I’m still digging out from under a mountain of paperwork, I can see the end of the tunnel and I’m close to the end, but the schedule of blogging is going to remain for about one more day. Just be patient with me and I’ll be back with the regular schedule soon.
Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today, he writes that the enormity of NBC’s 3,600 hours of coverage even amazes NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol.
Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post correctly points out that NBC may have too many voices on its Football Night in America show with Dan Patrick in the mix.
Thanks to Awful Announcing for this next link. Jon Friedman of Marketwatch.com writes that ESPN is having a summer of embarrassment thanks to three different incidents.
David Goetzl of Media Daily News says ESPN is luring advertisers by bundling its magazine with TV spots.
Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun reports that ESPN has changed its morning SportsCenter plans and eliminated the 6 a.m. – 9 a.m. block meaning that Linda Cohn can sleep in.
Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter says ESPN wanted to focus on having a live SportsCenter from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
And Gough says Fox will begin its coverage of the All-Star Game an hour earlier than normal.
Ken McMillan from the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says Yogi Berra will visit Joe Buck and Tim McCarver during the All Star Game.
John Consoli of Mediaweek writes that Fox is expected to take in $35 million in ad revenue from the All-Star Game.
Tim Lemke of the Washington Times has one theory as to why the Nationals’ ratings on MASN are horrible compared to the Orioles.
Marc Fisher of the Washington Post who on Tuesday wrote that MASN is treating the Nationals as a second-rate citizen, has MASN’s response.
Mike Hume of the Falls Church (VA) News-Press says the average viewing per night for the Nationals on MASN is the lowest in the country.
Newsday’s Neil Best writes that the first public viewing of Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series since it happened will take place in New York on Thursday.
John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Reds are intentionally delaying its radio broadcasts to synch with FSN Ohio’s telecasts.
The lovely Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine writes that 14 of the 15 top shows on cable last sesaon were sports-related programming including Monday Night Football, the MLB and NBA.
Steve Clarke of Variety reports that Communist China will allow the world’s Olympic TV networks to broadcast live from Tienanamen Square and other politically sensitive areas.
Also from Variety, John Dempsey writes that former Turner Sports President Mark Lazarus has a new job.
Quick aside. Juan Pablo Montoya was singing too fast for the fans as he did the traditional “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley Field during tonight’s Reds-Cubs game. I wasn’t rolling on the video, but I hope someone was. Awful.
Now to a serious story, Mark Shanahan of the Boston Globe reports that WHDH-TV and former SNY reporter Julie Donaldson tearfully testified in court Tuesday about her abusive boyfriend.
Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette has a couple of TV/Radio news and notes in his blog.
Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News says the city’s WNBA and MLS teams can be seen back-to-back on ESPN2 Thursday night.
Turning to some sports business links, Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says family-owned NFL franchises are becoming a dying breed.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell has been busy today. He first writes that the last two weeks have been a barometer for the PGA Tour what life would be like without Tiger Woods. Darren writes high gas prices are taking the biggest bite of NASCAR of all the sports leagues. And Darren catches up with T. Boone Pickens who has given Oklahoma State University $165 million to its athletic program.
Broadcasting & Cable reports that the Big Ten Network is being added to Verizon Fios’ lineup wherever the service is availble.
Todd Spangler of Multichannel News says BTN will be available on Fios in both standard and High Definition.
Van Williams of the Anchorage Daily News reports that the Great Alaska Shootout is severing ties with ESPN.
For those of you who watched the Wimbledon women’s and men’s finals this weekend, you may have noticed the BBC’s Sue Barker who conducted the post-match interviews with the Williams sisters and Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. She hosts Wimbledon for the BBC and other various sporting events. Well, not that it matters to us, but she’s just signed a contract to remain at BBC through the 2012 London Olympics.
And that’s going to do it for now.
