Fang's Bites

CBS/CBS Sports Network Begins U.S. Open Coverage on Saturday

It’s a big day of sports on CBS. It begins at 9 a.m. ET with Notre Dame-Navy in Ireland, then the U.S. Open at noon ET. CBS Sports Network will air its first ever U.S. Open coverage on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. with “Today at the U.S. Open” followed by live tennis at 11 a.m.

CBS will focus on Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium. CBS Sports Network will have action from the outer courts.

Bill Macatee, John McEnroe and Mary Carillo will be the main team on CBS. Ian Eagle and Jim Courier will also call action. Chris Wragge will host.

On CBS Sports Network, Dave Ryan and Justin Gimelstob will be in the studio with Sam Gore and Chanda Rubin making one announcing team and Andrew Catalon and Taylor Dent forming another.

Here’s the CBS preview.

CBS SPORTS PRESENTS U.S. OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS THIRD-ROUND COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTED BY MEN’S NO. 1 ROGER FEDERER vs. NO. 25 FERNANDO VERDASCO; NO. 3 ANDY MURRAY vs. NO. 30 FELICIANO LOPEZ; WOMEN’S NO. 2 AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA vs. NO. 30 JELENA JANKOVIC; AND NO. 4 SERENA WILLIAMS vs. EKATERINA MAKAROVA ON SATURDAY, SEPT. 1

CBS Sports presents the U.S. OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS, tennis’ final major of the year and only one played in the United States, for the 45^th consecutive year.  Coverage begins on Saturday, Sept. 1 (12:00 Noon-6:00 PM, ET) with men’s and women’s third-round action. (#USOpen)

Headlining CBS Sports’ coverage is the men’s No. 1-seed Roger Federer taking on No. 25-seed Fernando Verdasco; No. 3-seed Andy Murray against No. 30-seed Feliciano Lopez; women’s No. 2-seed Agnieszka Radwanska versus No. 30 Jelena Jankovic; and No. 4-seed Serena Williams against Ekaterina Makarova.

Also scheduled include upstart American Jack Sock against No. 11-seed Nicolas Almagro and James Blake against No. 15-seed Milos Raonic.

Newly named lead play-by-play announcer Bill Macatee is joined by expert analysts Mary Carillo and John McEnroe in the booth.  Ian Eagle is joined this year by Jim Courier in the booth as part of CBS Sports’ U.S. Open announce team.  Mary Joe Fernandez serves as a reporter.  And, Chris Wragge serves as a contributor.

For the first time, CBS Sports Network features U.S. Open coverage with three days of live Labor Day weekend outer-court action showcasing the most compelling third and fourth-round matches not shown during CBS Sports’ live simultaneous broadcast (11:00 AM-6:00 PM, ET).  The Network also presents TODAY AT THEUSOPEN (10:00-11:00 AM, ET), a live studio show from the USTABillieJeanKingNationalTennisCenterin Flushing Meadows, N.Y.

Dave Ryan anchors coverage from the Mojito Set with analyst Justin Gimelstob.   Sam Gore teams with analyst Chanda Rubin, while Andrew Catalon pairs with analyst Taylor Dent.  Danielle Santoro serves as reporter.

In addition, the entire slate of U.S. Open play on CBS Sports, including both the men’s and women’s singles championships, will be streamed live on CBSSports.com. For the matches played during the opening weekend (Sept. 1, 2, 3), CBSSports.com will allow users to choose between any of the action played on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadium or the Grandstand. Users also can visit CBSSports.com to watch daily news and match previews and highlights, as well as get highlights available on CBS Sports Mobile apps on Android devices and iPhone.

Working his 32^nd U.S. Open, Bob Mansbach serves as coordinating producer of CBS Sports’ live coverage of tennis’ final major of the year. Mansbach and David Winner produce, and lead director Bob Fishman and Jim Cornell direct.

And during Saturday’s coverage, CBS will have a feature on one of the greatest tennis players ever, Pete Sampras and when he knew it was time to retire. Quite topical as Andy Roddick announced his retirement when he’s finished at the U.S. Open.

CBS SPORTS COVERAGE OF 2012 U.S. OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS FEATURES PETE SAMPRAS ON SATURDAY, SEPT. 1

In 2002, Pete Sampras was nearing the end of his illustrious career. He spent two years struggling with his game, failing to win a tournament, and watching his ranking plummet lower and lower. With questions swirling about his retirement, and increasing calls for him to hang up his racquet, Sampras insisted on ending his career on his terms. Ten years later CBS Sports sat down with Sampras during its coverage of the U.S. OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS on Saturday, Sept. 1 (12:00 Noon-6:00 PM, ET) as he reflected on his storybook ending and saying goodbye to the sport he loves. (#USOpen)

“To be Number One for six straight years, it took a lot out of me,” said Sampras. “Week-in and week-out I just didn’t have that hunger to winning every match. Every time I walked into a press conference for a while there, it was about my retirement.  ‘When am I going to retire? You’re not playing as well.  What’s next?’ When you talk about it a lot, you start believing it. Then I asked myself, is it time for me to stop? Is it time for me to move on or do something else? It got to the point where it was affecting me. And it was affecting my results.” Click to view portion of the feature: http://cbsprt.co/PxjBR1. CBS Sports’ Julie Keryc is the producer.

And that does it.

ESPN’s College Football Studio Shows

We know about College GameDay which is ESPN’s signature pregame show for college football. ESPN has provided its studio show lineup for this season. It includes College Football Live and CFB Daily.

We also have the nightly studio crews for the live games from ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ABC. Scott Van Pelt is the new host on Thursday nights joined by stalwarts Lou Holtz and Mark May plus studio newbie Brian Griese.

Take a look at the ESPN lineup.

College GameDay Headlines ESPN College Football Studio Show Lineup
CFB Daily Added to ESPNU’s Schedule

ESPN’s College GameDay – coming off its most-watched season ever – will return Saturday, Sept. 1, live from the Cowboys Classic as part of Kickoff Week at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, beginning at 9 a.m. ET on ESPNU and 10 a.m. on ESPN. On display will be top-10 teams Alabama and Michigan battling as part of the weekly Saturday Night Football series at 8 p.m. on ABC. The GameDay set, with an enhanced look for its 26^th season, will be located outside the state-of-the-art facility.

Hosted by Chris Fowler, GameDay will once again feature Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack during the 10 a.m. – noon hours on ESPN. Samantha Steele joins the first hour on ESPNU with Pollack, and will also contribute reports, interviews and features throughout the final two hours with reporter Tom Rinaldi.

SportsCenter anchor and ESPN Radio host Scott Van Pelt will make several on-site College GameDay appearances throughout the season, including the first weekend in Arlington. In addition, the Scott Van Pelt Show will make a stop at the Cowboys Classic on Friday, Aug. 31, on the East Plaza Lawn from the College GameDay on ESPN Radio set from 1-4 p.m. on ESPN Radio and ESPNRadio.com (except 2-2:30 p.m. when it will originate from the adjacent ESPN College GameDay set and be simulcast on ESPNEWS).

College GameDay on ESPN Radio airs noon-7 p.m. each Saturday with host Ryen Russillo and analysts Trevor Matich and Brad Edwards. The weekly radio show broadcasts live from its Bristol, Conn., studios when not traveling to the top matchups.

Prior to this season’s kickoff, the one-hour special College GameDay Preview Show will air Saturday, Aug. 25, at noon on ESPN with Fowler, Corso, Herbstreit and Howard.

Additional Studio Shows

College Football Live continues to be the daily destination for college football news and updates at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN and 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The show will primarily utilize three hosts – Joe Tessitore (Monday & Wednesday), Fowler (Tuesday & Friday) and John Saunders (Thursday), and will originate from the site of College GameDay most Fridays. Included in the rotation of expert analysts are Howard (Monday) and Herbstreit (Tuesday), who will be available via satellite weekly.

As the ESPN DIRECTV Mobile Studio travels the country visiting sites of top college games, interviews with ESPN analysts, along with coaches and players from each stop, will be incorporated into College Football Live.

ESPNU is joining the daily college football news and update genre with CFB Daily. Hosted by Dari Nowkhah, the new three-hour program beginning at 1 p.m. will have all the latest in college football action as well as in-depth analysis from a variety of guests. CFB Daily will also include a unique look at the top plays, the best hits and the most outstanding catches by incorporating popular video clips from that week. Regular contributors will include sports business reporter Darren Rovell, NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper, Jr., college football analysts Pollack and Jesse Palmer, plus additional ESPN experts.

Studio Commentators

Van Pelt will also host the ESPN College Football Primetime studio coverage with analysts Mark May and Brian Griese, a first-time role for the former Super Bowl champion. In addition, Griese will join returning commentator Dave Pasch on ESPN’s Saturday noon game. Last season, Griese was the analyst on the ESPNU Saturday night telecast.

This season’s Saturday studio coverage sees the return of John Saunders and Jesse Palmer on ABC, Rece Davis, Lou Holtz and May on ESPN and Wendi Nix, Todd McShay and Robert Smith on ESPN2.

Weekly ESPN Game & Wraps Studio Crew (subject to change)

Studio	Commentators
ESPN Thursday	Scott Van Pelt, Mark May & Brian Griese
ESPN Friday	Chris Cotter, Lou Holtz & May
College GameDay	Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Tom Rinaldi & Samantha Steele
ABC Saturday	John Saunders & Jesse Palmer
ESPN Saturday	Rece Davis, Holtz & May
ESPN2 Saturday	Wendi Nix, Todd McShay & Robert Smith
ESPNU Saturday Morning	Dari Nowkhah & Kevin Carter
ESPNU Saturday Evening	Matt Schick & Tom Luginbill, Jason Sehorn or Charles Arbuckle

That will do it.

Review of “America’s Game, The Super Bowl Champions: 2011 Giants”

This is a review of the continuing NFL Network/NFL Films documentary series, “America’s Game, The Super Bowl Champions”. As it has for the previous XLV installments, NFL Films has a successful formula, getting three to four of the winning team’s  coaches and players to talk about the season leading up to the Super Bowl, then getting their reactions to winning the championship.

For the program on the Super Bowl XLVI Champions, the New York Giants, NFL Films was able to have coach Tom Coughlin, quarterback Eli Manning, wide receiver Victor Cruz and defensive end Justin Tuck to talk about their experiences about the 2011 season.

One of the themes of the season and the documentary was “Finish”, in which Cough Coughlin used a film of a high school cross country runner struggling to finish a race on her hands and knees to help her team win to get his point across. And another theme was “All In” which the team used poker chips at the end of the season to put all of their hand on the table to guide them through another improbable playoff run to win the Super Bowl.

“30 Rock” co-star and New York native Alec Baldwin narrates the documentary and notes several key points in the season including regular season wins over the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys plus a loss to the Green Bay Packers that gave the G-Men confidence for a second meeting in the postseason.

As with previous “America’s Game” documentaries, the subjects speak directly into the camera. They provide interesting insights including Victor Cruz telling the viewer that he received a text from Eli Manning asking him to meet up in the offseason so he could throw and get familiar with him.

Also, Manning talked about several key moments including his speech to the team about how he didn’t want to be like his brother Peyton after a Super Bowl loss.

One of the better moments was seeing Giants matriarch Ann Mara scolding Fox’s Terry Bradshaw on air after the NFC Championship Game. It was funny seeing it live and even better that the scene was shown in the documentary.

Giants fans will definitely shed a tear watching the documentary. Overall, it’s a familiar NFL Films formula that works in the best sports documentary series on television. The grade is the usual A for NFL Films and America’s Game.

NFL Online and Tablet Streaming For 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, September 1

Boxing
Boxing After Dark: Gennady Golovkin vs. Grezegorz Proska, Middleweights — HBO, 9:45 p.m.
24/7 Chavez, Jr./Martinez (series premiere) — HBO, 11:45 p.m.
24/7 Road to Ward/Dawson — HBO, 12:15 a.m. (Sunday)

College Football Viewing Picks 

Cycling
Vuelta a España: Stage 14 — Universal Sports, 10 a.m.

English Premier League
West Ham United vs. Fulham — ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Norwich City — Fox Soccer, 10 a.m.
West Bromwich Albion vs. Everton — Fox Soccer Plus, 10 a.m.
Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers — Fox Soccer, 12:30 p.m.
Wigan Athletic vs. Stoke City — Fox Soccer, 2:30 p.m. (same day coverage)
Swansea City vs. Sunderland — Fox Soccer, 4:30 p.m. (same day coverage)

Golf
European PGA Tour: European Masters, 3rd Round — Golf Channel, 7 a.m.
PGA Tour: Deutsche Bank Championship, 2nd Round — Golf Channel, 2 p.m.
Web.com Tour: Mylan Classic, 3rd Round — Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m. (same day coverage)

Horse Racing
Summer at Saratoga
Woodward Stakes — NBC, 5 p.m.

MLB
American League
Baltimore at New York Yankees — MASN/YES, 1 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Toronto — Rogers Sportsnet, 1 p.m.
Anaheim Angels at Seattle — Fox, 4 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Detroit — WGN America/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Kansas City — Fox Sports North, 7 p.m.
Texas at Cleveland — Fox Sports Southwest/STO, 7 p.m.
Boston at Oakland — MLB Network/NESN/Comcast SportsNet California, 9 p.m.

National League
San Francisco at Chicago Cubs — Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/WGN America, 1 p.m.
Philadelphia at Atlanta — Fox, 4 p.m.
St. Louis at Washington — Fox, 4 p.m.
Cincinnati at Houston — Fox Sports Ohio, 7 p.m.
New York Mets at Miami — SNY/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Milwaukee — Root Sports Pittsburgh/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 7 p.m.
San Diego at Colorado — Fox Sports San Diego/Root Sports Rocky Mountain, 8 p.m.
Arizona at Los Angeles Dodgers — MLB Network/Fox Sports Arizona/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 9 p.m.

MLB Player Poll — Fox, 3 p.m.
Fox Saturday Baseball Pregame — Fox, 3:30 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 7 p.m.
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, midnight

MLS
Columbus vs. Montreal — Fox Sports Ohio/TVA, 7:30 p.m.
New England vs. Philadelphia — Comcast SportsNet New England/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Kansas City vs. Toronto — KSMO/Sportsnet One, 8:30 p.m.
Real Salt Lake vs. DC United — KUCW/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, 9 p.m.
LA Galaxy vs. Vancouver — KDOC/TSN/RDS, 10 p.m.

NASCAR
Nationwide Series: Atlanta 300 — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Soccer
Women’s International Friendly
United States vs. Costa Rica — NBC, 2:30 p.m.

Sports Talk
SportsNation — ESPNU, 10 a.m.

Tennis
U.S. Open: Men’s  & Women’s 3rd Round — CBS Sports Network, 11 a.m./CBS, noon
U.S. Open: Primetime at the Open: Men’s  & Women’s 3rd Round — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Breakfast at the Open — Tennis Channel, 6 a.m.
Today at the U.S. Open — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
U.S. Open Tonight — Tennis Channel, 11 p.m.

WNBA
Washington Mystics at New York Liberty — NBA TV, 4 p.m.
Chicago Sky at Indiana Fever — NBA TV, 7 p.m.
San Antonio Silver Stars at Phoenix Mercury — NBA TV, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
Mexican Made Easy: Light and Healthy — Food Network, 9 a.m.
Hideous Houses: Mom’s Hoarding Ends Here! — A&E, 10 a.m.
Luke Nguyen’s Greater Mekong: Xishuangbana, China — Cooking Channel, 12:30 p.m.
The Perfect 3: Brunch — Cooking Channel, 2:30 p.m.
My Cat From Hell: Big Boi Ruins Our Social Life — Animal Planet, 8 p.m.
One Giant Leap: A Neil Armstrong Tribute — Discovery, 8 p.m.
Full Metal Jacket — IFC, 8 p.m.
Easy Chinese: Chinatown Unexpected — Cooking Channel, 8:30 p.m.
Tanked: We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Tank — Animal Planet, 9 p.m.
Doctor Who: Asylum of the Daleks (series premiere) – BBC America, 9 p.m.
Wicked Attraction: Love Me Tender — Investigation Discovery, 9 p.m.
Download Festival 2012 — VH1 Classic, 9 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery: A Family’s Honor — CBS, 10 p.m.
Happily Never After: Bloody Proposal — Investigation Discovery, 10 p.m.
The Investigators: Interview with the Devil — HLN, 10 p.m.
That Metal Show: Aerosmith — VH1 Classic, 11 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark — Sho2, midnight

Sunday, September 2

CFL
Winnipeg at Saskatchewan — TSN/ESPN3, 4 p.m.

College Football 
Bethune-Cookman vs. Alabama State at Orlando, FL — ESPN, noon
Kentucky at Louisville — ESPN, 3;30 p.m.
SMU at Baylor — Fox Sports Net (National)/Fox College Sports Central, 6:30 p.m.

Cycling
Vuelta a España: Stage 15 — Universal Sports, 10 a.m.

English Premier League
Liverpool vs. Arsenal — Fox Soccer, 8:25 a.m.
Southampton vs. Manchester United — Fox Soccer, 10:30 a.m.
Newcastle United vs. Aston Villa — Fox Soccer Plus, 10:53 a.m.

Formula 1
Belgian Grand Prix —  Speed, 7:30 a.m.

Golf
European PGA Tour: European Masters, Final Round — Golf Channel, 7 a.m.
PGA Tour: Deutsche Bank Championship, 3rd Round — Golf Channel, 1 p.m./NBC, 3 p.m.
PGA Tour: Deutsche Bank Championship, 3rd Round Spotlight Coverage — Golf Channel, 3 p.m.
Web.com Tour: Mylan Classic, Final Round — Golf Channel, 7 p.m. (same day coverage)

IndyCar
Baltimore Grand Prix — NBC Sports Network, 2 p.m.

MLB
American League
Baltimore at New York Yankees — MASN/YES, 1 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Toronto — Sun Sports/Rogers Sportsnet, 1 p.m.
Texas at Cleveland — Fox Sports Southwest/STO, 1 p.m.
Minnesota at Kansas City — Fox Sports North/Fox Sports Kansas City, 2 p.m.
Anaheim Angels at Seattle — Fox Sports West/Root Sports Northwest, 4 p.m.
Boston at Oakland — NESN/Comcast SportsNet California, 4 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Detroit — ESPN2, 8 p.m.

National League
New York Mets at Miami — SNY/Fox Sports Florida, 1 p.m.
St. Louis at Washington — Fox Sports Midwest/MASN2, 1:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at Houston — Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Houston, 2 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Milwaukee — Root Sports Pittsburgh/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 2 p.m.
San Francisco at Chicago Cubs — Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/WGN America, 2:20 p.m.
San Diego at Colorado — Fox Sports San Diego/Root Sports Rocky Mountain, 3 p.m.
Arizona at Los Angeles Dodgers — Fox Sports Arizona/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 4 p.m.
Philadelphia at Atlanta — WPHL/Fox Sports South, 5 p.m.

MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 1 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, 8 p.m.
Plays of the Month — MLB Network, 9 p.m.

MLS
Dallas vs. Seattle — Fox Sports Southwest Plus/KONG, 7 p.m.
Chicago vs. Houston — Galavision/WMAQ 5.2, 7 p.m.
San Jose vs. Chivas USA — NBC Sports Network, 9 p.m.

NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series: AdvoCare 500 — ESPN, 7:30 p.m.

Sports Talk
Outside the Lines — ESPN, 9 a.m.
The Sports Reporters — ESPN, 9:30 a.m.

Tennis
U.S. Open: Men’s 3rd Round & Women’s Round of 16 — CBS/CBS Sports Network, 11 a.m.
U.S. Open: Primetime at the Open: Men’s 3rd Round & Women’s  Round of 16 — Tennis Channel, 7 p.m.

Breakfast at the Open — Tennis Channel, 6 a.m.
Today at the U.S. Open — CBS Sports Network, 10 a.m.
U.S. Open Tonight — Tennis Channel, 11 p.m.

WNBA
Connecticut Sun at Atlanta Dream — NBA TV, 3 p.m.
Los Angeles Sparks at Chicago Sky — NBA TV, 6 p.m.

Entertainment
CBS News Sunday Morning — CBS, 9 a.m.
10 Dollar Dinners with Melissa D’Arabian: Swine and Dine — Food Network, 10 a.m.
Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addition: Eastern Intrigue — Food Network, 11 a.m.
60 Minutes — CBS, 7 p.m.
Royal Memories: Prince Charles’ Tribute to the Queen — PBS, 8 p.m.
Women on Death Row — Biography, 8 p.m.
Survivorman: Norwegian Mountain Survival, Part 1 — Discovery, 8 p.m.
MDA Show of Strength — WGN America, 8 p.m.
Big Brother 14 — CBS, 8:01 p.m.
TV’s Most Dynamic Duos: Presented by The Paley Center for Media — ABC, 9 p.m.
The Great Food Truck Race: Even Food Trucks Are Bigger in Texas – Food Network, 9 p.m.
Sins & Secrets: Kansas City — Investigation Discovery, 9 p.m.
Leverage — TNT, 9 p.m.
Weeds — Showtime, 10 p.m.
Breaking Bad (season finale) — AMC, 10 p.m.
Copper: In the Hands of an Angry God — BBC America, 10 p.m.
On the Case with Paula Zahn: Murder at Bird Key — Investigation Discovery, 10 p.m.
Taboo: U.S. of Alcohol — National Geographic Channel, 10 p.m.
Web Therapy: Stalk Therapy — Showtime, 10:30 p.m.
Small Town Security: Lieutenant Croft’s Release — AMC, 11:04 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark — Sho2, midnight

College Football Viewing Picks for 09/01/2012, All Times Eastern

Schedule courtesy of Matt’s College Sports

Pregame & Studio Shows: 
Inside College Football: Notre Dame-Navy Kickoff — CBS Sports Network, 7 a.m.
College GameDay live from Arlington, TX (season premiere) — ESPNU, 9 a.m./ESPN, 10 a.m.
BTN Football Pregame — Big Ten Network, 11 a.m.
College Football Countdown — ABC, 3 p.m.
College Football Scoreboard — ESPN, 6:30 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
SEC Tonight — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.
Fox College Saturday (series premiere) — Fox, 7 p.m.
College Football Final — ESPN2, 1:30 a.m. (Sunday)

9 a.m.
Notre Dame vs. Navy at Dublin, Ireland — CBS (Verne Lundquist/Gary Danielson/Tracy Wolfson/David Feherty)

noon
Miami (OH) at Ohio State — Big Ten Network (Eric Collins/Derek Rackley/Lisa Byington)

Ohio at Penn State — ESPN (Dave Pasch/Brian Griese/Tom Rinaldi/Mark Schwartz)
Northwestern at Syracuse — ESPN2 (Beth Mowins/Joey Galloway/Jenn Brown)
Western Michigan at Illinois — ESPNU (Anish Shroff/Dan Hawkins)

Marshall at West Virginia — FX (Justin Kutcher/Eric Crouch/Darius Walker)
Appalachian State at East Carolina — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Central (Rod Thulin/Shaun King/Desmond Purnell)
Troy at UAB — Fox College Sports Pacific (Mike Gleason/Ben Leber/Lesley McCaslin)

Buffalo at Georgia — SEC Network, 12:21 p.m. (Dave Neal/Andre Ware/Cara Capuano)

12:30 p.m.
Elon at North Carolina — ACC Network

3 p.m.
Richmond at Virginia — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Paul Kennedy/Keith Jones/Jenn Hildreth)

Nevada at Cal — Pac 12 Network (Dave Flemming/Coy Wire/Brooke Olzendam)

3:30 p.m.
Miami (FL) at Boston College — ABC/ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen/Danny Kanell/Maria Taylor)
Southern Mississippi at Nebraska — ABC/ESPN2 (Mike Patrick/Ed Cunningham/Jeannine Edwards)

Eastern Kentucky at Purdue — Big Ten Network (Matt Devlin/Glen Mason/J Leman)
Northern Iowa at Wisconsin — Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler/Chris Martin/Jay Wilson)

Bowling Green at Florida — ESPN (Mark Jones/Brock Huard/Jessica Mendoza)
Iowa vs. Northern Illinois at Chicago, IL — ESPNU (Tom Hart/John Congemi)

Tulsa at Iowa State — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Atlantic (Mark Followill/Gary Reasons)

4 p.m.
Furman at Samford — CSS

Colorado State vs. Colorado at Denver, CO — FX (Craig Bolerjack/Joel Klatt/Petros Papadakis)

7 p.m.
Clemson vs. Auburn at Atlanta, GA — ESPN (Brad Nessler/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe)
North Texas at LSU — ESPNU (Clay Matvick/Matt Stinchcomb/Allison Williams)

Jackson State at Mississippi State — Fox Sports Net (regional) (Bob Rathbun/Tim Couch/Elizabeth Moreau)
Savannah State at Oklahoma State — Fox College Sports Central (Kevin Eschenfelder/ND Kalu/Erin Bajackson)
Northwestern State at Texas Tech — Fox College Sports Pacific (Bill Land/Dave Lapham/Emily Jones)

7:30 p.m.
Hawai’i at USC — Fox (Gus Johnson/Charles Davis/Julie Alexandria)

8 p.m.
Alabama vs. Michigan at Arlington, TX — ABC (Brent Musburger/Kirk Herbstreit/Heather Cox)

Indiana State at Indiana — Big Ten Network (Wayne Larrivee/Jon Jansen/Antwaan Randle El)

Rutgers at Tulane — CBS Sports Network (Brad Johansen/Doug Chapman/Tammy Blackburn)

Texas State at Houston — CSS

Wyoming at Texas — Longhorn Network (Mark Neely/Ray Bentley/Kaylee Hartung)

10:30 p.m.
Arkansas State at Oregon — ESPN (Joe Tessitore/Matt Millen/ Shelley Smith)
Toledo at Arizona — ESPNU (oe Davis/Mike Bellotti)

Oklahoma at UTEP — Fox Sports Net (national)/Fox College Sports Atlantic (Mike Morgan/JC Pearson/Laura McKeeman)

San Diego State at Washington — Pac 12 Network (Kevin Calabro/Adam Archuleta/Yogi Roth)

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

Australian Rules Football
Geelong Cats vs. Sydney Swans —  Fox Soccer Plus, 11:30 p.m.

CFL
BC at Montreal — TSN/NBC Sports Network, 7:30 p.m.

College Football 
NC State vs. Tennessee at Atlanta, GA — ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.
Boise State at Michigan State — ESPN, 8 p.m.
San Jose State at Stanford — Pac 12 Network, 10 p.m.

CFB Daily — ESPNU, 1 p.m.
College Football Live — ESPN, 3 p.m.

College Volleyball
Women’s
Stanford at Penn State — Big Ten Network, 8 p.m.

Cycling
Vuelta a España: Stage 13 — Universal Sports, 10 a.m.

Golf
European PGA Tour: European Masters, 2nd Round — Golf Channel, 8:30 a.m.
PGA Tour: Deutsche Bank Championship, 1st Round — Golf Channel, 2 p.m.
Web.com Tour: Mylan Classic, 2nd Round — Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m. (same day coverage)

MLB
American League
Baltimore at New York Yankees — MLB Network/MASN/YES, 7 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Detroit — MLB Network/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/Fox Sports Detroit, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Toronto — Sun Sports/Rogers Sportsnet, 7 p.m.
Texas at Cleveland — KTXA/STO, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Kansas City — Fox Sports North/Fox Sports Kansas City, 8 p.m.
Anaheim Angels at Seattle — Fox Sports West/Root Sports Northwest, 10 p.m.
Boston at Oakland — NESN/Comcast SportsNet California, 10 p.m.

National League
San Francisco at Chicago Cubs — Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 2:20 p.m.
New York Mets at Miami — SNY/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Washington — Fox Sports Midwest/MASN2, 7 p.m.
Philadelphia at Atlanta — Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia/Peachtree TV/Fox Sports South, 7:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at Houston — Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Houston, 8 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Milwaukee — Root Sports Pittsburgh/Fox Sports Wisconsin, 8 p.m.
San Diego at Colorado — Fox Sports San Diego/Root Sports Rocky Mountain, 8:30 p.m.
Arizona at Los Angeles Dodgers — Fox Sports Arizona/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 10 p.m.

The Rundown — MLB Network, 2 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 10 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN2, midnight
Quick Pitch — MLB Network (Saturday), 1 a.m.

MLS
Portland vs. Colorado — NBC Sports Network, 10:30 p.m.

NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series: Atlanta 200 — Speed, 8 p.m.

Sports Talk
NFL AM — NFL Network, 6 a.m.
The ‘Lights — NBC Sports Network, 7 a.m.
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
Outside the Lines — ESPNews, 2 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m
Best of ROME — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
BTN 5th Anniversary Special — Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
CNBC Sports Biz: Game On! — NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.
UNITE — ESPNU, 10:30 p.m.

Tennis
U.S. Open: Men’s 2nd & Women’s 3rd Round — Tennis Channel, 10:30 a.m./ESPN2, 1 p.m.
U.S. Open: Primetime at the Open: Men’s 2nd & Women’s 3rd Round, Rogerio Dutra Silva vs. Novak Djokovic & Maria Sharapova vs. Mallory Burdette — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Breakfast at the Open — Tennis Channel, 6 a.m.
U.S. Open Tonight — Tennis Channel, 11 p.m.

U-20 Women’s World Cup
Quarterfinals
Germany vs. Norway — ESPNU, 2:50 a.m.
North Korea vs. United States — ESPNU, 6:20 a.m.

UEFA Super Cup
Chelsea vs. Atlético de Madrid — Fox Soccer, 2:30 p.m.

WNBA
Tulsa Shock at Minnesota Lynx — NBA TV, 8 p.m.

Entertainment
The Princess Bride — AMC, 8 p.m.
Sin City — IFC, 8 p.m.
Rollerball (1975) — TCM, 8 p.m.
Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice: Smoke Under Ice — Discovery, 9 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted — Lifetime (The Network That Hates Men), 9 p.m.
Dark Secrets of the Lusitania — National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m.
Boss: Ablution — Starz, 9 p.m.
20/20 — ABC, 9:01 p.m.
Strike Back — Cinemax, 10 p.m.
Eden Eats — Cooking Channel, 10 p.m.
Deadly Women: Insatiable Greed — Investigation Discovery, 10 p.m.
House Hunters International: Barcelona, Spain — HGTV, 10:30 p.m.
Skin to the Max — Cinemax, 11 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark — Sho2, midnight

Heather Cox Officially Named As Saturday Night Football on ABC Sideline Reporter

Rumored earlier this summer, this has now been made official by ESPN. Heather Cox will be the new sideline reporter for Saturday Night Football replacing Erin Andrews who (say it with me now) went to Fox Sports.

Heather who worked the Olympics for NBC as the reporter for beach volleyball, has an extensive resumé with both ESPN and NBC, having worked the sidelines not only on college football, but the NBA, WNBA, beach volleyball and the LPGA.

The Big Lead originally reported that Heather would replace Erin, but she told Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News that nothing had been set in stone and her contract with ESPN was up during the summer. However, as we can see, all things have worked out.

Here’s the official announcement from ESPN.

Heather Cox Named ESPN’s Saturday Night Football on ABC Sideline Reporter

Heather Cox, one of ESPN’s lead game reporters across multiple sports, has been named the new sideline reporter for the weekly Saturday Night Football college football game on ABC. She will join play-by-play commentator Brent Musburger and analyst Kirk Herbstreit each week on broadcast television’s first weekly prime time college football series, which was launched in 2006.

Cox has also signed a multiyear extension with the network where she will continue to work college football, men’s and women’s basketball, NBA and WNBA telecasts across various ESPN outlets. The versatile reporter joined ESPN in 1994 as an analyst on men’s and women’s college and professional volleyball and women’s college basketball.

“Being at ESPN gives me the best opportunity to work on a variety of sports that I am passionate about across multiple platforms,” said Cox. “I’m looking forward to working with Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit, two long-time colleagues and among the best announcers in the industry, on the Saturday Night Football series.”

In addition to covering regular-season NBA games, Cox has worked the playoffs, Draft and All-Star Celebrity Game. She also reports on the LPGA U.S. Women’s Open; NCAA championship for women’s basketball and soccer; men’s and women’s volleyball; college football bowl games, including BCS telecasts; and several professional men and women’s volleyball championships, including the Olympic Trials and World Championships.

The Big Lead has an interview with Heather discussing her new assignment.

NBC Olympics Live Extra App Becomes NBC Sports Live Extra App

If you kept the NBC Olympics Live Extra app on your mobile or tablet, then you may have noticed an update today. It now becomes the NBC Sports Live Extra App. NBC will stream many of its properties live on the app including the NHL, Notre Dame football, the French Open, the Ryder Cup, MLS, Tour de France, the Triple Crown and much more.

NBC says as long as you’re authenticated through your cable or satellite provider, you’ll be able to access the live events.

The first live event that will be available on the new NBC Sports Live Extra app will be Purdue at Notre Dame on September 8.

Sunday Night Football will be available online, as well as mobile and tablets through browsers.

And Olympic moments are still available on the Live Extra app.

Here’s the NBC press release.

“NBC OLYMPICS LIVE EXTRA” APP RE-LAUNCHES TODAY AS “NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA”

App to Live Stream MLS, NHL, Notre Dame Football, PGA Tour, Ryder Cup & More in Upcoming Months
Most Content Only Available To TV Everywhere Customers
Users Will Automatically Receive New App When They Update NBC Olympics Live Extra

NEW YORK – August 30, 2012 – The NBC Olympics Live Extra app, which provided more than 3,500 hours of Olympic live stream content during the London 2012 Olympic Games to TV Everywhere customers, will re-launch today as NBC Sports Live Extra. In the coming months, the new app will live stream an abundance of live sporting events that air on NBC, NBC Sports Network or Golf Channel, including MLS, NHL, Notre Dame Football, PGA TOUR, LPGA, European PGA TOUR, Ryder Cup and more, with the vast majority of content only available to TV Everywhere customers.

The NBC Sports Live Extra app will include companion features such as in-game highlights, social media interactivity, and other elements that will enhance the viewing experience. In partnership with cable, satellite and telco distributors, a larger, secondary re-launch will occur later this year highlighted by numerous NBC Sports Network and Golf Channel live events being provided strictly to TV Everywhere customers.

“Whether used as a primary or secondary screen, the NBC Sports Live Extra app will provide an exceptional viewing experience for mobile and tablet users,” said Rick Cordella, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Digital, NBC Sports Group. “Working with our cable, satellite and telco distributors, we will extend the expertise we have accrued by streaming some of the most popular sporting events to our year-round sports on multiple devices.”

Users who downloaded NBC Olympics Live Extra will automatically receive NBC Sports Live Extra when they update the app. For those who did not download the Olympics app, NBC Sports Live Extra is available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and on select Android handset and tablet devices within Google Play.

Viewers consumed 23.8 million live streams and 4.5 million live stream hours on the NBC Olympics Live Extra app for the 2012 London Olympics. NBC Sports has a rich live streaming history and plans to stream more than 400 live events in 2013. In February, NBCSports.com and NFL.com live streamed Super Bowl XLVI, the first-ever live stream of a Super Bowl. The game attracted 2,105,441 users, making it the most-watched, single-game sports event ever online, according to data provided by Omniture and mDialog, surpassing any previously reported record.

If there any updates or changes in the events that are available on the app, I’ll be sure to let you know here.

TSN/TSN2 2012-13 NHL Regular Season Schedule

NHL ON TSN BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Schedule subject to change without notice

NHL on NBC Sports Group 2012-13 Regular Season Schedule

Here we go, the entire NHL on NBC and NHL on NBC Sports Network schedule for the 2012-13, provided the lockout doesn’t wreak havoc on the games.

If the season starts on time and that’s a big “if”, the combined NBC/NBC Sports Network entity will air over 100 regular season games. NBC’s schedule includes its second annual Black Friday game featuring the New York Rangers at the Boston Bruins, the NHL Winter Classic at the Big House on the campus of the University of Michigan between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs and 9 “Game of the Week” telecasts plus the third annual Hockey Day in America on February 17.

NBC Sports Network will have games from Monday through Wednesday with division rivalries in mid-week. NBCSN will add Sunday nights in January. Here’s the press release.

NBC SPORTS GROUP’S 2012-2013 NHL REGULAR-SEASON TELEVISION SCHEDULE FEATURES OVER 100 GAMES ON NBC & NBC SPORTS NETWORK

NBC Sports Network Nationally Exclusive Wednesday Night Game Will Feature Some of the NHL’s Biggest Rivalries
NBC Sports Network again hosts All-Star Weekend
Hockey Day in America Expanded to Triple-Header with Doubleheader on NBC Followed by Evening Game on NBC Sports Network
NBC highlights include second annual Thanksgiving Friday game; NHL Winter Classic from Michigan Stadium; and weekly “Game of the Week” broadcasts beginning Jan. 20
Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings Scheduled for Nine Exclusive Appearances; New York Rangers Scheduled for 11; Pittsburgh Penguins 11; Buffalo Sabres 12; Detroit Red Wings 11; Philadelphia Flyers 11 and St. Louis Blues 12

NEW YORK (August 30, 2012) — The NBC Sports Group today announced its coverage plans for the 2012-13 NHL regular season, which include the following highlights:

• More than 100 regular-season games on NBC and NBC Sports Network;
• Wednesday night exclusive coverage featuring some of the league’s biggest rivalries;
• The first ever Hockey Day in America tripleheader, including an evening game on NBC Sports Network between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers;
• The second annual Thanksgiving Friday game, the 2012 Discover NHL Thanksgiving Showdown™, on NBC featuring the New York Rangers at the Boston Bruins;
• The 2013 NHL Winter Classic on NBC featuring the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Detroit Red Wings from at Michigan Stadium at the University of Michigan, which has a capacity of more than 109,000.
• NBC and the NBC Sports Network will combine to present nine games of the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, the most ever for the team on NBC Sports platforms.

OPENING NIGHTS: The season begins with a doubleheader on Thursday, October 11, when the Philadelphia Flyers host the Boston Bruins at 7 p.m. ET, immediately followed by the Colorado Avalanche at home against the St. Louis Blues at 10 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

The newly crowned 2012 Stanley Cup Champion L.A. Kings will open their season with a banner raising live on Friday, October 12 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network prior to their game against the N.Y. Rangers at 10:30 p.m. ET. During the regular season, NBC and NBC Sports Network will air several exclusive games from the NHL teams, including nine featuring the LA Kings, the most ever for the team on NBC Sports platforms, 12 Boston Bruins games and 11 games from the NY Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins.

EXCLUSIVE NIGHTS: NBC Sports Network’s exclusive Wednesday night coverage will now feature the biggest rivalries in the NHL. The network will include a live pre- and post-game show before/after every telecast and will continue with NHL Live and NHL Overtime. The network will air exclusive coverage Wednesday nights, and then in January, add a second exclusive night on Sundays, giving NHL fans four straight nights of hockey action.

WEDNESDAY RIVALRIES: NBC Sports Network’s nationally exclusive Wednesday night window will feature some of the NHL’s top rivalries throughout the season. They include:

Wednesday, October 17	New York Rangers	New Jersey	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, October 31	Pittsburgh	Washington	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 14	Washington	New York Rangers	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 19	New Jersey	Philadelphia	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 16	St. Louis	Chicago	8 p.m.
Wednesday, January 30	Montreal	Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 13	Chicago	Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 20	Philadelphia	Pittsburgh	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 27	Washington	Philadelphia	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 27	Montreal	Boston	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 3	Pittsburgh	New York Rangers	7:30 p.m.

THANKSGIVING: For the second consecutive year, NBC commences its broadcast coverage with a special match-up on Friday, November 23, at 1 p.m. ET, the day after Thanksgiving. The Boston Bruins, who have a Thanksgiving Friday tradition and hosted last year’s inaugural game on NBC, will host the N.Y. Rangers live from the TD Bank Garden in Boston.

NBC’s “GAME OF THE WEEK”: NBC will continue its national “Game of the Week” coverage on Sundays, debuting on January 20 with a battle between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks from United Center in Chicago.

HOCKEY DAY IN AMERICA: “Hockey Day in America” will celebrate America’s passion for hockey live from New York on Sunday, February 17, featuring nine hours of coverage and eight teams from some of the most avid U.S. hockey markets. The NBC Sports Group will broadcast three NHL games with the first two broadcasts, Detroit at Minnesota and Pittsburgh at Buffalo, airing regionally with staggered starts, followed by national coverage of Boston at Chicago at 3 p.m. ET. The final game that day will be between the Philadelphia Flyers and the N.Y. Rangers at 6 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

ALL-STAR WEEKEND: NBC Sports Network will televise NHL All-Star weekend live from Columbus, Ohio on Jan. 26-27, 2013. Coverage includes the NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft, NHL Skills Competition and the NHL All-Star Game.

NHL WINTER CLASSIC: The Detroit Red Wings will compete against longtime rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2013 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic from Michigan Stadium on the University of Michigan campus on New Year’s Day, 2013 at 1 p.m. ET. The Maple Leafs will be the first Canadian team to participate in a Winter Classic. Michigan Stadium, also known as ‘The Big House,’ has a capacity for football of more than 109,000.

NBC 2012-13 NHL regular-season schedule (all times ET, subject to change):

Date	Away	Home	Time
Friday, November 23	New York Rangers	Boston	1 p.m.
Tuesday, January 1	Toronto	Detroit	1 p.m.
Sunday, January 20	Philadelphia	Chicago	12:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 3	Los Angeles	Washington	12:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 10	Los Angeles	Pittsburgh	12:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 17	Detroit	Minnesota	12:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 17	Pittsburgh	Buffalo	12:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 17	Boston	Chicago	3:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 3	Chicago	Detroit	12:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 10	Chicago	Philadelphia	3 p.m.
Sunday, March 17	Boston	Pittsburgh	12:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 31	Boston	Philadelphia	7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 7	Washington	Pittsburgh	7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 13	New York Rangers	Philadelphia	3 p.m.

NBC Sports Network 2012-13 NHL regular-season schedule (all times ET, subject to change):

Date	Away	Home	Time
Thursday, October 11	Boston	Philadelphia	7 p.m.
Thursday, October 11	St. Louis	Colorado	10 p.m.
Friday, October 12	New York Rangers	Los Angeles	10:30 p.m.
Monday, October 15	Florida	Washington	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, October 16	Detroit	Buffalo	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, October 17	New York Rangers	New Jersey	7:30 p.m.
Monday, October 22	Florida	New York Islanders	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, October 23	Detroit	Columbus	7 p.m.
Wednesday, October 24	New Jersey	Buffalo	7:30 p.m.
Monday, October 29	Washington	Minnesota	8 p.m.
Tuesday, October 30	Los Angeles	St. Louis	8 p.m.
Wednesday, October 31	Pittsburgh	Washington	7:30 p.m.
Monday, November 5	Pittsburgh	Chicago	8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 7	Pittsburgh	Toronto	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, November 13	Dallas	Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 14	Washington	New York Rangers	7:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 15 Monday, November 19	San Jose Pittsburgh	Dallas Detroit	8 p.m. 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, November 20	Montreal	New Jersey	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 21	Tampa Bay	Carolina	7:30 p.m.
Monday, November 26	Minnesota	Pittsburgh	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, November 27	New Jersey	Boston	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, November 28	Chicago	Minnesota	8 p.m.
Monday, December 3	Buffalo	Toronto	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 4	San Jose	Buffalo	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 5	New York Rangers	Washington	7:30 p.m.
Monday, December 10	Boston	Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 11	Pittsburgh	Washington	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 12	Minnesota	St. Louis	8 p.m.
Monday, December 17	Buffalo	Montreal	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, December 18	Phoenix	St. Louis	8 p.m.
Wednesday, December 19	New Jersey	Philadelphia	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 26	Washington	Buffalo	7:30 p.m.
Monday, December 31	New York Rangers	Florida	7 p.m.
Wednesday, January 2	New York Rangers	Chicago	8 p.m.
Sunday, January 6	Detroit	Chicago	8 p.m.
Tuesday, January 8	Tampa Bay	Pittsburgh	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 9	Boston	Buffalo	7:30 p.m.
Sunday, January 13	Boston	New York Rangers	7:30 p.m.
Monday, January 14	Dallas	Colorado	9 p.m.
Tuesday, January 15	Anaheim	Minnesota	8 p.m.
Wednesday, January 16	St. Louis	Chicago	8 p.m.
Thursday, January 17	San Jose	Minnesota	8 p.m.
Sunday, January 20	Detroit	St. Louis	12:30 or 7:30 p.m.
Monday, January 21	Los Angeles	Nashville	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, January 22	San Jose	St. Louis	8 p.m.
Wednesday, January 23	Colorado	Dallas	8 p.m.
Tuesday, January 29	Boston	St. Louis	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 30	Montreal	Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Monday, February 4	Boston	Colorado	9 p.m.
Tuesday, February 5	Los Angeles	Buffalo	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 6	Buffalo	Boston	7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 10	Detroit	St. Louis	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 12	Pittsburgh	Philadelphia	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 13	Chicago	Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 14	San Jose	Tampa Bay	7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 17	Philadelphia	New York Rangers	6 p.m.
Tuesday, February 19	Detroit	Chicago	8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 20	Philadelphia	Pittsburgh	7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 24	Tampa Bay	Pittsburgh	7:30 p.m.
Monday, February 25	New York Rangers	Philadelphia	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, February 26	Buffalo	Tampa Bay	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 27	Washington	Philadelphia	7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 3	Pittsburgh	St. Louis	7:30 p.m.
Monday, March 4	Montreal	Boston	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 5	Tampa Bay	New Jersey	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 6	Colorado	Chicago	8 p.m.
Sunday, March 10	Boston	Washington	7:30 p.m.
Monday, March 11	Colorado	Los Angeles	10 p.m.
Tuesday, March 12	Phoenix	Minnesota	8 p.m.
Wednesday, March 13	Philadelphia	New Jersey	7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 17	Buffalo	Washington	7:30 p.m.
Monday, March 18	San Jose	Dallas	8 p.m.
Tuesday, March 19	Phoenix	Nashville	8 p.m.
Wednesday, March 20	New York Rangers	Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 24	Philadelphia	Pittsburgh	7:30 p.m.
Monday, March 25	Los Angeles	Dallas	8 p.m.
Tuesday, March 26	Buffalo	Tampa Bay	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 27	Montreal	Boston	7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 31	Chicago	Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Monday, April 1	Minnesota	Chicago	8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 2	Nashville	St. Louis	8 p.m.
Wednesday, April 3	Pittsburgh	New York Rangers	7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 7	St. Louis	Detroit	7:30 p.m.
Monday, April 8	Buffalo	Toronto	7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 9	Los Angeles	Dallas	8 p.m.
Wednesday, April 10	Boston	New Jersey	7:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 11	Dallas	Minnesota	8 p.m.
Saturday, April 13	Boston	Buffalo	7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 13	San Jose	Phoenix	9 p.m.

That’s all.

NHL Releases The 2012-13 Regular Season National TV Schedules

This is like last year when the NBA released its national TV schedules in the midst of its lockout and nobody cared. Now, it’s the NHL’s turn to release this and until the lockout is settled between the league and its NHL Players Association, this means nothing.

After all the momentum the NHL built at the end of last season, there’s labor strife and Commissioner Gary Bettman seems to be in no hurry to end despite a nice fat TV contract with NBC and a TV negotiation upcoming in Canada that could further expand the league’s coffers.

Anyway, we have this press release from the National Hockey League talking about the number of games on NBC, NBC Sports Network, NHL Network, CBC, RDS and TSN.

NBC Sports Group will combine for over 100 regular season games including games on Sunday afternoons, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

CBC will carry 101 games including Hockey Night in Canada doubleheaders on Saturday nights.

TSN has Wednesday Night Hockey and will take 237 games on its combined TSN/TSN2 group.

RDS is the French language rightsholder for Canada and will carry all Montreal Canadiens games plus the Winter Classic and All-Star Weekend.

NHL Network will have 82 regular season games mostly from local feeds.

Take a look at what the NHL is saying. After that, I’ll post the press releases from the NHL’s TV partners in separate posts.

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE UNVEILS 2012-13 NATIONAL TELEVISION SCHEDULE

NEW YORK (August 30, 2012) – The National Hockey League (NHL) announced today the television schedules for national partners NBC, NBC Sports Network, CBC, TSN, TSN2, RDS and NHL Network-U.S. for the 2012-13 regular season.

In the U.S., NBC and NBC Sports Network enter the second season of the 10-year agreement with the NHL, the largest media rights deal in League history. It also is the eighth consecutive season both networks have served as a national television partner of the NHL in the U.S. In Canada, CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada begins its 60th regular season of NHL® broadcasts. TSN, whose relationship with the NHL dates back to 1987, continues as the League’s national English-language cable partner. French-language telecast partner RDS has been televising NHL games since its inception in 1989 and enters its 10th consecutive season presenting every Montreal Canadiens game.

NBC Sports Group
Throughout the season, NBC Sports Group once again will offer hockey fans in the U.S. more than 100 games across NBC and NBC Sports Network. NBC Sports Network will air NHL games three consecutive nights each week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday nights will be exclusive, and in January, NBC Sports Network will add a second exclusive night on Sundays, giving NHL fans four straight nights of hockey action. The network will include a live pre-game (NHL Live™) and post-game (NHL Overtime™) show before and after every telecast. NBC Sports Network also will televise NHL All-Star Weekend live from Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 25-27, 2013. Coverage includes the NHL All-Star Player Fantasy Draft™, NHL All-Star Skills Competition™ and the NHL® All-Star Game.

For the second consecutive season, NHL on NBC broadcast coverage launches on Thanksgiving Friday, with the 2012 NHL Thanksgiving Showdown™ featuring the Boston Bruins playing host to the New York Rangers at 1:00 p.m. ET. NBC will follow up that broadcast with the 2013 NHL Winter Classic® on Tuesday, Jan. 1, at Michigan Stadium on the campus of the University of Michigan, before airing the weekly “Game of the Week” beginning Jan. 20. On Feb. 17, Hockey Day in America will be expanded to a triple-header, with two afternoon games on NBC followed by evening game on NBC Sports Network.

CBC
CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada returns for its 60th season, marking a new milestone for one of the longest running and most iconic programs in Canadian television history. The 60th anniversary season is highlighted by 101 regular-season games, including a special Thursday, Nov. 1, match-up between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, just as it did in 1952 when Hockey Night in Canada first took to the TV airwaves. The 2013 NHL Winter Classic® and the 60th NHL All-Star Game also return exclusively to CBC this season. Hockey Night in Canada on CBC will continue to honor Canada’s pastime as Hockey Day in Canada celebrates its 13th annual broadcast from Lloydminster AB/SK, Canada’s only border town, on Feb. 9, 2013. All Canadian teams will be featured on the day-long broadcast, which commemorates and highlights local hockey heroes.

With CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada continued commitment to connect Canadians to the NHL and the sport of hockey no matter where they are on game night, all 101 regular-season games will be streamed online as well as available for iPad and iPhone users.

TSN
TSN platforms will broadcast 237 NHL regular-season games during the 2012-13 season, its most extensive broadcast package ever. TSN will broadcast 88 regular-season games nationally, including 74 games featuring Canadian teams. TSN2 will air 63 games. Highlighting TSN’s 2012-13 NHL regular-season broadcast schedule is the Hockey Hall of Fame Game, airing for the first time on TSN. Featuring New Jersey at Toronto on Friday, November 9, the Hockey Hall of Fame Game honors 2012 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Pavel Bure, Adam Oates, Joe Sakic and Mats Sundin. In addition, TSN has exclusive Canadian coverage of the NHL Draft, NHL Draft™ Lottery and the Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Celebration while retaining the English-language exclusivity of “Wednesday Night Hockey” during which there is no other national or local NHL telecasts.

RDS
RDS will once again have French-language coverage of all 82 regular-season Montreal Canadiens games. RDS and RDS INFO also will broadcast a package of games featuring other NHL teams, including the 2013 NHL Winter Classic® and full coverage of the NHL All-Star Weekend.

NHL Network-U.S.
NHL Network-U.S. will televise 78 live games for its American audience this season, focusing on Thursday nights and Saturdays, including 14 doubleheaders and three tripleheaders. Regular-season coverage on NHL Network-U.S. gets underway on Friday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET and features Nashville at Detroit. The Red Wings will begin their quest for a 22nd consecutive postseason berth against captain Shea Weber and the Predators, the very team that eliminated them from the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

On Saturday evenings, NHL Network-U.S. will continue to incorporate the highly acclaimed CBC programming “Coaches Corner” and “Hotstove” into intermission content for American fans. Other highlights include eight appearances by the current Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings and Zach Parise’s return to New Jersey when the Minnesota Wild take on the Devils on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

NHL Network’s signature show, NHL Tonight™ hosted by Kathryn Tappen and featuring a rotating cast of analysts, returns across North America, providing highlights and analysis of every NHL game on a nightly basis. In addition to NHL Tonight, the network also will feature live original programming each evening with  NHL Live™ and NHL On the Fly™. As always, NHL Network™ will continue to bring fans exclusive coverage from all of the NHL’s signature events throughout the season. Information on the dates and times of the NHL Network live-game schedule for Canadian viewers will be released in the near future.

2012-13 Regular Season
The NHL’s 2012-13 regular season is scheduled to commence on Thursday, Oct. 11, with a quartet of games. The following night – Friday, Oct. 12 – the Los Angeles Kings will raise the first Stanley Cup® Championship banner in franchise history in front of a national audience on NBC Sports Network.

Opening night will feature nationally televised double-headers in both the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., NBC Sports Network will air the 2011 Stanley Cup® champion Boston Bruins visiting the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center as well as the St. Louis Blues taking on the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center. In Canada, CBC and RDS will televise the Montreal Canadiens playing host to the Ottawa Senators at Bell Centre and the Calgary Flames battling the Vancouver Canucks at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Under the NHL scheduling matrix, each team plays six games against each team in its division (24 games), four games against the non-division teams within its conference (40 games) plus 18 non-conference games – including at least one game against each club in the other conference (15 games) and three other games against select teams.

The 2012-13 NHL regular season will conclude on Saturday, April 13, with 28 teams competing in what promises to be a thrilling 14-game fight to the finish.

NBC Sports Group’s schedule is coming up.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Football
South Carolina at Vanderbilt — ESPN, 7 p.m.
Northern Colorado at Utah — Pac-12 Network, 7:15 p.m.
UMass at UConn — Big East Network, 7:30 p.m.
UCLA at Rice — CBS Sports Network, 7:30 p.m.
South Carolina State at Georgia State — CSS, 7:30 p.m.
Washington State at BYU — ESPN, 10:15 p.m.
Northern Arizona at Arizona State — Pac-12 Network, 10:30 p.m.
Minnesota at UNLV — CBS Sports Network, 11 p.m.

CFB Daily — ESPNU, 1 p.m.
College Football Live — ESPN, 3 p.m.
College Football Kickoff Special — ESPNU, 4:30 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 6:30 p.m.
ESPN Goal Line — ESPNU, 7 p.m.

CONCACAF Champions League
Group Stage
Caledonia vs. Seattle Sounders — Fox Soccer, 8 p.m.
Olimpia vs. Houston Dynamo — Fox Soccer, 10 p.m.

Cycling
Vuelta a España: Stage 12 — Universal Sports, 10 a.m.

Golf
European PGA Tour: European Masters, 1st Round — Golf Channel, 8:30 a.m.
PGA Tour: Deutsche Bank Championship, Pro Am — Golf Channel, 5 p.m.
Web.com Tour: Mylan Classic, 1st Round — Golf Channel, 3 p.m.

MLB
American League
Chicago White Sox at Baltimore — WGN America/MASN, 12:30 p.m.
Seattle at Minnesota — Root Sports Northwest/Fox Sports North, 1 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Toronto — MLB Network/Sun Sports/Rogers Sportsnet, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Kansas City — Fox Sports Detroit/Fox Sports Kansas City, 8 p.m.
Boston at Anaheim Angels — NESN/Fox Sports West, 10 p.m.

National League
New York Mets at Philadelphia — SNY/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs — Fox Sports Wisconsin/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 2:20 p.m.
St. Louis at Washington — MLB Network/Fox Sports Midwest/MASN, 7 p.m.
San Francisco at Houston — Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 8 p.m.
Arizona at Los Angeles Dodgers — Fox Sports Arizona/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 10 p.m.

The Rundown — MLB Network, 1 p.m.
MLB Tonight: On-Deck Circle — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
Caught Looking:  Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals — NBC Sports Network, 9 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 10 p.m.
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, 1 a.m. (Friday)
Baseball Tonight — ESPN2, 2 a.m. (Friday)

NFL  Preseason
Atlanta at Jacksonville — WGCL/WTEV,  6:30 p.m.
New York Jets at Philadelphia — WCBS/WPVI, 6:30 p.m.
Baltimore at St. Louis — Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/WBAL/KTVI, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Detroit — WKBW/WXYZ, 7 p.m.
Carolina at Pittsburgh — WCCB/KDKA, 7 p.m.
Cincinnati at Indianapolis — WKRC/WNDY, 7 p.m.
Kansas City at Green Bay — NFL Network/KCTV/KSMO/WTMJ/WGBA, 7 p.m.
Minnesota at Houston — KARE/KTRK, 7 p.m.
New Orleans at Tennessee — Cox Sports Television/WVUE/WKRN, 7 p.m.
Chicago at Cleveland — WFLD/WKYC, 7:30 p.m.
Oakland at Seattle — KICU/KCPQ, 10 p.m.
San Diego at San Francisco — KFMB/KBCW, 10 p.m.
Denver at Arizona — NFL Network/KTVD/KNXV, 11 p.m.

Sports Talk
NFL AM — NFL Network, 6 a.m.
The ‘Lights — NBC Sports Network, 7 a.m.
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
Numbers Never Lie — ESPNU, 4 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
Best of ROME — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
UNITE — ESPNU, midnight

Tennis
U.S. Open: Men’s & Women’s 2nd Round — Tennis Channel, 10:30 a.m./ESPN2, 1 p.m.
U.S. Open: Primetime at the Open, Men’s & Women’s 2nd Round, Roger Federer vs. Bjorn Phau & Angelique Kerber vs. Venus Williams — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Breakfast at the Open — Tennis Channel, 6 a.m.
U.S. Open Tonight — Tennis Channel, 11 p.m.

Track & Field
IAAF Diamond League,  Zurich, Switzerland
Diamond League Finals — Universal Sports, 2 p.m.

U-20 Women’s World Cup
Quarterfinals
Mexico vs. Nigeria — ESPNU, 2:50 a.m.
Japan vs. South Korea — ESPNU, 6:20 a.m.

UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League Group Stage Draw & Awards Ceremony — Fox Soccer, 11:30 a.m.

WNBA
Washington Mystics at Atlanta Dream — NBA TV, 7 p.m.

News
Republican National Convention — CNN/C-SPAN/Current/MSNBC/PBS, 7 p.m.
Republican National Convention — Bloomberg/Fox Business News/TV One, 8 p.m.
Republican National Convention — BET, 9:30 p.m.
Republican National Convention — ABC/CBS/CNBC/Fox News/NBC/Univision, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
Wipeout — ABC, 8 p.m.
The Rock — Showtime, 8 p.m.
Top 20 Most Shocking: Prank Wars — truTV, 8 p.m.
Big Brother 14 — CBS, 9 p.m.
Crime,  Inc.: Hollywood Robbery — CNBC, 9 p.m.
Behind Mansion Walls: Family Ties — Investigation Discovery, 9 p.m.
Wilfred — FX, 10 p.m.
Very Bad Men: Natural Born Killer — Investigation Discovery, 10 p.m.
Extreme Chef: Desert Survival — Food Network, 10 p.m.
The Real L Word: Premonitions — Showtime, 10 p.m.
Louie — FX, 10:30 p.m.
House Hunters International: Brussels, Belgium — HGTV, 10:30 p.m.
Very Bad Men: Baseline Killer — Investigation Discovery, 10:30 p.m.
Gigolos (season premiere) — Showtime, 11 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark — Sho2, 1 a.m. (Friday)

Report: Jim Rome Leaving Premiere Radio Networks to Join CBS Sports Radio

This report comes from a non-traditional sports media source. Nellie Andreeva of the TV industry website Deadline is reporting that Jim Rome will take his radio show from his long time home of the Premiere Radio Networks to the new CBS Sports Radio that will be launching on January 2, 2013.

Rome’s show has been with Premiere since 1996. The move to CBS Radio would be a natural fit since Rome’s nightly TV show is on CBS Sports Network and his contract allows him to contribute to CBS’ major sports properties such as the U.S. Open, the NCAA Tournament and the NFL.

In addition, Rome is expected to have a sports and entertainment show on Showtime so bringing his radio show to the new CBS Sports Radio is just a natural progression.

In my Wednesday sports media thoughts, I wrote CBS Sports Radio was hoping for a big name for its lineup to join Doug Gottlieb who had been previously lured from ESPN Radio. Well, Jim Rome certainly gives the new network a nice one-two punch with him and Gottlieb back-to-back.

Now the morning drive period has to be filled and perhaps that will come from CBS Radio’s WFAN in New York with the already established Boomer & Carton, Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton. Esiason has already been signed to be a regular contributor on CBS Sports Radio so maybe his show will be the next big announcement.

In the meantime, we’ll find out later when Rome’s last show for Premiere will air. I would expect Rome to begin with CBS Sports Radio when the network launches on January 2, 2013. We’ll get a formal announcement soon.

Fox Sports Media Group’s College Football Games For Week 1

We have what’s in store for Fox Sports’ cable and broadcast networks this weekend in college football. Of course, it marks the debut of the new pregame show hosted by Erin Andrews with analysts Eddie George and Joey Harrington. Plus Fox will have primetime games throughout the season except during October when it will focus on the National League Championship Series and the World Series.

Let’s take a look at what you’ll see on the Fox Sports Media Group including Fox, Big Ten Network, FX, Fox Sports Net and Fox College Sports. It’s all listed below.

FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES

A New Era in College Football Begins Saturday
Andrews, Harrington & George Gets Fans Ready for Kick-Off with FOX COLLEGE SATURDAY at 7:00 PM ET
Johnson & Davis Call FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL Premiere: Hawai’i at No. 1 USC

FOX SPORTS KICKS-OFF COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON IN PRIMETIME – All eyes will be on Los Angeles Saturday, Sept. 1 (7:00 PM ET) as FOX Sports kicks-off 13 consecutive weeks of college football action, including 12 primetime games and seven doubleheaders.  Expected Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Barkley begins his quest to lead preseason No. 1 USC to a national title when the Trojans host Hawai’i. College Football on FOX’s lead broadcast team of play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson, analyst Charles Davis and reporter Julie Alexandria call the action from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

FOX’s coverage begins with the premiere of FOX COLLEGE SATURDAY.  Erin Andrews hosts the new college football pregame show, originating live each week from FOX’s brand new state-of-the-art studio in the FOX Network Center in Los Angeles.  Joining Andrews in studio for FOX Sports’ first-ever regular-season over-the-air college football package as analysts are Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George and former Oregon All-American Quarterback Joey Harrington.  Additionally, the trio handles all halftime and postgame studio coverage.

Each weekend throughout the college football season, FOX Sports Media Group will also provide a comprehensive schedule of games on its regional sports networks. Action kicks off Saturday, Sept. 1 (12:00 PM ET) with an intense in-state battle as star quarterback Geno Smith attempts to lead No. 11 ranked West Virginia to victory over Marshall on FX.  That game marks WVU’s first game as a member of the Big 12 Conference.  Other Week 1 games include Troy at UAB (12:00 PM ET) on FCS, Tulsa at Iowa State (3:30 PM ET) on FSN, Oklahoma at UTEP (10:30 PM ET) on FSN and SMU at Baylor Sunday, Sept. 2 (6:30 PM ET) on FSN.

For instant updates during the week and games from the entire CFB on FOX crew, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CFBONFOX. Fans can gain more access to exclusive FOX Sports content by logging on to www.facebook.com/foxsports.

HARRINGTON, GEORGE & ANDREWS PREVIEW 2012 COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON  –  A new era in college football coverage starts this weekend with the premiere of FOX COLLEGE SATURDAY with host Erin Andrews, Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer Eddie George and former Oregon All-American quarterback Joey Harrington. The new team previewed the FOX College Football season yesterday afternoon. Transcribed highlights are below.

George on who can challenge the SEC for the national title: “Florida State appears loaded.  They brought back EJ Manuel and one of the best defenses in the country. They also have the easiest road to get to the championship game. Talented teams like Oklahoma, LSU, Alabama, USC and Oregon are going to have something to say but Florida State has a chance.”

Harrington on the sleeper team in the SEC: “I’m not as high on LSU as everybody else is right now. The quarterback hasn’t played a down of D-1 football yet and they lost their top-two corners. As good as LSU and Alabama were on defense, South Carolina’s defense got completely ignored and were phenomenal. South Carolina is in position to make a splash.”

Harrington on starting a freshman quarterback: “There are two reasons a freshman is going to be playing: one is necessity and two is he’s just that much better. Even if he’s more physically talented than the other guys out there, there’s still going to be struggles. That’s the nature of being a freshman quarterback. The success of the team is going to be dependent on what their supporting cast is. Even with a guy who has that type of understanding of the game of football you’re going to make a lot of mistakes. It’s going to come down to young kid’s ability to bounce back from a bad game, a play of a bad series. I’ve never been in a position of making that decision as a head coach but I wouldn’t choose to play a freshman quarterback unless I really had to. ”

Andrews on her transition from sidelines to studio: “I’ll miss being on campus. I did it for 10 years. I’m a sports fan and who doesn’t love having the best seats in the house right down there on the sidelines? This is another way to become more versatile and I’ll have my opportunities to get out on the field for NFL.”

Andrews on working with Eddie George and Joey Harrington: “The No.1 thing that sold me on this college football show was Eddie and Joey. The second I sat down with those two and started talking college football I was so excited. They live and breathe it. They don’t agree on a lot of things and that will separate our show from a lot of other shows. You don’t want guys that think the same way about teams, players and coaching styles.”

George on managing the game plan with first-year quarterbacks in college football: “First-year quarterbacks play with some excitement and some fear.  You’d have to expect the game plans to be simplified and geared to their skill set which puts the onus of winning on the defense.  Any team with a first-year quarterback depends heavily on their running game. Speaking with Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy about freshman quarterback Wes Lunt, he agreed with me saying they’re not going to overwhelm him with too much work.  Simplify the game plan.”

George on challenges the once dominant Miami Hurricanes face this year:  “With the scrutiny they’ve had under the last year and a half, it’s tough for Miami to bring in the same type of talent that they have through the years.  It’ll be another year of struggle for them after losing Ray-Ray Armstrong who was a key leader in their secondary. They have a huge question mark at the quarterback position and lost key guys out of the backfield from last year. They’re going to go through their rebuilding phase and they’re right in the middle of that.”

FOX SPORTS MEDIA GROUP WEEKEND COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
*All Times Eastern

DATE	TIME	GAME	OUTLET	Play by Play	Analyst	Sideline
Saturday, Sept. 1	7: 30 PM	Hawai’i at USC	FOX	Gus Johnson	Charles Davis	Julie Alexandria
Saturday, Sept. 1	12:00 PM	Miami (Ohio) at Ohio St.	BTN	Eric Collins	Derek Rackley	Lisa Byington
Saturday, Sept. 1	12:00 PM	Troy at UAB	FCS	Mike Gleason	Ben Leber	Lesley McCaslin
Saturday, Sept. 1	12:00 PM	Appalachian St. at East Carolina	FSN (National)	Ron Thulin	Shaun King	Desmond Purnell
Saturday, Sept. 1	12:00 PM	Marshall at West Virginia	FX	Justin Kutcher	Eric Crouch	Darius Walker
Saturday, Sept. 1	3:00 PM	Richmond at Virginia	FS South	Paul Kennedy	Keith Jones	Jenn Hildreath
Saturday, Sept. 1	3:30 PM	Northern Iowa at Wisconsin	BTN	Kevin Kugler	Chris Martin	Jay Wilson
Saturday, Sept. 1	3:30 PM	Eastern Kentucky at Purdue	BTN	Matt Devlin	Glen Mason	J Leman
Saturday, Sept. 1	3:30 PM	Tulsa at Iowa St.	FSN (National)	Mark Followill	Gary Reasons	TBA
Saturday, Sept. 1	4:00 PM	Colorado St. vs. Colorado (From Denver)	FX	Craig Bolerjack	Joel Klatt	Petros Papadakis
Saturday, Sept. 1	7:00 PM	Savannah St. at Oklahoma St.	FCS	Kevin Eschenfelder	ND Kalu	Erin Bajackson
Saturday, Sept. 1	7:00 PM	Northwestern St. at Texas Tech	FSSW Plus	Bill Land	Dave Lapham	Emily Jones
Saturday, Sept. 1	7:00 PM	Jackson St. at Miss St.	FS South	Bob Rathbun	Tim Couch	Elizabeth Moreau
Saturday, Sept. 1	8:00 PM	Indiana State at Indiana	BTN	Wayne Larrivee	Jon Jansen	Antwaan Randle El
Saturday, Sept. 1	10:30 PM	Oklahoma at UTEP	FSN (National)	Mike Morgan	JC Pearson	Laura McKeeman
Sunday, Sept. 2	6:30 PM	SMU at Baylor	FSN (National)	Joel Meyers	Brian Baldinger	Jim Knox

There you have it.

ESPN’s College Football Games For Week 1 Including Announcing Assignments

I already gave you the 2012 ESPN College Football regular season schedule earlier today. Now let’s take a look at the Week 1 schedule complete with announcing assignments.

ESPN’s college football slate begins Thursday with a doubleheader beginning with an SEC matchup between South Carolina and Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. ET, followed by an intriguing interconference game featuring Washington State and BYU at 10:15 p.m.

Of course, ESPN3 will have its share of season opening games on Thursday as well.

This weekend marks the debut of several new announcing teams for the ESPN Family including Joe Tessitore and Matt Millen calling a Saturday night game, Beth Mowins and Joey Galloway assigned to the ESPN2 noon ET game, Carter Blackburn joins Rod Gilmore on Friday nights, Bob Wischusen teamed with Danny Kanell on ABC Saturday afternoon games plus the reunion of Sean McDonough and Chris Spielman.

All the games are listed below for you. There are a lot of them.

2012 College Football Season Kicks off Thursday

ESPN will kick off the 2012 college football season with 46 games in five days across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio as part of the fifth annualKickoff Week August 30 to September 3. The season will conclude with all five post-season Bowl Championship Series bowls, highlighted by the BCS National Championship Game Jan. 7, at 8:30 p.m. ET, on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio.

This season’s Labor Day weekend season kickoff celebration will showcase 16 teams in the Associated Press poll highlighted by eight of the top 10. The weekend coverage will conclude with Georgia Tech at No. 16 Virginia Tech in a Labor Day telecast Monday, Sept. 3, at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Goal Line & WatchESPN
For the third consecutive season, the ESPN Goal Line network will offer unlimited live cut-ins and highlights from numerous top college football games every Saturday beginning at noon. Goal Line is currently available to Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Verizon FiOS TV, Comcast and Midcontinent Communications customers. The season will kick off with a special edition of Goal Line on Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. ESPNU will simulcast Goal Line Thursday, Aug. 30 from 7 to 10:30 p.m.

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

Schedule highlights

• The season will kick off with ESPN doubleheader: No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. followed by Washington State, led by new head coach Mike Leach, at BYU at 10:15 p.m.
• ESPN3 will offer exclusive coverage of 15 games and 25 games overall.
• Saturday Night Football on ABC, the first primetime weekly college football series on broadcast television, will kick off with No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 2 Alabama. The Cowboys Classic matchup from Dallas Cowboys stadium Arlington, Texas will begin at 8 p.m.
• ESPN’s weekly Friday night series will kick off with No. 24 Boise State at No. 13 Michigan State in a showdown between Mountain West and Big Ten teams at 8 p.m.

• Overall, the weekend will include 16 teams from the AP preseason poll. Additional teams include:

• No. 1 USC against Hawaii Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN Radio
• No. 3 LSU against North Texas Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPNU
• No. 5 Oregon against Arkansas State Saturday, Sept. 1, at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 6 Georgia against Buffalo Saturday, Sept. 1, at noon on ESPN3 and the SEC Network
• No. 7 Florida State against Murray State Saturday, Sept. 1, at 6 p.m. on ESPN3
• No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt Thursday, Aug. 30, at 7 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 10 Arkansas against Jacksonville State Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPN3
• No. 14 Clemson vs. Auburn from Atlanta in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game Saturday, Sept. 1, at 7 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 15 Texas against Wyoming Saturday, Sept. 1, at 8 p.m. on Longhorn Network
• No. 16 Virginia Tech against Georgia Tech Monday, Sept. 3, at 8 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 17 Nebraska against Southern Mississippi Saturday, Sept. 1, at 3:30 p.m. on ABC and ESPN2
• No. 23 Florida against Bowling Green Saturday, Sept. 1, at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN
• No. 25 Louisville against Kentucky Sunday, Sept. 2, at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN

2012 Season
With the addition of games from the Mountain West Conference, ESPN will be the only network to televise home games from all 11 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and BYU. ESPN will also televise road games featuring Notre Dame, Navy and Army.

The 2012 college football season on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN Regional Television and ESPN GamePlan will total more than 450 regular-and post-season games, concluding with the entire Bowl Championship Series, highlighted by the National Championship Game, on ESPN. The schedule will include weekly Saturday night games on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, weekly ESPN and ESPNU Thursday night contests and telecasts every Friday.

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN 3D, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Game/Commentators	Network
Thu, Aug 30	7 p.m.	No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Steele	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Central Florida at Akron Keith Morehouse & Jerod Cherry	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Eastern Michigan at Ball State Jim Barbar & Rocky Boiman	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Southeast Missouri State at Central Michigan Dan Gutowsky & Bob Chmeil	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	ESPN Goal Line simulcast	ESPNU
	7:30 p.m.	McNeese State at Middle Tennessee State	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Massachusetts at Connecticut Bob Picozzi & David Diaz-Infante	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Network
	8 p.m.	Sacramento State at New Mexico State	ESPN3 *
	8 p.m.	Southern Utah at Utah State	ESPN3 *
	9 p.m.	Eastern Washington at Idaho Trey Bender & Jay Taylor	ESPN3
	10:15 p.m.	Washington State at BYU Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Shannon Spake	ESPN
Fri, Aug 31	7 p.m.	Villanova at Temple Scott Graham, John Bunting & Cat Whitehill	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Kickoff Game: NC State vs. Tennessee (Atlanta) ESPNU: Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Holly Rowe Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, and Joe Schad	ESPNU & ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	No. 24 Boise State at No. 13 Michigan State Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN
	8 p.m.	Wagner at Florida Atlantic Jared Schwartz & Forrest Conoly	ESPN3
Sat, Sep 1	Noon	Ohio at Penn State Dave Pasch, Brian Griese, Tom Rinaldi & Mark Schwartz	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Northwestern at Syracuse Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Jenn Brown	ESPN2
	Noon	Western Michigan at Illinois Anish Shroff & Dan Hawkins	ESPNU
	Noon	Buffalo at No. 6 Georgia Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN3 & SEC Network
	12:30 p.m.	Elon at North Carolina	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	2 p.m.	Texas San Antonio at South Alabama Jonathon Yardley & Cole Cubilic	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	William & Mary at Maryland John Sadak, Cory Chavous & Beth McDade	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Richmond at Virginia	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Southern Mississippi at No. 17 Nebraska Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ABC & ESPN2 **
		Miami at Boston College Bob Wischusen, Danny Kanell & Maria Taylor	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	Bowling Green at No. 23 Florida Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Iowa vs. Northern Illinois (from Solider Field – Chicago) Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
	6 p.m.	Youngstown State at Pittsburgh Bob Picozzi, Ralph Freidgen & Rotina McCann	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Murray State at No. 7 Florida State Shawn Kenney& Rene Ingoglia	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Liberty at Wake Forest Ryan Rose & Stan Lewter	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Kickoff Game: No. 14 Clemson vs. Auburn (Atlanta) Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ESPN
	7 p.m.	North Texas at No. 3 LSU Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Allison Williams	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Florida International at Duke Darren Goldwater, John Gregory & Angela Mallen	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Tennessee-Chattanooga at South Florida Dave Weekley, Warrick Dunn & Tiffany Greene	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Austin Peay at Western Kentucky Dan Gutowsky & Doug Graber	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Jackson State at Mississippi State	ESPN3 * & RSN
	7 p.m.	Central Arkansas at Mississippi	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7 p.m.	Jacksonville State at No. 10 Arkansas	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7 p.m.	Southeastern Louisiana at Missouri	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7:30 p.m.	Hawaii at No. 1 USC Rich Cellini, John Mackovic, and Brett McMurphy	ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	Cowboys Classic: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 2 Alabama (Arlington, Texas) Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox	ABC & ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	Wyoming at No. 15 Texas Mark Neely, Ray Bentle7 & Kaylee Hartung	Longhorn Network
	10:30 p.m.	Arkansas State at No. 5 Oregon Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Shelley Smith	ESPN
	10:30 p.m.	Toledo at Arizona Joe Davis & Mike Bellotti	ESPNU
Sun, Sep 2	Noon	MEAC/SWAC Challenge: Bethune-Cookman vs. Alabama State (from Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium – Orlando) Dave Lamont, Jay Walker & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Kentucky at No. 25 Louisville Carter Blackburn, Rod Gilmore & Jemele Hill	ESPN
Mon, Sep 3	8 p.m.	Georgia Tech at No. 16 Virginia Tech Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich	ESPN

* Local blackout may apply
** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast

There you have it.

TBS Taps Bruce Springsteen For The 2012 MLB Postseason Theme

Since it began airing the MLB Postseason, TBS has used various musical acts for the theme of the playoffs. It’s a practice that Turner Sports has conducted with the NBA as well. New Jersey’s Bon Jovi was used twice, Kid Rock once and last year was Tinie Tempah. For 2012, TBS goes back to the Garden State and taps Bruce Springsteen for this year’s theme. Throughout the MLB Postseason, TBS will use Springsteen’s “Land of the Hopes and Dreams”.

The song will be seen starting this weekend and throughout the MLB Postseason which includes the first-ever Wild Card Playoff games as well as the League Division Series and the American League Championship Series, all of which will air on TBS this season.

Here’s the press release and the video with Bruce will follow.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Featured in Turner Sports Video for 2012 MLB Postseason

Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hope and Dreams” Provides Musical Backdrop for MLB 2012 Postseason Coverage, Including First-Ever Wild Card Games Exclusively on TBS

Turner Sports announced today that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will star alongside some of Major League Baseball’s greatest players in video clips highlighting TBS’ 2012 MLB Postseason coverage. The videos, which feature the Springsteen song “Land of Hope and Dreams” as the musical backdrop, will also air on MLB Network, FOX and MLB.com leading up to and during this year’s Postseason.

The videos feature concert footage of Springsteen and the E Street Band performing the song, along with highlights from this year’s MLB season, including two of the year’s perfect games thrown by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants and Phil Humber of the Chicago White Sox. Other players featured include the Yankees’ Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira, Detroit’s Justin Verlander, Texas’ Josh Hamilton, Washington’s Bryce Harper, the Angels’ Albert Pujols and Mike Trout and more.

There will be multiple versions of the spot, which was created by Turner Sports, that will air throughout the next six weeks leading up to the Postseason. Additionally, it will be featured on in-park video boards in MLB ballparks around the League.

TBS will exclusively televise the first-ever American League and National League Wild Card Games on October 5, and will also provide coverage of all four MLB Division Series and exclusive coverage of the American League Championship Series this year. TBS has broadcast MLB games for more than 30 years, including the MLB Division Series and one League Championship Series since 2007. Musical artists featured in past campaigns for MLB Postseason coverage on TBS have included Bon Jovi, Kid Rock and Tinie Tempah among others.

Bruce Springsteen’s “Wrecking Ball” (Columbia) was released earlier this year and debuted at #1 in the U.S. and 14 other countries. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are currently in the midst of a North American tour that runs through December.

As promised, here’s the video from TBS. This is 2:06. Shorter versions will be seen on TV.

That is all.

ESPN’s Rather Extensive 2012 College Football Regular Season Schedule

Here’s something that came in last week and I’ve only been able to put this up now. This is the 450 game regular season college football schedule on the platforms of ESPN. There’s already been one change.

The Texas A&M-Louisiana Tech game originally scheduled for Thursday on ESPNU has been postponed due to Tropical Storm Issac and will be replayed on Saturday, October 13 on an ESPN platform to be determined. Other than that, this is what we have and it should be solid.

Of course as stated often in the television business, the schedule is subject to change. Here’s the ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPN3/ESPN Radio/ACC Network/Big East Network/SEC Network combined schedule.

2012 ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Radio College Football Schedule Note: Schedule subject to change; Saturday noon, afternoon and prime time windows will be added as the season progresses; all rankings Associated Press

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Thu, Aug 30	7 p.m.	No. 9 South Carolina at Vanderbilt	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Central Florida at Akron	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Eastern Michigan at Ball State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Southeast Missouri State at Central Michigan	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Texas San Antonio at South Alabama	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	McNeese State at Middle Tennessee State	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Massachusetts at Connecticut	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	9 p.m.	Eastern Washington at Idaho	ESPN3
	10:15 p.m.	Washington State at BYU	ESPN
Fri, Aug 31	7 p.m.	Villanova at Temple	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: NC State vs. Tennessee (Atlanta)	ESPNU & ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	No. 24 Boise State at No. 13 Michigan State	ESPN
	8 p.m.	Wagner at Florida Atlantic	ESPN3
Sat, Sep 1	Noon	Ohio at Penn State	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Northwestern at Syracuse	ESPN2
	Noon	Western Michigan at Illinois	ESPNU
	Noon	Buffalo at No. 6 Georgia	ESPN3 * & SEC Network
	12:30 p.m.	Elon at North Carolina	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3 p.m.	William & Mary at Maryland	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Richmond at Virginia	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Southern Mississippi at No. 17 Nebraska	ABC & ESPN2 **
		Miami at Boston College	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	Bowling Green at No. 23 Florida	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Iowa vs. Northern Illinois (from Solider Field – Chicago)	ESPNU
	6 p.m.	Youngstown State at Pittsburgh	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Murray State at No. 7 Florida State	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Liberty at Wake Forest	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: No. 14 Clemson vs. Auburn (Atlanta)	ESPN
	7 p.m.	North Texas at No. 3 LSU	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Florida International at Duke	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Tennessee-Chattanooga at South Florida	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Austin Peay at Western Kentucky	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Jackson State at Mississippi State	ESPN3 * & RSN
	7 p.m.	Central Arkansas at Mississippi	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7 p.m.	Jacksonville State at No. 10 Arkansas	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7 p.m.	Southeastern Louisiana at Missouri	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7:30 p.m.	Hawaii at No. 1 USC	ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	Cowboys Classic: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 2 Alabama (Arlington, Texas)	ABC & ESPN Radio
	10:30 p.m.	Arkansas State at No. 5 Oregon	ESPN
	10:30 p.m.	Toledo at Arizona State	ESPNU
Sun, Sep 2	Noon	MEAC/SWAC Challenge Presented by Disney: Bethune-Cookman vs. Alabama State (from Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium – Orlando)	ESPN
	3:30 p.m.	Kentucky at No. 25 Louisville	ESPN
Mon, Sep 3	8 p.m.	Georgia Tech at No. 16 Virginia Tech	ESPN
Thu, Sep 6	8 p.m.	Pittsburgh at Cincinnati	ESPN
Fri, Sep 7	8 p.m.	Utah at Utah State	ESPN2
Sat, Sep 8	Noon	Penn State at Virginia	ABC
	Noon	Auburn at Mississippi State	ESPN & ESPN 3D
	Noon	Central Florida at No. 18 Ohio State	ESPN2
	Noon	Maryland at Temple	ESPNU
	Noon	East Carolina at No. 9 South Carolina	ESPN3 * & SEC Network
	Noon	NC State at Connecticut	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	12:30 p.m.	Ball State at No. 14 Clemson	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	1 p.m.	Maine at Boston College	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Southern Illinois at Miami (Ohio)	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Austin Peay at No. 16 Virginia Tech	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	North Carolina at Wake Forest	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Air Force at No. 8 Michigan	ABC & ESPN2 **
		No. 1 USC at Syracuse	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	No. 23 Florida at Texas A&M	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Michigan State at Central Michigan	ESPNU
	3:30 p.m.	Indiana at Massachusetts	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky at No. 2 Alabama	ESPN3 * & SEC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Howard at Rutgers	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	3:30 p.m.	Missouri State at No. 25 Louisville	ESPN3 * & RSN
	4 p.m.	Georgia State at Tennessee	ESPN3 * & PPV
	5 p.m.	Nicholls State at South Alabama	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Savannah State at No. 7 Florida State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Akron at Florida International	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Bethune-Cookman at South Carolina State	ESPN3
	6:30 p.m.	Montana at Appalachian State	ESPN3 * & PPV
	7 p.m.	Washington at No. 3 LSU	ESPN
	7 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe at No. 10 Arkansas	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Memphis at Arkansas State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette at Troy	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Texas Tech at Texas State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Presbyterian at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	New Mexico State at Ohio	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Tennessee-Martin at Northern Illinois	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Eastern Illinois at Western Michigan	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Idaho at Bowling Green	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Florida Atlantic at Middle Tennessee State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Texas Southern at North Texas	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	UTEP at Mississippi	ESPN3 * & RSN
	7:30 p.m.	Kent State at Kentucky	ESPN3 * & RSN
	7:30 p.m.	No. 17 Nebraska at UCLA	ESPN Radio
	7:45 p.m.	No. 6 Georgia at Missouri	ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	Illinois at Arizona State	ESPN
	10:30 p.m.	Bethune-Cookman at South Carolina State ^	ESPNU
Thu, Sep 13	7:30 p.m.	Rutgers at South Florida	ESPN
	7:30 p.m.	Mississippi Valley State at Southern	ESPNU
Fri, Sep 14	9 p.m.	Washington State at UNLV	ESPN
Sat, Sep 15	Noon	California at No. 18 Ohio State	ABC
	Noon	Arkansas State at No. 17 Nebraska	ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
	Noon	No. 16 Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh	ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
	Noon	Wake Forest at No. 7 Florida State	ESPN or ESPN2
	Noon	Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn	ESPN3 * & SEC Network
	Noon	Bethune-Cookman at Miami	ESPN3
	12:30 p.m.	Connecticut at Maryland	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	12:30 p.m.	Presbyterian at Vanderbilt	ESPN3 * & RSN
	3 p.m.	Furman at No. 14 Clemson	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	3:30 p.m.	Navy at Penn State	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	North Carolina at No. 25 Louisville	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	Virginia at Georgia Tech	ESPNU
	3:30 p.m.	Morgan State at Akron	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Stony Brook at Syracuse	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	4 p.m.	Howard at Norfolk State	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	No. 23 Florida at Tennessee	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	6 p.m.	South Alabama at NC State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Arizona State at Missouri	ESPN2
	7 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Kentucky	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	NC Central at Duke	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Rice at Louisiana Tech	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Bowling Green at Toledo	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Delaware State at Cincinnati	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Mississippi State at Troy	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	UAB at No. 9 South Carolina	ESPN3 * & RSN
	7:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic at No. 6 Georgia	ESPN3 * & RSN
	8 p.m.	Notre Dame at No. 13 Michigan State	ABC
	8 p.m.	Colorado State at San Jose State	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Idaho at No. 3 LSU	ESPN3 * & PPV
	9:15 p.m.	No. 15 Texas at Mississippi	ESPN
	10 p.m.	BYU at Utah	ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	Howard at Norfolk State ^	ESPNU
Wed, Sep 19	7 p.m.	Kent State at Buffalo	ESPNU
Thu, Sep 20	7:30 p.m.	Arkansas Pine Bluff at Alabama State	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	BYU at No. 24 Boise State	ESPN
Fri, Sep 21	7 p.m.	Georgetown at Princeton	ESPNU
	8 p.m.	Baylor at Louisiana-Monroe	ESPN
Sat, Sep 22	Noon	Massachusetts at Miami (OH)	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	2 p.m.	Connecticut at Western Michigan	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Norfolk State at Ohio	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Gardner-Webb at Pittsburgh	ESPN3
	4:30 pm	South Florida at Ball State	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Wyoming at Idaho	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	No. 25 Louisville at Florida International	ESPNU or ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Southern Mississippi at Western Kentucky	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Troy at North Texas	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at Toledo	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Alcorn State at Arkansas State	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	New Mexico at New Mexico State	ESPN3
	TBD	Arizona at No. 5 Oregon	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	Kansas at Northern Illinois	ESPNU or ESPN3
	TBD	No. 3 LSU at Auburn	ESPN Radio
	TBD	California at No. 1 USC	ESPN Radio
Thu, Sep 27	7:30 p.m.	Morgan State at North Carolina A&T	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	No. 21 Stanford at Washington	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Fri, Sep 28	8 p.m.	Hawaii at BYU	ESPN
Sat, Sep 29	Noon	Buffalo at Connecticut	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	Noon	Ball State at Kent State	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	2 p.m.	Miami at Akron	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Rhode Island at Bowling Green	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Central Michigan at Northern Illinois	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Ohio at Massachusetts	ESPN3
	6 p.m.	Samford at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Arkansas State	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Florida International at Louisiana-Lafayette	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Grambling State at Alabama A&M	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Indiana State at Southern Illinois	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Toledo at Western Michigan	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 12 Wisconsin at No. 17 Nebraska	ABC
	8 p.m.	UNLV at Utah State	ESPN3
	10:30 p.m.	Grambling State at Alabama A&M ^	ESPNU
	TBD	No. 7 Florida State at South Florida	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	North Texas at Florida Atlantic	ESPN3
	TBD	Tennessee at No. 6 Georgia	ESPN Radio
	TBD	Mississippi at No. 2 Alabama	ESPN Radio
Thu, Oct 4	7:30 p.m.	Arkansas State at Florida International	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	No. 1 USC at Utah	ESPN
Fri, Oct 5	7 p.m.	Pittsburgh at Syracuse	ESPN
	10:15 p.m.	Utah State at BYU	ESPN
Sat, Oct 6	Noon	Buffalo at Ohio	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	1:30 p.m.	Presbyterian at Virginia Military Institute	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Youngstown State at North Dakota State	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Illinois at No. 12 Wisconsin	ABC & ESPN2 **
		TBD	ABC & ESPN2 **
	7 p.m.	UNLV at Louisiana Tech	ESPN3 * & WAC Syndication
	7 p.m.	Grambling State at Prairie View	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Miami (Ohio) at Cincinnati	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	No. 17 Nebraska at No. 18 Ohio State	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	Grambling State at Prairie View ^	ESPNU
	TBD	No. 11 West Virginia at No. 15 Texas	ESPN Radio
	TBD	No. 3 LSU at No. 23 Florida	ESPN Radio
Thu, Oct 11	7:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky at Troy	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Arizona State at Colorado	ESPN
Fri, Oct 12	8 p.m.	Navy at Central Michigan	ESPN2
Sat, Oct 13	1:30 p.m.	Chattanooga at Furman	ESPN3
	TBD	Texas A&M vs. Louisiana Tech (from Independence Stadium – Shreveport, LA)	TBD
	2 p.m.	Youngstown State at Illinois State	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Illinois at No. 8 Michigan	ABC & ESPN2 **
		TBD	ABC & ESPN2 **
	3:30 p.m.	Miami (Ohio) at Bowling Green	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Utah State at San Jose State	ESPN3 * & WAC Syndication
	7 p.m.	Fordham at Cincinnati	ESPN3
	TBD	No. 15 Texas vs. No. 4 Oklahoma (Dallas)	ABC
	TBD	No. 20 TCU at Baylor	ESPN Radio
	TBD	Stony Brook at Coastal Carolina	ESPN3
Tue, Oct 16	9 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette at North Texas	ESPN2
Thu, Oct 18	7:30 p.m.	Hampton at NC Central	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	No. 5 Oregon at Arizona State	ESPN
Fri, Oct 19	8 p.m.	Connecticut at Syracuse	ESPN
Sat, Oct 20	Noon	Northern Illinois at Akron	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	1 p.m.	Army at Eastern Michigan	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Harvard at Princeton	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Presbyterian at Charleston Southern	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Western Carolina at Elon	ESPN3
	3:30 pm	Pittsburgh at Buffalo	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Idaho at Louisiana Tech	ESPN3 * & WAC Syndication
	TBD	Cincinnati at Toledo	ESPNU or ESPN3
	TBD	No. 13 Michigan State at No. 8 Michigan	ESPN Radio
	TBD	Colorado at No. 1 USC	ESPN Radio
Tue, Oct 23	8 p.m.	Arkansas State at Louisiana-Lafayette	ESPN2
Thu, Oct 25	7:30 p.m.	No. 14 Clemson at Wake Forest	ESPN
	7:30 p.m.	Delaware State at Morgan State	ESPNU
Fri, Oct 26	8 p.m.	Cincinnati at No. 25 Louisville	ESPN2
Sat, Oct 27	Noon	Northern Illinois at Western Michigan	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	1 p.m.	Stony Brook at Presbyterian	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	The Citadel at Wofford	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	South Dakota at Indiana State	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	No. 13 Michigan State at No. 12 Wisconsin	ABC
	3:30 p.m.	Alabama A&M at Alabama State	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	North Texas at Middle Tennessee State	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Kent State at Rutgers	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	6 p.m.	No. 18 Ohio State at Penn State	ESPN or ESPN2
	8 p.m.	No. 8 Michigan at No. 17 Nebraska	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 & ESPN Radio
	10:30 p.m.	Alabama A&M at Alabama State ^	ESPNU
Thu, Nov 1	6 p.m.	Eastern Michigan at Ohio	ESPNU
	7:30 p.m.	No. 16 Virginia Tech at Miami	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	9:15 p.m.	Middle Tennessee State at Western Kentucky	ESPNU
Fri, Nov 2	9 p.m.	Washington at California	ESPN2
Sat, Nov 3	1 p.m.	Western Michigan at Central Michigan	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Penn at Princeton	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Coastal Carolina at Gardner-Webb	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Appalachian State at Georgia Southern	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Texas-San Antonio at Louisiana Tech	ESPN3 * & WAC Syndication
	TBD	Missouri at No. 23 Florida	ESPN Radio
	TBD	No. 5 Oregon at No. 1 USC	ESPN Radio
Tue, Nov 6	8 p.m.	Ball State at Toledo	ESPN2
Wed, Nov 7	8 p.m.	Bowling Green at Ohio	ESPN2
Thu, Nov 8	7 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe at Arkansas State	ESPNU
	7:30 p.m.	No. 7 Florida State at No. 16 Virginia Tech	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Fri, Nov 9	8 p.m.	Pittsburgh at Connecticut	ESPN2
Sat, Nov 10	1 p.m.	UNI at South Dakota	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Gardner-Webb at Charleston Southern	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Navy at Troy	ESPN3*
	TBD	No. 11 West Virginia at No. 19 Oklahoma State	ESPN Radio
	TBD	Baylor at No. 4 Oklahoma	ESPN Radio
	TBD	Arizona State at No. 1 USC	ESPN Radio
Wed, Nov 14	8 p.m.	Ohio at Ball State	ESPN2 or ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Toledo at Northern Illinois	ESPN2 or ESPNU
Thu, Nov 15	7:30 p.m.	North Carolina at Virginia	ESPN & ESPN Radio
Fri, Nov 16	8 p.m.	Florida International at Florida Atlantic	ESPNU
	9:30 p.m.	Hawaii at Air Force	ESPN2
Sat, Nov 17	Noon	Rutgers at Cincinnati	ESPN3 * & BIG EAST Local Package
	Noon	Kent State at Bowling Green	ESPN3 * & MAC Game of the Week
	1:30 p.m.	Liberty at Virginia Military Institute	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Florida Classic: Florida A&M vs. Bethune-Cookman	ESPN Classic
	TBD	Iowa at No. 8 Michigan	ESPN Radio
	TBD	No. 1 USC at UCLA	ESPN Radio
Tue, Nov 20	7 p.m.	Akron at Toledo	ESPN2
Thu, Nov 22	4 p.m.	Tuskegee at Alabama State	ESPNU
Fri, Nov 23	Noon	No. 17 Nebraska at Iowa	ABC
	2:30 p.m.	No. 3 LSU at No. 10 Arkansas	ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	No. 11 West Virginia at Iowa State	ABC
	10 p.m.	Arizona State at Arizona	ESPN
	TBD	South Florida at Cincinnati	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	Syracuse at Temple	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
Sat, Nov 24	Noon	No. 8 Michigan at No. 18 Ohio State	ABC
	3 p.m.	Idaho at Utah State	ESPN3 * & WAC Syndication
	3:30 p.m.	Troy at Middle Tennessee State	ESPN3
	TBD	Notre Dame at No. 1 USC	ABC or ESPN & ESPN Radio
	TBD	No. 19 Oklahoma State at No. 4 Oklahoma	ESPN Radio
Thu, Nov 29	7:30 p.m.	No. 25 Louisville at Rutgers	ESPN
Fri, Nov 30	7 p.m.	Marathon MAC Championship (Detroit)	ESPN2
	TBD	Pac-12 Championship Game	ESPN Radio
Sat, Dec 1	7:45 p.m. or 8 p.m.	Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game (Charlotte)	ABC or ESPN & ESPN Radio
	TBD	Conference USA Championship Game	ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	Pittsburgh at South Florida	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	No. 24 Boise State at Nevada	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	Cincinnati at Connecticut	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
	TBD	No. 19 Oklahoma State at Baylor	ESPN Radio
TBD	TBD	SWAC Championship Game	ESPNU

 

* Local blackout may apply

** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast

^ Same-day telecast of live ESPN3 coverage

There you have it.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Football
CFB Daily — ESPNU, 1 p.m.
College Football Live — ESPN, 3:30 p.m.

CONCACAF Champions League
LA Galaxy vs. Puerto Rico Islanders — Fox Soccer, 10 p.m.

Cycling
Vuelta a España: Stage 11 — Universal Sports, 10 a.m.

MLB
American League
Toronto at New York Yankees — Rogers Sportsnet/YES, 1 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Baltimore — WGN America/MASN, 7 p.m.
Oakland at Cleveland — Comcast SportsNet California/STO, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Texas — ESPN/Sun Sports/Fox Sports Southwest, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Kansas City — Fox Sports Detroit/Fox Sports Kansas City, 8 p.m.
Seattle at Minnesota — Root Sports Northwest/Fox Sports North, 8 p.m.
Boston at Anaheim Angels — NESN/Fox Sports West, 10 p.m.

National League
Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado — Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 3 p.m.
Cincinnati at Arizona — Fox Sports Arizona, 3:30 p.m.
Atlanta at San Diego — SportSouth/Fox Sports San Diego, 6:30 p.m.
New York Mets at Philadelphia — SNY/Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Pittsburgh — Fox Sports Midwest/Root Sports Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Washington at Miami — MASN2/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs — Fox Sports Wisconsin/Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 8 p.m.
San Francisco at Houston — Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Fox Sports Houston, 8 p.m.

The Rundown — MLB Network, 2 p.m.
MLB Tonight —  MLB Network, 6 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN, 10 p.m.
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, 11 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN2, 1 a.m. (Thursday)

MLS
DC United vs. New York — Galavision/MSG Plus, 8 p.m.
New England vs. Chivas USA — Comcast SportsNet New England/Fox Sports Prime Ticket, 8 p.m.
Philadelphia vs. Columbus — The Comcast Network/Fox Sports Ohio, 8 p.m.

NFL Preseason
New England at New York Giants — NFL Network/WBZ/WNBC, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Washington — WTSP/Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic/WRC,  7 p.m.
Miami at Dallas — WBFS/ KTXA, 8:30 p.m./NFL Network, midnight

Sports Talk
NFL AM — NFL Network, 6 p.m.
The ‘Lights — NBC Sports Network, 7 a.m.
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, 2 p.m.
Outside the Lines First Report — ESPN, 3 p.m.
SportsNation — ESPNews, 5 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
Numbers Never Lie — ESPNews, 5:30 p.m.
Best of ROME — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
Costas Tonight — NBC Sports Network, 9 p.m.

Tennis
U.S. Open: Men’s 1st/2nd & Women’s 2nd Round — Tennis Channel, 10:30 a.m./ESPN2, 1 p.m.
U.S. Open: Primetime at the Open, Men’s & Women’s 2nd Round, Maria Sharapova vs. Lourdes Dominguez Lino & Andy Murray vs. Ivan Dodig — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Breakfast at the Open — Tennis Channel, 6 a.m.
U.S. Open Tonight — Tennis Channel, 11 p.m.

UEFA Champions League
Playoffs, 2nd Leg
Celtic vs. Helsingborg — Fox Soccer, 2:30 p.m.
Fenerbahçe vs. Spartak Moskva — Fox Soccer Plus, 2;30 p.m.
Dynamo Kyiv vs. Mönchengladbach — Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m.

UEFA Champions League Pregame — Fox Soccer/Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m.
UEFA Champions League Highlights — Fox Soccer, 1 a.m. (Wednesday)

News
Republican National Convention — CNN/C-SPAN/Current/MSNBC/PBS, 7 p.m.
Republican National Convention — Bloomberg, 9 p.m.
Republican National Convention — ABC/CBS/CNBC/Fox News/NBC, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
Big Brother 14 — CBS, 8 p.m.
Oh, Sit! — The CW, 8 p.m.
American Greed: The Fugitives:  The Contractor From Hell/The Check’s in the Mail — CNBC, 8 p.m.
Not My Mama’s Meals: Italian Done Right — Cooking Channel, 9 p.m.
Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?: My Life, My Nightmare — Investigation Discovery, 9 p.m.
America’s Got Talent — NBC, 9 p.m.
American Greed: The Fugitives: Phony Phone Calls; Heavy Metal Fraud — CNBC, 9 p.m.
Restaurant: Impossible: Gusanoz Mexican Restaurant — Food Network, 9 p.m.
I Married a Mobster: Stunt Lady — Investigation Discovery, 10 p.m.
Futurama (season finale) — Comedy Central, 10 p.m.
Dirty Jobs: Down Under: Deadly Snake Wrangler — Discovery, 10 p.m.
Restaurant Stakeout: Nobody’s Runnin’ The Store — Food Network, 10 p.m.
America’s Lost Treasures: Savannah — National Geographic Channel, 10 p.m.
Casablanca — Turner Classic Movies, 10 p.m.
House Hunters International: Lima, Peru — HGTV, 10:30 p.m.
I Married a Mobster: No Way Out — Investigation Discovery, 10:30 p.m.
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark — Sho2, midnight

A Few Wednesday Sports Media Thoughts

I’ll provide a few thoughts as we hit midweek. They’ll be in bullet form, of course.

• First, here’s hoping the people of New Orleans will be ok in the midst of Hurricane Isaac. They’ve put up with way too much from Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Gustav and the BP oil spill, I pray they endure this without major damage.
• I’m going to be interested to see how Fox Sports’ new primetime college football package is going to fare against ESPN’s venerable lineup. Fox will focus on the Big 12 and Pac-12. ESPN/ABC can tap plenty of major conferences from the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and place any big game it wants on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. We’ll see if Fox can hold its own.
• As both CBS and NBC attempt to get their sports radio networks off the ground, both are hoping to get that big name to anchor their lineup. CBS has Doug Gottlieb thus far. The rest of the dayparts have to be filled. NBC has Erik Kuselias plus a few other hires including Rodney Harrison for a weekend show. One of the X Factors for NBC is if it can land Dan Patrick and lure him away from DirecTV/Fox Sports Radio and get him for the 9 a.m. – noon ET slot. That would give NBC some credibility, stations and a big hole filled.
• Original MLB Network reporter Trenni Kusnierek, who’s been co-hosting an afternoon drive radio show in Milwaukee, is shipping up to  Boston where she will become an anchor/reporter for Comcast SportsNet New England. In effect, she replaces Nicole Zaloumis who is at NFL Network.
• While the Pac-12 Networks have launched up and down the West Coast, it has yet to sign satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network. Issues include the high price per subscriber and the seven networks under the Pac-12 umbrella. DirecTV just wants to carry the national network, but the league wants it to pick up everything. No sign of an agreement with either provider in the near future.
• And speaking of disputes, Time Warner Cable continues its holdout of NFL Network. While the network was able to pick up Cablevision this month, it still can’t get Time Warner in the fold. And it appears that there isn’t an agreement in sight. Time Warner can create its own Southern California regional sports network and attempt to get the Dodgers, but it remains steadfast in its refusal to provide NFL Network and also continues to be stubborn in not picking up MASN in North Carolina. It’s all about power and money in these disputes and who will blink first. Right now, neither Time Warner nor NFL Network are willing to talk. That’s too bad for the consumer.
• It’s unfortunate that none of NBCUniversal’s networks will carry the Paralympics live which begin this week in London. NBC Sports Network will air taped specials in September. Not good enough. Many of these athletes are quite courageous and it would be nice to get some live coverage to learn their stories. It’s not necessary for NBC to pick it up, but how about NBC Sports Network or Universal Sports? They need the inventory. C’mon, NBC.

And we’re done.

NFL Network’s Preseason Week 4 Game Schedule

The National Football League concludes the 2012 Preseason on Wednesday and Thursday. Just three games on Wednesday and then another thirteen on Thursday to close out the exhibition games. Then it’s on to the Season Opener next Wednesday on NBC.

NFL Network will air three live games between Wednesday and Thursday. First, it will be the rematch of Super Bowls XLII and XLVI between the New England Patriots and New York Football Giants. Kevin Harlan will call the game along with NFL Network’s Mike Mayock and Kim Jones on the sidelines.

Then on Thursday, it will be an evening doubleheader with Kansas City at Green Bay followed by Denver at Arizona. The other thirteen games will be aired on tape delay and spread out through Sunday.

You can see what will be aired in Preseason Week 4 on NFL Network.

PRESEASON WEEK 4:

NFL NETWORK’S 2012 PRESEASON BROADCAST SCHEDULE CONCLUDES WITH THREE LIVE WEEK 4 GAMES

Trio of Week 4 Games Concludes NFL Network’s Live Preseason Broadcast Schedule:
New England Patriots at New York Giants – Wednesday, August 29 at 7:00 PM ET
Kansas City Chiefs at Green Bay Packers – Thursday, August 30 at 7:00 PM ET
Denver Broncos at Arizona Cardinals – Thursday, August 30 at 11:00 PM ET

With the kickoff of the 2012 NFL regular season just eight days away, NFL Media has the final week of the preseason covered with three games live in primetime and re-airs of all 16 Week 4 matchups.

On Wednesday, August 29 at 7:00 PM ET on NFL Network, the New York Giants host the New England Patriots in a rematch Super Bowl XLVI. NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football analyst Mike Mayock is joined by play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan in the broadcast booth, while Kim Jones provides reports from the sidelines.

NFL Network’s live preseason broadcast schedule continues with two games on Thursday, August 30, beginning with the Kansas City Chiefs traveling to face the Green Bay Packers at 7:00 PM ET. At 11:00 PM ET, the Arizona Cardinals take on the Denver Broncos in their final tune-up game before the 2012 regular season begins.

NFL Total Access airs at 6:00 PM ET on Wednesday and Thursday to preview each night’s slate of games as the preseason comes to a close.

NFL.com’s NFL Preseason Live returns to offer fans live and on-demand access to preseason games online and in HD. Full DVR controls allow fans to pause, rewind and replay both live and archived game action. Additional viewing options include picture-in-picture and a quad view mode which provides fans the ability to watch four games on the same screen.

New to NFL Preseason Live this year is the Condensed Games feature, which allows fans to watch every play from an entire game – from opening kickoff to the final whistle – in 30 minutes and commercial-free. For the first time, NFL Preseason Live is available on Android and iOS tablets with a free download.

Fans with NFL Mobile  can watch NFL Network, including preseason games, live on their mobile devices around the clock.

Below is NFL Network’s Week 4 broadcast schedule.

NFL NETWORK 2012 WEEK 4 PRESEASON GAMES SCHEDULE
(ALL TIMES EASTERN; LIVE GAMES IN BOLD; ALL GAMES IN HIGH DEFINITION) 

Wednesday, August 29
7:00 PM – New England Patriots at New York Giants – LIVE
12 Midnight – Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys
3:00 AM – Detroit Lions at Oakland Raiders (Week 3)

Thursday, August 30
 Noon – Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo Bills (Week 3)
3:00 PM – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Washington Redskins
7:00 PM – Kansas City Chiefs at Green Bay Packers – LIVE
11:00 PM – Denver Broncos at Arizona Cardinals – LIVE
3:00 AM – San Diego Chargers at San Francisco 49ers

Friday, August 31
10:00 AM – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Washington Redskins
1:00 PM – Atlanta Falcons at Jacksonville Jaguars
4:00 PM – Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys
8:00 PM – New York Jets at Philadelphia Eagles
Midnight – Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts
3:00 AM – Kansas City Chiefs at Green Bay Packers

Saturday, September 1
7:00 AM – Atlanta Falcons at Jacksonville Jaguars
10:00 AM – New Orleans Saints at Tennessee Titans
1:00 PM – Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions
4:00 PM – Baltimore Ravens at St. Louis Rams
8:00 PM – Carolina Panthers at Pittsburgh Steelers
Midnight – Chicago Bears at Cleveland Browns
3:00 AM – Denver Broncos at Arizona Cardinals

Sunday, September 2
7:00 AM – Carolina Panthers at Pittsburgh Steelers
10:00 AM – Minnesota Vikings at Houston Texans
1:00 PM – New England Patriots at New York Giants
4:00 PM – New York Jets at Philadelphia Eagles
7:00 PM – Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts
10:00 PM – Oakland Raiders at Seattle Seahawks
1:00 AM – San Diego Chargers at San Francisco 49ers

The following broadcast teams will be calling each Week 4 matchup on NFL Network:

Game	Play-by-Play	Analyst	Sideline
Buccaneers at Redskins	Kenny Albert	Joe Theismann	Antwaan Randle El
Patriots at Giants	Kevin Harlan	Mike Mayock	Kim Jones
Dolphins at Cowboys	Bill Jones	Babe Laufenberg	Mickey Spagnola
Falcons at Jaguars	Kevin Kugler	Tony Boselli	Brent Martineau
Jets at Eagles	Scott Graham	Brian Baldinger	Jeff Skversky
Bengals at Colts	Don Fischer	Jim Sorgi	Jeffrey Gorman
Panthers at Steelers	Bob Pompeani	Edmund Nelson	Jeff Verszyla
Saints at Titans	Cory Curtis	Eddie George	Dawn Davenport
Bills at Lions	Matt Shepard	Rob Rubick	Tom Leyden
Chiefs at Packers	Kevin Harlan	Rich Gannon	Trenni Kusnierek
Vikings at Texans	Joel Meyers	Spencer Tillman	Bob Allen
Ravens at Rams	Andrew Siciliano	Marshall Faulk & Orlando Pace	Maurice Drummond
Bears at Browns	Jim Donovan	Bernie Kosar	Dave Chudowsky
Chargers at 49ers	Dennis O’Donnell	Tim Ryan	Vern Glenn
Raiders at Seahawks	Curt Menefee	Warren Moon	N/A
Broncos at Cardinals	Dave Pasch	Ron Wolfley	Paul Cavisi

That is all for this post.

Bob Costas Speaks with Joe Paterno Biographer Joe Posnanski

On the next Costas Tonight airing Wednesday on the NBC Sports Network, Bob will speak Joe Paterno biographer Joe Posnanski. The book, Paterno, was recently released and has come under scrutiny for not being hard enough on the late Penn State coach in the midst of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Costas will talk about the Sandusky scandal with Posnanski, how he handled the story as it broke and how it affected his writing of the Paterno tome.

In addition, the show will air Costas’ now-infamous interview with Sandusky that aired last year on Rock Center with Brian Williams plus show some footage that didn’t make the show.

Here’s the NBC Sports Network press release.

Bob Costas Goes One-On-One With “Paterno” Author Joe Posnanski on the Next “Costas Tonight,” Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network

90-Minute Show Includes Costas’ Full November 2011 interview with Jerry Sandusky from Rock Center with Brian Williams with Never-Before-Seen Footage from 10-10:30 p.m. ET
“Costas Tonight” Originates from Studio 8G at 30 Rock and Airs Wednesday, August 29, at 9 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network
EXCERPTS FROM COSTAS/POSNANSKI INTERVIEW BELOW
“I believe that Joe Paterno should have done more. I’ve told him that to his face directly. I said ‘you’re Joe Paterno. You’re just expected to do more.’ I don’t believe he was involved in a cover up. I don’t believe that he did this to protect his legacy. I understand that others do.” – Posnanski
“I have no qualms with the Louis Freeh report, he had his goals and his role in this thing…but I believe the report is very incomplete.” – Posnanski on Louis Freeh Report
“What I come away with is what a complicated life it was and what a big life it was.” – Posnanski on Paterno’s life
“That’s not the story, that’s not the book. I wasn’t going to write THAT book. Somebody else can if they want. I wrote the honest book, the book that I believe is true.” – Posnanski answering his critics that he wasn’t hard enough on Paterno

NEW YORK – August 28, 2012 – Paterno author Joe Posnanski, who spent months in State College, Pa., both before and after the Penn State scandal writing his book on the school’s former head coach, will join Bob Costas, a 23-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and one of America’s preeminent interviewers, on the latest edition of Costas Tonight, a 90-minute program, to air tomorrow night, at 9 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

Following Costas’ one-on-one with Posnanski, Costas Tonight will feature the entire interview – including never-before-seen footage – that Costas conducted with convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky. That interview aired exclusively on Rock Center with Brian Williams on November 14, 2011.

Posnanski, an eyewitness to history, spent months embedded within Penn State to write Paterno, and had unprecedented access to the head coach before, and then after the scandal broke at the school.

About Costas Tonight:
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. Costas Tonight originates from Studio 8G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

# # #

EXCERPTS FROM COSTAS’ INTERVIEW WITH POSNANSKI:

Costas: “You had to have an opinion. You were closer to this than most of us. Do you believe that Joe Paterno was a principled man, not perfect – flawed – but a generally principled man, who in his old age and his inattention simply neglected what he should have done, which is still a pretty serious charge? Or do you believe the more serious charge, much more serious charge, as leveled by Louis Freeh, which is that he, along with others, but he is the major figure, that he knew essentially what was going on and he actively and knowingly covered it up?”
Posnanski: “You know my own personal opinion, which I will share with you, is not as important as the reader’s.”

Costas: “Is that a dodge, though?”
Posnanski: “I’m not going to dodge because I will answer it. But I think it’s really important, if I say what I think, that does influence…I wrote in the book and I believe that Joe Paterno should have done more. I’ve told him that to his face directly. I said ‘You’re Joe Paterno. You’re just expected to do more.’ I don’t believe he was involved in a cover up. I don’t believe that he did this to protect his legacy. I understand that others do. I’ve read the Louis Freeh report several times. I know what’s in it. I think its missing things. I think there were a lot of people he didn’t talk to. I also believe that this is such an emotional topic that if people look at the facts that I presented, they can absolutely go to that conclusion.”

Costas: “Without getting bogged down in the particulars, this is the essence of Louis Freeh, former FBI director‘s report. The conclusion: In order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, Paterno, among others, but again Paterno is the figure that the public gravitates toward here, repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from authorities, the university’s trustees, the Penn State community and the public. If that is true, as Freeh concluded, it is indefensible.”
Posnanski: “Absolutely”

Costas: “You don’t believe that though.”
Posnanski: “I don’t believe that, no. I honestly don’t. I honestly believe that what Louis Freeh did, and I have no qualms with the Louis Freeh report, he had his goals and his role in this thing.”

Costas: “Well if you don’t think that’s true, you must have qualms with his report.”
Posnanski: “He didn’t talk to Tim Curley; he didn’t talk to Gary Schultz; he didn’t talk to Joe Paterno; he didn’t talk to Jerry Sandusky; he didn’t talk to Tom Harmon; he didn’t talk to Mike McQueary. He didn’t talk to any of the major players in this and I think, I understand why he went to those conclusions, and he did, but I believe the report is very incomplete and I do believe that as things come out, it’s going to emerge that some of the people who wrote some of the emails and so on are going to say that everything has been misspoken.”

“My feeling again is, and I’m really not looking to dodge because there are so many things that we don’t understand and hard to know, but I have many of the same facts that I reported on my own that are in the Freeh report – he jumped to conclusions that I cannot jump to. I mean, I jump to definitely there was a sense that Joe Paterno knew more than he suggested; there’s definitely a sense that Joe Paterno should have done more. But the cover up, the idea that he was actively following it, these sorts of things, I think they’re still, to me, they’re still up in the air.”

# # #

Costas: “Here’s a passage from your book: ‘as I was writing this book, the line before the time and the line after the time became clear. Before November 5, 2011, it was very difficult to find anyone willing to say a truly bad word about Joe Paterno. After November 5, it was far more difficult to find anyone willing to say a good word.’ And I think, and this is understandable, that to a lot of people that the nature of these crimes was so heinous, and the idea of inaction is so unfathomable that anything less than complete unequivocal condemnation is interpreted as somehow insufficient concern for the victims or the severity of the crime. That made your assignment to parse the good and the bad more difficult.”
Posnanski: “Very difficult. And I knew when this book came out, and like I say I’m very, very proud of it, but I knew when this book came out that it was going to get hit pretty hard by that group of people. I tried to make it as fair as you know. You’ve read it. There are many, many things about Joe Paterno in here that are not flattering – even long before Sandusky. It is as fair and honest of a book as I could write but it doesn’t hide from the fact that for 50 years people considered Joe Paterno a saint, and that for 50 years he was sportsman-of-the-year and he was considered the best thing about sports. We all know that.”

Costas: “Or among them.”
Posnanski: “Or among them. But people would write those words, ‘The best thing about sports is Joe Paterno.’ And suddenly that was gone, completely gone and in many ways rightfully so. But it’s not like those 50 years didn’t happen. And I think even mentioning those years, even talking about that time, for exactly the reasons you say, some people just don’t want to hear it.”

# # #

Costas: “Obviously there has been mixed reaction to the book. Among the reviews we’ve seen so far, this is the most extreme, Paul Campos at salon.com, ‘Paterno is a disgraceful book and a minor literary crime. To say Posnanski botches his journalistic and literary opportunity is akin to saying that the Titanic’s maiden voyage might have gone more smoothly.’ Let’s concede that that’s at one end, what criticism somewhere towards the middle of that, do you concede correct or fair?”
Posnanski: “I kind of felt like those guys in Spinal Tap there when you were reading that review. I think this is a book that as people get away from this, and are less emotional about it; they’ll see what I was trying to do in this book. I think that some people see it now, fortunately. But I think as time goes on and as people get less emotional about it, a lot of people who have written reviews, frankly, came in with the same opinion that they went out with. I’ve been, as you know, taking a lot of hits long before the book came out.”

Costas: “(According to public opinion) the only acceptable take is that Paterno was fully culpable in the most extreme interpretation, and that he was, prior to that, a fraud and a hypocrite and this doesn’t just invalidate the good he may have done, it exposes that good as a fraud.”
Posnanski: “Exactly, and I think that’s what certain people wanted. That’s not the story, that’s not the book. I wasn’t going to write THAT book. Somebody else can if they want. I wrote the honest book, the book that I believe is true. I believe that I had better access than I’ll ever get again for a book and I believe that I used it as well as I could.”

Costas: “What did you come away thinking? What is your bottom line on Joe Paterno?”
Posnanski: “I think really what I come away with is what a complicated life it was and what a big life it was.”

Costas: “Do you view him as a good man who made a tragic mistake, be it of omission or commission? Or is he less of a good man because of that mistake?”
Posnanski: “It’s somewhere in the middle. That’s a tough one. I don’t want to dodge it. I think he did a lot of good in his life and I think he did make a tragic mistake.”

Costas: “At his best, was he a good man?”
Posnanski: “Definitely. At his best, I think it’s too long and too distinguished and too many achievements to think that it was worth nothing.”

Some sports media thoughts coming later.

Some Thoughts on ESPN’s New MLB Deal

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to monitor the ESPN/MLB conference call announcing the new deal that lengthens the relationship between the two entities to 30 years when the contract expires in 2021.

In this new eight year deal, ESPN will return to the MLB Postseason with one Wild Card Playoff game starting in 2014.  John Skipper, the President of ESPN,  did not rule out that the network could get other MLB Postseason packages, however, it appears that the league is holding the other Wild Card Playoff Game for MLB Network while determining if Turner, Fox and possibly NBC will pay the cash to swallow up the League Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series. I’m thinking that either Turner or NBC Sports Network will get the cable portion of the MLB Postseason contract with Fox continuing its LCS/World Series package on the network side.

MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig mentioned that most likely, there won’t be more of than the existing national packages that have been distributed to ESPN, Fox, MLB Network and TBS. There could be some minor alterations to each as we have seen in the case of ESPN, but there won’t be a new package created. So NBC would have to wrest one away from Fox or TBS if it wants to get back into the Baseball business.

ESPN takes away the regular season tiebreaker games that had previously been on TBS. Before TBS got the cable half of the MLB Postseason in 2007, ESPN had been the home of all regular season tiebreakers.

Also, ESPN increases the amount of regular season games to 90 and brings back the traditional holiday games that had been on the network until 2007. So ESPN/ESPN2 will have games on the Memorial Day, the 4th of July and Labor Day, plus extensive coverage of Opening Day.

One  of the most important aspects of the deal is the amount of reduced local blackouts. Starting in 2014, ESPN will have increased access to home markets on Monday and Wednesday nights. That means ESPN’s telecasts will be able to be seen in Boston if the Red Sox are playing on Mondays or Wednesdays and NESN will no longer have protection from the national broadcast. According to John Skipper, the local blackouts could be lifted to the point where they may become obsolete. We’ll see what the local regional sports networks will have to say about that. The RSN’s pay a lot of money for local rights and not having exclusivity could become a sore point.

Under the new deal, ESPN gets additional digital rights meaning streaming of its games on ESPN3 and WatchESPN. MLB Advanced Media had to sign off on the deal and MLBAM President & CEO Bob Bowman in the conference call said ESPN was both a partner and a competitor. Plus, Selig said that MLBAM was still in the midst of rapid growth was looking to see where it would be in ten years. MLBAM has been known to play hardball with MLB’s TV partners when it comes to relenting on digital rights. For ESPN to get increased streaming rights is a big deal. I wanted to ask Bowman and Selig if the other TV partners would get the opportunity to get similar deals, but I was not called upon.

Not only does ESPN increase its baseball content with regular season and postseason games plus highlights for Baseball Tonight, it also keeps its current packages and All-Star Game Weekend show so it means we won’t be avoiding Chris Berman’s bloviating calls in the Home Run Derby anytime soon.

The ESPN deal is huge. It keeps the network relevant in the summer and prevents NBC from encroaching on its MLB turf at least for now. Score this one in the Bristol column. While ESPN will tell you this was a deal to keep a tradition on its network, it was a huge pre-emptive strike at  competitors who wanted to get one of the network’s major sports properties away from the Worldwide Leader.

Now with NASCAR, the new college football playoff, the Big East, and U.S. Open tennis still in play, the window for other networks to claim victories is getting smaller.

ESPN’s Eight Year, $5.6 Billion Agreement With MLB

Wr have the official joint press release between ESPN and Major League Baseball announcing the new agreement that keeps baseball games on the Alleged Worldwide Leader until 2021.

Under the new contract, ESPN will receive the following perks:

• An increase in the number of telecasts to 90 regular season games
• One Wild Card Playoff Game marking a return to the MLB Postseason dating back to 2007.
• All regular season tiebreaker games. They had previously been on TBS.
• The return of holiday games on Memorial, Independence and Labor Day.
• All 30 MLB teams will be aired at least once a season.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reported today that MLB will receive $5.6 billion a year from ESPN. The deal also includes increased digital, international and radio rights. We have full details below.

MLB AND ESPN REACH NEW EIGHT-YEAR BROADCASTING AGREEMENT

Largest Broadcasting Deal in MLB History Keeps Baseball on ESPN Through 2021
ESPN Returns to MLB Postseason with One Wild Card Game Per Season and
Increases Ancillary Baseball Coverage Across All ESPN Platforms

Major League Baseball and ESPN today announced a new eight-year broadcasting agreement that will carry their longstanding relationship into its fourth decade with a record-setting increase in annual rights fee. This deal sets a new standard for Major League Baseball broadcasting as ESPN’s annual rights fee will increase by 100% over its current deals, marking a new all-time record for an MLB broadcasting deal. The deal grants ESPN, which first began televising Major League Baseball games in 1990, a significant increase in studio and game content, including the right to broadcast up to 90 regular season MLB games per year across the ESPN networks beginning in 2014 and running through the 2021 season. ESPN will continue to telecast three Major League Baseball windows each week including Monday nights, Wednesday nights, and the nationally exclusive “Sunday Night Baseball” franchise.

In addition, ESPN will once again televise Postseason baseball, beginning in 2014 with one of the two Wild Card Games. ESPN will alternate airing the American League and National League Wild Card Games each year. Also starting in 2014, ESPN will have the rights to all potential regular season tiebreaker games. This new agreement covers television and radio rights to MLB programming both in the U.S. and internationally, and will include expanded hours of Baseball Tonight and other ancillary baseball programming across ESPN platforms. In addition, ESPN MLB game telecasts and other baseball programming will be available via ESPN3.com and the Watch ESPN app. ESPN has also made a commitment to showcase each of the 30 MLB Clubs at least once per season in a live game telecast.

Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig said: “On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am thrilled that we will continue our long-standing relationship with ESPN far into the future. The level of ESPN’s commitment to baseball – both financially and through its expanded content – is a testament to the strength of our game and its unprecedented popularity among our fans. Through its various networks and other media platforms, ESPN offers baseball fans more avenues to experience the game than ever before, and we’re thankful for their continued support.”

ESPN President John Skipper said: “We’re thrilled to renew our long-standing agreement with Major League Baseball into the next decade. It’s a great property. The enormous scope of what we acquired will provide fans with more live baseball and more ways to access baseball content than ever before.”

Additional details of the agreement include:

• ESPN will continue to have exclusive television rights to certain MLB All-Star Week events including the Home Run Derby and All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game.
• A nationally exclusive Opening Night national telecast, as well as full coverage of Opening Day and national holiday games (Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day).
• Up to 10 Spring Training games each season.
• In each year of the agreement, ESPN will air six one-hour specials created by Major League Baseball Productions, the Emmy Award-winning television and video production division of Major League Baseball.

And that’s it.

BREAKING NEWS: ESPN Secures Long-Term MLB Deal

Just breaking now, Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand is reporting that ESPN has extended its current deal with Major League Baseball, an eight year, $5.6 billion deal that keeps baseball on the Alleged Worldwide Leader well into the next decade.

Ourand reports that ESPN will keep the rights to Sunday, Monday and Wednesday Night Baseball. It gets back into the MLB Postseason with the rights to air one Wild Card Playoff Game. ESPN also gets additional digital, international and radio rights plus permission to show cut-ins like no-hitters in progress.

And you’ll get to see more Yankees and Red Sox games.

We’ll see if the other MLB rightsholders, Fox and TBS will be able to retain their packages or if NBC can come and scoop one up.

More to follow.

Some Really Quick Tuesday Sports Media Thoughts

Due to that stupid office move that prevented me from updating the site regularly over the last two two weeks, I wasn’t able to provide some regular features here. I’m slowly getting back on track. Thanks for your patience and continued readership during this period. I’ll make it up to you somehow.

I’ll do some very quick sports media thoughts. They’ll be in bullet form as always. Just quick hits this time, just one or two sentences in this post. I’ll expound the next time around.

• A few new shows have premiered over the last month. Both in the morning daypart which had been untapped by the sports networks until the last few years. Some thoughts on two new shows
  • NFL AM debuted in late July on NFL Network right as the Olympics were getting underway. Based on the searches landing on Fang’s Bites since the premiere, co-host Nicole Zaloumis has become popular with viewers. I like what I have seen thus far in the only morning show totally devoted to the NFL.
  • NBC Sports Network’s no-frills answer to ESPN’s SportsCenter, The ‘Lights premiered earlier this month with a disembodied voice hosting the show and narrating the highlights in twenty minute blocks. It’s a good concept that has been executed well by NBCSN.
• Earlier in August, it was discovered that Comcast SportsNet affiliates in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, DC had stopped carrying Fox Sports Net programming as of July 30 and that included the daily simulcast of the Dan Patrick Show. While an agreement could easily be forged between Fox and NBC, I have a feeling that this could be part of a bigger play by NBC for Dan not only as a radio show simulcast on NBC Sports Network, but also as an attempt to lure him to the NBC Sports Radio Network. Keep that in mind as Dan’s contract with DirecTV, the company that owns his radio show and markets his TV show to Fox Sports Net is up soon.
• Friday Night Football on ESPN/ESPN2 won’t be the same without Joe Tessitore.
• We need Michelle Beadle back on sports TV soon.
• It’s time to ignore Skip Bayless and stop writing and tweeting the outrageous things he says. Attention is exactly what he and ESPN want.
• The Big East got a very good Commissioner in former CBS Sports Vice President Mike Aresco. No pressure on Mike now, he only has to keep the conference from being poached and get a big TV contract on par with the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.
• DirecTV is no longer providing its free sports “Experience” programming to Standard Definition subscribers. NASCAR Hot Pass, PGA Championship and now the U.S. Open Experience, extra channels that allowed fans to see additional coverage beyond the network coverage are no longer available in SD. And there was no announcement either. That was sneaky, DirecTV. Makes me wonder if NFL Sunday Ticket is next. All are still available in HD.
• If you have a chance, listen to two Friends of Fang’s Bites tonight on 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston. Jen Royle will do a guest spot on the Damon Amendolara show tonight at 9. The station does stream so you can listen right here.
• Best of luck to another Friend of Fang’s Bites, Courtney Fallon. Monday was her last day as weekend sports anchor at WLNE in Providence. Here’s hoping she lands in a major market really soon.

That’s going to do it for the thoughts.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Football 
CFB Daily — ESPNU, 1 p.m.
College Football Live — ESPN, 3:30 p.m.
ESPN BCS Countdown — ESPNU, 5 p.m.
Inside College Football — CBS Sports Network, 7 p.m.

CONCACAF Champions League
Toronto vs. Santos Laguna — Fox Soccer, 8 p.m.

Cycling
Vuelta a España: Stage 10 — Universal Sports, 10 a.m.

Golf
American Triumvirate: Elusive Champion: Ben Hogan — Golf Channel, 8 p.m.
2010 Ryder Cup, Final Day — Golf Channel, 8:30 p.m.

MLB
American League
Chicago White Sox at Baltimore — MLB Network/Comcast SportsNet Chicago/MASN, 7 p.m.
Oakland at Cleveland — Comcast SportsNet California/STO, 7 p.m.
Toronto at New York Yankees — Rogers Sportsnet/YES, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Kansas City — Fox Sports Detroit/Fox Sports Kansas City, 8 p.m.
Seattle at Minnesota — Root Sports Northwest/Fox Sports North, 8 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Texas — Sun Sports/Fox Sports Southwest, 8 p.m.
Boston at Anaheim Angels — NESN/Fox Sports West, 10 p.m.

National League
New York Mets at Philadelphia — SNY/WPHL, 7 p.m.
St. Louis at Pittsburgh — MLB Network/Fox Sports Midwest/Root Sports Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Washington at Miami — MASN2/Fox Sports Florida, 7 p.m.
Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs — Fox Sports Wisconsin/WGN America, 8 p.m.
San Francisco at Houston — Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/Fox Sports Houston, 8 p.m.
Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado — KCAL/Root Sports Rocky Mountain, 8:30 p.m.
Cincinnati at Arizona — Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Arizona, 9:30 p.m.
Atlanta at San Diego — SportSouth/Fox Sports San Diego, 10 p.m.

The Rundown — MLB Network, 2 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 6 p.m.
MLB Tonight — MLB Network, 10 p.m.
Baseball Tonight — ESPN2, midnight
Quick Pitch — MLB Network, 1 a.m. (Wednesday)

NFL
SportsCenter Special: Bill Parcells’ NFL Preview — ESPN, 10 p.m.
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins — HBO, 10 p.m.

Sports Talk
NFL AM — NFL Network, 6 a.m.
The ‘Lights — NBC Sports Network, 7 a.m.
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, 2 p.m.
Outside the Lines First Report — ESPN, 3 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption — ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
Best of ROME — CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
E:60 (fall premiere) — ESPN, 7 p.m.
UNITE — ESPNU, midnight

Tennis
U.S. Open: Men’s & Women’s 1st Round — Tennis Channel, 10:30 a.m./ESPN2, 1 p.m.
U.S. Open: Primetime at the Open,  Men’s & Women’s 1st Round, Paolo Lorenzi vs. Novak Djokovic & Coco Vandeweghe vs. Serena Williams — ESPN2, 7 p.m.

Breakfast at the Open — Tennis Channel, 8 a.m.
U.S. Open Tonight — Tennis Channel, 11 p.m.

UEFA Champions League
Playoffs, 2nd Leg
Udinese vs. Braga — Fox Soccer, 2:30 p.m.
Anderlecht vs. AEL — Fox Soccer Plus, 2;30 p.m.
Panathinkaikos vs. Málaga — Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m.

UEFA Champions League Pregame — Fox Soccer/Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Sports Net, 2 p.m.
UEFA Champions League Highlights — Fox Soccer, 11 p.m.

WNBA
San Antonio Silver Stars at Minnesota Lynx — NBA TV, 8 p.m.

News
Republican National Convention — C-SPAN, 2 p.m.
Republican National Convention — CNN/C-SPAN/MSNBC/PBS, 7 p.m.
Republican National Convention — Bloomberg, 9 p.m.
Republican National Convention — ABC/CBS/CNBC/Fox News/NBC, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
Eat St.: Home Cooking On the Run — Cooking Channel, 8 p.m.
America’s Got Talent — NBC, 8 p.m.
20/20 on ID: Sins of the Son — Investigation Discovery, 8 p.m.
Reservoir Dogs — Showtime Extreme, 8 p.m.
Mobsters: The Grim Reaper: Greg Scarpa — Biography, 9 p.m.
Top Gear:  Small Cars — History Channel, 9 p.m.
Hard Time: Come on Vacation, Leave on Probation — National Geographic Channel, 9 p.m.
Gangsters: America’s Most Evil: Machine Gun Johnny: Johnny Eng — Biography, 10 p.m.
Addicted: Megan — Discovery Fitness & Health, 10 p.m.
Top Secret Weapons Revealed: Nazi War Machines — Military Channel, 10 p.m.
The Burn with Jeff Ross — Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m.
House Hunters International: Bydgoszcz, Poland — HGTV, 10:30 p.m.05
Conan — TBS, 11 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman — CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark — Sho2, midnight

Two Regional Sports Networks College Football Schedules

I’ll provide you with a couple of broadcast schedules for two regional sports networks, SNY and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. For SNY, the schedule is all Big East while Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic relies mostly on ACC and CAA games.

Let’s post the CSN Mid-Atlantic sked for you first.

2012 COMCAST SPORTSNET MID-ATLANTIC NCAA FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Thursday,  August 30 — Towson at Kent State,  7:00 p.m.,  CSN+

Saturday,  September 1 — Richmond at Virginia, 3:00 p.m.,  CSN

Saturday,  September 1 — Texas State at Houston, 8:00 p.m., CSN+

Saturday,  September 8 — North Carolina at Wake Forest, 3:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday,  September 8 — Kent State at Kentucky, 7:30 p.m., CSN

Saturday, September 15 — Furman at Clemson, 3:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, September 15 — Rhode Island at Villanova, 3:30 p.m., CSN+

Saturday, September 15 — Florida International at Central Florida*, 4:00 p.m., TBA

Saturday, September 15 — Florida Atlantic at Georgia, 7:30 p.m., CSN

Saturday, September 22 — New Hampshire at Old Dominion, 12:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, September 22 — Teams TBA (ACC), 3:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, September 22 — Marshall at Rice, 3:30 p.m., CSN+

Saturday, September 22 — Delaware at William & Mary, 7:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, September 29 — Teams TBA (ACC), 12:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, September 29 — Teams TBA (ACC), 3:30 p.m., TBA

Saturday, September 29 — Georgia State at William & Mary, 7:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, October 6 — Teams TBA (ACC), 3:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, October 6 — Maine at Delaware, 3:30 p.m., CSN+

Saturday, October 6 — North Texas at Houston, 7:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, October 13 — Richmond at New Hampshire, 12:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, October 13 — SMU at Tulane*, 1:00 p.m., TBA

Saturday, October 13 — Teams TBA (ACC),  3:00 p.m., TBA

Saturday, October 13 — William & Mary at James Madison, 3:30 p.m., TBA

Saturday, October 13 — Memphis at East Carolina*, 4:30 p.m., TBA

Saturday, October 20 — New Hampshire at Maine, 12:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, October 20 — Teams TBA (ACC), 3:00 p.m., TBA

Saturday, October 20 — James Madison at Richmond, 3:30 p.m., TBA

Saturday, October 20 — Central Florida at Memphis*, 8:00 p.m., TBA

Saturday. October 27 — Southern Miss at Rice*, 1:00 p.m., TBA

Saturday, October 27 — Teams TBA (ACC), 3:00 p.m., TBA

Saturday, October 27 — Towson at Villanova, 3:30 p.m., TBA

Saturday, October 27 — UTEP at Houston*, TBA, TBA

Saturday, November 3 — Teams TBA (ACC), 3:30 p.m., TBA

Saturday, November 3 — James Madison at Maine, 3:30 p.m., TBA

Saturday, November 3 — UAB at Southern Mississippi, 7:30 p.m., CSN+

Saturday, November 10 — William & Mary at Old Dominion, 12:00 p.m., TBA

Saturday, November 10 — Teams TBA (ACC), 3:00 p.m., TBA

Saturday, November 10 — Marshall at UAB*, TBA, TBA

Saturday, November 17 — Towson at New Hampshire, 12:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, November 17 — Houston at Marshall, 12:00 p.m., CSN+

Saturday, November 17 — Teams TBA (ACC), 3:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, November 17 — SMU at Rice, 3:30 p.m., CSN+

Saturday, November 24 — Teams TBA (ACC), 3:00 p.m., CSN

Saturday, November 24 — Southern Miss at Memphis, 4:30 p.m., CSN+

*- Delayed Airing; Schedule Subject to Change, All Times Eastern

CSN – Comcast SportsNet; CSN+ – Comcast SportsNet Plus

Now let’s provide the SNY schedule.

SNY College Football Schedule 2012
Schedule Subject to Change

Thursday, August 30 — 7:00 PM, UCONN Football Preview Show, LIVE
Thursday, August 30 — 7:30 PM, UMASS at UCONN, LIVE
Saturday, September 8 — 12:00 PM, North Carolina State at UCONN, LIVE
Saturday, September 8 — 3:30 PM, Howard at Rutgers, LIVE
Thursday, September 13 — 8:00 PM, Rutgers at South Florida, Tape Delay,TBD
Saturday, September 15 — 12:30 PM, UCONN at Maryland, LIVE
Saturday, September 15 — 3:30 PM, Stony Brook at Syracuse, LIVE
Saturday, September 22 — 2:00 PM, UCONN at Western Michigan, Tape Delay – TBD
Saturday, September 22 — 4:30 PM, South Florida at Ball State, LIVE
Saturday, September 29 — 12:00 PM, Buffalo at UCONN, LIVE
Saturday, October 6 — 12:00 PM, UCONN at Rutgers or South Florida at Temple, LIVE
Saturday, October 6 — UCONN at Rutgers, Tape Delay – TBD
Saturday, October 13 — 12:00 PM, Temple at UCONN or Louisville at Pittsburgh or Syracuse at Rutgers, LIVE
Saturday, October 13 — Temple at UCONN, Tape Delay – TBD
Saturday, October 13 — Syracuse at Rutgers, Tape Delay – TBD
Friday, October 19 — 8:00 PM, UCONN at Syracuse, Tape Delay – TBD
Saturday, October 20 — 12:00 PM. South Florida at Louisville or Rutgers at Temple, LIVE
Saturday, October 20 — 3:30 PM, Pittsburgh at Buffalo, LIVE
Saturday, October 20 — Rutgers at Temple, Tape Delay – TBD
Saturday, October 27 — 12:00 PM, Temple at Pittsburgh or Syracuse at South Florida, LIVE
Saturday, October 27 — 3:30 PM, Kent State at Rutgers, LIVE
Saturday, November 3 — 12:00 PM, Syracuse at Cincinnati or UCONN at South Florida, LIVE
Saturday, November 3 — UCONN at South Florida, Tape Delay – TBD
Friday, November 9 — 8:00 PM, Pittsburgh at UCONN, Tape Delay – TBD
Saturday, November 10 — 12:00 PM, Cincinnati at Temple or Louisville at Syracuse or Army at Rutgers, LIVE
Saturday, November 10 — Army at Rutgers, Tape Delay – TBD
Saturday, November 17 — 12:00 PM, Rutgers at Cincinnati, LIVE
Saturday, November 24 — 12:00 PM, UCONN at Louisville or Rutgers at Pittsburgh, LIVE
Saturday, November 24 — UCONN at Louisville. Tape Delay – TBD
Saturday, November 24 — Rutgers at Pittsburgh, Tape Delay – TBD
Friday, November 30 — 7:30 PM, Louisville at Rutgers, Tape Delay – TBD
Saturday, December 1 — Cincinnati at UCONN, Tape Delay – TBD

That will do it.

CBS/CBS Sports Network Combine For Coverage of Notre Dame vs. Navy in Ireland

Give credit to CBS for giving us a college football game on the very first weekend of the regular season. Usually, CBS has had to concede the first two weekends due to U.S. Open commitments, but it found a way to bring us college football on the first Saturday of the 2012 college football season by airing a game from Ireland and having it played at 9 a.m. ET. Call it “College Football Breakfast in Ireland.”

This will be the Notre Dame-Navy game to be played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Verne Lundquist will call the game along with Gary Danielson and Tracy Wolfson. CBS will send Northern  Ireland native David Feherty from its golf crew to the game as a special in-game reporter.

There will be quite a few features. CBS airs the game. CBS Sports Network will have special pregame show at 7 a.m. ET produced live from its Chelsea Piers studios in New York City.

And CBS will have halftime live from the CBS Sports Network studios as well.

Here’s the announcement.

CBS SPORTS KICKS OFF COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON WITH  NOTRE DAME VS. NAVY LIVE FROM DUBLIN, IRELAND ON SATURDAY, SEPT. 1 AT 9:00 AM, ET

CBS Sports Network Begins Coverage with Special Pre-game Show;
Game to be Streamed Live Across All CBSSports.com Digital Platforms
CBS Sports’ David Feherty Serves as In-Stadium Reporter

CBS Sports kicks off the 2012 college football season with *No. 24-ranked Notre Dame vs. Navy live from Dublin, Ireland on Saturday, Sept. 1 (9:00 AM, ET/2:00 PM, Local Time). CBS Sports’ lead college football team of Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and reporter Tracy Wolfson call the action live from Aviva Stadium.

The game broadcast features an interview with Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny, conducted by Wolfson. CBS Sports golf reporter David Feherty serves as a special in-stadium reporter. Feherty, who was born and raised in Bangor, Northern Ireland and is now a United States citizen, reports on the sights and sounds from around the stadium and the city,  and contributes an essay to air during halftime.

Throughout the week leading up to the game, CBS Sports Network showcases a variety of reports and features from Ireland, including a special interview with Dan Rooney, U.S. Ambassador to Ireland and Pittsburgh Steelers Owner, conducted by Lundquist. The interview with Rooney airs during the premiere of the TONY BARNHART SHOW (Tuesday, Aug. 28 – 9:00 PM, ET).

Craig Silver, the Network’s coordinating producer of college football, produces and Steve Milton directs.

The day’s coverage begins on CBS Sports Network with a special two-hour pre-game show, INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL: NOTRE DAME-NAVY KICKOFF, (7:00-9:00 AM, ET).  Adam Zucker hosts and is joined by analysts Brian Jones, Houston Nutt, Aaron Taylor and reporter Bruce Feldman from CBS Sports Network’s Chelsea Piers Studio in New York City. 

CBS Sports’ broadcast of Notre Dame-Navy also will be streamed live on CBSSports.com and CBS Sports Mobile, including iPads and iPhones. All digital platforms will feature a live chat throughout the game.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY, CBS Sports’ pre-game, halftime and post-game studio show features host Tim Brando along with analysts Spencer Tillman and Taylor. The show also originates from the Chelsea Piers Studio. Vin DeVito produces and Linda Malino directs. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

That’s it from here.

Chris Rose Joins NFL Network While Remaining at MLB Network

Just officially announced today,  Chris Rose of MLB Network’s abortion, Intentional Talk, will expand his horizons outside of baseball and join NFL Network as a studio host. He’ll host NFL Network’s Sunday highlight shows during the season, NFL GameDay Highlights and NFL GameDay Final replacing established hosts Rich Eisen and Fran Charles, respectively.

And he’ll be the host of the postgame edition of NFL Total Access which would follow Thursday Night Football.

Rose will continue as co-host of Intentional Talk on MLB Network weekdays.

So Rose is the first on-air personality to work at two league-owned networks simultaneously. It’ll be interesting to see if he can continue to handle the workload or choose to leave one network down the road.

The announcement.

VETERAN ON-AIR HOST CHRIS ROSE JOINS NFL NETWORK

Rose to Host NFL GameDay Highlights, NFL GameDay Final and the Thursday Night Edition of NFL Total Access

NFL Network has added veteran on-air talent Chris Rose to its ranks, it was announced today. Rose will host NFL Network’s signature Sunday night shows NFL GameDay Highlights and NFL GameDay Final, as well as the postgame edition of NFL Total Access following the network’s Thursday Night Football telecast.

“We’re happy to have Chris on board and he will serve as yet another valuable addition to our talented roster of hosts and analysts,” said NFL Network Executive Producer Eric Weinberger. “Both NFL GameDay Highlights and NFL GameDay Final have shown tremendous growth over the past few seasons and we have no doubt Chris will build on the success of these shows.”

NFL GameDay Highlights airs on NFL Network on Sunday nights at 7:30 PM ET during the NFL regular season and features analysts Steve Mariucci and Deion Sanders joining Rose to recap all of the day’s action with game highlights, post-game press conferences and commentary, as well as preview the upcoming Sunday night matchup.

Rose will also host NFL GameDay Final at 11:30 PM ET with a trio of Hall of Famers, joining Sanders, Marshall Faulk, and Michael Irvin to dissect all of Sunday’s action. With video of post-game press conferences, game highlights, player/coach interviews, expert analysis, a preview of Monday’s game and more, NFL GameDay Final provides everything viewers need to know about the week in the NFL.

In addition to his work for NFL Network, Rose hosts Intentional Talk on MLB Network. Previously, Rose served as an on-air host and play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports between 2000-2012 covering MLB, NFL, College Football and hosting The Best Damn Sports Show for nine years.

Chris can be followed on Twitter at: @ChrisRose.

That’s it for this post.