Let’s get cracking on some fresh content on this Monday afternoon. Plenty of stuff to go over.
- Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch’s Monday column discusses Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed reporting on the Red Carpet at The Oscars and reviews Fox’s Daytona 500 coverage.
- The man who started SportsGrid, ABC News legal analyst Dan Abrams, the site has been sold to RotoExperts.
- I’m getting a lot of reaction to my post on whether Fox can find the proper role for Erin Andrews.
- Randolph May at Multichannel News talks about a case over Comcast’s refusal to move Tennis Channel off a dreaded sports tier.
- To Sports Business Daily where Richard E. Lapchick laments the lack of hiring diversity in the sports media.
- Overseas, ESPN is getting out of the UK television business, selling its channels to BT Group which beat it out for the rights to the English Premier League. ESPN will continue to maintain its digital UK assets and also kill ESPN Classic in Europe and Africa in separate decisions.
- USA Today’s Michael Hiestand feels Fox got off to a fast start with the overnight ratings for the Daytona 500.
- Hiestand also looks at the other sports overnight ratings from the weekend.
- David Lieberman at Deadline says News Corp.’s Deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch (son of Rupert) says even with Fox Sports creating new all-sports cable channels, the company plans to be pennywise and not pound foolish over rights fees.
- In the Sherman Report, Ed Sherman talks with Golf Channel’s David Feherty about the season premiere of his weekly interview show.
- Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch looks at a preposterous argument put the forth by WEEI’s Gerry Callahan regarding the Daytona 500 and Danica Patrick.
- Bill Carter at the New York Times notes how NBC has had a precipitous fall into the ratings basement after starting off so well when Sunday Night Football was on.
- Phil Mushnick of the New York Post feels the Federal lawsuit against Lance Armstrong wreaks of hypocrisy.
- From Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog reports that MASN’s Kristina Akra who was the Nationals’ on-field reporter is leaving the network. No word on where she’s going or who’s going to replace her.
- Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says David Feherty will reveal a different side of golfing legend Jack Nicklaus tonight.
- Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times says Fox didn’t do itself any favors during its Daytona 500 prerace coverage.
- The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron notes that a local sports anchor is leaving his station after more than 20 years of service.
- Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says Cardinals fans will be able to see and listen to their team throughout Spring Training.
- Dusty Saunders in the Denver Post writes about a Rocky Mountain TV veteran who wants to return to his sports roots.
- Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has the SoCal Sports Calendar for this week.
- Tom has the five things he learned from the weekend.
- Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail makes clear of his disdain for CBC’s Don Cherry.
- Paulsen of Sports Media Watch says opposite the Daytona 500, the NBA on ABC took a big ratings hit.
- To Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing who looks at what Joe Buck plans to do with the St. Louis Cardinals if he manages to get the team and Fox Sports Midwest to sign off on his idea.
- Michael Shamburger at The Big Lead says Katherine Webb is 1st Round talent.
Ok, I’m going to end the linkage/notebook there.
