Fang's Bites

Our Monday Linkage

Time for some Monday links. Let’s get to them.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with CBS Evening News anchorman Scott Pelley about interviewing President Obama for the network’s Super Bowl coverage and also reviews the performances of the NFL “B” analysts during the weekend.

Michael Smith and John Ourand at Sports Business Journal note that the Atlantic Coast Conference is exploring the potential of a new league-owned network.

Chris Chase of USA Today’s Game On blog reports that tennis superstar Maria Sharapova has joined Twitter.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today talks with ESPN’s Hannah Storm about returning to SportsCenter this week after the holiday season grilling fire that left her singed.

Hiestand also talks with Michelle Beadle about her upcoming show on NBC Sports Network.

UK journalist David Walsh who was the first writer to investigate disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong after his first Tour de France “win”, has an article in the Sunday Times looking back at his long journey.

Ed Sherman in The Sherman Report notes that the Times placed an ad in the Chicago Tribune calling on Oprah Winfrey to ask certain questions to Armstrong when they tape their “interview” this week. Here’s a closeup look at the ad courtesy of Deadspin.

Ed interviews Dana Jacobson of CBS Sports Radio.

Philiana Ng of the Hollywood Reporter says USA Network and the NFL will team up for their second annual special that will air after the Super Bowl.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says the NHL is back.

Christopher Heine of Adweek writes that Lincoln has shot a social media-driven spot that will air during Super Bowl XLVII.

Brian Steinberg from Advertising Age says social media might be spoiling Super Bowl advertisers’ suspense and full impact.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times talks about Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Emrick calling a girls’ 12-and-under game last week.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post wants to know why Lance Armstrong thought he could cheat and get away with it.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says no one is happier about the end of the NHL Lockout than NBC.

In an upset, David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun actually has some praise for CBS’ Dan Dierdorf from Saturday’s Ravens-Broncos game.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that the much-maligned Vinny Cerrato is part of CBS Sports Radio’s weekend lineup.

Dan notes that Fox Sports Radio’s Steve Czaban has quit Twitter cold turkey.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks about ESPN2′s Australian Open coverage which will run late into the night.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times has a review of the weekend in sports TV.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says Texans-Patriots drew big numbers in H-Town.

John Kiesewetter at the Cincinnati Enquirer says Time Warner Cable is picking up college basketball games from Sports Time Ohio.

Bob Wolfley with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the NFL playoffs played big in Sudstown.

Paul M. Banks of Chicago Sports Media Watch says Comcast SportsNet is tapping a Milwaukee sports reporter to fill a position.

The Denver Post’s Dusty Saunders writes that Ravens-Broncos got big numbers in the Rocky Mountain region.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has this week’s SoCal sports calendar.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says Americans shouldn’t expect to see small market NHL teams on NBC.

Brad Gagnon of Awful Announcing has the grades for the NFL’s top broadcasting teams.

Because I’ve been in and out today, I’m finally getting the links to you after 6 p.m. I have been trying to get these up since before 11 a.m.

CBS Sports Radio To Be All Over Super Bowl XLVII

With the launch of CBS Sports Radio last week, one of the events made for the network is the Super Bowl. And with CBS being a rightsholder both on TV and through radio (albeit through Dial Global Sports), CBS Sports Radio does have some added access for the Big Game this year.

All of its weekday shows, except for Farrell on the Bench and Damon Amendolara will be live from New Orleans, providing listeners a flavor of what’s happening on Radio Row from the Super Bowl.

Noted shows like TBD (Brandon Tierney, Tiki Barber and Dana Jacobson), John Feinstein, Jim Rome and Doug Gottlieb will have their programs originating from the Big Easy and you’ll hear guests throughout the week who will give their opinion about the Super Bowl or plug products.

Some 75 hours will be produced from New Orleans on CBS Sports Radio and also includes selected weekend shows.

Here’s the CBS Sports Radio release.

CBS SPORTS RADIO TAKES THE SHOW ON THE ROAD BROADCASTING NEARLY 75 HOURS OF PROGRAMMING FROM SUPER BOWL XLVII IN NEW ORLEANS

Live Coverage From Tiki Barber, Brandon Tierney, Dana Jacobson, John Feinstein, Jim Rome and Doug Gottlieb

CBS Sports Radio, the newly created national radio network available on more than 250 stations across the country with in excess of 10 million listeners, is going on the road with a wide range of programming originating from New Orleans in anticipation of the CBS Television Network’s exclusive broadcast of Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, February 3.

Beginning on Monday, Jan. 28 (6:00AM, ET) with the morning show featuring Tiki Barber, Brandon Tierney and Dana Jacobson, CBS Sports Radio will present a daily all-access look at the world’s biggest sporting event with expert analysis and commentary, an array of athlete and celebrity interviews, conversations with Hall of Famers, present and former coaches, and newsmakers, as well as extensive fan interaction and listener exchanges.

Broadcasts continue with John Feinstein (9:00AM-12:00Noon, ET), Jim Rome (12:00Noon-3:00PM, ET) and Doug Gottlieb (3:00-6:00PM) live from Radio Row at the Super Bowl XLVII media center.  All CBS Sports Radio programs will originate from CBS’s dedicated broadcast position alongside select CBS Sports Network shows, a number of CBS RADIO’s all-sports radio stations including WFAN-AM/FM (New York), WSCR-AM (Chicago), KRLD-FM (Dallas), WBZ-FM (Boston), and WIP-FM (Philadelphia), among other Top 25 outlets, as well as CBSSports.com.

Additionally, a variety of shows will broadcast from New Orleans live on Saturday, Feb. 2 and Sunday, Feb. 3, including programs hosted by CBS Sports Radio hosts Tierney and John Kincade.

“All of our shows are off to a great start and we are eagerly anticipating being on site for the world’s biggest sporting event,” said Eric Spitz, Director, Programming, CBS Sports Radio. “What makes radio so captivating is its ability to react in real time to the day’s news and events, and get up close and personal with callers and guests. And nothing matches the excitement and spectacle of the Super Bowl. With this winning combination, we intend to capture the enthusiasm of Super Bowl week and give our listeners the feeling they are in the center of the action.”

That’s it for this post.

Sports Media Weekly Podcast No. 133 — Super Bowl XLVII on CBS Preview

This podcast featured three, count ‘em, three guest segments, all coming courtesy of CBS Sports and CBS Sports Radio. Those segments were quite good. You can ignore the news of the week segment as I had a touch of the flu and sounded horrible. It’s not long though.

Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal and I talked about the BCS Championship Game numbers on ESPN, ESPN’s apology for Brent Musburger’s comments on Miss Alabama, Katherine Webb, ESPN not renewing Rob Parker’s contract for comments he made about DC NFL Team quarterback Robert Griffin III and we talked about viewership numbers for NFL Wild Card Weekend.

Our guest segments from CBS Super Bowl Media Day from Tuesday are:

Sean McManus, Chairman of CBS Sports
Dana Jacobson and Brandon Tierney of CBS Sports Radio
Greg Gumbel, CBS Sports (with Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union)

It was a great experience to be at CBS for this event and I thank the fine people at CBS Sports Public Relations for their help in the interviews.

You can find the interviews at iTunes by doing a search for “Sports Media Weekly” or you can listen right away

The Big Dozen Sports Media Stories of 2012

Time for the look back at the Year in Sports Media in 2012. Lots of great stuff. The year has been very interesting and we have seen a lot of things.

Just doing a Top Ten is never enough for the Year in Review. It’s always an even dozen with some honorable mentions mixed in.

Let’s go over what were the Sports Media Stories of 2012.

12. Embrace Debate Leads To Rob Parker Suspension

One of the silliest stories in 2012 was ESPN’s commitment to debate programming. Two shows were revamped to accommodate more debate among ESPN personalities, First Take and Numbers Never Lie. Due to outrageous statements made on First Take, mostly by Skip Bayless, the show received lots of attention and increased ratings. But the pressure to stand out may have caught up with Rob Parker who questioned whether DC NFL Team quarterback Robert Griffin III’s authenticity.

It led to Parker’s suspension and allegedly more oversight over the shows. We’ll see if it leads to some more control and fewer outrageous statements.

11. Steve Sabol (1942-2012)

One of the pioneers in sports television passed away in 2012. Steve Sabol’s impact on the National Football League’s popularity through NFL Films cannot be measured. With his father Ed, the Sabols brought fans closer to the game by thinking outside the box. Games weren’t just regular contests, they became movies with Hollywood production values and full orchestrations. Instead of showing games from high in the stadium, NFL Films went to field level and made extreme closeups of the players. In addition, Ed and Steve introduced slow motion photography to sports.

In 2011, Ed Sabol was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It would behoove voters to induct Steve sometime soon to join his dad.

10. Big Media Taps Into New Media

2012 saw Turner Sports purchased the much-criticized and now-improving Bleacher Report, USA Today buying Big Lead Sports and NBC Sports aligned itself with Yahoo! Sports. This is more than getting pageviews and improving comScores, this is about expanding portfolios and attracting younger audiences. According to comScore, Yahoo! has been the most popular sports news site for several years outpacing ESPN.com. Bleacher Report may get criticized for its multiple and questionable slideshows, but its hiring of some respected editors and writers have increased the quality of the site to the point where Turner Sports purchased the site for beaucoup bucks. And I have to make this disclaimer, Fang’s Bites is an independently-owned blog that is affiliated with USA Today Media Group. We will see more purchases in 2013.

9. NASCAR Renews with Fox

Fox Sports was the first of NASCAR’s TV partners to renew its ties with the sport taking the first half of the Sprint Cup season. For an estimated pricetag of over $2.4 billion through 2022, Fox remains with NASCAR in a relationship that dates back to 2002. Fox is expected to put some of its races on its new all-sports channel, but we’ll get to that later. And expect live on-streaming in this new contract. However, NASCAR’s ratings are a question-mark, but bidding for the second half in 2013 is expected to bring even more money. It’s all going to be quite an interesting year for NASCAR.

8. NBC Steals English Premier League and Formula One From Fox

October turned out to be a good month for NBC Sports Group as far as acquisitions were concerned. It first obtained the rights to Formula 1 as Fox gave just a nominal bid. Then a couple of weeks later, it emerged as the frontrunner to the English Premier League and then won out over a concerted combined bid from ESPN/Fox. While NBC Sports Network won’t be known as a college sports destination or for MLB, perhaps it can become an international sports channel with the EPL, Formula 1 and Olympic Sports. NBC Sports Network will have some sports to watch year-round with the English Premier League, Formula 1, MLS and the NHL (when it finally returns).

7. NFL Network Picks Up Its Last Two Holdouts

Since 2010, NFL Network has been gaining momentum in picking up carriage agreements with the major cable providers. It finally was able to sign deals in 2012 with its last two remaining holdouts, first Cablevision in August and then the very last one, Time Warner Cable in September. Thanks to the increased audience, NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football package had record ratings for its new 13 game schedule. It was a struggle for NFL Network to get all eight major cable and satellite providers on board, but after eight years, it finally got it done.

6. MLB New TV Contracts For A Lot of $$$

It started in August when ESPN renewed rights for its three nights of baseball games, a return to postseason and an increased amount of games for a total of $5.6 billion over eight years. Then in October, MLB announced deals with Fox and Turner for a combined $6.8 billion through 2021, providing them with TV Everywhere rights, postseason deals and a package of regular season games. For Fox, it allows the network to put games on its anticipated all-sports cable channel, but again, more on that later.

5. CBS & NBC Announce New Sports Radio Networks

2012 brought two new national networks to the sports talk radio scene. Within two days of each other, NBC Sports Radio and CBS Sports Radio were announced by both companies and with respective partners Dial Global and Cumulus Radio. NBC Sports Radio has been airing limited weekend programming since September, however, CBS Sports Radio chose to wait until this month to begin full operation with a 24/7 lineup. Both have a long way to go to match the firepower and the reputation of ESPN Radio that has been on the scene since the early 1990′s, however, CBS has hired familiar names like Jim Rome, Doug Gottlieb, John Feinstein, Scott Ferrall and Dana Jacobson. NBC will wait until the NCAA Final Four to finalize its weekday lineup. No matter the case, ESPN Radio finds itself with some formidable competition to join Yahoo! Sports Radio and Fox Sports Radio for listeners.

4. ESPN Free Agency

We had some big names leave the ESPN nest, Erin Andrews, Steve Berthiaume, Michelle Beadle, Cindy Brunson, Doug Gottlieb, Dana Jacobson, Michael Yam to name a few, but many stayed including Scott Van Pelt. This seemed to be quite the year for free agency for ESPN. In some cases, the network chose not to renew and wave goodbye to those departing, others decided not to return for other opportunities while in others, ESPN went out of its way to make sure its desired talent stayed. For the first time, ESPN was transparent in making statements about its free agency signings or departures. In the past, it had issued terse statements when media inquiries were made.

3. Fox Spending Spree

As the year-end was approaching, Fox Sports through its parent, News Corp., went on a spending spree unlike any other in sports media. It not only set up an all-sports cable channel for operation in 2013 (again, more on this later), but it bought into the YES Network which will eventually lead into a majority share of the New York Yankees regional sports network and fully purchased Sports Time Ohio for the Cleveland MLB Team. In addition, Fox is reportedly close to signing a long-term deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for its media rights. News Corp. had money to spend with the company splitting off its publishing holdings into a separate company and of course, the proverbial fiscal cliff where tax credits were about to change. Will we see more of Fox’s financial muscle in 2013? I think that’s a safe bet.

2. The Emergence of Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2

While NBC Sports Network was attempting to bid for major sports properties, Fox Sports was quietly forming its cable sports strategy for 2013 and beyond. We began hearing rumblings about Fox rebranding Speed into an all-sports channel that would be named “Fox Sports 1″ then at the end of the year, the company’s Fuel channel would also be rebranded as “Fox Sports 2″.

In its new contracts with MLB, NASCAR, the Pac-12, UFC and other sports properties it signed in 2012, Fox had a provision to put games and events on Fox Sports 1. As part of its new contract with Major League Baseball, Fox Sports can place 40 regular season games on cable as well as several postseason games. We should expect a number of NASCAR Sprint Cup races on FS1 and most likely see some UFC events as well.

The strategy is in place. Let’s see how it’s enacted in 2013 and beyond.

1. NBC’s Olympics Both Fail and Succeed

Up until the London Olympics begin in late July, NBCUniversal had been downplaying both ratings and financial expectations stating that it expected to lose money and the ratings for a tape delayed event would not be as good as in 2008 when events were carried live from Communist China. Somewhere along the way, something happened. NBC broke even financially on the Olympics and they became the most watched event in US television history. That was the successful part.

The failure was the tape delayed aspect when many viewers wanted to watch events live. The #NBCFAIL hashtag on Twitter quickly spread like wildfire during the first weekend of the Olympics. In addition, online streaming was sluggish and haggard. But even with the delays and streaming problems, Americans still watched in droves. When the games were said and done, NBCUniversal could pat itself on the back.

Honorable Mentions:

Struggles of new regional sports networks to gain carriage agreements.
NHL Does Well; But Shoots Itself in the Foot with the Lockout
Tim Tebow Overload
ESPN Continues Dominance in College Sports

Dana Jacobson Returns to TV as Guest Host of “ROME” This Wednesday

She left ESPN in March and it was announced last month that she’ll be part of CBS Sports Radio’s morning drive show with Brandon Tierney and Tiki Barber in January. On the day after Christmas, Boxing Day to Aussies, Brits, Canadians and Kiwis, former First Take co-host Dana Jacobson makes her return to sports television as the guest host of ROME on CBS Sports Network.

Since she left ESPN, Dana revealed that she was sexually abused as a child and has been interacting with fans through her Twitter account.

Now, she’ll be back on TV in this guest appearance on Wednesday. Here’s the CBS blurb.

THIS JUST IN…

…from CBS Sports Network

Dana Jacobson makes her CBS Sports Network debut on Wednesday, Dec. 26 as guest host of the weekday show ROME (6:00 PM, ET). Jacobson hosts ROME Dec. 26 through Friday, Dec. 28, and will be joined by contributors Jeremy Fowler of CBSSports.com and Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated.

Jacobson recently joined CBS as a radio host on the newly created CBS Sports Radio and a contributor to CBS Sports Network’s studio programming.

As the blurb mentions, Dana will be a contributor to CBS Sports Network throughout her time on CBS Sports Radio. I’m looking forward to seeing her again.

It’s A Wednesday Link Thing

Let’s do some linkage for you as we hit mid-week.

Once again, a shameless plug. Here are some Quick Wednesday Sports Media Thoughts which were written very early this morning.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with former ESPN’er Dana Jacobsen who will be part of CBS Sports Radio’s morning show when the network launches in January.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN will donate $1 million to the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age looks at which marketers have bought time for Super Bowl XLVII on CBS.

E.J. Schultz of Ad Age says ad agency powerhouse Wieden & Kennedy has won the right to produce Oreo’s Super Bowl spot.

Michael Bradley in the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says regional sports networks need to spend big money for rights to local teams otherwise they’re stuck without programming.

At Fangraphs, the always lovely Wendy Thurm looks at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ megadeal with Fox plus displays what all of the MLB teams generate in local rights fees.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report says the Dodgers’ contract with Fox proves that the rich just get richer.

Ed looks at this year’s National Sporscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame ballot.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing has the disturbing news that ESPN2′s First Take will be expanding to Saturday mornings after college football season.

Matt has a look at Fox Sports 1.

Bob Kennedy of the Stamford (CT) Advocate says NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus will receive a local honor next week.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times delves into why the late Marvin Miller is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Keith Olbermann pays tribute to Miller.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com has his weekly Baltimore-DC media column.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post writes that while the Los Angeles Dodgers’ TV rights are about to be settled, the Nationals’ through MASN still remains up in the air.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks about Marvin Miller’s impact on baseball.

Ragan Robinson of the Gaston (NC) Gazette says local entrepreneurs got the seal of approval from ESPN for their golf gadget.

Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald has the comments from TNT’s Charles Barkley on the Heat.

Jacques Couret of the Atlanta Business Chronicle says Fox Sports South and its affiliated regional sports networks have hired a new Executive Producer.

Mel Bracht from The Oklahoman has a look at the local weekend TV ratings.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that audio of Bengals QB Andy Dalton will be aired on two national mid-week NFL shows tonight.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers apologizing to fans on his weekly radio show.

Danny Ecker from Crain’s Chicago Business notes that the Bulls practice facility could get a lot of money for its naming rights.

The Peoria (IL) Journal Star reports that four Illinois State basketball games will be picked up by Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune writes that one weekend late night sports TV show tops the local ratings.

Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN’s Monday Night Football suffered a ratings decline for Panthers-Eagles earlier this week.

Adam Guillen, Jr. of SB Nation’s MMA Mania reports that Fox is hoping to sign a UFC event for Super Bowl XLVIII weekend in February 2014.

Tony Manfred at the Business Insider’s Sports Page has women’s soccer star Hope Solo blaming the media for reporting on her husband’s domestic violence issues. Hope is a nut.

And I managed to squeeze out some good linkage today. Enjoy your Wednesday.

Some Quick Wednesday Sports Media Thoughts

Tuesday was an early Christmas for your humble blogger. Thanks to some Black Friday sales, I’ve been setting up a new iPad and a new laptop computer, so the posts were rather slim on Tuesday. To make up for that minimal posting, I’ll write some sports media thoughts and unlike the last sports media thoughts post where I expanded on things, I’ll do some quick hits. As usual, they come to you in bullet form.

• CBS Sports Radio appears to be on its way to providing a full 24 hour weekday schedule when it launches on January 2. I’m happy to see that former ESPN’er Dana Jacobsen will be part of the morning drive show along with Brandon Tierney and Tiki Barber. I’m not sure if Tiki will be able to provide much based on his past performance on NBC, but with Tierney and Jacobsen doing most of the heavy lifting, the show could be successful. I’m looking forward to hearing the first few weeks.
• On Tuesday, the rumors of Fox Sports potentially purchasing regional sports network Sports Time Ohio surfaced once again. Since last year, there have been rumblings that STO would be bought out by Fox. STO currently owns the TV rights to the Cleveland MLB team, but hasn’t been able to expand upon that portfolio. Ohio Media Watch’s Twitter account was burning up with speculation on STO. Should this come to fruition, this could be the third MLB team that Fox Sports could secure after the New York Yankees last week and reportedly the Los Angeles Dodgers which could close this week. We’ll keep you posted on this story.
• Still wondering when DirecTV will begin carrying Pac-12 Network and Comcast SportsNet Houston. Thus far, the satellite provider has remained stubborn in its refusal to pick up either channel. While DirecTV felt the pressure to pick up Time Warner Cable SportsNet for Los Angeles Lakers games, it appears to be in no hurry to carry Pac-12 Network or CSN Houston despite fan complaints. In these disputes, the fans are always caught in the middle.
• MLB Network’s Hot Stove new morning show format is a welcome addition to sports television. Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds are good as co-hosts. Neither have worn suits and ties as MLB Network tries to be less formal with the show. Alana Rizzo has been good as the update anchor. Having insider Ken Rosenthal on the show is a nice touch. And during Thanksgiving Week, it was good to see Keith Olbermann co-hosting the show with fellow former ESPN’er Brian Kenny. Here’s hoping that MLB Network could make this a permanent addition during the MLB season, perhaps under a different name.
• After ESPN saw the ratings for Notre Dame-USC on Saturday, you knew network executives were chomping at the bit thinking about the potential ratings for the BCS Championship Game. As Notre Dame will face the winner of the SEC, the numbers for the college football championship come January will be huge. Then again, I’m probably telling you something you already know.

Ok, I’ll end it there. Time to finish things for the night.

CBS Sports Radio Unveils Its Morning Drive Show

It was originally broken by SportsbyBrooks and it’s now been confirmed by CBS.

CBS Sports Radio has announced its morning drive show that will launch when the network premieres on January 2, 2013. It will consist of Brandon Tierney, Tiki Barber and former ESPN’er Dana Jacobsen. The show will air weekday mornings from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET.

Brandon Tierney currently co-hosts a show in San Francisco. He previously hosted shows in New York on ESPN Radio and on SNY TV.

Tiki Barber is a known quantity from his time with the New York Giants and brief stints on NBC’s Football Night in America and the Today show. Of course, there’s the infamous affair with an NBC intern that ended his marriage.

Dana Jacobsen comes from ESPN having hosted Cold Pizza which turned into First Take. A versatile host, she’ll also contribute to CBS Sports Network.

With these hirings, all CBS Sports Radio has left to fill is the 6-10 p.m. timeslot. CBS Sports Radio previously announced John Feinstein as its 9 a.m.-noon host, Jim Rome to fill the noon-3 p.m. hole, Doug Gottlieb as its 3-6 p.m. host, Scott Ferrall to be its 10 p.m.-2 a.m. host and Damon Amendolara as its overnight man.

Here’s the CBS Sports Radio press release.

TIKI BARBER, BRANDON TIERNEY AND DANA JACOBSON TO HOST CBS SPORTS RADIO’S WEEKDAY MORNING SHOW

Dynamic Broadcast Team Solidifies CBS RADIO’s National Sports Radio Lineup;
Highly Anticipated Network Debuts On Wednesday, January 2, 2013

CBS Sports Radio today announced it will launch on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013 with an exciting triumvirate of media veterans as hosts of morning drive. Tiki Barber, Brandon Tierney and Dana Jacobson will anchor the program live from the brand new radio network’s New York City studio in Tribeca.  The program will be broadcast weekdays from 6:00-9:00AM.

“CBS Sports Radio has been able to attract some of the most renowned names in the business, and Tiki, Brandon and Dana are just the latest example of the network’s star-power,” said Dan Mason, President and CEO, CBS RADIO. “We’ve assembled an impressive group of professional athletes and accomplished broadcasters to bring fans unrivaled sports commentary, and the most entertaining lineup in all of sports radio.

“The launch of CBS Sports Radio provides an additional way for us to use our content, debuting original programs to millions of listeners across the country on day one. The network’s reach in the major markets is unsurpassed, and the marketplace has taken notice of our depth and broad range of offerings.”

CBS Sports Radio will offer around-the-clock national sports coverage and programming, harnessing the power and resources of CBS RADIO and the award-winning CBS Sports.  High-profile personalities from CBS Sports, CBS Sports Network and CBSSports.com will play a prominent role on CBS Sports Radio which will reach more than 10 million listeners when it debuts. Original programs across multiple weekday and weekend time periods will feature expert sports commentary and interviews with major sports figures along with listener calls and fan interaction.   Cumulus Media Networks serves as the exclusive syndicator and sales partner for CBS Sports Radio.

Several Top 50 markets will showcase CBS Sports Radio’s Morning Show, including WIP-AM (Philadelphia), WFOM-AM (Atlanta), WXYT-AM (Detroit), WJZ-AM (Baltimore), KFNZ-AM and KJQS-AM (Salt Lake City), and WSJZ-FM (Orlando).

Following is the complete weekday lineup for CBS Sports Radio:

6:00-9:00AM: Tiki Barber, Brandon Tierney and Dana Jacobson
9:00AM-Noon: John Feinstein
Noon-3:00PM: Jim Rome
3:00-6:00PM: Doug Gottlieb

Scott Ferrall serves as host of evenings with his FERRALL ON THE BENCH program broadcast weekdays from 10:00PM-2:00AM on CBS Sports Radio, and Damon Amendolara will provide commentary overnights from 2:00-6:00AM.

Tiki Barber is a 1997 graduate of the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce (Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society), with a concentration in management information systems. At UVA, Barber excelled both academically and athletically – football and track and field.  He left the Cavaliers as their all-time leading rusher and began a 10-year NFL career with the New York Giants.

Barber joined Marshall Faulk and Marcus Allen as the only players in NFL history with at least 10,000 yards rushing and 5,000 yards receiving in a career.  He retired ranking third all-time in yards per carry (4.7) and 10th all-time in yards from scrimmage (15,632; rushing and receiving).  Additionally, Barber holds almost every NY Giants rushing record – total yards, rushing yards, rushing attempts and is second in rushing touchdowns. In January 2011, he was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, located in Portsmouth, Va.

In 1998, Barber began his broadcasting career working for Sports Radio WFAN in New York, which led to stints at WCBS-TV, Sirius Satellite Radio, the YES Network and Fox News Channel.  Upon retiring from the NFL, he signed a contract to work as a correspondent for NBC News and Sports, primarily for The Today Show and Football Night in America, but also covering the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing for MSNBC.

Active in the community, Barber is a board member of the Fresh Air Fund, the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation, the Advisory Board for the Hospital for Special Surgery, and the Board of Managers of the University of Virginia Alumni Association. He is also a member of the Leadership Council for the Robin Hood Foundation.

Brooklyn native Brandon Tierney makes a return to his hometown in joining CBS Sports Radio. He currently hosts The Drive with Tierney and Bucher, broadcast weekdays in San Francisco on 95.7 The Game. Prior to moving west, Tierney was a popular staple at 1050 ESPN Radio in New York City for nearly nine years.

In addition to his hosting duties at ESPN Radio, Tierney also anchored New York Knicks pre-game, half-time and post-game shows for three seasons and occasionally served as play-by-play announcer for the station’s Knicks broadcasts. His game experience also includes serving as lead analyst for St. John’s basketball for six seasons.

His broadcast career also includes experience in radio and television including the syndicated Sports Fan Radio Network, Sports Radio 1130 The Fan in Detroit, SportsNet New York’s (SNY) The WheelHouse, and Red Storm Report with St. John’s head coaches Steve Lavin and Norm Roberts. In addition, he was a frequent contributor to ESPN’s Outside the Lines.

Tierney is a New York Emmy award-winner and was named to the first annual Heavy Hundred of Sports Talk by the editors of Talkers Magazine. He was graduated from Marist College with a degree in journalism while also lettering in baseball.

Dana Jacobson is an award-winning anchor and reporter.  In addition to her role at CBS Sports Radio, Jacobson will contribute to studio programming for CBS Sports Network, the cable home of CBS Sports, debuting in January.  She is best known for the versatile roles she filled during nearly a decade of work at ESPN. Jacobson began her ESPN career as an anchor on SportsCenter, and later went on to anchor and host ESPN First Take (originally known as Cold Pizza), Outside the Lines, and College Football Live.

Jacobson also has served as sideline reporter for ESPN’s Sunday Night NBA showcase game and became a well-known part of ESPN’s Summer and Winter X Games, hosting the event’s nightly wrap up show: XCenter. Additionally, Jacobson has written for ESPN.com and filled in as a radio host on both The Dan Patrick Show and Mike and Mike.

After graduating from the University of Michigan, Jacobson took her first job in television broadcasting as an assignment editor at the CBS station in her hometown of Detroit.  She also worked in Traverse City, Mich. and Sacramento, Calif. where she was honored with National Headliner and Regional Edward R Murrow Awards for sports reporting.  It was in Northern California that she also first gave sports radio a try, co-hosting an NBA show on the Sacramento Kings flagship station, CBS RADIO’s KHTK 1140.

Working on links for you. Those will be up soon.

Dana Jacobsen on CNN Talks About Her Childhood Abuse

Yesterday, former ESPN First Take co-host Dana Jacobsen revealed on her blog that she had been molested by her babysitter when she was a child. It took a lot of courage to speak out and make that public. Dana said it was the interview of one of Jerry Sandusky’s victims that inspired her to come forward. And reading Dana’s journey of those horrific ordeals to her road to recovery is truly inspirational.

After publishing her post, the reaction to Dana’s revelation was very positive. And she went on CNN’s Out Front with Erin Burnett to talk about why she decided to come forward now and what she went through. A very good interview and I hope it inspires other child molestation victims to be able to speak and know that they are not alone.

More stuff is coming up.

Dana Jacobsen Leaves ESPN

This is developing this evening. First, The Big Lead and SportsbyBrooks both learned that long-time ESPN’er Dana Jacobsen is leaving the network. Dana first joined ESPNews in 2002 then in 2005 became a co-host of ESPN2′s morning show, called Cold Pizza produced in New York, then First Take produced out of Bristol, CT.

At the end of last year, Dana announced that she was leaving First Take to pursue different opportunities at ESPN which included co-anchoring SportsCenter and subbing on the daily edition of Outside the Lines.

Breaking News:I’m leaving @ESPN_FirstTake! Last day, Friday.Ready 2 get back 2 intvws/breakin news.SportsCenter/other shows here I come! : )

— Dana Jacobson (@djacobsonespn) December 26, 2011

But today, it was learned that Jacobsen has left ESPN and it’s speculated that she could be joining NFL Network as a host.

ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys put out this 23 word tweet confirming that Dana has left the Alleged Worldwide Leader.

ESPN offered Dana Jacobson an extension and she decided to pursue new opportunities. Thanks for 10 years and we wish her the best.

— Mike Soltys (@espnmikes) March 28, 2012

Jacobsen becomes the first of this year’s free agent crop to leave ESPN. The network still has to sign Scott Van Pelt, Erin Andrews and Michelle Beadle.

Some thoughts on this will come later tonight.

A Friday Night Update Just for You

Time for some links tonight.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated gives his Media Power Rankings for January. Paul Zimmerman gives his annual NFL TV Commentator ratings and he jabs Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser for their work on Monday Night Football. And SI picks up an Associated Press profile of Duquense basketball announcer Ray Goss who’s been on the job for 40 years.

Doug Nye of The State tells us that there are a bunch of significant 50th anniversaries in sports that will be touched upon either by ESPN or other sports networks.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin has a story about FSN North’s extensive production for Hockey Day in Minnesota tomorrow.

Neil Best of Newsday says covering Super Bowl XLII was an unexpected pleasure. Also from Newsday, Mark Herrmann has a story about Dick Enberg’s play about the late Al McGuire.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer talks with Cris Collinsworth who says he was shocked to find out HBO was dumping Inside the NFL.

Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post blogs that it appears that MASN will carry at least 60 Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals games in HD this season. And Phil Swann of the TV Predictions website goes further into detail about the story.

The Chicago Daily Herald says Comcast SportsNet will remember the late Cubs announcer Harry Carey with a full day of programming on February 18.

Laith Agha of the San Jose Mercury News writes that producing golf can sometimes become a circus for the CBS Sports PGA unit at Pebble Beach this weekend. Dennis Taylor of the Monterey County (CA) Herald caught up with NBC’s Al Michaels who’s playing at Pebble Beach in the AT&T Pro-Am.

Michael David Smith of the AOL Fanhouse Blog wonders if in the wake of the rumors of Microsoft buying Yahoo, would the company would sell its sports unit to let’s say, ESPN?

Luke Decock of the Raleigh (NC) News & Observer writes about a new five year deal between FSN South and the Carolina Hurricanes. And Decock went behind the scenes with FSN South during one particular Hurricane game.

The Tennis-X blog tells us that ESPN2 is dropping the Indian Wells and Miami tennis tournaments while FSN will pick them up.

More fuel to the Dana Jacobsen fire. Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis says he was offended at Jacobsen’s remarks during the Mike & Mike roast in Atlantic City last month.

Broadcasting & Cable reports that WWE Smackdown is leaving the CW after this season.

A couple of things from Multichannel News. Mike Reynolds reports that TNT is doing a promotion with 162 pizzerias in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Boston to hype the NBA All Star Game. And Reynolds writes that Versus and Tennis Channel have teamed up to televise the Davis Cup this weekend.

Sergio Ibarra of TV Week lists the national sports ratings for the week ending February 3. Also from TV Week, Daisy Whitney says MySpace’s Super Bowl ads section is very popular.

Fox Sports is getting ready for another NASCAR season. Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun looks into NASCAR on Fox and other things in his Medium Well blog.

CBS Sports will cover two college basketball games this weekend.

Former Fox NFL analyst Bill Maas and his girlfriend will serve two years probation stemming from gun and drug charges during a routine traffic stop in Peoria, IL last year.

Former CBS Sports host and current host of The Insider, Pat O’Brien is back in rehab.

You have a lot of links to look through. Enjoy. I’ll be back Saturday with a few more links.

It’s a Thursday Link Thang

Let’s give you some links today.

Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette writes about Dick Vitale’s return and his use of a Massachusetts General Hospital throat specialist for his vocal cord surgery. Rhiannon Potkey of the Salt Lake Tribune also writes about the return of Dickie V.

Emily Steel of the Wall Street Journal says CBS and the social networking site Facebook have teamed up so fans can share their brackets for the NCAA Tournament. Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also has a story about the CBS/Facebook cross-promotion. And Walker says FSN Wisconsin and the Brewers have announced a 150 game TV schedule for this season.

Fred Girard of the Detroit News reports about former All Star pitcher and Tigers announcer Lary Sorensen being arrested on drunk driving charges over the weekend.

KPNX-TV reporter Joe Dana writes for the Arizona Republic about how he managed to get into the Manning family suite at University of Phoenix Stadium to see the winning touchdown at the Super Bowl.

The BBC’s Assistant Editor of TV Sport (I love how the Brits have creative job titles) Ron Chakraborty talks about the network’s decision to carry the world feed of the Super Bowl instead of Fox’s coverage.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star has a story about last night’s series finale of Inside the NFL. Newsday’s Neil Best writes about Inside the NFL as well.

Robert Howes of the Old Colony Memorial and Plymouth (MA) Bulletin has a profile of Cris Carter, most recently of Inside the NFL and coach of his son’s football team.

Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer talks about watching National Signing Day coverage yesterday.

The Chicago Tribune’s Ed Sherman writes about White Sox TV voice Ken “Hawk” Harrelson signing a new three year contract extension to keep him in the booth through the 2011 season.

David Barron in the Houston Chronicle has some sports notes in his general TV column today. You’ll have to scroll down.

The Boston Herald’s Jessica Heslam reports that Channel 7 in Boston has hired former Miss Florida USA Julie Donaldson to its sports staff. Her picture in the story is quite stunning.

I guess the Christian Anti-Defamation Coalition is not done with the Dana Jacobsen story because it plans to protest ESPN once again next week.

That will do it for now.

The Thursday Link Thing

Time to give you some links today.

The Worcester Telegram’s Bill Doyle says Fox Sports’ Joe Buck and Troy Aikman have been boning up on the Patriots the last two weeks.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says Fox is ready to cover the Super Bowl from every angle. Bracht also has his weekly media notebook. And here are his viewing picks for the weekend.

Neil Best of Newsday writes about his meeting with WFAN’s Craig Carton. Neil also sampled the new G2 drink being pushed by Gatorade. Neil has a column today talking about Fox’s unconventional Super Bowl pregame show.

Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Republic talks with Will Leitch of Deadspin. Also from the Republic, Scott Wong writes about the exclusive sponsors of the NFL seeing some big bucks this week.

Chad Jorgenson of Tailgate Crashers.com recaps the Fox Sports Super Bowl conference call from Wednesday.

Mike Mitchell of the Naperville (IL) Sun says if you’re bored with the Big Game, there’s always the commercials. Stuart Elliot of the New York Times previews this year’s Super Bowl ads.

The lovely Jessica Heslam from the Boston Herald talks about the battle between the Boston TV stations at the Super Bowl.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes that WBAL has renewed the radio rights for the Baltimore Ravens and that the radio team will simulcast preseason games on TV.

Jeff Richgels of the Capital (WI) Times writes that there is no clear cut winner in the Big Ten/NFL Network vs. Charter battle.

The Right Field Bleachers blog talks with new FSN Wisconsin reporter Trenni Kusnierek who comes home after being on FSN Pittsburgh.

The New York Times’ Charles Bagli with contributions from Richard Sandomir writes about Major League Baseball planning to build a new office tower in Harlem for its MLB Network which will debut next year.

Laura Nachman says sports radio station WPEN will not have the Tony Bruno show from Sporting News Radio any more.

ESPN has announced the lineup for the 2008 Big East/SEC Invitational.

Gary Cass, the chairman of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission, jumps on the Dana Jacobsen bashing train in the New York Metro.

Guard Parfait Bitee from my 18-3 URI Rams will be part of an ESPN chat today.

Rich Hoffman of the Philadelphia Daily News talks to Flyers owner Ed Snider who praises NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and says, “Screw ESPN.”

Dan Patrick’s website has relaunched today as part of the Sports Illustrated network.

Cleeve Dheenshaw of the Victoria (Canada) Times Colonist says the proposed Canadian Olympic Committee amateur sports channel is an idea whose time has come.

That’s it for now.

It’s a Wednesday Night Update

Checking out the links for you tonight.

Newsday’s Neil Best wonders how Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer got his hands on the Patriots’ Spygate tape. Neil has some ammunition for Patriots fans. He writes that Fox’s Joe Buck has done a whole slew of Giants games this season while not doing a single Pats game. Neil says ESPN’s Dick Vitale will return to work next week during the Duke-North Carolina game.

The New York Post’s Justin Terranova writes in his NYP TV Sports blog that WFAN’s Mike & the Mad Dog were correct today when they said the Mets need to sign Johan Santana.

The Sports Media Watch tells us that the NBA is a prime target for advertisers.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says Fox will take in a total of $260 million in ad revenue for Super Bowl Sunday.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News tells us that the Big Ten Network has signed an agreement with Massillon Cable in Ohio.

The Hillsdale (MI) Daily News reports that Comcast has moved ESPN from the limited basic tier.

An editorial in Thursday’s Hartford Courant calls for forgiveness for ESPN’s Dana Jacobsen.

Thomas Harding of MLB.com writes that the Colorado Rockies will have its first nationally televised regular season game on ESPN in six years.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that CTV is really promoting the Super Bowl in its first year as an NFL rights holder. CTV has its own Super Bowl website.

That will do it for tonight. See you on Thursday.

Another Late Tuesday Night Update

I just can’t seem to stop blogging today.

By the way, I’ve been watching the re-broadcast of Super Bowl XXXVI, the game which started the Patriots Dynasty. Besides seeing what is in essence the start of the Patriots’ rise in the NFL over the last 7 years, the highlight for me was watching the performance of U2 in the halftime show. To me, it’s the best musical performance in a Super Bowl ever. I’ve seen most of them including Up with People, the creepy Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Janet Jackson (who didn’t see that?), Paul McCartney, etc., etc., etc. The banner of those who died in 9/11 was emotional just seeing it unfurl over the stage and all of the songs from Beautiful Day to The Streets Have No Name were done brilliantly. It was tremendous to watch.

If you missed any part of Super Bowl Media Day, you can read the live blog done by SI.com which includes the comments of Richard Deitsch.

Steven Zeitchik of the Hollywood Reporter writes that cable will have plenty of options for you to watch opposite the Super Bowl halftime show.

The Daily News Tribune (MA) reports that a church in Pembroke, MA will not air the Super Bowl on a 55 inch TV screen as planned due to potential copyright violations. No NFL game can be aired in public on a screen larger than 50 inches. This is true. And a very silly rule.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that the NHL All Star Game on Versus saw a slight uptick in the ratings as compared to last year.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail reports that a proposed CBC amateur sports channel in Canada faces several hurdles including objections from TSN and Rogers Sportsnet.

Joe Favorito has some thoughts on the Kelly Tilghman, Dana Jacobsen and Rick Majerus incidents.

Awful Announcing has a look at funny censorship over at Foxsports.com.

The 38Cliches blog laments the end of the Glenn Geffner era in Boston (kidding!).

CBS Sports gives us a preview of the PGA FBR Open which it will cover this weekend. And CBS tells us what college basketball games it’ll be airing.

Here’s ESPN’s press release on its partnership with Domino’s Pizza.

If you’re wondering what games the NHL Network will carry next month in the US, you can click here.

That’s it. Good night.

A Late Tuesday Night Update

Time to give you an update after all that blogging during Super Bowl Media Day.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell hands out his first annual awards to the best Super Bowl appetizers. They do look tasty.

The Sports Media Watch Blog looks at the ratings from the weekend.

Jim Carlisle of the Ventura County Star has a new blog called Slightly Askew and today, he looks at the circus that is known as Super Bowl Media Day.

Leonard Shapiro of the Washington Post wants Fox to dig up Spygate during the Super Bowl.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says Fox has sold out its spots for the Super Bowl.

Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant looks at the plans of Hartford/New Haven TV stations to cover the Super Bowl.

Ryan Corazza of Chicago Sports Weekly wonders what the fuss over Dana Jacobsen was all about.

Barry Janoff of Brandweek says Domino’s Pizza and ESPN are teaming up for a SportsCenter marketing campaign.

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks inside the battle between ESPN.com and Yahoo Sports.

Matt Egan of Fox Business writes that the NHL appears to have fallen below NASCAR in terms of popularity.

Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette says the NHL All Star Game was hardly a hit on TV or to the broadcasters calling the game.

That will do it until tomorrow.

It’s a Tuesday Link Thing

Time for some links now.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at the ratings from the weekend.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says David Cone is close to hashing out a deal with the YES Network to work as an analyst.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News pokes fun at Super Bowl Media Day.

Newsday’s Neil Best is with his newspaper’s large contingent in Arizona and he writes that this Super Bowl has set a record for media credentials. And Neil writes that with HDTV, he could see the stubble on Sal Paolantonio.

Jon Friedman of Marketwatch.com writes that the Giants have shut out former teammate Tiki Barber.

Stuart Crosby of the Times-Herald in Georgia writes about the circus that is known as Super Bowl Media Day.

Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News laments that Fox won’t accept political ads for the Super Bowl.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal says Fox is going to have a long tailgate party before the Super Bowl.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News says FSN has sold out its sponsorships for the Super Bowl-themed Best Damn Sports Show Period.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life magazine talks to a Seton Hall professor about why Super Bowl ads use humor.

ESPN gives us the entire list of Super Bowl programming for TV and Radio from Arizona today.

The Oakland Tribune’s Dave Del Grande writes that last week’s report of Lane Kiffin’s refusal to resign as Raiders coach should have come with the words “as told by Lane Kiffin”.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Brett Favre has been chosen as one of the 10 Best QB’s of all time by the Cold Hard Football Facts website.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that the Dana Jacobsen incident may be a blessing for disguise.

By the way, here’s her apology on First Take yesterday morning. I hope this is the last time I reference this story.

Gary Eastwick of the Fresno Bee says coaches in the WAC aren’t happy with the change in format for ESPN’s BracketBuster weekend.

Ron Higgins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal says the Liberty Bowl was the 4th most watched bowl game of the 2007-08 bowl season.

William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail says TV analysts did not fall in love with the NHL All Star Weekend.

That’s it for now.

Trying to Catch Up After Being Out for the Morning

It’s already been a long morning and as I’m multitasking, doing links and some paperwork at the same time, I provide some links while I can.

First, Michael David Smith of the AOL Fanhouse Blog chronicles the return of Dana Jacobsen to ESPN’s First Take today. However, the Christian Defense Coalition will not let the matter die.

USA Today’s Michael McCarthy goes after the common cliches spouted during NFL broadcasts.

The New York Post’s Phil Mushnick reviews a new documentary on the great boxer Rocky Marciano.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner in his Watch This! blog give us the entire schedule Super Bowl Week schedule for the NFL Network.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union tells us that NHL Center Ice is giving a free preview of its pay per view service this week.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the NHL All Stars Skills Competition did not translate well to TV.

ESPN Radio has launched an “ESPN Xtra” channel on XM Satellite Radio.

Emily Steel of the Wall Street Journal writes that Super Bowl ads are now heading online. Mike Branom of the East Valley (AZ) Tribune writes that ESPN has set up an outdoor studio in Scottsdale, AZ as its Super Bowl headquarters. Marisa Guthrie of Broadcasting & Cable gives us an overview of the Super Bowl on Fox. And Glen Dickson of B&C talks about Fox’s production plans for the Big Game.

Carolyn Sackariason from the Aspen Times says the X Games have become a big franchise for ESPN.

NBC says ratings for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships for the Ladies Free Skate on Saturday night were 65% higher than last year when it was aired on a Sunday afternoon on ABC.

Mark Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers have had four games selected for Fox regional broadcasts.

That’s it for now.

More Saturday Links

First, watching NBC’s first effort for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, it’s been given a “Big Event” feel with Bob Costas and Dick Button as co-hosts. Former Olympics pairs co-champions Jamie Salé and David Pelletier who were so good on Olympic Ice last year with Mary Carillo have added a nice touch with their humor. We’ll see how the ratings are for this event which have been down recently. Tom Hammond, Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic have been good calling the event. Tracy Wilson is good at explaining how the judges score the jumps and lifts. In hosting his first figure skating event, Costas is trying to make sense out of everything but having him there gives NBC some credibility in the the first year of televising this event. Even though NBC is not paying a rights fee, it has pulled out some heavy hitters. We’ll see how it goes for the last year of its three year contract with U.S. Figure Skating.

Giving you some links now.

Chris Pursell of TV Week writes in his Pressbox blog that ESPN and NFL Network will go all out in their Super Bowl coverage.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Eli Manning needs a personality transfusion if he’s to get commercial endorsements like his brother, Peyton.

Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch blog has an interesting exchange between Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel and 890ESPN Radio host and Boston Herald writer Mike Felger yesterday.

John Consoli of Mediaweek has the revised schedule for Fox on Super Bowl Sunday. Mike Shields of Mediaweek writes that Verizon will be the sponsor for AOL’s annual Super Sunday ad poll which will have fans rate the best and worst of the Super Bowl commercials.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Fox-owned stations in Boston and New York are experiencing an ad windfall for the Super Bowl.

The Sports Media Watch blog talks about whether the NHL is a hot television property. And Paulsen has his weekend ratings predictions.

The Los Angeles Times’ Helene Elliot talks with Paul Kelly, the new Executive Director of the NHL Players Association, who wants the league to have games on ESPN now.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union wonders in his Best Seat in My House blog if the NHL renewing with Versus is a mistake.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports that Versus President Gavin Harvey won’t be moving to Philadelphia when the network consolidates its headquarters with parent Comcast later this year.

The New York Post’s Justin Terranova talks about the ESPN series on Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in his NYP TV Sports blog.

Jonathan Landreth of the Hollywood Reporter reports that Major League Baseball plans to play its first games in Communist China this March and hopes to have them televised on government-controlled TV in an attempt to grow the sport there.

Dania Bogle of the Jamaica Observer (yes, I’ll even link to Jamaican newspapers) writes that former Olympic bronze medalist Ato Bolton will be doing analysis work for NBC during the Summer Olympics in Beijing in August.

Anne Marie Somma of the Hartford Courant reports on the protest at ESPN over Dana Jacobsen.

Do you want another ESPN suspension? Rick Reeno of Boxingscene.com tells us that analyst Teddy Atlas was suspended for a week following an argument with a network executive.

Karen Lyon of the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald says next year’s Women’s Final of the Australian Open will be played at night local time which means that it will be shown at 3:30 a.m., Saturday here on the East Coast of the US. You get links to Jamaica and Australia, truly an international edition of the links tonight.

That’s it for now.

Dana Jacobsen Drinking at Roast

Friday megalinks will be coming up in the next few hours, but we have the picture of Dana Jacobsen swigging vodka at the Mike & Mike Celebrity Roast in Atlantic City earlier this month. It’s not pretty.

If the tape of her performance comes out, we’ll have it here.

Thursday Night Linkage

I was out at a job site all day preventing me from giving you links today. I’ll give them to you tonight. I did get back in time to give you video of the Kelly Tilghman apology on the Golf Channel and I just saw the re-air as the 1st Round of the Buick Invitational and it’s contrite and short. Hopefully, that will be the end of the story. But as Kelly returns, we find the Dana Jacobsen controversy just won’t go away.

The Big Lead blog contacted Scott Cronick of the Atlantic City Press who covered the Mike & Mike Celebrity Roast earlier this month. He tells the blog that Jacobsen never said “F*ck Jesus!” as the Catholic League and Christian Defense Coalition have said. The Sports Media Watch blog reports that the Christian Defense Coalition will hold a demonstration and prayer vigil outside ESPN headquarters demanding that Jacobsen be fired. Here’s the press release from the Christian Defense Coalition on the protest. The Albany Times Union’s Pete Dougherty writes in his Best Seat in My House blog that Jacobsen’s suspension should be longer than a week. Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News writes in his Farther Off the Wall blog that Jacobsen is paying the price in more ways than one. Michael Hiestand of USA Today in a rare Thursday column chimes in on the Jacobsen controversy.

Moving onto other subjects, Hoffarth has the text of Kelly Tilghman’s apology. In his golf blog, the Chicago Tribune’s Ed Sherman says there was an audio glitch when Tilghman was stating her apology (which was corrected in the primetime airing). World Golf News has a press release from Golfweek announcing a new editor replacing David Seanor who was fired after the noose cover controversy last week.

Newsday’s Neil Best writes in his blog that WFAN’s Mike Francesca has signed a long term deal with the station.

Jim Williams of the DC/Baltimore Examiner writes in his blog that the NFL has 13 of the 15 most watched TV shows this season. That’s impressive.

Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit News is bored with the Big Ten Network/Comcast dispute.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman talks with ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla who will call the Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game with Ron Franklin on Monday night. Bracht has his weekly media notebook. He also lists the TV ratings for the past week. And Bracht gives his viewing picks for the next few days.

Shawn Courchesne of the Hartford Courant says ESPN will run a five part series on Dale Earnhardt, Jr. moving to a new racing team for the upcoming NASCAR season.

Robert Crow from the Southern Illinoisan writes that ESPN’s College Gameday will be broadcasting live from the SIU Arena in advance of the game against Creighton Saturday night.

John Eggerton from Broadcasting & Cable magazine reports that CSTV.com and USAToday.com are teaming up to form an online alliance.

The NCAA is proud of TV ratings and attendance for college football during the regular season and college bowls.

Greg Stiles of the Mail Tribune (OR) writes that a new sports radio station will pop up in the local area and will include Dan Patrick in its programming.

That will do it for tonight. Friday megalinks coming up in the morning.

More Reaction to Dana Jacobsen

In a story that first came out on January 13 from Scott Cronick of the Atlantic City Press, then suddenly mushroomed this week, we learned that ESPN First Take co-host Dana Jacobsen was suspended for her comments made at the Mike & Mike Celebrity Roast.

In a paragraph that was 4th from the bottom of the story, Cronick wrote the following:

ESPN anchor Dana Jacobson made an absolute fool of herself, swilling vodka from a Belvedere bottle, mumbling along and cursing like a sailor as Mike & Mike rested their heads in their hands in embarrassment. Griffin came to the podium to defend her after she was booed by the crowd. Ross eventually had to pull her off stage, too.

I linked to the story the following day, January 14. Then later, I linked to the Deadspin blog which noticed that Jacobsen had misbehaved at the event.

It appeared that was the end of the story, however, the Catholic League got a hold of the story and began to inundate ESPN about the comments made by Jacobsen at the roast which apparently were disparaging towards Notre Dame University and Touchdown Jesus. And it apparently is not letting go at this point.

And similar to what Al Sharpton did with the Kelly Tilghman story in not letting go until the Golf Channel suspended the anchor, the Catholic League did the same with Jacobsen.

Religion writer for the Chicago Tribune, Manya Brachear writes in her blog about the story without passing judgment.

The Baltimore Sun’s Bill Ordine writes in his blog about the Jacobsen incident and another involving St. Louis University basketball coach Rick Majerus.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Judd Zulgad has more on the suspension which has not been confirmed by ESPN by the way.

USA Today’s On Deadline blog notes that Jacobsen defended Kelly Tilghman in an Orlando Sentinel story.

Justin Terranova writes in his NYP TV Sports blog about the Jacobsen suspension.

Michael David Smith from the AOL Fanhouse blog notes that Jacobsen may be anti-Notre Dame, but she’s not anti-Catholic as the Catholic League wants you to believe.

Jeff Carroll of the South Bend Tribune says when it comes to religion, it’s best to think before one speaks. But at the same time, Carroll says the Catholic League went a bit far in characterizing Jacobsen.

Now the Christian Defense Coalition is calling for ESPN to fire Jacobsen.

The story grew legs this week. It will be interesting to see if Jacobsen actually returns this week. The Catholic League is known for being very militant when it comes to issues like these. You may remember what happened to Opie & Anthony in 2002 in the infamous “Sex for Sam” incident when the League would not let go until CBS Radio fired the pair.

We’ll continue to monitor.