While many anticipate the NBA season opening on Christmas Day with 5 games being televised nationally, it will likely be one to remember for the primary announcing team of Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy. Whether or not they remember it positively remains to be seen. That Breen and Van Gundy will call the ABC telecast (game 2 of the day) with the NBA Finals rematch of Miami at Dallas at 2:30 PM ET is hardly news. But the story that ESPN's telecast of Golden State hosting the L.A. Clippers in Oakland at 10:30 PM ET that same night is scheduled to also be described by Breen and Van Gundy is.
ABC/ESPN is hopeful that the weather and the airlines allow the pair to fly out after the Dallas telecast and be in Oakland just over 5 hours later to make it their own personal doubleheader spread over 2 time zones. I suppose this is an attempt to call attention to the Clippers vs. Warriors game being on national TV since I can't think of any other reason to do this. Maybe the NBA should have stayed with 4 games on opening day and not included such a comparatively weak matchup be included. They are counting on fans tuning in to at least the start of the game to find out if Breen and Van Gundy made it on time. If the 2 games for a single announcing team to call were geographically close I could understand, such as a Knicks game and later a Nets game, both Los Angeles teams at home, or a Chicago and Milwaukee (90 miles apart) combination.
Let's face it. Breen and Van Gundy will be better prepared, and understandably so, for the Miami vs. Dallas matchup. Calling 2 games involving 4 different teams on the same day is a tough assignment for anybody, even without the traveling. There is no reason for an NBA telecast to be so understaffed. For some reason, the NBA seems to go along with this. For example, Doris Burke does a good job as an analyst on several NBA telecasts for ESPN during the regular season. This wouldn't bother me if it wasn't that ESPN/ABC, TNT, and NBA-TV all seem to have dozens of studio analysts on at the same time who were all former NBA players. There are only a limited number of opportunities for each of them to comment sufficiently and even fewer to disagree. Less diplomatically, there is no need for all of these studio commentators. Yet, here ESPN is using the same announcing team for 2 of its telecasts on opening day. And they use Doris Burke at games while "extra" analysts who actually played in the NBA sit in the studio. It doesn't make sense.
Just in case, ESPN will have Terry Gannon and Chris Mullen ready to go in Oakland on Christmas night. If Breen and Van Gundy can't make it at all or on time, they will handle the call. If Breen and Van Gundy arrive in time, Gannon and Mullen will have lesser roles in the telecast.
It will also be a busy couple of days for Mike Tirico. He will call the ABC telecast of the Lakers hosting the Chicago Bulls at 5 PM ET on Christmas and then head out for New Orleans to call the Monday Night Football game just over 24 hours later between the Saints and the Atlanta Falcons in a game that looks to be a ratings bonanza based on the playoff implications.
NBC-TV continues to dominate with its Sunday Night Football ratings, again winning the night on Sunday (12/11) with the Giants vs. Cowboys telecast, with early numbers showing it to be the 5th highest rated Sunday night (actual Sunday) telecast for NBC. Interestingly, all 5 highest rated Sunday Night NBC telecasts have featured the Cowboys, with Sunday's game making 2 of those telecasts vs. the Giants among that top 5. It's the Cowboys that are the draw, as local market ratings show that the top 3 markets around the country watching on Sunday night were Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin.
Two long-time MLB announcers have been named to halls of fame within the past week, although reaction is different about both. Bob Uecker, the 41 year voice of the Milwaukee Brewers as well as several seasons nationally for ABC-TV earlier on, has been named to the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and will be inducted on April 17th in Las Vegas, and the majority of fans are happy for Uecker. Especially after his having had health issues that have taken him away from games over the past couple of years.
Tim McCarver, national telecast analyst for Fox and for CBS-TV prior, has been named to the Baseball Hall of Fame and will be honored in Cooperstown next July. However, McCarver has come under fire by many fans and media critics over the past few years.
Fox Sports Radio continues to make some unique pairings of hosts for its weekend programming. Now the network is teaming up tennis star Andy Roddick with Austin morning host Bobby Bones for its Saturday 1 to 4 PM ET spot. The pair did some fill-in work together this past summer and impressed the network.
CHICAGO: Bulls basketball will remain on WMVP ESPN 1000 for another five seasons, extending their current contract through the 2016-17 season.
DENVER: Musical chairs continues with the city's all sports stations. KKFN Fan 104.3 has announced its local schedule to begin by the first of the year to replace ESPN programming. Joel Klatt and Mike Evans will host mornings, with (former NBA player) Scott Hastings and Drew Goodman (voice of the Rockies) hosting from Noon to 3 PM weekdays. Sister station KEPN 1600 is also replacing the ESPN lineup, although it will run syndicated shows (such as Dan Patrick) and Yahoo Sports Radio instead.
SEATTLE: The Mariners' broadcast booth will once again be well attended for the 2012 season, as a cast of thousands will continue to call the games after the passing of Dave Niehaus following the 2010 season. While Rick Rizzs, Dave Sims, and Mike Blowers will handle most of the duties, Ken Wilson and Ron Fairly are among those returning for part-time broadcasting during the season. In addition, Ken Levine, Dave Valle, Dave Henderson, Dan Wilson, and Jay Buhner will also be in the booth at various times. Wonder if the players will be able to tell the announcers without a scorecard!
MINNEAPOLIS: Let the speculation begin about the future location for Twins broadcasts. KHTC 96.3 is about to change call letters to KTWN and become "K-Twin" radio although the Twins broadcasts are currently under contract to KSTP 1500. Yet, there is a good reason for this speculation. K-Twin is owned by the Pohlad family, which owns the Twins.
Showing posts with label abc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abc. Show all posts
Monday, December 12, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Broadcast Booth - July 27th Update
Fans are pleased to have their NFL football coming back and knowing that the regular season will open as scheduled and plans can be made. We also saw an example of the NFL's media partners jumping on the end of the lockout and adding to the positive vibes felt by the fans. Within 24 hours of the end of the lockout, the networks began to announce their TV schedules for the regular season, as well as pre-season TV schedules.
I mention this because it came at a time when fans knew they could get enthusiastic about the upcoming games knowing they will be played as scheduled. This is exactly what I pointed out last week regarding the NBA's TV partners. While it is understandable that the NBA needs to have a schedule in place, the publicity surrounding its release was tamed due to the current lockout status of the players. Yet, ESPN/ABC, TNT, and the NBA Network came out with their national TV schedules, even within the uncertainty. The NFL took advantage of the timing to announce national TV games, whereas the NBA wasted the opportunity.
Speaking of announcing upcoming telecasts, the Pac-12 Conference TV deal just announced has become more thorough than most originally thought. The Conference is planning to have a national cable network as well as six regional networks including pay-per-view possibilities.
This will all begin next August (2012), with the regional networks based in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and "mountain regions". The Conference will show about 850 live events each year, including approximately 350 events on the national feed. This will include every football and basketball game not carried on a national telecast partner.
ESPN/ABC used this week to, in addition to its NFL telecast schedule, announce its extensive plans for the upcoming college football season. This season will be the first of its 12 season agreement with the ACC, a new 8-year exclusive on BYE home games, and at least 50 games (various conferences) which will only be available via stream on ESPN3.com.
In addition, there will be an increase in games shown on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, along with a "Kickoff Week" stretch of 32 telecasts in 5 days from September 1 thru 5.
BOSTON: WEEI wasted no time in expanding its Patriots and NFL coverage once the lockout ended. Former Pats linebacker, and ESPN analyst, Ted Bruschi will join "The Big Show" with Michael Holley and Glen Ordway on Mondays from 4 to 6 PM during "Patriots Monday". He will also help with the Coach Belichick interview segments each week.
CHICAGO: WMAQ-TV Channel 5 went internal to replace sportscaster Daryl Hawks who passed away this past May. The station is returning Mike Adamle to full-time status. Paula Faris and Peggy Kusinski will continue in their roles.
CINCINNATI: Andy Furman is moving back to afternoons to talk sports on WQRT 1160 starting next Monday (8/1), moving from 7 to 9 AM (which he occupied since January) to the 5 to 7 PM spot. Furman's show is the only pure sports show on the station, and station officials reason that he will be able to secure more guests with the later time slot.
PITTSBURGH: The success of the Pirates this season will also likely impact the team's future on local radio. Now that people care that the team's radio contract is up after the current season, word is that KDKA-FM The Fan is about to enter the bidding for the rights for next season and beyond. However, this may not be the typical bidding war. It will be interesting to see if the Pirates wish to continue to control the advertising, the announcers, and the overall broadcasts, as opposed to selling the rights to the highest bidder.
TAMPA: Now that the NFL is all systems go, WTSP-TV 10 takes over as the pre-season station for the Buccaneers starting a new 2-year agreement. Chris Myers and John Lynch remain as the announcing team. However, the home pre-season games WTSP can televise are not sold out yet. Thus, the possibility remains that the games will not be able to be shown live, thus reducing the overall value of the package. If and as these exhibition games do not sell out, the station would be forced to air the games on tape delay.
SEATTLE/TACOMA: KJR 950 is planning a push for the minor league Tacoma Rainiers by broadcasting its Friday afternoon drive show with Mike Gastineau and Elise Woodward from Cheney Stadium on July 28th and again on August 12th. The game broadcasts air on sister station South Sound Sports 850.
PENSACOLA: While ESPN Radio is leaving some markets. Pensacola will have a full-time AM/FM combo for ESPN Radio starting on August 8th. WBSR 1450 and 101.1 will become the markets only full-time sports station.
I mention this because it came at a time when fans knew they could get enthusiastic about the upcoming games knowing they will be played as scheduled. This is exactly what I pointed out last week regarding the NBA's TV partners. While it is understandable that the NBA needs to have a schedule in place, the publicity surrounding its release was tamed due to the current lockout status of the players. Yet, ESPN/ABC, TNT, and the NBA Network came out with their national TV schedules, even within the uncertainty. The NFL took advantage of the timing to announce national TV games, whereas the NBA wasted the opportunity.
Speaking of announcing upcoming telecasts, the Pac-12 Conference TV deal just announced has become more thorough than most originally thought. The Conference is planning to have a national cable network as well as six regional networks including pay-per-view possibilities.
This will all begin next August (2012), with the regional networks based in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and "mountain regions". The Conference will show about 850 live events each year, including approximately 350 events on the national feed. This will include every football and basketball game not carried on a national telecast partner.
ESPN/ABC used this week to, in addition to its NFL telecast schedule, announce its extensive plans for the upcoming college football season. This season will be the first of its 12 season agreement with the ACC, a new 8-year exclusive on BYE home games, and at least 50 games (various conferences) which will only be available via stream on ESPN3.com.
In addition, there will be an increase in games shown on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, along with a "Kickoff Week" stretch of 32 telecasts in 5 days from September 1 thru 5.
BOSTON: WEEI wasted no time in expanding its Patriots and NFL coverage once the lockout ended. Former Pats linebacker, and ESPN analyst, Ted Bruschi will join "The Big Show" with Michael Holley and Glen Ordway on Mondays from 4 to 6 PM during "Patriots Monday". He will also help with the Coach Belichick interview segments each week.
CHICAGO: WMAQ-TV Channel 5 went internal to replace sportscaster Daryl Hawks who passed away this past May. The station is returning Mike Adamle to full-time status. Paula Faris and Peggy Kusinski will continue in their roles.
CINCINNATI: Andy Furman is moving back to afternoons to talk sports on WQRT 1160 starting next Monday (8/1), moving from 7 to 9 AM (which he occupied since January) to the 5 to 7 PM spot. Furman's show is the only pure sports show on the station, and station officials reason that he will be able to secure more guests with the later time slot.
PITTSBURGH: The success of the Pirates this season will also likely impact the team's future on local radio. Now that people care that the team's radio contract is up after the current season, word is that KDKA-FM The Fan is about to enter the bidding for the rights for next season and beyond. However, this may not be the typical bidding war. It will be interesting to see if the Pirates wish to continue to control the advertising, the announcers, and the overall broadcasts, as opposed to selling the rights to the highest bidder.
TAMPA: Now that the NFL is all systems go, WTSP-TV 10 takes over as the pre-season station for the Buccaneers starting a new 2-year agreement. Chris Myers and John Lynch remain as the announcing team. However, the home pre-season games WTSP can televise are not sold out yet. Thus, the possibility remains that the games will not be able to be shown live, thus reducing the overall value of the package. If and as these exhibition games do not sell out, the station would be forced to air the games on tape delay.
SEATTLE/TACOMA: KJR 950 is planning a push for the minor league Tacoma Rainiers by broadcasting its Friday afternoon drive show with Mike Gastineau and Elise Woodward from Cheney Stadium on July 28th and again on August 12th. The game broadcasts air on sister station South Sound Sports 850.
PENSACOLA: While ESPN Radio is leaving some markets. Pensacola will have a full-time AM/FM combo for ESPN Radio starting on August 8th. WBSR 1450 and 101.1 will become the markets only full-time sports station.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The Broadcast Booth - June 15th update
Here it is the month of June, yet it is the heavy viewership and ratings for the "winter sports" of basketball and hockey which dominate the sports media news.
The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs concluded with record TV audiences for NBC, Versus, and local and regional networks covering teams which were involved until the Chicago Blackhawks' clinching win in overtime of Game 6.
Making it even more interesting is the record ratings coming from cities such as Kansas City, New Orleans, and Memphis, which do not have and are not within proximity of NHL teams.
On the NBA side, Game 5 between the Lakers and Celtics won the night in TV ratings and showed more than a 35% increase from last year's Game 5 between the Lakers and Orlando. This looks to be the highest rated NBA Finals series since L.A. vs. Detroit in 2004.
Why have sports on TV caught on so much within the past couple of years? My feeling is that the onslaught of big screen TV's along with HD and the increase in technology, combined with ticket costs pricing out the 'average' fan, have given us very strong reasons to watch on TV instead of going.
The increase in technology includes the amount of information about the game shown on the screen. Fans attending the games don't have access to the mountain of statistics we see on TV, along with the ability to see the score and game status (i.e. game clock, inning, etc.) along with the action without having to look away. Fans can also be online for even more statistics and updates on their game of interest as well as out of town games when watching on TV, whereas at the game they do not have nearly as much of this information available.
Plus, you don't have to pay $25 and up to be parked when watching on TV.
Then again, if this continues, sports on TV will wind up costing us even more than game tickets and the costs associated with it. The higher the ratings, the more money the TV networks will need to spend to retain the telecast rights. And the more money they spend, the higher our cable or satellite bills will be.
Speaking of TV, it's time to step back and realize how television is the real force behind college teams turning free agent on their conferences and jumping around as if they have agents and can up and leave when their time comes.
The University of Texas appears to be staying in the Big 12 (as of press time on Tuesday afternoon), which appears to mean that the Conference will live past this week and keep most of its other current member schools. The reason?
It appears to be TV. Reports have surfaced that U. of Texas is preparing to begin its own TV network, and that would be a first. Not a Conference network, such as The Big Ten Network, but one just for the school. Since TV revenue is such a driving force behind schools jumping around, the conferences wooing U of T would not allow Texas to do this. But the stakes are high enough for the Big 12 that the time may well have come.
If it comes to pass that U of T implements its own TV network, it might not be the plus the school and Big 12 think. Without football, there wouldn't be nearly as much interest in the other sports, with the possible exception of basketball. However, Texas would need to play 'lesser' schools in order to televise the games itself. Games against the larger conferences would be shown on ESPN/ABC, Fox Sports, or larger regional networks with exclusive contracts for selected games. Yet, if Texas starts playing schools without TV commitments, then their schedule and caliber of play is weakened.
Elsewhere, it appears that there will not be a national telecast of the public memorial service for Coach John Wooden. How can this be?
The service will take place, appropriately, at UCLA's Pauley Pavillion on Saturday June 26 at 11 AM PT, and is already expected to last about 90 minutes. UCLA is opening the doors at 9 AM and is already planning to put up video boards at Drake Stadium in the event of an overflow crowd.
The service is now scheduled to be streamed at UCLA.edu, and will be televised locally on Fox Sports Prime Ticket. Televised locally?
What about the rest of the country? ESPN/ABC, CBS, Fox Sports, and several regional networks spend millions of dollars for college basketball telecasts. We just had Turner Sports and CBS commiting millions and millions more for NCAA tourney telecasts in the years to come.
Yet, none of them has stepped forward to help millions of basketball fans remember perhaps its greatest coach ever? Wooden almost made it to his 100th birthday, so it's not as though his passing was tragic or unexpected. This is a service for his many fans to honor him.
Where are these networks now? Sorry, but I'll be disappointed if at least one of the national networks doesn't donate to a Wooden fund of some sort in order to be able to televise some or all of this memorial. What better way to be tied in with college basketball?
Elsewhere, who would have ever guessed that the TBS national telecast on June 13 would have been Washington at Cleveland? Even TBS didn't, until days before when they made the choice of switching from the originally scheduled Philly vs. Boston game. Steven Strasburg not only has command on the mound, but already has command with the TV networks. It will be interesting to see how long this continues.
His next start will come either Friday or Saturday (as of press time) in D.C. against the Chicago White Sox. MLB Network has already scheduled to pick up the Friday night game, an obvious move. Just in case the start is Saturday, Fox has moved the game from its original 7:05 start to a 4:10 ET start to include it among its telecasts. This is a rare instance of flex scheduling for Fox in June. Yet, one of those networks will not have Strasburg, instead sticking a regional or national audience with the Nationals.
TBS has the Mets at Yankees this Sunday (June 20) at 1:00 ET, and has chosen Detroit at Atlanta for June 27th at 1:30 PM ET. Granted, TBS does not have the ability to set start times for its Sunday series, but I still contend that TBS is hurt by the staggered start times each week. There will be fans tuning in on June 27th between 1 and 1:30 PM ET who then will not find a game on (after the past 2+ Sundays) and will tune elsewhere and miss out. There is no easy solution to this, although perhaps TBS doing an extended baseball pre-game show each week would help to maintain a consistent audience.
CHICAGO: Another instance of media promoting other media disguised as a sports story. This past Friday (June 11), a story came out that Cubs Manager Lou Pinella disagreed with comments made by TV and radio analyst Steve Stone about the use of one of his players. Even worse is how this played out in the local media.
Stone currently is the analyst on White Sox TV, but also does weekly segments on Comcast SportsNet Chicago (which airs most of the White Sox games) and is the baseball analyst for WSCR The Score 670.
Pinella chose a pre-game media gathering to disagree with some of Stone's comments. So what?
Comcast SportsNet actually put that "story" as the lead AHEAD of game reports, even though the White Sox vs. Cubs series is highly anticipated in Chicago. That is offensive to the fans, but I dismissed it because CSN employs Stone and wanted to make it a bigger deal than it should have been.
Worse yet, the "story" was picked up by other TV and radio stations in the market. Why would they give Steve Stone the publicity? The TV stations seemed to forget that they are, in effect, competing for sportscast viewers against CSN every night, while the radio stations gave publicity to an analyst for another station they compete against in the ratings.
Call me "old school" on this one, but once upon a time I would have been scolded big time for airing such a story. Wait. No I wouldn't. No way I would have put this story on the air, unless I was working for one of the same stations as Stone. And then, it would have come well after the game story.
Would you believe "Dancing With The Stars" beats the Bears vs. Packers next fall, according to WLS-TV? The ABC owned station was all set to carry the local version of ESPN Monday Night Football on September 27th when the NFL's biggest rivalry is renewed between the Bears and Packers. Until execs realized that a live "Dancing With The Stars" is scheduled for that same night on ABC Network.
Believe it or not, the station has moved the Bears vs. Packers game over to WCIU-TV. Here's hoping that Chicago fans view the game on ESPN that night. I don't have to hope for a ratings win for the football game. I'm counting on it.
That also means that at least one Bears game will be seen on 6 different Chicago TV stations next season. WFLD-TV (Fox) will have several, WBBM-TV (CBS) will have a couple, and a Sunday Night Football appearance on WMAQ-TV is one for NBC. A December 20 game is scheduled for Monday Night Football, and unless ABC-TV has a live program, WLS-TV will show that one. WGN-TV (local, not WGN America) will show a Thursday night game from NFL Network. And now WCIU-TV picks up the Monday Night Football game vs. Green Bay. Yikes.
SAN FRANCISCO: Ken Korach continues to do a respectable job calling the Oakland A's games on radio over the past few years. However, it seems way too soon for Korach to appear on the list of nominees this year for the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame. Especially when you learn that Jon Miller and Hal Ramey are among other nominees who have yet to be inducted. Yes, that's the Jon Miller who has done Giants games as well as ESPN Sunday Night Baseball for just over 20 years.
Since the public decides, this may not be an issue. Voting online is underway through July 17th at www.barhof.com.
St. LOUIS: While rumors persist that Cardinals baseball could return to KMOX and its dominant signal next season, KMOX will keep the St. Louis Blues NHL broadcasts for what is estimated to be a five-year renewal. The Blues have been back on KMOX for the past three seasons. With the new deal, the Blues actually buy the air time and sell their own advertising.
As a sports fan, I like this type of arrangement because it puts more pressure on the team to perform well so that there will be enough audience interest to keep generating happy advertisers. Fox Sports Midwest continues its TV deal.
NASHVILLE: Here's a good idea. Predators play-by-play voice Tom Callahan will host and welcome fans to the team's own NHL Draft party scheduled for a Nashville sports bar on June 25th.
SCHENECTADY NY: What ever happened to "joined in progress"? WTMM-FM 104.5 was scheduled to carry the Yankees broadcast this past Saturday (June 12) against Houston starting at 1:00. They could also carry the ESPN Radio broadcast of the U.S. vs. England World Cup Soccer match, which started at 2:30 PM.
Their decision? They dropped the Yankees broadcast (and I don't know that the game aired anywhere in the market) and carried the entire soccer broadcast.
It wasn't my decision, but that is absolutely NOT how I would have handled that. I think WTMM should have carried the Yankees broadcast as usual, and then joined the soccer in progress at the conclusion. A studio host could have given updates on the soccer game between innings of the Yankees broadcast. What do fans miss if they don't hear every minute of a soccer game on radio?
These events were not head-to-head, and the baseball game ended before the soccer match. I would back off on this under one condition, which would be if the fans had a say. I don't know for certain that it was a station decision to do it this way, but I would apologize if it turns out that listeners voted the soccer match as a priority.
The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs concluded with record TV audiences for NBC, Versus, and local and regional networks covering teams which were involved until the Chicago Blackhawks' clinching win in overtime of Game 6.
Making it even more interesting is the record ratings coming from cities such as Kansas City, New Orleans, and Memphis, which do not have and are not within proximity of NHL teams.
On the NBA side, Game 5 between the Lakers and Celtics won the night in TV ratings and showed more than a 35% increase from last year's Game 5 between the Lakers and Orlando. This looks to be the highest rated NBA Finals series since L.A. vs. Detroit in 2004.
Why have sports on TV caught on so much within the past couple of years? My feeling is that the onslaught of big screen TV's along with HD and the increase in technology, combined with ticket costs pricing out the 'average' fan, have given us very strong reasons to watch on TV instead of going.
The increase in technology includes the amount of information about the game shown on the screen. Fans attending the games don't have access to the mountain of statistics we see on TV, along with the ability to see the score and game status (i.e. game clock, inning, etc.) along with the action without having to look away. Fans can also be online for even more statistics and updates on their game of interest as well as out of town games when watching on TV, whereas at the game they do not have nearly as much of this information available.
Plus, you don't have to pay $25 and up to be parked when watching on TV.
Then again, if this continues, sports on TV will wind up costing us even more than game tickets and the costs associated with it. The higher the ratings, the more money the TV networks will need to spend to retain the telecast rights. And the more money they spend, the higher our cable or satellite bills will be.
Speaking of TV, it's time to step back and realize how television is the real force behind college teams turning free agent on their conferences and jumping around as if they have agents and can up and leave when their time comes.
The University of Texas appears to be staying in the Big 12 (as of press time on Tuesday afternoon), which appears to mean that the Conference will live past this week and keep most of its other current member schools. The reason?
It appears to be TV. Reports have surfaced that U. of Texas is preparing to begin its own TV network, and that would be a first. Not a Conference network, such as The Big Ten Network, but one just for the school. Since TV revenue is such a driving force behind schools jumping around, the conferences wooing U of T would not allow Texas to do this. But the stakes are high enough for the Big 12 that the time may well have come.
If it comes to pass that U of T implements its own TV network, it might not be the plus the school and Big 12 think. Without football, there wouldn't be nearly as much interest in the other sports, with the possible exception of basketball. However, Texas would need to play 'lesser' schools in order to televise the games itself. Games against the larger conferences would be shown on ESPN/ABC, Fox Sports, or larger regional networks with exclusive contracts for selected games. Yet, if Texas starts playing schools without TV commitments, then their schedule and caliber of play is weakened.
Elsewhere, it appears that there will not be a national telecast of the public memorial service for Coach John Wooden. How can this be?
The service will take place, appropriately, at UCLA's Pauley Pavillion on Saturday June 26 at 11 AM PT, and is already expected to last about 90 minutes. UCLA is opening the doors at 9 AM and is already planning to put up video boards at Drake Stadium in the event of an overflow crowd.
The service is now scheduled to be streamed at UCLA.edu, and will be televised locally on Fox Sports Prime Ticket. Televised locally?
What about the rest of the country? ESPN/ABC, CBS, Fox Sports, and several regional networks spend millions of dollars for college basketball telecasts. We just had Turner Sports and CBS commiting millions and millions more for NCAA tourney telecasts in the years to come.
Yet, none of them has stepped forward to help millions of basketball fans remember perhaps its greatest coach ever? Wooden almost made it to his 100th birthday, so it's not as though his passing was tragic or unexpected. This is a service for his many fans to honor him.
Where are these networks now? Sorry, but I'll be disappointed if at least one of the national networks doesn't donate to a Wooden fund of some sort in order to be able to televise some or all of this memorial. What better way to be tied in with college basketball?
Elsewhere, who would have ever guessed that the TBS national telecast on June 13 would have been Washington at Cleveland? Even TBS didn't, until days before when they made the choice of switching from the originally scheduled Philly vs. Boston game. Steven Strasburg not only has command on the mound, but already has command with the TV networks. It will be interesting to see how long this continues.
His next start will come either Friday or Saturday (as of press time) in D.C. against the Chicago White Sox. MLB Network has already scheduled to pick up the Friday night game, an obvious move. Just in case the start is Saturday, Fox has moved the game from its original 7:05 start to a 4:10 ET start to include it among its telecasts. This is a rare instance of flex scheduling for Fox in June. Yet, one of those networks will not have Strasburg, instead sticking a regional or national audience with the Nationals.
TBS has the Mets at Yankees this Sunday (June 20) at 1:00 ET, and has chosen Detroit at Atlanta for June 27th at 1:30 PM ET. Granted, TBS does not have the ability to set start times for its Sunday series, but I still contend that TBS is hurt by the staggered start times each week. There will be fans tuning in on June 27th between 1 and 1:30 PM ET who then will not find a game on (after the past 2+ Sundays) and will tune elsewhere and miss out. There is no easy solution to this, although perhaps TBS doing an extended baseball pre-game show each week would help to maintain a consistent audience.
CHICAGO: Another instance of media promoting other media disguised as a sports story. This past Friday (June 11), a story came out that Cubs Manager Lou Pinella disagreed with comments made by TV and radio analyst Steve Stone about the use of one of his players. Even worse is how this played out in the local media.
Stone currently is the analyst on White Sox TV, but also does weekly segments on Comcast SportsNet Chicago (which airs most of the White Sox games) and is the baseball analyst for WSCR The Score 670.
Pinella chose a pre-game media gathering to disagree with some of Stone's comments. So what?
Comcast SportsNet actually put that "story" as the lead AHEAD of game reports, even though the White Sox vs. Cubs series is highly anticipated in Chicago. That is offensive to the fans, but I dismissed it because CSN employs Stone and wanted to make it a bigger deal than it should have been.
Worse yet, the "story" was picked up by other TV and radio stations in the market. Why would they give Steve Stone the publicity? The TV stations seemed to forget that they are, in effect, competing for sportscast viewers against CSN every night, while the radio stations gave publicity to an analyst for another station they compete against in the ratings.
Call me "old school" on this one, but once upon a time I would have been scolded big time for airing such a story. Wait. No I wouldn't. No way I would have put this story on the air, unless I was working for one of the same stations as Stone. And then, it would have come well after the game story.
Would you believe "Dancing With The Stars" beats the Bears vs. Packers next fall, according to WLS-TV? The ABC owned station was all set to carry the local version of ESPN Monday Night Football on September 27th when the NFL's biggest rivalry is renewed between the Bears and Packers. Until execs realized that a live "Dancing With The Stars" is scheduled for that same night on ABC Network.
Believe it or not, the station has moved the Bears vs. Packers game over to WCIU-TV. Here's hoping that Chicago fans view the game on ESPN that night. I don't have to hope for a ratings win for the football game. I'm counting on it.
That also means that at least one Bears game will be seen on 6 different Chicago TV stations next season. WFLD-TV (Fox) will have several, WBBM-TV (CBS) will have a couple, and a Sunday Night Football appearance on WMAQ-TV is one for NBC. A December 20 game is scheduled for Monday Night Football, and unless ABC-TV has a live program, WLS-TV will show that one. WGN-TV (local, not WGN America) will show a Thursday night game from NFL Network. And now WCIU-TV picks up the Monday Night Football game vs. Green Bay. Yikes.
SAN FRANCISCO: Ken Korach continues to do a respectable job calling the Oakland A's games on radio over the past few years. However, it seems way too soon for Korach to appear on the list of nominees this year for the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame. Especially when you learn that Jon Miller and Hal Ramey are among other nominees who have yet to be inducted. Yes, that's the Jon Miller who has done Giants games as well as ESPN Sunday Night Baseball for just over 20 years.
Since the public decides, this may not be an issue. Voting online is underway through July 17th at www.barhof.com.
St. LOUIS: While rumors persist that Cardinals baseball could return to KMOX and its dominant signal next season, KMOX will keep the St. Louis Blues NHL broadcasts for what is estimated to be a five-year renewal. The Blues have been back on KMOX for the past three seasons. With the new deal, the Blues actually buy the air time and sell their own advertising.
As a sports fan, I like this type of arrangement because it puts more pressure on the team to perform well so that there will be enough audience interest to keep generating happy advertisers. Fox Sports Midwest continues its TV deal.
NASHVILLE: Here's a good idea. Predators play-by-play voice Tom Callahan will host and welcome fans to the team's own NHL Draft party scheduled for a Nashville sports bar on June 25th.
SCHENECTADY NY: What ever happened to "joined in progress"? WTMM-FM 104.5 was scheduled to carry the Yankees broadcast this past Saturday (June 12) against Houston starting at 1:00. They could also carry the ESPN Radio broadcast of the U.S. vs. England World Cup Soccer match, which started at 2:30 PM.
Their decision? They dropped the Yankees broadcast (and I don't know that the game aired anywhere in the market) and carried the entire soccer broadcast.
It wasn't my decision, but that is absolutely NOT how I would have handled that. I think WTMM should have carried the Yankees broadcast as usual, and then joined the soccer in progress at the conclusion. A studio host could have given updates on the soccer game between innings of the Yankees broadcast. What do fans miss if they don't hear every minute of a soccer game on radio?
These events were not head-to-head, and the baseball game ended before the soccer match. I would back off on this under one condition, which would be if the fans had a say. I don't know for certain that it was a station decision to do it this way, but I would apologize if it turns out that listeners voted the soccer match as a priority.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Sports Media Update - Sept. 2nd
Nice to see a sports radio show behind the breaking of a sports news story, even if it is not your typical sports story. Yahoo Sports has confirmed that indeed Dave Carmichael on Sacramento's KHTK was involved in breaking the improbable story about the NBA's Ron Artest contacting and "making up" with the fan who started the memorable brawl in the Pistons-Pacers game a few years back. Artest has been a frequent guest and contributor on the show going back to his days of playing with the Kings.
What makes this story even more bizarre is that the on-air discussion about this between Carmichael and Artest has taken place even though Artest is now a member of the L.A. Lakers. Yet, without the Sacramento radio show, this story might not have gotten out. In this sports reporting era of trade, hiring, and firing rumors making up the supposed headlines as often as the actual games, it is good to see at least one radio station breaking a story.
There haven't been very many NFL pre-season games I have made any sort of effort to watch, but last Sunday's Chicago Bears at Denver Broncos game was certainly a rare exception. The teams that participated in the biggest trade of the past couple of years and who are not scheduled to meet during the upcoming regular season going head to head. I can't help but wonder how big of a factor the Jay Cutler trade was in NBC's decision to air this one nationally, but that decision paid off.
The Bears' win with Cutler's dominant first half gained NBC the distinction of having the most watched pre-season game in literally 5 years. (Yes, literally as the last big pre-season draw as Dallas vs. Tennessee on Aug. 30, 2004.) It wound up being NBC's best Sunday prime time audience since, well, the Super Bowl this past February. For at least the first half, the two teams played the game as if it really had meaning, and it made a difference to the audience well beyond Denver and Chicago. Even more unusual is the fact that 3 of the top 10 "metered markets" for the game were from markets which do not have an NFL franchise. Oh, and the NFL doesn't want us to know, but another of those top 10 markets for the Bears vs. Broncos telecast was Jacksonville, which is facing having most or all of the Jaguars home games blacked out this season due to poor ticket sales.
Then, this past Monday night, the Vikings' pre-season game with Brett Favre also scored well for ESPN. Here's hoping the TV networks will start picking pre-season telecasts based on trades, signings, and significant changes in the future.
The MLB Network continues to make new and great strides practically every week with their innovations and coverage of the season. Now, they are adding still more live game telecasts to the mix in addition to 2 games most Thursdays and 1 on Saturday nights.
They are scheduled to show 2 games on Monday (Labor Day), with the Red Sox at White Sox at 2:00 ET and the Yankees hosting the Rays at 7:00 ET. MLB Network is also planning to cover the playoff races by adding live game telecasts for the final 3 Tuesdays of the season on Sept. 15, 22, and 29th. They will announce which games as the dates draw closer. Meanwhile, TBS will use its opening for a prime time telecast on Friday night Sept. 25th when they will originate the Red Sox at Yankees telecast. Now if we can only get some closer division races..........
College football is back big time starting this week with a ton of national (and some regional) games on tap (shown by ET):
Thursday’s games
7:00: South Carolina at North Carolina State, ESPN
7:30: North Texas at Ball State, ESPNU
8:00: Eastern Kentucky at Indiana, BTN (Big Ten Network)
9:00: Utah State at Utah, MTN
10:15: Oregon at Boise State, ESPN
Friday’s game
8:00: Tulsa at Tulane, ESPN
Saturday’s games
12:00: Akron at Penn State, BTN
12:00: Navy at Ohio State, ESPN
12:00: Minnesota at Syracuse, ESPN2
12:00: Kentucky at Miami (Ohio), ESPNU
3:30: Georgia at Oklahoma State, ABC
3:30: Illinois vs. Missouri, ESPN
3:30: Baylor at Wake Forest, ESPN2
3:30: Nevada at Notre Dame,NBC
3:30: Jackson State at Mississippi State, ESPNU
7:00: Brigham Young vs. Oklahoma, ESPN
7:00: Louisiana Tech at Auburn, ESPNU
7:00: Northern Illinois at Wisconsin, BTN
8:00: Alabama vs. Virginia Tech, ABC
9:00: Buffalo at Texas-El Paso, CBS College
10:00: Maryland at California, ESPN2
10:30: LSU at Washington, ESPN
Sunday’s games
3:30: Mississippi at Memphis, ESPN
Monday’s games
4:00: Cincinnati at Rutgers, ESPN
8:00: Miami (Fla.) at Florida State, ESPN
DENVER: ESPN 1600 continues to push for listeners against Mile High Sports, and they are hoping that local legend John Elway can come through in the clutch for them. Elway will join Channel 4 anchors Vic Lombardi and Gary Miller each Monday morning at 8:00 local time right through the morning after the Super Bowl. They also have former Bronco receiver Ed McCaffery scheduled to join their morning show each Tuesday morning for still more analysis.
ATLANTA + ATHENS: Former University of Georgia defensive end David Pollack will be an analyst on "SEC Gridiron Live" on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southwest beginning this week, with the first run of the show at 10:00 PM ET on Wednesdays. Former NFL standout and analyst Randy Cross is also on this show.
PHILADELPHIA: As mentioned earlier, Bob Salmi will not return to the 76ers telecasts for the coming NBA season. The announcement has been made official that Ed Pinckney will replace Salmi on the Comcast SportsNet telecasts working along with Marc Zumoff.
ORLANDO: Talk about an impact player! Dwight Howard has emerged as a force in the NBA and the upcoming season reflects that. Yet, the Orlando Magic Radio Network will actually benefit more on the financial side than the TV side. The national or regional network TV schedules announced by ABC, ESPN, and TNT already have 24 games of the Magic scheduled. The scheduled 10 appearances on TNT and 5 on ABC are exclusive telecasts, which means that Sun Sports or Fox Sports Florida cannot show those games. Thus, fewer revenue opportunities from TV advertising whereas the Radio Network does every game.
Sun Sports and Fox Sports Florida are splitting up every game which can be shown. David Steele returns for play-by-play and former Magic coach Matt Goukas will again provide commentary on.
DALLAS: The Fan 103.5 has just added Richie Whitt as official co-host for middays along with Nevy Scruggs. This means no more rotating with Richard Durrett.
ALLENTOWN: The Fox 1470 adds a local sports show from 9:00 to 11:00 AM beginning this Saturday (9/5). Keith Groller will host "Calling All Sports", with the local newspaper columnist focusing on Penn State and Philadelphia Eagles football along with Phillies baseball and local happenings.
What makes this story even more bizarre is that the on-air discussion about this between Carmichael and Artest has taken place even though Artest is now a member of the L.A. Lakers. Yet, without the Sacramento radio show, this story might not have gotten out. In this sports reporting era of trade, hiring, and firing rumors making up the supposed headlines as often as the actual games, it is good to see at least one radio station breaking a story.
There haven't been very many NFL pre-season games I have made any sort of effort to watch, but last Sunday's Chicago Bears at Denver Broncos game was certainly a rare exception. The teams that participated in the biggest trade of the past couple of years and who are not scheduled to meet during the upcoming regular season going head to head. I can't help but wonder how big of a factor the Jay Cutler trade was in NBC's decision to air this one nationally, but that decision paid off.
The Bears' win with Cutler's dominant first half gained NBC the distinction of having the most watched pre-season game in literally 5 years. (Yes, literally as the last big pre-season draw as Dallas vs. Tennessee on Aug. 30, 2004.) It wound up being NBC's best Sunday prime time audience since, well, the Super Bowl this past February. For at least the first half, the two teams played the game as if it really had meaning, and it made a difference to the audience well beyond Denver and Chicago. Even more unusual is the fact that 3 of the top 10 "metered markets" for the game were from markets which do not have an NFL franchise. Oh, and the NFL doesn't want us to know, but another of those top 10 markets for the Bears vs. Broncos telecast was Jacksonville, which is facing having most or all of the Jaguars home games blacked out this season due to poor ticket sales.
Then, this past Monday night, the Vikings' pre-season game with Brett Favre also scored well for ESPN. Here's hoping the TV networks will start picking pre-season telecasts based on trades, signings, and significant changes in the future.
The MLB Network continues to make new and great strides practically every week with their innovations and coverage of the season. Now, they are adding still more live game telecasts to the mix in addition to 2 games most Thursdays and 1 on Saturday nights.
They are scheduled to show 2 games on Monday (Labor Day), with the Red Sox at White Sox at 2:00 ET and the Yankees hosting the Rays at 7:00 ET. MLB Network is also planning to cover the playoff races by adding live game telecasts for the final 3 Tuesdays of the season on Sept. 15, 22, and 29th. They will announce which games as the dates draw closer. Meanwhile, TBS will use its opening for a prime time telecast on Friday night Sept. 25th when they will originate the Red Sox at Yankees telecast. Now if we can only get some closer division races..........
College football is back big time starting this week with a ton of national (and some regional) games on tap (shown by ET):
Thursday’s games
7:00: South Carolina at North Carolina State, ESPN
7:30: North Texas at Ball State, ESPNU
8:00: Eastern Kentucky at Indiana, BTN (Big Ten Network)
9:00: Utah State at Utah, MTN
10:15: Oregon at Boise State, ESPN
Friday’s game
8:00: Tulsa at Tulane, ESPN
Saturday’s games
12:00: Akron at Penn State, BTN
12:00: Navy at Ohio State, ESPN
12:00: Minnesota at Syracuse, ESPN2
12:00: Kentucky at Miami (Ohio), ESPNU
3:30: Georgia at Oklahoma State, ABC
3:30: Illinois vs. Missouri, ESPN
3:30: Baylor at Wake Forest, ESPN2
3:30: Nevada at Notre Dame,NBC
3:30: Jackson State at Mississippi State, ESPNU
7:00: Brigham Young vs. Oklahoma, ESPN
7:00: Louisiana Tech at Auburn, ESPNU
7:00: Northern Illinois at Wisconsin, BTN
8:00: Alabama vs. Virginia Tech, ABC
9:00: Buffalo at Texas-El Paso, CBS College
10:00: Maryland at California, ESPN2
10:30: LSU at Washington, ESPN
Sunday’s games
3:30: Mississippi at Memphis, ESPN
Monday’s games
4:00: Cincinnati at Rutgers, ESPN
8:00: Miami (Fla.) at Florida State, ESPN
DENVER: ESPN 1600 continues to push for listeners against Mile High Sports, and they are hoping that local legend John Elway can come through in the clutch for them. Elway will join Channel 4 anchors Vic Lombardi and Gary Miller each Monday morning at 8:00 local time right through the morning after the Super Bowl. They also have former Bronco receiver Ed McCaffery scheduled to join their morning show each Tuesday morning for still more analysis.
ATLANTA + ATHENS: Former University of Georgia defensive end David Pollack will be an analyst on "SEC Gridiron Live" on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southwest beginning this week, with the first run of the show at 10:00 PM ET on Wednesdays. Former NFL standout and analyst Randy Cross is also on this show.
PHILADELPHIA: As mentioned earlier, Bob Salmi will not return to the 76ers telecasts for the coming NBA season. The announcement has been made official that Ed Pinckney will replace Salmi on the Comcast SportsNet telecasts working along with Marc Zumoff.
ORLANDO: Talk about an impact player! Dwight Howard has emerged as a force in the NBA and the upcoming season reflects that. Yet, the Orlando Magic Radio Network will actually benefit more on the financial side than the TV side. The national or regional network TV schedules announced by ABC, ESPN, and TNT already have 24 games of the Magic scheduled. The scheduled 10 appearances on TNT and 5 on ABC are exclusive telecasts, which means that Sun Sports or Fox Sports Florida cannot show those games. Thus, fewer revenue opportunities from TV advertising whereas the Radio Network does every game.
Sun Sports and Fox Sports Florida are splitting up every game which can be shown. David Steele returns for play-by-play and former Magic coach Matt Goukas will again provide commentary on.
DALLAS: The Fan 103.5 has just added Richie Whitt as official co-host for middays along with Nevy Scruggs. This means no more rotating with Richard Durrett.
ALLENTOWN: The Fox 1470 adds a local sports show from 9:00 to 11:00 AM beginning this Saturday (9/5). Keith Groller will host "Calling All Sports", with the local newspaper columnist focusing on Penn State and Philadelphia Eagles football along with Phillies baseball and local happenings.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sports Media Report - August 5th update
The past week brought us still another indication that the multi-millions of dollars spent for pro sports broadcast rights fees will be dropping at every opportunity.CBS-TV is already recognizing that its telecast of the Super Bowl in February is not as likely to command the usual amount of spots at more than $2,000,000 per. The network is reportedly offering packages to potential advertisers with additional factors determining the price of a Super Bowl participation which did not exist before. The more challenging it becomes to sell the spots, and the lower the revenue generated, the less likely the networks will fall all over each other with millions of dollars when the next package is negotiated.
What also makes this interesting is that one of the criteria for Super Bowl advertisers reportedly being considered is the placement within the telecast. This could lead to a form of an advertisers' fantasy league. Most of us could understand that an advertiser might have to pay more to be seen during the 4th quarter of a close game. But we never know.
The participating teams may or may not be from big markets. The game could become one sided by halftime. Or, it could be a huge draw and be close until the end. CBS and advertisers could wind up in a costly game of speculation as to the degree of success based on an advertiser's placement. I'll take the under.
The NBA schedule was released on Tuesday, and this year all at once. Within hours, we had telecasts announced by ESPN, TNT, and NBA-TV. This is actually something new from the NBA.
In the past, the league was good at milking the schedule announcements over the course of a week or two. I find this "everything at once" to be too much too soon.During this tough economy, the NBA needs to keep itself in the news to keep fan interest going. The schedule is, obviously, a story which creates anticipation for the key matchups and gets fans excited for the coming season. Way different from the big money contracts, player squabbles, rumors, and sometimes incidents which become news stories.
In the past, the league would announce some key matchups to start. Over the course of a few days, the teams would start announcing their schedules. Then, over the next couple of weeks, the networks such as TNT, ESPN, and ABC would announce some of their national telecasts.
These would serve as ways to build anticipation. But now, we got all of that within a few hours on the same day. Good to know, but in a way this takes some of the fun out of hearing about the best matchups over the next couple of weeks. Many draft choices and free agents have been signed. There are not expected to be very many major NBA stories over the next few weeks. Training camps don't open for 2 more months. Yet, the league seems to have overlooked the additional marketing exposure with the "all at once" announcements.
TNT announced 53 regular season NBA telecasts. The joke had been that TNT would save time and announce the Cavaliers' schedule. It is obvious that with Lebron James and Shaq on the same team, it won't be hard to see the Cavs on the tube. Sure enough, they are already scheduled for 10 appearances on TNT alone. The network promises 22 Thursday night doubleheaders for the coming season, including Thanksgiving. For the first time ever, TNT even plans a doubleheader on New Year's Eve. They also plan 3 telecasts on MLK Day.
ESPN coverage begins on opening night, Weds. Oct. 28th in the West, with New Orleans at San Antonio and then Utah at Denver. ESPN and ABC will combine for 16 telecasts with the Lakers and Celtics, with 15 Cavaliers telecasts already scheduled. (Yes - when combined with TNT, it means that 25 Cavs games (nearly one-third) are already scheduled for national TV, and that does not include NBA-TV.)
ABC and ESPN give us the Christmas present of 5 live games, including a Lakers vs. Cavs matchup. ABC plans 5 Sunday doubleheaders, and has 2 matchups of Cleveland vs. Orlando on its schedule.
PHOENIX: The competition for U. of Arizona football this season may be bigger among the TV people than the Pac-10 race. Wildcats games not chosen by a network will be shown in Phoenix on KGUN Channel 9 and KWBA 58 will carry the Spanish version on digital 58.2. This deal also includes a Prescott based station. This includes the season opener on Sept. 5 vs. Central Michigan, and at least one other game. ABC/ESPN already has 2 games selected for regional coverage, with the remainder to be seen via Fox Sports Arizona's Pac-10 package, as well as on Versus.
CINCINNATI: The surprising first half better than expected start of the Reds will pay big dividends for WLW 700. The long time Reds flagship station shot up from 5th to 1st at night during the recent spring ratings period, while the station finished a solid number one overall. Even as the Reds slump out of contention, the station just might keep up their strong numbers.
St. LOUIS: The sports talk race in St. Louis radio is already as interesting as the National League Central this season. Newcomer WXOS 101.1, which debuted as a sports talker on New Year's, is already ahead of KFNS 590 and KSLG 1380 in mornings, middays, and afternoons. KFNS, which broadcasts the Cardinals and features extensive related programming, has gained on KSLG compared to previous ratings books, which is not surprising given the Cardinals' great season thus far. Significantly, the combined audience ratings for the 3 sports stations show that the sports radio audience in the St. Louis market has more than doubled over the past year.
DALLAS: ESPN 103.3 has added Ian Fitzsimmons to its afternoon drive "Galloway & Company" show as of this week. Fitz will also host pre and post-game programming on Cowboys game days. As it goes in radio, this move happened rather quickly. Fact is that Fitzsimmons was still on the air at WJOX in Birmingham as recently as last Wednesday (7/29) and had to leave without saying farewell to his audience there.
BALTIMORE: WJZ-FM The Fan rose to third place in men 25-54 in the recent ratings period. The station, which started last fall, saw its afternoon show with Scott Garceau and Anita Marks finish first among 25-54 men. This while the other Baltimore sports talkers, WNST, WJZ-AM, and WVIE, all failed to crack the top 25 stations overall.
WASHINGTON D.C.: The NHL Capitals and WFED-AM have agreed to a multi-year deal, and Steve Kolbe continues as play-by-play voice. Over at WTEM 980, Tony Kornheiser returns to WTEM after several years. Starting the day after Labor Day (Sept. 8) Tony will handle a late morning shift, most likely leading into "The Sports Fix" with Thom Loverro and Kevin Sheehan.
JACKSONVILLE: Looks like tough sledding for XL Sports, which left the 105.3 FM frequency due to an expired contract on July 31st. The station continues on 1010 AM, on 1010XL.com, and for those in the northern part of the market and in the southeastern tip of Georgia on 92.5 FM. The "old" frequency replaced the sports talk with other talk programming.
NASHVILLE: Middle Tennessee State University has a new radio home just in time for the coming football season. WNSR 560 will be the flagship station for both football and basketball, including its simulcast to Bowling Green KY on WNTC 103.9. This after WNFN 106.7 dropped its ESPN programming in favor of music last week. In Murfreesboro, where the school is located, the games will be heard on WGNS 1450 AM along with 100.5 and 101.9 FM. Or, to keep it simple, if you are in Murphfreesboro during a MTSU football or basketball game, just turn on the radio.
What also makes this interesting is that one of the criteria for Super Bowl advertisers reportedly being considered is the placement within the telecast. This could lead to a form of an advertisers' fantasy league. Most of us could understand that an advertiser might have to pay more to be seen during the 4th quarter of a close game. But we never know.
The participating teams may or may not be from big markets. The game could become one sided by halftime. Or, it could be a huge draw and be close until the end. CBS and advertisers could wind up in a costly game of speculation as to the degree of success based on an advertiser's placement. I'll take the under.
The NBA schedule was released on Tuesday, and this year all at once. Within hours, we had telecasts announced by ESPN, TNT, and NBA-TV. This is actually something new from the NBA.
In the past, the league was good at milking the schedule announcements over the course of a week or two. I find this "everything at once" to be too much too soon.During this tough economy, the NBA needs to keep itself in the news to keep fan interest going. The schedule is, obviously, a story which creates anticipation for the key matchups and gets fans excited for the coming season. Way different from the big money contracts, player squabbles, rumors, and sometimes incidents which become news stories.
In the past, the league would announce some key matchups to start. Over the course of a few days, the teams would start announcing their schedules. Then, over the next couple of weeks, the networks such as TNT, ESPN, and ABC would announce some of their national telecasts.
These would serve as ways to build anticipation. But now, we got all of that within a few hours on the same day. Good to know, but in a way this takes some of the fun out of hearing about the best matchups over the next couple of weeks. Many draft choices and free agents have been signed. There are not expected to be very many major NBA stories over the next few weeks. Training camps don't open for 2 more months. Yet, the league seems to have overlooked the additional marketing exposure with the "all at once" announcements.
TNT announced 53 regular season NBA telecasts. The joke had been that TNT would save time and announce the Cavaliers' schedule. It is obvious that with Lebron James and Shaq on the same team, it won't be hard to see the Cavs on the tube. Sure enough, they are already scheduled for 10 appearances on TNT alone. The network promises 22 Thursday night doubleheaders for the coming season, including Thanksgiving. For the first time ever, TNT even plans a doubleheader on New Year's Eve. They also plan 3 telecasts on MLK Day.
ESPN coverage begins on opening night, Weds. Oct. 28th in the West, with New Orleans at San Antonio and then Utah at Denver. ESPN and ABC will combine for 16 telecasts with the Lakers and Celtics, with 15 Cavaliers telecasts already scheduled. (Yes - when combined with TNT, it means that 25 Cavs games (nearly one-third) are already scheduled for national TV, and that does not include NBA-TV.)
ABC and ESPN give us the Christmas present of 5 live games, including a Lakers vs. Cavs matchup. ABC plans 5 Sunday doubleheaders, and has 2 matchups of Cleveland vs. Orlando on its schedule.
PHOENIX: The competition for U. of Arizona football this season may be bigger among the TV people than the Pac-10 race. Wildcats games not chosen by a network will be shown in Phoenix on KGUN Channel 9 and KWBA 58 will carry the Spanish version on digital 58.2. This deal also includes a Prescott based station. This includes the season opener on Sept. 5 vs. Central Michigan, and at least one other game. ABC/ESPN already has 2 games selected for regional coverage, with the remainder to be seen via Fox Sports Arizona's Pac-10 package, as well as on Versus.
CINCINNATI: The surprising first half better than expected start of the Reds will pay big dividends for WLW 700. The long time Reds flagship station shot up from 5th to 1st at night during the recent spring ratings period, while the station finished a solid number one overall. Even as the Reds slump out of contention, the station just might keep up their strong numbers.
St. LOUIS: The sports talk race in St. Louis radio is already as interesting as the National League Central this season. Newcomer WXOS 101.1, which debuted as a sports talker on New Year's, is already ahead of KFNS 590 and KSLG 1380 in mornings, middays, and afternoons. KFNS, which broadcasts the Cardinals and features extensive related programming, has gained on KSLG compared to previous ratings books, which is not surprising given the Cardinals' great season thus far. Significantly, the combined audience ratings for the 3 sports stations show that the sports radio audience in the St. Louis market has more than doubled over the past year.
DALLAS: ESPN 103.3 has added Ian Fitzsimmons to its afternoon drive "Galloway & Company" show as of this week. Fitz will also host pre and post-game programming on Cowboys game days. As it goes in radio, this move happened rather quickly. Fact is that Fitzsimmons was still on the air at WJOX in Birmingham as recently as last Wednesday (7/29) and had to leave without saying farewell to his audience there.
BALTIMORE: WJZ-FM The Fan rose to third place in men 25-54 in the recent ratings period. The station, which started last fall, saw its afternoon show with Scott Garceau and Anita Marks finish first among 25-54 men. This while the other Baltimore sports talkers, WNST, WJZ-AM, and WVIE, all failed to crack the top 25 stations overall.
WASHINGTON D.C.: The NHL Capitals and WFED-AM have agreed to a multi-year deal, and Steve Kolbe continues as play-by-play voice. Over at WTEM 980, Tony Kornheiser returns to WTEM after several years. Starting the day after Labor Day (Sept. 8) Tony will handle a late morning shift, most likely leading into "The Sports Fix" with Thom Loverro and Kevin Sheehan.
JACKSONVILLE: Looks like tough sledding for XL Sports, which left the 105.3 FM frequency due to an expired contract on July 31st. The station continues on 1010 AM, on 1010XL.com, and for those in the northern part of the market and in the southeastern tip of Georgia on 92.5 FM. The "old" frequency replaced the sports talk with other talk programming.
NASHVILLE: Middle Tennessee State University has a new radio home just in time for the coming football season. WNSR 560 will be the flagship station for both football and basketball, including its simulcast to Bowling Green KY on WNTC 103.9. This after WNFN 106.7 dropped its ESPN programming in favor of music last week. In Murfreesboro, where the school is located, the games will be heard on WGNS 1450 AM along with 100.5 and 101.9 FM. Or, to keep it simple, if you are in Murphfreesboro during a MTSU football or basketball game, just turn on the radio.
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