Been shuffling in between two offices and haven’t been able to provide you with the latest information, but luckily, it hasn’t been sports media news that’s been breaking, it’s been the Osama bin Laden news that’s been dominating our news cycles since 10 last night. You can go to the news sites to get the latest information on how the commando raid was conducted and how the President approved the mission. It’s all quite compelling reading, but my suggestions are to go to the New York Times, Politico, CNN and Mashable (it has how Twitter blew up during the announcement). It’s all amazing and stuff you should read when you have a chance.
I’ll do the links now.
Michael Hiestand of USA Today notes that this year’s ratings for the NFL Draft showed that viewers were wary of lockout news.
Hiestand talks with Sunday Night Baseball announcer Dan Shulman who broke the news of Osama bin Laden’s killing to some viewers.
And Michael says Game 1 of the NBA’s Miami Heat-Boston Celtics 2nd round playoff series was a ratings blockbuster for ESPN on ABC.
Spencer E. Ante and Nat Worden of the Wall Street Journal report that the NFL is negotiating with several cable and satellite providers to put NFL Network programming on tablets.
Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated says NFL Network had the big scoop of NFL Draft weekend.
Michael David Smith at Pro Football Talk writes that ESPN and Suzy Kolber are hearing criticism for her manipulative interview at the NFL Draft with Mark Ingram.
Barry Pachesky of Deadspin goes inside the moment when Suzy Kolber made Mark Ingram cry on national television.
Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says there are three California sports teams whose media rights are in a state of flux currently.
At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry has five reasons as to why it’s still a good time to become a sportswriter.
Sean Deveney at the Sporting News says the NBA’s TV ratings continue their upward trend.
Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter says hockey has helped UFC become extremely popular in Canada.
Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has the audio of WFAN’s Mets voice Howie Rose explaining why there were chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” during last night’s Mets-Phillies game.
Over to Sean Leahy of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy who says NBC has made contingency plans in case Saturday’s Game 5 of Tampa Bay-Washington runs into the network’s Kentucky Derby coverage.
Kelly Dwyer at Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie blog notes the super ratings for TNT’s NBA playoff coverage.
At the Biz of Baseball, Maury Brown goes inside MLB’s social media policy.
The Nielsen Wire blog notes that Super Bowl ads take most of the spots in the 10 Most Liked Ads of 2011 to date.
The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham notes that NESN’s Jerry Remy will miss his 6th consecutive Red Sox game behind the mic due to health problems, but this one is not as serious as his cancer scare in 2009.
Jim Gerweck of The Daily New Canaan (CT) has ESPN Dictator George Bodenheimer waxing poetic on the early days of the Alleged Worldwide Leader.
Mike Cardillo of the Stamford (CT) Advocate prefers the way Versus presents the NHL over ESPN’s old approach.
Newsday’s Neil Best talks with ESPN’s Bobby Valentine who was shaken over the news that Osama bin Laden was killed.
Neil says ESPN proceeded with caution as to when to break the bin Laden killing to the Sunday Night Baseball audience.
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post finds it hard to listen to Yankees radio voice John Sterling.
Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette writes that the local Fox affiliate will air its Sunday NASCAR show tonight following a pre-emption last night.
Ken says his Phillies fans came through last night as the Osama bin Laden story broke.
Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette defends the work of blatant Penguins homer announcer Paul Steigerwald.
Cindy Boren at the Washington Post’s Early Lead blog says Giants coach Tom Coughlin and former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling both weighed in on the bin Laden killing.
Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner notes that the NBA Playoff’s TV ratings are setting records again.
Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times goes over the weekend in sports television. I totally disagree with his thoughts on hockey charlatan Pierre McGuire.
In the Louisville Courier-Journal, ESPN’s Pat Forde recounts the time he substituted for Erin Andrews and disappointed a lot of fans.
Mac Engel at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram asks ESPN and other sideline reporters to stop using “told me” in a sentence.
Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says playoff thrillers are helping the NBA’s popularity and ratings.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a look at the Southern California sports calendar for this week.
Marty James from the Napa Valley (CA) Register has NBC’s Johnny Miller hoping to attract a pro golf event to a local resort he co-owns.
Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says Twitter and social media are giving sports teams plenty of agita.
Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that UFC helped Torontonians forget about their troubles for one night.
Sports Media Watch has some various ratings news and notes.
SMW says NBA TV averaged just over half a million viewers for the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NBC had a mixed bag for its pair of NHL playoff games over the weekend.
Steve also has the local ratings for NBC’s NHL games.
Joe Favorito says sports marketers should be tapping New York’s Times Square for more events.
Stephen Douglas of The Big Lead talks with former ESPN.com golf writer Jason Sobel about why he’s moving to Golf Channel.
That’s going to do it for today. I hope to get back onto a regular schedule for blogging tomorrow.