Ok. I’ve owed you some Sports Media Thoughts for a long time and they’re way overdue. I’ll provide three today and hope to write another post before I head to a wedding this weekend. Needless to say, I won’t be updating much from the road.
As usual, they come in bullet form,
- He’s polarizing. He’s a lightning rod. He’s burned bridges at most of the places he’s worked. But there’s no argument that Keith Olbermann is a talented studio host, an excellent writer and a baseball savant. So it’s only natural that Turner Sports tapped K.O. to be its host for the 2013 MLB Postseason which will entail both Wild Card Playoff Games, all four League Division Series and the National League Championship Series.
Olbermann haters, and there are many, will point to his MSNBC and Current days to say they won’t watch TBS this October. Yes, during those stints, Olbermann leaned liberal and went all Wu-Tang on the political right, but that’s not what he was hired to do at TBS.
Hw will focus solely on baseball, and I don’t think Keith will make any political references. Now, whether Olbermann can keep it together and not alienate co-workers, management and owners as he has done at ESPN, MSNBC and Current is another matter. But in this attempt to get back into sports television, I have a feeling that he will play this upcoming gig with TBS on the straight-and-narrow. And I don’t believe that this will turn into a long-term gig with Turner.
As Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch said in this week’s edition of the Sports Media Weekly podcast that the Turner move is in essence as a 30 day rental and I agree. The Big Lead points out that the door is still slightly ajar for an Olbermann return to ESPN and he could even host on TBS again next year.
No matter what happens, Olbermann finds a way move the needle in sports media. I’ll certainly be interested to see how he does this October.
- This morning’s men’s semifinal match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will mark the end of Tennis Channel’s live coverage of the French Open for 2013. Overall, I give Tennis Channel high marks for its comprehensive and understated coverage. From its recap show French Open Tonight hosted by Bill Macatee to the matches called as called by its All-Star lineup of announcers and analysts, the network has acquitted itself well on the only Grand Slam that it is the main cable rightsholder.
Ted Robinson and John McEnroe are the best ever when it comes to calling tennis. They work well off each other and can practically finish each other’s sentences, they’ve been working together so long. I was also impressed by the pairing of Ian Eagle and Lindsay Davenport. And Mary Carillo and Martina Navratilova made a good announce team as well.
If there was a negative, it was not having a consistent host as ESPN2 did with the very underrated Chris McKendry. Tennis Channel used Rennae Stubbs (very good job in both hosting and in conducting on-court interviews), Bret Haber, Carillo, and Eagle on the anchor desk. Get one host and stick with him or her. Just don’t use Kevin Frazier as Tennis Channel has done on the U.S. Open.
Overall, I give Tennis Channel an A minus for its coverage. It’s too bad that the network has to sublicense coverage of the other Grand Slams from ESPN.
- Congratulations to Andrew Catalon. He is leaving WNYT in Albany after 9½ years to call college football and basketball on CBS Sports Network. I wrote in Awful Announcing this week that Andrew was one of five announcers who will be calling NFL games in the future. Andrew has been a two-time guest on Sports Media Weekly to discuss his busy freelance schedule for several networks including NBC for the Olympics.
His new gig with CBS Sports Network allows him to take another Olympic assignment in 2014 and I expect NBC to utilize him once again. Andrew is one of the nicest people in the business and I’m happy to see him get a full-time national gig.
That’s going to do it for now. I hope to bring you more sports media thoughts later tonight.
