Fang's Bites

2011-12 College Bowl Schedule With TV Networks

With all of the bowl matchups announced, let’s provide you with the TV schedule and network. Let’s be honest, the ESPN Family of Networks airs all but two of the games. CBS has the Sun Bowl while Fox continues to air the Cotton Bowl. There was a time when the bowls were aired on all of the networks, but ESPN has made it big business for itself.

This comes courtesy of Matt’s College Sports. We give you the schedule below.

There you have it.

A Few Sunday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

I’ll be away for most of the day as my Sunday has been planned behind my back once again. I’ll have the Sunday NFL pregame quotage later in the afternoon.

Let’s provide some sports media thoughts. As always, they’ll go in bullet form.

• In its first college football conference championship weekend, Fox Sports had a mixed bag. Not only was the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday between UCLA and Oregon not a good game, Fox’s production was very choppy. While the announcing team of Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster were fine, the audio for the Pac-12 was at times muffled and the crowd sometimes overpowered Davis’ analysis. Gus went into breaks rather awkwardly and there were times the replay didn’t show the proper angle. It wasn’t until the second half when the production hit its stride, but by that time, the game was already decided and most of the audience had probably tuned out.

  For the Big Ten Championship, the regular College Football on Fox production crew that had been working with Gus, Charles and Tim all season on FX was on hand in Indianapolis and this was a much better production. Replays were sharp, the picture was much better than in Eugene for the Pac-12.

  As for the other parts of the production, the college football studio needs improvement. Lots of improvement. Kevin Frazier is an awful host. He’s bad on Tennis Channel. He’s bad on Fox. He comes off unprepared. Marcus Allen is a very weak analyst. John Lynch did a decent job at the Pac-12 and Dhani Jones when he wasn’t trying to ask questions was ok at the Big Ten. Last year, Fox utilized Darrin Horton for its college football host and I don’t know it didn’t keep him for this season. Kevin Frazier must go.

  And I want to talk about why Tim Brewster starts off every question with “talk about.” It’s almost as annoying as when Paul McGuire started off every replay with “Ha ha! I’ll tell you what!” on ESPN’s Sunday Night Football. It’s obvious Tim Brewster wants to coach again because he’s not polished on TV.

  As for Gus Johnson and Charles Davis, they were on their “A” game for both the Pac-12 and Big Ten. They’ve formed one of the best announcing teams in college football. Gus was back in his realm in the national spotlight especially with a barnburner in the Big Ten. If Gus was auditioning for Joe Buck’s spot on the NFL on Fox, he passed with flying colors. While it’s great to have Gus in college football, he really belongs back on the NFL.

• If Tennis Channel wants to be taken seriously, it really should send announcing crews to the events rather than having them call matches off a monitor in its Los Angeles studios. For tournaments like the WTA World Tour Finals and this weekend’s Davis Cup Finals between Spain and Argentina, Tennis Channel has had Brett Haber, Ted Robinson and Leif Shiras call matches off a TV. You may not notice the difference, but when the satellite picture is lost, the announcers have to vamp and act like they’re there. Tennis Channel does send crews to the Grand Slam tournaments, but it should start treating other tournaments the same way as it does the Australian, French, US Opens and Wimbledon. In addition, the announcers are held hostage to the world feeds and cannot give us a sense for the atmosphere or giving us a sense of how the players look off camera. Tennis Channel needs to step up its game or it will continue to be treated as a bastard stepchild.
• The Big Lead is reporting that Sports Illustrated baseball writer Jon Heyman is leaving to take a job with CBSSports.com. That would be a huge get for CBS which has brought in Bruce Feldman from ESPN.com and a couple of other writers. I’m thinking this is part of a bigger picture upgrade for CBS and to possibly set up content for CBS Sports Network which currently is stuck in the ghosts of its previous brand, CBS College Sports. Maybe CBS decides to bid for baseball for CBS Sports Network. It would certainly help as the channel currently doesn’t have much summer programming besides from college sports repeats.
• ESPN is trying to sell us the BCS as a major event. While the ratings for the BCS National Championship Game have been good, until the college presidents decides on a way to decide on a legitimate postseason playoff system, we’re going to be stuck with the potential of an LSU-Alabama game every year. Not the two teams, but the way the final teams for the mythical college football national championships are chosen. The NCAA has over 60 championships including college football, but not in what is called the Football Bowl Subdivision or whatever they’ll name it in the future. As ESPN has so much invested in college sports, it may be up to the Alleged Worldwide Leader to throw some money around to help develop a way for a college football tournament to come to fruition. Until then, we’ll hear BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock give infuriating explanations as to why the BCS is good for college football.
• Nothing new to report on the continuing soap opera that is NESN’s search to replace Heidi Watney. Jen Royle of 105.7 FM in Baltimore was brought in for an interview last week. I heard it went well. Erin Hawksworth of the Fox affiliate in Seattle is also in the running. I believe it’s down to these two and as you know, I’m fully behind Jen in this. If you need any further convincing, let us remind you of Erin’s most famous moment from two months ago.

  I don’t think I need to add anything more.

Enjoy your Sunday

ESPN Releases The Final BCS Standings on Sunday

On Sunday at 8:15 p.m., ESPN will provide the final BCS standings and then release the matchups in the BCS games followed by the matchups in all 35 postseason bowls. ESPN will have the BCS Selection Show at 8:15 p.m. Then at 9 p.m., the College Football Bowl Selection Special will unveil the bowl matchups.

Rece Davis will host both programs and be joined by a whole host of analysts including Kirk Herbstreit, Mark May, Robert Smith and charlatan Craig James.

We have the press release from ESPN.

College Football Regular-Season Finale on ESPN Sunday Night/h2>

Final BCS Standings Revealed and All 35 Bowl Game Matchups Analyzed

As the college football regular-season schedule comes to a close, fans can look ahead to post-season play when ESPN reveals the final BCS Standings Sunday, Dec. 4, at 8:15 p.m. ET on the BCS Selection Show. Immediately following at 9 p.m., fans will learn selections for the balance of the 35 post-season bowl games on College Football Bowl Selection Special.

After announcing the final BCS Standings, the BCS Selection Show will reveal the teams selected to play in all five BCS Bowl games including the BCS National Championship set for Monday, Jan. 9, at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN 3D, ESPN3 and ESPN Radio. Host Rece Davis and analysts Brad Edwards, Kirk Herbstreit, Craig James, Mark May and Robert Smith will discuss the Standings, analyze the BCS Bowl matchups and give their thoughts on the Heisman Trophy frontrunners. Also, the show will feature live interviews with coaches of the teams occupying the top two spots in the Standings thus far:  LSU’s Les Miles and Alabama’s Nick Saban. Then, on the two-hour College Football Bowl Selection Special, Davis, Rod Gilmore, Herbstreit, James and May will break down each of the remaining 30 bowl game pairings as they are announced.

Bowl Week on ESPN networks kicks off Saturday, Dec. 17, with a tripleheader: New Mexico Bowl (2 p.m.), Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (5:30 p.m.) and the New Orleans Bowl (9 p.m.). ESPN will televise 33 bowl games from December 17 through January 9 culminating with the BCS National Championship.

That’s it.

A Friday Evening Megalink Thing

Let’s give you some linkage on this Friday. Been a busy day. You deserve some links

The Weekend Viewing Picks provide your sports and entertainment TV watching. And now to your links.

National

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand and Mike McCarthy debate whether networks should hire ex-coaches knowing full well they could make news and leave for another job.

ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute takes the Alleged Worldwide Leader to task for its failure to press the Bernie Fine/Syracuse story and holding a tape for eight years.

Alex Weprin of TVNewser writes that ESPN has hired Bloomberg News sports business reporter Michele Steele.

Over to Gregg Rosenthal of Pro Football Talk who has Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid angry at NFL Network for its portrayal of wide receiver DeSean Jackson after last night’s game with Seattle.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News discusses the viewership increase for Thursday Night Football.

Mike writes about the quintet of games that will open the NBA season on Christmas Day.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid has an advance clip of a CNN Sunday interview with ESPN Vice President of News Vince Doria speaking about the handling of the Bernie Fine/Syracuse story.

Dan has a very strong promo for the return of the NBA.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid notes that on the Dan Patrick Show, TNT’s Charles Barkley had some fighting words for notorious sports self-promoter Skip Bayless.

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group writes that mobile truck operators are happy to have the NBA back in action.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says while the NBA Lockout has been settled, there’s still a battle that will continue for several years.

Sports Media Watch looks at the NFL ratings for Week 12 for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football.

Ben Koo of Awful Announcing looks at the machinations behind a longer Thursday Night Football schedule.

East and Mid-Atlantic

At the Boston Globe, Chad Finn looks at how Twitter broke the Bobby Valentine-to-Boston story and he handicaps the race to replace Heidi Watney as NESN Red Sox reporter.

Howard Beck at the New York Times notes that current NBA players are returning slowly but surely to NBA TV which has been stuck showing games from the 1980′s and early 1990′s.

The New York Post’s Claire Atkinson reports that the NFL is looking for big bucks from NBC to renew the rights to Sunday Night Football.

The Post’s Phil Mushnick wants the networks to stop showing touchdown celebrations.

Brett Cyrgalis of the Post has five questions for ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler.

Newsday’s Neil Best bids adieu to WFAN’s Tracy Burgess who left the Boomer and Carton show today.

Neil looks at ESPN being a stepping stone for coaches who are looking for their next job.

Neil has a quickie review of the ESPN Films documentary on former quarterback Todd Marinovich.

And Neil notes that local football players aren’t making news on social networks, but the old fashioned way… on radio.

Bob’s Blitz has pictures of Tracy Burgess’ last day at WFAN.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says Fox is trying to get the word out that it’s back in the college football business.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says Chris Herren, the subject of ESPN Films’ Unguarded documentary, will be in town to talk about his battle with addiction.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com has the latest Baltimore/Washington DC sports media news in this week’s Press Box.

In the DC Sports Bog at the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg tells us what happened to local sports radio host John Riggins who’s been missing as of late.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with Fox Sports’ Gus Johnson and Charles Davis about calling back-to-back conference championship games on successive nights.

South

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle talks with NFL on Fox sideline analyst Tony Siragusa who will be part of the crew calling the Atlanta-Texans game on Sunday.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge who will call the annual Bedlam game.

Mel says Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster are pulling double duty this weekend.

Midwest

John Kiesewetter in the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that Time Warner Cable will be busy with local high school football this weekend.

Michael Zuidema of the Grand Rapids (MI) Press writes that the Detroit Lions have received more national media attention whether it’s deserved or not.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley has Fox’s Charles Davis talking about Wisconsin running Montee Ball’s Heisman Trophy chances.

Bob says NASCAR races will be airing on a different Milwaukee radio station next year.

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman has his weekly winners and losers.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says it’s going to be a busy weekend for Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Tim Brewster on Fox.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says St. Louis University may be a rising college basketball program, but it hasn’t translated to more national exposure.

West

John Maffei of the North County Times says local Cox subscribers will be able to see Time Warner Cable’s coverage of the state high school football championships this weekend.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star says the Pac-12 Championship won’t be the showcase that Fox had in mind.

Jim says the SEC Championship will have BCS National Championship Game implications like it always does.

Jim has his weekend viewing picks.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says Fox is doing its best to sell a less than stellar Pac-12 Championship Game matchup.

Tom has what didn’t make his column in his blog.

Tom says the new Los Angeles Dodgers radio flagship will hire former manager Kevin Kennedy as a postgame host.

Canada

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail gleefully points out that Don Cherry’s Coach’s Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada is drawing lower ratings than in the past.

And that’s going to do it for our linkage tonight.

ESPN Assigns Announcers For All of Its College Bowl Games

The ESPN family of networks will air a total of 33 college bowl games including those that comprise the Bowl Championship Series. Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will call the BCS National Championship Game which will be held January 9 from New Orleans. They’ll also call the Rose Bowl on January 2. Brad Nessler and Todd Blackledge will do the Chick-fil-A Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. Sean McDonough will call bowls on consecutive nights for both ESPN and ESPN Radio.

We have the entire schedule of games plus the announcing assignments. It’s all listed below for you and you can see who will call the game that will involve your team.

Football’s Top Commentators to Work ESPN’s Bowl Game Coverage

ESPN’s extensive college football coverage will continue with 33 bowl games, highlighted by all five of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) matchups, including the BCS National Championship on Monday, Jan. 9, at 8:30 p.m. ET. It will mark the second straight year the entire BCS will be available on ESPN, ESPN3 and ESPN Radio.

ESPN 3D, the first 3D network to launch in the industry, will continue its extensive schedule of college football with exclusive 3D coverage of six bowl games, concluding with the BCS National Championship. The network televised the Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship last year.

Overall, ESPN will utilize a minimum of 64 on-air commentators to provide play-by-play, analysis and sideline reports for the network’s exclusive multiplatform coverage of the 33 bowl games. Highlights:

• The BCS National Championship (Jan. 9 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN3, ESPN 3D and ESPN Radio): For the second consecutive year Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will call ESPN’s telecast. ESPN’s Monday Night Football signal caller Mike Tirico will work ESPN Radio’s broadcast with ESPN college football analyst Todd Blackledge and reporter Holly Rowe.

It will mark Musburger’s and Herbstreit’s fifth consecutive BCS National Championship, the first two on ESPN Radio, followed by the BCS National Championship Game from the Rose Bowl on ABC two years ago and last season’s Championship from Glendale, Ariz. on ESPN.

• Sean McDonough, Matt Millen and Heather Cox will work BCS bowls on consecutive days, calling the Fiesta Bowl on ESPN on Monday, Jan. 2, at 8:30 p.m. and ESPN Radio’s broadcast of the Sugar Bowl Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 8:30 p.m. They will also work the Insight Bowl on Friday, Dec. 30, at 10 p.m. on ESPN.
• Musburger, Herbstreit and Andrews – the ESPN on ABC Saturday Night Football announcers – will also call the Rose Bowl on ESPN on Monday, Jan. 2, at 5 p.m.
• Tirico will be joined by Monday Night Football analysts Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski on ESPN’s telecast of the Orange Bowl with reporter Lisa Salters on Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 8:30 p.m. Tirico, Gruden and Salters will also work the Outback Bowl on ABC, Monday, Jan. 2, at 1 p.m. on ABC.
• In addition to the BCS National Championship, Blackledge and Rowe will work ESPN’s coverage of the Sugar Bowl with their regular-season play-by-play partner Brad Nessler on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 8:30 p.m.
• Joe Tessitore and Rod Gilmore, ESPN’s regular Friday night game announcers, will call ESPN Radio’s broadcast of the Orange Bowl on Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 8:30 p.m.; ESPN’s telecast of the Capital One Bowl Monday, Jan. 2, at 1 p.m.; and ESPN’s coverage of the Champs Sports Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 5:30 p.m.

Bowl Championship Series

Mon, Jan 2	5 p.m.	Rose Bowl ESPN: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Erin Andrews ESPN Radio: Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman & Tom Rinaldi	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	8:30 p.m.	Fiesta Bowl ESPN: Sean McDonough, Matt Millen & Heather Cox ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Tue, Jan 3	8:30 p.m.	Sugar Bowl ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe ESPN Radio: Sean McDonough, Matt Millen & Heather Cox	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Wed, Jan 4	8:30 p.m.	Orange Bowl ESPN: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski & Lisa Salters ESPN Radio: Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore & Quint Kessenich	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Mon, Jan 9	8:30 p.m.	BCS National Championship ESPN: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews & Tom RinaldiESPN Radio: Mike Tirico, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio

Additional Postseason Bowl Games

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Sat, Dec 17	2 p.m.	New Mexico Bowl ESPN: Clay Matvick, Brian Griese & Jessica Mendoza ESPN Radio: TBA, David Diaz-Infante & TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	5:30 p.m.	Famous Idaho Potato Bowl ESPN: Dave Flemming, Mike Bellotti & Heather Cox ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	9 p.m.	New Orleans Bowl ESPN: Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard & Shelley Smith ESPN Radio: Adam Amin, Jay Walker & Ian Fitzsimmons	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio
Tue, Dec 20	8 p.m.	St. Petersburg Bowl ESPN: Mike Patrick, Craig James & Jeannine Edwards ESPN Radio: Rob Stone, Danny Kanell & TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio
Wed, Dec 21	8 p.m.	Poinsettia Bowl ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Lou Holtz, Mark May & TBA ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Thu, Dec 22	8 p.m.	Las Vegas Bowl Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit & Tom Rinaldi	ESPN/ESPN3
Sat, Dec 24	8 p.m.	Hawaii Bowl ESPN: Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham & Jessica Mendoza ESPN Radio: Marc Kestecher & Trevor Matich	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Mon, Dec 26	5 p.m.	Independence Bowl Rob Stone, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams	ESPN2/ESPN3
Tue, Dec 27	4:30 p.m.	Little Caesars Bowl Beth Mowins, Mike Bellotti & Eamon McAnaney	ESPN/ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Belk Bowl Bob Wischusen, Brian Griese & Shannon Spake	ESPN/ESPN3
Wed, Dec 28	4:30 p.m.	Military Bowl Pam Ward, Dan Hawkins & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN/ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Holiday Bowl ESPN: Rece Davis, Craig James, Jesse Palmer & Jenn Brown ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Thu, Dec 29	5:30 p.m.	Champs Sports Bowl ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore & Holly Rowe ESPN Radio: Mike Gleason, John Congemi & TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio
	9 p.m.	Alamo Bowl ESPN: Dave Pasch, Chris Spielman & Quint Kessenich ESPN Radio: Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard & Eamon McAnaney	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Fri, Dec 30	Noon	Armed Forces Bowl ESPN: Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano ESPN Radio: Adam Amin, Tim Brown & Ian Fitzsimmons	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	3:20 p.m.	Pinstripe Bowl ESPN: Chris Fowler, Jesse Palmer & Tom Rinaldi ESPN Radio: TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	6:40 p.m.	Music City Bowl Mark Jones, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN/ESPN3
	10 p.m.	Insight Bowl ESPN: Sean McDonough, Matt Millen & Heather Cox ESPN Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Sat, Dec 31	Noon	Texas Bowl ESPN: Bob Wischusen, Brian Griese & Eamon McAnaney ESPN Radio: Beth Mowins, Mike Bellotti & TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	Liberty Bowl ABC: Dave Lamont, Ray Bentley & Quint Kessenich ESPN Radio: Pam Ward, Dan Hawkins & TBA	ABC/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
	3:30 p.m.	Fight Hunger Bowl Carter Blackburn, Brock Huard & Shelley Smith	ESPN/ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Chick-fil-A Bowl ESPN: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe ESPN Radio: Dave Neal, David Diaz-Infante & Cara Capuano	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio
Mon, Jan 2	Noon	TicketCity Bowl Clay Matvick, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams	ESPNU/ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Outback Bowl ABC: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden & Lisa Salters ESPN Radio: Bob Wischusen, John Congemi & Joey Galloway	ABC/ESPN Radio
	1 p.m.	Capital One Bowl ESPN: Joe Tessitore, Rod Gilmore & Quint Kessenich ESPN Radio: Dave Lamont, Ray Bentley & TBA	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN 3D/ESPN Radio
	1 p.m.	Gator Bowl Mike Patrick, Craig James & Jeannine Edwards	ESPN2/ESPN3
Sat, Jan 7	1 p.m.	BBVA Compass Bowl ESPN: Mike Gleason, John Congemi & Eamon McAananey ESPN Radio: Clay Matvick, Charles Arbuckle & Jessica Mendoza	ESPN/ESPN3/ESPN Radio
Sun, Jan 8	9 p.m.	GoDaddy.com Bowl Rob Stone, Danny Kanell & Cara Capuano	ESPN/ESPN3

As part of an extensive four-year agreement with the Bowl Championship Series that began last year, ESPN will provide exclusive worldwide television coverage, radio broadcasts, digital content and more for the five annual BCS games from January 2011 through January 2014. Last season was the first time ESPN televised BCS games while ESPN Radio has broadcast every BCS game since 2000.

ESPN’s coverage of last year’s BCS title game averaged 27,316,000 viewers and 17,718,000 households, making it the most watched program in the history of cable television.

That will do it.

Bringing Out The Thursday Links

Wednesday was a lost cause for me as I was away from the office all day and spending time with my week old nephew in Boston. I helped my sister out with a few things as she’s dealing with her first child. There will be days like that on the blog for the next few weeks so please be patient. For the next time that occurs, I’ll do my best to write features ahead of time so the blog won’t be completely bare like it was Wednesday.

Let’s do the links.

Sports Business Daily addresses the fallout of the Boston Globe article on the Red Sox September swoon authored by Bob Hohler, but seemingly came directly from the Red Sox front office on the collapse of the team and the sullying of former manager Terry Francona.

Current’s Keith Olbermann, a friend of Terry Francona, comes to the ex-Red Sox manager’s defense and fires back at Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino.

Nate Davis of USA Today writes that CBS NFL analyst Phil Simms once talked with the late Raiders owner Al Davis to become a coach of the team.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has Fox Sports less than bullish on using Hank Williams, Jr. on any of its programming.

From the ESPN Ombudsman, Jason Fry and Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute give their take on ESPN’s handling of the Hank Williams, Jr. mess.

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated says soccer insiders are very interested in seeing whether ESPN or NBC Sports Group wins the bidding for the 2018/2022 World Cups.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand handicaps the World Cup rights race.

Lindsay Powers of the Hollywood Reporter says a rain delay in the American League Championship Series last night ended up hurting Fox in the primetime ratings.

Timothy Burke at SportsGrid notes that Tim McCarver was proven tremendously wrong during Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says a dominant Jimmie Johnson is not good for NASCAR.

ESPN PR man Nate Smeltz in the ESPN Front Row blog tells us how the network will replace NBA games in the first two weeks of the canceled regular season.

Patrick Bernard of the Stamford (CT) Patch wonders if NBC Sports will move its operations to Stamford, CT.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir feels the NBA season could stand to lose some more games.

From the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record, Ken McMillan says Army’s basketball season opener will be aired live on CBS Sports Network.

Paul J. Gough of the Pittsburgh Business Times writes that the Pirates will have a new radio flagship next season.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post says the Nationals have hired a consultant to help them get fair market value from MASN for their TV rights.

Dan Kausler, Jr. of the Birmingham (AL) News talks with ESPN’s BCS guru about Alabama and LSU.

Greg Auman at the St. Petersburg Times speaks with ESPN’s Urban Meyer about his coaching future and his work at the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

In the Daily Oklahoman, Mel Bracht says this year’s renewal of the annual Red River Shootout did monster ratings in Oklahoma City.

The Indiana Pacers and Fox Sports Indiana have announced that Brooke Olzendam (Collins) will be the team’s new host/sideline reporter of its broadcasts if and when the season gets underway.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that Fox Sports Wisconsin is keeping mostly mum on losing Bucks games.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Times has a look at the football TV schedule, both college and pro for this week.

Tom quotes Lakers legend Jerry West on the late broadcaster Chick Hearn.

J.J. Fidler of the Grunion (CA) Gazette writes about a local woman who has hit the big time with Fox.

The Oregonian reports that ESPN has chosen the spot on the University of Oregon campus from where ESPN’s College GameDay will air live this Saturday.

The Thoroughbred Times notes that ESPN will air a documentary on ill-fated Triple Crown candidate Charismatic.

Sports Media Watch says NASCAR seems to be finally picking up from its 2010 ratings woes.

SMW notes that this year’s American League Championship Series got a ratings boost from Game 3 on Tuesday night.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says Tuesday’s edition of NHL Overtime on Versus almost became Fight Night.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing says Terry Francona’s too brief gig with should have taught the networks something staying about the status quo.

Dave Kohl at the Broadcast Booth notes that three Midwestern radio stations had interesting local baseball-football doubleheaders over a two day span last week.

And that’s where we’ll end things for now. I’ll do my best to catch up with the press releases.

ESPN 3D Announces 2011-12 College Football Schedule

Increasing its total from 10 to 20 games this season, ESPN 3D, which a total of 21 people across the country can access, has announced its slate of college football contests for the upcoming season. The schedule includes the season opening UNLV at Wisconsin on September 1, Miami at Maryland on September 5, the ACC Championship Game, 5 bowl games and the BCS National Championship Game on January 9, 2012.

Here’s the schedule.

ESPN 3D to Televise 20 Regular Season College Football Games in 2011

ESPN 3D to Televise 20 Regular Season College Football
Games in 2011
Network Doubles the Amount of Coverage; Will Also Air  BCS National Championship and Five Postseason Bowl Games

ESPN 3D will double the amount of college football telecasts this year as the network plans to air 20 regular-season games along with the BCS National Championship and five postseason bowl games.  The network will kick off its second year of extensive college football coverage with two games in five days over Labor Day weekend when UNLV travels to Wisconsin on Thurs., Sept. 1, at 8 p.m. ET with Miami at Maryland on Mon., Sept. 5, at 8 p.m.

The 2011 season marks the return of Miami, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin to the ESPN 3D schedule and the addition of multiple top programs highlighted by LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, and Texas.  It will also be the second straight year the network will air the ACC Championship game, slated for Sat., Dec. 3, at 8 p.m.

The network will increase its post season coverage this year with the return of the BCS National Championship Game on Mon., Jan. 9, at 8:30 p.m.  as well as five additional bowl games.

The complete 2011-2012 schedule:

Date	Time (ET)	Game
Thurs, Sept. 1	8 p.m.	UNLV at Wisconsin
Mon, Sept. 5	8 p.m.	Miami at Maryland
Thurs, Sept. 8	8 p.m.	Arizona at Oklahoma State
Sat, Sept. 10	7 p.m.	BYU at Texas
Thurs, Sept. 15	8 p.m.	LSU at Mississippi State
Thurs, Sept. 22	8 p.m.	NC State at Cincinnati
Sat., Sept. 24	TBD	TBD
Thurs, Sept. 29	8 p.m.	South Florida at Pittsburgh
Sat., Oct. 1	TBD	TBD
Thurs, Oct. 6	9 p.m.	California at Oregon
Thurs, Oct. 13	9 p.m.	USC at California
Sat., Oct. 15	TBD	TBD
Thurs, Oct. 20	9 p.m.	UCLA at Arizona
Thurs, Oct. 27	8 p.m.	Virginia at Miami
Tues, Nov. 1	7 p.m.	Northern Illinois at Toledo
Fri, Nov. 4	9 p.m.	USC at Colorado
Thurs, Nov. 17	8 p.m.	North Carolina at Virginia Tech
Sat., Nov. 19	TBD	TBD
Thurs, Dec. 1	8 p.m.	West Virginia at South Florida
Sat, Dec. 3	8 p.m.	ACC Championship Game
Sat, Dec. 17	9 p.m.	New Orleans Bowl
Tues, Dec. 20	8 p.m.	St. Petersburg Bowl
Thurs, Dec. 29	5:30 p.m.	Champs Sports Bowl
Sat, Dec. 31	7:30 p.m.	Chick-fil-A Bowl
Mon, Jan. 2	1 p.m.	Capital One Bowl
Mon, Jan. 9	8:30 p.m.	BCS National Championship

In addition to ESPN 3D, ESPN’s comprehensive coverage of the 2011 college football season features more than 400 regular- and postseason games across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN Radio, ESPN Classic, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN GamePlan. Full schedule details can be found here.

Additional dates will be announced as the season progresses; schedule subject to change.  Sony is an official sponsor of college football on ESPN 3D.

Additional programming for ESPN 3D will be announced throughout the year and will include college basketball and Winter X Games 17.

And we end this post here.

On To The Tuesday Links

Let’s get your Tuesday linkage up and posted today. Good stuff to get to.

Variety’s Stuart Levine talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the Versus rebrand to NBC Sports Network and other subjects.

The Associated Press has Lazarus hopeful that he can make former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol proud.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age writes that NBC’s rebrand of Versus plus having the Super Bowl this season puts the network in position to be a real challenger to ESPN.

Marisa Guthrie in the Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed blog says NBC’s top brass was never worried about losing NFL games this season.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Canada’s Rogers Communications will stream live video of Toronto Blue Jays games online and on smartphones starting this month.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter notes that Fox Sports is protesting a plan to sell the Los Angeles Dodgers’ media rights. Fox says it agreed to a long-term extension of its current deal with the team, but MLB has rejected it.

To Adweek and Emma Bazilian who says Fox is going to war over the Dodgers’ media rights.

Todd Spangler at Multichannel News writes about AT&T U-verse suddenly dropping ESPN3D citing the high carriage fees and lack of subscribers.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN has promoted one of its executives.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that Chicago sportscaster Mike Adamle was cleared of DUI charges.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser looks at Awful Announcing’s Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament that left Craig James as its “winner”.

Ken Kerschbaumer at Sports Video Group wonders if 3-D will have a role in the 2012 London Olympics.

At Outkick The Coverage, Clay Travis says it’s Yahoo! that’s poised to be ESPN’s true sports media rival in the 2nd decade of the 21st Century.

The Sports Biz Miss, Kristi Dosh in the Business of College Sports explains why BCS Automatic Qualifying conferences are not knocking down Boise State’s doors to have the school join their leagues.

Kristi also looks at how the Pac-12 Network will be distributed to several Top 100 media markets within the Conference footprint.

To Yahoo’s Puck Daddy where Sean Leahy talks with ESPN’s John Buccigross about his NHL guilty pleasures.

Jose Martinez of Complex speaks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews about her country music and Saturday Night Live obsessions.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy also talks with Erin, this time about Twitter and her assessment of her first year on the anchor desk at College GameDay.

All Access reports that Fox Sports Radio is hooking up with Mastercard for a Stand Up to Cancer promotion.

Greg Bordonaro of Hartford Business writes that ESPN plans to take advantage of a Connecticut tax break incentive offer to add more jobs in the state.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union looks at NBC/Versus NHL voice Mike “Doc” Emrick receiving another honor.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call catches up with iconic Philadelphia Eagles radio voice Merrill Reese.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post speaks with outgoing local sports anchor Brett Haber about his decision to leave his local station.

Adam Kilgore of the Post writes that MASN has not exercised the option on Washington Nationals TV voice Bob Carpenter’s contract, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t be back next season.

ESPN3.com will be streaming a Georgia rivalry high school football game later this month.

Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Big 12 schools decided to compromise on the Longhorn Network for one season.

Randy Riggs of the Austin (TX) American-Statesman writes that means no high school football games on the Longhorn Network for now.

Mike Finger in the Houston Chronicle says the Big 12 did leave open the possibility of having a conference game aired on the Longhorn Network this season.

Anthony Schoettle of the Indianapolis Business Journal says an NBC Sports Group deal to put NFL games on Versus would be a big help to the channel’s IndyCar package.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that NFL Network and companion RedZone were picked up by Charter Communications.

Bob says Chicago Cubs radio voice Pat Hughes regales in telling stories about the late Marquette coach Al McGuire and their time calling the school’s games together.

In OnMilwaukee, Andy Tarnoff goes behind the scenes during a Brewers game production with the Fox Sports Wisconsin crew.

Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star writes that NBC’s Sunday Night Football crew is ready for the NFL season to start.

Shad Powers of the Desert (CA) Sun says MLB Network came through on Sunday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News discusses the rebranding of Versus to NBC Sports Network.

In the Daly Planet, John Daly notes that ESPN NASCAR analyst Rusty Wallace has a conflict of interest when calling Nationwide Series races.

Toronto Sports Media says Sirius and XM in Canada might be pulling the plug on The Score radio channel.

The Canadian Sports Media blog has some thoughts on the last week in Canadian sports media.

Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN has brought in former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas as a studio NFL analyst.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs looks at the moves to rebrand of Sporting News Radio and Versus.

And we’re done with the linkage for today.

Highlights of ESPN’s College Football Schedule

We have this release which discusses ESPN’s extensive and comprehensive 2011-12 college football schedule. I still can’t believe there will be over 400 games across ESPN’s platforms, but that’s the day and age we live in. Let’s take a look at the highlights of ESPN’s schedule. If you want a complete look at ESPN’s extensive and comprehensive college football schedule, go here.

ESPN 2011 College Football Game Schedule

More Than 400 Games; All Five BCS Games on ESPN; First Year of New Agreements with ACC & BYU

ESPN’s 2011 college football schedule will include more than 400 regular and postseason games across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com, ESPN 3D, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN Radio, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN GamePlan.

In addition to game telecasts, the second year of the ESPN Goal Line network will offer unlimited live cut-ins and highlights from numerous top college football games every Saturday beginning at noon.  Goal Line is currently available to Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV customers.

Viewers can also watch live ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com and ESPN Goal Line game action on smart phones or tablets through the WatchESPN app. The service – available to customers of Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks or Verizon FiOS TV – gives fans the ability to watch ESPN’s live networks, no matter where they are.

Schedule highlights include (the majority of game selections will generally be made 12 or six days before the date as the season progresses):

• BCS & bowls: ESPN outlets will present all five of the BCS games, highlighted by the BCS National Championship, as part of its schedule of 33 bowl games.
• ACC: The first year of a 12-year agreement with the Atlantic Coast Conference providing ESPN extensive rights to games for Saturday, Thursday and Labor Day telecasts across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com.
• BYU: The first year of an eight-year agreement for exclusive rights to BYU home football games across multiple ESPN platforms.
• Prime-time action: ESPN will offer Saturday night action across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU and weekly ESPN and ESPNU Thursday prime-time telecasts.
• Reverse mirror: As many as 12 Saturday afternoon windows will offer “reverse mirror” coverage in which two games from ABC’s split national telecasts are televised regionally on ESPN or ESPN2 and ESPN3.com, providing fans with coverage of both games on one of the outlets.
• ESPN 3D: The first 3D network to launch in the industry will offer a schedule of regular-season games (schedule to be determined).
• Live games online: ESPN3.com will stream more than 400 games, a record for the broadband network, including at least 50 exclusive contests.
• More platforms: Additional ESPN platforms offering games include a weekly broadcast on ESPN Radio; ESPN Mobile TV simulcasts; ESPN Regional Television syndication; and an extensive schedule on ESPN GamePlan, ESPN’s outermarket pay-per-view service.

The season will begin with the fourth annual Kickoff Week Sept. 1-5, featuring extensive studio programming and 32 games in five days, concluding with Miami at Maryland in a Labor Day telecast Monday, Sept. 5, at 8 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN3.com. 

Regular-season coverage will conclude Saturday, Dec. 3, highlighted by the ACC Championship Game on ESPN and ESPN3.com at 8 p.m. and two Big 12 intrastate showdowns: Oklahoma at Oklahoma State and Texas at Baylor, both on ABC at either 3:30 p.m. or 8 p.m.

For the fifth consecutive year, ESPN will be the only network to offer coverage of home games from all six of the BCS automatic qualifying conferences (ACC, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC) in addition to the MAC, Sun Belt and WAC. ESPN will also televise road games featuring Notre Dame, Navy, Army and teams from the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA.

Weekly Windows
The networks will offer an extensive schedule of games each Saturday, as well as matchups every Thursday and Friday and select Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Highlights include:

• ESPN on ABC: ESPN on ABC’s Saturday Night Football, broadcast television’s only weekly college football prime-time series, will showcase showdowns between top programs every Saturday (except Sept. 10 and Oct. 15) at 8 p.m. beginning Sept. 3 with Oregon vs. LSU in the Cowboys Classic. ABC will continue to broadcast top matchups every Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and select Saturdays at noon involving teams from the ACC, BIG EAST, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.
• Saturdays on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU: On most Saturdays, ESPN or ESPN2 will offer a prime-time doubleheader as well as a noon telecast across both networks. On nights without a doubleheader ESPN will generally televise a 7:45 p.m. game and ESPN2 a 7 p.m. telecast. ESPN or ESPN2 will continue to offer a “reverse mirror” of ABC’s 3:30 p.m. split national broadcast, while ESPNU will offer four telecasts generally at noon, 3:30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
• Thursdays: ESPN and ESPNU will both televise a Thursday night game every week, generally at 8 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively. For the fourth consecutive year, ESPN’s popular weekly Thursday night series will feature a team from one of the six BCS automatic qualifying conferences in every game. The schedule will be highlighted by UNLV at Wisconsin (Sept. 1), LSU at Mississippi State (Sept. 15), California at Oregon (Oct. 6), Virginia at Miami (Oct. 27), Florida State at Boston College (Nov. 3) and Texas at Texas A&M (Nov. 24).
• Weekdays: In addition to a weekly Friday prime-time series on ESPN or ESPN2, the networks will offer games on select Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the season.

College Football on Additional ESPN Platforms
ESPN will provide extensive, multiplatform coverage in addition to regular time slots on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

• ESPN3.com: In addition to at least 50 exclusive games, ESPN3.com will offer live simulcasts and on-demand re-airs of every ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC split national telecast, and every GamePlan game.
• ESPN Radio: ESPN Radio, ESPN’s national radio network – with more than 700 non-duplicative stations – will broadcast a weekly Saturday game, two Thursday night matchups and 23 postseason bowl games, highlighted by all five BCS matchups.
• ESPN Mobile TV: For the fifth year, ESPN Mobile TV, ESPN’s first 24/7 channel for wireless platforms available on multiple carriers via MobiTV, will simulcast approximately four games a week from ESPN and ESPN2.
• ESPN Regional Television: The nation’s largest syndicator of collegiate sports programming will produce games from the SEC, BIG EAST, MAC and WAC.
• ESPN GamePlan: ESPN’s outermarket pay-per-view service will offer season-long action, including up to 12 games each week.

Examples of Top Matchups (from games already selected)

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Sat, Sep 3	8 p.m.	Cowboys Classic: Oregon vs. LSU (from Arlington)	ABC / ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	Kickoff Game: Boise State vs. Georgia (from Atlanta)	ESPN / ESPN3.com
Mon, Sep 5	8 p.m.	Miami at Maryland	ESPN / ESPN3.com / ESPN Radio
Fri, Sep 9	10:30 p.m.	Missouri at Arizona State	ESPN / ESPN3.com
Sat, Sep 10	3:30 p.m.	Alabama at Penn State	ABC
	8 p.m.	Notre Dame at Michigan	ESPN / ESPN3.com
Thu, Sep 15	8 p.m.	LSU at Mississippi State	ESPN / ESPN3.com
Sat, Sep 17	Noon	Auburn at Clemson	ABC
	7:30 or 8 p.m.	Oklahoma at Florida State	ESPN or ABC ***
	7:30 or 8 p.m.	Ohio State at Miami	ESPN or ABC ***
	9:15 p.m.	Utah at BYU	ESPN2 / ESPN3.com
Sat, Sep 24	TBA	LSU at West Virginia	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 ***
	10:15 p.m.	USC at Arizona State	ESPN or ESPN2 / ESPN3.com
Sat, Oct 1	8 p.m.	Nebraska at Wisconsin	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 ***
Thu, Oct 6	9 p.m.	California at Oregon	ESPN / ESPN3.com
Sat, Oct 8	Noon	Oklahoma vs. Texas (from Dallas)	ABC / ESPN Radio
Sat, Oct 22	8 p.m.	Wisconsin at Michigan State	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 ***
Wed, Oct 26	8 p.m.	Connecticut at Pittsburgh	ESPN / ESPN3.com
Fri, Oct 28	8 p.m.	BYU vs. TCU (from Arlington)	ESPN / ESPN3.com
Sat, Oct 29	8 p.m.	Wisconsin at Ohio State	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 ***
	8 p.m.	Stanford at USC	ABC
Thu, Nov 3	8 p.m.	Florida State at Boston College	ESPN / ESPN3.com
Thu, Nov 17	8 p.m.	North Carolina at Virginia Tech	ESPN / ESPN3.com / ESPN Radio
Sat, Nov 19	8 p.m.	USC at Oregon	ABC
Thu, Nov 24	8 p.m.	Texas at Texas A&M	ESPN / ESPN3.com
Fri, Nov 25	Noon	Iowa at Nebraska	ABC
	3:30 p.m.	Boston College at Miami	ABC
	TBD	Pittsburgh at West Virginia	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 ***
Sat, Nov 26	8 p.m.	Notre Dame at Stanford	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 ***
Sat, Dec 3	3:30 p.m. or 8 p.m.	Oklahoma at Oklahoma State	ABC
	8 p.m.	ACC Football Championship Game (from Charlotte)	ESPN / ESPN3.com / ESPN Radio

*** Game on ESPN or ESPN2 will be simulcast on ESPN3.com

Every Corner Covered through ESPN and ABC Outlets
In addition to game coverage, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com, ESPN Regional Television, ESPN Radio and ESPN Mobile TV will provide news and features throughout the season, including on popular studio programs College GameDay, the daily College Football Live, College Football Final, College Football Countdown and BCS Countdown. ESPN’s multiple media outlets – ESPN.com, ESPNEWS and ESPN The Magazine – will also offer extensive season-long coverage.

And that does it.

ESPN’s Extensive and Comprehensive 2011-12 College Football Schedule

There was a time when ESPN had less than 100 college football games a season. But with ESPN programming itself, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, Big East Network, SEC Network, ESPN Plus MAC games and ESPN3.com, the total has risen to more than 400 games across its vast network of platforms. We have the list of games. It’s very long. Get ready to scroll.

2011 ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3.com, ESPN Mobile TV and ESPN Radio College Football Schedule (As of July 21)

Note: All ABC split national, ESPN and ESPN2 games will be simulcast on ESPN3.com.
(ESPN Mobile TV schedule will be determined as season progresses; schedule subject to change; windows will be added as the season progresses)

* Part of reverse mirror in which ABC’s split national telecast is televised regionally on ESPN or ESPN2 and ESPN3.com to markets receiving another game on ABC
** Game will be televised at 8 p.m. on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2; If on ABC, to be determined game on ESPN will begin at 7:45 p.m. and ESPN2 at 7 p.m.
*** Game on ESPN or ESPN2 will be simulcast on ESPN3.com

2011 COLLEGE FOOTBALL POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

Bowl Championship Series

Additional Postseason Games

I told you this was long.

Some Thursday Links

Ok starting the linkage off late again today, but I hope get a full set in before leaving work later.

Sports Business Daily notes some shuffling of personnel with the NFL TV partners.

Preston Bounds of Sports Business Daily talks about Brad Nessler saying his college football schedule with ESPN/ABC won’t be affected by his new gig with NFL Network.

Sports Business Daily discusses the machinations behind the ESPN-owned Longhorn Network.

Michael Hiestand from USA Today has some of the ratings from the weekend.

At Variety, Cynthia Littleton talks about ABC Studios developing a sitcom based on a book written by ESPN Radio morning drive co-host Mike Greenburg.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News notes that ESPN has been honored for its World Cup programming.

Anthony Crupi from Adweek says NBCUniversal’s networks are all over the promotion of the Kentucky Derby.

Wayne Friedman at MediaPost notes that Time Warner saw additional ad revenues in the 1st quarter of this year thanks to the NCAA  Tournament.

Wayne says Fox is reporting good ad revenues from the NFL in its fiscal year 2nd quarter.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo’s Puck Daddy has the video of a cameraman getting a little too close to the action before Game 3 of the Vancouver-Nashville game.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center notes that sports journalism is greatly lacking in diversity.

Kristi Dosh of the Business of College Sports has an excellent look at the TV contracts for all of the BCS conferences.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times notes that embattled Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is blaming MLB Walking, Talking Conflict of Interest Bud Selig for his financial troubles. Way to help your cause, Frank.

Newsday’s Neil Best says former NFL Network play-by-play man Bob Papa is taking the high road.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that thoroughbred racing from Saratoga Race Course is heading back to national television after a year’s absence.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says Time Warner Cable will air some local high school baseball.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that Matt Millen had a feeling he was going to be blown out of the NFL Network booth.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner feels the big Pac-12 contracts with ESPN and Fox could lead the Big East to a huge windfall.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News says the Mavericks saw their biggest ratings in more than 2 years.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that Pawtucket Red Sox and Cincinnati Bearcats voice Dan Hoard will become the voice of the Bengals this season.

John goes into some of the reasons why Brad Johansen will no longer be the voice of the Bengals.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at Mike Mayock becoming the new analyst for NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business notes that WGN will have a special on Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

Paola Boivin from the Arizona Republic takes a look at the Pac-12 media rights agreements and what it means for member schools.

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times writes about Brad Nessler coming in to call NFL Network Thursday Night Football.

SportsbyBrooks profiles the US Assistant Attorney General whose looking into the BCS.

Sports Media Watch notes that in Boston this week, the Bruins beat the Celtics in the ratings, but not head-to-head.

SMW says Lakers losses are leading to lofty ratings.

Steve Lepore, the hardest working blogger in the business, says NBC saw a double digit ratings jump last Sunday.

Steve also has the ratings for Night 21 of the NHL Playoffs.

Awful Announcing notes that announcers Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza understandably went a little goofy as the Angels-Red Sox game went form Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

Keggs ‘n Eggs notes the irony of Urban Meyer’s daughter complaining about him working for ESPN as he was supposed to spend retirement from Florida with his family.

I’ll end the links there. Finally finish these at 9:50 p.m. Thursday. Lots of things to do on the blog.

Bringing Out The Monday Links

Time for the Monday linkage. I hope you had a good Easter if you observed the holiday. If not, I hope the weekend was relaxing for you. Let’s go over the linkage for today.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand writes that ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball analysts like the idea of expanded MLB playoffs.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today reviews ESPN’s upcoming documentary on Steve Bartman and what he’s had to endure since becoming the scapegoat for the Chicago Cubs failure in 2003.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch says NFL Network is going all out for the NFL Draft.

Jason Fry at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says like it or not, ESPN isthe standard bearer for most things sports media.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek notes that NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebserol could very well pull a successful Olympics bid out of his hat.

David Goetzl at MediaPost says ESPN should be given credit for admitting it’s wrong.

At ESPN Front Row, Dan Quinn looks at how the Alleged Worldwide Leader keeps the ABC’s Wide World of Sports flame.

The always lovely Kristi Dosh of The Business of College Sports tells us why an antitrust suit against the BCS won’t necessarily bring a playoff to college football.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says a year supply of 7Up is not a worthy prize for hitting a half court shot.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick was apparently in a bad mood when he wrote today’s mishmash of a column.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with executives from NBA TV and the NHL Network about their postseason coverage.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times looks at the weekend that was in sports television.

Steve Svekis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has Bill Parcells discussing his Miami Dolphins drafts in anticipation of his ESPN special on Tuesday.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman reviews ESPN’s broadcast of the Thunder-Spurs game over the weekend.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says TNT’s Charles Barkley is apologizing again.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business says Game 6 of Vancouver-Blackhawks on Sunday set yet another ratings record for Comcast SportsNet.

Ed tells Bulls and Blackhawks fans to get their remotes ready for Tuesday.

Derrick Goold from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks at ESPN’s Baseball Tonight paying a visit to the Gateway City.

Dan Caesar of the Post-Dispatch says ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball announcers had trouble getting to the city due to the violent storms in St. Louis over the weekend.

At the Denver Post, Dusty Saunders explores the humble beginnings of ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage with Bob Ley.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News goes over this week’s sports calendar for Southern California.

Raju Mudhar from the Toronto Star says this month’s crackdown on online sites is forcing ESPN, TSN, Rogers Sportsnet and The Score to rethink their poker programming.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says 2012′s NHL Playoff starting times could be staggered like the NCAA Tournament to gain more US TV viewership.

The Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings for the NBA Playoffs on TNT.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore wonders if the Winter Classic saved the NHL on network TV.

Jim Weber at the Lost Letterman site says if you think the NFL likes seeing the Draft in primetime, then we may be in store for a lot more in the future.

Joe Favorito says the team concept does not work for every sport.

Emmett Jones of the Sports Business Digest says the NFL stands to lose $2 BILLION in revenue if it lost the entire 2011 season.

Ryan Yoder of Awful Announcing has the video of the usually solid Versus’ Dave Strader calling the wrong winner during Saturday’s Canadiens-Bruins game.

At Tribal Football, Andrew Slevison talks about ESPN2′s MLS ratings from last week.

Bob’s Blitz correctly calls for Colin Cowherd’s resignation from ESPN based on his sitcom deal working for CBS that is now in violation of the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s endorsement guidelines.

And that will do it for now.

Some Late Wednesday Night/Thursday Morning Links

My plans to provide a full set of linkage got shot to hell when the car I was riding in got stuck in a snow bank during the ice storm in RI on Wednesday. So I spent three hours trying to get the vehicle out. Eventually, I got AAA to pull it out, but also spent a lot of time chipping the ice from the driveway, so it was exactly how I wanted to spend my day. Anyway, I’ll give you a short set of links here.

Brian Costa, Matthew Futterman and Michael Rothfield says the New York Mets may sell part of its stake in SNY if can help attract a minority buyer for the club.

In a related note, CNBC’s Darren Rovell reports that the principal owners of the Met who are being sued by a Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme victim, say they don’t owe any money. Donald Sterling and Saul Katz recommended Madoff to several clients.

At Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski explores any potential complications or non-complications regarding the NHL’s new US TV deals.

Marcus Vanderberg at SportsNewser feels it’ll be a long time before Dallas hosts another Super Bowl.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media speculates as to why the NHL All-Star Game saw a ratings increase from when the game was last played.

Milton Kent at Fanhouse goes over the new management structure at NBC Sports/Comcast.

Brad Cohen in SportsGrid feels Charles Barkley’s new website is just what the doctor ordered.

The Big Lead points out that the Pro Bowl did better in the ratings than Game 3 of the 2010 World Series.

Karolos Grohmann of Reuters reports that the Tour de France won’t be shown live in Germany starting in 2012 due to lack of interest and doping problems.

Kimberly Nordyke from the Hollywood Reporter has viewing alternatives for those who don’t want to watch the Super Bowl.

Have your first look at Volkswagen’s mini-Darth Vader Super Bowl ad.

And here’s the Volkswagen Black Beetle Super Bowl ad.

Michael Malone at Broadcasting & Cable reports that a group of local stations are back on DirecTV ensuring subscribers will see the Super Bowl on Sunday.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says thanks to the BCS, ESPN swept the January cable ratings.

Bill Cromwell from Media Life Magazine notes that after Pizza Hut dropped out of the Super Bowl, Fox found another advertiser to take its place ensuring a sellout once again.

Amy Austin of the Washington City Paper has written a public response to DC NFL Team owner Daniel Snyder’s threats to sue the publication after what he perceived was an unflattering profile.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner looks at the new NBC Sports management team.

Gary West from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram speaks with Friend of Fang’s Bites Michelle Beadle who’s been co-hosting ESPN2′s SportsNation live from Sundance Square.

Mitchell Schnurman of the Star-Telegram says the ESPN live productions from downtown Fort Worth have been promoting the city better than any advertising campaign.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says a Windy City media company is busy at the Super Bowl this week.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News continues his series on asking various play-by-play men on what they can learn from Vin Scully.

First, we get answers from LA Kings Hall of Fame voice Bob Miller.

Then Tom speaks with Kings radio voice Nick Nickson.

Tom finds UCLA Bruins voice Chris Roberts to get his response.

Tom turns to Clippers voice Ralph Lawler.

Tom gets a response from USC basketball voice Chris Fisher.

Tom makes contact with minor league baseball announcer Jeff Lasky.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog has the Super Bowl Sunday programming from both CTV and Fox.

Sports Media Watch notes that the rematch of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final did slightly better than last year’s NHL on NBC debut.

SMW has various ratings news and notes.

Matt Yoder from Awful Announcing has a very good interview with the multifaceted Kevin Harlan who will be calling the Super Bowl on Westwood One Radio this Sunday.

And that’s going to do it. I need to sleep.

Some Snowy Wednesday Links

On this day of massive snow here in the Northeast, I’ll provide you with some linkage. Crazy day as local meteorologists first predicted 4-8 inches, then as the storm organized, the totals were revised upward and upward. Now, it appears we have more on the ground here. Not quite the perfect storm, but damn close. And who would have thought 49 states of the Union have snow on the ground? Including Hawaii? Insane.

Let’s do some linkage today to get our minds off the snow.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today gives us a reality check on ESPN’s ratings for the BCS.

Mike McCarthy of USA Today talks with the head of powerful sports agency IMG about a whole slew of topics including gambling.

Sean Leahy at USA Today’s The Huddle notes Jon Gruden’s announcement that he’ll return to ESPN next season.

Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal looks at Brent Musburger giving Tostitos free advertising this week.

Ben Klayman from Reuters writes about General Motors signing a huge advertising deal with NBC for the 2012 London Olympics.

Milton Kent at Fanhouse doesn’t like how golf allows viewers to call in to report violations on PGA Tour players.

Fanhouse’s Viv Bernstein finds that former college basketball analyst Billy Packer is not being docile in his retirement from broadcasting. 

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News notes that GolTV will air a Central America soccer tournament.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek looks at ESPN’s record ratings for the BCS National Championship Game.

Anthony writes in Adweek that ESPN will be a big sponsor target this year. 

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine also writes about ESPN’s ratings for Auburn-Oregon.

The great Darren Rovell of CNBC has his Golden Rules of Twitter.

Noah Davis of SportsNewser looks at LeBron James’ tweeting at the expense of his old Cleveland Cavs team.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid reviews the premiere episode of Onion SportsDome.

Across the pond, David Evans of Autosport notes that ESPN UK has obtained the rights to the popular World Rally Championship, keeping the sport away from free TV in England. 

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe notes a Boston connection to Onion SportsDome. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times wasn’t too thrilled with Brent Musburger’s call of the BCS National Championship Game.

Richard talks about Yahoo! Sports launching an all-new online magazine.

Speaking of the new Yahoo! Sports online magazine, called The PostGame, it has a feature on Fang’s Bites fave, Charissa Thompson. 

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at the love-hate, mostly hate relationship between the New York Jets and WFAN’s Mike Francesa.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that Time Warner Cable will produce several AHL games.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says ESPN’s Dick Vitale will remain in the fold for a while.

Jason Reid of the Washington Post recaps the DC Sports Owner summit.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the BCS’ ratings on cable are down considerably from when the games were on broadcast TV.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Dish and DirecTV subscribers will be able to see tonight’s Cincinnati Bearcats game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that Packers-Eagles is the most watched TV show of the season.

Bob says CBS’ Bill Cowher gives praise to the Packers’ defensive plan to contain the Eagles’ Michael Vick.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune talks about Brent Musburger’s Tostitos plug late in the BCS National Championship Game.

The Chicago Sun-Times picks up a story that local NBC affiliate sports anchor Mike Adamle has been arrested on DUI charges.

Scott D. Pierce at the Salt Lake Tribune wonders if ESPN can objectively report on college football and the BCS.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail handicaps the upcoming changes in Canadian sports radio.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media breaks news that NBC will have six hours of coverage for Hockey Day in America next month.

Steve also compares Tuesday’s editions of NHL Overtime and NHL on the Fly.

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch notes that the BCS National Championship on ESPN finished lower in the ratings than the game on ABC last year.

Joe Favorito says the Indianapolis Colts may have lost Saturday, but won with its social networking approach to its FanCam.

Awful Announcing has Twitter reaction to Onion SportsDome.

And that will do it for today. I’ll be digging out the rest of the day.

BCS National Championship Grabs Cable TV’s Biggest Audience Ever

This is what ESPN was hoping for when it signed the Bowl Championship Series to a cable-exclusive contract. Not only did the BCS National Championship Game garner the biggest overnight rating in cable history, but it also received the highest audience in history. This is NFL playoff-like numbers.

The average audience was 27.3 million viewers with a rating of 15.3 rating which is very impressive. Staggering numbers not just for cable, but for either cable or broadcast TV. Amazing stuff. ESPN is saying it would get an audience and it did.

Your press release.

BCS National Championship: Cable’s Biggest Audience

ESPN’s Highest Rating Ever; Digital Success

Last night’s Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship on ESPN was watched by an average of 27,316,000 viewers (P2+) and 17,718,000 households, more than any program in the history of cable television.  The previous record was an ESPN Monday Night Football contest, Green Bay at Minnesota on October 5, 2009, with an audience of 21,839,000 viewers (P2+) and 15,136,000 homes, based on a 15.3 coverage rating.

The game – a last-second 22-19 Auburn victory over Oregon – earned a 17.8 fast national coverage rating, according to Nielsen, the highest in ESPN history, besting the MNF 15.3 in 2009. The rating for the U.S. television universe, 15.3, is higher than four of the past 12 BCS title games; the 27+ million viewers is higher than eight of the 12.  Among men 18-34, last night’s game was higher rated than 11 of the 12 games from 1999 – 2010.

The game was also a huge success for ESPN’s digital platforms. On ESPN3.com, the game was watched by more than 619,000 unique viewers, its most ever for a college football game and fourth all-time behind three 2010 FIFA World Cup contests (source: Adobe). The previous college football record was last week’s Sugar Bowl (248,000 viewers), a total that was more than doubled with the Auburn-Oregon matchup. Usage in visits, page views and total minutes on the day on ESPN.com and the ESPN Mobile Web saw increases ranging from 26 percent to 60 percent across all categories.

“ESPN’s inaugural telecasts of the BCS culminated with a thrilling finish viewed by a record audience,” said George Bodenheimer, ESPN president. “The BCS was a huge win for fans who through our television, radio and digital platforms enjoyed more coverage, more analysis and more ways to connect with their sport than ever before.”

BCS Highlights

• Dec 27 – Jan 2:  ESPN’s highest-rated week ever (2.2 coverage rating)
• Jan. 1: ESPN’s highest-rated day ever (4.3 coverage rating)
• ESPN’s “reach” (one-minute qualifier) on January 1, 2011, was 63,535,000 viewers, an increase of 49% from New Year’s Day 2010 (42,747,000).
• ESPN’s five BCS games (Rose, Fiesta, Orange and Sugar) have averaged 16,724,000 viewers – higher than the season-to-date prime-time average for each of the four major broadcast networks.
• As a series, the five games would rank sixth among viewers out of the 111 prime-time programs on the four major broadcast networks this season (excluding specials).

That will do it for us.

Grabbing Some Tuesday Linkage and Putting All In One Place For You

Let’s do the linkage and get it all done so you get on with your workday. That also goes for me as well. Here goes.

From USA Today, Mike McCarthy talks with a Frito-Lay executive on whether Brent Musburger was following orders on saying “This is for all the Tostitos” just before the winning kick during last night’s BCS National Championship Game.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today crunches the rating numbers from various weekend sports on TV.

Bob Velin from USA Today takes a look at FX’s new series “Lights Out” which focuses on boxing.

USA Today’s TV critic Robert Bianco reviews “Lights Out”.

John Ourand in this week’s Sports Business Journal explores why there’s no outrage in ESPN’s close to $2 billion rights fee for Monday Night Football.

Fox Sports’ Brian Lowry reviews ESPN’s production of the BCS National Championship Game.

From Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News, ESPN received cable’s highest overnight rating for the BCS National Championship Game.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine remembers the old Alcoa Fantastic Finishes that aired at the 2 minute warning of NFL games in the late 1970′s and early 1980′s.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Auburn will get a big spike in its licensing royalties thanks to winning the BCS National Championship.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Dave Kindred writes that he’s pleased to see the reaction to Steve Buckley’s coming out in the Boston Herald. 

In the New York Times, Richard Sandomir notes that during the BCS National Championship Game, ESPN glossed over the shootings in Tuscon that injured Rep. Giselle Giffords and left six people dead.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News is reaching when he compares CBS’ promotion of this Sunday’s Jets-Pats NFL playoff game to the shootings in Arizona.

Laura Nachman notes that Phillies radio announcer Scott Franzke received a national honor.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says DC NFL team owner Daniel Snyder won’t be allowing HBO’s cameras into his locker room.

Dan also talks about the WaPo’s DC sports owner summit that had all of the area’s sports team owners in one place.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says a decision on whether the NFL TV partners have to pay the league a rights fee during a potential lockout could decide if a stoppage will be an extended one.

Jon Solomon at the Birmingham (AL) News gives ESPN high praise for its presentation of the BCS National Championship Game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady went to see the Broadway play, “Lombardi” over the weekend.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News previews “Lights Out”.

Tom says the Los Angeles Dodgers have set up an e-mail account where wellwishers can send their sympathies to scout John Green who’s daughter Christina died in the tragic shooting in Arizona on Saturday.

Let’s head up to Canada and Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail who writes that Canadian sports behemoth TSN is looking to start a sports radio network to challenge The FAN which is owned by rival, Rogers Communications.

Ian Walker of the Vancouver Sun says the NHL and HBO are looking to bring the 24/7 series to the Stanley Cup Playoffs as soon as this season.

Emmett Jones at Sports Business Digest notes that while Under Armour fitted BCS National Champion Auburn, it’s Nike that’s still winning the sports apparel wars.

Russell Scibetti of The Business of Sports says Brent Musburger’s mention of Tostitos during the BCS National Championship Game can’t be measured in dollars and cents.

Sports Media Watch says the BCS National Championship Game got a huge rating in Birmingham, AL.

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media compares and contrasts Monday’s edition of NHL Network’s NHL on the Fly with Versus’ NHL Overtime.

The Big Lead can’t believe super Jets fan Fireman Ed has his own mobile app.

And that will do it for this Tuesday.

ESPN Gets Cable TV’s Highest Overnight Ratings Ever for BCS National Championship Game

Last night, I asked for predictions from my Twitter following on the rating and viewership and John Ourand of Sports Business Daily/Sports Business Journal nailed it.

That’s why John is one of the best at reporting on the sports media.

ESPN says the overnight rating for the BCS National Championship Game turned out to be the highest in cable TV history at 16.1. It breaks the previous high, a 14.4 for a Monday Night Football game on ESPN back in 2009 between New England and New Orleans. ESPN is ecstatic about the numbers even though the rating is down from the 18.2 overnight rating from the Alabama-Texas game on ABC last year.

We have your press release from ESPN.

BCS National Championship: Cable’s Highest Overnight Rating

Record College Football Audience for ESPN3.com

ESPN’s telecast of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship – a last-second 22-19 Auburn victory over Oregon — posted a 16.1 overnight metered market rating, according to Nielsen, the highest in the history of cable television (records go back to 2001). The previous high was 14.4 for an ESPN Monday Night Football game – New England at New Orleans on November 30, 2009.  The 16.1 overnight rating is higher than two of the previous six BCS title games (2008 – 15.6, 2005 – 14.6), and spurred ESPN to “win the night” among all networks, broadcast or cable.

The game drew huge audiences in the teams’ markets – Birmingham, Ala. (67.0) and Portland, Ore. (37.5). Rounding out the top five were Nashville (28.8), New Orleans (28.6), and Knoxville (27.7).

The telecast likely will become the most-viewed program in the history of cable television, once fast national ratings become available this afternoon.  The current top spot is another ESPN MNF contest, Green Bay at Minnesota on October 5, 2009, with an audience of 21,839,000 viewers (P2+) and 15,136,000 homes, based on a 15.3 rating.

Record College Football Audience on ESPN3.com; Huge Success for Digital Platforms

On ESPN3.com, the game was watched by more than 619,000 unique viewers, making it the most unique viewers ever for a college football game on ESPN3.com and it ranks fourth all-time in unique viewers behind three 2010 FIFA World Cup contests (source: Adobe). The previous college football record was last week’s Sugar Bowl (248,000 viewers), a total that was more than doubled with the Auburn-Oregon matchup.

The BCS National Championship audience also set ESPN3.com records (excluding World Cup) with an average of 173,000 people per minute and close to 42 million minutes consumed (an average of 67 minutes/viewer), making it the third most-watched event ever on the network and third all-time in minutes consumed.

Across ESPN’s digital platforms (ESPN.com, ESPN Mobile Web & ScoreCenter App, and ESPN3.com), January 10 saw 144.6 million total minutes of usage to college football content, an average of over 100,000 users per minute.  Highlights for the day include ESPN.com’s 15 million visits, 37.2 million page views and 77.1 million total minutes to college football content, increases of 26%, 33% and 52%, respectively, compared to the day of last year’s BCS National Championship game.  Additionally, college football content on the ESPN Mobile Web generated 7.1 million visits (up 60%), 14.5 million page views (up 47%) and 25.9 million total minutes (up 59%).

ESPN & BCS

ESPN’s first year of exclusive coverage of the five BCS matchups comprised ESPN, ESPN Radio and ESPN3.com presenting all five BCS Bowl games with ESPN 3D providing exclusive 3D coverage of the Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship Game.

ESPN provided extensive on-site studio programming and reports across multiple shows and platforms, dedicated web pages for each bowl, re-airs of classic BCS games, international telecasts of all five games, encore presentations of the National Championship and more.

ESPN’s year-round commitment to college football includes more than 400 games, culminating with 33 bowls, and approximately 200 million people tuned in to college football 2010 regular-season coverage on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC.

Another press release, this one from NBC is coming right up.

"This is For All The Tostitos" .. And Maybe the BCS National Championship Too

ESPN’s production of the first cable-exclusive BCS National Championship Game between Auburn and Oregon was a mixed bag. The pictures and replays for the most part were quite good especially for Michael Dyer’s run late in the 4th quarter which set up the winning field goal for the Tigers. This showed that Dyer, although brought down, did not touch his knee to the ground and this allowed for Auburn to kick the winning score.

The game was sloppy and the expected offensive onslaught never materialized. That was mostly due to both teams not playing since December 3, but that’s a debate for another day and in another blog. For this, I’ll focus on ESPN and its efforts.

As mentioned, pictures and replays were done well. Camera angles including one that stood high over the goal line gave a good perspective of the action, especially when Oregon running back LaMichael James was tackled in the end zone for a safety. The technical side of ESPN’s production gets an A. Great work by the off-air crew.

As far as the on-air talent was concerned, that’s a different story. Brent Musburger did not have his best night. Brent is a legend and was recently honored by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. However, that honor did not help him call the BCS National Championship Game last night. Before the game, Brent was quoted as saying that he didn’t want to draw attention to himself and talk less during the contest, but he did exactly that throughout the night.

Brent wonders why he’s a target and the following examples display this. Just as Oregon was driving in the 3rd quarter last night, Brent prematurely called a touchdown. Thanks to the always productive @Bubbaprog for the video.

But it didn’t end there. Brent constantly referred to his partner, Kirk Herbstreit as “Herbie” to the point where it was extremely noticeable. It’s one thing to be friendly with your on-air partner, to show that you’re folksy and you get along, but not with every play, “So Herbie….,” “Herbie, let’s talk about….,” “So as you’re aware, Herbie,” “Herbie?,” “Herbie,” “Herbie!” Enough with the Herbie! How about Kirk? Or Kirkie? Or even Herb? It got out of hand.

However, the call that everyone is talking about is the now-infamous, “This is for all the Tostitos,” as Auburn kicker Wes Byrum was about to go for the winning field goal. Of course, Tostitos is the sponsor of the Fiesta Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game so Brent gave the brand a huge plug at a big moment.

Only Brent. And you notice the call of the field goal was quite anti-climactic. We might have needed Gus Johnson out of the bullpen to call that moment. Brent seemed spent by the time the game ended. But this is not the first time Brent has used that Tostitos line. He first unveiled it for Michigan-Ohio State in 2002.

The Tostitos line set Twitter afire and gave people a lot of online fodder.

As far as the other ESPN on-air talent was concerned, Kirk Herbstreit was quite solid on analysis. I prefer him on College Gameday, but he was on top of trends especially during the first quarter when the game unexpectedly began as a defensive struggle.

Erin Andrews is Erin Andrews. Very good on the sidelines and did well on the big stage.

Tom Rinaldi is well, Tom Rinaldi. He’s a great feature reporter, excellent writer, but his postgame interviews dragged.

Chris Fowler proved that he’s one of the best studio hosts on television. He did a great job on College Gameday and during the BCS National Championship pregame show, having to steer guest analysts Urban Meyer and Nick Saban. It’s not easy having to break in two new analysts, but Chris handled it well.

Speaking of Meyer, if he’s going to become an ESPN analyst, then his debut last night went swimmingly well. While he was stiff and showed little humor, Meyer did offer some very good analysis on Auburn and Cam Newton. Saban showed no humor, but then again, he’s an intense guy.

Lee Corso once again gave his mascot head prediction and went barefoot to wade in a little pool full of rubber duckies to show that he chose Oregon. There was speculation that it would be his last prediction on College Gameday, but I suspect he’ll be back for one more year. Corso’s a big part of College Gameday’s history, being the last of the originals on the show. I would think ESPN would want to give him a big sendoff before Lee takes his No. 2 pencils off the show for good.

And Desmond Howard is growing into a very good analyst. I like his perspective.

Overall, the on-air talent’s grade would be a B-minus, brought down mostly by Brent’s call. Without the heavy weight of Musburger’s failing grade, the crew would have received an A for the most part.

ESPN received the highest overnight rating for the BCS National Championship Game and its production was worthy of the game. It’s too bad Brent Musburger could not step up also.

Some Quick Monday Links

I owe you linkage since last Thursday so let’s do some.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today has ESPN’s Brent Musburger saying he’ll talk less than normal during tonight’s BCS National Championship Game.

Rupal Parekh of Advertising Age notes that social media giant Groupon has bought ads in Fox’s Super Bowl XLV pregame show.

To Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy who lists the best things about HBO’s 24/7 Penguins/Capitals.

Ryan Ballengee of Pro Golf Talk suggests HBO do a 24/7 documentary surrounding a big golf event.

Dave Shedloski of Golf Digest reports that popular CBS golf analyst David Feherty will be doing some work at Golf Channel.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says tonight’s BCS National Championship Game isn’t just a battle between two schools, but between two shoe companies as well. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times previews Comedy Central and The Onion’s parody of ESPN’s SportsCenter which kicks off tomorrow night.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick for the most part praises NBC’s efforts during Wild Card Saturday.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union did not like the way one local radio station cut away from Ravens-Chiefs for a college basketball game.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times provides his thoughts on the weekend in TV sports.

Jon Solomon at the Birmingham (AL) News writes that ESPN is ready to keep up with Auburn’s and Oregon’s high powered offenses during tonight’s BCS National Championship Game.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says Fox is going to keep the Cotton Bowl in primetime for the next three years.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Packers-Eagles drew big ratings locally.

Jim Armstrong at the Denver Post says the way fans are watching the NFL is evolving over time.

John Henderson of the Post writes that fans who don’t have cable will have to find ways to watch the BCS National Championship not only tonight, but for years to come.

The Post’s Dusty Saunders says ESPN has come a long way in its 30 plus years in business.

Chris Dufrense of the Los Angeles Times writes that both ESPN and the BCS are happy with the status quo.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN is denying claims that it helps to put undue pressure on the Canadian Jr. Hockey team that lost the gold medal to Russia in the IIHF World Under 20 Championships.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog is disappointed in CTV’s airing of the NFL playoffs.

I’ll end it there for now.

ESPN is All Over The BCS National Championship Game

ESPN has produced the BCS National Championship Game before, but it has never actually had the contest on its air. Coming on Monday, it’ll make history by showing college football’s penultimate game on cable for the first time. To me, the first efforts for the Rose, Fiesta and Sugar Bowls have been nothing special. They seem to be like just another college football game, but perhaps on Monday that will change as Auburn and Oregon face off for the BCS championship. We have details on ESPN’s plans including two guest analysts.

ESPN Has the BCS National Championship Covered

Saban & Meyer Guest Analysts; ESPN’s Desmond Howard Becomes Virtual Part of the Game; First Interview with Rutgers’ LeGrand

 

ESPN’s first season of televising the entire Bowl Championship Series (BCS) will conclude with multiplatform reports, news, features, discussion and analysis of the BCS National Championship featuring No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 2 Oregon, televised on ESPN and ESPN 3D, broadcast on ESPN Radio and available on the ESPN3.com broadband platform and phones via ESPN Mobile TV Monday, Jan. 10, at 8:30 p.m. ET. ESPN has provided the most comprehensive coverage of the college football season and the BCS from opening weekend through the final game, including the debut of the weekly BCS Countdown featuring the exclusive announcement of the weekly BCS Standings.

ESPN has also provided extensive on-site studio reports and analysis across multiple shows and platforms, dedicated web pages for each bowl, re-airs of classic BCS games, international telecasts of all five games, encore presentations of the National Championship and more. Details:

Eleven Announcers to Call Game

ESPN will utilize 11 announcers across television, radio, broadband and phones to call the game. Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will work the telecast on ESPN and ESPN International as well as simulcasts on ESPN3.com and ESPN Mobile TV. ESPN Radio’s broadcast will be called by Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Joe Schad. Exclusive 3D coverage on ESPN 3D, the first 3D network to launch in the industry, will feature Joe Tessitore, Tim Brown, Todd Blackledge and Wendi Nix calling the action.

Saban and Meyer Join ESPN as Guest Analysts

Alabama coach Nick Saban and former Florida coach Urban Meyer will join ESPN as on-site studio analysts leading up to and through the BCS National Championship Game. The two two-time BCS National Championship coaches will provide analysis across SportsCenter, College GameDay, ESPNEWS, College Football Live, and pre, half-time and post-game coverage. Saban led the Crimson Tide to a BCS National Championship in 2009 and LSU to the title on 2003. Meyer, who retired as head coach of the Gators at the conclusion of the 2010 season, won BCS National Championships in 2006 and 2008.

Desmond Howard Enters the Game – Sort of

A new and innovative enhancement to the Virtual Playbook that debuted during the 3 p.m. edition of College Football Live on Wednesday, Jan. 5 allows ESPN to put analyst Desmond Howard virtually into the play he is analyzing. In a segment that was pre-shot, Howard was able to walk in and around virtual players, giving the fan an unprecedented look at the play. It was accomplished using proprietary hardware and software developed by ESPN’s emerging technology team to drive multiple X-Box development kits running a special version of EA Sport’s “NCAA Football 11.” In the past, ESPN’s virtual applications have taken the players out of the game and into the studio. The segment will continue to air across multiple platforms leading up to the game telecast.

First Interview with Injured Rutgers Player Eric LeGrand

ESPN’s Rinaldi conducted the first interview with Rutgers defensive lineman Eric LeGrand since he was paralyzed in a collision during a game against Army on Oct. 16. In the interview, scheduled to debut on ESPN on Friday, Jan. 7 during the 9 a.m. edition of SportsCenter, LeGrand told Rinaldi that he has full sensation in his entire body and movement in his shoulders. Rinaldi spoke to LeGrand at the Kessler Institute in West Orange, N.J., where he is in rehabilitation.

In the feature, LeGrand said while lying on the field at the New Meadowlands, he had “the fear of death” and that he “could pass out and die here.” He added he couldn’t do “a thumbs up” motion while on the stretcher when he was removed from the field because it felt like “1,000 pounds was on this thumb” when he tried to move it.

Doctors initially believed that he would not regain any feeling or movement below the neck, but LeGrand has exceeded their expectations. His paralysis has been diagnosed as incomplete and he has been able to breathe on his own without the use of a ventilator since late November.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said about LeGrand, “He believes that he’s going to be up and moving again. There’s no doubt in his mind.”

Studio Coverage

ESPN will provide extensive news updates, analysis, features and highlights of the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game across multiple platforms, highlighted by on-site shows and reports from Arizona, site of the game.

• SportsCenter and ESPNEWS will provide daily on-site coverage with hosts Chris Fowler, Rece Davis, Musburger, John Saunders and Tirico and analysis from Herbstreit, Jesse Palmer, Craig James, Howard, Lou Holtz, Mark May, Todd McShay, Gruden and more, and reports from Rinaldi and Nix.
• College Football Live, ESPN’s weekday college football studio show, will originate from Glendale for daily 3 p.m. shows Jan. 7 and Jan. 10, at 3 p.m. Saunders will host with analysis from Palmer and more.

Date	Time (ET)	Show	Network
Jan 6	3 p.m.	College Football Live Rece Davis hosting with multiple analysts	ESPN
Jan 7	3 p.m.	College Football Live Chris Fowler hosting with multiple analysts	ESPN
Jan 10	3 p.m.	College Football Live John Saunders hosting with multiple analysts	ESPN
	6 p.m.	College GameDay Chris Fowler, Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Jesse Palmer, Lou Holtz, Mark May, Erin Andrews & Tom Rinaldi	ESPN

Studio Coverage from Inside Stadium Jan. 10

ESPN will provide extensive day-long coverage from field-level and upper concourse sets inside University of Phoenix Stadium leading up and through the game, including:

• Segments for multiple editions of SportsCenter and College Football Live at 3 p.m.
• A special two-hour College GameDay beginning at 6 p.m. with host Fowler and analysis from Lee Corso, Herbstreit, Howard, Meyer and Saban.
• A 30-minute pre-game show beginning at 8 p.m. hosted by Chris Fowler with analysis from Corso, Howard, Meyer and Saban, and contributions from game commentators Musburger and Herbstreit.
• Fowler hosting half time with analysis from Corso, Howard, Meyer and Saban.
• Extensive post-game coverage on SportsCenter and ESPNEWS with hosts Fowler and Davis and analysts Herbstreit, Howard, Palmer, Holtz, May, Meyer and Saban.
• Reporters Rinaldi and Nix dedicated to covering Auburn and Oregon, respectively, leading up to the game.

More than 20 Straight Hours of Title Game Programming on ESPNU

ESPNU will provide more than 20 consecutive hours of BCS National Championship Game programming leading up to the game beginning Sunday, Jan. 9, at 10:30 p.m. In addition, ESPNU will offer live post-game coverage, including a special edition of The Experts (an encore presentation of the program will air Monday, Jan. 11, at 1 p.m.). Highlights include:

• The marathon coverage will conclude with a special live three-hour BCS Countdown from Glendale on Monday, Jan. 10, at 4 p.m. Saunders will host with analysis from Mike Bellotti, Palmer, David Pollack, Rod Gilmore and Tom Luginbill and reports from Lowell Galindo, Nix and Rinaldi.
• A special BCS National Championship Game edition of The Experts, originating from Scottsdale, will air on ESPN and ESPNU beginning Sunday, Jan. 9. The show will be hosted by Davis with analysts Bob Davie, Howard, James, May and McShay.
• ESPN Radio’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd, with a live simulcast on ESPNU, weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., will originate from Glendale on Monday, Jan. 10.
• ESPN will air the special one-hour editions of Road to the National Championship Game on Oregon and Auburn on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively. ESPNU will offer encore presentations Sunday, Jan. 9 and Monday, Jan. 10.

Date	Time (ET)	Game	Network
Sun, Jan 9	4 p.m.	Road to the BCS National Championship Game: Oregon	ESPN
	5 p.m.	Road to the BCS National Championship Game: Auburn	ESPN
	6 p.m.	The Experts: BCS National Championship (from Scottsdale)	ESPN
	10:30 p.m.	The Experts: BCS National Championship (from Scottsdale)	ESPNU
	11:30 p.m.	Road to the BCS National Championship Game: Oregon	ESPNU
Mon, Jan 10	12:30 a.m.	Road to the BCS National Championship Game: Auburn	ESPNU
	1:30 a.m.	South Carolina vs. Auburn	ESPNU
	3:30 a.m.	Stanford vs. Oregon	ESPNU
	6 a.m.	Road Trip: Oregon at Oregon State	ESPNU
	6:30 a.m.	Road Trip: LSU at Auburn	ESPNU
	7 a.m.	The Experts: BCS National Championship (from Scottsdale)	ESPNU
	8 a.m.	Road to the BCS National Championship Game: Oregon	ESPNU
	9 a.m.	Road to the BCS National Championship Game: Auburn	ESPNU
	10 a.m.	The Herd (Live from Glendale)	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	The Experts: BCS National Championship (from Scottsdale)	ESPNU
	2 p.m.	Road to the BCS National Championship Game: Oregon	ESPNU
	3 p.m.	Road to the BCS National Championship Game: Auburn	ESPNU
	4 p.m.	BCS Countdown (Live from Glendale)	ESPNU

ESPN International

The BCS National Championship Game will be televised live in 189 countries and approximately 235 million households on ESPN America UK and throughout Central and South America, Africa, the Caribbean, Middle East, Pacific Rim including Australia, China, India and Southeast Asia.

ESPN.com

ESPN.com will provide in-depth coverage with an individual page for the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game. Content will include an analysis of the matchup; college football-related video; keys to who, why and what to watch; and season stats, rosters and team histories. ESPN.com will also have daily features, news stories and blog posts, and key players, programs and personalities; SportsNation polls; live chats; commentary and humor from ESPN.com’s Page 2 section and more. On-site reporters for the game include Pat Forde, Ivan Maisel, Mark Schlabach, Chris Low, Ted Miller and Michael Wilbon.

ESPN Classic

ESPN Classic will provide encore presentations of four memorable BCS National Championship games in a marathon leading up to this year’s title game.

Date	Time (ET)	Game
Mon, Jan 10	9 a.m.	2000 Sugar Bowl: Florida State vs. Virginia Tech
	11 a.m.	2003 Fiesta Bowl: Ohio State vs. Miami
	2 p.m.	2006 Rose Bowl: USC vs. Texas
	5 p.m.	2010 BCS National Championship: Texas vs. Alabama

As part of a four-year agreement with the BCS, ESPN will provide exclusive worldwide telecasts, radio broadcasts, digital content and more for the five BCS games from January 2011 through January 2014. It will mark the first time ESPN has televised BCS games. ESPN Radio has broadcast every BCS game since 2000. ESPN3.com will simulcast ESPN’s telecasts.

There you have it.

Sugar Bowl Scores In Overnights for ESPN

Another BCS game and another impressive overnight rating on cable. The 8.4 overnight rating for last night’s Sugar Bowl between Ohio State and Arkansas, a nailbiter in the second half, turned out to be just 3% lower than last year’s game, played on New Year’s night on Fox). So while the ratings are lower than what they were on network TV, ESPN still has to be satisfied that fans are finding the games. It turns out to the be second highest overnight rating for a college football game on the network.

The details are below.

Sugar Bowl: ESPN’s Second-Best College Football Overnight Ever

Record College Football Audience for ESPN3.com

The Allstate Sugar Bowl earned an 8.4 overnight rating on ESPN, according to Nielsen, the second-highest overnight rating for college football in ESPN history. The game, a 31-26 Ohio State win over Arkansas, trails only last week’s Rose Bowl Game (11.7), and all four BCS telecasts this month are among ESPN’s top six college football overnights ever.

The 8.4 overnight rating – which only represents television viewership – is 17% higher than last year’s Orange Bowl (Iowa – Georgia Tech, 7.2), played on the equivalent Tuesday night, and three percent lower than last year’s Sugar Bowl (8.7, Florida-Cincinnati, played on New Year’s night).

On ESPN3.com, the game was watched by more than 248,000 unique viewers for a total of close to 15.8 million minutes consumed, making it the most unique viewers ever for a college football game on ESPN3.com. Thus far, three of the top five college football games based on most unique viewers came from this year’s BCS bowl games (Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl).  

Across ESPN’s digital platforms (ESPN.com, ESPN Mobile Web & ScoreCenter App, and ESPN3.com), January 4 saw 106.7 million total minutes of usage to college football content across, an average of 74,000 users per minute. Highlights for the day include ESPN.com’s 14.9 million visits, 34.8 million page views and 69.5 million total minutes, increases of 29 percent, 35 percent and 39 percent, respectively from the same Tuesday in 2010. Additionally, college football content on the ESPN Mobile Web generated 6.1 million visits (up 71 percent), 12.2 million page views (up 54 percent) and 19.8 million total minutes (up 148%).

Season to date, bowl games on ESPN3.com have delivered close to 124 million minutes consumed, up 183 percent vs. last year.

Tuesday’s game drew large television audiences in particular markets, led by Columbus (46.2), Dayton (27.6), Birmingham (25.7), Cleveland (25.1), New Orleans (25.0) and Memphis (16.3). There is no metered market in Arkansas. The rating in Columbus is the highest for college football ever on ESPN or ESPN2 in that market (records begin in 2000) and is the highest for any market during the current bowl season.

We have more stuff coming. Keep it here.

Orange Bowl Draws Same Overnight Rating on ESPN As On Fox Last Year

Last night’s Orange Bowl which became a second half blowout as Stanford took out Virginia Tech, drew a 7.1 overnight rating on ESPN. Almost the same as last year on Fox. This becomes the third best college football overnight rating in ESPN’s history. We have your press release from ESPN.

Orange Bowl: ESPN’s Third-Best College Football Overnight

Third Biggest College Football Audience for ESPN3.com

The Orange Bowl, last night’s decisive 40-12 victory by Stanford over Virginia Tech, earned a 7.1 overnight rating, the third highest for college football in ESPN history, according to Nielsen. ESPN’s three BCS telecasts have each cracked the top five; the top two remain the Rose Bowl on January 1 (11.7) and the USC-Ohio State contest on September 12, 2009 (7.2).

The 7.1 overnight rating – which only represents television viewership – marks a 20 percent increase over the 5.9 two years ago (Virginia Tech 20, Cincinnati 7).  The 2011 overnight rating is down just one percent from the 7.2 for last year’s Orange Bowl (Iowa 24, Georgia Tech 14).  

On ESPN3.com, the game was watched by more than 182,000 unique viewers for a total of more 10.2 million total minutes consumed, an average of 56 minutes per viewer. In terms of unique viewers, the game ranks third all time for college football games on ESPN3.com.

Across ESPN’s digital platforms (ESPN.com, ESPN Mobile Web & ScoreCenter App, and ESPN3.com), January 3 saw 88.8 million total minutes of usage and nearly 62,000 users per minute.  The day’s results are highlighted by ESPN.com’s 14.1 million visits, 33.3 million page views and 61.3 million total minutes to college football content, increases of 18 percent, 23 percent and 21 percent, respectively from the same Monday in 2010.  

Additionally, college football content on the ESPN Mobile Web generated 5.5 million visits (up 66 percent), 11.1 million page views (up 50 percent) and 16 million total minutes (up 72 percent).  For the 2010-11 bowl season to date, fans have enjoyed 1.8 million hours of action on ESPN3.com, an increase of 149 percent from last year.

Monday’s game drew large television audiences in particular markets, led by Richmond-Petersburg (16.7), Birmingham (15.6), Norfolk (15.6) and Columbus (13.6).

ESPN & the BCS

ESPN’s first year of exclusive coverage of the five BCS matchups will continue tonight, Tuesday, Jan. 4, with the Sugar Bowl between Ohio State and Arkansas and will climax with Auburn and Oregon meeting in the BCS National Championship Game from Glendale, Ariz., on Monday, Jan. 10. Overall, ESPN, ESPN Radio and ESPN3.com will present all five BCS Bowl games and ESPN 3D is providing exclusive 3D coverage of two BCS contests (Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship Game).

In addition, ESPN is providing extensive on-site studio programming and reports across multiple shows and platforms, dedicated web pages for each bowl, re-airs of classic BCS games, international telecasts of all five games, encore presentations of the National Championship and more.

ESPN’s year-round commitment to college football includes more than 400 games, culminating with 33 bowls, and approximately 200 million people tuned in to college football 2010 regular-season coverage on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC.

More coming up.

Rose Bowl Gets ESPN’s Biggest Ratings ‘Cept For NFL

The ratings may have been down from ABC in 2010, but for cable, these are stellar numbers and they are the biggest for a college football game on ESPN. The Alleged Worldwide Leader says the viewership numbers are the same from 2009.

On Saturday, the Rose Bowl garnered a 13.1 rating with just over 20.5 million viewers which are pretty staggering for cable and this becomes the third highest audience for cable ever.

ESPN’s Rose Bowl: Cable’s Third-Biggest Audience

Highest Rating Ever on ESPN outside NFL Games

ESPN’s first year of televising the entire BCS began with the Rose Bowl garnering third biggest audience in the history of cable television. TCU’s 21-19 victory over Wisconsin earned a 13.1 rating in ESPN’s coverage area (11.3 US rating), according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen, representing an average of 13,054,000 households (20,558,000 viewers, P2+). Only two ESPN Monday Night Football games top those household and audience numbers ever on cable television. 

On ESPN3.com, the game averaged 71,436 viewers on ESPN3.com, and reached 214,000 unique viewers and a college football live game season-high 13.9 million total minutes of viewing.

The Rose Bowl was seen on ESPN by virtually the same number of people as in 2009 and slightly more than 2008. Two years ago, the game received an 11.7 rating on ABC (Penn State-USC); in 2008 it earned an 11.1 (Illinois-USC).

Overnight ratings from the metered markets show extremely strong local results:  Milwaukee (30.0), Birmingham (28.8), Columbus (26.3) and Dallas (20.1).

In addition, that night’s Fiesta Bowl on ESPN, Oklahoma’s 48-20 victory over Connecticut which won the night as the most –watched of all programs (broadcast or cable), earned a 7.1 rating (6.2 US rating). The audience of 7,129,000 homes and 10,819,000 viewers, ranks fourth and second, respectively, in ESPN history (excluding NFL games). Two markets in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City (35.1) and Tulsa (30.7), led the metered markets, followed by Hartford/New Haven (18.4).

There you have it. The numbers don’t lie.

Bringing In The Monday Links

Lots of things to get to today. I hope to get everything in during one long linkfest, but if I can’t, I’ll try to do it in multiple parts.

We begin with USA Today’s Mike McCarthy who says despite the ratings being down for the Rose and Fiesta Bowls as ESPN takes over the games from ABC and Fox, respectively, the viewership was actually right at the same level from last year, which suits ESPN just fine.

Mike talks with ESPN’s Jeannine Edwards who clarifies the story that SportsbyBrooks had this weekend over her confrontation with Ron Franklin before last week’s Chick-Fil-A Bowl. If you don’t know, Franklin apparently called Edwards “asshole” after first sarcastically calling her “Sweet Baby.” Franklin was then removed from his next assignment, the Fiesta Bowl on ESPN Radio which he would have worked with Edwards. And this isn’t the first time Franklin has had an incident with a female sideline reporter, getting demoted after the 2005 following an on-air incident with Holly Rowe.

James O’Brien at Pro Hockey Talk says the NHL Winter Classic is the most watched NHL regular season game since 1975!

Sports Business Daily wraps up the media reaction to the Winter Classic.

At Sports Business Journal, Terry Lefton and John Ourand speak with several sports industry executives about what they foresee for sports in 2011.

Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy looks at NBC’s high flying cameras utilized at the Winter Classic. 

Bob’s Blitz has the video of ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Hannah Storm celebrating the firing of Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini during SportsCenter this morning. It has to be seen to be believed.

Kimberly Nordyke of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the Rose Bowl ratings being down from last year being on ESPN as compared to ABC, but the game still set a cable viewing record.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable says a West Palm Beach, FL sports radio station which has been producing a nightly sportscast for the local NBC affiliate, now adds the local Fox TV station to its portfolio.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News writes that the WWE is bringing back its “Tough Enough” reality series to USA Network.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing gets a coup and interviews Screamin’ Gus Johnson.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir says the Rose and Fiesta Bowl’s ratings may have been down from last year when they were on broadcast TV, but they set records for ESPN on cable.

Newsday’s Neil Best has some random thoughts regarding the sports weekend on TV.

Being interrupted. Check this space for more links later in the day.

UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.: Time for some more linkage now.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy has ESPN’s Ron Franklin apologizing for his actions regarding Jeannine Edwards from last week. 

ABC News is reporting that two former New York Jets message therapists will be filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against Brett Favre.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh has plenty of leverage for his next job.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says Golf Channel is looking for higher ratings in 2011. 

Nick Bromberg of Yahoo’s From the Marbles blog notes that ratings all but five NASCAR Sprint Cup races fell in 2010.

Wayne Friedman of MediaPost notes that while TV manufacturers are rushing out 3-D TV’s on the market, consumers aren’t rushing out to buy them.

The Schenectady Gazette’s Ken Schott was not impressed with the debut of a new talk show earlier today.

Ken says the move of the NHL Winter Classic to primetime due to rain turned out to be a good one for NBC.

Evan Weiner from the New Jersey Newsroom says the four major sports leagues face some very interesting times in 2011. 

Laura Nachman says the Philadelphia NBC affiliate has a new news reporter who can do sports.

Dan Stefano of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the Penguins are sad to see HBO’s cameras go.

Karen Price of the Tribune-Review writes that the NHL Winter Classic is a true ratings hit.

Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the Steel City’s new ESPN Radio affiliate started broadcasting today. 

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun says CBS aired too many promos during the Bengals-Ravens game on Sunday.

Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog goes inside DC’s ratings for the NHL Winter Classic.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner also talks about the NHL Winter Classic’s ratings.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times has a look at a busy weekend in TV sports.

Barry Horn from the Dallas Morning News has the Metroplex’s rating for the Rose Bowl.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes about former local sports anchor Chris Wragge who is now hosting CBS’ The Early Show.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Packers pulled a big rating on Sunday.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business is predicting labor strife in 2011.

LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says Fox Sports North takes a three part inside look at the area’s sports teams.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says ESPN has made Monday Night Football into a cable ratings giant.

John Henderson of the Post writes that the BCS has ruined the tradition of watching bowl games on New Year’s Day and I’ll agree with this. No juice for college football anymore.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune notes that the Utah Jazz’s TV ratings are way up this season.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the peace between Canadian media giants Rogers Communications and Bell Globalmedia is going to be tested this year.

Sports Media Watch says Fox Sports finished the NFL regular season on an up note.

SMW notes that NBC had its best overnight ratings for an NFL season finale.

But Paulsen tells us that CBS’ ratings for its final NFL doubleheader of the season finished down from last season.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media reports that Versus will pick up the NHL All-Star Game Fantasy Draft later this month.

And that’s where we’ll end it for today.

Rose Bowl Sets Cable Overnight Rating For Bowl Game; Fiesta Bowl Beats NHL Winter Classic

The numbers for the Rose and Fiesta Bowl are in and they are good for ESPN. Overall, they’re down considerably from when they were on broadcast TV last year, but ESPN doesn’t care. They still beat the ratings on both broadcast and cable on Saturday. Both beat the Winter Classic by wide margins.

ESPN’s Rose Bowl Sets Cable Ratings Mark

Fiesta Bowl on ESPN Wins The Night For All Television; ESPN Digital Traffic Up Dramatically

ESPN kicked off 2011 with the first two BCS bowl games capping a memorable day of programming that generated record metered market overnight television ratings and strong digital traffic. According to Nielsen, The Rose Bowl in which TCU defeated Wisconsin 21-19, delivered an 11.7, the highest overnight rating (excluding NFL) for ESPN and for all of cable television on record. Note: ESPN’s overnight ratings records for the cable industry date back to 2001.

Also, ESPN’s coverage of the Fiesta Bowl (Oklahoma’s 48-20 victory over Connecticut) won the night among all programs (broadcast or cable), generating a 6.7 rating. The Rose Bowl (#1) and Fiesta Bowl (#4) are now two of ESPN’s top four college football overnight ratings on record.

In terms of digital numbers, January 1 saw 134.7 million total minutes of usage to college football content across ESPN.com, ESPN Mobile Web & ScoreCenter App, and ESPN3.com (according to Omniture). That translates to 94,000 users per minute consuming college football content across ESPN’s major digital properties. Highlights include ESPN.com’s five million visits, 35 million page views and 59.2 million total minutes on Jan.1, increases of 17%, 24% and 31%, respectively from January 1, 2010. Additionally, ESPN Mobile Web generated 8.8 million visits (up 49%), 18.5 million page views (up 41%) and 35.3 million total minutes (up 42%).Lastly, ESPN3.com saw 418,000 unique viewers and 34.6 million total minutes spent with college football games on January 1, highlighted by 214,000 unique viewers (and a college football live game season-high 13.9 million total minutes of viewing) for the Rose Bowl.

More stuff to be posted throughout the day. Keep it here. It’s going to be busy. Strap in and hold on tight. Don’t worry, I’m home now.

Some New Year’s Day Links

On this New Year’s Day during it which seems college football is quite irrelevant. That’s what the BCS National Champion Game has done, made any New Year’s Day bowl games totally forgettable. And you have some weak matchups in the Rose and Fiesta Bowls tonight so I’m not all that excited about the games. And with the NHL Winter Classic postponed until tonight, this might be the event needed to make New Year’s Day into a great day for hockey. Seriously.

And as long as Pierre McGuire isn’t allowed to do the game tonight, even better.

Let’s give you some linkage now.

At Fanhouse, NHL writer Christopher Botta who can’t get a credential for a New York Islanders game, but can for the Winter Classic, talks about the debut of Cablecam for tonight’s game in Pittsburgh.

Fanhouse’s Milton Kent says this week’s Stanford upset of UConn to end their 90 game winning streak set a women’s college basketball ratings record for ESPN2.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable notes that Hearst TV stations have avoided being pulled from DirecTV. 

Meanwhile, Northwest Broadcasting stations in four smaller markets have been taken off DirecTV systems.

Marcus Vanderberg from SportsNewser discusses how the NHL decided to postpone the Winter Classic until tonight.

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times facetiously lists seven events that won’t happen this year.

Newsday has the Best of Neil Best’s blog from this week.

Neil also discusses the migration of the BCS from over the air TV to cable.

Neil also provides some sports media predictions for 2011.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that two area natives were cited by Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch in his year-end media column.

The Buffalo News reports that Sinclair Broadcasting has agreed to an extension with Time Warner Cable to keep its stations on the provider temporarily.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner says a primetime NHL Winter Classic is actually a very good break for NBC.

Jim provides a few sports media predictions of his own.

Barry Jackson from the Miami Herald lists his best and worst sports media stories of 2010.

Barry Horn at the Dallas Morning News discusses today’s bowl games on TV.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle pays tribute to the late Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan.

Ed Sherman from Crain’s Chicago Business reviews the year in sports business and media.

Dan Caesar of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch also reviews 2010′s biggest stories in the Gateway City and beyond.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News looks behind some of the decisions behind NFL games shown in SoCal.

Tom also looks at some of the events from the past week.

Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times feels the NBC-Comcast merger does not serve the public interest.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail looks at how the NHL found its signature event.

Paulsen who always does great work at Sports Media Watch goes through his top 20 sports media stories of 2010 here, here, here, here, and finally here.

Paulsen also reviews his sports media predictions from last year.

SMW provides its predictions for 2011.

Former Washington Times reporter Mark Zuckerman at the Nats blog looks at what has happened to the entire Times sports staff which was let go at this time last year.

Steve Lepore from Puck The Media lists the best and worst in hockey media in 2010.

Joe Favorito talks about the Harlem Globetrotters still going strong.

I’ll end it there for now.

Some Quick Wednesday Linkage

Ok, this may turn out to be a busy day for me so I’m going to try to sneak some links in. You may see this in multiple parts so here goes.

We’ll begin with Tom Weir in USA Today’s Game On blog discussing Tucker Carlson of Fox News wanting Michael Vick executed?

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says ESPN is not anticipating too much of a ratings hit as it takes over the BCS from Fox this season.

Kimberly Nordyke of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the Monday Night Football finale was the most watched program on cable this year.

We continue with more links.

This is a shameless plug, but how many of these do I make in a year? Head on over to BallHyped and vote for me for Sports Blog of the Year. I have no shot to win, but make my results respectable. I greatly appreciate it. You can vote for as many as three so if you feel there’s another blog that’s just as deserving, vote for that one too.

Sports Business Daily says some weak matchups could hurt the BCS’ ratings on ESPN.

Andrea Morabito of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Sunday Night Football on Tuesday night did very well in the ratings.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the 2010 Monday Night Football finale helped ESPN to set a ratings record.

Mike says the Outdoor Channel is set to premiere some new series including four picked up from ESPN’s now-canceled Outdoors block.

From Fox Sports, Brian Lowry says in 2010, sports and sports media had their fill of scandal.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell speaks with the CEO of New Era about sponsoring the Pinstripe Bowl and its sponsorship deal with the NFL.

Darren talks about the Coors Light NFL coaches ads which end their run after this season. 

Jon Bershad of SportsGrid has Los Angeles sportswriter Kevin Ding accusing an ESPNews anchor of lifting his material verbatim. Uh oh.

We continue with SportsGrid’s Top Sports Media Gaffes of 2010 and #4 is the Karen Owen Duke Sex List. Who could forget that?

And #3 is Ines Sainz and the alleged harassment by the New York Jets.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks about the weather which could wreak havoc on the NHL Winter Classic.

Also from the Times, George Vescey says while Mike Singletary is no longer coach of the San Francisco 49ers, the David Letterman sketch featuring a faux Singletary will continue.

Newsday’s Neil Best has Kenny Albert’s adventure getting from St. Louis to Newark, NJ in the midst of this weekend’s Great Blizzard.

Neil says his appearance along with three other sports media critics on SNY last week did respectively well in the sports cable ratings in New York.

I’ve been interrupted again. I’ve been trying to start the links up again since lunch time and I just can’t get it done. Too many starts and stops. I hope to finish up tonight.

It’s the Sunday Links

Ok, been a crazy morning. Now that everything with New York Giants-Minnesota has been worked out, I can move on to other things. Let’s do your linkage.

At ESPN.com, Greg Garber looks back at NBC’s experiment of an announcerless NFL game 30 years ago. 

Tim Graham at ESPN.com also has a story on the experiment.

Phil Swann of TV Predictions says DirecTV could pull 30 Hearst TV stations including ones in Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Hawaii, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and several other markets if the two sides don’t come to an agreement.

The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn takes a close look at the city’s sports radio war between 98.5 The Sports Hub and long-time incumbent WEEI.

Alan Schwarz of the New York Times says the NFL has an advocate on helmet-to-helmet hits in NBC’s Cris Collinsworth.

Also from the Times, Richard Sandomir says some recent film and audio finds helped to augment the new HBO Sports/NFL Films documentary on the late Vince Lombardi.

Bob Raissman from the New York Daily News says the NHL is hopeful that HBO’s 24/7 series will bring new fans to the sport.

Ralph Vacchiano of the Daily News describes how the New York Giants-Minnesota Vikings game got moved from Sunday to Monday then from Minneapolis to Detroit.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick has plenty of bluster today.

Newsday’s Neil Best who’s traveling to the New York Giants-Minnesota game today, breaks news that Jenn Sterger will finally break her silence to ESPN/ABC.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union notees that Giants-Vikings will be aired in New York, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Rochester, MN, but what about the Capital Region?

Pete explains why he didn’t vote for Auburn quarterback Cam Newton for the Heisman Trophy.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette says the Giants-Vikings game won’t be seen in Albany upsetting many fans in the Capital Region.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with the vice president of espnW on whether the network can appeal to women.

Jerry Garcia from the San Antonio Express-News notes that there have been times when the NFL has had to move games to Monday night.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that ESPN assigns Brent Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit to the Rose Bowl and BCS National Championship Game.

Bob wonders if Brett Favre will play in tomorrow’s Giants-Vikings game with extra time to heal.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has a photo gallery showing the Metrodome’s collapsed roof.

Dennis McGrath from the Star Tribune has a story on Giants-Vikings moving to Detroit from the Twin Cities. 

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily news writes that college football might be running out of sponsors for its bowl games.

Geoff Baker at the Seattle Times writes about the memorial service for original Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus.

Sports Media Watch has its Weekend Ratings Predictions.

And that will end our links for today.

Some Mid-Week Links

Let’s do some links on this Wednesday. I may do more this evening.

First, Sports Business Daily points out that Monday Night Football received the 5th highest audience on cable this year.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks about ESPN’s plethora of bowls and discusses Captain Blowhard doing commentary on an NBA game this Friday.

Barry Bloom at MLB.com writes that former Montreal Expos voice and current Florida Marlins radio play-by-play Dave Van Horne has won the Ford C. Frick Award and will be inducted into the broadcaster’s wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Milton Kent of Fanhouse says Monday Night Football doesn’t have that special feeling like it used to.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with NCAA President Mark Emmert about not paying student athletes.

Anthony Crupi at Mediaweek discusses Monday Night Football’s ratings.

As Howard Cosell, Richard Sandomir in the New York Times remembers Don Meredith.

To Newsday and Neil Best who writes how Frank Gifford helped to transition Don Meredith from the football field to the TV booth.

Neil notes that Frank and Dandy Don actually acted in a play together.

Neil wondered why Fran Tarkenton was in the Monday Night Football booth the night that John Lennon was shot 30 year ago.

Neil reviews HBO’s documentary on the late Vince Lombardi.

Neil wonders why we’re seeing a lot of Vince Lombardi lately.

This is like the old days when I used to link to Neil a lot. Glad that Newsday.com is open for a month.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that ESPN has created yet another college basketball event.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit who’s happy that the BCS is back in the Alleged Worldwide Leader’s fold.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News is disappointed Texas Rangers voice Eric Nadel did not win the Ford C. Frick Award.

Barry has NBC’s Rodney Harrison singing the praises of Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.

I’ll finish the linkage later tonight. This should tie you over.

ESPN’s Complete 2010-11 Bowl Schedule With Announcing Teams

Ok, since the bowl matchups were announced on Sunday, I’ve been waiting for this press release. I even sent an e-mail to ESPN which went unanswered, but no big deal. We have the schedule for all 33 bowl games on the ESPN Family of Networks including the Mothership, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN 3D. ABC gets just one bowl. ESPN Radio will have 23 of the 33 games.

Of course, Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit will call the Rose Bowl and the BCS National Championship Game. The Monday Night Football crew of Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Jon “This Guy” Gruden will call the Orange Bowl. Tirico and Gruden will team up to call the BCS National Championship Game on radio. In addition, Tirico and Gruden will call the Outback Bowl on ABC, January 1. So you have some announcing highlights. Let’s get some more from the press release below.

ESPN’s 33 College Football Bowl Games Highlighted by Entire BCS

ESPN’s comprehensive and in-depth college football bowl coverage – highlighted by the entire Bowl Championship Series on ESPN for the first time – will include approximately 70 commentators, analysts and reporters calling 33 bowl games across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Radio and ESPN 3D. ESPN3.com will offer a live simulcast of every ESPN and ESPN2 telecast, including all five BCS games.

As part of an extensive four-year agreement with the Bowl Championship Series that begins this season, ESPN will provide exclusive worldwide telecasts, radio broadcasts, digital content and more for the five BCS games from January 2011 through January 2014. It will mark the first time ESPN has televised BCS games. ESPN Radio has broadcast every BCS game since 2000. 

The schedule will kick off with an ESPN tripleheader Saturday, Dec. 18: the New Mexico Bowl (BYU vs. UTEP) at 2 p.m. ET, Humanitarian Bowl (Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State) at 5:30 p.m. and New Orleans Bowl (Ohio vs. Troy) at 9 p.m. 

Schedule Highlights

• ESPN will cover a network record 29 bowl games, highlighted by the five BCS bowls. 
• ESPN’s New Year’s Day lineup will include a game across four networks at the same time. 
• ESPNU will televise the TicketCity Bowl (Northwestern vs. Texas Tech) at noon, ESPNU’s first bowl telecast. 
• ESPN and ABC will each cover a game at 1 p.m.: the Capital One Bowl (No. 16 Alabama vs. No. 9 Michigan State) on ESPN and Outback Bowl (Florida vs. Penn State) on ABC. 
• ESPN2 will televise the Gator Bowl (No. 21 Mississippi State vs. Michigan) at 1:30 p.m. 
• ESPN Radio will broadcast 23 bowl games, including all five BCS matchups, highlighted by the BCS National Championship game. 
• ESPN 3D, ESPN’s newest outlet and the first 3D network to launch in the industry, will provide exclusive 3D coverage of the Fiesta Bowl and BCS National Championship Game. 
• An ESPN platform will televise at least one game a day for 17 out of the 21 days from Dec. 21 to Jan. 10. 
• ESPN, ESPN3.com and ESPN Radio will cover all seven ESPN Regional Television owned-and-operated bowl games: the New Mexico Bowl (Saturday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m.), St. Petersburg Bowl (Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 8 p.m.); Las Vegas Bowl (Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m.); Hawaii Bowl (Friday, Dec. 24, at 8 p.m.); Texas Bowl (Wednesday, Dec. 29, at 6 p.m.); Armed Forces Bowl (Thursday, Dec. 30, at noon); and Compass Bowl (Saturday, Jan. 8, at 8 p.m.). 

Commentator Highlights 

• Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will work ESPN’s telecast of the BCS National Championship Game (Jan. 10 at 8:30 p.m.) while Monday Night Football announcers Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden, who will be joined by reporter Joe Schad, will call ESPN Radio’s broadcast of the game. ESPN 3D’s coverage will be called by Joe Tessitore, Tim Brown, Todd Blackledge and Wendi Nix. 

It will mark Musburger and Herbstreit’s fourth consecutive BCS National Championship, the first two for ESPN Radio and last year’s ABC telecast from the Rose Bowl. Tirico, Gruden and Nix worked last year’s title matchup for ESPN Radio. 

• Musburger and Herbstreit will also serve as the announcers of ESPN’s telecast of the Rose Bowl with Andrews and the Las Vegas Bowl with Rinaldi. 
• In addition to the title game, Tirico and Gruden will work two ESPN telecasts: the Orange Bowl, with Monday Night Football booth colleague Ron Jaworski and NFL reporter Michele Tafoya, and the Outback Bowl with NFL reporter Suzy Kolber. 
• The “overtime award” will go to Bill Rosinski, David Norrie and Joe Schad, who will call seven games for ESPN Radio, six of them as a team. 
• ESPN commentator Dave Lamont and analyst JC Pearson will pair to work five games across television and radio from Dec. 18-30.

And after the jump, the complete ESPN bowl schedule.

That will do it.