Sports Media Report - Nov. 23rd update.........

I suppose it's just another of those "how times have changed" stories that shouldn't bother me. But when one media "reports" on another media while trying to promote itself, I notice a definite lack of news value.

It seems that the Chicago Bears' Head Coach Lovie Smith, General Manager Jerry Angelo, and QB Jay Cutler each reportedly turned down requests last week to be interviewed by Bob Costas for the NBC-TV pregame show prior to its Sunday Night Football telecast from Chicago.

When I first heard that, I had 2 immediate reactions. First, I thought about the seemingly hundreds of on-air hosts and commentators that NBC presents to us within the 4 1/2 hours each Sunday night during the NFL season, and figured they would hardly struggle for opinion and comments about the game. Next, I thought about how some athletes have regularly shunned media interviews over the years while the 3 people in this story have done their fair share.

Yet, the Chicago Sun-Times, in "reporting" this story, had its own angle. It seems that NBC-TV decided to interview a couple of Sun-Times writers for the pre-game show instead of the key player, head coach, or General Manager. Therefore, the "story" in the Sun-Times and on its web site was really a column disguised as a promotional piece for the newspaper.

It came across as a double negative. I can't believe that NBC-TV with all of its resources actually preferred putting a couple of newspaper writers on its pregame show over and above interviews with other Bears players. If other Bears players wouldn't talk, then present more interviews from the Philadelphia Eagles (the opponent) and from their endless line of commentators. It's OK to casually mention that key personnel of the Bears chose not to appear, and move on with the telecast.

I thought that I could learn what the writers have to say during the week leading up to the game. Anyone around the country can read them on SunTimes.com. Were they saving something important for NBC that they weren't putting in their own columns or reports for the newspaper? I hardly think so. But I also fault NBC for relying on other "media" which in effect competes with them by also reporting on the game they were televising. NBC has enough on-air personnel to easily fill up the 90 minutes leading into the kickoff. If they couldn't get the team personnel they wanted, they did not have to go after other media.

After learning of this, even though I planned to watch this game, I waited and tuned in about 5 minutes before kickoff.

Meanwhile, CBS-TV is already enjoying the ratings success for the entire NFL season, noting that nearly 90% of available advertising during the coming February 7 Super Bowl has been sold. Even in this challenging economy, the network reports that sales are well ahead of the pace when it last televised the Super Bowl in 2007.

MLB Network continues to bring on the classic baseball telecasts during this stretch of time following the World Series and leading into the Winter Meetings in early December.

For Thanksgiving weekend, the network will air a series of All-Star Game telecasts. This will include the 1971 game with the monster homerun in Detroit by Reggie Jackson, even though their cameras missed where the ball actually hit. Eight of the games are scheduled to air for the first time on MLB Network. These are the 1982, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000 games.

In addition to 3 NFL telecasts on Thursday (Thanksgiving), the NBA national packages bring us plenty of hoops this week. In addition to ESPN airing Wednesday and Friday NBA games and the usual Thursday doubleheader on TNT (holidays not withstanding), NBA-TV adds to the mix this week.

On Tuesday (11/24) it will be Oklahoma City at Utah at 9:00 ET, on Saturday (11/28) it will be Charlotte at Washington at 7:00 ET, and on Sunday (11/19) it will be Boston at Miami at 6:00 ET.

Speaking of NBA telecasts, who would have thought that if Clippers' voice Ralph Lawler were to miss his first game in 25 years, it would have been due to a suspension? Lawler and analyst Michael Smith were suspended from last Friday's (Nov. 20) telecast on Fox Sports Prime Ticket as a result of comments on last Wednesday's (11/18) telecast vs. Memphis. Reportedly due to ONE viewer's complaint about their comments about Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi being from Iran.

CHICAGO: Congrats to WMAQ-TV Channel 5 sports reporter Peggy Kusinski on winning a Midwest Emmy Award for her reporting work.

NEW YORK: Even with the rise in TV sports ratings this year, it takes teams worth watching to further the cause. Word is that the Knicks' horrible start has already resulted in a 28% TV ratings reduction on MSG Network over the same period last season. When the Knicks didn't exactly set the NBA on fire either. However, they are not at the bottom of this ratings drop. The New Jersey Nets, still winless at press time, have already seen a 41% drop on YES telecasts compared with the same period last year.

SAN FRANCISCO: It has been a struggle over the years for the Oakland A's to find a radio station they can stay with and that would stick with them. There have been a couple of seasons when they A's have bought time on limited power stations. Yet, that seems to have changed. KTRB 860 and the team have agreed on a 10-year extension to carry the A's, including up to 20 spring training broadcasts.

The A's broadcast team also returns for at least 2010. Ray Fosse returns for his 25th season in the booth, now handling color commentary and pre-game programming. Ken Korach returns for his 15th season in the booth, while Vince Cotroneo begins his 5th season.

CINCINNATI: University of Kentucky basketball fans on the Northern Kentucky side will like Insight Cable presenting a "free preview" of CBS College Sports channel this week. Just in time for Kentucky's games in the Cancun (Mexico) Challenge basketball tourney games on Tuesday and Wednesday. So nice that some subscribers won't have to pay to see those games instead of having to fly down to Mexico.

NASHVILLE: WGFX 104.5 The Zone has brought back ESPN Radio, even if for overnight and some weekend hours only. However, there is positive in this. The sports station wants to limit ESPN programming due to being "live and local" for much of its day. ESPN Radio was not available locally in Nashville since July when another FM station known as The Fan dropped sports programming.

Happy Turkey!!

Here is the college football regional and national schedule for the coming week, with times Eastern:

Tuesday, Nov. 24
7:00: Ball St. at Western Michigan, ESPN2

Thursday, Nov. 26
4:00: Tuskegee at Alabama St., ESPNU
8:00: Texas at Texas A&M, ESPN

Friday, Nov. 27
11:00: Rutgers at Louisville, ESPN2
11:00: Temple at Ohio U., ESPNU
12:00: Illinois at Cincinnati, ABC
2:30: Alabama at Auburn, CBS
3:30: Nebraska at Colorado, ABC
7:00: Pittsburgh at West Virginia, ESPN2
10:15: Nevada at Boise St., ESPN2

Saturday, Nov. 28
12:00: Clemson at South Carolina, ESPN
12:00: North Carolina at N.C. State, ESPN2
12:00: South Carolina St. at Appalachian St., ESPNU
3:30: Virginia Tech at Virginia, ABC
3:30: Florida St. at Florida, CBS
3:30: Miami (Fla.) at South Florida, ESPN
3:30: Boston College at Maryland, ESPNU
7:00: Arkansas at LSU, ESPN
7:00: Tennessee at Kentucky, ESPNU
8:00: Notre Dame at Stanford, ABC
8:00: Georgia at Georgia Tech, ESPN2
10:30: Navy at Hawaii, ESPNU

Sports Media Update - February 3rd

Although Delaware does not have a pro sports team and is not exactly a major sports media hub, its impact could be felt throughout the sports media within the next two years.

The sports media has surprisingly not (yet) been filled with discussion after the USA Today story suggesting that "legal, lottery-style betting on pro and college sports events might be coming to Delaware." Its House of Representatives passed a sports betting bill last year, but did not pass the Senate in part over the "then" Governor's opposition. "Then" being the key word here.

The bill is expected to be re-introduced to the Senate on March 17, now faced with a huge deficit and the possibility of slot machines in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

To borrow the real estate term "location location location", one cannot overlook Delaware's proximity to the Philadelphia area, and its being less than a 3 hour drive from NYC, Baltimore/DC, and the majority of New Jersey.

My feelings about this issue are not important. What is important is to consider how this bill, if it were to be passed, would impact sportscasts and sports talk radio throughout the region. The ghost of Jimmy The Greek would certainly be stirred.

Can you hear a WIP update saying "and the Phillies are favored by 1 1/2 runs over the Cardinals tonight" during their updates? Or WFAN reporting "the Mets are a 2 run underdog to the Braves tomorrow afternoon, and you can hear that game at 2:05"?

If indeed you can, it would mean that the legalized betting on these games in nearby Delaware will have made an impact on sports radio. (Radio is one example, as newspapers, online, and TV are certainly in the mix.) But if these stations do NOT include this information, chances are somebody will.

Let's face it. A potentially large number of sports fans, plus those would become sports fans for the gambling aspect, will want the information that bettors need before these games are played. If they can't find it on one station, chances are they will seek another. Until they find a source to get the information they are seeking to bet on games each day or each week.

Sports betting in Delaware would be different for the fans and the media compared with Las Vegas. Pro games in Vegas are rare, most likely because they cannot be bet in Vegas if they are local. The nearest pro teams are more than a 4 hour drive (to the Los Angeles area), and in totally different radio and TV markets. Way different than Delaware, where Delaware temperatures have been a regular part of the mix on Philadelphia stations such as KYW for years.

These stations also give the lottery numbers because they know their audience wants them and counts on them at specific times.

Sportscasts and game previews in the "Delaware Valley" region and probably beyond could be changed forever. The early line and injury reports pertinent to the next game(s) of the local pro teams could take on even more importance to more people.

I haven't seen the Bill about to be presented to the Delaware Senate next month. So I don't know if this limits which games can be included, or if this is for one game per night, or only include out of area teams. Or if it means the most local of teams. If this indeed includes the Philadelphia and Baltimore/D.C. area teams, there will be a definite media impact.

The Phillies already have their own deal with Arbitron for radio audience measurement specific to their games and separate from their radio stations. That deal could become more valuable than ever if people "need" to tune in to get the results or verify that the game is being played, etc. Depending upon the specific categories for the betting, this could result in a larger audience remaining during blowout games, especially the 76ers if the point spread is large enough going in.

Yet, if radio and TV do not get involved in reporting of the betting information, no matter how disguised it is, somebody else will. The radio and TV broadcasts of these teams could lose some audience to the web sites, cell phone broadcasts, and/or whatever other sources will pick up on and benefit from the information gap this would create.

If I were a betting man, I'd say this will happen. Will the media be ready?

Meanwhile:

What a great fit for Bob Costas to join MLB-TV. It is a homerun all the way around. Costas will get right to work, interviewing Joe Torre this Thursday (Feb. 5th) and hosting and participating in other specials. His leaving HBO for this assignment is a no-brainer.

While NBC-TV comes off its incredibly successful Super Bowl telecast, we will soon see if or how it translates for its NHL telecasts. NBC-TV enjoyed ratings success on New Year's Day with the outdoor Chicago-Detroit matchup, but will monitor the ratings over the next 3 or 4 weeks very closely. This is the final season of the 2-year deal with NBC and the NHL. Reportedly, the NHL is generating about $10 million for each season. However, that figure is only around 10% of the revenue the NHL generates from its Canadian television packages.

NEW YORK: WFAN is quickly moving past the Super Bowl (what a difference a year makes!) and into baseball. Ed Randall was scheduled to take phone calls live with Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman on Tuesday (Feb. 3) to help kick off "Talking Baseball" that returns Sunday (Feb. 8) at 9 AM. Earlier in the day, Joe Torre was scheduled to be live with Mike Francesa.

BOSTON: Now that Gil Santos has retired from WBZ Radio morning sports, the station is not rushing to fill the slot. Bob Lobel, the former WBZ-TV anchor, is filling in for this week. As of this writing, nothing announced for next week yet.

PHILADELPHIA: Glad to see that Gary Papa returned to Channel 6 earlier this week after missing several days due to a medical procedure.

MILWAUKEE: As of this writing, Cory Provus is a semi-finalist for the opening on the Brewers broadcast since Jim Powell left to go to Atlanta a couple weeks ago. Provus has been doing one inning of play-by-play along with surrounding duties for the Chicago Cubs on WGN Radio, working along side of former Brewers voice Pat Hughes.

BUFFALO: WECK will move The Brad Riter Show up from nights to the 4 - 7 PM slot. Riter is expected to shift from general talk to sports talk after 6 PM most nights. With good reason. WECK now carries the Yankees broadcasts in Buffalo, previously carried on WGR. This will also serve as lead in for WECK's University of Buffalo basketball broadcasts and to talk UB football in season, as the station begins its first season of having those rights. I'm sure hockey talk will also be prominent, as the station can't overlook that Buffalo was the top rated local market for the NHL All-Star Game on Versus last week.

IOWA CITY: One announcement that slipped through the cracks last week actually had a Super Bowl tie-in. Ed Podolak, who was a running back on the Kansas City Chiefs teams under Hank Stram that played in the very early Super Bowl days, announced his retirement from the University of Iowa football broadcasts after 27 years.

FLINT: Sports talk WTRX in Flint Michigan has eliminated its last totally local sports show and joined those stations going the syndication route. The one possible exception is "The Huge Show" that WTRX carries out of Grand Rapids.

Meanwhile, Fox TV Sports has announced its NASCAR schedule, which begins this coming weekend:

NASCAR on FOX 2009 Schedule


Sat. Feb. 7 - Daytona Int’l Speedway, Budweiser Shootout, 8:00 PM
Sun. Feb. 8 - Daytona Int’l Speedway, Daytona 500 Qualifying, 1:00 PM Sun. Feb. 15 - Daytona Int’l Speedway, Daytona 500, 2:00 PM
Sat. Feb. 21 - California Speedway, NASCAR Truck Series, 3:00 PM
Sun. Feb. 22 - California Speedway, NASCAR Racing, 5:00 PM
Sun. March 1 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR Racing, 3:30 PM
Sun. March 8 - Atlanta Motor Speedway, NASCAR, 1:30 PM
Sun. March 22 - Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR, 1:30 PM
Sat. March 28 - Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR, 2:00 PM
Sun. March 29 - Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR, 1:30 PM
Sun. April 5 - Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR,1:30 PM
Sat. April 18 - Phoenix Int’l Speedway, NASCAR, 8:00 PM
Sun. April 26 - Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR, 1:00 PM
Sat. May 2 - Richmond Int’l Raceway, NASCAR, 7:00 PM
Sat. May 9 - Darlington Raceway, NASCAR, 7:00 PM
Sun. May 24 - Lowe’s Motor Speedway, NASCAR, 5:00 PM
Sun. May 31 - Dover Int’l Speedway, NASCAR, 1:30 PM

All times Eastern; Schedule subject to change