Fang's Bites

Tuesday Update

I’ll give you some more links today and then wrap it up for the day.

First, Bruce Allen of the Boston Sports Media Watch has the numbers from Saturday’s Jaguars-Patriots game for Boston and nationally, plus some other TV notes for the Pats and Celtics.

Neil Best of Newsday writes in his blog that an estimated 40 million people watched Sunday’s Giants-Cowboys game.

Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the national media should deal with the fact that the Indianapolis Colts won’t play in the AFC Championship against the Patriots.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes in his blog that CBS and Fox are feeling blue after their marquee matchups in their respective NFL Conference Championship games went up in smoke on Sunday.

Suzanne Vranica and Stephanie Kang of the Wall Street Journal write that first time advertisers on the Super Bowl are also feeling the pressure to get noticed.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell calls today’s Congressional Hearings on the Mitchell Report a waste of time.

ESPN’s John Buccigross writes a column in which he talks with the NHL’s Senior Vice President of Broadcasting about the future of the NHL on TV.

The Washington Post’s Leonard Shapiro writes about the Kelly Tilghman controversy.

Ryan Corazza of the Chicago Sports Weekly wonders why ESPN.com hasn’t joined the blogging revolution.

David Parker of the Calgary Herald has a feature story on a Canadian duo who design the computer animation for a lot of ESPN programming.

Peter Healey of the Stamford (CT) Advocate reports that NBC will add more jobs to its NBCSports.com and NBCOlympics.com units which are based in Stamford.

That will do it for now.

Thursday Night Links

I’m such a political junkie, I’m glued to CNN and MSNBC watching the results of the Iowa Caucuses. Don’t worry, this won’t become a political blog, this will always be a sports media blog first, followed by the Amazing Race and anything else, but the anything else won’t be politics. But I do enjoy watching the election results as they come in. If you’re watching on TV or the internet, you know who’s winning, I won’t link or put them here because you can find your own trusted sources for the results.

Ok, on to some links.

On Sunday, CBS’ 60 Minutes will have the first interview with Roger Clemens since he was named in the Mitchell Report last month. While teammate Andy Pettitte who was also named has admitted taking steroids during his rehab, Clemens remains steadfast in denying ever taking them. It will be interesting how Clemens comes off with Mike Wallace.

Newsday’s Neil Best wonders if Clemens is actually telling the truth.

One blog that we haven’t been linking to and should be regularly is the Best Seat In My House blog written by sports media writer Pete Dougherty of the Albany (NY) Times Union. I’ve linked to his stories in the paper here and there, but after reading his blog today, I’ve not only decided to add him to the blogroll, but start regularly linking to him as well. He’s got some good stuff. Today, Dougherty talks about CBS taking over CSTV’s business operations.

Curtis Eichelberger of Bloomberg writes that CBS taking over CSTV will allow the network to sell advertising on the channel. And Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says CBS will now take over the reins of CSTV. Ben Grossman of Broadcasting & Cable says CSTV founder Brian Bedol will no longer have a day-to-day role in the channel and will serve as an advisor.

The Sports Media Watch blog has been busy over the past week and today is no exception. First, Paulsen looks at the final ratings for the NFL regular season and Fox remains the Sunday afternoon ratings winner, but CBS has reasons to be proud as well. And ratings for the BCS on Fox are down from last year.

Dave Curtis of the Orlando Sentinel says Florida coach Urban Meyer will be a guest analyst on Fox Sports’ coverage of the BCS Championship Game on Monday.

Awful Announcing tells us that ESPN has hired three analysts for the NFL playoffs this week.

NBC Sports will have the Miami Dolphins’ Jason Taylor as a special guest in its Football Night in America studio for Wild Card Saturday.

In an editorial for tomorrow’s editions, the Hartford Courant says the viewer pays in the NFL Network vs. Cable dispute.

Nellie Andreeva of the Hollywood Reporter says the networks got a boost from the NFL on Saturday and Sunday nights. The San Francisco Chronicle picks up a story from the AP’s David Bauder on the Patriots-Giants game being the most watched program of the week. Gary Levin of USA Today has another version of the same story.

Jeff Bercovici’s Mixed Media blog in Conde Nast’s Portfolio.com site has a not-so-nice entry on the NFL Network’s Bryant Gumbel.

ESPN.com’s Jim Caple has a funny article on what if the news networks covered the NFL like they did the elections.

Katy Bachman of Mediaweek looks at XM Satellite Radio picking up Dan Patrick’s radio show.

Last night we told you that NBC Sports had won an Eclipse Award for the Kentucky Derby. Today, HBO has won one for its documentary on Barbaro.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News reports that the NHL Network will rebroadcast the Winter Classic this weekend. And Reynolds writes in his blog that his New Year’s Day had two new viewing choices.

That’s it. And I’ll remind you that the Friday megalinks which I try to finish in the morning will be late tomorrow as I’ll be at a jobsite. I’ll try to get them to you as fast as I can.

Monday Night Links

As I just finished watching the new Red Sox DVD about the 2007 season, I figured it’s time to give you some more linkage this evening.

Newsday’s Neil Best wonders why WFAN can’t get its information straight about whether a Vikings loss would put the Giants into the playoffs. He also reports that sportscaster Warner Wolf is doing time on ESPN Radio in New York and on WABC simultaneously. Finally, Neil explains why fans in New York couldn’t see the Miami Dolphins’ winning TD live during CBS’ NFL Today postgame show.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News in his Farther Off the Wall blog says voting has begun for the annual “LA’s Greatest Moments”.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that The Ski Channel has made an agreement for programming when it launches next year. Multichannel also reports that there were 850K buys for the PPV of the Ricky Hatton-Floyd Mayweather fight ending a record year for HBO PPV. And Reynolds writes in his blog about his long day of viewing football, both the soccer and the NFL variety.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable says despite requesting a meeting, Senator John Kerry says he’s not sitting down with the NFL and big cable about getting the Patriots-Giants game on a wider distribution platform.

Mike Shields of Mediaweek reports that the NBA now has a channel on the Joost broadband service.

The Sports Media Watch says that CBS was the beneficiary of good ratings for the Patriots once again.

CBS has the more interesting quotes from the NFL Today on Sunday.

NBC also has some quotes from last night’s Football Night in America. Wow, Bob Costas is going to the host for the NHL Winter Classic, the outdoor game between Pittsburgh and Buffalo on New Year’s Day. You can already hear Costas complaining about the cold weather.

ESPN baseball analyst Fernando Vina, named in the Mitchell Report, has now made his first public statements about using HGH …. to ESPN. And you can see that interview from SportsCenter right now.

There you go. I’ll be back tomorrow.

Some Monday Links

Time to give you some Monday links. One of my employees remains out so I still have to cover for him. The links will go up as soon as I get to my office or when I get home, but I’ll do my best to get them to you when I can.

Starting with USA Today, Michael Hiestand writes that the snow in Cleveland yesterday forced CBS to an old school type NFL broadcast.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post writes that the MLB Players Association is giving players who don’t do steroids and Human Growth Hormone the shaft.

Neil Best from Newsday writes in his WatchDog blog about the New York Giants Football Giants’ radio voice Bob Papa doing some work for the NFL Network.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star writes that while the Raptors aren’t getting it done on the court, they are attracting TV ratings.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that Andy Pettitte admitting he took HGH was a very good public relations move.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune says both ESPN and the Bears enter tonight’s game with new quarterbacks at the helm.

XM Satellite Radio will air 30 college football bowl games including the Bowl Championship Series.

Katy Bachman of Mediaweek says ESPN’s Monday Night Football is setting ratings records not only on cable, but in local markets as well. Also from Mediaweek, John Consoli writes that the NFL Network is selling the Patriots-Giants game at increased ad rates.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable reports that Vermont’s Congressional Delegation wants the NFL Network to expand access for the Patriots-Giants game which it will carry on December 29.

Clay Robison of the Houston Chronicle looks into the contributions of the Jones family and its public relations firm to Texas legislators who are supportive of the fight to get the NFL Network on cable.

Dusty Saunders of the Rocky Mountain News says ratings for the NFL on CBS are up thanks to the Patriots.

Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star reviews yesterday’s Titans-Chiefs game on the radio and TV.

Jeff Elliot of the Florida Times-Union writes that high school football brings eyeballs to state TV sets.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated writes that ESPN is awaiting the response of its own Fernando Vina who was named in the Mitchell Report.

Laura Nachman reports that Philadelphia news anchor Alycia Lane was arrested in New York over the weekend. There’s never a boring moment with Alycia. And Jess Snow of the National Ledger has more on Alycia’s arrest.

If I get more info on Alycia’s arrest, you’ll see it here. In the meantime, enjoy your day.

Time for the Sunday Links

Let’s give you some Sunday links today.

We begin with Newsday’s Neil Best who writes about seeing NHL games online through its Center Ice package. In his blog, Neil talks more about Center Ice and why he likes to go off the beaten path in his columns.

Interesting story from the Sports Media Watch blog that steroids are advertised on the CNN.com website.

The increasingly bitter Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News says it will be interesting to hear Tiki Barber’s comments about Eli Manning just before tonight’s Redskins-Giants game.

The always bitter Phil Mushnick of the New York Post goes after MLB Players Association Executive Director Donald Fehr for his comments after the Mitchell Report was released.

Well, someone has to defend the cockroach Bobby Petrino and Wally Hall of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette does saying that ESPN is piling on poor Bobby for quitting on the Falcons and taking the Arkansas job. Just wait, Arkansas. You’re next.

Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune thinks the NBA policy of miking coaches for TV is a bad idea.

Jeffrey McCall writes an Op-Ed piece for the Indianapolis Star stating that fans are being used as pawns in the Big Ten and NFL Network disputes.

Loren Steffy of the Houston Chronicle goes over the NFL Network’s demands of big cable.

Bill Burt of the Lawrence (MA) Eagle-Tribune writes that the Patriots are now America’s Team based on the TV ratings.

Eric Stark of the Lancaster (PA) Newspapers wonders why Comcast carries certain channels while not carrying others leaving many NFL fans in the dark.

Those are the links for now. I’ll be working on the Amazing Race Asia, Episode 4 recap and other things as well.

Our Friday Megalinks Better Late Than Never

Well, it’s been a long day. And “It’s a Wonderful Life” is on NBC. I shouldn’t be watching it because the ending gets me every time, but it’s a classic and unlike the 1980′s when it used to be on every single channel, it’s only on once a year.

Anyway, it’ll be background noise as I give you the Friday links.

Starting with Michael Hiestand of USA Today who reviews ESPN’s coverage of the Mitchell Report release. USA Today also has the listings of the sporting events on TV this weekend.

We’ll do our links going from East to West today.

David Scott of Boston Sports Media Watch also looks at the Mitchell Report coverage.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe writes about the Bruins going up on the media pecking order with their recent success.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post writes that a collectibles company is apologizing for capitalizing on the Mitchell Report. Also from the Post, Justin Terranova has five questions for Cris Collinsworth.

The New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman wonders why ESPN didn’t put its own analyst Fernando Vina on its five hour special after he was named in the Mitchell Report. Maybe it was due to the fact that he might have wanted to talk to a lawyer first, Bob?

Neil Best of Newsday also reviews the Mitchell Report coverage. In his blog, Best tells us that Tampa Bay Rays radio announcer Andy Freed has turned down the Mets gig. Best points out that Tom Hammond who called last night’s Broncos-Texans game on the NFL Network in place of Bryant Gumbel would be a fine replacement for Gumbel.

Laura Nachman profiles new 76ers TV analyst Bob Salmi.

Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun writes that Ravens coach Brian Billick used his radio show to break injury news.

From The State in South Carolina, Doug Nye says he has mixed feelings about Bowl season. Nye also has some TV and radio notes. And Nye’s Best Bet is tonight’s NCAA Football Championship Subdivision final.

Dave Darling of the Orlando Sentinel has his first of a three part look at the Best and Worst of the Sports Media in 2007 and this week looks at sports commercials.

David Barron in today’s Houston Chronicle has a story on MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann calling Houston “Steroids Central”.

Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune says the race to get the story on the air first leaves a lot of information on the floor.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel talks with Fox Sports’ Daryl Johnston who will call this Sunday’s Packers-Rams game with Kenny Albert and Tony Siragusa.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune says the Minnesota Vikings are about to become primetime darlings.

Paul Christian of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin writes about a local TV station hiring a sports anchor right out of college.

Scott D. Pierce in the Deseret Morning News writes that ESPN’s Jesse Palmer has no respect for the Mountain West Conference.

The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jay Posner criticizes the President of the local CBS affiliate for not choosing last week’s Patriots-Steelers game over the Chiefs-Broncos game. And here are the ratings for last week.

John Maffei in the North County Times writes that there won’t be TV or radio coverage of a local high school football championship game.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News in his weekly column writes about the new NBA policy of miking coaches. And Hoffarth has more media notes in his Farther Off the Wall blog.

Up to Canada and the Toronto Star. Chris Zelkovich writes about City-TV’s Kathryn Humphreys who was unceremoniously dumped last month only to make a triumphant return this month with a new contract and increased responsibilities.

And William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes about a shakeup at the Score TV network.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks with MLB President and COO Bob DuPuy.

The Sports Media Watch blog gives the weekend ratings predictions. It appears that the WNBA and Indy Racing League will get additional exposure on ABC next year. And Paulsen looks at the front pages of the nation’s newspapers in the wake of the Mitchell Report. Finally, the blog wonders why ESPN gave Roger Clemens the benefit of the doubt yesterday while Barry Bonds did not.

Those are your links. Some other regular Friday stuff coming up.

The Thursday Snowstorm Links

We’re expecting what the weather forecasters are calling “a major snowstorm” today and right when the snow starts, I’m expected to be at a job site. I’m very happy. Anyway, I’ll be there so I won’t be able to give reaction to the Mitchell Report when it breaks. But I’ll give some links now in advance of the release.

Joanne C. Gerstner of the Detroit News writes that a new webcast devoted to the Detroit Lions has quickly become popular with fans.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has a story on former Oklahoma State player Doug Gottlieb who’s back in town to call the Arkansas-Oklahoma game on ESPN2. Bracht has his weekly notebook which includes news about CBS college football ratings. And he has his weekend viewings picks.

We’re getting word that best buddies Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte have been named in the Mitchell Report as two players who have used steroids.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says he’s received an interesting e-mail related to the Mitchell Report.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that organizers for the U.S. Army High School All-American game are not happy that ESPN has created a similar game to be aired opposite it.

Neil Best of Newsday has a link to Bob Glauber’s appearance on WFAN this morning and is eagerly awaiting the Mitchell Report.

Ray Frager writes in his blog that XM Satellite Radio will have a continuous reading of the Mitchell Report today. And the Orbitcast blog says XM will also have extensive coverage of the report’s release on its Home Plate channel.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Comcast has replied to Senator John Kerry’s letter appealing it to carry the NFL Network. And Eggerton has a story that the NFL is willing to talk to the cable companies, but not just for the Pats-Giants game, but for a long-term deal. Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel reports that DirecTV will fly its blimp over the city on December 20 and 22 showing games that can’t be seen on Bright House cable. Don Walker writes in his Business of Sports blog for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about more fun and games for the NFL Network. Hub Arkush of Pro Football Weekly says he’s fed up of the NFL propaganda machine.

Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette writes that area fans won’t be able to see tonight’s Broncos-Texans game on cable. The Denver Post reports the game can be seen locally on KWGN. The Rocky Mountain News says Comcast will show the game on basic cable in southern Colorado through KWGN. David Barron of the Houston Chronicle says the NFL Network will try to cover all of the angles for tonight’s game.

Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World reports that a Tulsa TV station’s bid to televise the Insight Bowl from the NFL Network has been rejected.

I’ve been called early to the job site so I have to go. My pick for tonight’s game between the Broncos and Texans will be Denver.