Fang's Bites

DirecTV Expands Channel Capacity for MLB Extra Innings

In a move that’s been long awaited, DirecTV has expanded its channel lineup for the MLB Extra Innings pay per view package that allows both home and visiting networks to be seen. So if an expatriate Red Sox fan in California wants to watch NESN, he/she can for just about every game. Of course, when the Sox are playing the A’s on Tuesday, the NESN feed will be blacked out in Oakland to protect the Comcast SportsNet Bay Area telecast.

Today, it’s been nice to watch the Giants and Dodgers with both feeds available, Comcast Bay Area with Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow calling the game and the FSN Prime Ticket feed with Vin Scully.

Also, the 45 Atlanta Braves games aired on Peachtree TV will be shown on Channel 617 throughout the season.

DirecTV also brings back the Strike Zone Channel, the feature that whips viewers around the MLB wherever the action is. This is similar to NFL Sunday Ticket’s Red Zone Channel.

So some nice features for subscribers to the MLB Extra Innings Package on DirecTV.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball

NCAA Women’s Tournament
New Orleans Regional Final/#2 LSU vs. #1 North Carolina – ESPN/Westwood One Radio, 7:30 p.m.
Spokane Regional Final/#2 Stanford vs. #1 Maryland – ESPN/Westwood One Radio, 9:30 p.m.

MLB
Anaheim at Minnesota – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Houston at San Diego – ESPN2, 10 p.m.

NHL
Pittsburgh at New York Rangers – Versus, 7 p.m.

Entertainment
How I Met Your Mother – CBS, 8:30 p.m.
Two and a Half Men – CBS, 9 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

NFL Week 1 Primetime Schdule.

The NFL has announced the primetime games for Week 1 including the season opener on NBC and the Monday Night Football doubleheader. First, the news from the NFL.

And if you want to see them listed, here they are:

Thursday, September 4
Washington at New York Giants – NBC, 7 p.m. (starting 90 minutes earlier to avoid conflict with the Republican National Convention)

Sunday, September 7
Chicago at Indianapolis – NBC, 8:15 p.m.

Monday, September 8
Minnesota at Green Bay – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Denver at Oakland – ESPN, 10:15 p.m.

That’s the second time in three years that Oakland will be in the Monday Night Football doubleheader and completes a three year sweep that the Bay Area has hosted the late Monday Night Football game as the San Francisco 49ers hosted the Arizona Cardinals last September.

The rest of the schedule will be announced next month.

NCAA Final Four Tip Times and Announcing Assignments

Saturday, April 5

The Final Four Show – CBS, 4 p.m. (hosted by Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis)
The NCAA Tournament Today – Westwood One Radio, 5 p.m. (hosted by Tommy Tighe and Jim Gray)
UCLA vs. Memphis – CBS/Westwood One Radio, 6:07 p.m, Jim Nantz/Billy Packer (CBS), Kevin Kugler, John Thompson and Bill Raftery (Westwood One)
Kansas vs. North Carolina – CBS/Westwood One Radio, 8:47 p.m., Jim Nantz/Billy Packer (CBS), Kevin Kugler, John Thompson and Bill Raftery (Westwood One)

Both games will be aired on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 123.

Monday Monday

First off, I wanted to apologize for not being able to provide Sunday links. I worked until 2 a.m. Monday and was not able to get the links done. But I’m here now and I’ll provide links for today.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says blowouts in the NCAA Tournament hurt CBS’ ratings.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says CBS is happy not to have Davidson in the Final Four. And Darren is in Day Sixteen of his Minor League Baseball Logo Contest.

Newsday’s Neil Best says CBS analyst Clark Kellogg went four for four in his Final Four picks. And he says the YES Network has produced an extra long opening for today’s Yankees game.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun writes in his Medium Well blog that there’s too much manlove for Tyler Hansbrough.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels CBS depends too much on graphics during the NCAA Tournament.

David Barron from the Houston Chronicle writes in his blog that local ratings for the NCAA Tournament are down. And Barron has a story on CBS’ Billy Packer who will work his 100th Final Four game.

Chris Pursell of TV Week says ratings for the NCAA Tournament are down.

Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press talks with native Screamin’ Gus Johnson of CBS about his rock star status as an NCAA Tournament play-by-play man.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch laments the loss of the Atlanta Braves on TBS.

Mike Tankersley of the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser says Charter Communications and Knology cable will both carry 45 Braves games televised by Peachtree TV. Chuck Williams of the Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer says Braves fans enter a whole new world with three outlets broadcasting the games instead of just TBS.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says FSN Bay Area will be no more as of noon local time today.

Mets fans in Hartford will finally be able to watch SNY as the Courant tells us.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Major League Baseball is trying to expand its presence in Communist China.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has some pictures from Saturday’s Red Sox-Dodgers charity exhibition game at the LA Coliseum.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch feels Jose Canseco is reaching with his latest steroids book.

Laura Nachman has the Opening Day schedule for the Phillies on Comcast SportsNet and KYW-TV.

Seth Stevenson of Slate.com wonders if ESPN’s new ad campaign for Fantasy Baseball spoofing soap operas is a good thing.

Karl Greenberg of Mediapost’s Marketing Daily says MLB will unveil new Public Service Announcements today.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News says Fox and ESPN are virtually ignoring the Colorado Rockies in the first weeks of the MLB regular season.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball says Comcast will offer the MLB Extra Innings package in HD, just in time for Opening day.

Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog calls out Brent Musberger for saying he hadn’t called a baseball game since 1995. And I challenge this as well.

The Sports Media Watch has the weekend ratings predictions. And the SMW mentions that ESPN’s John Anderson becomes the next SportsCenter personality to have a show on ABC.

The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich likes having an on-ice analyst on NHL games.

Mary Thurwachter of the Palm Beach (FL) Post profiles former NBC announcer Sam Nover who’s in a second career as an insurance adviser and marketing director.

Lastly, I ask that you go over and support a friend of mine who has created a fan site for actress and hottie Reiko Aylesworth who played Michelle Dessler-Almeida on 24. Just go over there and hit it a couple of times. I appreciate it.

That’s it for now. Thanks for your patience.

Sunday Links are Late

I’m at work and have been since early morning. Plus, the computer that has internet access is on dial-up so it’s really not worth me giving you links at this time. When I get back home, I’ll give you the links.

It’s Saturday Mornng Linkage

Time to give you some Saturday links. Just because it’s the weekend, it doesn’t mean that people aren’t writing about the sports media. So let’s get to it.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan is considering legal action against a sports radio station that he says put him on the air without his consent. Caesar has a transcript of the conversation.

Jerry Garcia of the San Antonio Express-News talks about NCAA Tournament viewing.

From the Dallas Morning News, Barry Horn looks at the transformation of FSN Southwest over the years from its beginning as Home Sports Entertainment.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes that Mets manager Willie Randolph will still be a weekly guest on WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog this season. And Neil laments the loss of several vintage MLB videos that he had posted with the help of a loyal reader. Some of these videos go back to the 1960′s and for some reason, had not been saved by MLB, but the reader had them.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says that he’s liking Bob Knight’s work on ESPN and even has an interview with the coach. Sandomir also writes that a lawsuit over the exhuming of George Gipp’s body for an ESPN E:60 story has been dismissed.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union was wondering what was the use of having two channels devoted to the NCAA Tournament when both were showing the same game.

Andrew Jones of the Wilmington (NC) Morning-Star says the former voice of UNC-Wilmington basketball team is enjoying his work for ESPN International and ESPNU.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says the newly formed ESPN Films unit got off to a rousing start with its Black Magic documentary.

Melody Gutierrez of the Sacramento Bee talks about Comcast officially taking over FSN Bay Area on Monday.

The Boston Sports Media Watch continues its Media Approval Ratings and the latest candidate is WCVB’s Mike Lynch.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is asking you to grade his performance on his audition to sing the national anthem at Shea Stadium. Be nice.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that the debate over Jonathan Roy’s pummeling of Bobby Nadeau while being cheered on by Roy’s dad, Patrick, rages on.

Awful Announcing says ESPNU will be showing rowing sometime today.

That’s it for now.

NCAA Tournament Elite Eight Tip Times and Announcing Assignments

Now that the matchups for the Regional Finals are set, it’s time to give you the tip times and announcing assignments for both radio and TV for the Elite Eight in the NCAA Men’s Tournament. Sirius Satellite Radio will pick up all of Westwood One’s broadcasts. All times are Eastern.

Saturday, March 29

Road to the Final Four – CBS, 5 p.m.
West Regional Final/Xavier vs. UCLA – Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery (CBS), Ian Eagle/Bill Frieder (Westwood One), 6:40 p.m.
East Regional Final/Louisville vs. North Carolina – Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas (CBS), Kevin Kugler/Pete Gillen (Westwood One), 9:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 30

Road to the Final Four – CBS, 2 p.m.
South Regional Final/Texas vs. Memphis – Jim Nantz/Billy Packer (CBS), Brad Sham/Reid Gettys (Westwood One), 2:20 p.m.
Midwest Regional Final/Davidson vs. Kansas – Gus Johnson/Len Elmore (CBS), Wayne Larrivee/John Thompson (Westwood One), 5:05 p.m.

Friday Night Links

Well, after watching Davidson run Wisconsin out of Ford Field to get to the Elite Eight and Texas totally annihilate Stanford in the second half of their South Regional semifinal, it’s time to give you some links.

Neil Best of Newsday writes in his blog that YES analyst Bobby Mercer who was scheduled to work Opening Day will now miss it as he’s not feeling well. Mercer has been battling a brain tumor.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun provides the list of stations that comprise the Baltimore Orioles Radio Network in his Medium Well blog.

Laura Nachman who follows Philadelphia TV and radio talks about some changes at sports radio WIP. And she has the radio ratings for February.

Christopher Byrne in the Eye on Sports Media blog tells us that Tim Brando and Dan Bonner will call the NCAA Division II Men’s Championship for CBS Sports on Saturday. Last year, Ian Eagle and Bonner called the amazing comeback by Barton College to defeat Winona State which was going for its second stright championship. Let’s relive the last 45.6 seconds from last year’s incredible game shall we?

I remember watching that live. Amazing.

Mike Reynolds says ESPN2 saw a 29% increase in the ratings for the NCAA Women’s Tournament from last year. Larry Barrett writes that MLB.com will offer a free preview this weekend of its new streaming video technology.

Philip Stone of the Follow the Media blog says the International Olympic Committee hopes that media coverage of the Olympics in Communist China will focus on sports and not on the brutality in Tibet.

Ryan Fowler writing for the Toledo (OH) Free Press talks with the public address announcer for the Toledo Mud Hens.

CBS Sports has the tip times for tomorrow’s action in the NCAA Tournament. And CBS will air two golf specials on April 12, just before the 3rd round of The Masters.

I’ll have the Elite 8 tip times for the NCAA Men’s Tournament for both Saturday and Sunday plus radio and TV announcing assignments after all of the action is done tonight.

Weekend Viewing Picks

Saturday, March 29

College Basketball

NCAA Women’s Tournament
New Orleans Region/Louisville vs. North Carolina – ESPN, noon
New Orleans Region/Oklahoma State vs. LSU – ESPN, 2:30 p.m.
Spokane Region/Vanderbilt vs. Maryland – ESPN, 9 p.m.
Spokane Region/Pittsburgh vs. Stanford – ESPN2, 11:30 p.m.

NCAA Division II Men’s Championship
Augusta State vs. Winona State – CBS, 2:30 p.m.

NCAA Division II Women’s Championship
South Dakota vs. Northern Kentucky – ESPN2, 6 p.m.

College Hockey - NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament
East Regional Final/Clarkson vs. Michigan – ESPNU, 7 p.m.
West Regional Final/Notre Dame vs. Michigan State – ESPNU, 10 p.m.

Golf
Champions Tour/Ginn Championship, 2nd Round – Golf Channel, 1 p.m.
PGA Tour/Zurich Classic at New Orleans, 3rd Round – NBC, 3 p.m.
LPGA Tour/Safeway International, 3rd Round – Golf Channel, 6;30 p.m.

MLB
Chicago Cubs at Seattle – WGN, 3 p.m.
Civil Rights Game/Chicago White Sox vs. New York Mets in Memphis – ESPN, 5 p.m.
Baltimore at Washington at Nationals Park – MASN, 6 p.m.
Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers at Los Angeles Coliseum – NESN, 10 p.m.

NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series/Kroger 250 – Fox, 3 p.m.

NBA
Milwaukee at Chicago – WGN, 8:30 p.m.

NHL
Ottawa at Boston – NESN, 1 p.m.
Montreal at Toronto – CBC/NHL Center Ice, 7 p.m.
Edmonton at Calgary – CBC/NHL Center Ice, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
America’s Most Wanted – Fox, 9 p.m.
Saturday Night Live with Host Ellen Page – NBC, 11:34 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

Sunday, March 30

College Basketball

NCAA Women’s Tournament
Greensboro Region/Old Dominion vs. UConn – ESPN, noon
Greensboro Region/George Washington vs. Rutgers – ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.
Oklahoma City Region/Duke vs. Texas A&M – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Oklahoma City Region/Notre Dame vs. Tennessee – ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.

College Hockey
Northeast Regional Final/Miami (OH) vs. Boston College – ESPNU, 4:30 p.m.
Midwest Regional Final/North Dakota vs. Wisconsin – ESPNU, 7 p.m.

Golf
Champions Tour/Ginn Championship, Final Round – Golf Channel, 1 p.m.
PGA Tour/Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Final Round – NBC, 3 p.m.
LPGA Tour/Safeway International, Final Round – Golf Channel, 6:30 p.m.

MLB
Season Opener/Atlanta at Washington – ESPN, 8 p.m.

NASCAR
Sprint Cup – Goody’s Cool Orange 500 (what?) – Fox, 2 p.m.

NBA
Houston at San Antonio – ABC, 1 p.m.
Miami at Boston – Comcast SportsNet New England, 6 p.m.

NHL
New York Rangers at Pittsburgh – NBC, 12:30 p.m.
Boston at Buffalo – NESN, 6 p.m.
Calgary at Vancouver – NHL Network (US), 10 p.m.

Entertainment
60 Minutes – CBS, 7 p.m.
Big Brother 9 – CBS, 8 p.m.
The Tudors (Season Premiere) – Showtime, 9 p.m.
Dirt – FX, 10 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime2, midnight

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball

NCAA Tournament (All Games on CBS)
Midwest Regional/Wisconsin vs. Davidson – 7:10 p.m.
South Regional/Texas vs. Stanford – 7:27 p.m.
Midwest Regional/Kansas vs. Villanova – 9:40 p.m.
South Regional/Memphis vs. Michigan State – 9:57 p.m.

College Hockey

East Regional/Michigan vs. Niagra – ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.
West Regional/Colorado College vs. Michigan State – ESPNU, 10 p.m.

MLB
Chicago Cubs vs. Seattle Mariners – WGN, 10 p.m.

NBA
New Orleans at Boston – Comcast SportsNet New England, 7:30 p.m.

NHL
St. Louis at Detroit – NHL Network (US), 7:30 p.m.
San Jose at Anaheim – NHL Network (US), 10 p.m.

Entertainment
Dateline – NBC, 9 p.m.
In Treatment – HBO, 9:30 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

A Friday Update

Let’s give you some more links on this getaway Friday.

The voting for Darren Rovell’s Minor League Baseball Logo Contest has reached the Final Four. Darren wants you to vote for one finalist today.

Newsday’s Neil Best has been blogging like crazy today, this despite being on a vacation. But that’s ok. I’m always glad to give you fresh material. He has video from Wednesday in which WFAN’s Mike & the Mad Dog were discussing draining the snake at baseball games. This went on for five hours, I kid you not. Neil says CBS’ 60 Minutes will have an interview with baseball crackpot Bill James this Sunday. Neil reports that 1050 ESPN Radio has signed YES analyst David Cone to be a regular guest with Michael Kay. Neil says Mr. Steroids, Jose Canseco, will be a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday. And Neil tells us that CBS’ Sunday Morning program will look at

Scott Burgess of the Detroit News says Pontiac is a big winner thanks to its extensive sponsorship of the NCAA Tournament and one benefit is that CBS won’t mention stadia and arenas that are sponsored like Ford Field where the Midwest Regional is being played.

Screamin’ Gus Johnson of CBS Sports! March Madness! talks with SI.com’s Extra Mustard blog. Gus also speaks with Spencer Hall of the Sporting News.

The Big Lead has Charles Barkley going after Skip Bayless, Jay Mariotti and Mike Lupica during an interview with Dan LeBatard on 790 The Ticket in Miami.

If you’re a Verizon Wireless subscriber and have a V Cast phone, you’ll be able to listen to ESPN Radio.

Greg Wyshynski of the AOL Fanhouse blog says it appears that the NHL is not going to be returning to ESPN (thanks to Greg to linking to Fang’s Bites in his story).

Broadcast Engineering looks at ESPNews launching in HD this Sunday.

Anne Thompson of Variety says sports-themed documentaries and movies are doing well on the internet.

The Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch says CBS Sports golf analyst Gary McCord will be at the Huntington Classic in July.

Jeff Richgels of the Capital (WI) Times supports the Sirius-XM satellite radio merger saying it’s good for the sports fan and if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that I agree.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press talks with FSN Detroit’s Mario Impemba who goes into his 7th year of calling Tigers cames for the network.

Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says Peachtree TV, the former TBS in Atlanta, hopes to make a splash carrying 45 Braves games this season. Mark Tankersley of the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser says the 45 games from Peachtree TV will be picked up by Charter Communications locally.

Liz Farmer of the Maryland Daily Record says MASN and Comcast are headed back to court.

Christine McConville of the Boston Herald says former Red Sox outfielder and current NESN analyst Jim Rice is launching a blog. If you want to head over to Jim’s blog, the link is here.

Chris Reidy of the Boston Globe says NESN’s Jerry Remy will continue to be the on-air spokesman for Sovereign Bank ads on Red Sox games.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram talks to the voice of the New England Surge of the Continental Indoor Football League. To be honest, I didn’t know this league existed.

Keep it here for Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks, Weekend Viewing Picks and a Friday night update before I end blogging for the day. Keep your RSS feeds updated.

If It’s Friday, It Must Be The Megalinks

Yes, it’s Friday, I have a dentist appointment and it’s time for me to do some links. Let’s get started.

This weekend, the NCAA Tournament continues as the Sweet Sixteen will be reduced to the Elite Eight tonight. And after Sunday, we’ll have the Final Four. CBS has your coverage of the Mens’ NCAA Tournament throughout the weekend.

The NCAA Women’s Tournament is also in its Sweet Sixteen and the ESPN family of networks will have coverage starting on Saturday.

The PGA Tour is in New Orleans for the Zurich Classic. The Golf Channel will conclude its early round coverage today, then NBC Sports picks up on Saturday at 3 p.m.

NASCAR’s Sprint Cup took the Easter holiday off and is back with a vengeance on Sunday with the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 (just how does NASCAR come up with these names?) on Fox at 1:30 p.m.

The NBA continues with the Bulls taking on Milwaukee on WGN Saturday night and a Texas two step of Houston facing San Antonio on ABC Sunday at 1 p.m.

And the NHL has its playoff push, NBC showing the Rangers and Pittsburgh for the umpteenth time this season on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

As always, we begin with Michael Hiestand of USA Today. He says NBC Sports should ignore Tibet and other political issues when covering the Olympics in Communist China. Here’s your sports on TV for the weekend.

This week we’ll go East to West. No time for playing around.

East and Mid-Atlantic

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe talks with ESPN’s John Buccigross who realizes a dream as he gets to call the NCAA Hockey Tournament this weekend for ESPNU.

From the New York Post, Phil Mushnick predicts that the Mets’ Billy Wagner will say something he will regret during his weekly interviews on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York. Also from the Post, Justin Terranova talks with SNY’s Ron Darling about the Mets’ chances this season. And Justin has five questions for the Shark, Jerry Tarkanian about the NCAA Tournament.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman is a bit leery about SNY’s plans to take phone calls during Mets games. That’s right, during Mets games.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times doesn’t like SNY’s new late afternoon lineup of talk shows. And Sandomir has a blurb on TBS Sports’ announcing lineup for its Sunday MLB games.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the tip times for Saturday’s NCAA Tournament games.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun says MASN’s Gary Thorne and Buck Martinez will be doing double duty this season for other networks.

South

Doug Nye of The State writes that Time Warner Cable is confident that it will pick up 45 Atlanta Braves games that will be on Peachtree TV.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says a local sports radio station is shuffling its lineup.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel wonders why the WWE is still popular.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says CBS’ Jim Nantz and Billy Packer will be looking up at the court tonight at Reliant Stadium.

Ray Buck in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes about an experimental 3-D HD telecast.

Mel Bracht of the Oklahoman says baseball fans will have plenty of viewing options this season. Mel has his media notebook which includes a blurb on ESPN interviewing coaching buddies Bill Parcells, Bob Knight and Tony La Russa this Sunday. And Mel has his viewing picks for the weekend.

Midwest

The Chicago Tribune’s Teddy Greenstein talks with ESPN’s Brent Musberger who will call the Cubs season opener on Monday. And Teddy has his top five viewing picks.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says AT&T U-Verse customers won’t get Sports Time Ohio in HD.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks about ESPN2 picking up the Brewers opener against the Cubs.

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Judd Zulgad writes that FSN North will be able to interview Minnesota Twins players immediately following a loss.

Paul Christian in the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says it’s time for baseball to take over your TV and radio.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star says CBS’ Kevin Harlan was not being a homer for the University of Kansas during the NCAA Tournament last weekend.

West

Scott D. Pierce of the Deseret (UT) Morning News likes CBS’ coverage of the NCAA Tournament.

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner talks with the new producer of Padres games on Cox 4. Posner for some reason is not credited for his media notebook this week, but believe me, it’s his and he writes about ESPN’s Jamele Hill laughing at Chargers’ Shawne Merriman for having his car stolen and torched. And here are the ratings from San Diego from last weekend.

John Maffei of the North County Times writes that an affiliate switch in San Diego will cause confusion for viewers looking for Fox Sports programming.

Christine Daniels from the Los Angeles Times has her weekly Sound and Vision column.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has Hall of Fame Dodgers announcer Vin Scully recalling his broadcast perch at the Coliseum where the Red Sox and Dodgers will play an exhibition game this weekend. In his Farther Off the Wall blog, Hoffarth has his extensive media notes and he has a picture of where Scully used to broadcast games from the LA Coliseum.

Canada

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star talks with Blue Jays TV analyst Rance Mulliniks who picks his team to win the World Series. Ok.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail has Don Cherry condemning the incident in which former goalie Patrick Roy cheered his son to fight during a Junior League game last week.

Blogs

Awful Announcing has the video of a switching glitch during last night’s NCAA Tournament action.

And in that technical glitch, Christopher Byrne of the Eye on Sports Media blog noticed someone familiar.

Joe Favorito talks about social networking and Gillette reaching for the stars in his Sports Marketing and Public Relations blog.

The Sports Media Journal is now in the Final Four of its Sports Radio Madness contest.

That should do it for now. I’ll be back later with an update.

Late Thursday Night Update

Let’s have a late night helping of links, shall we?

From Justin Terranova of the New York Post, he says SNY’s Ron Darling will have another go with TBS on its Sunday afternoon MLB package.

The Sports Media Watch blog notes that NBC will premiere a Mixed Martial Arts show of its own on April 13, a month and a half before CBS has its Elite XC premiere, but NBC’s show will be broadcast in late night.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his Farther Off the Wall blog that KLAA, the Anaheim Angels’ flagship station is slowly, but surely going all-sports.

Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable reports Dish Network is adding NESN HD to its lineup.

FSN Rocky Mountain will carry 85 Colorado Rockies games in HD.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News blogs that he likes the CBS Sports’ Video on Demand March Madness highlights package. R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel writes that HBO Pay Per View had solid buy numbers for the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight on March 15.

Sergio Ibarra of TV Week says ESPN/ESPN2 are seeing higher ratings this year for the NCAA Women’s Tournament. Chris Pursell of TV Week writes in his Pressbox blog that ESPN wants to build an audience for Major League Soccer.

The Creative Artists Agency and MLB are teaming up to create a sports-themed community website as Mike Shields of Mediaweek writes.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell mourns the loss of Heath Benedict whom he had chosen as a sleeper pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.

Here’s an interesting alliance. ESPN and Showtime have signed a deal that allows ESPN Classic to show selected fights from the 21 year library of Showtime Championship Boxing

Canadians should get ready to watch Don Cherry The Movie! Yes, it’s been greenlit by the CBC as Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star writes.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the CBC did not give the World Figure Skating Championships first class coverage this year.

Continuing with our look up north, Aedan Helmer of the Ottawa Sun says TSN host James Duthie spoke to journalism students on Thursday.

Rogers Sportsnet says it will carry over 300 MLB games this season.

That’s it. Expect the Friday megalinks around 10:30 a.m. ET tomorrow.

Videos of the Week – Nike Sparq Commercial

I’m not a fan of Nike for various reasons, but I do like their commercials that have run in the NCAA Tournament. Here is the Nike Sparq ad. It’s very good.

And if you’re wondering what song is used on the commercial, it’s the kickass Saul Williams doing “List of Demands.”

And here’s a really great live version with Saul and Nine Inch Nails at the Voodoo Festival in 2005.

Interview with Beau Estes of TBS/TNT Sports

Last October as the MLB League Division Series was underway, I was watching TBS Hot Corner online and was in the midst of writing a post and saw Beau Estes for the first time. I proceeded to rip him and studio co-host Matt D’Agostino. In a surprise, Beau sent a nice e-mail to me saying he was thankful that someone was watching.

Since then, we’ve exchanged e-mails and Beau kindly agreed to do an interview with Fang’s Bites to discuss the return of TBS Hot Corner and his role as a host/reporter at Turner Sports over the years. The interview is below:

Fang’s Bites: First, thanks for doing this interview after I ripped you last October. I’m glad that you have a sense of humor about it.
Beau Estes: No problem. I’ve found it’s always wise to have a sense of humor especially when one of the parties involved has the words “bites” and “fang’s” in his monicker. In truth, I was thrilled that people were watching.

FB: Touche. How did you get involved in TBS Hot Corner?
BE: I am an anchor and reporter for Turner Sports Interactive so jumping in with Hot Corner was a natural fit. My regular roles have me covering a few of golf’s major championships; namely The Open Championship and the PGA Championship, as well as most of the NASCAR season.

In the past I’ve also hosted the Braves studio show on TBS (just prior to Erin Andrews who turned out more than ok I think) so there was a background in baseball that I could draw from. I think the people at Turner Sports knew that I was itching to get back out to the ballpark and I was thankful to them for giving me the opportunity to do that.

FB: I know that TBS and MLB.com worked together on Hot Corner. As far as you know, will the two be partners again this season?
BE: I know that TBS is working to build off of the momentum we developed last year during the playoffs on Hot Corner. The playoffs are obviously the thrust of these efforts, but I know that they are hoping to develop unique content during the regular season as well. What that content will be is currently being hashed out, but I can say that one of their main goals is to give our users the best access possible. From my perspective, I think the idea is to provide a window for our users to see those – behind the scenes – “wow” moments that so many of us as reporters are able to witness.

FB: What were some of the memorable moments for you covering last year’s playoffs?
BE: Well, since I wasn’t able to meet Alyssa Milano, I’ll have to go with something that happened during a rain shower prior to Game 3 of the Divisional Series at Wrigley Field. It was one of those “wow” moments that I’m hoping we can continue to deliver to our users in the future.

As the raindrops started getting heavy just after batting practice I sat by myself in the Cubs dugout preparing to file my first report for Hot Corner. Just moments after I sat down Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks walked out and sat right next to me. It was just the two of us alone in the dugout at Wrigley field with nobody around. I had interviewed him the year before during the PGA Championship at Medinah and so we started talking about his golf game, then Cubs baseball and his seemingly limitless energy. It was a moment I’ll never forget. The guy truly is a living legend.

FB: What will your role be for Hot Corner this season?
BE: We haven’t discussed a formal “role” at this point. The conversations have revolved more around ideas for taking what was a great start with TBS Hot Corner and improving upon that. Since the majority of my work is as a studio anchor though, I always welcome the opportunity to get out in the field and witness events first hand. No matter what though, I trust that Turner Sports is quite confident in my abilities and will place me where I am most useful to them.

FB: Was the fact that so many people were watching Hot Corner during the playoffs last season a deciding factor for TBS bringing it back in the regular season?
BE: I know that Turner Sports was very happy with the number of viewers and perhaps we owe you a debt of gratitude in that regard. Whenever people respond to what we do I know that it inspires everyone involved in the project. Frankly and simply, it makes us want to do a better job for the people who might be stuck in their office or cubicle around the world, but still want to connect with and follow the game. For those people, we are often the only broadcast they can get.

FB: Turner has been quite proactive in establishing its online presence for its big events like the NBA, NASCAR, the PGA Championship and Hot Corner. Do you see other networks following Turner’s step in this direction?
BE: I suppose it is already happening a bit, but yes, Turner pioneered this type of broadcasting to a large extent. If other networks aren’t working frantically to catch up with what Turner has done I would be surprised. What I like about Turner is that they are constantly pushing that envelope in the broadband broadcasting world. They are always asking the questions “what is next?” and “how do we make this better for our users?” For my money, that is the recipe for continued success.

FB: Have you enjoyed your tenure at Turner?
BE: Turner has been great for me and I hope I’ve been pretty good for them as well. Getting to work in the same studio with the same group of people that do Inside the NBA has made me much better than I ever imagined I could be.

FB: Where else have you worked?
BE: Prior to Turner I hosted a High School show on the local CBS affiliate in Atlanta and for about two years I was an anchor and reporter with FSN South in Atlanta.

FB: When did you join TBS/TNT?
BE: Actually I began working on Turner’s NBA coverage in November of 1994 while I was still in college. To get back to Turner in an on-camera role I did a “high school to the pro’s” move.

While hosting a prep sports show in Atlanta I auditioned for the Braves studio role. My test was good enough for them to give me the role of studio host going into the 2001 season and like most “high school to the pro’s” stories there was quite a few learning experiences and perhaps one or two growing pains. Following my Braves gig I hosted the Atlanta Thrasher’s studio show and was a sideline reporter for the Atlanta Hawks on the now defunct Turner South network. I took off from there for FSN South for a couple of years, but am now thrilled to be back with Turner.

FB: What has been your most exciting assignment thus far?
BE: That question is about as tough for me to answer as “what is the meaning of life?” On the High School show I covered Jeff Francouer when he was a prep star and watched him win back to back football and baseball titles. For pure fun, that would be hard to match. Believe me when I tell you he would have made the NFL without much difficulty.

The Braves studio show on TBS was a sort of validation for a kid’s dream of becoming a sportscaster so that was a thrill.

Being the worldwide online play by play voice for Tiger’s last two PGA Championships is something that I am very proud of and haven’t quite got my mind around. I think the significance of that is something that will grow as time goes on.

Reporting from Carnoustie at last year’s Open was maybe as excited as I’ve been – and on a personal level it was an absolute thrill to cover the 2005 UNC National Championship hoops team.

Still, what I always go back to though was getting to meet and work with James Worthy. Growing up in Charlotte, he was the basketball icon.

FB: So you didn’t get to meet Alyssa Milano. What can you tell us about Heather Catlin and Kelly Cross? And do you think the producers will allow you near Alyssa in the future?
BE: Heather and Kelly, along with Matt and Chris, are terrific. I know what it’s like to be responsible for hosting eight hours at a time of live coverage and I really thought they did a great job. Both Heather and Kelly are a lot of fun – but they also know how to get the job done on the air and I think you could see that from our product last year.

As far as the producers letting me near Alyssa all I can say is my fingers are crossed. From all that I’ve heard she was very knowledgeable and maybe as impressive – quite down to earth and easy to work with.

On some level though, I suppose it’s best if I work on the other side of the country from Ms. Milano. I’m afraid my reports if in her presence would have a sort of Brick Tamland “I love lamp” quality if she were nearby.

FB: Thanks once again for doing this, Beau. The fact you’re willing to be interviewed after I ripped you shows you’re a better man than me.
BE: I don’t care if I end up singlehandedly saving the human race from disaster – I’ll always hope you link to me as “the guy I ripped last October.”

If that unlikely scenario plays itself out, and only then will I begin to consider myself “the better man.” It’s been fun – thanks.

Once again, I’d like to thank Beau for doing the interview over the last two days. And I’ll have an interview with Rodney Vaughn, the producer of TBS Hot Corner coming up soon.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball

NCAA Tournament (All Games on CBS)

West Regional/Xavier vs. West Virginia – 7:10 p.m.
East Regional/North Carolina vs. Washington State – 7:27 p.m.
West Regional/UCLA vs. Western Kentucky – 9:35 p.m.
East Regional/Tennessee vs. Louisville – 9:52 p.m.

NBA
Dallas at Denver – TNT, 8 p.m.
Portland at Golden State – TNT, 10:30 p.m.

NHL
Toronto at Boston – NESN, 7 p.m.
Phoenix at Los Angeles – NHL Network (Canada), 10:30 p.m.

Entertainment
Miss Guided – ABC, 8 & 8:30 p.m. (Judy Greer is quickly becoming a Fang’s Bites fav)
In Treatment – HBO, 9:30 p.m.
Eli Stone – ABC, 10 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

It’s a Thursday Thing

Before I start, I’ll say I’ll have news on a sports talk show host whom I talked about earlier this week. I’ll even identify him, Andy Gresh, formerly of the Score in Providence was seen in New York last week. I should find out more about what’s next with him either today or tomorrow. Keep your RSS feeds on.

Let’s give you some more links this morning.

Starting with David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch, he has a statement from ESPN on the mistaken transaction listing the late Corey Lidle.

Good article from Evan Weiner of the New York Sun. He says the subprime mortgage lending crisis has not hit sports hard. Yet.

Here’s an interesting story from Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News. There’s an internal battle brewing between the NFL Network and NFL Films. Apparently NFL Films feels the Network is not using its inventory and depending more on other programming.

From the Washington Post’s Redskins Insider blog, it appears that the Super Bowl Champions New York Giants will take on the Washington Redskins in the NFL Season Opener on September 4.

Phil Swann of TV Predictions.com has an update on the cable and satellite providers that will offer MLB’s Extra Innings pay per view package in HD. And RCN says it will provide the Extra Innings package in HD as well.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune writes that WGN-TV and the Cubs are celebrating 60 years as broadcast partners. Sherman has a timeline of the Cubs and WGN.

Newsday’s Neil Best has practically written a column in his blog. He has a bunch of news and notes today.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball has the announcing teams for TBS’ Sunday Afternoon Baseball coverage. And Michael Hiestand of USA Today has a version of this as well.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has news on one Milwaukee Brewers player on the cover of Sports Illustrated and the latest on the famous sausage races at Miller Park.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has Day 14 of his Minor League Baseball Logo Contest. And Darren talks about Kansas State’s Michael Beasley turning pro, Under Armour and NBA jersey sales.

Suzanne Choney of MSNBC.com says while you’re watching March Madness at work, someone is most likely monitoring what you’re doing on your computer.

Tim Clodfelter of the Winston-Salem (NC) Journal says March Madness has sparked a lot of sales of HD monitors.

Mike Sachoff of the WebProNews blog says March Madness on Demand is a true home run for CBS.

Tom Dorsey of the Louisville Courier-Journal does a Q and A about how CBS schedules games in the NCAA Tournament.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun in the Medium Well blog reviews some of the past “One Shining Moment” montages that CBS has run at the end of many of its NCAA Tournaments. And Ray recaps Tiger Woods’ interview on ESPN2′s First Take in which he talked about throwing an “F” bomb at a photographer last week.

Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press talks with ESPN golf analyst Andy North who loves his Wisconsin Badgers.

That’s all for now. I’ll be back later.

Late Wednesday/Early Thursday Update

Some links for you on this late Wednesday night heading into early Thursday morning.

Larry Barrett of Multichannel News says NESN pulled primetime numbers in the early morning for the Red Sox opener on Tuesday against the A’s. Also from Multichannel, Mike Reynolds writes that Sports Time Ohio has added four cable systems to its HD lineup. And Reynolds says Golf Channel will offer a new reality series this summer.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says the NCAA Tournament saw lower ratings on CBS due to the early Easter holidays this year. Diego Vasquez of Media Life says the NHL on Versus is suddenly red hot.

Some network press releases for you.

NBC Sports talks about this Sunday’s NHL featured game, the New York Rangers taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins. And the NBC Golf Tour heads to New Orleans this weekend.

CBS Sports says it will run its third “Jim Nantz Remembers” special on April 13, just before the final round of The Masters. CBS says March Madness on Demand traffic is up 129% from last year and has surpassed all of last year’s totals.

ESPN says coaching buddies Bob Knight, Tony La Russa and Bill Parcells will take part on the Sunday Conversation on SportsCenter, March 30.

Westwood One Radio says it will have exclusive coverage of the NCAA Frozen Four coming up, April 10-13.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette gives us some TV and radio hockey (both pro and college) notes in his blog.

Rick Bentley of the Fresno Bee say both ESPN and Comcast equally share in the blame for not having the Fresno State women’s basketball team on this past Saturday.

David Clemons of the Sand Mountain (AL) Reporter says the 45 Atlanta Braves games slated for Peachtree TV have been placed on Charter Communications locally.

That’s it until the morning.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball

National Invitation Tournament
Mississippi at Virginia Tech – ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Dayton at Ohio State – ESPN2, 9 p.m.

NBA
Phoenix at Boston – Comcast SportsNet New England/ESPN, 7 p.m.

NHL
Vancouver at Colorado – TSN/NHL Network (US), 9 p.m.

Entertainment
Big Brother 9 – CBS, 8 p.m.
In Treatment – HBO, 9:30 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

Giving You A Wednesday Update

Having gotten some important work done, it’s time to give you some linkage on this Wednesday afternoon on the East Coast.

Three things from the Sports Media Watch. First, Paul Sen says the joint decision by the NFL and NBC to move the league’s season opener on September 4 from 8:30 p.m. ET to 7 p.m. so not to conflict with the Republican National Convention will most likely result in a lower rating. Next, Paul says NBC’s ratings on the NHL might have been hurt by showing just one game a week instead of providing regional coverage. Finally, Paul has the ratings from action that isn’t related to the NCAA Tournament.

Newsday’s Neil Best reports that the long time Director of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown has been replaced.

The Awful Announcing blog has video of ESPN2′s Gary Thorne totally confusing the author of Jose Canseco’s new book.

XM Satellite Radio listeners will finally be able to access its MLB Home Plate channel online as the Orbitcast blog tells us.

Ray Frager from the Baltimore Sun says in his Medium Well blog that ESPN did not plan to have Chris Berman on its Masters coverage from the beginning. Mike Tirico will be the only ESPN staffer on The Masters next month as the weekday telecast will be produced by CBS Sports.

The Eye on Sports Media blog says CBS College Sports Network plans to re-air six NCAA Tournament 1st and 2nd round games starting today.

Fox Business picks up an article from Drew Armstrong of Inc.com who shoots down the idea that March Madness on Demand is hurting worker productivity.

Chris Faulkner of the Fort Madison (IA) Daily Democrat says local viewers were angry they could not watch the Drake-Western Kentucky NCAA Tournament game last Friday. And in a follow-up, the Democrat says the size of the market doesn’t help either.

Joe Favorito’s Sports Marketing and Public Relations blog looks at how the power of an athlete’s celebrity can actually pay dividends.

The Boston Sports Media Watch has another edition of its Media Approval Ratings and today’s candidate is Comcast Sports Net’s Gary Tanguay.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell has the NBA’s Top Ten List of Jersey sales over the last ten years and I’ll give you three guesses for the top selling one and the first two guesses don’t count.

Brett McMurphy of the Tampa Bay Tribune writes that ESPN wants to create a college bowl game to be played at Tropicana Field in December.

Mike Vandermause of the Fond du Lac (WI) Reporter isn’t happy with ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio.

Matt Elliser of the San Francisco Examiner says a new era is ready to begin as Comcast takes over FSN Bay Area next week.

From the Self-Serving and Over the Top Department, ESPN announces that the host of this year’s Self-Serving and Over The Top ESPY Awards will be the Self-Serving and Over the Top Justin Timberlake.

Get ready to see Firestone Tires all over Fox Sports’ coverage of Major League Baseball.

That will do it for now.

A Wednesday Link Thing

Let’s do our links for today.

Starting with a very strange story out of ESPN.com. David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch breaks the news that the website somehow listed the late Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle in its transactions page and inexplicably left it there for two days.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has CBS’ spin on the lower ratings for the NCAA Tournament.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has a story on two local TV stations showing highlights of the NCAA Tournament without the permission of CBS Sports.

Michael David Smith of the AOL Fanhouse blog says CBS’ Billy Packer is the least popular man among blog readers.

The Kerrville (TX) Daily Times talks with native Carter Blackburn who made his NCAA Tournament debut on CBS last week.

Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle says FSN Bay Area changes its name to Comcast on Monday. John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News also has a story on Comcast officially taking over FSN Bay Area. And in his blog, Ryan says Comcast may show the A’s-Red Sox game on April 2. Jonathan Okanes of the Monterey County Herald says Comcast is planning plenty of local programming around its sports teams.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell is narrowing down his Minor League Baseball Logo Contest to the Elite Eight in Day 13 of the voting.

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald says DirecTV and Comcast are apologizing for outages that left Red Sox and A’s fans in the dark yesterday morning.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with longtime Yankees’ public address announcer Bob Sheppard who will miss the home opener. And Neil has some more from Bob in his blog.

Kevin Modesti of the Long Beach Press-Telegram accuses ESPN of East Coast bias when it comes to its baseball coverage.

Linda Moss of Multichannel News reports that Comcast subscribers in northern New Jersey will be able to watch Mets games in HD this season.

The Orbitcast satellite radio blog says XM Satellite Radio is bringing back its “Play Ball!” channel on March 29.

Paul Gough of the Hollywood Reporter says the NFL and NBC will move the season opener up one hour to 7 p.m. ET on September 4 so as not to conflict with John McCain’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

Marty James of the Napa Valley (CA) Register says the NFL Draft will look different this year on ESPN and the NFL Network.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times writes in his Two Cents blog that former NBA player Derrick Coleman got injured during the taping of the Spike TV show, Pros vs. Joes.

TNT will have a Western Conference NBA doubleheader this week.

Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer profiles the Voice of the Cavs, Joe Tait, who calls his 3,000th game tonight.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe & Mail looks into other NHL announcers who pulled off similar doubleheaders that CBC’s Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson did on Saturday.

Laura Nachman says a midday talk show host for sports radio WIP in Philadelphia is out.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune talks about his first experience as a fill-in talk show host on sports radio WMVP on Tuesday.

Martin Henderson of the Los Angeles Times writes in the Varsity Times Insider blog talks about ESPN buying a girls’ and women’s basketball website.

David Gurian-Peck in the Daily Pennsylvannian, the school newspaper for the University of Pennsylvannia, talks with UPenn alumnus Andrea Kremer of NBC Sports and HBO’s Real Sports.

That’s it for now.

Morning Viewing Picks

MLB
Boston Globe Pre-Game Show – NESN, 5 a.m.
Red Sox vs. Oakland – ESPN2/NESN, 6 a.m. (Hopefully, there won’t be an outage on DirecTV)
Extra Innings – NESN, 9 a.m.
Extra Innnings Xtra – NESN, 9:30 a.m.

News
Morning Express with Robin Meade – CNN Headline News, 6 a.m.

Primetime & Late Night Viewing Picks

College Basketball

NCAA Women’s Tournament (All Games on ESPN2)
Kansas State vs. Louisville – 7 p.m.
Purdue vs. Tennessee – 7 p.m.
Arizona State vs. Duke – 7 p.m.
Old Dominion vs. Virginia – 7 p.m.
Nebraska vs. Maryland – 9 p.m.
Georgia vs. North Carolina – 9 p.m.
Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma – 9 p.m.
Texas vs. UConn – 9 p.m.

National Invitation Tournament
UMass at Syracuse – ESPN, 7 p.m.
Florida at Arizona State – ESPN, 9 p.m.

NHL
Boston at Toronto – NESN, 7:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at New York Rangers – Versus, 7:30 p.m.
San Jose at Phoenix – Versus, 10 p.m.

Entertainment
Frontline – PBS, 9 p.m.
Big Brother – CBS, 9 p.m.
Jericho (series finale) – CBS, 10 p.m.
The Riches – FX, 10 p.m.
Late Show with David Letterman – CBS, 11:35 p.m.
Big Brother After Dark – Showtime 2, midnight

More Tuesday Stuff

It’s time to give you some more links today.

John Ryan of the San Jose Mercury News says A’s fans who got up at 3 a.m. today were just as outraged as Red Sox fans with the DirecTV outage.

Phil Swann of the TV Predictions says viewers who had DirecTV’s HD package did not experience the outage.

Sergio Ibarra of TV Week says FSN will double its HD baseball broadcasts.

Newsday’s Neil Best who insists that he’s not blogging during vacation, continues to blog during his vacation and says SNY’s new late afternoon lineup is 90 minutes of yelling. And Neil finds a clip of WFAN’s Mike & the Mad Dog in which Mike Francesca likes Brandon Inge a lot.

The Foreign Policy magazine’s Passport blog is bewildered at NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol’s statements on Communist China’s human rights record.

Gregg Goldstein of the Hollywood Reporter says a David Mamet mixed martial arts movie will have its gala premiere at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival on April 25.

Julianne Smolinski of TV Week says ESPN has promoted Burke Magnus to Senior Vice President of college sports programming. Alex Weprin of Broadcasting & Cable says Magnus replaces a retiring executive.

Mike Shields of Mediaweek reports ESPN has bought a website devoted to girls’ and women’s basketball.

Antoine Pitts of the Ann Arbor (MI) News writes that ESPNU will exclusively carry the NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament regional finals leaving many fans in the dark.

Tim MacMahon of the Dallas Morning News live blogged Pacman Jones’ appearance on Michael Irvin’s show today.

The Springdale (AR) Morning News says CBS Sports will broadcast an LPGA event in July.

The Louisville Courier-Journal says both Louisville and Western Kentucky will be seen both be seen locally even though they’re playing at the same time in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.

Lucas Wiseman of USBC Communications says Lynn Swann and Nelson Burton, Jr. return to network television to call a bowling event on CBS.

That’s it for now. I may not have an evening update. Keep checking your RSS feeds.

DirecTV Talks!

Finally, the Boston Globe has heard from DirecTV and its explanation is still not sufficient, but it’s something. Reid Laymance has a short statement from a spokesman.

“We experienced some temporary technical difficulties early this morning that resulted in some channels not being available to customers. The majority of our channels were not affected and we have since corrected the problem. In the case of the Red Sox season opener, we were able to bring the NESN channel back up at the top of the seventh inning. ESPN2 came back on later, after the game was over. (Customers who have NESN or ESPN2 in HD were able to see the entire game.) We deeply apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our customers – and particularly Red Sox Fans. ESPN2 is planning to carry a repeat of the game at 2 p.m.”

Some temporary technical difficulties? What were they? It’s not a very good explanation.

DirecTV Is Still Silent

About four hours since I sent an e-mail to DirecTV asking what caused its outage, leaving millions of fans in the dark for this morning’s Red Sox-A’s game, still no word from its Public Relations Department.

Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball is asking if anyone has heard from the satellite provider to contact him.

Apparently, everyone at DirecTV is still hiding underneath their desks. All we ask is for an explanation. The longer the silence, the worse the pressure will get from subscribers.

This DirecTV Outage is Irritating Not Just Me

Well, I sent an e-mail to DirecTV asking what happened with the system outage this morning that effected the two channels that carried the Red Sox-A’s this morning. So far, the DirecTV public relations people are hiding under their desks.

Some channels were affected, others were not. I could receive ESPN, ESPNews and ESPN Classic, but not ESPN2. I had several sports channels on the Sports Pack, but not NESN, YES, MSG Network or Comcast SportsNet New England. It not only pissed off your humble blogger, it also pissed off viewers across the nation.

The lovely Amalie Benjamin of the Boston Globe who was live blogging the game from Tokyo was the first to hear about it and you can read the comments throughout the morning. People are pissed.

The following two links come courtesy the Boston Sports Media Watch. First, Richard Defendorf of CNET says the outage ended around 10 a.m. ET, but not in time for the game to air. It had ended by then.

Eric Wilbur of Boston.com says some Comcast cable customers in Southeastern Massachusetts also experienced outages of ESPN2 and NESN, but it was due to something else.

Seth Mnookin who wrote Feeding the Monster had the same problems.

SportsbyBrooks was also on top of the story.

So far, no explanation from DirecTV. I’ll post it when I receive it.

Opening Day Links

It may be early for baseball to open the season, but there’s always something special about Opening Day. For Red Sox fans, it means hope springs eternal, but having won two Championships over the last four years, it’s a different feeling. I would have liked to have a quickie review of what ESPN2 and NESN were doing for the Red Sox-A’s early morning broadcast, but DirecTV had an system outage and both channels were out. I could get ESPN, ESPNews, ESPN Classic, but not ESPN2. I could get FSN Bay Area which did not pick up the game as the A’s rightsholder, but I could not get NESN, YES, MSG Network. I called DirecTV for an explanation and got a recorded message about an overnight system outage and the channels would return shortly, but when I left my house at 7:30 a.m. ET, the channels were still out. I’ll send an e-mail to DirecTV to ask what happened.

Let’s get to your links.

Brandie Jefferson of the Providence Journal says Red Sox fans flocked to a popular sports tavern this morning for Baseball and Breakfast.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times has a story on what will be an underlying theme for NBC Sports throughout the year, having to deal with an authoritarian, oppressive, Communist regime in China, while trying to televise the Olympics. Sandomir mentions in his story that while the situation in Tibet has worsened, NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol has refused to criticize China even though the Commnist government has already begun to censor the network from showing shots of Tienanmien Square during the Games. This is a story Fang’s Bites will be watching. With a situation that could get worse as the year progresses, we’ll see how he handles the broadcasts if things get out of hand in Tibet and protests increase in Beijing.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News feels CBS’ Billy Packer does not go far enough in criticizing coaching decisions, in fact, Raissman feels Packer covers for them.

Newsday’s Neil Best who is supposed to be on vacation is blogging on his days off. He looks over the latest figures from ESPN.com’s Tournament Bracket challenge. And Neil says the former Program Director of 1050 ESPN Radio in New York has a new gig in the Steel City. Neil says using split screens to show two games during the NCAA Tournament is not what CBS has in mind.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says all three games in the NCAA Men’s Hockey Tournament to be played in Albany will be shown on ESPNU. Pete also has some thoughts from ESPN2′s telecast of the Red Sox-A’s this morning.

Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Tribune reports that FSN Bay Area will be undergoing a name change as Comcast takes over officially on March 31. Del Grande talks with FSN Bay Area GM Ted Griggs about the transition to Comcast SportsNet.

We’re in Day 12 of Darren Rovell’s Minor League Baseball Logo Contest.

Kevin Cary of the Charlotte Observer says after Sunday’s upset of Georgetown in the NCAA Men’s Tournament, Davidson has become media darlings.

Broadcast Engineering reports that Verizon FiOS TV customers will have access to CBS Sports Video on Demand for NCAA Tournament highlights.

From the Akron Beacon Journal, George M. Thomas says CBS announcing crews did a good job during the NCAA Tournament.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks with CBS’ Dan Bonner about the Wisconsin Badgers.

The Lansing (MI) State Journal has an editorial saying while a deal is close, the Big Ten Network and Comcast have squandered a lot in the interim.

Mike DiMauro of The Day of New London, CT says ESPN explored two stale subjects in regards to women’s college basketball.

Kathy Orton of the Washington Post says the University of Maryland wanted the early slot today in the NCAA Women’s Tournament, but ESPN thought otherwise.

The Charleston (WV) Daily News says the Cincinnati Reds will be seen on local cable systems.

Jeff Richgels of the Capital (WI) Times says Charter Communications will pick up the Milwaukee Brewers HD telecasts this summer.

Keith Groller of the Allentown Morning Call says a new local minor leauge baseball team will get a lot of coverage on TV.

Clarence Hill, Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes that Michael Irvin will have Pacman Jones as his guest on his radio show.

Good story from the Arizona Daily Wildcat, the student newspaper of the University of Arizona. Mark Roy writes that ESPN’s Mark Schlereth is documenting his son’s exploits for the Arizona baseball team for ESPN.com.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that actor Tony Hoty has died. You don’t know that name? Old school NFL fans may remember him from CBS promos in which he would always end with “I’m a biiigg fan!”

The International Fight League will have a weekly Saturday at midnight show on FSN starting next month.

Robin Erb of the Detroit Free Press writes about a Wayne State University science professor who’s a big part of FSN’s Sport Science show and is up for several Sports Emmys.

That’s it for now.

Morning Viewing Picks

MLB
Boston Globe Pre-Game Show – NESN, 5 a.m.
Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland A’s – NESN/ESPN2, 6 a.m.
Extra Innings – NESN, 9 a.m.
Extra Innings Xtra – NESN, 9:30 a.m.

News
Morning Express with Robin Meade – CNN Headline News, 6 a.m.