Let’s give you some linkage on this Thursday.
We begin with Fox NFL rules analyst Mike Pereira who doesn’t mince words on ESPN’s Jon Gruden.
Bob’s Blitz reacts to Pereira’s strong post.
Jill Goldsmith of Variety says the clock is ticking for MSG Network and Time Warner Cable to hash out a new carriage agreement.
Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football experienced close to a double digit percentage ratings drop this season.
Anthony Crupi of Adweek says nothing delivers the ratings like football whether it be college or the NFL.
At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Ronnie Ramos says coaches and leagues regulating how their players use Twitter is still up for debate.
Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid notes that ABC 20/20 anchor Chris Cuomo is a fan of ESPN Monday Night Countdown’s “C’mon, Man” segment.
Mike Ozanian of Forbes says the Seattle Mariners could see a huge media rights increase in the very near future.
Chad Finn of the Boston Globe talks with the venerable TV play-by-play man of the Boston Celtics, Mike Gorman.
Chad notes that the Boston sports radio wars are getting a bit tighter in the ratings.
Johnny Diaz of the Globe writes that local businesses including Celtics rightsholder Comcast SportsNet New England are glad to have the team back in action.
Richard Huff of the New York Daily News looks at ESPN’s New Year’s Eve programming featuring two daredevil death-defying and record-breaking jump attempts.
Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette gives us his top 5 sports media stories of the year.
Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union writes about Mike Pereira’s column on Jon Gruden.
John Hopkins of the Towanda (NY) News offers to take a vow of abstinence from ESPN for a year.
Tim Pinaccio of CSNPhilly.com talks with NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins about HBO’s 24/7 series.
Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald says a local sports radio station is juggling its on-air lineup.
Rachel George of the Orlando Sentinel says CBS Sports Network will be all-Tim Tebow from Saturday night into the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser notes that Auburn coach Gene Chizik will be returning to the BCS Championship Game this season, as an ESPN analyst.
At the Detroit News, Angelique S. Chegelis looks at the new partnership between the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences that would pit the conference’s football teams in interconference matchups in the first three weeks of the season. Games would benefit both conferences’ TV networks.
Tom Couzens at the Sacramento Bee gives a primer to Kings fans looking for the team’s games on satellite providers.
Susan Krashinsky of the Toronto Globe and Mail wonders if CBC can remain in the sports business.
Tommy Craggs of Deadspin looks into the Skip Baylessification of ESPN.
Kevin McCauley of SB Nation says now that charges against him have been dropped, Mike Milbury will return to NBC for the NHL Winter Classic.
Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says Versus will utilize its NHL top analyst Eddie Olcyzk to help call its inaugural college hockey telecast this week.
Sports Media Watch continues its countdown of the Top 20 Sports Media stories of the year. Here are #5 — 2. And you have the #1 story of the year.
And that will conclude the links for now. I figured I would get them done early for a change.
