Yesterday ended up being quite busy and I think today will as well, but at least I can provide you with the linkage that was lacking on Wednesday.
Here we go.
Sean Leahy at USA Today notes that the NFL’s skyrocketing ratings are putting pressure on the league in its collecting bargaining with the Players Association.
In the USA Today’s The Huddle blog, Sean writes that the NFL is facing multiple local blackouts this weekend.
Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch has your NBA viewing guide for 2010-11 including interviews with ESPN and Turner Sports execs.
We’re getting word that the overnight ratings for Game 1 of the World Series were quite good and high for a Fall Classic not involving the Red Sox and Yankees. Last night’s overnight rating was 10.4, lower than last year’s 13.8 for Yankees/Phillies, but higher than the 10.3 pulled by Phillies/Rays in 2008.
Locally, the San Francisco-Oakland market pulled a 35.9 rating and the Metroplex, Dallas-Fort Worth had a 33.9 for Game 1. Those are very good numbers. We’ll see how the rating does tonight against a very strong CBS Thursday lineup.
James Hibberd of the Hollywood Reporter says Game 1 beat all primetime programming.
And we now have the final rating, 8.9 with 15 million viewers, down from last year.
The Hollywood Reporter has this story on a group of Cablevision subscribers filing a class action lawsuit over the loss of Fox.
Mike Farrell of Broadcasting & Cable says Cablevision will reimburse subscribers who have to watch the World Series online through MLB.TV due to its ongoing dispute with Fox.
Jon Lafayette of B&C reports that long-time CBS Sports spokesperson LeslieAnne Wade is leaving the network.
Ben Grossman of B&C has CBS Tyrant Leslie Moonves saying the network won’t be bidding on sports properties that lose money i.e., the Olympics.
Back to Mike Farrell, this time writing for Multichannel News telling us that Cablevision offered Fox to pay what Time Warner Cable was compensating the network.
Katy Bachman from Mediaweek says Cablevision’s reimbursement offer could backfire on the company.
Mike Reynolds from Multichannel says the NBA season openers on TNT delivered record ratings.
Austin Karp at Sports Business Daily writes that MLS saw its ratings go down on ESPN2 this season.
David Goetzl of MediaPost has CBS Sports declaring it won’t produce a 3-D sports broadcast unless it gets a sponsor. Well, ok!
Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek writes that the Dallas Cowboys and LeBron James are helping to pace the cable primetime ratings.
Phil Swann at TV Predictions feels Fox doesn’t deserve to broadcast the World Series or other big ticket sports events.
Phil says forget about HDTV or 3-D TV, get ready for ULTRA HIGH DEFINITION TV!
Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser has the funny video of a Dallas sports anchor smelling something fishy along McCovey Cove at AT&T Park before Game 1 of the World Series.
Kevin Baumer at SportsGrid notes that the World Series has helped the San Francisco Giants turn a profit this season.
CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if he has actually found the 1988 World Series Kirk Gibson home run ball.
Reuters picks up a story from Tanya Roth of FindLaw.com regarding a group of former ESPNZone workers suing over the lack of notice before losing their jobs.
Brian Lowry at Fox Sports compares the approaches radio hosts Jim Rome and Dan Patrick take to TV.
David B. Wilkerson of Marketwatch says the recent find of a pristine copy of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series is leading to a new hunt for lost baseball footage.
Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette talks with beloved Celtics TV analyst Tommy Heinsohn who can certainly get worked up during games.
Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says Cablevision subscribers have had to resort to the old school outdoor antennae and indoor rabbit ears to pick up Fox.
Newsday’s Neil Best took a gander at MLB.com’s Postseason TV which some Cablevision subscribers have had to access to watch the World Series.
Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union says the University of Albany will have some of its games aired on local cable.
Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says TNT received record ratings for its NBA season opening twinbill.
Ken McMillan at the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record has the MLS postseason TV schedule.
Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says area native Meredith Marakovits gets the call up to Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.
Keith also notes another area native who works for NFL Films and is gaining a YouTube following for recapping each NFL week through song parodies.
Peter Van Allen at the Philadelphia Business Journal says Comcast SportsNet has tweaked its 76ers broadcast team.
Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says MLB will host a gala showing of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, a month before MLB Network airs the footage.
Jim Williams at the Washington Examiner says TNT and the local DC media will provide extensive coverage of rookie guard John Wall as he makes his first NBA rounds with the Wizards.
Larry Vaught of the Danville (KY) Advocate talks with ESPN’s college basketball analyst Mark Gottfried about the SEC.
From the Louisville Courier-Journal, we learn that horse racing network TVG will begin to air Breeders’ Cup daily programming starting this weekend.
Dave Walker of the New Orleans Times-Picayune says NBC will attempt to set a Guiness World Record during the Sunday Night Football game between the Steelers and Saints.
Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News notes that the Cowboys’ season is sinking fast in both the standings and the ratings.
David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the Giants-Cowboys Monday night game received high ratings locally.
At the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bob Wolfley notes that Suds City loves watching Sunday Night Football.
Chicago Tribune media writer Phil Rosenthal says Bears fans are in risk of losing out on watching their team as Fox may be pulled from Dish Network as of Monday.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says five Kings games will be seen on over the air TV meaning all of the team’s regular season contests will be televised.
Cecil Conley of the Rocklin (CA) Placer Herald profiles Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/California program director Ky Bell who got her start as a volleyball player in town.
Sports Media Watch says there’s no need to panic, the World Series ratings will be fine.
Dave Kohl at the Major League Programs blog says legendary Cleveland Cavs radio announcer Joe Tait is missed as a new NBA seaon starts.
Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest writes that TNT is way ahead of last year’s NBA ad sales pace thanks to increased interest from social media.
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann remembers a sportswriting colleague who was a fixture at New York City’s baseball stadiums.
And this is where I’ll end it for today. This took way too long.
