Doing some work and also keeping an eye on ESPN2’s Wimbledon coverage online. It’s nice to have live tennis. Also, when you have Dick Enberg, Patrick McEnroe, Cliff Drysdale, Pam Shriver, Mary Carillo, Chris Fowler, Mary Jo Fernandez and Luke Jensen, you have a very solid team. Plus, ESPN2 has been hitting all the major stories like the potential upset of Venus Williams which did not happen. And it’s been fun watching the use of the video challenges at the Big W (as Bud Collins likes to call it). As much as I like to trash ESPN, I also will give them praise when it’s warranted as is the case here. Besides, ESPN’s Grand Slam Tennis unit is experienced having worked the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon every year for the last few years. My only problem with viewing this online is that ESPN360 rotates the same promos in every break. It’s either seeing “High School Musical”, This is SportsCenter promos or various ESPNU ads. Very sickening by the second day of online viewing.
Looking at one of ESPN’s properties, NASCAR is finding another downward trend for viewers. However, there is an increase in younger viewers. The Sporting News takes a look at the numbers.
SI’s Stuart Mandel writes about the battle for viewership by the Big Ten Network.
This morning, I gave you the letter from Comcast to the Big Ten responding to Conference Commissioner Jim Delany’s request for an apology. Seems to me that there’s none coming. Well, here’s a letter from Michigan Congressman John Dingall who is about to get involved in this dispute.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell has a good entry today in his Sports Business blog. He talks about Gia Allemand. Who? Why she’s the ex-girlfriend of Yankee Pitcher Carl Pavano and she’ll be in the new issue of Maxim. And Rovell also has some words for the WWE which had to break from its regular storyline of the “death” of Vince McMahon to the real death of Chris Benoit who apparently killed his family in a horrible murder-suicide. In addition, Rovell points out that McMahon started his “death” storyline four days after former WWE women’s wrestler Sherri Martel died.
NESN’s new program, “The Globe 10.0” is set to debut this afternoon.
This is a bit apples and oranges, but the Gold Cup soccer final between the U.S. and Mexico got higher ratings than the Stanley Cup.
That’s it for now. Primetime viewing choices later.
