Fang's Bites

Sports Media Weekly, No, 102 — Ian Eagle, CBS Sports/Tennis Channel/NBA TV/YES/Dial Global Radio

The multifaceted Ian Eagle joins Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal for this edition of Sports Media Weekly.

As always, Keith and I discussed the news that developed up until the time of our taping.

Keith and I talked about NBCUniversal’s distribution of Olympic events to four cable channels, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC and Telemundo. We also talked about the hosts for three of the channels.

Then we moved to Fox Sports’ foray into primetime with eight consecutive weeks of baseball starting this Saturday night. That turned into a transition into Fox Sports Media Group’s coverage of the final day of the English Premier League season which turned into some exciting action.

Keith and I also discussed some ESPN personnel moves with Michelle Beadle and Michelle Bonner departing and Scott Van Pelt and John Buccigross staying in Bristol, CT.

Then, we highly approved of ESPN’s announcement on the return of the documentary series, 30 for 30.

And finally, I had a comment on the demise of Boston alternative rock station, WFNX.

As mentioned, Ian Eagle of CBS Sports/NBA TV/Tennis Channel/YES/Dial Global Radio was the guest and the first-ever three-timer on the podcast.

We discussed the truncated NBA season and what it meant for him as a local broadcaster for YES. And we went into his “gobbledygook” incident with analyst Mike Fratello.

Ian talked about the upcoming French Open and the new broadcast format for Tennis Channel at Roland Garros this year.

Then we talked about his preparation for the NFL season and how many of the NCAA Tournament teams he called this year he had seen previously.

As always, Ian is a great guest and provides some interesting insight. Find the podcast under “Sports Media Journal” at iTunes or you go right here and listen immediately.

NBA TV Airs Two Playoff Games Tonight

With four NBA Playoff games tonight, NBA TV is getting into the mix with an Eastern Conference Quarterfinal doubleheader while TNT has a doubleheader of its own.

Tonight, Ian Eagle and Kevin Calabro will be the announcers calling games for NBA TV. Ian will be in Indianapolis for Game 5 of the Magic-Pacers series. Kevin will call Game 5 of Philadelphia-Chicago at the United Center in the Windy City.

Check out the release.

NBA Playoffs Continue on NBA TV with Doubleheader May 8

Houston Rockets guard Kevin Martin and Seven-Time NBA Champion Robert Horry to appear as guest studio analysts on NBA TV’s GameTime Wednesday, May 9, and Thursday, May 10

NBA TV’s originally-produced coverage of the NBA Playoffs will continue on Tuesday, May 8, with a doubleheader – the Orlando Magic visiting the Indiana Pacers (Game 5) at 7 p.m. (ET), followed by the Chicago Bulls hosting the Philadelphia 76ers (Game 5) at 9:30 p.m. (ET). The night will tip off with the Pregame Show with host Rick Kamla and analysts Dennis Scott and Sam Mitchell at 6:30 p.m. (ET) previewing the games throughout the league. Following the doubleheader, the studio crew will recap the night’s action with post-game analysis, live look-ins to press conferences and more on NBA GameTime.

In addition, Houston Rockets guard Kevin Martin and seven-time NBA Champion Robert Horry will appear as guest studio analysts on NBA GameTime Wednesday, May 9, and Thursday, May 10. Martin and Horry will sit alongside Dennis Scott and host Matt Winer to discuss the latest storylines in the NBA Playoffs.

As the playoffs progress, NBA TV will continue to offer extensive coverage including live first-round games, live studio coverage, pre- and post-game analysis, press conferences, re-aired elements of playoff games and original and encore presentations of NBA GameTime.

NBA TV  SCHEDULE (all times ET): May 8-11
TUESDAY, MAY 8
6:30 p.m.	Pregame Show		Rick Kamla, Dennis Scott and Sam Mitchell
7:00 p.m.	NBA Playoffs: Orlando Magic @ Indiana Pacers (Game 5)		Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Steve Smith (analyst), Stephanie Ready (reporter)
10:00 p.m.	NBA Playoffs:  Philadelphia 76ers @ Chicago Bulls  (Game 5)		Kevin Calabro (play-by-play), Greg Anthony (analyst), Cheryl Miller (reporter)
12:00 a.m.	NBA GameTime		Rick Kamla, Steve Smith and Sam Mitchell
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9
6:00 p.m.	NBA Game Time		Matt Winer, Dennis Scott, Kevin Martin, Robert Horry
9:30 p.m.	New York Knicks/Miami Heat, Game 5 Postgame
12:00 a.m.	LA Clippers/Memphis Grizzlies, Game 5 Postgame
THURSDAY, MAY 10
7:00 p.m.	NBA GameTime		Matt Winer, Dennis Scott and Robert Horry
FRIDAY, MAY 11
9:30 p.m.	NBA GameTime		Rick Kamla, Steve Smith and Ronny Thompson

That’s all.

NBA TV Announces Its Early Playoff Schedule Plus Other Programming

NBA TV, the league-owned and Turner Sports-run network, will be part of the TV rotation in the early-going for the playoffs. For the first week, it will carry three games and will utilize NBA television veterans Ian Eagle and Kevin Calabro to call the games. Steve Smith and Greg Anthony will be the analysts. Tracy Wolfson and Stephanie Ready will be the reporters.

In addition, NBA TV will provide plenty of programming surrounding the 2012 NBA Playoffs. Matt Winer, Rick Kamla and Vince Cellini will be the studio hosts. Chris Webber, Greg Anthony, Brent Barry, Dennis Scott and Steve Smith will be among those who will join the fun in the studio.

We have the NBA TV announcement.

NBA Digital to Provide Comprehensive Coverage of 2012 NBA Playoffs Across Television, Online and Mobile

NBA TV to Air Approximately 1,500 Hours of Playoff Coverage Including Originally-Produced Games
NBA.com to use Playoffs Pulse to Track Popular Social Media Content and Highlight Fan Tweets with Social Spotlight; NBA Mobile to Offer Enhanced Playoff Experience with NBA GameTime App

NBA Digital, coming off a record-setting regular season, will guide fans through the 2012 NBA Playoffs with comprehensive coverage and enhancements across multiple screens, including originally-produced NBA TV game telecasts, NBA.com’s Playoffs Pulse and Social Spotlight, and new features for an enhanced experience on NBA Mobile.

NBA TV’s original productions of NBA playoff games will mark the first time the network will independently produce its playoff games since the start of the Turner Sports-NBA partnership to jointly manage the NBA’s digital assets four years ago. The network’s playoff telecasts will tip off with the Indiana Pacers hosting the Orlando Magic on Monday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Ian Eagle will provide commentary with analyst Steve Smith and reporter Stephanie Ready.

NBA TV playoff telecasts will include interviews with coaches, who will also wear microphones during the games. Each game night will include the Pregame Show, Halftime Report and NBA GameTime postgame shows.

2012 NBA PLAYOFFS ON NBA TV (All Times ET)

TIME/DATE	GAME
Monday, April 30
7:30 p.m. ET	Orlando at Indiana  (Game 2) Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Steve Smith (analyst) and Stephanie Ready (reporter)
Tuesday, May 1
7:30 p.m.	Boston at Atlanta  (Game 2) Kevin Calabro (play-by-play), Greg Anthony (analyst) and Tracy Wolfson (reporter)
Wednesday, May 2
7:30 p.m.	Indiana at Orlando (Game 3) Eagle (play-by-play), Anthony (analyst) and Ready (reporter)

NBA TV will air approximately 1,500 hours of wall-to-wall NBA Playoff coverage. The network will provide pre- and post-game analysis, press conferences, complete-game playbacks of every playoff game and encore presentations of NBA GameTime.

The 2011-12 NBA regular season on NBA TV was the most viewed in the network’s history.  The league’s 24-hour network averaged 337,000 viewers (up 33 percent vs. 253,000 last year) and 266,000 household impressions (up 34 percent vs. 2010-11) for its 96-game schedule.

“This has been a record-setting year for NBA Digital and we look forward to carrying that momentum into the postseason,” said Albert “Scooter” Vertino, vice president of content, NBA Digital.  “NBA Digital prides itself on being the home for all things NBA and that will be our focus throughout the playoffs with originally-produced games, constant updates and analysis across NBA TV, NBA.com and NBA Mobile.”

NBA.com will transform into “Playoffs Central” including a converted home page with access to series breakdowns, complete video highlights, stats, game storylines and live streaming press conferences. In addition, NBA.com’s Playoffs Pulse will allow users to vote, track top trending topics and share content in real-time about NBA players and teams.

Throughout the Playoffs, NBA.com will showcase the best tweets, photos and videos from players, fans and NBA.com writers through NBA.com’s Social Spotlight – a dynamic mosaic that flips every few seconds to highlight the conversation in the social media space.

NBA Digital’s complete playoff coverage – from the opening tip through trophy presentation – will also include:

NBA TV

• NBA TV’s studio teams will include hosts Matt Winer, Rick Kamla and Vince Cellini, alongside a deep roster of analysts – Chris Webber, Greg Anthony, Brent Barry, Dennis Scott and Steve Smith, among others.
• Winer, Smith and Sam Mitchell will break down each first round series on Friday, April 27, with the Eastern Conference Playoffs Preview at 8 p.m. followed by the Western Conference Playoffs Preview at 9 p.m. with Cellini, Smith and Mitchell.
• NBA TV will feature NBA GameTime every night before, during and after games throughout the playoffs featuring highlights, analysis, player interviews and live press conferences.
• The network will produce Playoff Playbacks, which will be 60-minute versions of every playoff game for re-air on NBA TV.
• Original programming will include: (*air dates TBD)
  • Sounds of the Playoffs – Airing at the conclusion of each round of the playoffs, the three 30-minute NBA Entertainment-produced shows will provide exclusive coverage of games plus access on and off the court, delivering all the big shots, clutch performances and memorable moments in the weeks leading up to The Finals.
  • NBA Backstage: The Playoffs – The NBA’s top stars talk about what it takes to succeed in the playoffs.
  • The Association: Denver Nuggets – In Episode 7, The Association follows the Denver Nuggets as they begin their playoff run.
  • One on One with Ahmad Rashad – Ahmad sits down with three players to discuss their compelling stories.

NBA.com

• NBA.com will produce Playoff Series Hub pages available for every series. Each page will include video highlights, box scores, series stats and game stories from the site’s stable of award-winning writers.
• NBA.com will provide instant analysis on all breaking news throughout the playoffs.
• Exclusive content, live chats with NBA.com writers, and replays of Inside the NBA will be available on TNT OverTime on NBA.com.

NBA Mobile

• During the playoffs, users can follow all the action through NBA GameTime, the signature mobile app of the NBA available via the iTunes App Store, Google Play and the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace. NBA GameTime will provide live scoring, game alerts, video on demand, radio feeds, a redesigned app dashboard and full bracket view.
• Users also can follow the playoffs through NBA Game Time Courtside, the official tablet application of the NBA, available via the iTunes App Store. Courtside will provide live scoring, a new NBA dashboard view, video on demand, and full bracket view.
• The NBA.com mobile web site will provide users with an enhanced experience with new features including video, series trackers and an expanded bracket view.
• The site will also allow users to access postseason stats, scores and standings, as well as follow their favorite players from any HTML 5 enabled device.

That is all.

Some Tuesday Links

Been crazy with the schedules again, but I’m giving you some linkage today because you’re owed some. Let’s get busy.

Sports Business Daily notes the dueling NFL regular season schedule release shows on ESPN and NFL Network today.

Terry Lefton of Sports Business Journal says Comcast wants to replicate the success of its “Xfinity Live!” Philadelphia “mall of sports bars” in other cities.

Jason Fry of the ESPN Poynter Review Project a.k.a., the ESPN Ombudsman reviews the network’s ad-approval process.

Ed Sherman, formerly of the Chicago Tribune and Crain’s Chicago Business has launched his new sports media website and I’m quite impressed. A couple of links to his site which started this week.

First, Ed talks with the polarizing Skippy Bayless of ESPN.

With tonight’s NFL regular season schedule being unveiled, Ed wonders which network will get Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos debut?

Laura Donovan at the Jane Dough is not a fan of a sexist WFAN ad featuring Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton.

MediaRantz predicts which NFL team will get the most primetime games in 2012.

Congratulations to Patriot-News reporter Sara Ganim who at the age of 24 becomes one of the youngest to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. She wins for her coverage of the Jerry Sandusky-Penn State scandal and she continues to report on the story.

Ivey DeJesus at the Patriot-News has the story on Ganim’s well deserved award for her reporting.

And here are pictures in the Patriot-News newsroom the moment Sara was informed that she won the Pulitzer.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if Coconut Water is here to stay or will it become a huge bust?

George Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter looks at the BBC and Eurosport putting a portion of their coverage of the London Olympics on the UK’s pay satellite service, BSkyB.

Marc Graser at Variety says Wrestlemania set a pay per view record for the WWE.

Lindsay Rubino at Broadcasting & Cable writes that the NBC Owned Stations group will sell national advertising for four Comcast SportsNet affiliates.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says NBC Sports Group is winning with the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Kristie Chong-Adler in ESPN’s Front Row blog looks at ESPN.com folding its Page 2 section into a new ESPN the Magazine-fronted portion of the website.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid has the video of a new Michael Jordan-themed ESPN promo.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing breaks down one of the funniest and uncomfortable moments in sports television as YES’ Ian Eagle and Mike Fratello seemed to mix it up during last Saturday’s Celtics-Nets game.

However, Ian tells the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman says while the videos have gone viral, it was all in fun between he and the Czar of the Telestrator.

Matt at AA still doesn’t buy the explanation that it was a bit.

Bob’s Blitz notes that WFAN’s ratings took a tumble for the second straight Arbitron ratings period, but ESPN Radio New York failed to take up the slack.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union notes that NBC saw higher ratings for the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs thanks to airing one more game than last year.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with MLB Network’s Jim Kaat about the Nationals.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog introduces readers to new MASN Nationals reporter Kristina Akra.

Tony Grossi at ESPN Cleveland and WKNR Radio explains why the Browns flagship TV station had to move the team’s first preseason game to another station (scroll down).

Bonnie Miller Rubin of the Chicago Tribune looks back at being her newspaper’s first “gal” sports reporter in 1973 and how far women sportswriters have advanced since then.

Sports Media Watch notes that Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins will be back on NBC this summer to analyze Olympic basketball, a role he filled in 2000, 2004 and 2008.

To Steve Lepore at Puck The Media who notes that the NHL on NBC Sports Network continues to rack up the ratings.

And Dave Kohl of the Broadcast Booth explores the Sacramento market.

I’ll be out for bit, but be back after 7 p.m. ET for the NFL TV schedules. We’ll analyze them together.

Some Monday Morning Sports Media Thoughts

I’ll provide some thoughts on the weekend in sports media as hopefully, MLK Day is a holiday for you. If not, then I hope you’re able to find a way to honor Dr. King and his message in some manner today.

As always, the thoughts come in bullet form.

• As I watched the Houston-Baltimore game on Sunday, I kept thinking that Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts should be the NFL on CBS “B” team starting next season. I feel I’m in the minority liking Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf, but having heard them extensively over the last half of this season, it’s my opinion that “The Bird and The Beard” have surpassed them as an announcing team. Dierdorf has been a premier analyst for both ABC and CBS, and so has Fouts, but I feel The Beard is better. And while Gumbel has also been the number one play-by-play man for CBS, he is no longer an elite play caller. Ian has continually paid his dues for the Tiffany Network dating back to when CBS reobtained the NFL in 1998 until 2010 when he replaced Dick Enberg on the “C” team with Fouts.

  Ian and Dan have clicked to the point where I named them Best Announcing Team in this season’s NFL TV Awards. CBS should honor them with a promotion and a postseason game next year. It’s about time.

• And while I’m talking about CBS, one of the more blatant client strokes I’ve ever seen came during The NFL Today postgame show when Subway’s sponsorship was all over the screen, not only with the appearance of endorser Ndamukong Suh of the Detroit Lions, but also through company spokesman, Jared Fogle. CNBC’s Darren Rovell was highly suspicious of Suh’s appearance and also criticized the entire Subway integration into the program. With NFL rights fees so high, I understand the networks wanting to recoup their money, but there are other ways to accomplish this.
• The Australian Open has begun and thanks to ESPN’s partnership with DirecTV, I have access to five additional channels that compliment ESPN2′s coverage. I can tell I’m going to hate analyst Luke Jensen. During Li Na’s first round match against Ksenia Pervak, Jensen kept talking throughout the action and hardly took a breath. In fact while play was ongoing, he analyzed points that had previously occurred as if to prove he could keep talking and annoy the viewer. If you don’t have DirecTV, Jensen’s commentary can be accessed through ESPN3.com. If you’re a tennis fan like me, it’ll be hard to put up with him because he doesn’t shut up. The other outer court announcers like Elise Bergin, Jeff Tarango, and Barry McKay are quite good. And ESPN now has a studio show for the five channels to help the transition in between matches and that is welcomed on this end.
• For the first time ever, I actually enjoyed Joe Buck and his call of the New York Giants-Green Bay game. Not only was this related to his transparency on Twitter, I also noticed that Buck was more animated on Sunday than in the past. I’m liking Joe Buck. Cocaine is one hell of a drug. I’m joking, I don’t do coke. But I really don’t know who I am if I can truly enjoy Joe Buck. The Mayans must be right. This year must be the end of the world.

I’m out. Rack me.

The 5th Annual Fang’s Bites NFL TV Awards

Time to hand out the 5th edition of the Fang’s Bites NFL TV Awards. On Christmas Day, I provided the list of nominees for this year’s edition. Now, with the regular season over, let’s hand out the hardware for the 2011-12 campaign.

Best Play-by-Play: The Nominees are Marv Albert, CBS; Ian Eagle, CBS; Al Michaels, NBC; Brad Nessler, NFL Network; Sam Rosen, Fox; and Mike Tirico, ESPN. The winner is Marv Albert, CBS. After leaving Westwood One Radio in 2010, Marv returned to the NFL almost a year later to the day and made it a triumphant one. Teamed with Rich Gannon, Marv joined an already deep bench at CBS Sports and made its corps even better. Usually assigned to the 4th best game of the day, Marv can make it sound exciting. Already one of the best ever broadcasters in basketball, Marv has shown that he still has it in football as well. Here’s hoping Marv gets some better games next season.

Best Game Analyst: The Nominees are Brian Billick, Fox; Cris Collinsworth, NBC; Dan Fouts, CBS; Mike Mayock, NFL Network; and Phil Simms, CBS. And the winner is Mike Mayock, NFL Network. He won Best Game Analyst in the 2010 College Football TV Awards and now, becomes the first person to win the award in the same category for two different awards. Mayock should have been appointed as the Thursday Night Football analyst after Cris Collinsworth left, but NFL Network went in a bad direction for the previous two seasons. Mike spots trends, is able to first guess rather than second guess and makes what had been a total train wreck in 2009 & 2010, a totally enjoyable listen.

Best Sunday Morning Pre-Game Show: The Nominees are Fox NFL Sunday, Fox; NFL GameDay Morning, NFL Network; and The NFL Today, CBS. This year’s winner is The NFL Today on CBS. Hosted by the great James Brown, the NFL Today may be ratings-challenged in comparison to Fox NFL Sunday, but it’s not due to the quality of the show. Yes, there are silly gimmicks like promotional crossovers for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show or the horrible Halloween abortion fronted by Kris Jenkins, but when the show goes into football with Bill Cowher or breaking down quarterback play with Dan Marino and Boomer Esiason, or having Charley Casserley discuss league issues, it’s very good. And it’s why I’ll name The NFL Today as Best Sunday Morning Pre-Game Show.

Best Studio Show, Daily or Weekly: Our nominees in this category are Inside the NFL, Showtime; NFL Live, ESPN; NFL Matchup, ESPN; NFL Total Access, NFL Network; and Playbook, NFL Network. The deserving winner is NFL Matchup, ESPN. This show was in danger of falling by the wayside after the 2009 season, but after getting a sponsor and ownership of the show squared away, the show returned to ESPN’s Sunday morning lineup and fans were the better for it. With Sal Paolantonio hosting and Ron Jaworski and Merril Hoge, the show breaks down plays and film like no other.

Best Highlights: The Nominees are NFL GameDay Final, NFL Network; NFL Primetime, ESPN; and SportsCenter 7:30 p.m. Sunday, ESPN. And our winner here is NFL GameDay Final on NFL Network. While the NFL TV partners have to buy access to highlights for a price, NFL Network doesn’t have that problem. It can take what it wants and run clips for however long it desires. NFL GameDay Final’s highlights are a reflection of that. The show has suffered since Rich Eisen left, but the highlights are still the same and game segments can run as long as 4 minutes. If you haven’t watched a game, the best way to find what happened is to watch NFL GameDay Final. One of the best wrap up shows around.

Best Studio Host: The nominees are James Brown, CBS/Showtime; Curt Menefee, Fox; Dan Patrick, NBC; and Andrew Siciliano, DirecTV. Our winner is Dan Patrick, NBC. Dan has been the studio host of NBC’s Football Night in America since 2008. He’s gone from sharing the highlights with his former ESPN co-hort Keith Olbermann to now doing them all himself and he does them very smoothly. In addition, he had to break in two analysts who had little to no experience in TV and has helped guide Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison into two very strongly opinionated personalities. Dan will have a role on NBC’s Olympic coverage this year and based on his performance on Football Night in America over the last few years, he should do very well.

Best Studio Analyst: The nominees are Bill Cowher, CBS; Tony Dungy, NBC; Marshall Faulk, NFL Network; Howie Long, Fox; Steve Mariucci, NFL Network; and Michael Strahan, Fox. And completing the NBC perfecta, we go with Tony Dungy, NBC. Tony doesn’t yell, he doesn’t pound the table and he doesn’t dress outlandishly. All Tony does is give you opinions, provide excellent breakdowns and can show a little humor too. He’s grown to be one of the better studio analysts on TV without having to resort to gimmicks. His weekly appearances on the Dan Patrick Show are also quite enjoyable. Tony Dungy deserves the award this year.

Most Valuable Network: Our nominees for this category are Fox, NBC, and NFL Network. And the winner of the MVN for the 2011-12 season is NFL Network. For greatly improving its Thursday Night Football presentation both in the booth and in its production, plus seeing its best ratings ever for the package, we give the award to NFL Network. The higher ratings had everything to do with the wider distribution for the network, however, Cablevision and Time Warner Cable still remain holdouts. But without the two providers, NFL Network saw its best numbers ever for Thursday Night Football. NFL Network is the surprise winner this year.

Best NFL Insider: The nominees are John Clayton, ESPN; Mike Florio, NBC, Jay Glazer, Fox, Jason La Canfora, NFL Network; and Adam Schefter, ESPN. I’ll go with Adam Schefter of ESPN. While all of the insiders can each claim victories of breaking stories over one another, the one who seems to have been consistent all season has been Adam Schefter. I wanted to go with John Clayton and his ponytail, but I’ll give this to Schefter.

Best Announcing Team: The nominees are Marv Albert/Rich Gannon, CBS; Ian Eagle/Dan Fouts, CBS; Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth, NBC; Jim Nantz/Phil Simms, CBS; Brad Nessler/Mike Mayock, NFL Network; and Sam Rosen/Brian Billick, Fox. And the winner of this award are “The Bird” and “The Beard”, Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts of CBS. They’ve worked together for two seasons and sound as if they’ve been doing it for six. They have great chemistry, good humor and know their roles. They rarely step on each other and make each game quite enjoyable. Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts of CBS are your winners of Best Announcing Team for this season.

Most Improved Presentation: Just two nominees for this category and they are Inside the NFL, Showtime and Thursday Night Football, NFL Network. The winner is Thursday Night Football, NFL Network. This has gone from being one of the worst produced and worst called packages to one of the best. After NFL Network jettisoned Matt Millen and Joe Theismann, Mike Mayock was brought in to replace them. And while Bob Papa was unfairly shown the door, Brad Nessler came in and clicked immediately with Mayock. And the problems that had plagued TNF in the past, late replays, garbled audio and all around bad production have gone as well. Replays are sharp, the picture seems much better than in the past and overall, the games have been quite enjoyable to watch. Thursday Night Football wins the award this season.

Best Game Coverage: The nominees are Monday Night Football, ESPN; NFL on Fox, Fox; Sunday Night Football, NBC; and Thursday Night Football, NFL Network. The winner is the NFL on Fox. Fox Sports’ announcers are a weak bunch, but their production people are among the best in sports. The HD quality is good, the replays are done well, I love when X-Mo is used to slow down a play to the point where I can see single blades of grass fly off the field. Fox does a great job on the NFL and the viewer is the beneficiary.

Rookie of the Year: The nominees are Jaime Maggio, Fox; Chad Pennington, Fox; and NFL Turning Point, Versus/NBC Sports Network. Our winner is Chad Pennington. I’ve been quite impressed with his work with Sam Rosen. Chad majored in Communications at Marshall knowing that he wanted to be in TV after his football career. Deciding to sit this season out to heal injuries, Pennington threw himself into TV with the same dedication of his playing days. He’s come off as well-spoken, well-informed and is becoming a very good analyst.

Best Debut: Only one nominee and I didn’t put this out originally. This goes to NFL Turning Point on Versus/NBC Sports Network. This show uses NFL Films footage plus takes advantage of wiring players for sound. What you have is a high quality show with lots of great football footage. This is not just a highlights show, this brings you inside the game, shows you the plays that turned a game around and explains how it happened. Very well produced by NFL Films.

Best Return to the NFL: Two nominees: Marv Albert, CBS and Melissa Stark, NFL Network. Nice to have both Marv and Melissa back, but Melissa’s return has been a part-time one. Marv’s is full-time so we’ll give this to Marv Albert of CBS Sports.

Best Move: The nominees are the Debut of NFL Turning Point, Versus; NFL Signing Long-Term TV Contracts with CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC; and Replacing Matt Millen and Joe Theismann with Mike Mayock, NFL Network. It has to be the NFL signing long-term TV contracts with all of its partners. The NFL gets about $5 billion per year starting in 2014. All of the networks keep their rights, divide three Super Bowls among CBS, Fox and NBC and ESPN gets into the postseason fray. Plus you’ll be able watch NFL games on your tablet soon. What’s better than that?

From the bests, we now move to the worsts.

Worst Play-by-Play: Our nominees are Thom Brennaman, Fox; Joe Buck, Fox; Bill Macatee, CBS; Ron Pitts, Fox; and Dick Stockton, Fox. This year’s award goes to Dick Stockton of Fox Sports. I hate giving this award to Dick as he’s had a great career calling MLB, NBA, NCAA, NFL and the Olympics, but the slippage over the last three years is too big to ignore. He’s miscalled plays, mixed up players and even forgot what city he’s in. Yes, it happens to everyone, but this is consistently occurring every week. He takes this award by a narrow margin over Thom Brennaman.

Worst Game Analyst: The nominees are Steve Beuerlein, CBS; Randy Cross, CBS; and Jim Mora, Jr., formerly of Fox. We go with Randy Cross. He’s only called a handful of games, but here’s a guy who was once the number two analyst at CBS and NBC, but he’s been exiled to the “F” or “G” games with Don Criqui. I honestly don’t know what he’s seeing on the field anymore.

Worst Studio Host: Your nominees are Chris Berman, ESPN and Stuart Scott, ESPN. And your runaway winner this season is Chris Berman. He used to be a must-see when ESPN started airing the NFL as host of Sunday NFL Countdown and NFL Primetime, but he’s now a mere caricature of himself. The “whoop!” or “He! Could! Go! All! The! Way!” or “Nobody circles the wagons … Like! The Buffalo Bills!” act is very tired. It’s time to bring Trey Wingo or Suzy Kolber or even Stuart Scott to the table to replace him. Chris should be put to pasture now.

Worst Studio Analyst: The nominees are Tedy Bruschi, ESPN; Cris Carter, ESPN; Michael Irvin, NFL Network; Eric Mangini, ESPN; and Shannon Sharpe, CBS. This is my Cleveland Browns bias showing but this goes to Eric Manmoron Mangini of ESPN. There are those who love the way Mangini breaks down plays on NFL Live and other ESPN studio shows, but I don’t see it. Perhaps I can separate my hatred for Mangini over his coaching of the Browns in 20 years, but right now, I can’t see him doing this for long.

Worst Studio Show: Your nominees are Monday Night Countdown, ESPN; NFL 32, ESPN; Sunday NFL Countdown, ESPN. This is a clean ESPN sweep in this category and we go with NFL 32. This is supposed to be a comprehensive look at all 32 NFL teams with highlights, tweets and snark thrown in. This is an abortion. I hope ESPN goes back to the drawing board and revamps this show. It needs it. The debut of the show looked as if it was thrown together at the last minute. The show hasn’t improved much since.

Worst Move: Original nominees were Bob Costas’ Halftime Commentary on Sunday Night Football, NBC; Removing Rich Eisen from NFL Total Access; and Putting Michael Irvin on Thursday Night Football Pregame, NFL Network. I add one more nominee, ESPN’s rotation of sideline reporters for Monday Night Football. And that is your winner. There was no consistency on the sideline for MNF. This year, it was either Suzy Kolber, Sal Paolantonio, Ed Werder, Rachel Nichols and then the strange cameo of John Sutcliffe (more on that later). While ESPN has de-emphasized the sideline reporter on the NFL coverage the last couple of seasons, it still needs a reporter in case of an injury or a development. It’s best if you have the same person every week. Suzy is good or if not, Sal Pal or even Rachel Nichols. Anyone. Just don’t rotate.

Worst Debut: John Sutcliffe, ESPN. A popular personality on ESPN Deportes and Monday Night Football sideline reporter on that network since 2006, the Mothership brought him over to make his English language debut for the Week 15 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers. The game was between two 10-3 teams and it so happened it was also the night that the lights went out at Candlestick Park. While that event could not be foreseen, it was obvious that being on the big stage for ESPN overwhelmed Sutcliffe. He was nervous, he came off unprepared and ESPN stopped using him after a shaky report just after halftime. ESPN PR people have told me that John is one of the most professional people at ESPN Deportes and I don’t doubt that. But that was the wrong game to make his debut.

And that concludes this year’s NFL TV Awards.

Some End of the Year Links

Time to provide you some links to close out 2011. Thanks for visiting the blog this year. I moved from my old Blogger site to a new server, only to get kicked off the new place because it couldn’t handle the traffic from you. But then I was able to find HostMonster in a pinch and they’ve been absolutely wonderful in hosting the site and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. Thanks to you, I keep plugging along at the site and will continue to do so.

Let’s do some linkage on this New Year’s Eve.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out my Big Dozen Sports Media

We’ll begin with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand who looks at Versus turning into NBC Sports Network on Monday.

Over to Adweek and Anthony Crupi who says the deadline to hash out an agreement between MSG Network and Time Warner Cable is fast approaching.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Time Warner Cable subscribers in New York may not be seeing Knicks and Rangers games for a while.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel writes that AT&T U-Verse is also fighting with MSG, but at least can provide the network in HD for its subscribers.

Mike talks with ESPN’s Chris Fowler about the bowl system and how it might lead to a “Plus One” playoff.

And Mike writes that CBS Sports Network provides a Tim Tebow programming marathon  starting tonight.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has the site’s Best & Worst in Sports Media for 2011.

My podcast partner, Keith Thibault from Sports Media Journal lists his biggest sports media stories for 2011.

Timothy Burke at Deadspin has the video of ESPN’s SkyCam crashing down to the field at last night’s Insight Bowl causing a short delay. I like one of the bands doing a SportsCenter sting as the camera was being dragged off the field.

And Ben Koo at Awful Announcing even has video of how the SkyCam works and how it could snap as it did last night.

The great Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch has a Year-in-Review of Boston media at SB Nation.

Max Tedford at WEEI.com has some of the top Boston sports media controversies.

Peter Abraham at the Boston Globe notes that the Red Sox AAA farm team, the Pawtucket Red Sox have found their replacement for announcer Dan Hoard who became the radio voice of the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this year.

At Sports Media Watchdog, the great Mike Silva has his 2011 “Stock Up/Stock Down” for New York sports media personalities.

Newsday’s Neil Best has a quick sports media roundup.

Neil has a few columns mixed into one for his year-end thoughts.

Neil notes how the NHL Winter Classic became exactly that in a short period of time.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that Friend of Fang’s Bites Ian Eagle is a busy man.

Ken McMillan at the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says through radio and TV, local NFL fans will have access to most of the 16 games played on Sunday.

Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun says one of the year’s highlights in local broadcasting was also one of the saddest.

David Zurawik of the Sun talks with Friend of Fang’s Bites Jen Royle about her decision to leave Baltimore and return to her native Boston.

And David has some quotes from CBS’ Dan Fouts who will call Sunday’s Baltimore-Cincinnati game with the aforementioned Ian Eagle.

In Press Box, Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com has his top sports media stories in 2011 for DC-Baltimore.

At the Washington City Paper, Dave McKenna who was embroiled in a legal battle with DC NFL Team owner Dan Snyder is leaving the publication, but not before he fires a few more shots.

Ira Kaufman at the Tampa Tribune gets Jon Gruden to say that he’s not leaving ESPN and will remain with Monday Night Football for the foreseeable future.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says one of Jim Rome’s long-time radio affiliates has dropped the show in favor of local programming.

John Carzano of The Oregonian doesn’t like how ESPN covers the Rose Bowl.

The Canadian Sports Media Blog notes that the World Junior Hockey Championships are doing well on TSN.

In his sports business blog, Joe Favorito provides some thoughts for 2012.

Sports Media Watch reviews its predictions for 2011.

The Business Insider Sports Page provides its Winners and Losers in Sports for 2011.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has some ratings numbers from Versus’ various programming.

Dave Kohl of The Broadcast Booth has his last review of the week in sports media for 2011.

And that will end our linkage for 2011. I know I haven’t been providing as many links lately due to my personal schedules. I hope to do better in 2012. Again, thanks for visiting. I have a couple of more features to provide before 2011 is out. Keep your feeds updated.

Sports Media Weekly Podcast No. 85 — Best of 2011 Featuring James Andrew Miller, Michelle Beadle, Ian Eagle & Curt Menefee

This is a special Year-in-Review podcast. Keith Thibault and I look back at some of our best interviews from 2011. Over the past year, we interviewed quite a few guests and some heavy hitters in the Sports Media world.

Keith and I chose four of the best podcasts and some are run again in their entirety, others we join in progress.

For this podcast, we chose interviews with James Andrew Miller, co-author of the book, “Those Guys Have All Fun: Inside the World of ESPN”; Michelle Beadle, co-host of ESPN2′s SportsNation; Fox NFL Sunday host Curt Menefee; and Ian Eagle from CBS Sports/Tennis Channel and YES Network.

Give a listen and go back in time as Keith and I interview our guests regarding the issues that were prevalent at the time of each podcast.

Download it at iTunes or find the podcast right here.

Sports Media Weekly Podcast No. 75 — Ian Eagle, CBS Sports/Tennis Channel/YES

The Sports Media Weekly Podcast is back and we have one if our rare return guests, Ian Eagle of CBS Sports, Tennis Channel, YES Network and Westwood One Radio. Before Ian’s segment, Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal discussed some of the sports media news of the week.

We led with the start of the 107th World Series and the projected low ratings the Fall Classic could receive.

Continuing with baseball, Keith and I opined about the sad sack saga of the 2011 Boston Red Sox and the TMZ-like coverage of the September Swoon that left the team out of the playoffs. We also took the Boston media to task for carrying agendas and allowing itself to be played by a drum by Red Sox ownership.

Keith and I also talked about ESPN signing Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden to a new five year contract and discussed the NFL’s flat TV ratings through 6 weeks of the young NFL season.

And we handicapped the bidding for the US rights to the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups in a repeat of this year’s Olympic bidding between ESPN, Fox and NBC.

Ian Eagle of CBS Sports, Tennis Channel and YES Network returns for his second appearance on the podcast. We talked about the NBA Lockout and how that has affected the usually busy schedule for Ian and not just the league’s owners and players, but the TV and radio broadcast crews, arena staff and surrounding businesses which are dependent on the games being played.

Ian talked about being in a holding pattern and not picking up extra work in case the lockout is resolved.

We then went to the NFL on CBS and how Ian assessed the season to date. He also talked about working with Dan Fouts going into their second season together.

We also broached whether Ian will get an expanded role on CBS’ U.S. Open coverage Dick Enberg’s departure from the network and the Sports Broadcasting Camp that Ian operates with New York sports anchor Bruce Beck.

Overall, a fun podcast and a very enjoyable listen. You can head over to iTunes and search for Sports Media Journal or you can go right here and listen.