Lisa Salters
Mar
21
ESPN, Inc. Pounds Its Chest Over 43 Sports Emmy Nominations
The ESPN Family of Networks received 43 Sports Emmy nominations. Some of the major nods include Mike Breen for Play-by-Play, Jon Gruden for Event Sports Analyst, College GameDay for Weekly Studio Show, Pardon the Interruption in Daily Studio Show, the Indy 500 for Live Sports Special, Monday Night Football in Live Sports Series, 30 for 30 in Edited Sports Series/Anthology, E:60 for Sports Journalism and even Grantland got three nominations giving Bill Simmons another ego blast.
Here’s what ESPN is saying about their Sports Emmy nominations.
ESPN, Inc. – 41 Sports Emmy Nominations
Outside the Lines, E:60 Lead the Way; First Three Nominations for Grantland.com
ESPN, Inc. received 41 Sports Emmy Award nominations for 2012 across its platforms (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN 3D, ABC, ESPNU, ESPNEWS and Grantland.com), it was announced today by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The winners will be announced Monday, May 6, in New York.
The company’s initiatives in enterprise journalism and storytelling led the way – five nods for E:60, four for Outside the Lines, ESPN Films earned four nominations including two for 30 for 30 documentaries, and three for Grantland.com, the site’s first nominations. OTL has won 14 Sports Emmy Awards in history, including three last year. Grantland.com gained two nominations in New Approaches – Sports Programming with “The Arnold Palmer” and “Royce White Battles Anxiety on Draft Day” as well as one in New Approaches – Short Format for “Story Time with Jalen Rose.”
Monday Night Football, the most-watched series in cable television, was nominated in Live Series and its analyst Jon Gruden was nominated for the fourth consecutive year and reporter Lisa Salters received her first-ever nod. In technical categories, ESPN 3D garnered a pair of nominations, including in Technical Team Remote for the Winter X Games for which the network won in 2012. Also, last summer’s UEFA Euro 2012 month-long tournament received nominations in Technical Team Studio and in Graphic Design.
Overall, ESPN has won 148 Sports Emmy Awards in 25 years of eligibility. ABC Sports won 160 from 1980 – 2008.
ESPN’s nominations by category (all are ESPN, except as noted):
Live Special Indianapolis 500 (ABC)
Live Series Monday Night Football
Edited Special Outside the Lines – Believe
Sports Documentary 26 Years: The Dewey Bozella Story (ESPN2)
The Announcement
Edited Series 30 for 30
Studio Show/weekly College GameDay
Studio Show/daily NFL Live (ESPN2)
Pardon the Interruption
Journalism E:60 – Beitar Jerusalem (ESPN2)
E:60 – Busted Coverage (ESPN2)
Short Feature College GameDay – Fist Bump: A Brotherly Bond
E:60 – Perfect (ESPN2)
SportsCenter – Kick of Hope
SportsCenter – Run with Me
Long Feature E:60 – Mike Powell: In Relentless Pursuit (ESPN2)
New Approaches – Unite (ESPNU)
Sports Programming Royce White Battles Anxiety on Draft Day (Grantland.com)
The Arnold Palmer (Grantland.com)
New Approaches – Short Format ESPNU Unite Social Highlight (ESPNU)
Story Time with Jalen Rose (Grantland.com)
Numbers Never Lie Whiteboard (ESPN2)
Play by Play Mike Breen (ABC)
Event Analyst Jon Gruden
Reporter Lisa Salters
Technical Team Remote The Masters (ESPN 3D with CBS)
Winter X Games (ESPN 3D)
Technical Team Studio UEFA Euro 2012
Camerawork E:60 – Remember Bluffton (ESPN2)
Outside the Lines – Breaking the Silence
Editing Grand Slam Tennis (ESPN2
Outside the Lines – Breaking the Silence
Writing The Open Championship – Old
The Open Championship – Essays
30 for 30 – Ghosts of Ole Miss
Graphic Design UEFA Euro 2012
Sport Science (ESPN-ESPN2-ESPNEWS)
Prod.Design/Art Direction Outside the Lines – Defiance: The Story of FC Start
Promo – Institutional “It’s not crazy, it’s sports.”
“Nothing Beats First Place”
That’s going to do it.
Mar
20
34th Annual Sports Emmy Awards Nominations Announced
Just received this from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the full press release of the nominations for the 34th Annual Sports Emmy Awards.
NBC Sports Group received the most nominations with 58 followed by ESPN with 43 and Turner in third with 27.
Bob Costas was nominated yet again for Outstanding Studio Host along with Dan Patrick, James Brown, Ernie Johnson and Rich Eisen.
There were only four nominees for Outstanding Play-by-play, Mike Breen, Mike Emrick, Al Michaels and Jim Nantz.
Cris Collinsworth received another nomination for Outstanding Event Analyst. He’s joined by Ato Boldon of NBC Olympics, Jon Gruden, Jim Kaat and Mike Mayock.
Studio Analyst was full with Charles Barkley of TNT, Tony Dungy of NBC’s Football Night in America, CBS’ Boomer Esiason, MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds, Bill Ripken also from MLB Network and Kurt Warner of NFL Network.
Let us take a look at the full list. We need a jump break in here as well. Let’s go. Lots of things to read through. Get ready to scroll.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES THE NOMINEES FOR THE 34th ANNUAL SPORTS EMMY® AWARDS
Winners to be Honored During the May 7th Ceremony At Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center
New York, NY – March 20, 2013 – The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today announced the nominees for the 34th Annual Sports Emmy® Awards.
More than 170 nominees were announced in 34 categories including Outstanding Live Sports Special, Live Series, Sports Documentary, Studio Show, Promotional Announcements, Play-by-Play Personality and Studio Analyst. The Awards will be given out at the prestigious Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center located in the Time Warner Center on Tuesday, May 7th, 2013 in New York City.
“What a world we live in,” said Malachy Wienges, Chair, NATAS. “The Olympics, NASCAR, the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the World Series, The Stanley Cup, The NBA, the US Open, the Masters…it just goes on and on! This is another outstanding year for the sports community and for The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The entries received in this year’s Sports Emmy Awards illustrate the high-water mark of quality each of us gets to enjoy every time we turn on our favorite program. With so much talent vying for the prestigious Emmy Award and with many of the today’s leading sports broadcasters, personalities, and television professionals in attendance, it promises to be an exciting evening.”
The networks of NBC Sports Group (NBC, NBC Sports Network, Golf Channel nbcolympics.com, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, nbcsports.com, & Telemundo) lead the nomination totals with 58, ESPN (ESPN, ESPN2, grantland.com, ABC, ESPN3D, ESPNU & ESPNews), garnered 43, and Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NCAA.com & truTV) garnered 27. A complete list of all Networks and individual show nominations follows below.
A complete list of all nominees is attached and also available at www.emmyonline.tv/sports
34th Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network Group
Network or Network Group NominationsNBC Sports Group (NBC, NBC Sports Network, Golf Channel, nbcolympics.com, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, nbcsports.com, Telemundo) — 58
ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, grantland.com, ABC, ESPN 3D, ESPNU, ESPNews) — 43
Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, truTV, NCAA.com) — 27
FOX Sports Media Group (FOX, SPEED, FOX Soccer Channel) — 17
HBO Sports — 17
NFL Network (NFL Network, NFL Media, NFL.com) — 16
CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBS Sports Network) — 15
MLB Network — 9
DIRECTV — 1
YouTube — 134th Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network
NETWORK — NOMINATIONS
NBC — 36
ESPN — 23
HBO Sports — 17
FOX — 13
NFL Network — 13
TNT — 13
CBS — 10
ESPN2 — 10
MLB Network — 9
NBC Sports Network — 9
TBS — 5
NBA TV — 4
Showtime — 4
truTV — 4
grantland.com — 3
NBCOlympics.com — 3
Speed — 3
ABC — 2
Bravo — 2
ESPN3D — 2
ESPNU — 2
Golf Channel — 2
MSNBC — 2
NFL Media — 2
Telemundo — 2
CBS Sports Network — 1
CNBC — 1
DIRECTV — 1
ESPNews — 1
FOX Soccer Channel — 1
nbcsports.com — 1
NCAA.com — 1
NFL.com — 1
YouTube — 1BREAKDOWN OF MULTIPLE PROGRAM — SERIES NOMINATIONS
Program/Network/Nominations
Games of the XXX Olympiad (NBC/Bravo/CNBC/MSNBC/NBC SportsNetwork/NBCOlympics.com/Telemundo) — 14
NBA on TNT (TNT) — 6
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (TNT) — 6
E:60 (ESPN2) — 5
24/7 (HBO) — 4
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins (HBO) — 4
MLB on FOX (FOX) — 4
Outside the Lines (ESPN) — 4
Sunday Night Football (NBC) — 4
NASCAR on FOX (FOX) — 3
NFL Films Presents (NFL Network) — 3
30 for 30 (ESPN) — 2
A Football Life (NFL Network) — 2
College Gameday (ESPN) — 2
The Dream Team (NBA TV) — 2
Inside the NBA (NBA TV) — 2
Inside the NFL (Showtime) –2
MLB Network Division Series (MLB Network) — 2
MLB Tonight (MLB Network) — 2
Namath (HBO) — 2
NCAA March Madness (TBS) — 2
NFL on FOX (FOX) — 2
SportsCenter (ESPN) — 2
Sport Science (ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNews) — 2
UEFA Euro 2012 (ESPN) — 2
The nominations are coming after a jump break.
(continue reading…)
Dec
25
Nominees for 6th Annual Fang’s Bites NFL TV Awards
Merry Christmas! Happy to provide you with the nominees for this year’s NFL TV Awards. Last year’s nominees ended up this way.
And later, this was the result for the 2011 season.
Let’s take a look at the nominees in each category.
Best Play-by-Play: Ian Eagle (CBS), Kevin Harlan (CBS), Al Michaels (NBC), Brad Nessler (NFL Network), Mike Tirico (ESPN)
Best Game Analyst: Troy Aikman (Fox), Cris Collinsworth (NBC), Dan Fouts (CBS), Rich Gannon (CBS), Mike Mayock (NFL Network)
Best Sunday NFL Pregame Show: First on the Field (NFL Network), Fox NFL Sunday (Fox), NFL Matchup (ESPN), NFL Today (CBS)
Best Studio Show, Daily or Weekly: Around the League Live (NFL Network), Inside the NFL (Showtime), NFL Live (ESPN), NFL PrimeTime (ESPN), NFL Turning Point (NBC Sports Network)
Best Highlights: Football Night in America (NBC), NFL GameDay Final (NFL Network), NFL PrimeTime (ESPN), The OT (Fox)
Best Studio Host: Rich Eisen (NFL Network), Curt Menefee (Fox), Dan Patrick (NBC/NBC Sports Network), Melissa Stark (NFL Network), Andrew Siciliano (DirecTV), Trey Wingo (ESPN)
Best Studio Analyst: Tony Dungy (NBC), Boomer Esiason (CBS), Marshall Faulk (NFL Network), Rodney Harrison (NBC), Kurt Warner (NFL Network), Steve Young (ESPN)
Most Valuable Network: Fox, ESPN, NBC, NFL Network
Best NFL Insider: John Clayton (ESPN), Jay Glazer (Fox), Peter King (NBC), Jason La Canfora (CBS), Chris Mortensen (ESPN)
Best Sideline Reporter: Alex Flanagan (NFL Network), Jennifer Hale (Fox), Jaime Maggio (Fox), Lisa Salters (ESPN), Michele Tafoya (NBC)
Best Announcing Team: Ian Eagle/Dan Fouts (CBS), Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots (CBS), Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth (NBC), Brad Nessler/Mike Mayock (NFL Network), Mike Tirico/Jon Gruden (ESPN)
Best Game Production: Monday Night Football (ESPN), NFL on CBS (CBS), NFL on Fox (Fox), Sunday Night Football (NBC), Thursday Night Football (NFL Network)
Best Debut: Carolyn Manno on Football Night in America (NBC), First on the Field (NFL Network), Amber Theoharis on NFL Total Access (NFL Network), Hines Ward on Football Night in America (NBC)
Worst Play-by-Play: Chris Berman (ESPN), Thom Brennaman (Fox), Chris Myers (Fox), Ron Pitts (Fox), Dick Stockton (Fox)
Worst Game Analyst: Dan Dierdorf (CBS), Daryl Johnston (Fox), John Lynch (Fox), Mike Martz (Fox)
Worst Studio Host: Chris Berman (ESPN), Chris Rose (NFL Network)
Worst Studio Analyst: Michael Irvin (NFL Network), Eric Mangini (ESPN)
Dec
22
The Last Monday Night Football Game of 2012 is Tonight
With Christmas Eve falling on a Monday, the NFL decided to schedule ESPN’s final game of the 2012 season on a Saturday night which is tonight.
It’s like the old days when ESPN had the Sunday night package and used to air a Saturday night game in the final weeks of the NFL season. But back in the 1990′s, ESPN would air a Saturday night and a Sunday night game back-to-back and have its crew of Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire call both games.
Tonight, the Monday Night Football crew of Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden will call the game. Lisa Salters will roam the sidelines for ESPN.
Monday Night Countdown airs at 7 p.m. ET with the game starting after 8:30 p.m.
Here’s the ESPN preview.
MNF Season Finale on Saturday: Matt Ryan and the Falcons Face Matthew Stafford and the Lions
In a special Saturday night edition of ESPN’s Monday Night Football, Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons – tied for the best record in the NFL (12-2) – will face Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions on December 22 at 8:30 p.m. ET in the prime-time series’ season finale.
The Falcons hope to secure home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs, while Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson continues his quest to set the record for most receiving yards in a single season. To break the 17-year old record set by ESPN analyst Jerry Rice, Johnson needs 182 receiving yards in his next two games.
Mike Tiricowill call the game with analyst Jon Gruden and sideline reporter Lisa Salters. Airing on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, MNF will also be available on computers at WatchESPN.com and on tablets via the WatchESPN app for fans who receive their video subscriptions from an affiliated provider.
The 90-minute Saturday edition of Monday Night Countdown begins at 7 p.m. with host Chris Berman and analysts Cris Carter, Mike Ditka, Tom Jackson and Keyshawn Johnson and NFL Insiders Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter. The pre-game show will also include reports from Steve Young and Salters at Ford Field. Highlights:
- Soundtracks – Falcons Season: ith a win Saturday night in Detroit, the Falcons will lock up home field advantage for the NFC playoffs. In this week’s Soundtracks, Countdown presents some of the season’s best Falcons in-game and sideline audio.
- Jerry Rice on Calvin Johnson’s Pursuit of Receiving Record: With 1,667 receiving yards in 14 games, Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is 181 yards removed from breaking Jerry Rice’s single-season receiving mark. As Johnson approaches his record, Rice reflects on the record and what makes Johnson such a dominant receiver.
- Best of “C’Mon Man!”: A review of the season’s best C’Mon Man! plays, ranging from the replacement referees faux pas to wardrobe malfunctions.
ESPN NFL studio programming continues throughout the holiday weekend into Christmas Day.
Date Time (ET) Show Network(s) Saturday, December 22 7 p.m. Monday Night Countdown ESPN 8:30 p.m. Monday Night Football:
Atlanta Falcons at Detroit LionsESPN, ESPN Deportes, Watch ESPN Sunday, December 23 3 a.m. NFL Matchup ESPN 6:30 a.m. NFL Matchup (re-air) ESPN 8:30 a.m. NFL Matchup (re-air) ESPN2 10 a.m. Sunday NFL Countdown ESPN 11 a.m. Fantasy Football Now ESPN2 7:30 p.m. SportsCenter*
Highlights of Sunday’s NFL gamesESPN Monday, December 24 3 p.m. NFL Primetime ESPN 4 p.m. NFL Live ESPN 5 p.m. NFL32 ESPN2 7 p.m. NFL Live (re-air) ESPN2 Tuesday, December 25 12:30 a.m. NFL Primetime (re-air) ESPN 1:30 a.m. NFL Films Presents ESPN2 3 p.m. NFL Primetime (re-air) ESPN 3:30 p.m. 2012 Pop Warner Championship ESPN2 4 p.m. NFL Live ESPN 4:30 p.m. Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers at Cardinals (re-air) ESPN2 6 p.m. NFL Live (re-air) ESPN2
There you have it.
Dec
21
NFL Viewing Picks For Week 16, 12/22 & 12/23/2012
All Times Eastern
Saturday, December 22
Studio & Pregame Shows
Monday Night Countdown — ESPN, 7 p.m.
NFL Total Access — NFL Network, 7 p.m.
NFL Total Access: Postgame — NFL Network, 11:30 p.m.
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
Atlanta at Detroit — Mike Tirico/Jon Gruden/Lisa Salters
Sunday, December 23
Studio & Pregame Shows
First on the Field — NFL Network, 7 a.m.
NFL Matchup — ESPN, 8:30 a.m.
NFL GameDay Morning — NFL Network, 9 a.m.
Sunday NFL Countdown — ESPN, 10 a.m.
Fantasy Football Today — CBS Sports Network, 11 a.m.
Fantasy Football Now — ESPN2, 11 a.m.
The NFL Today — CBS, noon
Fox NFL Sunday — Fox, noon
NFL Red Zone Channel — DirecTV Channel 703, 12:55 p.m.
NFL RedZone — Check Your Local Listings, 1 p.m.
NFL Today Postgame Show — CBS, 4 p.m.
NFL GameDay Scoreboard — NFL Network, 4 p.m.
Football Night in America — NBC, 7 p.m.
The OT — Fox, 7:30 p.m.
NFL GameDay Highlights — NFL Network, 7:30 p.m.
NFL GameDay Overtime — NFL Network, 11:30 p.m.
NFL GameDay Final — NFL Network, midnight
1 p.m.
CBS
Buffalo at Miami — Don Criqui/Randy Cross
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh — Jim Nantz/Phil Simms
Indianapolis at Kansas City — Bill Macatee/Steve Tasker
New England at Jacksonville — Kevin Harlan/Solomon Wilcots
Oakland at Carolina — Spero Dedes/Steve Beuerlein
San Diego at New York Jets — Marv Albert/Rich Gannon
Tennessee at Green Bay — Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf
FOX
Minnesota at Houston — Chris Myers/Tim Ryan/Jaime Maggio!!!
New Orleans at Dallas — Kenny Albert/Daryl Johnston/Tony Siragusa
St. Louis at Tampa Bay — Ron Pitts/Mike Martz/Kristina Pink
Washington at Philadelphia — Thom Brennaman/Brian Billick/Laura Okmin
4:05 p.m.
CBS
Cleveland at Denver — Ian Eagle/Dan Fouts
4:25 p.m.
FOX
Chicago at Arizona — Dick Stockton/John Lynch/Jennifer Hale
New York Giants at Baltimore — Joe Buck/Troy Aikman/Pam Oliver
8:30 p.m.
NBC
San Francisco at Seattle — Al Michaels/Cris Collinsworth/Michele Tafoya
DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket Channel Assignments
Sirius XM Satellite Radio Channel Assignments
Sep
10
Some Quick Monday Afternoon Linkage
Was out for a bit today so I’m behind in what I want to get done here. I’ll do some links for you to tie you over.
I’ll start with a couple of stories from Sports Business Daily which looks at some record overnight ratings for Fox and NBC for the first Sunday of the NFL regular season.
John Ourand at SBD notes that ESPN has officially scrapped the musical opens for Monday Night Football for good.
From NFL UK, Nicholas Pike writes that viewers can watch Monday Night Football through BBC’s red button or through its website.
Sam Laird at Mashable says NBC’s Michele Tafoya has been sending video tweets from the sidelines during the NFL Kickoff Game and on Sunday Night Football.
Michael O’Connell at the Hollywood Reporter says NBC is really crowing about its Sunday Night Football overnights.
Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable reports that NFL Network has hired a former DirecTV executive to join its NFL Total Access show.
Christopher Heine of Adweek says the New York Giants are on the forefront of social media.
Adweek’s Emma Bazilian discovers that CNN Situation Room host Wolf Blitzer loves watching ESPN’s SportsCenter.
Media Life Magazine reports that CBS has almost sold out its Super Bowl ad inventory.
Merrill Knox at TV Spy says Friend of Fang’s Bites Courtney Fallon has taken her talents to South Beach from Providence.
ESPN’s Darren Rovell writes that Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA becomes the latest NFL facility to offer free Wi-Fi to its fans.
Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report looks at what’s in store this season on ESPN’s Monday Night Fotoball.
Ed says the NFL can’t be pleased over the length of some of Sunday’s games due to replacement refs.
Rob Tobias from the ESPN Front Row PR blog talks to the man who composed the iconic SportsCenter theme.
Also from the Front Row blog, Allison Stoneberg writes about ESPN’s Monday Night Football production truck.
Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that NBC Sports Network will air World Team Tennis this weekend.
Pete says the Baseball Hall of Fame has narrowed the field for the Ford C. Frick broadcasters award.
Pete writes that the local CBS affiliate has opted not to show the US Open men’s final today. The same here in Providence. It’s been pushed to its co-owned Fox affiliate’s secondary digital channel. Ouch.
At the Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik talks with new Monday Night Football reporter Lisa Salters who got her start in TV news in the Charm City.
Rich Shopes of the Tampa Bay Times says the local blackout of the Buccaneers home opener is killing local sports bars.
David Barron from the Houston Chronicle says a nice day plus a blowout lowered the Texans’ TV ratings.
John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that the Reds’ radio ratings are truly amazing.
Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Fox’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman took note of the replacement referees during yesterday’s San Francisco-Green Bay game.
Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post talks with NBC’s Al Michaels.
The Arizona Republic’s Paola Boivin doesn’t have good news in the DirecTV-Pac 12 Networks talks.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has five things he learned over the weekend.
Tom has your sports calendar for the week.
Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail downplays CBC’s acquisition of the 2015 Pan Am Games.
Matt Sarzyniak of Matt’s College Sports has a couple of notes on the ESPN/Fox Big 12 deal.
Sep
08
Your Week 1 NFL Viewing Guide
I hope to be doing this for you before each week of the NFL regular season and into the postseason. I’ll give you a few facts and pick a couple of games from each network to watch.
So let’s give you some quick viewing facts for the very first week of the 2012 NFL season in The League Where They Play. For Pay.
Which network has the doubleheader? — Fox. San Francisco at Green Bay is the main game at 4:25 p.m. going to 87% of the country.
What’s up with the 4:25 p.m. ET starts? — The NFL heard your complaints about cutting off the overruns from the 1 p.m. ET games for the start of the late games. Now you should be able to see those fantastic finishes without having the rug being pulled from under.
Blackouts? — Oh yes. In Tampa Bay. Oh, Tampa Bay. Pobre Tampa Bay.
CBS just has games at 1 p.m.? — Yes, it’s the usual U.S. Open coverage, but weather has wreaked havoc on the schedule, so instead of the men’s final, CBS will air the women’s final at 4:30 after the NFL.
Who is this Rob Riggle? — He joins Fox NFL Sunday replacing Frank Caliendo on the comic relief picks segment.
Anybody else new on Fox NFL Sunday? — Yes. Erin Andrews. You may have heard of her. She’ll be on the Fox NFL pregame show every week with a feature. This week, she interviews Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.
How about The NFL Today on CBS? — Yup. Jason La Canfora, former insider on the NFL Network joins the Tiffany Network replacing the GM segment with Charley Casserly.
What happened to Charley Casserly? — Don’t cry for Charley, he’s on the NFL Network now.
Speaking of NFL Network, anything new with them on Sundays? — Where do we begin? They have a new 7 a.m. ET, yes, that’s 7 a.m. ET, pregame show called “First on the Field” hosted by Melissa Stark. Oh, and Chris Rose will be the host of the Sunday night shows, NFL Game Day Highlights and NFL Game Day Final.
Anyone new on the game broadcasts this year? — Mike Martz joins Fox. He’ll be teamed with Ron Pitts. And Heath Evans will work some games with Sam Rosen. CBS is pretty much status quo.
So is Michael Strahan going to be able to last the season being on Fox NFL Sunday and Live with Kelly and Michael? — Good question. Being bi-coastal with Live in New York and Fox NFL Sunday in LA isn’t going to be easy. Granted, this is not rocket science, but there has to be some wear-and-tear flying to-and-fro each week with no days off in between. We’ll see if Michael has some verbal gaffes late in the season.
So what are your Games of the Week? — In Week 1, just about every game is a Game of the Week, but narrowing it down, first on CBS: Indy at Chicago (Greg Gumbel/Dan Dierdorf) as Andrew Luck makes his NFL regular season debut and yes, Buffalo at New York Jets (Marv Albert/Rich Gannon) just to see when the quarterback controversy starts.
On Fox, I’ll go with Philadelphia at Cleveland (Dick Stockton/John Lynch/Jennifer Hale) of the early games because of my Browns and to see how quick a quagmire the team makes. Also, there’s San Francisco at Green Bay (Joe Buck/Troy Aikman/Pam Oliver) for the late game at 4:25 p.m. as Aaron Rodgers takes on his hometown team.
Anything else I should know? — Let’s see, Fox NFL Sunday has a new set which made its debut under Fox Soccer and Fox College Football. It’ll get its major use on NFL Sundays.
What about NBC? Anything new with the Peacock? — Hines Ward joins NBC and he’ll be at game sites with Bob Costas during Football Night in America and perhaps at halftime. Other than that, FNIA should remain the same. And NBC is not going to tinker with a formula that made Sunday Night Football the top rated primetime series last season, the first for a sports series.
And Monday? What about Monday Night Football? — Can’t forget about Monday. There’s a Week 1 AFC doubleheader with Cincinnati at Baltimore and San Diego at Oakland. MNF will have a two man booth with Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden. Ron Jaworski goes to the studio. Lisa Salters roams the sidelines. And yes, there’s Chris Berman calling his first-ever regular season game in Oakland. How many times will he say, “Da Ray-duhs”? We may have to do a drinking game. Twitter may explode with Berman calling the game, but overall, the ratings will still be good for the double dip. And Suzy Kolber will host Monday Night Countdown in place of Berman.
That is your Viewing Guide for NFL Week 1.
Sep
02
Some NFL TV Changes For 2012
This being the last Sunday of 2012 without the NFL, let’s go over a few tweaks to the television experience this season.
SUNDAY LATE AFTERNOON GAMES START AT 4:25 P.M. ET
After numerous complaints about breaking away from NFL cut-ins in between the early and late afternoon games, the league has mandated that the late Sunday afternoon games begin at 4:25 p.m. ET ten minutes later than last year. This only applies to the network carrying the national doubleheader each week. If CBS or Fox is scheduled to show just one game in your region, then the late game will begin at 4:05 p.m. as usual.
Too often, fans would complain about being shown a game heading towards a fantastic finish only to be told as a game winning or tying score was about to happen, that NFL rules would not allow the network to show the finish and they would be taken to the start of the late game. With the 4:25 p.m. starts, the league hopes to show all of the finishes of the early game without having to break away. We’ll see if this eases the complaints.
This will also wreak havoc on CBS’ primetime schedule and possibly to NBC’s Football Night in America show as to when it can begin airing highlights.
NFL NETWORK GETS AN EXPANDED THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Starting in Week 2, NFL Network will air a total of 13 games beginning with the Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers. This means one game a week taken away from the Sunday afternoon TV partners, CBS and Fox. Overall, there will be 14 Thursday Night games this season, NFL Network gets to air all but one of them.
NBC AIRS THE THANKSGIVING NIGHT GAME STARTING THIS SEASON
In Week 12, the Thanksgiving Night Game which began in 2006 on NFL Network, now moves to NBC as part of its Sunday Night Football package. It means that all three Thanksgiving holiday games will be on network television. This year’s Thanksgiving Night game will involve the blood AFC East rivalry between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets at Met Life Stadium.
It was a very good move by NBC to buy into the Thanksgiving Day games. This marks the first time NBC will air an NFL Thanksgiving game since 1997 when Tennessee beat Dallas, 27-14.
Get ready for Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya, Bob Costas, Dan Patrick, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison and Hines Ward to be part of your Thanksgiving evening.
CBS SPORTS NETWORK AIRS ITS FIRST-EVER NFL PROGRAMMING
Starting in Week 1, CBS Sports Network will air its first ever NFL-related show, NFL Monday QB featuring NFL on CBS analysts Phil Simms, Rich Gannon and Steve Beuerlein. It will start airing on Monday, September 10 and every Monday throughout the NFL season. Adam Schein will be the moderator.
CHRIS ROSE IS THE NEW HOST OF NFL GAMEDAY HIGHLIGHTS AND NFL GAMEDAY FINAL
Also starting in Week 1, Chris Rose, co-host of the Abortion Known as Intentional Talk on MLB Network, will join NFL Network to host its Sunday highlights shows, NFL GameDay Highlights and NFL GameDay Final. He replaces Fran Charles. Rose will also be the host of the Thursday Night Football postgame edition of NFL Total Access. He becomes the first on-air talent to be employed on two league-owned networks simultaneously.
ESPN’s LAST MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAME OF THE 2012 SEASON AIRS ON A SATURDAY … WHAT?
To avoid airing an NFL game on Christmas Night (although this hasn’t stopped the NFL before), ESPN will air its final contest of the 2012 season on Saturday, December 22. That game will be Atlanta at Detroit so for two consecutive weeks, NBC’s Sunday Night Football will be the last game of the weekend.
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL MAKES ANOTHER BOOTH ADJUSTMENT
It seems since ESPN obtained the Monday Night Football package in 2006, it can’t stay consistent for too long. First, there was Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser. Then in 2007, it was Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Kornheiser. Two years later, Mr. Tony left and Jon Gruden was hired to join Tirico and Jaworksi. For 2012, Jaws has been jettisoned out of the booth and it’s Tirico and Gruden.
Oh and let’s not forget after last season’s sideline reporter rotation including the failed John Sutcliffe experiment, ESPN has brought in Lisa Salters to be the permanent sideline reporter. Let’s hope ESPN can keep the talent lineup constant for the next few seasons.
ERIN ANDREWS MAKES HER NFL DEBUT
Erin Andrews will join the NFL this season as part of the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show as she will have features every week. She’ll also be on the sidelines for the Thanksgiving Day game between Washington and Dallas joining Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and the always intimidating Pam Oliver. Erin will also join Joe, Troy and Pam for the NFL Playoffs.
NEW ENGLAND-ST. LOUIS IS YOUR LONDON GAME THIS SEASON
CBS will air this season’s game in the UK in Week 8 (October 28), the last game in which the St. Louis Rams will be the designated “home” team. After 2012, the Jacksonville Jaguars will become London’s “home” team for the next few seasons.
CBS AIRS SUPER BOWL XLVII IN NEW ORLEANS
On Sunday, February 3, CBS will air Super Bowl XLVII live from the Louisiana Superdome. In August, Adweek’s Anthony Crupi reported that the Tiffany Network was already 80% sold for the Big Game. Expect the usual hoopla, hype and hysteria surrounding the game. And expect another ratings record as long as the game remains close.
That’s what you can expect watching the NFL on CBS, ESPN, Fox, NBC and the NFL Network this season.
Apr
11
List of Monday Night Football Commentators
This was compiled by the fine people at ESPN. Here’s the list of Monday Night Football announcing teams dating back to when the series began on ABC in 1970. Since ESPN took over production in 1998, there has been a lot of upheaval in the announcing teams and you’ll notice this especially since the series moved to ESPN in 2006.
Monday Night Football Commentators All-Time (1970-present)
Year Commentators 1970 Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1971 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1972 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1973 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1974 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fred Williamson 1975 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Alex Karras 1976 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Alex Karras 1977 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1978 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith 1979 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fran Tarkenton 1980 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fran Tarkenton 1981 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fran Tarkenton 1982 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fran Tarkenton 1983 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, O.J. Simpson 1984 Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, O.J. Simpson 1985 Frank Gifford, O.J. Simpson, Joe Namath 1986 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford 1987 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1988 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1989 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1990 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1991 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1992 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1993 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf 1994 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf, Lynn Swann 1995 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf, Lynn Swann 1996 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf, Lynn Swann 1997 Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf, Lesley Visser 1998 Al Michaels, Dan Dierdorf, Boomer Esiason, Lesley Visser 1999 Al Michaels, Boomer Esiason, Lesley Visser 2000 Al Michaels, Dan Fouts, Dennis Miller, Melissa Stark, Eric Dickerson 2001 Al Michaels, Dan Fouts, Dennis Miller, Melissa Stark, Eric Dickerson 2002 Al Michaels, John Madden, Melissa Stark 2003 Al Michaels, John Madden, Lisa Guerrero 2004 Al Michaels, John Madden, Michele Tafoya 2005 Al Michaels, John Madden, Michele Tafoya, Sam Ryan * 2006 Mike Tirico, Tony Kornheiser, Joe Theismann, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya 2007 Mike Tirico, Tony Kornheiser, Ron Jaworski, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya 2008 Mike Tirico, Tony Kornheiser, Ron Jaworski, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya 2009 Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya 2010 Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski, Suzy Kolber, Michele Tafoya 2011 Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Ron Jaworski ** 2012 Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters * Ryan filled in duringTafoya’s pregnancy/maternity leave
** Rotation of reporters (Kolber, Nichols, Nix, Paolantonio, Werder)ABC – 1970-2005; ESPN – 2006-present
That’s it.
Apr
11
Lisa Salters Becomes Lone Monday Night Football Sideline Reporter
Just announced by ESPN today, Lisa Salters will become the new sideline reporter for Monday Night Football for the 2012 season.
She replaces the rotation of reporters last season that included the disastrous debut of John Sutcliffe during the Pittsburgh Steelers-San Francisco 49ers game that experienced a transformer explosion and subsequent blackout of Candlestick Park.
Before the rotation began, ESPN had utilized Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber on the sidelines only to reduce their roles in 2009.
Now Lisa will take over the sideline reporting duties. She had previously been assigned to college football for both ABC and ESPN. Plus, Lisa has been courtside for the NBA and various college basketball games.
In addition, Lisa has been a reporter for ABC News and has done work on ESPN’s news magazine, E:60.
We have the press release from ESPN.
Lisa Salters, one of the lead reporters for ESPN on ABC’s NBA coverage, has been named the new sideline reporter for ESPN’s Monday Night Football. Salters will join play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analyst Jon Gruden on the weekly MNF game telecasts and provide live stadium reports during ESPN’s Monday afternoon studio shows throughout the NFL season.
One of ESPN’s most versatile and accomplished reporters, Salters has covered the NBA, college football and more since joining ESPN in 2000 from ABC News. She is a featured correspondent on the ESPN news magazine, E:60, a role which earned her both a Gracie Award from the Association for Women in Radio and Television for best feature in 2009, and a Sports Emmy nomination for the story “Ray of Hope” in 2008. She also traveled to Haiti for a powerful story on the U17 national women’s soccer team just months after the country was devastated by an earthquake in 2010.
Salters’ journalistic assignments have brought her to a number of major global sports events around the world, including the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan, the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. She also covered sports-related stories for ESPN in and around U.S. Central Command in Qatar during the build-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and she traveled with SportsCenter in 2004 to Camp Arifjan, a U.S. Army base in Kuwait.
Before arriving at ESPN, Salters was a Los Angeles-based correspondent for ABC News (1995-2000), where she covered the O.J. Simpson civil and criminal trials among other major stories for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings and ABC News outlets. earlier in her career, she worked at WBAL-TV, the NBC affiliate in Baltimore, Md.
“Lisa’s experience covering the NBA and other major sports events, as well as her strength as an interviewer, make her ideally suited for the Monday Night Football sideline reporter role,” said John Wildhack, ESPN executive vice president, production. “She will be a tremendous addition to our MNF team with Mike and Jon, and to our overall NFL presentation.”
“The opportunity to work with Mike, Jon and the entire Monday Night Football crew on ESPN’s signature property is both humbling and exciting,” said Salters. “I have always admired MNF reporters like Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya, and I am determined to continue the standard of excellence they have established in this role.”
Salters worked previously with both Tirico and Gruden, most recently on the 2012 Orange Bowl college football telecast.
A year ago, ESPN used a rotation of sideline reporters on its MNF games.
And I have one more post next.
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