Fighting Like Tigers In The Booth

The Detroit Tigers aren't fighting for anything except a distant third place finish this season, but their TV broadcasters are. The rumored tension appeared to have become a fact on Wednesday (9/5) when Mario Impemba and Rod Allen reportedly had an altercation which took both of them off the night's telecast of the Tigers vs. White Sox game in Chicago.

Viewers that tuned in to find Matt Shepard and Kirk Gibson on the telecast, who had to be brought in to Chicago to do so earlier in the day. The altercation reported occurred following the Tuesday night telecast. Representatives for both had no comment, nor did would Fox Sports Detroit (as of press time).

It was not clear whether or not the pair would or will return to Tigers telecasts for the weekend, while this column was completed prior to their Friday night telecast. Some joked that the pair did their job well, by giving Tigers fans a reason to tune in during a busy football weekend.

The poor season by the Tigers, and the uncertainty about the Lions, have also caused WXYT-FM The Ticket to drop a full ratings point in the just released August radio ratings. This is roughly a 20% overall audience reduction.

The start of the NFL regular season brings good news for those who like to watch via their phones. The NFL has just allowed for fans to be able to view "in market" games via the NFL or Yahoo sports apps on smart phones, regardless of carrier. Last season, the NFL had its streaming deal only with Verizon. The best part is that this applies whether or not you have a cable or satellite subscription.







Speaking of the August radio ratings, there were only a few interesting notes from the major markets this time around. In New York, WFAN-FM came in at #5 overall, and with more than triple the total audience of WPEN-FM.

Philadelphia's WIP-FM had a big jump, coming in at #6 in the market. This is not surprising given the start of the Eagles season while the Phillies unexpectedly contend for the post-season.

In Boston, WEEI-FM jumped up .9 of a ratings point since July and came in #6 overall, with its largest lead over #9 WBZ-FM Sports Hub in quite some time. St. Louis' WXOS-FM showed a strong gain, moving up a full ratings point since June and finishing #12 in the market, in what is believed to be its highest rating ever as a sports station.

This Saturday (9/8) will be another busy one for ESPN's Jason Benetti. He will call the Northwestern vs. Duke football game on ESPNU at 12 Noon ET, and then call the White Sox vs. Angels game from Chicago at 7 PM ET on NBC Sports Chicago.