coverage

• ACC and SEC Tournaments include semifinal rounds Saturday, March 3 on ESPNU and championship games the following day on ESPN2 and ESPN3
• Games from the last three rounds of the BIG EAST Championship, starting Sunday, March 4, with three quarterfinal and both semifinal games on ESPNU, and again, the only women’s title game to be televised on ESPN
• ESPN3 has six exclusive games, including two quarterfinals games from the Atlantic Sun, and the America East and MAAC semifinals
• Additional championship games on ESPN2 or ESPNU from the Atlantic 10, Big Ten, Horizon, MEAC, NEC, Sun Belt, Summit League, SWAC and West Coast Conference

The Championship Week schedule includes a total of 114 total men’s and women’s basketball games across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU & exclusively on ESPN3 from 25 conferences, plus a total of 225 national and syndicated games on ESPN3.

Studio Coverage
Cindy Brunson, along with analyst Kara Lawson, will be in the studio Saturday-Tuesday, March 3-6 on ESPN and ESPN2 to preview the conference tournaments and recap the biggest storylines of Championship Week.

Abby Waner will provide expert analysis from the ESPNU studio Saturday, March 3 during the ACC and SEC semifinal rounds and also Saturday, March 10 during the MEAC and SWAC finals.

ESPN.com/espnW
Top writers from espn.com and espnW, including Mechelle Voepel, Kate Fagan, Michelle Smith and Graham Hays, will provide online pieces for all the top conferences, and keep a close watch on upset-minded teams throughout the nation. Charlie Creme will provide daily Bracketology updates leading up to Selection Monday.

WatchESPN
Viewers can also watch live ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 game action online at WatchESPN.com or on smart phones or tablets through the WatchESPN app. The service – available to video subscribers of Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV – gives fans the ability to watch ESPN’s live networks, no matter where they are.

Championship Week Schedule (Subject to change)

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network(s)
Thu, Mar 1	noon	Atlantic Sun Championship (Macon, Ga.): Quarterfinal 3	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Atlantic Sun Championship (Macon, Ga.): Quarterfinal 4	ESPN3
Sat, Mar 3	9:30 a.m.	MAAC Championship (Springfield, Mass.): Semifinal 1 Dean Darling & Debbie Ryan	ESPN3
	11 a.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.): Semifinal 1 Pam Ward & Debbie Antonelli	ESPNU/ESPN3
	noon	MAAC Championship (Springfield, Mass.): Semifinal 2 Dean Darling & Debbie Ryan	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.): Semifinal 2 Pam Ward & Debbie Antonelli	ESPNU/ESPN3
	4 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): Semifinal 1 Cara Capuano & Carolyn Peck	ESPNU/ESPN3
	6 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): Semifinal 2 Cara Capuano & Carolyn Peck	ESPNU/ESPN3
Sun, Mar 4	11 a.m.	America East Championship (West Hartford, Conn.): Semifinal 1 Eric Frede & Leah Secondo	ESPN3
	noon	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Quarterfinal 1 Beth Mowins, Brooke Weisbrod & Allison Williams	ESPNU/ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	America East Championship (West Hartford, Conn.): Semifinal 2 Eric Frede & Leah Secondo	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.): Final Pam Ward & Debbie Antonelli	ESPN2/ESPN3
	2 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Quarterfinal 2 Beth Mowins, Brooke Weisbrod & Allison Williams	ESPNU/ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Big Ten Tournament (Indianapolis, Ind.): Final Dave O’Brien & Stephanie White	ESPN2/ESPN3
	6 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): Final Cara Capuano & Carolyn Peck	ESPN2/ESPN3
	8:30 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Quarterfinal 4 Bob Picozzi, LaChina Robinson & Allison Williams	ESPNU/ESPN3
Mon, Mar 5	noon	MAAC Championship (Springfield, Mass.): Final Doug Sherman & Julianne Viani	ESPNU/ESPN3
	3 p.m.	West Coast Conference Championship (Las Vegas): Final Dave Flemming & Kayte Christensen	ESPNU/ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Atlantic 10 Championship (Philadelphia): Final Pam Ward & Debbie Antonelli	ESPN2/ESPN3
	6 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Semifinal 1 Beth Mowins, Brooke Weisbrod & Allison Williams	ESPNU/ESPN3
	8 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Semifinal 2 Beth Mowins, Brooke Weisbrod & Allison Williams	ESPNU/ESPN3
Tue, Mar 6	2 p.m.	Sun Belt Championship (Hot Springs, Ark.): Final Adam Amin & Tamika Raymond	ESPNU/ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Summit League Championship (Sioux Falls, S.D.): Final Clay Matvick & Abby Waner	ESPNU/ESPN3
	7 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Final Beth Mowins, Rebecca Lobo & Allison Williams	ESPN/ESPN3
Sat, Mar 10	4 p.m.	MEAC Tournament (Winston-Salem, N.C.): Final TBD & Rosalyn Gold-Onwude	ESPNU/ESPN3
	6 p.m.	SWAC Championship (Garland, Texas): Final Adam Amin & Tamika Raymond	ESPNU/ESPN3
Sun, Mar 11	1 p.m.	Horizon League Championship: Final (campus of higher seed after quarterfinal) Jim Barbar & Julianne Viani	ESPNU/ESPN3
	3 p.m.	NEC Tournament: Final (campus of higher seed) Bob Picozzi & Christy Winters Scott	ESPNU/ESPN3

* – tape delay

Championship Week Syndicated-Game Schedule (Subject to change)

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network(s)
Thu, Mar 1	11 a.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.): Opening Round Game 1 Tom Werme, Stephanie Ready & Christy Winters Scott	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): First Round Game 1 Dave Neal & LaChina Robinson	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	West Coast Conference Championship (Las Vegas): Second Round Game 1	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.): Opening Round Game 2 Tom Werme, Stephanie Ready & Christy Winters Scott	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): First Round Game 2 Dave Neal & LaChina Robinson	ESPN3
	5:30 p.m.	West Coast Conference Championship (Las Vegas): Second Round Game 2	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.): Opening Round Game 3 Mike Hogewood, Debbie Antonelli & Christy Winters Scott	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): First Round Game 3 Dave Baker & Van Chancellor	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.): Opening Round Game 4 Mike Hogewood, Debbie Antonelli & Christy Winters Scott	ESPN3
	10 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): First Round Game 4 Dave Baker & Van Chancellor	ESPN3
Fri, Mar 2	11 a.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.): Quarterfinal 1 Tom Werme, Stephanie Ready & Christy Winters Scott	ESPN3
	Noon	Atlantic Sun Championship (Macon, Ga.): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): Second Round Game 1 Dave Neal & LaChina Robinson	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Ohio Valley Championship (Nashville, Tenn.): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Atlantic Sun Championship (Macon, Ga.): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	West Coast Conference Championship (Las Vegas): Quarterfinal 1	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Ohio Valley Championship (Nashville, Tenn.): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.):Quarterfinal 2 Tom Werme, Stephanie Ready & Christy Winters Scott	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): Second Round Game 2 Dave Neal & LaChina Robinson	ESPN3
	5:30 p.m.	West Coast Conference Championship (Las Vegas): Quarterfinal 2	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.):Quarterfinal 3 Mike Hogewood, Debbie Antonelli & Christy Winters Scott	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): Second Round Game 3 Dave Baker & Van Chancellor	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	ACC Tournament (Greensboro, N.C.):Quarterfinal 4 Mike Hogewood, Debbie Antonelli & Christy Winters Scott	ESPN3
	10 p.m.	SEC Tournament (Nashville, Tenn.): Second Round Game 4 Dave Baker & Van Chancellor	ESPN3
Sat, Mar 3	Noon	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Second Round Game 1 Beth Mowins, Brooke Weisbrod & Allison Williams	ESPN3
	Noon	Atlantic Sun Championship (Macon, Ga.): Final	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Second Round Game 2 Beth Mowins, Brooke Weisbrod & Allison Williams	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	West Coast Conference Championship (Las Vegas): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	CIAA Tournament (Charlotte, N.C.): Final	ESPN3
	5:30 p.m.	West Coast Conference Championship (Las Vegas): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
	5:30 p.m.	Ohio Valley Championship (Nashville, Tenn.): Final	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Second Round Game 3 Bob Picozzi, LaChina Robinson & Allison Williams	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Second Round Game 4 Bob Picozzi, LaChina Robinson & Allison Williams	ESPN3
Sun, Mar 4	11 a.m.	Gulf South Championship (Niceville, Fla.): Final	ESPN3
	noon	Southern Conference Championship (Asheville, N.C.): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Sun Belt Championship (Hot Springs, Ark.): Quarterfinal 1	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Southern Conference Championship (Asheville, N.C.): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Sun Belt Championship (Hot Springs, Ark.): Quarterfinal 2	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship (Hartford, Conn.): Quarterfinal 3 Bob Picozzi, LaChina Robinson & Allison Williams	ESPN3
Mon, Mar 5	1 p.m.	Sun Belt Championship (Hot Springs, Ark.): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Sun Belt Championship (Hot Springs, Ark.): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Southern Conference Championship (Asheville, N.C.): Final	ESPN3
Thu, Mar 8	1 p.m.	Southland Conference Tournament (Katy, Texas): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Southland Conference Tournament (Katy, Texas): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
Fri, Mar 9	noon	Mid-American Tournament (Cleveland, Ohio): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Mid-American Tournament (Cleveland, Ohio): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	WAC Tournament (Las Vegas, Nev.): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	5:30 p.m.	WAC Tournament (Las Vegas, Nev.): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Southland Conference Tournament (Katy, Texas): Final	ESPN3
Sat, Mar 10	noon	CAA Championship (Upper Marlboro, Md.): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Mid-American Tournament (Cleveland, Ohio): Final	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Big South Championship (High Point, N.C.): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Missouri Valley Championship (St. Charles, Mo.): Semifinal 1	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	CAA Championship (Upper Marlboro, Md.): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Big South Championship (High Point, N.C.): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Missouri Valley Championship (St. Charles, Mo.): Semifinal 2	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	WAC Tournament (Las Vegas, Nev.): Final	ESPN3
Sun, Mar 11	12:30 p.m.	CAA Championship (Upper Marlboro, Md.): Final	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Missouri Valley Championship (St. Charles, Mo.): Final	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Big South Championship (High Point, N.C.): Final	ESPN3

ESPN will present the exclusive live announcement of the 64-team NCAA Championship field as part of Selection Monday on March 12, at 7 p.m., with ESPNU offering a bonus hour of coverage on the NCAA Women’s’ Basketball Selection Special: Extended Coverage at 8 p.m. All 63 games of the 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship will air on ESPN networks for the eighth consecutive year. ESPN and ESPN2 will present its telecasts in a whip-around format with home market protection through the first two rounds. ESPN FULL COURT, the pay-per-view package, will offer first- and second-round games in its entirety as a supplement to ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage. ESPN3 will offer complete telecasts of all 63 games, while ESPNU will offer select ESPN and ESPN2 early-round games in their entirety. The final 15 games, beginning with the Regional Semifinals, will have national telecast windows on ESPN or ESPN2. The complete schedule will be announced at a later date.

That will do it.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Men’s
DePaul at West Virginia — Big East Network: MASN/MSG Network/Root Sports Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
UConn at Providence — Big East Network: Bright House/Cox Sports RI/SNY, 7 p.m.
Michigan State at Indiana — ESPN, 7 p.m.
Kansas State at Texas A&M — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Mississippi at Arkansas — ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.
Xavier at St. Louis — CBS Sports Network, 9 p.m.
Florida at Vanderbilt — ESPN, 9 p.m.
Duke at Wake Forest — ESPN2, 9 p.m.
TCU at Wyoming — the mtn., 9:30 p.m.

Women’s
Wyoming at TCU — the mtn., 7:30 p.m.
Texas at Missouri — Fox Sports Midwest/SportSouth, 8 p.m.

MLB
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Clubhouse Confidential — MLB Network, 5:30 p.m.
Hot Stove Live — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
Top 100 Right Now: 100-81 — MLB Network, 9 p.m.
Top 100 Right Now: 80-61 — MLB Network, 10 p.m.

NBA
New Orleans at Chicago — NBA TV, 8 p.m.

NFL
2012 Scouting Combine: Workouts, Defensive Backs — NFL Network, 9 a.m.

NHL
Detroit at Columbus — Fox Sports Detroit Plus/Fox Sport Ohio, 7 p.m.
Florida at Toronto — Fox Sports Florida/Rogers Sportsnet Ontario, 7 p.m.
Nashville at Carolina — Fox Sports Tennessee/Fox Sports Carolinas, 7 p.m.
New York Islanders at Washington — MSG Plus/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, 7 p.m.
Ottawa at Boston — Rogers Sportsnet East/TVA/NESN, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles at Minnesota — NBC Sports Network/TSN2, 7:30 p.m.
Montreal at Tampa Bay — RDS/TSN-Habs/Sun Sports, 7:30 p.m.
Vancouver at Phoenix — Rogers Sportsnet Pacific/Fox Sports Arizona, 9 p.m.
Philadelphia at San Jose — NBC Sports Network/TSN2/The Comcast Network/Comcast SportsNet California, 10:30 p.m.

NHL Live — NHL Network, 5 p.m.
NHL Live — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.
NHL on the Fly — NHL Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Tonight — NHL Network, 10 p.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
The Box Score — Audience Network (DirecTV)/DanPatrick.com, noon
The Scott Van Pelt Show — ESPNews, 1 p.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPN2, 4 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — NBC Sports Network, 6 p.m.

Tennis
ATP Tour: Dubai Duty Free Championships, Early rounds — Tennis Channel, 5 a.m., 7 a.m., 10 a.m., & noon

Entertainment
NCIS — CBS, 8 p.m.
The Amish: American Experience — PBS, 8 p.m.
NCIS: Los Angeles — CBS, 9 p.m.
Ringer — The CW, 9 p.m.
Top Gear — History Channel, 9 p.m.
Doomsday Preppers: Friends Can Become Enemies — National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m.
United Tastes of America: Pot Pie — Cooking Channel, 10 p.m.
Body of Proof — ABC, 10 p.m.
Frontline: Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown — PBS, 10 p.m.
Justified — FX, 10 p.m.
Southland — TNT, 10 p.m.
House Hunters International — HGTV, 10:30 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.

ESPN’s Championship Week To Air 137 Men’s Games Starting March 1

ESPN’s Championship Week which actually lasts more than seven days starts March 1 and lasts until March 11. It begins with the Atlantic Sun and Big South Tournaments on ESPNU and ESPN3 on Thursday and then will end on Sunday, March 11 with the ACC and SEC Championships on ESPN and ABC respectively.

ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 will combine for 86 games exclusively. ESPN3 will simulcast another 51 games that are aired in local markets via syndication.

Overall, a this is a 3,265-word press release so I’ll stop writing and let you read.

Championship Week: Coverage of a Record 137 Men’s Games Begins March 1

Record-setting Schedule includes Entire ACC Tournament for First Time Ever and Crowning of 23 Champions

ESPN’s 2012 Championship Week will showcase a record 137 men’s college basketball conference tournament games from Thursday, March 1 to Sunday, March 11, surpassing last year’s record-setting 126 contests. Coverage highlights:

• Overall, ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 will combine to offer exclusive coverage of 86 games, while ESPN3 will simulcast another 51 matchups available in the local markets via syndication.
• The networks will combine to offer coverage of 23 Division I conference title games and action from 25 conferences overall, plus the Division II CIAA tournament.
• For the first time, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will televise the entire ACC Tournament, including no local market blackouts on any of the 11 games.
• This season will mark ESPN’s 27th, ESPN2’s 18th and ESPNU’s seventh year of comprehensive coverage. ESPN will televise 20 games, ESPN2 27, ESPNU 22 and ABC three games, while ESPN3 will offer 14 exclusive contests.
• In addition to all 15 BIG EAST games and the entire ACC Tournament, ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 will combine to provide action of multiple men’s games from several top conferences, including all 11 of the SEC, all nine from the Big 12 and four from the Big Ten.

ESPNU and ESPN3 will tip off Championship Week with two exclusive games each on Thursday, March 1: Atlantic Sun quarterfinals on ESPN3 at 2:30 and 8:30 p.m. ET and Big South semifinals on ESPNU at 6 and 8 p.m. Championship Week will conclude on Sunday, March 11 with the ACC (ESPN) and SEC (ABC) title games at 1 p.m. Additional platform coverage:

• ESPN Buzzer Beater – available to Time Warner Cable Sports Tier, Bright House Networks Customers and Verizon FiOS TV Ultimate HD and Extreme HD Customers – will provide live cut-ins, highlights and up-to-the-minute commentary from numerous Championship Week games from across the ESPN networks Thursday, March 8 and Friday, March 9.
• The entire Championship Week coverage will also be available via WatchESPN, which delivers live access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line on PCs, smartphones and tablets to fans who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their video subscription from Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks or Verizon FiOS TV. WatchESPN is available free for Android devices from the Android Market and for Apple devices from the App Store, as well as online via WatchESPN.com.
• ESPN 3D will offer coverage of every BIG EAST Conference tournament matchup.
• ESPN International will offer extensive coverage, reaching 208 million households in 224 countries and territories on ESPN America – Great Britain (25 games), ESPN America – Europe (25 games), ESPN America -Middle East (23 games), ESPN2 Caribbean (23 games), ESPN Pac Rim (11 games), ESPN2 Australia (23 games), ESPN Atlantic (15 games), ESPN Middle East (16 games), ESPN Dos Venezuela (four games), ESPN Dos Mexico (four games), and on ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN Asia and ESPN Taiwan.

Week Concludes with Extensive Day-Long Coverage
The final day of Championship Week –- Selection Sunday, March 11 — will begin at noon with College GameDay on ESPN, followed by the ACC Championship (on ESPN) and SEC Championship (on ABC), both at 1 p.m. Extensive coverage of the men’s NCAA Championship selection will include a three-hour Bracketology at 3 p.m. and a two-hour edition at 7 p.m., both on ESPN. ESPN will also offer selection coverage during SportsCenter at 6 p.m.ESPNU will televise an hour look at the final moments of some of the best games during Championship Week with Crunch Time: Championship Week Special at 8 p.m., followed by the sixth annual NIT Selection Show at 9 p.m. and a three-hour Tournament Countdown edition of The Experts at 9:30 p.m.

Commentator Notes

• BIG EAST: Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas and Bill Raftery, who will pair up to call nine BIG EAST games, will work the semifinals and championship with Doris Burke reporting from the sidelines. Burke will also serve as an analyst on six BIG EAST games with commentator Dave Pasch. Beth Mowins will report on eight of the telecasts and Andy Katz will report from four.
• ACC: Dan Shulman will call seven of the ACC games, including the semifinals and championship. He will work four games with analyst Fran Fraschilla, a semifinal with Len Elmore and a semifinal and championship with Dick Vitale. Mike Patrick and Elmore will pair up on four games. Jeannine Edwards will report on eight while Erin Andrews will work the semifinals and championship.
• Big 12 & SEC: Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes and Shannon Spake will call nine SEC games including semifinals and title game on ABC, while Brent Musburger, Bob Knight and Holly Rowe will work five Big 12 telecasts.
• Six Games & Two Titles: Dave Flemming and Sean Farnham will pair up to work six games together: five from the West Coast Conference and the WAC championship.
• In addition to…: In addition to his four ACC games, Fraschilla will work the Ohio Valley Conference semifinals and championship with Bob Wischusen. Wischusen will also work the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Mid-American Conference title games.
• Big Ten: Dave O’Brien and Dan Dakich will call the four Big Ten telecasts.
• Multiple Titles: Several analysts will work multiple championships, including LaPhonso Ellis on the Big South, Southern and America East; Stephen Bardo on the Horizon League and Mid-American Conference; and Miles Simon on the Big West and Big Sky.

ESPN.com
ESPN.com’s Championship Week index page will feature news, analysis, information and results for every conference tournament as well as previews, in-depth expert examination and key storylines for select conferences. ESPN.com’s Bubble Watch with writer Eamonn Brennan will give fans an in-depth look at teams on the bubble and the latest developments on NCAA tournament selection status. In addition, writers will file stories from several tournament sites, including the ACC, Big 12, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC. ESPN.com’s Bracketologist Joe Lunardi will also update and adjust his Bracketology projections and outlook daily.

ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio will present comprehensive Championship Week coverage with updates, guests, and reports from the sites of key matchups, as well as projecting the field of 68. Play-by-play coverage will include the Big 12 Semifinals and Championship for the third straight season (March 9-10), and for the first time every game of the ACC Tournament (March 8-11). Additionally, regularly scheduled ESPN Radio programming will include previews and reviews of key games, analysis by ESPN experts, and interviews with coaches and players preparing for the NCAA Tournament.

Championship Week Schedule

Date	Network	Time (ET)	Game/Commentators	Site
Thursday, 3/1	ESPN3	2:30 p.m.	Atlantic Sun Tournament: Quarterfinal	Macon, GA
	ESPNU/ESPN3	6 p.m.	Big South Tournament: Semifinal #1 Justin Kutcher & LaPhonso Ellis	Asheville, NC
	ESPNU/ESPN3	8 p.m.	Big South Tournament: Semifinal #2 Justin Kutcher & LaPhonso Ellis	Asheville, NC
	ESPN3	8:30 p.m.	Atlantic Sun Tournament: Quarterfinal	Macon, GA
Friday, 3/2	ESPNU/ESPN3	7 p.m.	Ohio Valley Conference Tournament: Semifinal #1 Bob Wischusen & Fran Fraschilla	Nashville, TN
	ESPNU/ESPN3	9 p.m.	West Coast Tournament: Quarterfinal #1 Dave Flemming & Sean Farnham	Las Vegas, NV
	ESPN3/ESPNU*	9 p.m.	Ohio Valley Conference Tournament: Semifinal #2 Bob Wischusen & Fran Fraschilla	Nashville, TN
	ESPNU/ESPN3	11 p.m.	West Coast Tournament: Quarterfinal #2 Dave Flemming & Sean Farnham	Las Vegas, NV
Saturday, 3/3	ESPN2/ESPN3	Noon	Big South Tournament: Championship Justin Kutcher & LaPhonso Ellis	TBD
	ESPN3	Noon	Southern Conference Tournament: Quarterfinal	Asheville, NC
	ESPN2/ESPN3	2 p.m.	Ohio Valley Conference Tournament: Championship Bob Wischusen & Fran Fraschilla	Nashville, TN
	ESPN3	2 p.m.	Southern Conference Tournament: Quarterfinal	Asheville, NC
	ESPN3	2:30 p.m.	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament: Quarterfinal	Springfield, MA
	ESPN3	4:30 p.m.	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament: Quarterfinal	Springfield, MA
	ESPN3	6 p.m.	Southern Conference Tournament: Quarterfinal	Asheville, NC
	ESPN3/ESPNU**	6 p.m.	Horizon League Tournament: Semifinal #1 Mark Jones & Stephen Bardo	TBD
	ESPN2/ESPN3	7 p.m.	Atlantic Sun Tournament: Championship	Macon, GA
	ESPN3	7:30 p.m.	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament: Quarterfinal	Springfield, MA
	ESPN3	8 p.m.	Southern Conference Tournament: Quarterfinal	Asheville, NC
	ESPN3/ESPNU***	8 p.m.	CIAA Tournament: Championship	Charlotte, NC
	ESPNU/ESPN3	8:30 p.m.	Horizon League Tournament: Semifinal #2 Mark Jones & Stephen Bardo	TBD
	ESPN2/ESPN3	9 p.m.	West Coast Tournament: Semifinal #1 Dave Flemming &  Sean Farnham	Las Vegas, NV
	ESPN3	9:30 p.m.	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament: Quarterfinal	Springfield, Mass.
	ESPN2/ESPN3	11 p.m.	West Coast Tournament: Semifinal #2 Dave Flemming & Sean Farnham	Las Vegas, NV
Sunday, 3/4	ESPN3	2 p.m.	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament: Semifinal #1	Springfield, MA
	ESPN3	4 p.m.	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament: Semifinal #2	Springfield, MA
	ESPN3	5 p.m.	America East Tournament: Semifinal #1	West Hartford, CT
	ESPN3	7 p.m.	America East Tournament: Semifinal #2	West Hartford, CT
Monday, 3/5	ESPN/ESPN3	7 p.m.	Colonial Athletic Association Championship: Championship Mike Patrick & Dan Dakich	Richmond, VA
	ESPN2/ESPN3	7 p.m.	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship: Championship Bob Wischusen & Len Elmore	Springfield, MA
	ESPN/ESPN3	9 p.m.	West Coast Championship: Championship Dave Flemming & Sean Farnham	Las Vegas, NV
	ESPN2/ESPN3	9 p.m.	Southern Championship: Championship Jon Sciambi & LaPhonso Ellis	Asheville, NC
Tuesday, 3/6	ESPN2/ESPN3	Noon	BIG EAST Championship: First Round #1 Dave Pasch, Doris Burke & Andy Katz	New York, NY
	ESPN2/ESPN3	2 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: First Round #2 Dave Pasch, Doris Burke & Andy Katz	New York, NY
	ESPN2/ESPN3	7 p.m.	Sun Belt Tournament: Championship Adam Amin & Mark Adams	Hot Springs, AR
	ESPNU/ESPN3	7 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: First Round #3 Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery & Andy Katz	New York, NY
	ESPN/ESPN3	9 p.m.	Horizon League Tournament: Championship Mark Jones & Stephen Bardo	TBD
	ESPN2/ESPN3	9 p.m.	Summit League Tournament: Championship Clay Matvick & Bob Valvano	Sioux Falls, SD
	ESPNU/ESPN3	9 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: First Round #4 Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery & Andy Katz	New York, N.Y.
Wednesday, 3/7	ESPN/ESPN3	Noon	BIG EAST Championship: Second Round #1 Dave Pasch, Doris Burke & Beth Mowins	New York, NY
	ESPN/ESPN3	2 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: Second Round #2 Dave Pasch, Doris Burke & Beth Mowins	New York, NY
	ESPN/ESPN3	7 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: Second Round #3 Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery & Beth Mowins	New York, NY
	ESPN2/ESPN3	7 p.m.	NEC Tournament: Championship Jon Sciambi & TBD	TBD
	ESPN/ESPN3	9 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: Second Round #4 Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery & Beth Mowins	New York, NY
	ESPN2/ESPN3	9 p.m.	Big Sky Championship: Championship Roxy Bernstein & Miles Simon	TBD
Thursday, 3/8	ESPN/ESPN3	Noon	BIG EAST Championship: Quarterfinal #1 Dave Pasch, Doris Burke & Beth Mowins	New York, NY
	ESPNU/ESPN3	Noon	ACC – First Round #1 Dan Shulman, Fran Fraschilla & Jeannine Edwards	Atlanta, GA
	ESPN2/ESPN3	12:30 p.m.	Big 12 Championship: Quarterfinal #1 Brent Musburger, Bob Knight & Holly Rowe	Kansas City, MO
	ESPN/ESPN3	2 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: Quarterfinal #2 Dave Pasch, Doris Burke & Beth Mowins	New York, NY
	ESPNU/ESPN3	2 p.m.	ACC – First Round #2 Dan Shulman, Fran Fraschilla & Jeannine Edwards	Atlanta, GA
	ESPN2/ESPN3	2:30 p.m.	Big 12 Championship: Quarterfinal #2 Brent Musburger, Bob Knight & Holly Rowe	Kansas City, MO
	ESPN2/ESPN3	5:30 p.m.	Big Ten Tournament: Second Round #3 Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	Indianapolis, IN
	ESPN/ESPN3	7 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: Quarterfinal #3 Sean McDonough,  Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery & Beth Mowins	New York, NY
	ESPNU/ESPN3	7 p.m.	ACC Tournament: First Round #3 Mike Patrick, Len Elmore & Jeannine Edwards	Atlanta, GA
	ESPN2/ESPN3	7:30 p.m.	Big Ten Tournament: Second Round #4 Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	Indianapolis, IN
	ESPN/ESPN3	9 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: Quarterfinal #4 Sean McDonough,  Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery & Beth Mowins	New York, NY
	ESPNU/ESPN3	9 p.m.	ACC Tournament: First Round #4 Mike Patrick, Len Elmore & Jeannine Edwards	Atlanta, GA
Friday, 3/9	ESPN/ESPN3	Noon	Big Ten Tournament: Quarterfinal #1 Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	Indianapolis, IN
	ESPN2/ESPN3	Noon	ACC Tournament: Quarterfinal #1 Dan Shulman, Fran Fraschilla & Jeannine Edwards	Atlanta, GA
	ESPNU/ESPN3	1 p.m.	SEC Tournament: Quarterfinal #1 ^ Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes & Shannon Spake	New Orleans, LA
	ESPN/ESPN3	2 p.m.	Big Ten Tournament: Quarterfinal #2 Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	Indianapolis, IN
	ESPN2/ESPN3	2 p.m.	ACC Tournament: Quarterfinal #2 Dan Shulman, Fran Fraschilla & Jeannine Edwards	Atlanta, GA
	ESPNU/ESPN3	3 p.m.	SEC Tournament: Quarterfinal #2 ^ Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes & Shannon Spake	New Orleans, LA
	ESPN/ESPN3	7 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: Semifinal #1 Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery & Doris Burke	New York, NY
	ESPN2/ESPN3	7 p.m.	ACC Tournament: Quarterfinal #3 Mike Patrick, Len Elmore & Jeannine Edwards	Atlanta, GA
	ESPNU/ESPN3	7:30 p.m.	Big 12 Championship: Semifinal #1 ^ Brent Musburger, Bob Knight & Holly Rowe	Kansas City, MO
	ESPN/ESPN3	9 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: Semifinal #2 Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery & Doris Burke	New York, NY
	ESPN2/ESPN3	9 p.m.	ACC Tournament: Quarterfinal #4 Mike Patrick, Len Elmore & Jeannine Edwards	Atlanta, GA
	ESPN3/ESPNU****	9:30 p.m.	Big West Tournament: Semifinal #1 * Mark Jones & Miles Simon	Anaheim, CA
	ESPNU/ESPN3	10 p.m.	Big 12 Championship: Semifinal #2 ^ Brent Musburger, Bob Knight & Holly Rowe	Kansas City, MO
	ESPNU/ESPN3	11:59 p.m.	Big West Tournament: Semifinal #2 Mark Jones & Miles Simon	Anaheim, CA
Saturday, 3/10	ESPN2/ESPN3	11 a.m.	America East Tournament: Championship TBD & LaPhonso Ellis	TBD
	ESPN/ESPN3	1 p.m.	ACC Tournament: Semifinal #1 Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale or Len Elmore, & Erin Andrews	Atlanta, GA
	ABC	1 p.m.	SEC Tournament: Semifinal #1 Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes & Shannon Spake	New Orleans, LA
	ESPN2/ESPN3	1 p.m.	MEAC Tournament: Championship Justin Kutcher & TBD	Winston-Salem, NC
	ESPN/ESPN3	3 p.m.	ACC Tournament: Semifinal #2 Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale or Len Elmore, &  Erin Andrews	Atlanta, GA
	ABC	3 p.m.	SEC Tournament: Semifinal #2 Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes & Shannon Spake	New Orleans, LA
	ESPN2/ESPN3	3 p.m.	Southland Tournament: Championship Carter Blackburn & Dereck Whittenburg	Katy, Texas
	ESPN/ESPN3	6 p.m.	Big 12 Championship: Championship Brent Musburger, Bob Knight & Holly Rowe	Kansas City, MO
	ESPN2/ESPN3	8 p.m.	Mid-American Conference Tournament: Championship Bob Wischusen & Stephen Bardo	Cleveland, OH
	ESPNU/ESPN3	8 p.m.	SWAC Tournament: Championship	Garland, TX
	ESPN/ESPN3	9 p.m.	BIG EAST Championship: Championship Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery & Doris Burke	New York, NY
	ESPN2/ESPN3	10 p.m.	Big West Tournament: Championship Mark Jones & Miles Simon	Anaheim, CA
	ESPN2/ESPN3	11:59 p.m.	Western Athletic Conference: Championship Dave Flemming & Sean Farnham	Las Vegas, NV
Sunday, 3/11	ESPN/ESPN3	1 p.m.	ACC Tournament: Championship Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale & Erin Andrews	Atlanta, GA
	ABC	1 p.m.	SEC Tournament: Championship Brad Nessler, Jimmy Dykes & Shannon Spake	New Orleans, LA

*Live on ESPN3, tape delay on ESPNU Saturday, March 3, at 1:30 a.m.
**Live on ESPN3, tape delay on ESPNU Saturday, March 3, at 10:30 p.m.
*** Live on ESPN3, tape delay on ESPNU Sunday, March 4, at 12:30 a.m.
**** Live on ESPN3, tape delay on ESPNU Saturday, March 10, at 2 a.m.
^ Outermarket only

All Times Eastern Standard
Schedule Subject to Change

ESPN3 schedule of Simulcasts

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Site
Thursday, 3/1	1 p.m.	CIAA Tournament: Quarterfinal #1	Charlotte, NC
	3 p.m.	CIAA Tournament: Quarterfinal #2	Charlotte, NC
	7 p.m.	CIAA Tournament: Quarterfinal #3	Charlotte, N.C.
	7 p.m.	Missouri Valley Tournament: First Round	St. Louis, MO
	9 p.m.	West Coast Tournament: Second Round	Las Vegas, NV
	9 p.m.	CIAA Tournament: Quarterfinal #4	Charlotte, NC
	9:30 p.m.	Missouri Valley Tournament: First Round	St. Louis, MO
	11:30 p.m.	West Coast Tournament: Second Round	Las Vegas, NV
Friday, 3/2	1 p.m.	Missouri Valley Tournament: Quarterfinal #1	St. Louis, MO
	3:30 p.m.	Missouri Valley Tournament: Quarterfinal #2	St. Louis, MO
	6 p.m.	Horizon League Tournament: Second Round	TBD
	6 p.m.	Atlantic Sun Tournament: Semifinal #1	Macon, GA
	7 p.m.	CIAA Tournament: Semifinal #1	Charlotte, NC
	7 p.m.	Missouri Valley Tournament : Quarterfinal #3	St. Louis, MO
	8:30 p.m.	Horizon League Tournament: Second Round	TBD
	8:30 p.m.	Atlantic Sun Tournament: Semifinal #2	Macon, GA
	9 p.m.	CIAA Tournament: Semifinal #2	Charlotte, NC
	9:30 p.m.	Missouri Valley Tournament: Quarterfinal #4	St. Louis, MO
Saturday, 3/3	Noon	Colonial Athletic Tournament: Quarterfinal #1	Richmond, VA
	2:30 p.m.	Missouri Valley Tournament: Semifinal #1	St. Louis, MO
	2:30 p.m.	Colonial Athletic Tournament: Quarterfinal #2	Richmond, VA
	5 p.m.	Missouri Valley Tournament: Semifinal #2	St. Louis, MO
	6 p.m.	Colonial Athletic Tournament: Quarterfinal #3	Richmond, Va.
	8:30 p.m.	Colonial Athletic Tournament: Quarterfinal #4	Richmond, VA
Sunday, 3/4	2 p.m.	Colonial Athletic Tournament: Semifinal #1	Richmond, VA
	4:30 p.m.	Colonial Athletic Tournament: Semifinal #2	Richmond, Va.
	6 p.m.	Southern Conference Tournament: Semifinal #1	Asheville, NC
	7 p.m.	Sun Belt Tournament: Quarterfinal #3	Hot Springs, AR
	8:30 p.m.	Southern Conference Tournament: Semifinal #2	Asheville, NC
	9:30 p.m.	Sun Belt Tournament: Quarterfinal #4	Hot Springs, AR
Monday, 3/5	7 p.m.	Sun Belt Tournament: Semifinal #1	Hot Springs, AR
	9:30 p.m.	Sun Belt Tournament: Semifinal #2	Hot Springs, AR
Wednesday, 3/7	7 p.m.	Big 12 Championship: First Round	Kansas City, MO
	7 p.m.	Mid-American Conference Tournament: Second Round	Cleveland, OH
	9:30 p.m.	Big 12 Championship: First Round	Kansas City, MO
	9:30 p.m.	Mid-American Conference Tournament: Second Round	Cleveland, OH
Thursday, 3/8	1 p.m.	SEC Tournament: First Round	New Orleans, LA
	3:30 p.m./td> SEC Tournament: First RoundNew Orleans, LA
	7 p.m.	Big 12 Championship: Quarterfinal #3	Kansas City, MO
	7 p.m.	Southland Tournament: Semifinal #1	Katy, TX
	7 p.m.	Mid-American Conference Tournament: Quarterfinal #3	Cleveland, OH
	7:30 p.m.	SEC Tournament: First Round	New Orleans, LA
	9:30 p.m.	Big 12 Championship: Quarterfinal #4	Kansas City, MO
	9:30 p.m.	Southland Tournament: Semifinal #2	Katy, TX
	9:30 p.m.	Mid-American Conference Tournament: Quarterfinal #4	Cleveland, OH
	10 p.m.	SEC Tournament: First Round	New Orleans, LA
Friday, 3/9	7:30 p.m.	SEC Tournament: Quarterfinal #3	New Orleans, LA
	9 p.m.	Western Athletic Tournament: Semifinal #1	Las Vegas, NV
	9:30 p.m.	Mid-American Conference Tournament: Semifinal #2	Cleveland, OH
	10 p.m.	SEC Tournament: Quarterfinal #4	New Orleans, LA
	11:30 p.m.	Western Athletic Tournament: Semifinal #2	Las Vegas, NV

That will do it.

Doing Some Monday Linkage For You

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That will do it for now.

A New Episode of “Costas Tonight” Premieres Thursday on NBC Sports Network

The second edition of “Costas Tonight,” NBC’s Sports Network’s monthly interview program hosted by the holy diminutive one, Bob Costas, premieres Thursday night at 9 ET. In this particular episode, Costas will be at the NBC studios in New York as compared to the premiere which took place in Indianapolis, site of Super Bowl XLVII.

Bob will interview NBA Commissioner David Stern about the rise of Jeremy Lin, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman about the issues facing the league including a potential lockout after this season, and boxer Floyd Mayweather about his upcoming fight plus Bob may ask a question about Mayweather’s tweet about Jeremy Lin.

We have the particulars about the upcoming program from NBC Sports Network.

“COSTAS TONIGHT” ONE-HOUR INTERVIEW SHOW PREMIERES THURSDAY AT 8 P.M. ET ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK

Bob Costas Interviews NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, NBA Commissioner David Stern and WBC Welterweight Boxing Champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
60-Minute Interview Show from Studio 8G at 30 Rock is First of New Series

New York – February 27, 2012 – Bob Costas, a 22-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and one of America’s preeminent interviewers, premieres his 60-minute interview show Costas Tonight this Thursday, March 1, 8-9 p.m. ET on the NBC Sports Network.

In his first edition of Costas Tonight, which originates from Studio 8G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Costas will discuss the key topics in the NHL with Commissioner Gary Bettman, and the state of the NBA, including the Jeremy Lin phenomenon, with Commissioner David Stern.

In addition, Costas will interview the five-division world champion, current WBC Welterweight Champion and undefeated 42-0 professional boxer, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., about his preparations for his May 5 bout against world class fighter Miguel Cotto.

Re-Air Dates (All times ET):

Thursday, March 1 – 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Friday, March 2 – 2 a.m., 9 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Saturday, March 3 – 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 4 – 10 p.m.

Costas Tonight builds on Costas’ long and storied career as an interviewer from Later with Bob Costas and Costas Coast-to-Coast to his acclaimed HBO programs, On the Record and CostasNOW. This week’s edition of Costas Tonight will be taped tomorrow in Studio 8G, the home of Football Night in America.

On Thursday of Super Bowl week, the live town hall Costas Tonight: Live From the Super Bowl debuted. The two-hour live program in front of a studio audience from the Indiana Repertory Theater featured some of the NFL’s biggest newsmakers and stars, including a one-on-one interview with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The Costas Tonight: Live From…series continues on Wednesday, April 4, with a discussion of the state of college athletics before a live studio audience at 30 Rock. The next Costas Tonight interview program will be Thursday, May 31.

More stuff on the way as it becomes available.

NBA All-Star Game Gets 2nd Highest Overnight Rating Since 2005, Still Gets Whacked By The Oscars

TNT puts a spin on the NBA All-Star Game overnight ratings. The network says last night’s All-Star Game in Orlando received a 5.4 overnight rating, the 2nd highest overnight rating in seven years, but comparing it to last year’s contest, the numbers are way down, off 13% from 2011 as Sports Business Daily Managing Editor Austin Karp explains:

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/AustinKarp/statuses/174148915388612610"]

And yesterday’s Daytona 500 rain delay coverage received decent numbers for Fox as Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand tells us:

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/Ourand_SBJ/statuses/174157325911859200"]

So for the NBA All-Star Game going up against the Oscars, not a good idea as potential casual viewers watched ABC.

Here’s the Turner Sports press release regarding the NBA All-Star Game numbers.

NBA All-Star Game on TNT Delivers Second Highest-Rated Overnight Since 2005

During one of the busiest and most-watched nights on television, TNT’s exclusive coverage of the 2012 NBA All-Star Game in Orlando, FL delivered an overall 5.4 US HH rating in metered market overnights. The metered market rating is the second highest-rated overnight since 2005 (5.9 metered market rating).

The 2012 NBA All-Star Game on TNT delivered all-time ratings highs in the following DMAs last night:

• Miami-Ft. Lauderdale: 10.5 HH Rtg
• Oklahoma City: 10.1 HH Rtg
• Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne: 9.7 HH Rtg
• Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota): 4.9 HH Rtg
• Tulsa: 3.6 HH Rtg

Additionally, the Top 5 Rated DMAs from last night:

1. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale: 10.5 HH Rtg
2. Oklahoma City: 10.1 HH Rtg
3. Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne: 9.7 HH Rtg
4. Chicago: 8.7 HH Rtg
5. Los Angeles: 8.3 HH Rtg

TNT’s Friday night telecast of the Rising Stars Challenge was the most-watched telecast in the event’s history, delivering a 1.7 US rating and more than 2.7 million viewers. TNT’s All-Star Saturday Night delivered the third most-watched telecast in the 27-year history of TNT’s All-Star coverage with 6,237,000 total viewers. 

In an exciting conclusion to Sunday’s coverage, the West All-Stars, led by Oklahoma City Thunder forward and All-Star MVP Kevin Durant edged the East, 152-149.

That will do it.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Men’s
Notre Dame at Georgetown — ESPN, 7 p.m.
Mississippi Valley State at Jackson State — ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Texas-Pan American at North Dakota — Fox College Sports Central, 8 p.m.
Kansas at Oklahoma State — ESPN, 9 p.m.
Texas Tech at Baylor — ESPNU, 9 p.m.

Women’s
Pittsburgh at West Virginia — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
Baylor at Texas A&M — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Notre Dame at UConn — ESPN2, 9 p.m.

Golf
The Haney Project (season premiere) — Golf Channel, 9 p.m.
Feherty: Sergio Garcia (season premiere) — Golf Channel, 10 p.m.

MLB
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Clubhouse Confidential — MLB Network, 5:30 p.m.
Hot Stove Live — MLB Network, 6 p.m.

NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series: Daytona 500 — Fox, 7 p.m.

NFL
2012 Scouting Combine: Workouts: Linebackers & Defensive Linemen — NFL Network, 9 a.m.

NHL
New Jersey at New York Rangers — NBC Sports Network/TSN2, 7:30 p.m.
Los Angeles at Nashville — Fox Sports West/Fox Sports Tennessee, 8 p.m.
Edmonton at Winnipeg — Rogers Sportsnet West/TSN-Jets, 8:30 p.m.
Anaheim at Colorado — Fox Sports Prime Ticket/Altitude, 9 p.m.
St. Louis at Calgary — TSN/Fox Sports Midwest, 9:30 p.m.

TradeCentre ’12 — TSN/NHL Network (US), 8 a.m.
Hockey Central Special: Hockey Central Trade Deadline — Rogers Sportsnet, 8 a.m.
Trade Deadline — The Score, noon
2012 Trade Deadline Recap Show — NHL Network (US), 6 p.m.
NHL Live — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.
NHL on the Fly — NHL Network, 7:30 p.m.
NHL Tonight — NHL Network, 10 p.m.
NHL Overtime — NBC Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
The Box Score — Audience Network (DirecTV)/DanPatrick.com, noon
The Scott Van Pelt Show — ESPNews, 1 p.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPN2, 4 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — NBC Sports Network, 6 p.m.

Tennis
ATP Tour: Dubai Duty Free Championships, early rounds — Tennis Chanel, 5 a.m., 7 a.m., 10 a.m. & noon

Entertainment
How I Met Your Mother — CBS, 8 p.m.
Battle of the Network Stars — ESPN Classic, 8 p.m.
Hart of Dixie — The CW, 9 p.m.
In Performance at the White House: Red, White and Blues — PBS, 9 p.m.
Hawaii Five-0 — CBS, 10 p.m.
Intervention: Julie — A&E, 10 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.

TNT Sees 2nd Highest Overnight Rating For NBA All-Star Saturday

TNT saw its 2nd highest overnight rating for last night’s NBA All-Star Saturday. Lockout? What lockout? Was there ever an NBA lockout? The rating for the events which included the Three Point Shooting Competition and the Slam Dunk, totaled a 4.4 which ties the 2nd best overnight number from 2009.

The TNT press blurb.

NBA All-Star Saturday Night on TNT Ties Mark as Second-Highest Rated Overnight in the 27-year History of the Event

TNT’s exclusive coverage of NBA All-Star Saturday Night at NBA All-Star 2012 in Orlando, FL delivered an overall 4.4 US HH rating in metered market overnights. It was tied for the second-highest rated NBA All-Star Saturday Night all-time (2009).

Additionally, the Top 5 Rated DMAs from last night:

1.   Miami – 9.4
2.   San Antonio  – 7.5
3.   Orlando  – 7.3
4.   Oklahoma City – 6.9
T5. Atlanta, Chicago – 6.5

NBA All-Star 2012 weekend concludes on TNT on Sunday, February 26 at 6 p.m. (ET) with NBA Tip-Off followed by the network’s exclusive coverage of the NBA All-Star Game at 7:00 p.m. (ET) and Inside the NBA All-Star Edition.

That will do it for this post.

What Should Be The Official Theme Tune For Each Sport?

Since television began, theme songs have helped us to identify our favorite programs. This is certainly the case in sports where the theme for Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, Wide World of Sports, the Olympics, The Masters and others have become iconic.

I thought about writing a post on which themes should be the “official” one for each sport since Paulsen at Sports Media Watch suggested ESPN trade for NBC’s “Roundball Rock” which became so identifiable with the NBA in the 1990′s.

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/paulsen_smw/status/170230484373209088"]

So in this post, I’m going to provide nominees for each sport from the various networks and have you vote on which one should be the “official” theme. Results will be released next Sunday.

Two examples of how themes are identified with sports. The Olympics on American television have been introduced with”Bugler’s Theme” composed by Leo Arnaud. Played originally on ABC’s coverage of the Olympics starting in 1968, it was purchased by NBC and used starting in 1992 all the way to the present.

Here’s Bugler’s Theme in its original version.

And this is the version used by NBC which is composed by John Williams combining “Bugler’s Theme” with “Olympic Fanfare” which was written for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The Masters has its own theme that has been used on CBS and around the world. The theme’s name is “Augusta”.

Those are two examples of iconic sports theme tunes. Now let’s go through the nominees for each sport. There will be no more than three for each sport except for the NFL and NHL otherwise this post could get ridiculously long.

BASEBALL

I have three nominees for Baseball.

This is ABC’s Monday Night Baseball theme from the late 1970′s and one of my all-time favorites.

Here’s the MLB on ESPN theme. This is the current incarnation.

And the MLB on Fox theme that was used from 1996 through 2010, then Fox decided to use its NFL theme for all sports.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

CBS March Madness Theme recut for its partnership with Turner Sports.

NBC’s College Basketball Theme from the mid-1980′s. Yes, NBC once had college basketball, kids.

ESPN’s college basketball theme from 1995 through 2001.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Your choices:

The SEC on CBS theme first introduced for Super Bowl XXI and subsequently used on its college football coverage, first the old CFA package in the late 1980′s, brought back in 1996 when CBS came back into college football after losing the sport in the early 1990′s and has been used ever since.

ESPN’s present College Football theme.

ESPN’s old College Football theme used until 1999. I like this one better than the current theme.

NBA

Here’s the NBA on CBS theme used from 1982 until 1990 when it left the sport for good. This is a clean copy of its open utilized from 1982 through 1988. The black spots are for video and voiceover. One of my all-time favorites.

The current NBA on TNT theme as composed by Trevor Rabin.

And you can’t have an NBA theme poll without NBC’s Roundball Rock composed by John Tesh and considered by many as the best sports theme of all-time. I’m inclined to agree.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

We have four choices, one for each network.

This is known as the NFL on CBS “Pots and Pans” theme that was used from 1986 through 1988. I’ve preferred this theme over the others have been utilized since. And ignore the quality of the video, just listen to the theme. And it was called “Pots and Pans” because some fans thought it sounded like pots and pans banging.

The NFL on Fox theme, now the music used for all sports, originally composed in 1994.

NBC’s Sunday Night Football theme composed by John Williams. We’re not using the “I’ve Been Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” sung by Faith Hill for obvious reasons. Someone put a compilation of the current themes together. I like it.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football Heavy Action theme.

NHL

I’ll do five here.

The NHL on ESPN theme that was used through 2005.

How about the NHL on Fox theme that was used from 1995 through 1998? Here’s a compilation of the theme. You can still hear it on Fox Sports Net affiliates that carry the NHL locally.

Here’s the NHL on NBC theme that is currently being used. Different variation from its main theme, but you get the idea.

The Hockey Song by Stompin’ Tom Collins, probably the second most beloved hockey theme in Canada.

The old CBC Hockey Night in Canada theme which is now known as the Hockey Theme as it was purchased and now owned by TSN. Used since 1968.

TENNIS

We have three candidates for tennis.

The NBC Wimbledon theme which won’t be heard anymore as ESPN has the rights to the tournament.

When NBC was in the bad habit of tape delaying matches, I would find ways to watch BBC’s coverage which was always live. I got used to its Wimbledon theme and grew to like it.

And USA Network’s US Open theme music that we no longer hear unfortunately. Remember when USA actually had sports?

I don’t have a clean copy of ESPN’s tennis theme so the three we have will have to suffice.

SPORTS ANTHOLOGIES

Finally, we have the sports anthologies from the networks. This should be quite interesting to get your take. Anthology shows would put together various different events in one show, like track & field, barrel jumping, tennis or diving. ABC’s Wide World of Sports was the first of its kind on American television and then the other networks followed until the anthologies went extinct.

First, from across the pond, BBC’s Grandstand which was one of the longest running sports series on television. This ran until 2007. These are various opens from the 1990′s. This theme is catchy.

Here’s the open from the CBS Sports Spectacular from 1979 using Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

NBC had SportsWorld in the 1970′s and 1980′s. I like this music.

And the original that started it all in the U.S., ABC’s Wide World of Sports. The voiceover is from the late Jim McKay. This open is from 1984.

And that is going to do it. Vote and leave your comments on any omissions below.

TSN’s Plans For TradeCentre ’12 (Simulcast on NHL Network in US)

Since I’ve already posted about NHL Network in the US plans to simulcast TSN’s TradeCentre ’12 show on Monday, I might as well provide TSN’s plans for Monday for NHL Trade Deadline Day. The NHL Trade Deadline should be an international holiday. Hockey fans won’t get work done. I’ll have my trade trackers on my computer. And I’ll be monitoring TSN’s TradeCentre online.

James Duthie will host TradeCentre which will hit the air at 8 a.m. East and run until 6 p.m. Also involved will be TSN NHL insiders Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun and Gord Miller (although Miller is hardly an insider).

Helping to analyze the trades will be former coach Marc Crawford, former players Aaron Ward and Mike Johnson along with charlatan Pierre McGuire.

TSN will also have plenty of panels, reporters and the lovely Alyonka Larionov keeping track of Twitter.

Here are the details from TSN.

TRADECENTRE ’12: Every Trade, Every Deal, Everywhere You Are on February 27

• TRADECENTRE ’12 airs live nationally on TSN, on TSN Mobile TV, online at TSN.ca, and on the TRADECENTRE app for iPad and iPhone
• THAT’S HOCKEY 2NITE tees up NHL Trade Deadline Day with special 60-minute show on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 12 midnight ET
• TSN’s Alyonka Larionov stays social using the #TradeCentre hashtag on Twitter and keeps tabs on social media throughout TRADECENTRE ’12

Toronto, ON (February 21, 2012) – Let the Trade-sanity begin! A whole new type of craziness hits the hockey world next week and TSN has it covered from every possible angle, as Canada’s Sports Leader delivers the industry’s most-watched, most-respected and most-comprehensive coverage of NHL Trade Deadline Day with the network’s multiplatform event, TRADECENTRE ’12.

TSN’s 10-hour flagship show, TRADECENTRE ’12, airs live nationally on Monday, Feb. 27 beginning at 8 a.m. ET.

TRADECENTRE ’12 is also available live in its entirety on TSN Mobile TV, online at TSN.ca, on the popular TRADECENTRE app for iPad and iPhone, and in the U.S. on NHL Network.

Fans across the country can also experience TSN’s all-encompassing TRADECENTRE ’12 coverage wherever they are by:

• Visiting TSN.ca for the latest trade news, opinion, and analysis, plus on-demand video clips and highlights, and a real-time Trade Tracker, which has been a mainstay of TSN’s online trade deadline day coverage since 2000
• Listening to TSN Radio locally in Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg, or nationally on TSN.ca, for deadline day coverage of the Leafs, Canadiens, and Jets
• Downloading the TRADECENTRE app for iPad and iPhone
• Joining the conversation on Twitter by following the Verified accounts of TSN’s hockey experts and Insiders and using the hashtag #TradeCentre when tweeting about NHL Trade Deadline Day
• Heading to the TSN Fan Page on Facebook to join the discussion and check out exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photos from the TRADECENTRE studio

TSN has brought comprehensive day-long coverage of NHL Trade Deadline Day to fans since 2000, and has set the benchmark for industry-leading multiplatform coverage of one of the most anticipated events on the NHL calendar.

Last year, Canadians made TRADECENTRE ’11 their first choice for trade news, opinion and analysis as TSN’s 10-hour live broadcast delivered its highest average audience ever with 268,000 viewers and nearly quadrupled the average audience delivered by the network’s closest competitor on NHL Trade Deadline Day. Overall, more than 2.6 million hockey fans tuned in at some point to TRADECENTRE ’11 on TSN.*

Online, TSN.ca recorded its second busiest day ever with 14.9 million page views across all platforms (web and TSN app for iPad, iPhone and BlackBerry). To date, the top five busiest days for TSN.ca have been on NHL Trade Deadline Day. In addition, the TRADECENTRE app was the #1 Free Sports App in Canada for both iPad and iPhone on deadline day last year.

This year, leading up to TRADECENTRE ’12, fans can get set for the NHL Trade Deadline with a special 60-minute episode of THAT’S HOCKEY 2NITE on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 12 midnight ET on TSN, featuring host Steve Kouleas and analysts Craig Button and Jamie McLennan, teeing up and reporting any trade news leading up to the highly-anticipated day. The show also has TSN’s Hockey Insiders checking in with TRADECENTRE reports.

TRADECENTRE ’12 Broadcast Team
Host James Duthie leads TSN’s TRADECENTRE ’12 team of hockey analysts, Insiders, former NHL players, coaches and general managers, reporters and correspondents – providing breaking news and instant analysis of each transaction, along with interviews with players, coaches and GMs. TSN’s correspondents are with each Canadian team to file live reports and deliver instant reaction for each trade.

The TRADECENTRE ’12 broadcast team is as follows:

• Host: James Duthie
• Trade Breaker Desk: Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun and Gord Miller
• Instant Analysis Panel: Marc Crawford, Aaron Ward, Mike Johnson and Pierre McGuire
• Deadline Panel: Gino Reda and Steve Kouleas with Craig Button and Michael Peca
• TRADECENTRE ’12 West Panel: Blake Price with Ray Ferraro and Darren Pang
• Trade Bait: Darren Dutchyshen and Craig Button assess which players are available for trade
• TSN The Reporters Panel: Dave Hodge with Sports Illustrated’s Michael Farber, Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons and National Post’s Bruce Arthur
• Social Media: Alyonka Larionov covering social media and satirical blogger Down Goes Brown tweeting for TSN from his Twitter account @DownGoesBrown
• TRADECENTRE ’12 Live Blogger: Jay Onrait
• TSN Correspondents: Ryan Rishaug, Jermain Franklin, Sara Orlesky, Shawn Churchill, Katherine Dolan, Mark Masters, Nabil Karim, Brent Wallace, John Lu and Paul Hollingsworth
• SPORTSCENTRE Updates: Darren Dutchyshen

Immediately following TRADECENTRE ’12 on TSN, host Rod Smith recaps the day’s events with reaction from around the NHL on SPORTSCENTRE at 6 p.m. ET, while host Gino Reda moves over to the THAT’S HOCKEY desk for a special 60-minute episode beginning at 7 p.m. ET with additional analysis, reaction and player interviews.

The action then moves from the boardroom to the ice as NHL ON TSN has live coverage of St. Louis @ Calgary beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.

TRADECENTRE ’12 on Twitter
TSN’s Alyonka Larionov continues the trade talk on Twitter, taking fans behind-the-scenes of TRADECENTRE ’12 with exclusive photos, videos and interviews with TSN’s hockey experts and Insiders. Larionov also keeps fans up-to-date on what NHL players and coaches are saying about the decisive day with Twitter hits throughout TSN’s live broadcast.

Joining Larionov on the social media front is popular satirical blogger Down Goes Brown, who provides his unique perspective on the day’s events using the #TradeCentre hashtag on his Twitter account @DownGoesBrown.

Fans visiting TSN.ca or using the TRADECENTRE app can keep track of all the tweets from TSN’s hockey experts and Insiders using the built-in Tweetbox – enabling fans to get Twitter updates from their favourite TSN personalities without leaving TSN.ca or the app.

TRADECENTRE ’12 on TSN.ca
Canada’s industry-leading sports website is the ultimate destination for breaking trade news on NHL Trade Deadline Day. In addition to live streaming of TRADECENTRE ’12, TSN.ca once again presents its real-time trade tracker with updates on all the trades as they happen and live streaming audio of TRADECENTRE ’12 for fans with no online video access.

Other TRADECENTRE ’12 features on TSN.ca include:

• The latest players in play on TSN.ca’s Trade Bait page, along with a complete 2011-12 NHL trade list, Deadline Day archive and Deadline Day FAQ
• All the latest rumours from around the NHL, plus blogs and articles from TSN Hockey Insiders Bob McKenzie, Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun
• TSN’s Jay Onrait’s seventh-annual, 10-hour TRADECENTRE ’12 live blog and chat with fans (bathrobes optional)
• TSN Fantasy Guru Scott Cullen’s take on NHL Trade Deadline Day and its impact from a fantasy perspective
• Capgeek.com’s Matthew Wuest updating fans on team cap situations as trades are made

 

Along with recording 14.9 million page views, TSN.ca registered more than 812,000 video views last year on NHL Trade Deadline Day – an 87% increase compared to 2010 and the second-most video views ever for TSN.ca on an NHL Trade Deadline.

TRADECENTRE ’12 on iPad and iPhone
Fans can keep tabs on breaking trade news wherever they are by using the TRADECENTRE app for iPad and iPhone. Along with live streaming of TRADECENTRE ’12, the TRADECENTRE app has a live trade tracker and up-to-the minute trade news and alerts, plus on-demand video clips on the iPad version of the app.

TRADECENTRE ’12 on TSN Radio
TSN Radio in Toronto (AM 1050), Montreal (AM 990) and Winnipeg (AM 1290), along with Bell Media sports radio stations Team 1040 in Vancouver and Team 1200 in Ottawa, have end-to-end deadline day coverage with a focus on the local NHL team in each market.

• TSN Radio 1050 Toronto: In Leafs Nation, THE MIKE RICHARDS SHOW kicks off TSN Radio 1050’s live coverage of NHL Trade Deadline Day at 5:30 a.m. ET, followed by Scott MacArthur with co-host and former NHL head coach Davis Payne at 9 a.m. ET; Bryan Hayes with Jamie McLennan at 12 noon ET; and CYBULSKI & COMPANY wrapping up the day’s events beginning at 4 p.m. ET.
• TSN Radio 990 Montreal: The Montreal Canadiens are front and centre on TSN Radio 990, as the station goes around the NHL to get instant analysis of all the day’s moves and their impact on the Habs. Fans can get their deadline day fix with PRICE & STARR IN THE MORNING at 6 a.m. ET and then join MELNICK IN THE AFTERNOON at 3 p.m. ET for the drive home.
• TSN Radio 1290 Winnipeg: Jets fans are well-served next week with TSN Radio 1290’s end-to-end coverage of the NHL Trade Deadline, with THE BIG SHOW WITH JAY & WESTWOOD hitting the airwaves at 6 a.m. CT, immediately followed by THE ILLEGAL CURVE hockey show at 12 noon CT and HUSTLER & LAWLESS at 4 p.m. CT.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Twitter
Visit TSN.ca/Twitter to follow all TSN personalities on Twitter.
Hashtags: #TradeCentre and #TSN

Facebook
TSN: www.Facebook.com/TSN

TSN is Canada’s Sports Leader and Canada’s most-watched specialty network. Delivering more sports coverage in High Definition than any other network in Canada, TSN’s comprehensive broadcast schedule features an exciting lineup of sports including NHL, CFL, NFL, NBA, MLS, the IIHF World Junior Championship, Season of Champions Curling, Golf’s Majors, F1, NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, Grand Slam Tennis, EURO 2012 and 2016, the Tour de France, NCAA March Madness tournament and Championship Boxing events. TSN properties include TSN2, TSN MOBILE and the industry-leading sports website TSN.ca. Official broadcaster of the London 2012 Olympic Games, TSN is a division of Bell Media, which is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company.

*Sources: BBM Canada and Omniture

That will do it.

NHL Network, NHL.com and NHL Social Network Accounts All Over NHL Trade Deadline Day

One of the best days on the sports calendar, NHL Trade Deadline Day is coming on Monday. The Canadian sports networks, Rogers Sportsnet, The Score and TSN will be all over the big day as trades between teams can go fast and furious in the hours and minutes leading up to the 3 p.m. ET deadline. In past years, the trades can come quickly. Last year’s Trade Deadline Day was rather quiet, but with this year seeing teams having a lot of needs, we could see a lot of deals.

In the United States, NHL Network will simulcast TSN’s TradeCentre ’12 show starting at 8 a.m. Monday and lasting until 6 p.m. Following that simulcast, NHL Network will air a 90 minute trade deadline special hosted by Kathryn Tappen.

NHL.com will stream NHL Network’s coverage in addition to providing a real time trade tracker to allow fans to keep up on the latest trade news.

And fans can also follow the NHL’s official Twitter accounts throughout the day.

Here’s the press release.

NHL.COM, NHL NETWORK AND NHL SOCIAL FOCUS ATTENTION ON NHL TRADE DEADLINE DAY 2012

NHL Media Platforms to Deliver Complete, Up-To-The-Minute Coverage and Analysis on One of the Hockey Calendar’s Most-Anticipated Days

NEW YORK (February 24, 2012) – To satisfy its fans’ ever-increasing demand for the latest “Deadline Day” trade news and analysis, the National Hockey League will mobilize all of its media platforms to provide more coverage than ever of all the suspense, drama and intrigue. By tuning into NHL Network, logging onto NHL.com or connecting with NHL Social, fans can follow all the action leading up to Monday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline — and then engage in the post-deadline analysis and conversation as the stretch run for the Stanley Cup Playoffs kicks into high gear.

Beginning at 8 a.m. ET, NHL Network U.S. will simulcast TSN’s 10-hour flagship show, TradeCentre ’12. Host James Duthie will be joined by a team of hockey analysts, insiders, former NHL players, coaches and general managers, as TradeCentre ‘12 provides breaking news and instant assessment
of each transaction. Correspondents in various NHL markets will report the news and interview the general managers, coaches and players at the center of it all. Broadcasting live from the NHL Network’s New York studio, Deb Placey and E.J. Hradek will add their own unique analysis and updates.

Immediately following TradeCentre ’12, NHL Network will bring together an impressive panel of hockey insiders for NHL Network Trade Deadline Day Recap. This 90-minute show will provide
reactions from general managers and players while the panelists assess the impact of the Deadline Day deals on the playoff push and beyond. Kathryn Tappen will host NHL Network Trade Deadline Day Recap and will be joined by former NHL goaltender Kevin Weekes, NHL insider Hradek, Canadian Press hockey correspondent Chris Johnston, former NHL scout and general manager Craig Button and former NHL player and coach Barry Melrose.

Coverage continues at 7:30 p.m. ET with NHL on the Fly featuring David Amber, Billy Jaffe, Mike Johnson and Button. NHL Tonight wraps up the day-long coverage at 10 p.m. with Tappen, Weekes and Johnson at the desk.

Complete NHL Network Schedule for Monday, Feb. 27

8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. — TSN’s TradeCentre ‘12 (U.S. only)
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. — NHL Network Trade Deadline Day Recap
7:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. — NHL On The Fly
10 p.m. — NHL Tonight

NHL.com
NHL.com, the League’s official destination on the Web, will be a one-stop hub of Trade Deadline news and information, available at nhl.com/tradedeadline. In addition to reporting on breaking news through stories and video reports, NHL.com will provide fans with live streaming video from NHL Network’s coverage of Trade Deadline news and information for those who are not near a television during the day.

Visitors to NHL.com on Trade Deadline Day can expect:

• More than seven hours of live streaming video from NHL Network beginning at Noon ET (portions available in U.S. only)
• An all-day “Cover It Live” chat featuring NHL.com writers and NHL Network personalities, with fan questions and interactive polls
• Instant trade analysis video reports
• A real-time Trade Tracker list of completed trades, with written features and analysis from the editorial team and correspondents reporting back from nearly every NHL market
• A Trade Deadline Diary documenting all the trades and coverage throughout the day
• Hourly video updates from NHL analyst E.J. Hradek
• Exclusive stories, analysis and reactions covering every move and what each means for the remaining weeks of the regular season

NHL Social
The Trade Deadline chatter on Twitter and Facebook will be everywhere. Those participating in the day’s conversation are asked to use #NHLTrade – the official NHL hashtag for Trade Deadline Day. Those who follow @NHL on Twitter or “like” the NHL on Facebook will be informed of all official trades, while a number of NHL Network hosts and analysts and NHL.com writers will comment throughout the day with Trade Deadline-related content.

NHL Twitter Accounts:
Adam Kimelman –  @NHLAdamK
Billy Jaffe — @bjaffe
Brian Compton –  @BComptonNHL
Brian Duff –  @dufferNHLN
Chris Johnston — @reporterchris
Corey Masisak — @cmasisak22
Craig Button — @CraigJButton
Dan Rosen — @drosennhl
Dave Lozo — @DaveLozo
David Amber — @DavidAmber
Deb Kaufman Placey — @DebPlacey
EJ Hradek — @EJHradek_NHL
Jeremy Roenick — @Jeremy_Roenick
Kathryn Tappen — @KathrynTappen
Kevin Weekes — @KevinWeekes
Mike Johnson — @mike_p_johnson
Mike Morreale — @mike_morreale
Shawn Roarke — @sroarke_nhl

That will do it.

TNT Receives Highest Viewership Ever For NBA Rising Stars Challenge

For NBA All-Star Weekend and having Jeremy Lin in the Rising Stars Challenge, TNT saw its highest-ever ratings for the event. The game between the NBA’s best rookies and sophomores saw a 1.7 rating, up from the 1.6 that was the previous record in 2004 and up from the 1.5 for last year’s game. Average viewership came just under 2 million people.

We have the final numbers from TNT.

TNT’s Exclusive Coverage of the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge Is Most-Watched Telecast in Event History with More than 2.7 Million Total Viewers, 1.7 US HH Rtg and More than 1.9 Million HH

TNT’s exclusive coverage of the 2012 Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star 2012 in Orlando was the most-watched telecast in the event’s history, surpassing the 2004 game. Last night’s contest delivered 2,729,000 total viewers (+26% vs. 2,165,000 in 2004); 1.7 US HH Rtg (+6% vs. 1.6 in 2004) and 1,911,000 overall households (+13% vs. 1,689,000 in 2004). Prior to this year, the most-watched telecast was the 2004 game featuring future NBA All-Stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony.

TNT’s telecast last night compared to the 2011 Rookie game:

• U.S. rating: 1.7 (+13% vs. 1.5 rating in 2011)
• Total viewers: 2,729,000 (+12% vs. 2,440,000 in 2011)
• Households: 1,911,000 (+11% vs. 1,725,000 in 2011)

Additionally, the Top 5 Rated DMAs from last night:

1.  Miami-Ft. Lauderdale:  3.8 HH Rtg
T2.  Cleveland-Akron: 3.7 HH Rtg
T2.  San Antonio:  3.7 HH Rtg
4.  Chicago:  3.4 HH Rtg
T5.  Memphis:  3.3 HH Rtg
T5. Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne 3.3 HH Rtg

To date, the Top 5 NBA regular-season games on cable have all aired on TNT. Through the first half of the NBA season, TNT is experiencing double-digit growth compared to last year’s most-watched season on the network. 

• U.S. HH Rating: 1.7 vs. 1.5 rating (+13%)
• Total Viewers: 2,729,000 vs. 2,440,000 (+12%)
• Households: 1,911,000 vs. 1,725,000 (+11%)
• M25-54: 1,021,000  vs. 828,000 (+23%)

That is it for this post.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, February 25

Boxing
Boxing After Dark: Welterweights, Devon Alexander vs. Marcos Maidana — HBO, 10 p.m.
Ali 70 From Las Vegas — ESPN2, 10 p.m.

College Basketball Viewing Picks

English Premier League
Queens Park Rangers vs. Fulham — Fox Soccer Plus, 9:53 a.m.
Chelsea vs. Bolton — Fox Soccer, 10 a.m.
Manchester City vs. Blackburn — Fox Soccer, 12:30 p.m.
West Bromwich Albion vs. Sunderland — Fox Soccer Plus, 2 p.m. (same day coverage)
Wigan Athletic vs. Aston Villa — Fox Soccer Plus, 4 p.m. (same day coverage)
Newcastle United vs. Wolverhampton — Fox Soccer, 5 p.m. (same day coverage)

Golf
LPGA Tour: HSBC Women’s Champions, 3rd round — Golf Channel, 2 p.m. (same day coverage)
PGA Tour: WGC-Match Play Championship, Quarterfinals — Golf Channel, noon/NBC, 2 p.m.
PGA Tour: Mayakoba Classic, 3rd round — Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m. (same day coverage)

Mixed Martial Arts
UFC 144 Japan Prelims — FX, 8 p.m.
UFC 144 Japan: Edgar vs. Henderson — Pay per view, 10 p.m.

NASCAR
Nationwide Series: Drive4COPD 300 — ESPN, 1:15 p.m.

NBA
NBA All-Star Saturday Night — TNT, 8:30 p.m.

NBA All-Star 2012: East/West Practice & Media Availability — NBA TV, 11 a.m.
NBA All-Star 2012: David Stern Media Availability — NBA TV, 7 p.m.
NBA All-Star 2012: All-Star Weekend — NBA TV, 11 p.m.

NFL
2012 NFL Scouting Combine: Workouts-Kickers, Offensive Linemen, Tight Ends — NFL Network, 9 a.m.

NHL
Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh — NHL Network (US)/Sun Sports/Root Sports Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
St. Louis at Winnipeg — CBC/Fox Sports Midwest, 2 p.m.
Phoenix at Edmonton — Fox Sports Arizona/Rogers Sportsnet West, 4 p.m.
Washington at Toronto — CBC/NHL Network (US)/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, 7 p.m.
Boston at Ottawa — CBC/RDS/NESN, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at New York Rangers — MSG Buffalo/MSG Network, 7 p.m.
Colorado at Detroit — Altitude/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
Florida at Carolina — Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
Chicago at Los Angeles — Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports West, 8 p.m.
San Jose at Nashville — Comcast SportsNet California/Fox Sports Tennessee, 8 p.m.
Philadelphia at Calgary — CBC/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 10 p.m.

Hockey Tonight — CBC/NHL Network (US), 6:30 p.m.
NHL Tonight — NHL Network, 10 p.m.

Rugby
6 Nations Rugby
England vs. Wales — BBC America, 11 a.m.

Skiing
FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Bansko, Bulgaria
Women’s Downhill — Universal Sports, 11 a.m. (same day coverage)

FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Crans-Montana, Switzerland
Men’s Super G — Universal Sports, 2 p.m. (same day coverage)

Tennis
ATP Tour: Open 13, semifinals — Tennis Channel, 10 p.m. & midnight (same day coverage)
ATP Tour: Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, semifinals — Tennis Channel, noon & 4 p.m.
WTA Tour: Dubai Duty Free Championships, Finals — Tennis Channel, 10 a.m. (same day coverage)
WTA Tour: Cellular South Cup, Final — Tennis Channel, 8 p.m.

Entertainment
Drop 5 lbs. with Good Housekeeping: Mom, Around Town — Cooking Channel, 11 a.m.
Giada at Home: Pure Comfort — Food Network, 11:30 a.m.
Kelsey’s Essentials: Sunday Dinner — Cooking Channel, 2:30 p.m.
Cops — Fox, 8 p.m.
Ultimate Factories: Heineken — National Geographic Channel, 8 p.m.
Cops — Fox, 8:30 p.m.
Parking Wars — A&E, 9 p.m.
Being Human (season premiere) — BBC America, 9 p.m.
Parking Wars — A&E, 9:30 p.m.
The Supersizers Go: The Eighties — Cooking Channel, 10 p.m.
2012 Spirit Awards — IFC, 10 p.m.
An Idiot Abroad: The Bucket List: Route 66 — Discovery Science, 10 p.m.
The Graham Norton Show — BBC, 10:15 p.m.
Would You Rather? with Graham Norton — BBC America, 11 p.m.

Sunday, February 26

Carling Cup
Final
Liverpool vs. Cardiff City — Fox Soccer, 11 a.m.

College Basketball Viewing Picks

English Premier League
Norwich City vs. Manchester United — Fox Soccer Plus, 8:23 a.m.
Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur — Fox Soccer, 8:25 a.m.

Golf
LPGA Tour: HSBC Women’s Champions, 2nd round — Golf Channel, 1:30 p.m. (same day coverage)
PGA Tour: WGC-Match Play Championship, semifinals — Golf Channel, 9 a.m.
PGA Tour: WGC-Match Play Championship, Finals — NBC, 2 p.m.
PGA Tour: Mayakoba Classic, 2nd round — Golf Channel, 7 p.m. (same day coverage)

NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series: Daytona 500 — Fox, noon

NBA
2012 NBA All-Star Game — TNT, 7:30 p.m.

NBA All-Star 2012: NBA Legends Brunch — NBA TV, noon
NBA All-Star 2012: All-Star Sunday — NBA TV, 4 p.m.
NBA All-Star 2012: All-Star Pregame Concert — NBA TV, 5 p.m.
NBA Tip-Off — TNT, 6 p.m.
Inside the NBA — NBA TV, 10 p.m.

NFL
2012 NFL Scouting Combine: Workouts-Running Backs, Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers — NFL Network, 9 a.m.

NHL
Columbus at Pittsburgh — Fox Sports Ohio/Root Sports Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
Tampa Bay at New Jersey — Sun Sports/MSG Plus, 1 p.m.
Vancouver at Dallas — Rogers Sportsnet Pacific/Fox Sports Southwest, 3 p.m.
Montreal at Florida — RDS/TSN-Habs/Fox Sports Florida, 5 p.m.
New York Islanders at Ottawa — MSG Plus/Rogers Sportsnet East, 5 p.m.
San Jose at Minnesota — Comcast SportsNet California/Fox Sports North, 6 p.m.
Chicago at Anaheim — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.

NHL Live — NBC Sports Network, 6:30 p.m.
NHL on the Fly — NHL Network, 9:30 p.m.
NHL Tonight — NHL Network, 10 p.m.

Skiing
FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Bansko, Bulgaria
Women’s Super G — Universal Sports, 11 a.m. (same day coverage)

FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Crans-Montana, Switzerland
Men’s Giant Slalom — Universal Sports, 2 p.m. (same day coverage)

Tennis
ATP Tour: Open 13, Final — Tennis Channel, 12:30 a.m., Monday (delayed)
ATP Tour: Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, Final — Tennis Channel, 4 p.m.

Track & Field
U.S. Indoor Championships — ESPN, 7:30 p.m.

Entertainment
CBS News Sunday Morning — CBS, 9 a.m.
10 Dollar Dinners with Melissa: A Down-Home Ten Dollar Dinner — Food Network, 10 a.m.
Sandwich King: Italiano! — Food Network, 11 a.m.
60 Minutes — CBS, 7 p.m.
Oscars Red Carpet Live — ABC, 7 p.m.
The Amazing Race 20: You Know I’m Not as Smart as You — CBS, 8 p.m.
The Donatella Project — Cooking Channel, 8 p.m.
The 84th Annual Academy Awards — ABC, 8:30 p.m.
Luck — HBO, 9 p.m.
Ax Men: Wake-up Call — History Channel, 9 p.m.
Full Metal Jousting: Death Sticks & a Coffin — History Channel, 10 p.m.
Unusual Suspects: The Perfect Family — Investigation Discovery, 10 p.m.
Alaska State Troopers: Alaskan Standoff — National Geographic Channel, 10 p.m.
E! After Party: 2012 Academy Awards — E!, 11:30 p.m.
Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Academy Awards — ABC, midnight

College Basketball Viewing Picks For 02/25 & 02/26, All Times Eastern

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

Saturday, February 25

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

11 a.m.
Robert Morris at Quinnipiac — ESPNU

noon
Virginia Tech at Duke — ACC Network
Vanderbilt at Kentucky — CBS
Northeastern at Delaware — Comcast SportsNet New England/CSS/The Comcast Network
Notre Dame at St. John’s — ESPN2

Women’s: DePaul at Louisville — Big East Network: MASN/SNY

1 p.m.
Boston College at Wake Forest — Fox Sports Net: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Fox Sports Florida/Fox Sports North Plus/Fox Sports South/Fox Sports West/NESN
LaSalle at Fordham — YES

1:30 p.m.
Iowa State at Kansas State — Big 12 Network
Oklahoma at Baylor — Big 12 Network
Drake at Wichita State — Fox College Sports Central/Comcast SportsNet Chicago Plus/Fox Sports Midwest
LSU at Mississippi — SEC Network

2 p.m.
St. Louis at URI — A-10 Network: Comcast SportsNet New England/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/Cox Sports RI
UCLA at Arizona — CBS
Villanova at Georgetown — CBS
Texas A&M at Oklahoma State — ESPN2
Boise State at Wyoming — the mtn.

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

3 p.m.
St. Francis at Sacred Heart — Fox College Sports Atlantic

4 p.m.
Texas at Texas Tech — Big 12 Network
Missouri at Kansas — CBS
Lafayette at American — CBS Sports Network
Drexel at Old Dominion — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Comcast SportsNet New England/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia
North Carolina at Virginia — ESPN
Creighton at Indiana State — ESPN2
Hawaii at Louisiana Tech — ESPN Plus
Memphis at Marshall — Fox Sports Net (national)
Air Force at UNLV — NBC Sports Network
Arkansas at Auburn — SEC Network
Florida at Georgia — SEC Network

5 p.m.
Rutgers at Seton Hall — ESPNU
Houston Baptist at North Dakota — Fox College Sports Central

6 p.m.
Purdue at Michigan — Big Ten Network
Portland at BYU — BYU TV
UMass at Dayton — CBS Sports Network
Mississippi State at Alabama — ESPN
George Mason at Virginia Commonwealth — ESPN2

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

7 p.m.
Temple at St. Joseph’s — ESPNU
New Mexico at TCU — the mtn.

8 p.m.
Nebraska at Michigan State — Big Ten Network
UTEP at Central Florida — CBS Sports Network
Richmond at Xavier — ESPN2
Middle Tennessee at Western Kentucky — Fox College Sports Atlantic
USC at Arizona State — Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Prime Ticket/Fox Sports Arizona
Washington at Washington State — Fox College Sports Pacific/Root Sports Northwest
Tennessee at South Carolina — Fox Sports Net: Fox Sports Houston/Fox Sports South/Fox Sports Southwest/Sun Sports

Women’s: Texas Tech at Texas A&M — Fox Sports Net (national)

9 p.m.
Syracuse at UConn — ESPN
Northwestern at Penn State — ESPNU

10 p.m.
Colorado State at San Diego State — the mtn.
Nevada at Fresno State — WAC Sports Network

11 p.m.
Cal Poly at UC-Santa Barbara — ESPNU

Sunday, February 26

noon
Cincinnati at South Florida — Big East Network: Altitude/Cox Sports Television/MASN/SNY
Maine at Stony Brook — CBS Sports Network

Women’s: Indiana at Purdue — Big Ten Network

1 p.m.
Indiana at Minnesota — ESPN

Women’s: Boston College at Miami — Fox Sports Net: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/Fox Sports South/NESN/Sun Sports Plus
Women’s: Central Florida at Houston — Fox Sports Net (national)

1:30 p.m.
Women’s: Kentucky at Mississippi State — ESPNU

2 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Louisville — CBS

Women’s: Minnesota at Penn State — Big Ten Network
Women’s: UMass at Xavier — CBS Sports Network

3 p.m.
Women’s: Duke at North Carolina — ESPN2
Women’s: Washington State at Washington — Fox Sports Net (national)

3:30 p.m.
Women’s: Old Dominion at James Madison — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
Women’s: Florida at Tennessee — ESPNU
Women’s: Mississippi at Auburn — Fox Sports Net: Fox Sports North Plus/Fox Sports Southwest Plus/SportSouth/Sun Sports Plus

4 p.m.
Wisconsin at Ohio State — CBS

Women’s: Ohio State at Nebraska — Big Ten Network

5 p.m.
Women’s: LSU at Georgia — ESPN2

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

6 p.m.
Iowa at Illinois — Big Ten Network
Florida State at Miami (FL) — ESPNU

7:30 p.m.
Oregon at Oregon State — Fox Sports Net

8 p.m.
Akron at Ohio — ESPNU

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Baseball
Oregon State at San Diego State — the mtn., 9 p.m.

College Basketball
Men’s
Loyola (MD) at Rider — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Butler at Valparaiso — ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Columbia at Yale — YES, 7 p.m.
Marquette at West Virginia — ESPN, 9 p.m.
Fairfield at Iona — ESPNU, 9 p.m.

Women’s
Wake Forest at Virginia — Fox Sports Net: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/Fox Sports South/Sun Sports, 6:30 p.m.
Baylor at Kansas — Fox Sports Net (national), 7:30 p.m.
North Carolina at Maryland — Fox Sports Net: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus/Fox Sports South/Sun Sports, 8:30 p.m.
Creighton at Northern Iowa — Fox College Sports Central/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Midwest, 9:30 p.m.

College Hockey 
Ohio State at Miami (OH) — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
Ferris State at Western Michigan — Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
Boston University at Vermont — NBC Sports Network, 7:30 p.m.
Michigan State at Notre Dame — CBS Sports Network, 8:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Nebraska-Omaha — Fox Sports North Plus, 8:30 p.m.
North Dakota at Denver — NBC Sports Network, 10 p.m.

Golf
LPGA Tour: HSBC Women’s Champions, 2nd round — Golf Channel, 9:30 a.m. (same day coverage)
PGA Tour: WGC-Match Play Championship, Day Three — Golf Channel, 2 p.m.
PGA Tour: Mayakoba Classic, 2nd round — Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m. (same day coverage)

State of the Game — Golf Channel, 8:30 p.m.

MLB
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Clubhouse Confidential — MLB Network, 5:30 p.m.
Hot Stove Live — MLB Network, 6 p.m.

NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series: Daytona, Qualifying — Speed, 4 p.m.
Camping World Truck Series: Daytona — Speed, 7:30 p.m.
Nationwide Series: Drive4COPD 300, Qualifying — ESPN2, 2 p.m.

NBA
NBA All-Star 2012: NBA Rising Stars Challenge Practice — NBA TV, 10 a.m.
NBA All-Star 2012: Hall of Fame Press Conference — NBA TV, 11:30 a.m.
NBA All-Star 2012: All-Star Interviews — NBA TV, noon
All-Star Celebrity Game — ESPN, 7 p.m.
2012 NBA Rising Stars Challenge — TNT, 9 p.m.

NFL
Around the League: 2012 NFL Scouting Combine Press Conferences — NFL Network, 2:30 p.m.

NHL
Montreal at Washington — TSN/RDS/NHL Network (US)/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, 7 p.m.
Colorado at Columbus — Altitude/Fox Sports Ohio, 7 p.m.
New York Rangers at New York Islanders — MSG Network/MSG Plus 2, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at New Jersey — Rogers Sportsnet Pacific/MSG Plus, 7 p.m.
Boston at Buffalo — NESN/MSG Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Dallas — Fox Sports North/Fox Sports Southwest, 8:30 p.m.

NHL Live — NHL Network, 5 p.m.
NHL Tonight — NHL Network, 10 p.m.

Skiing
FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Crans-Montana, Switzerland 
Men’s Super G — Universal Sports, 11 a.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
The Box Score — Audience Network (DirecTV)/DanPatrick.com, noon
The Scott Van Pelt Show — ESPNews, 1 p.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPN2, 4 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — NBC Sports Network, 6 p.m.
CNBC Sports Biz: Game On! — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.

Tennis
ATP Tour: Open 13, quarterfinals — Tennis Channel, 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. (same day coverage)
WTA Tour: Dubai Duty Free Championships, semifinals — Tennis Channel, 8 a.m. & 10 a.m. (same day coverage)

Entertainment
Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Massacre — Cartoon Network, 8 p.m.
Undercover Boss: American Seafoods — CBS, 8 p.m.
Savoring Harlem — Food Network, 8 p.m.
Primetime: What Would You Do? — ABC, 9 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted — Lifetime (The Network That Hates Men), 9 p.m.
On Freddie Roach (series finale) — HBO, 9:30 p.m.
Portlandia: Feminist Bookstore 10th Anniversary — IFC, 10 p.m.
20/20 — ABC, 10 p.m.
Dateline NBC — NBC, 10 p.m.
Spartacus: Vengeance — Starz, 10 p.m.
The Girl’s Guide to Depravity (series premiere) — Cinemax, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.

MLB Network’s 2012 Spring Training Game Schedule

Here’s another MLB Network-related post. This one deals with the complete 150 game Cactus and Grapefruit League schedule. Many games will be live. Others will be aired on tape delay. In the primetime and viewing picks, I’ll list all of the live games, and some of the taped games, but you have this to check MLB Network’s schedule of games for March.

The first game is on Saturday, March 3 between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies which will be aired live at 1 p.m. ET and again at 8 p.m. on tape.

We have the schedule listed for you below and you can bookmark it if necessary.

2012 MLB Network Spring Training Game Schedule

All times subject to change; all games subject to local blackout unless otherwise announced.
(L) Denotes live game.
(ss) Denotes split squad.
**Denotes blackout lift for that market.

MLB Network Brings Back “30 Clubs in 30 Days”

As March approaches, MLB Network is getting ready for its Spring Training coverage. Its studio show during that period, “30 Clubs in 30 Days” returns March 5 in a big way. It will hit every team’s camp either in Arizona and Florida and for the first time, MLB Network’s analysts including Harold Reynolds, Al Leiter, Dan Plesac, John Smoltz and Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams will be on-site, well, not all of them at once, but you get the idea.

In addition, MLB Network’s signature nightly studio show, MLB Tonight returns on March 5 also to cover the Spring Training games and show live cut-ins when necessary.

We have the press release from MLB Network below.

MLB NETWORK’S SPRING TRAINING SERIES 30 CLUBS IN 30 DAYS RETURNS MONDAY, MARCH 5

For the First Time, MLB Network Analysts Will Hit the Road in Arizona and Florida For Spring Training
MLB Tonight, MLB Network’s Signature Studio Show, Returns Monday, March 5
Intentional Talk, with Kevin Millar and Chris Rose, Will Visit Five Camps in Arizona March 12-16

Secaucus, N.J., February 15, 2012 – With pitchers and catchers reporting this weekend, MLB Network today announced that MLB Network analysts will hit the road for the first time for 30 Clubs in 30 Days starting on Monday, March 5 at 5:00 p.m. ET, with hour-long features on each of the 30 Major League clubs previewing the 2012 season. Former MLB players and MLB Network analysts Sean Casey, Al Leiter, Kevin Millar, Dan Plesac, Harold Reynolds, John Smoltz and Mitch Williams will report from all of the 30 Spring Training camps throughout Arizona and Florida conducting interviews with players, managers, coaches and others associated with each club.  MLB Tonight, MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning signature studio show, returns on Monday, March 5 live at 9:00 p.m. ET.

The new season of 30 Clubs in 30 Days will continue to provide fans with the most extensive coverage of each club before Opening Day with field reports, interviews, predictions and inside access to every club’s training camp. The series will include segments breaking down each club’s offseason moves, a look at projected lineups and pitching rotations and previews of top prospects for the 2012 season and beyond.

Fans will have the opportunity to submit questions for MLB Network analysts to ask players and managers during the series via #30Clubs30Days on Twitter and Facebook. One fan-submitted question will be included in each episode. MLB Network has also launched its first-ever page on Tumblr, which will be updated throughout Spring Training with photos, videos, quotes and information from 30 Clubs in 30 Days and Intentional Talk.

Starting this week, MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger, Matt Vasgersian and Matt Yallof will travel to 14 camps throughout Arizona and Florida to cover the biggest storylines as clubs report to Spring Training, including Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson reporting to camp with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Yu Darvish joining the Texas Rangers, and Prince Fielder reporting with the Detroit Tigers. Reports will air in “Hot Stove” through the end of February.

MLB Network’s daily talk show Intentional Talk, hosted by Millar and Chris Rose, will also travel to Spring Training, visiting the Colorado Rockies’, Cleveland Indians’, Arizona Diamondbacks’, Texas Rangers’ and Los Angeles Dodgers’ camps in Arizona from March 12-16. Each show will focus on the hot topics and events of the day across MLB and include interviews with players and club personalities, interaction with fans on-site at Spring Training, and an on-screen ticker with the latest headlines and feedback from Twitter and Facebook.

The 2012 series of 30 Clubs in 30 Days begins with the Seattle Mariners, followed by other club episodes every day from March 5 through April 2. The complete on-air schedule of premiere dates for each episode of 30 Clubs in 30 Days is available after the jump.

That will do it for the press release. The “30 Clubs in 30 Days” schedule comes after the jump break.

(continue reading…)

MLB Network Announces Live In-Game Audio For Cactus League Game

MLB Network has been experimenting with bringing viewers in-game audio during Spring Training games. It conducted two off-air experiments last year and after listening to the results, it will air an actual game featuring almost-live audio as it happens. Of course, there will be a brief delay to ensure that swear words don’t hit the air. As many as six players from both Cleveland and Arizona will be wired for sound as well as both teams’ coaching staffs and the bases.

The game will be aired on March 7 at 3 p.m. ET and will be called by Matt Vasgersian. We have the details from MLB Network below.

MLB NETWORK TO PRODUCE GROUNDBREAKING PRESENTATION OF LIVE AUDIO IN SPRING TRAINING GAME TELECAST

Cleveland Indians at Arizona Diamondbacks Spring Training Game on March 7 to Feature Live Microphones on Players & Coaching Staff
MLB Network’s 2012 Spring Training Game Schedule to Include 150 Games Beginning Saturday, March 3
MLB Network To Count Down The Top 100 Players Right Now! Starting Tuesday, February 28

Secaucus, N.J., February 23, 2012 – MLB Network today announced its 2012 Spring Training game schedule, featuring a groundbreaking presentation of live in-game audio. For the first time in an MLB game telecast, live audio content will air on a brief delay throughout the Spring Training game telecast of the Cleveland Indians at Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, March 7 at 3:00 p.m. ET. In cooperation with the Major League Baseball Players Association, up to as many as six players on each team will wear live microphones during the game. Coaching staff will also wear live microphones throughout the game and live microphones will be positioned at each base, down the first- and third-base lines and along the outfield wall, producing in-game audio content on a scale that has not previously been done. Matt Vasgersian will provide the game call, which will be available nationally on MLB Network, including in both the Indians’ and Diamondbacks’ home television territories.

“One of the missions of MLB Network is to promote the game of baseball and act as a platform to advance the presentation of the game,” said MLB Network President and CEO Tony Petitti. “The goal of this production is to bring fans closer to the game and experience it as a player would on the field. Not only are we trying to capture the player reactions and interactions, we want to present the natural sounds of the game, including the crack of the bat, the pop of a glove and the slide into a base like viewers have never heard before.”

The game telecast on March 7 will build on test productions of two enhanced audio game telecasts MLB Network produced but did not air during Spring Training in 2011. At that time, several players wore live microphones during the Milwaukee Brewers vs. Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics vs. Cleveland Indians games. Excerpts from those game telecasts are available here.

MLB Network’s 2012 Spring Training game schedule includes 150 games featuring every MLB club in at least six matchups. The game schedule begins on Saturday, March 3 with the 2011 A.L. East Champion New York Yankees against the 2011 N.L. East Champion Philadelphia Phillies live from Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida at 1:00 p.m. ET. The 2011 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals, the new-look Miami Marlins, the 2011 A.L. Wild Card Champion Tampa Bay Rays and the 2011 N.L. West Champion Arizona Diamondbacks will all be featured in live games during the first week of March. MLB Network’s complete Spring Training game schedule is available here. All games, except the enhanced audio game on March 7, will be a carriage of local telecasts, including local announcers, and blacked out in each club’s home market unless otherwise noted.

Leading up to the live games, MLB Network will reveal its ranking of the best players in Major League Baseball in its three-day series Top 100 Players Right Now!, beginning on Tuesday, February 28 at 9:00 p.m. ET. MLB Network’s Greg Amsinger, Al Leiter and Harold Reynolds will count down the top MLB players overall, taking into account players in their prime who are coming back from injuries, younger players expected to break out in 2012, and veteran players with proven track records. The countdown to the number one player will continue in new episodes on February 29 and March 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET. From Albert Pujols to Roy Halladay to Prince Fielder, the ranking includes five World Series MVPs, nine Cy Young Award winners, four A.L. and six N.L. MVP Award winners, 12 Rookie of the Year winners, 29 Gold Glove Award winners, 33 pitchers, 61 2011 All-Stars and 60 players under 30-years old.

As announced last week, MLB Network’s Spring Training series 30 Clubs in 30 Days and its signature studio show MLB Tonight return on Monday, March 5 starting at 5:00 p.m. ET. The 2012 schedule for 30 Clubs in 30 Days is available here.

More stuff is on the way.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball
Men’s
Bucknell at American — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
Duke at Florida State — ESPN, 7 p.m.
Alabama at Arkansas — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Murray State at Tennessee State — ESPNU, 8 p.m.
Arkansas State at Western Kentucky — Fox College Sports, 8 p.m.
Louisville at Cincinnati — ESPN, 9 p.m.
Wisconsin at Iowa — ESPN2, 9 p.m.
St. Mary’s at Portland — ESPNU, 10 p.m.
Stanford at Colorado — Fox Sports Net (national), 10:30 p.m.
BYU at Gonzaga — ESPN2, 11 p.m.

Women’s
Purdue at Michigan — Big Ten Network, 6 p.m.
Florida State at Clemson — ACC Network, 7 p.m.
Arkansas at Tennessee — Fox Sports South/Fox Sports Southwest Plus/Sun Sports Plus, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Ohio State — Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.

Golf
LPGA Tour: HSBC Women’s Champions 2012, 1st round — Golf Channel, 9:30 a.m. (same day coverage)
PGA Tour: Mayakoba Classic, 1st round — Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m. (same day coverage)
PGA Tour: WGC-Match Play Championship, Day Two — Golf Channel, 2 p.m.

Mixed Martial Arts
MMA Uncensored Live — Spike, 11 p.m.

MLB
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
Clubhouse Confidential — MLB Network, 5:30 p.m.
Hot Stove Live — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
Baseball IQ: Semifinals — MLB Network, 9 p.m.
Baseball IQ: Semifinals — MLB Network, 9:30 p.m.
Baseball IQ: Finals — MLB Network, 10 p.m.

NASCAR
Gatorade Duel 150 — Speed, 2 p.m.

NBA
New York at Miami — TNT, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City — TNT, 9:30 p.m.

Inside the NBA — TNT, 1 a.m. (Friday)

NHL
San Jose at Toronto — TSN/RDSI/Comcast SportsNet California, 7 p.m.
Anaheim at Carolina — Fox Sports Prime Ticket/Fox Sports Carolinas, 7 p.m.
Vancouver at Detroit — NHL Network (US)/Rogers Sportsnet Pacific/Fox Sports Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Florida — Fox Sports North/Fox Sports Florida, 7:30 p.m.
St. Louis at Nashville — Fox Sports Midwest, 8 p.m.
Dallas at Chicago — Fox Sports Southwest/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Winnipeg — Sun Sports/TSN-Jets, 8:30 p.m.
Phoenix at Calgary — Fox Sports Arizona/Rogers Sportsnet Calgary, 9 p.m.
Philadelphia at Edmonton — Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/Rogers Sportsnet West, 9:30 p.m.

NHL Live — NHL Network, 5 p.m.
NHL on the Fly — NHL Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Tonight — NHL Network, 10:30 p.m.

Sports Talk
The Dan Patrick Show — Audience Network (DirecTV)/Fox Sports Net, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
The Box Score — Audience Network (DirecTV)/DanPatrick.com, noon
The Scott Van Pelt Show — ESPNews, 1 p.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPN2, 4 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPN2, 5 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
NBC SportsTalk — NBC Sports Network, 6 p.m.

Tennis
ATP Tour: Open 13, Round of 16 — Tennis Channel, 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. (same day coverage)
WTA Tour: Dubai Duty Free Championships, quarterfinals — Tennis Channel, 10 a.m. & noon (same day coverage)

Entertainment
Hook, Line & Dinner: Sitka — Cooking Channel, 8 p.m.
Wipeout — ABC, 8 p.m.
Person of Interest — CBS, 9 p.m.
The Finder — Fox, 9 p.m.
Archer — FX, 10 p.m.
Private Practice — ABC, 10:02 p.m.
Eat St.: Gourmet Good & Evil — Cooking Channel, 10:30 p.m.
Inside Comedy: Larry David — Showtime, 11 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Beach Heat: Miami — Showtime, 11:30 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.