Fang's Bites

Sounding Off On The Thursday Linkage

Let’s do the linkage on this Thursday morning. Some good stuff is already out.

The Financial Times has a look at how European TV money is now either catching up or surpassing US TV dollars for the bidding for certain global sports events.

Todd Spangler from Multichannel News reports that ESPN has released a new app for the iPhone and iPod Touch which allows Time Warner and Verizon FiOS TV subscribers to watch live TV on their devices.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel notes that SNY is now taking shots at Dish Network after being dropped by the satellite provider.

Mike says YES Network and DirecTV continue their negotiations as a deadline that was extended to today is staring them in the face.

Lindsay Rubino from Broadcasting & Cable says ESPN’s E:60 is being nominated for an award that honors diversity in communications.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life writes that Tiger Woods appears to be an afterthought for ESPN’s and CBS’ coverage of The Masters^®.

At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, the St. Petersburg Times’ Eric Deggans feels Mark Cuban’s idea to ban all internet writers to improve sports coverage is quite silly.

Ronald Grover, Brian Womack and Andy Fixmer of Bloomberg report that YouTube is in talks with several Hollywood companies to provide original content including sports.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says DirecTV is all over The Masters^® this year.

Marcus says since ESPN’s Captain Blowhard promised not to tweet until the Red Sox won, an online betting site is taking wagers on whether he will indeed keep quiet.

Sports Video Group has provided a site that outlines how to produce live golf in the third dimension.

At the Biz of Baseball, Maury Brown says MLB isn’t serving its Extra Innings and MLB.TV subscribers well through its archaic blackout policies.

Dan Frommer of the Business Insider has a look at the new WatchESPN iPhone app.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union writes that a local sports TV anchor will be part of the online and DirecTV coverage of The Masters^®.

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tells us that NFL Films visited the Steelers last week to film several interviews.

CBS Radio Baltimore’s Jen Royle talks with the Baltimore Sun’s Simon Habtemariam.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says former Nationals analyst Rob Dibble has come out stating that it was a letter from the father of pitcher Stephen Strasburg that led to him being fired from MASN last year.

Dan talks to a local man who came close to winning ESPN.com’s NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says CBS and Augusta National Country Club have a unique partnership for The Masters^®.

Iliana Limon in the Orlando Sentinel talks with Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky about the future of the league.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman discusses online coverage of The Masters^®.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has an update on what happened with Fox Sports Ohio’s feed of the Astros-Reds game from earlier in the week.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that the Bucks will be pushed to another radio station due to conflicts with the Brewers.

Neal Justin of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says four cable and satellite providers are not carrying the full schedule of Twins games from Fox Sports North.

Tim Engstrom in the Albert Lea (MN) Tribune writes that Charter Communications is at an impasse with Fox Sports North over 45 Twins games that Fox Sports North picked up.

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times says while the Lakers will not bring back TV play-by-play man Joel Myers, they will bring back analyst Stu Lantz.

That’s where I’ll end it for now.

Hauling Some Wednesday Links To Your Computer Screen

Time for some linkage on this Wednesday. Can’t believe it’s mid-week already.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship TV ratings may have been down from last year, but there are plenty of silver linings that go with it.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban doesn’t seem to be a fan of bloggers.

Keith Olbermann feels creeped out listening to the late New York Yankees PA announcer Bob Sheppard introducing shortstop Derek Jeter.

Philliana Ng from the Hollywood Reporter says this year’s NCAA Tournament was the most watched since 2005.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News writes that MLB Advanced Media has signed a deal with an ad provider to insert commercials on its MLB.TV platform.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek says the NCAA Championship Game may have been tough to watch, but it still drew a decent-sized audience for CBS.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life also talks about the ratings for the NCAA Championship.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell knows it’s tough to pick a side in the NFL labor dispute.

Newsday’s Neil Best is happy to be done talking about NCAA Tournament ratings.

Neil notes that attendance at Yankee Stadium is down for the first five games this season.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union speculates as to why the ratings for the NCAA Championship fell this year. Well, Duke wasn’t in it this season, the game wasn’t pretty, but getting an audience of 20.1 million people is quite impressive and CBS won the night. Can’t kill CBS for the game, it did what it could to keep people watching.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record writes that a long-time local radio station will begin airing a live morning show like it did in the old days.

Dan Steinberg at the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says MASN is seeing a huge ratings spike for the Nationals.

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner talks with former MASN analyst Rob Dibble.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer wonders what happened to last night’s Fox Sports Ohio telecast of the Astros-Reds game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looks at the results of a Sports Illustrated fan poll on the NFL lockout.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune notes that American golfers aren’t flocking to Twitter as fast as their European counterparts.

David Brauer of the Minnesota Post reports that the Timberwolves are changing radio stations.

And Brauer says just hours after that news, the Wild announced that they were changing radio flagships.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reports that the Lakers won’t be bringing Joel Myers back to its TV broadcasts next season.

Broderick Turner of the LA Times says most likely, Lakers radio voice Spero Dedes will replace Myers on the TV side.

Ed Fletcher from the Sacramento Bee says the local radio flagship of the Kings is preparing for the day when the team leaves the market which could be coming very soon.

The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin says The Masters^® appears to be finally hitting the 21st Century in stride.

Sports Media Watch says baseball is getting off to a fast ratings start in several local markets.

SMW notes that the NCAA Championship Game on Monday ranks among the lowest-rated ever.

SMW also has some various ratings news and notes.

SMW says golf’s ratings trends are up this year.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says he’ll be returning to blogging very soon.

Joe Favorito says the MLB Fan Cave is the next Great Social Media and Branding Experiment.

Dave Kohl from the Major League Programs blog has his weekly post.

Wendy Parker who did a great job covering the Women’s Final Four in Indianapolis wonders if women’s college basketball will ever be treated as a sport instead of a novelty.

And I’ll end this set of links here, but if you notice, the South region is not covered here. I’ll see if I can do another set of links later this afternoon.

ESPN’s Golf Analysts Talk The Masters

With The Masters^® about to begin in earnest tomorrow, ESPN’s golf analysts spoke with the media to talk about their picks to win and how this year’s field will do at Augusta. This is quite long. So as not to take up too much room on the front page, I’ve done a jump break after the first paragraph. ESPN’s Mike Tirico, Andy North and Curtis Strange all discussed their thoughts about The Masters, Tiger Woods, the 25th anniversary of Jack Nicklaus’ win in 1986 and the up and coming golfers who could win on Sunday.

Transcript of ESPN Masters Media Conference Call

ESPN golf analysts Andy North and Curtis Strange, host Mike Tirico and John Wildhack, ESPN executive vice president, programming acquisition and strategy, participated in a media conference call earlier this week to discuss ESPN’s multiplatform coverage of the 2011 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Coverage begins with live SportsCenter reports from Augusta on Monday, April 4, and also will include 4.5 hours per day of first and second-round play on ESPN, ESPN HD and ESPN Deportes on Thursday and Friday, April 7-8, five days and 10 hours on the ESPN 3D Network, extensive coverage on ESPN.com and a special 43-hour Masters tribute on ESPN Classic. Live coverage of Wednesday’s Par 3 Tournament will air on ESPN, ESPN 3D and ESPN3.com.

A transcript of the conference call follows the jump.
(continue reading…)

Your Tuesday Links, Live & Local

I have news slogans in my head today, so I’m using “Live & Local” in the title. Let’s do your linkage. Lots to get to.

John Ourand at Sports Business Daily notes that CBS received a decent 13.3 overnight rating for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, but it was down from last year.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand looks at some of the ratings from last weekend’s action.

Brian Lowry of Fox says the CBS/Turner crew had to call last night’s NCAA Championship for what it was.

Marisa Guthrie of the Hollywood Reporter says the NCAA Championship helped steer CBS to a primetime demographic ratings win on Monday.

Toni Fitzgerald says the ratings for the NCAA Championship fell significantly from last year.

Toni says the game did take a bite out of Dancing with the Stars.

Marie Hardin at Nieman Reports says the number of stories on women’s sports has fallen dramatically in recent years.

Glenn Davis of SportsGrid has the video of ESPN’s Dick Vitale in tears on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike this morning.

Glenn says an Indiana newspaper correctly captured the Butler mood last night.

Carolyn Branff at the Sports Video Group notes that CBS is preparing for a huge production at The Masters^®.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says on Friday, a beer vendor at Seattle’s Safeco Field plans to the first to take an order via Twitter.

Darren says the Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade will get his first Jordan signature shoe.

Gary Van Sickle of Golf.com notes that ESPN’s Paul Azinger will be on the 3-D telecast of The Masters^®.

Jessica Kastner Plaskett of the Southington (CT) Patch notes that an ESPN original will be honored in town tomorrow.

Newsday’s Neil Best says last night’s NCAA Championship Game TV ratings were down from the year before.

The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir notes that the NCAA Tournament’s ratings overall are up from last year.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the complete television and internet schedule for The Masters^®.

Andy Loigu of the Warren (NJ) Reporter says ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser held court at a local event last Friday.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner discusses the ratings for the NCAA Championship as well as the Orioles home opener.

Jim talks with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s Chick Hernandez about celebrating 10 years of local sports newsgathering at the regional sports network.

Hal Boedecker of the Orlando Sentinel says the NCAA Final Four^® helped CBS win last week’s primetime ratings in a close battle with ABC and Fox.

The Orlando Business Journal notes that Golf Channel is renovating its headquarters.

Fox Sports Southwest says the Texas Rangers season opening series against the Red Sox produced record ratings.

Sean Morrison at the Indianapolis Business Journal says attendance at the Women’s Final Four^® still has a lot of catching up to do with the men’s.

Drew White at the Michigan City (IN) News Dispatch loves “One Shining Moment”.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says “The Mayor” Sean Casey makes his Reds TV analyst debut on Fox Sports Ohio tonight.

The Dayton Daily News notes the CBS/Turner partnership for the NCAA Tournament has definitely paid dividends.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Brewers voice Bob Uecker would like to start the season in warm weather or domes.

Bob says while attendance for Brewers games remains high after an 0-4 start, it’s not so with Chicago for the Cubs.

Jeff Kolpack of the Dickinson (ND) Press writes that North Dakota State University wants to get on statewide and regional TV more often.

Bill Folsom of KOAA-TV in Colorado Springs, CO reports that the NBC Sports Group has signed on to air a local cycling race that will tour the Rocky Mountain State.

The San Francisco Chronicle says former 49er Eric Davis will become the team’s radio analyst.

Brian Packey of Awful Announcing has the video of CBS’ Jim Nantz laying down some awful puns at end of last night’s NCAA Championship Game.

Matt Yoder at AA says ESPN still has some explaining to do over the Jalen Rose suspension.

Kurt Allen of Midwest Sports Fans reviews the TV and radio coverage of the NCAA Tournament.

John Daly at the Daly Planet reviews the daily NASCAR studio shows.

Sports Media Watch despite the NCAA Championship being an ugly game to watch, it still drew decent numbers.

Thanks to Joe Favorito for listing Fang’s Bites as one of the Eight Sites Worth A Look.

And we are going to end it there for the day.

You Know What Big Event Is Next By The Music

Now that college basketball comes to an end tonight with the NCAA Women’s Championship Game, we know what big event is next. CBS has only been hyping it since the beginning of March. You know it as well. Jim Nantz is already practicing his puns for the final round on Sunday. It’s The Masters^®. To get you ready. Here’s the theme. You can play it over and over again.

And you have CBS’s open to the third round of the 2010 Masters just so you can get in the mood for golf.

Now you’re set for The Masters^®.

Sirius XM Airs The Masters in Full

Once again, Sirius XM will carry four round coverage of The Masters^® from Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Sirius will pick up Westwood One Radio’s coverage starting at 2 p.m. Eastern on Thursday and running through the conclusion of the tournament on Sunday. Sirius XM will also carry various Masters-related programming on its PGA Tour Radio channel.

SiriusXM Offers Live Broadcast of 2011 Masters

SiriusXM listeners nationwide get access to live hole-by-hole coverage from storied Augusta National, plus daily analysis throughout Masters Week

NEW YORK – April 4, 2011 – Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) announced today that it will offer live hole-by-hole coverage of the 2011 Masters Tournament from Thursday, April 7, through Sunday, April 10, nationwide on XM channel 146 and on Sirius channel 209 with the “Best of XM” programming package.

SiriusXM listeners will get extensive coverage with live play-by-play from Augusta National Golf Club, plus expert analysis leading up to and throughout the event.

Live hole-by-hole coverage from Augusta National will begin at 2:00 pm ET Thursday through Sunday of Masters Week and air through the end of each day’s play.  Fans will get live reports from reporters around the course and updates on golfers moving up and down the leader board.

Live tournament play-by-play will also be available to listeners on SiriusXM Internet Radio and through the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for the Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and several BlackBerry and Android-powered smartphones.

Leading into each day’s on-course coverage, former PGA TOUR pro John Maginnes will host a special preview show, The Masters Today, Thursday through Sunday from 12:00 to 2:00 pm ET.

Additionally, every weekday throughout Masters Week, SiriusXM’s daily lineup of shows will offer the latest news, compelling golf talk and expert analysis. From 7:00 to 9:00 am ET, Matt Adams hosts Fairways of Life, followed by Teed Off with Brian Katrek from 9:00 to 11:00 am ET.  Longtime golf commentator Peter Kessler hosts Making The Turn from 11:00 am to noon ET.

And that does it.

Getting Back to the Blogging Grind With Some Linkage

After a crazy period from 6:30 p.m. Friday until Sunday morning, when my new server host verified my account, I really didn’t have a blogging home to speak of. After Web Hub Hosting decided to remove my site from its servers following a Denial of Service attack that had apparently targeted Fang’s Bites. After discussing this with the extremely unhelpful Web Hub Hosting techies who refused to give me any information, I was in a holding pattern until Saturday night when they told me to pack up my stuff and leave. They provided me with backup of my archives so I had to quickly find another host, all this while UConn-Kentucky was airing on CBS.

The Host Monster people not only were very cooperative and understanding, but took the time to walk me through transferring my archives to its servers. It’s greatly appreciated and they were patient with me in getting me through a rather stressful transition. And by Sunday morning, I could blog once again. Let’s put it this way, Web Hub Hosting was extremely unhelpful, stalling and not forthcoming about what happened to my site. Host Monster was very gracious and helpful in getting me set up again. So you see that being helpful goes a long way. I’m very thankful to Host Monster’s tech support for the help and the efficiency of getting my blog back up and running. Greatly appreciated.

Now to our links.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today feels CBS’ three man team of Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr got the job done at the Final Four^®.

ESPN Ombudsmen Kelly McBride and Regina McCombs take ESPN to task over the Jalen Rose story where he did not originally reveal his arrest on DUI charges last month.

At ESPN Front Row, Company Vice President of Content Development Ron Wechsler tells you where to eat if you’re on the road.

Saturday was ESPN.com’s 16th birthday and editor Ron King celebrated on Front Row.

Sports Business Daily notes that CBS had its best Final Four^® ratings in six years.

Daniel Kaplan from Sports Business Journal says the National Football League is going to plan for a worse-case weather scenario at future Super Bowls.

John Ourand from SBJ profiles the founder of ESPN, Bill Rasmussen who is now looking for the next big thing.

And SBJ has more profiles of people who it has deemed “Champions: Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business” for 2011.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid has the video of SNY airing the audio of a Family Guy clip ragging on the New York Mets during a game replay over the weekend.

Jason Fry writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says Twitter has changed the way he waits for and reports on waiver wire news.

Nyay Bushan of the Hollywood Reporter notes that the India-Pakistan World Cup cricket match watched by millions around the world, garnered a huge audience and broke a viewing record in India.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News writes about ESPN launching the Longhorn Network.

Mike writes that a Hollywood investment company is looking to launch a group of regional sports networks across the country.

Toni Fitzgerald from Media Life writes about CBS’ ratings for the Final Four^®.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life Magazine says CBS has the best of both worlds in tonight’s NCAA National Championship game.

At Sports TV jobs, Pamela Modarelli Hegner talks with four women including ESPN’s Suzy Kolber and Cindy Brunson about their experiences in sports TV journalism.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell wonders if people will watch tonight’s Butler-UConn game.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban asks us if ESPN has a Twitter problem.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that SNY higher ups are not laughing over a tech who slipped in a Family Guy audio drop into a Mets game replay.

Richard also talks with former St. Louis Cardinals first baseman, former Yankees broadcaster and former National League President Bill White about his new candid and frank autobiography.

Once again, Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is in an extremely hateful mood.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union says ESPN has launched the Longhorn Network.

To the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg notes that MASN has made spelling errors all over the place.

Barry Svrluga of the Post talks with CBS’ Verne Lundquist about the iconic 1986 Masters which a 46 year old Jack Nicklaus became the oldest man to win the tournament.

Jim Williams with the Washington Examiner talks with CBS’ Jim Nantz.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times reviews the weekend in sports television.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle spent some time with ESPN’s Dick Vitale.

David says for the NCAA basketball national champion , it’s all about hearing “One Shining Moment” at the end of the game.

Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gets Joe Buck’s take on the Albert Pujols contract negotiations with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Crain’s Chicago Business’ Ed Sherman says the White Sox need a fast start to pay some pretty hefty bills this season.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post writes that the Final Four^® three man booth worked well.

At the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Norm Clarke says ESPN’s Stuart Scott allowed a teenager to take a golf swing for a possible donation to his college fund.

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News has your sports calendar for this week.

Tom talks with ESPN’s Bobby Valentine about his time with the Dodgers and his new gig on Sunday Night Baseball.

Tom has more with Bobby in his blog.

To the Toronto Star where Raju Mudhar notes that a familiar voice to Toronto sports fans is heading to TSN Radio.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN may finally have the final piece to its radio puzzle.

Sports Media Watch notes that the NBA on TNT did very well on Thursday outrating MLB on ESPN.

Joe Favorito looks at how sports talk radio is growing in Israel.

And I will end it there.

ESPN Films Presents Documentary on 1986 Masters

Coming up on Wednesday, ESPN will present a documentary on the 1986 Masters where Jack Nicklaus at age 46 becoming the oldest golfer to win the Green Jacket at Augusta. Of course, the ESPN Films presentation will air on the eve of the first round of The Masters^® which begins the following day and it will be presented following coverage of the Par 3 Contest at Augusta. There’s a lot of interesting content in the documentary.

Jack Nicklaus’ 1986 Masters Win Subject of New ESPN Film

On the 25^th anniversary of one of the most memorable moments in sports history, ESPN Films looks back at Jack Nicklaus’ win in the 1986 Masters in a one-hour documentary airing Wednesday, April 6, at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Yes Sir: Jack Nicklaus and the ’86 Masters will explore the magnitude of what happened on April 13, 1986, when the 46-year-old Nicklaus charged from behind and won the Masters for the sixth time. He became the oldest player ever to earn the coveted Green Jacket at a time when many believed the legendary golfer would never win another tournament.

The film includes fresh new perspective from Nicklaus, his son and caddy Jackie, and others such as Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Tom Watson who offer special insight into the Nicklaus’ achievement. In the film, Woods, who became the youngest ever to win the Masters 11 years to the day after Nicklaus’ historic win, and Nicklaus sit down separately to watch highlights of the 1986 Masters and discuss their golfing careers then and now.

“Jack Nicklaus’s dramatic comeback to win the ’86 Masters isn’t just a golf story or even a sports story,” said John Dahl, executive producer, ESPN Films. “It’s a human story of a father and son coming together for something so inspiring that it resonates powerfully 25 years later. The film is a poignant look at that magical father-son journey.”

The film follows three hours of live programming on ESPN from Augusta National Golf Club on April 6. SportsCenter at the Masters, a one-hour special, airs at 5 p.m. and will preview the 2011 version of the event. ESPN’s live coverage of the annual Masters Par 3 Contest airs from 3-5 p.m.

ESPN’s multiplatform coverage of the Masters also will include 4.5 hours per day of first and second-round play on ESPN, ESPN HD and ESPN Deportes on Thursday and Friday, April 7-8, five days and 10 hours on the ESPN 3D Network, extensive coverage on ESPN.com and a special 43-hour Masters tribute on ESPN Classic.

That will do it.

Thursday’s Links Are Here … Finally

Been doing some work and also keeping an eye on the Detroit-Yankees game online. It’s been a joy watching games online. It has been a lifesaver when I’ve been at work bogged down with stuff in the office. And MLB.TV is free for Apple iOS users via the iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

Anyway, let’s do some links.

John Ourand at the Sports Business Daily mentions that ESPN has filed suit in court his week against Conference USA for not bargaining its TV rights in good faith and awarding them to Fox instead.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid is calling MLB’s “Always Epic” ad campaign an “Epic Fail”. I have yet to figure out what the ad with San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson is all about.

However, SportsGrid’s Glenn Davis is amused at the new SportsCenter ad also featuring Brian Wilson.

Sheldon Spencer at ESPN’s Front Row talks about the launch of the corporate blog.

Todd Spangler of Multichannel News explains why ESPN is not included in the Time Warner Cable iPad app.

Anthony Crupi of Mediaweek notes that MSG Network has reupped with the MLS’ New York Red Bulls for another three years.

Kunur Patel at Advertising Age says a sponsor is coming through to allow Apple devices to have free access to MLB.TV for a month.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the NFL’s TV partners could stand to be the biggest loser of any prolonged lockout.

Alex Weprin at SportsNewser notes that SB Nation has launched a new baseball-only blogging site.

At TVNewser, Chris Ariens says ESPN was among those honored for a prestigious Peabody Award for its 30 for 30 documentary series. HBO also received a Peabody for Magic & Bird.

The Boston Herald’s Jessica Heslam notes that two local sports radio stations brought in good ad revenue from last year.

Brian Stelter of the New York Times discusses ESPN’s Josh Elliot’s move to Good Morning America.

Newsday’s Neil Best notes that YES and DirecTV’s agreement runs out on Friday if a new carriage accord is not reached soon.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union also writes about the YES/DirecTV deadline.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette notes that a local radio station is bumping the Yankees on Saturday in favor of the Final Four^®? What happened to Most Favored Nation status for baseball on the radio?

Ken says a local NBC sports anchor is heading to Augusta to call The Masters^® on DirecTV.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record talks about MSG Network bringing the New York Red Bulls back into the fold.

Cindy Boren at the Washington Post’s Early Lead blog says a federal appeals court ruled against the DC NFL Team stating it must provide captions of all song lyrics and text public service announcements at the Stadium formerly known as Jack Kent Cooke for its hearing-impaired fans.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner notes that it’s MLB Opening Day not only for the sport and its fans, but for TV as well.

Kristi E. Swartz, Larry Hartstein and Alexis Stevens of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution report on former Hawks star, current vice president and TV analyst Dominique Wilkins getting attacked by a former NBA referee following his broadcast spot last night.

Bob Wolfley from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that Fox’s MLB analysts are bullish on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Ed Sherman with Crain’s Chicago Business says the early start of the MLB season means a busy time at Wrigley Field and the Park formerly known as Comiskey.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News talks with announcers, young and old, local and national, about what Dodgers voice Vin Scully means to them.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose has apologized for getting arrested earlier this month on DUI charges.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore finds the tentative Stanley Cup Finals TV schedule for NBC/Versus.

The NFL Chick pays tribute to women in sportscasting.

Cee Angi at Aerys Sports’ Essence of Baseball site gets on the MLB Fan Cave for reaching to the lowest common denominator.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs likes seeing MLB Opening Day and the Final Four finally separated.

And that’s where we’ll end the links for today.

ESPN Presents Multiplatform and Multimedia Coverage of The Masters

The Masters^® is a real sign that Spring is here. It means the weather should get warmer and the leaves should be coming out soon, depending on where you live. In its fourth year of coverage from Augusta National, ESPN will take over the 3-D coverage which began last year as a collaboration between Comcast and CBS. ESPN 3D will have coverage of all four rounds as well as the Par 3 contest. ESPN 3D’s coverage will last for two hours per day.

For the Mothership, ESPN’s coverage has been expanded by an hour starting at 3 p.m. Eastern time and lasting until 7:30 p.m. or when the first and second rounds have concluded.

ESPN’s coverage will also be picked up by Masters.com as well as the iPad and iPhone apps so if you’re in your office, you can watch live coverage online.

Let’s take a look at the rather extensive press release sent by ESPN this morning.

ESPN’s Masters Coverage Expands Across Multimedia Platforms

Added Hour for First Two Rounds; 5 Days Coverage on ESPN 3D; SportsCenter Reports Start Monday

In its fourth year of live coverage of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, ESPN will have an added hour of live Tournament play from the first two rounds, five days of action on the ESPN 3D Network and the traditional Par 3 Contest the day preceding the Tournament. Expansive news, information and analysis will appear on a variety of ESPN platforms in the U.S. and around the world, including television, radio, online and mobile devices.

ESPN and ESPN HD will air 4.5 hours of live first and second round action on Thursday, April 7, and Friday, April 8, from 3-7:30 p.m. ET, an additional hour each day from the previous three years. An edited encore presentation will air in prime time each night from 8-11 p.m. ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language U.S. sports network, also will televise the first and second rounds live from 3-7:30 p.m. and the ESPN 3D Network will air two hours of live play from the first two rounds each day starting at 5:30 p.m.

Prior to the live television windows Thursday and Friday, SportsCenter will air updates every 30 minutes beginning at 9 a.m. daily.

Mike Tirico will serve as host of ESPN’s Thursday and Friday telecasts and will conduct player interviews from Augusta National’s iconic Butler Cabin. Curtis Strange will provide analysis. CBS will again produce the telecasts, with announcer contributions from Jim Nantz, Nick Faldo, Peter Oosterhuis, Verne Lundquist, David Feherty, Bill Macatee, Peter Kostis and Ian-Baker Finch. Paco Aleman and Silvia Bertolaccini will have the call on ESPN Deportes with John Sutcliffe serving as the on course reporter.

SportsCenter
Live reports on SportsCenter from Augusta National Golf Club begin Monday, April 4, in the afternoon and continue through Sunday. Media Day is Tuesday, April 5, and SportsCenter will air the news conferences of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Tirico and Scott Van Pelt will host SportsCenter reports from the Masters and will be joined by Strange, Rinaldi and lead SportsCenter analyst Andy North. Van Pelt also will host with North a special one-hour preview SportsCenter at the Masters Wednesday, April 8, at 5 p.m., with Rinaldi reporting, following the Par 3 Contest telecast. ESPN the Magazine’s Rick Reilly will provide essays for SportsCenter Wednesday through Sunday.

Masters Par 3 Contest
The Masters Par 3 Contest will air live Wednesday, April 6, from 3-5 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN 3D and ESPN3.com. The Par 3 Contest is the traditional event held each Wednesday prior to the Masters that includes Tournament participants, non-competing past champions and honorary invitees in a fun, family atmosphere. The event, which began in 1960, was first televised by ESPN in 2008. On ESPN, Tirico, North and Strange will be joined by Tom Rinaldi, who will conduct interviews on the putting green, and on-ground reporter Kostis. Host Terry Gannon and analyst Paul Azinger will have the call on ESPN 3D.

ESPN’s television coverage will include 10 hours of programming in 3D on the ESPN 3D network, including two hours from all four rounds of Tournament action. Thursday and Friday’s telecasts begin at 5:30 p.m. while the weekend telecasts begin at 5 p.m. Two hours of coverage of Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest airs at 3 p.m. Last April, the Masters became the first major sporting event produced and broadcast live in 3D internationally on television and the Internet. Gannon will host ESPN 3D’s telecasts with analyst Azinger Wednesday through Friday, while Tirico, Azinger and Strange will have the call Saturday and Sunday.

The Masters Online
In addition to television coverage, there will be extensive Masters Tournament offerings for fans online across ESPN.com and Masters.com

ESPN.com

• Daily diary from first-time Masters competitor Jhonny Vegas from Wednesday-Sunday (also on ESPNDeportes.com).
• Columns/articles by national columnist Gene Wojciechowskiand ESPN.com golf writer Bob Harig.
• “Digital Drive,” exclusive ESPN.com video with host Rick Reilly and nightly analysis from Wojciechowski and Harig.
• The Top 25 Masters Moments, a series of blogs leading up to the Masters.
• Extensive highlights during tournament week.
• Live leaderboard link from Masters.com.
• Features/columns on Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus.
• CoverItLive on Thursday/Friday with comments and insights from ESPN’s golf team covering the Masters from Augusta and beyond.
• CoverItLive with ESPN.com golf blogger Jason Sobel on Saturday/Sunday.
• Live audio updates and interviews on ESPNRadio.com.
• Masters Best Ball Challenge (fantasy game)
• Alternate feed coverage links to “Amen Corner,” “Two Featured Groups,” and “Hole Nos. 15 and 16” on Masters.com.

Additional coverage of the Masters on ESPN platforms:

ESPNNetworks.com
All Masters programming on ESPN will also be available online through ESPNnetworks.com, which is accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated provider.

ESPN International
This year 88 countries will see the Masters on ESPN platforms. Fans in these countries can follow the Masters on ESPN television, online, mobile and broadband platforms. The Masters is available in:

• Asia (17.5 hours to 16 countries and 174 million households via ESS),
• Latin America and the Caribbean (all four rounds and the Par 3 Contest coverage to 51 Countries and over 32 million households)
• In Canada, TSN will air the first two rounds of the Masters live with same day re-airs in primetime of the final rounds. RDS is airing all four rounds of the Masters live in French. TSN reaches 13.6 million households.
• North Africa and the Middle East (all four rounds to 21 countries and 600,000 households)
• The Par 3 Contest, all four rounds of the Masters and exclusive “Amen Corner,” “Featured Group,” and “Hole Nos. 15 and 16,” will be live on ESPN Play in Latin America.

ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio SportsCenter reporter Dan Davis will present updates from Augusta National Golf Club throughout the Masters Tournament Wednesday-Sunday, April 6-10. Davis will provide live hourly updates (4:40.-9:40 p.m.) during the first two rounds, and twice-an-hour reports at 20 and 40 minutes past the hour (1:20-8:40 p.m.) throughout the weekend’s SportsCenter Saturday and SportsCenter Sunday programs as well as during ESPN Radio’s NBA and MLB studio shows. Davis’ reports will also run on weekday’s SportsCenter AM (5-6 a.m.) and in SportsCenter Tonight (10 p.m.-1 a.m.) throughout the week.

ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS will offer all the latest Masters news beginning Monday, April 5, with interviews, pre- and post-round news conferences and analysis from Scott Van Pelt, Andy North and Mike Tirico.

ESPN FILMS
The ESPN Films original production Yes Sir: Jack Nicklaus and the ’86 Masters will premiere Wednesday, April 6, at 6 p.m. on ESPN, following SportsCenter at the Masters. The one-hour documentary looks back at Nicklaus’ thrilling victory at Augusta in 1986 at the age of 46, the last of his 18 major wins. Included are new interviews with Nicklaus, his son and caddy Jackie, and others including Tiger Woods, Tom Watson and Greg Norman.

ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic will televise a 43-hour Masters Tribute featuring Official Masters Films beginning Tuesday, April 5, at 8 p.m. The tribute will include highlights from every year of the Masters from 1960 through 2010, with programming continuing all day Wednesday and through 3 p.m. on Thursday when first round coverage begins.

ABC SUPERSIGN
Parts of the first and second rounds and the Par 3 Contest will be simulcast live on the ABC SuperSign in New York City’s Times Square on Wednesday, April 6, from 3-5 p.m. and Thursday and Friday, April 7-8, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

The Masters – Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, GA

Net	Day	Date	Start	End	Round
ESPN Classic	Tue.	4/5/11	8:00 PM	3:00 PM	43-Hour Masters Tribute
ESPN, ESPN 3D, ESPN3.com	Wed	4/6/11	3:00 PM	5:00 PM	Par 3 Contest
ESPN	Wed	4/6/11	5:00 PM	6:00 PM	SportsCenter at the Masters
ESPN	Wed.	4/6/11	6:00 PM	7:00 PM	Yes Sir – Jack Nicklaus and the ’86 Masters
ESPN, ESPN Deportes	Thu	4/7/11	3:00 PM	7:30 PM	First Round
ESPN 3D	Thu	4/7/11	5:30 PM	7:30 PM	First Round
ESPN	Thu	4/7/11	8:00 PM	11:00 PM	First Round (Encore)
ESPN, ESPN Deportes	Fri	4/8/11	3:00 PM	7:30 PM	Second Round
ESPN 3D	Fri	4/8/11	5:30 PM	7:30 PM	Second Round
ESPN	Fri	4/8/11	8:00 PM	11:00 PM	Second Round (Encore)
ESPN 3D	Sat	4/9/11	5:00 PM	7:00 PM	Third Round
ESPN 3D	Sun	4/10/11	5:00 PM	7:00 PM	Final Round

And that will do it!

Bringing Out the Wednesday Links

Ok, let’s do the Wednesday linkage. Quite a few things to get to.

We begin with Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal who when we last saw him during the World Series last October, was wearing a bowtie despite his protests to management. Well, we find that Ken will continue wearing a bowtie this season, but rather willingly and for a very good cause.

Craig Calcaterra of NBC’s Hardball Talk applauds Ken for making this true fashion statement.

Now back to Ken, he writes at FoxSports.com that Major League Baseball has to do more to promote its game to a very tech-savvy fandom.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today has a few sports media observations in the Game On! blog.

Also in USA Today’s Game On! Steve Coogan writes that Jennifer Hudson is out from CBS’ One Shining Moment NCAA Tournament final montage.

One more from Game On! Mike McCarthy reviews Charles Barkley’s comments on truTV. It was a joke, people.

I had no idea that the former bassist for Guns ‘N Roses, Jane Addiction and Velvet Revolver, Duff McKagan had his own column at ESPN.com. Well, this is a very touching and well-written column on the late Seattle Mariners voice Dave Niehaus.

ESPN’s corporate blog, Front Row, has now launched and has been churning out pictures since midnight to show “A Day in the Life” at its various offices around the world. I have to say it’s quite fascinating. The pictures will continue to be published until late tonight.

Marisa Guthrie and Lindsay Powers at the Hollywood Reporter discuss ESPN’s Josh Elliot moving to ABC’s Good Morning America replacing the always lovely Juju Chang.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable writes about ESPN’s latest pickup for Baseball Tonight.

R. Thomas Umstead of Multichannel News says ESPN Films will air a documentary on Jack Nicklaus’ iconic 1986 win at The Masters^®.

The great Ryan Ballengee of NBC’s Pro Golf Talk says The Masters^® iPad app will stream all four days of live TV golf coverage next week. That is very cool.

Jack Neff of Advertising Age says Vaseline Men will be unveiling an ad campaign for the NFL Draft.

In Mediaweek, Anthony Crupi says ad buyers are looking for alternatives as the NFL lockout goes longer.

Doron Levin at Fortune notes that Cadillac has quietly returned to sponsoring golf tournaments.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell examines whether the Chicago Cubs made the right call for their public address announcer.

Darren looks at the MLB Fan Cave that has two men watching every single regular season and playoff game this year.

And Darren goes inside the numbers of college football.

All Access says a Muncie, IN radio station is dropping ESPN in favor of Fox Sports Radio.

All Access also discusses Trenni Kusnierek joining a Milwaukee radio station full-time.

Richard Huff of the New York Daily News writes about ESPN’s Josh Elliot leaving SportsCenter to move to Good Morning America.

Newsday’s Neil Best takes a look at Yankees and Mets ticket prices on the resale market.

Pete Dougherty from the Albany Times Union looks at former Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer joining ESPN.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record has Fox’s Tim McCarver thoughts on the Mets and Yankees.

Conor Orr at the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger says ESPN’s Jay Bilas is a man of many talents.

Neal Zoren of the Delaware County Times notes that Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia is ready to cover the Phillies this season.

Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog at the Washington Post is amused with a new Pimlico Raceway ad that acknowledges the infield debauchery during the Preakness Stakes.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that ESPN will be airing a prestigious high school basketball tournament live from the DC area.

Brandon Marcello of the Jackson (MS) Clarion Ledger says Mississippi State University now has the announcers who will replace legendary voice Jack Cristil who retired after the basketball season.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman discusses ESPN shaking up its Sunday Night Baseball announcers and adding a new twist to Baseball Tonight.

Doug Zaleski of the Muncie (IN) Star Press notes that a Ball State-Indiana football matchup could end up on ESPN on Labor Day weekend.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Fox Sports Wisconsin will add some bells and whistles to its Brewers game productions.

Jon Nyatawa of the Omaha (NE) World-Journal says the Kansas City Royals won’t be heard on local radio this season.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post looks at FSN Rocky Mountain changing its name as of Friday.

Lya Wodraska in the Salt Lake Tribune says the University of Utah is open to moving its football games to Sunday in case of an NFL lockout.

Scott D. Pierce of the Tribune looks at FSN Rocky Mountain’s change of name.

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times says FX’s plans to carry college football this fall might be part of a larger scheme to increase subscriber fees.

Mike DiGiovanna from the Times says while Fox Sports tested a new overhead camera during last night’s Dodgers-Angels exhibition game, players were concerned that it might be too intrusive.

Mark Hester from The Oregonian notes that ESPN is chock full of spring college football games.

Gretchen Holzang of the Portland Business Journal writes about FSN Northwest’s rebranding on Friday.

To the Toronto Globe and Mail where Bruce Dowbiggin talks with Rogers Sportsnet Blue Jays analyst Greg Zaun.

Sports Media Watch says NASCAR on Fox hit a ratings low for the first time this season.

The Big Lead critiques CBS/Turner’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament.

And we’ll end it there today.

Jim Nantz Remembers: The 1975 Masters

Just before CBS’ Final Round coverage of The Masters^®, two weeks from today, we have another edition of Jim Nantz Remembers, where he looks into a memorable tournament from years past. This year, Jim looks back at the 1975 Masters where Jack Nicklaus had to fend off the charging Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller to win his 5th Green Jacket at Augusta.

Every year since 2006, Jim Nantz takes an in-depth hour-long look at a Masters tournament and this year, it’s 1975. Here’s a preview of what you’ll see on April 10.

CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR FEATURES “JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: THE 1975 MASTERS^®” ON SUNDAY, APRIL 10

CBS Sports will broadcast a CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR special JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: THE 1975 MASTERS^® on Sunday, April 10 (1:00-2:00 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.   Jim Nantz, this year covering his 26^th Masters for CBS Sports, and 24^th as host, revisits one of the most memorable showdowns in golf history – the 1975 Masters – when Jack Nicklaus fended off Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller through the final holes to win the coveted green jacket.  Nicklaus sank a 40-foot birdie putt on the 16^th hole that proved to be the difference in his record fifth Masters victory.

“Back in 1975 people didn’t have TiVo or DVRs to be able to record events if they missed them on television,” said Nantz. “This is a rare mulligan for people to look back and experience this historic tournament. It is a privilege to bring back the 1975 Masters, considered by many golf purists to have been the most dramatic final round in the history of this storied event.”

This one-hour special includes a conversation with six-time Masters champion Nicklaus, as well as Weiskopf and Miller, as each relives that classic Sunday afternoon in April 1975.

JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: THE 1975 MASTERS is produced and directed by Chris Svendsen.  The Executive Producer is Jim Nantz.

About Jim Nantz Productions:

Jim Nantz Productions was established in 2005.  This year’s retrospective on the 1975 Masters is Nantz’s sixth production of the Emmy Award-nominated series.  On Masters Sunday, April 9, 2006, JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA re-aired the 1986 Masters that featured Jack Nicklaus’s epic victory. In 2007, JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: THE 1960 MASTERS featured Arnold Palmer’s historic win which was, for the first time, re-broadcast and colorized. THE 1960 MASTERS special was nominated for a 2007 Sports Emmy Award for the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award.  In 2008, JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: THE 1978 MASTERS featured Gary Player’s improbable win; in 2009, JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: SEVE AT THE MASTERS looked back on one of the game’s and the Masters’ greatest players, Seve Ballesteros; and in 2010 JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: THE 1977 MASTERS told the story of the classic showdown between Tom Watson holding off Jack Nicklaus for the victory.

And after the jump, we have another press release on another CBS special that will before the Third Round of The Masters^®.

(continue reading…)

What Other Sports Can Lend Themselves to the NCAA Tournament Treatment & Other Sunday Thoughts

This is the first of what I hope will be weekly Sunday posts. I’ll provide three or four thoughts into one post and I hope you enjoy them. Consider this to be a throwback to when sports media writers would write a lengthy column in the Sunday newspapers. As I mentioned, I hope to make this a regular occurrence at Fang’s Bites. I hope you’ll like it.

Can Other Sports Lend Themselves to Multiple Networks?

It’s obvious that the NCAA Tournament on CBS/TBS/TNT/truTV has been a phenomenal success. By having all of the games available nationally on four networks in the first three rounds, viewers watched in droves and in higher numbers than in previous years. Instead of waiting for CBS to make a switch to another game during a blowout or having to purchase the March Mega Madness pay per view package on DirecTV, viewers could do it themselves by either looking at the scoreboard bug on top of the screen or having the game announcers give an alert or even through social media like Twitter which gave alerts to close games.

The ratings have proved that airing four games simultaneously adds interest and eyeballs to the TV set. You’ll have a blowout here and there, but you can turn away if you so desire.

CBS/Turner’s spreading the games over four networks got me to thinking what other sports could use the NCAA Tournament treatment and I immediately thought baseball. You have four League Division Series and with TBS already having the rights to the entire LDS, why not spread them out to TNT and truTV? You don’t have to have four games at once, perhaps TBS can start with a game at 4 p.m. Eastern, then have three games at 7:30 p.m. on TBS again, TNT and truTV. And you won’t have to worry about airing a game at 10 or 11 p.m. which would anger East Coast fans.

What about other sports? The NBA used to have playoff games on TBS and TNT. Instead of spreading series out over a span of two weeks, why not go to the old system of conducting them every other night and having TNT and ESPN involved? Commissioner David Stern could stagger start times, Eastern Conference series could tip off at 7 and 8 p.m. Eastern, then the Western Conference would tip at 9:30 and 10:30 respectively. Or the games could begin a half-hour apart.

The NHL could do something similar with Versus and other another cable partner, say ESPN2 perhaps or even NHL Network. The possibilities are endless

And if NBC ever came to its senses and decided to truly show the Olympics live, we could see events on multiple networks such as track and field on NBC, basketball on Versus, gymnastics on USA Network, diving on MSNBC and cycling on Bravo. Do it, NBC.

So as you can see, this can be done provided the sports leagues allow it. But this would heighten interest and provide the viewer with more games and more choices.

The Insanity of 3-D TV

Over the last few weeks, I have seen articles about the slow sales of 3-D TV throughout the country. I have also seen articles about Best Buy’s stock being downgraded over poor sales due to 3-D TV and other factors. The fact that 3-D TV has not taken off tells me one thing. Americans aren’t interested in buying another expensive TV set after making the investment to HDTV.

Let’s face it. The digital conversion from analog TV to High Definition was botched by the Feds. The date of the mandatory conversion kept getting pushed back to 2009 when it was finally decided that it could not be pushed back any further. It didn’t matter, the forced drop dead date was still confusing to some who thought that TV as they knew was coming to an end. Some people to this day still don’t have TV coming to their homes. However, most people did make the conversion to high definition, in some cases, spending well over $1,000 to make the change.

Now after making the transition to HDTV, TV manufacturers rushed out 3-D TV sets based on the success of the movie, Avatar. However, one movie does not a whole movement make. The fact that there’s hardly a surplus of 3-D programming, ESPN 3D asides, people don’t have the urge to buy a 3-D set. In addition, the economy has hit many Americans right in the wallet or pocketbook. They aren’t rushing to Best Buy or other electronic retailers. Many Americans aren’t thinking they’re missing anything by not owning a 3-D TV. Asking people to buy a $3,000 set after they’ve already spent money on new HD TV’s just two years previous is like asking them to waste money like a local government. It’s not going to happen.

In addition, their favorite sports aren’t making a big push to go 3-D. The NFL is very skeptical about putting its games in the third dimension and the league certainly doesn’t see it as a moneymaker.

So where does this leave us with 3-D? Right where it started, struggling to find an audience. I don’t see 3-D taking off as network executives and TV manufacturers had hoped. And even when the economy bounces back, I don’t see a huge wave of people looking to buy 3-D. Let’s call this for what it is, 3-D TV is a colossal failure.

The Masters

You know The Masters is coming when you hear that familiar theme, “Augusta” being played during the NCAA Tournament and even on promos on the CBS Evening News. For many people, it will be the first golf tournament on which they will pay attention.

For me, The Masters is a true sign that spring is here. My only problem with The Masters is the referential treatment from CBS. Granted, Augusta National calls the shots and signs one year renewals with CBS, but sometimes the restrictions by the membership can go too far. Announcers like Jack Whitaker and Gary McCord were booted from CBS’ coverage for saying things that Augusta National didn’t like.

We haven’t any similar incidents at The Masters in the past few years, but one has to think that we’re due based on CBS’ track record which has been quite good.

More Sunday thoughts coming next week.

Some Thursday Linkage For You

Let’s provide the sports media links this morning. Lots of things to do today so I hope I can get this done and finish up the work I have to do later.

John Czarnecki at Fox Sports is amazed at how the NFL Scouting Combine has become a made-for-TV event.

George Winslow at Broadcasting & Cable writes about ESPN 3D picking up coverage of The Masters in April.

Dan Fogarty at SportsGrid says Carmelo Anthony’s introduction at Madison Square Garden last night was definitely made for TV.

Dan says a former New York Yankee who was part of an infamous wife swap in the 1970′s is now shocked that Academy Award winners Matt Damon and Ben Affleck now want to do a movie about the story.

Dashiell Bennett of the Business Insider’s Sports Page is amused by Buzz Bissinger’s tweets.

At TVbytheNumbers, Bill Gorman notes that the NBA All-Star Game on TNT topped the cable primetime ratings for last week.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell notes that the ultimate product placement in the NBA Slam Dunk competition is paying off in droves.

Awful Announcing has the video of the Big Ten Network’s Tom Hart calling a buzzer beater.

Ricardo A. Hazell from the Electronic Urban Report catches up with former NFL Today co-host Jayne Kennedy.

At Boston Sports Media Watch, Bruce Allen recaps Dale Arnold’s final show on WEEI.

Mark LaMonica at Newsday has the New York Post’s Peter Vescey’s comments about Steven A. Smith.

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette reports that a local radio station will pick up Big East Tournament night games in early March.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning News says a local indoor football analyst has his eyes on the big leagues in Philadelphia.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post writes about the slashing of the staff at the local-run TBD.com which was hoped to be a DC news and sports online destination. While it did have get site hits, revenue was not where the owners had projected so last night came word that the site will focus on arts and entertainment.

Dan Steinberg of the Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt was very critical of Maryland students for failing to show up at last night’s game against Florida State.

To the Washington Examiner and Jim Williams who writes about the new look at Golf Channel and NBC Sports.

The Tampa Bay Newspapers have the Rays’ spring training schedule on Sun Sports.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says ESPN has hired a former Green Bay Packers executive to be an NFL business analyst.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business writes about Comcast SportsNet Chicago hiring former Bulls forward Scottie Pippen as a game analyst.

Michael Rand of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has a reader wanting more Minnesota Twins spring training games on TV.

Patrick Saunders in the Denver Post wants to institute a Sports Fans Bill of Rights.

Mike Sunnucks from the Phoenix Business Journal says the Suns will put all of their games on cable next season.

Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star writes that the Pac 10/12 is hoping to get a better TV contract.

Greg Wyshynski at Yahoo’s Puck Daddy notes that a minor league hockey announcer suspended himself after he realized he was guilty of blatant homerism.

Pro Golf Talk’s Ryan Ballengee has the video of CBS golf analyst David Feherty getting hit in the groin.

The Canadian Sports Media blog has the 2011 Toronto Blue Jays schedule on Rogers Sportsnet

Steve Lepore of Puck The Media projects the NHL playoff matchups and TV network projections if the postseason started today.

Joe Favorito says companies with natural tie-ins are missing the boat on the NBA  and NHL Trading Deadlines.

And that’s where I’ll end it now.

ESPN 3D To Air The Masters

This Spring, ESPN 3D will show all four rounds of The Masters and the Par 3 Contest, meaning some 10 hours of the Tradition Unlike Any Other in 3-D. Unfortunately, about 86 people across the country have a 3-D TV, so a minority of people will appreciate the coverage. Last year, Comcast and Sony banded together to show the tournament in 3-D. This year, it will be ESPN 3-D that will have the rights to show The Masters for two hours a day. We have the details from ESPN on what you’ll see during Masters Week.

ESPN 3D to Air Five Days of Masters Coverage

ESPN’s television coverage of the 2011 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club will expand with 10 hours of programming in 3D on the ESPN 3D network, including two hours from all four rounds of Tournament action.

ESPN 3D’s live Masters telecasts begin with the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, April 6, from 3-5 p.m. ET. Thursday and Friday’s Tournament action airs from 5:30-7:30 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday’s telecasts from 5-7 p.m.

Last April, the Masters became the first major sporting event produced and broadcast in 3D live internationally on television and the Internet.

ESPN 3D was launched in June of 2010 and expanded to a 24-hour network in January. ESPN has televised the Par 3 Contest and first and second rounds of The Masters since 2008.

In addition to coverage on ESPN 3D, ESPN’s multiplatform coverage of the Masters will include 4.5 hours per day of first and second-round play on ESPN, ESPN HD and ESPN Deportes on Thursday and Friday, SportsCenter at the Masters and live coverage of the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, extensive coverage on ESPN.com and a special 43-hour Masters tribute on ESPN Classic.

That’s all.

Sirius XM Extends Agreement with The PGA Tour

We learned just before the end of 2011, Sirius XM came to an agreement with the PGA Tour to keep PGA Tour Radio and coverage of golf on the satellite radio provider. From all accounts, this was pretty close to not happening and having all golf events removed from Sirius XM. But things came out ok and Sirius XM is announcing that it will have the entire PGA Tour 2011 season as well as the four majors, The Masters, the US Open, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship.

SiriusXM Announces Comprehensive Coverage of 2011 Golf Season

SiriusXM will broadcast more live play-by-play than any other TV or radio broadcaster, offering the Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship, plus PGA TOUR events including THE PLAYERS

Sirius and XM listeners get expert analysis on PGA TOUR Network channel

NEW YORK, NY – January 5, 2011 – Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) today announced that it will provide comprehensive coverage of the 2011 golf season, offering more live play-by-play than any other TV or radio broadcaster and giving listeners nationwide access to the full schedule of events featuring the world’s best golfers. 

SiriusXM will broadcast live play-by-play of the 2011 PGA TOUR season, featuring THE PLAYERS Championship (May 12-15 from TPC Sawgrass, FL), and all four major championship events – the Masters (April 7-10 from Augusta National Golf Club, GA), the U.S. Open Championship (June 16-19 from Congressional CC, MD), The Open Championship (July 14-17 from Royal St. George’s GC, Kent, England) and the PGA Championship (August 11-14 from Atlanta Athletic Club, GA).

SiriusXM’s coverage will also include the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup: The Barclays (August 25-28 from Plainfield CC, NJ), Deutsche Bank Championship (September 2-5 from TPC Boston, MA), BMW Championship (September 15-18 from Cog Hill GC, IL) and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola (September 22-25 from East Lake GC, GA).

Sirius and XM listeners will have access to hole-by-hole coverage every day of tournament play for each event, as well as expert analysis on the PGA TOUR Network channel, the only radio channel dedicated to professional golf.

Live tournament coverage and the PGA TOUR Network channel are available to all XM subscribers and to Sirius subscribers who purchase the “Best of XM” programming package, and are available nationwide on XM channel 146 and Sirius channel 209.

Play-by-play coverage of the U.S. Open Championship will air on ESPN Radio, Sirius channel 120 and XM channel 140.

Sirius and XM listeners will also be able to access live tournament play-by-play and the PGA TOUR Network channel online at www.sirius.com and www.xmradio.com as well as on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry and Android-powered mobile devices using the SiriusXM Premium Online App.

For more information, please visit www.xmradio.com or www.sirius.com.

That is all.

Westwood One Radio Renews Agreement With The Masters

This just announced. Westwood One Radio has signed a renewal of its annual one year agreement with the Augusta National Country Club to air radio coverage of The Masters. In conjunction with former parent, CBS, Westwood One will carry full four round coverage to affiliates across the country in addition to Sirius XM which is the official satellite radio partner of the tournament.

Here’s the press release.

WESTWOOD ONE, MASTERS TOURNAMENT RENEW EXCLUSIVE NETWORK RADIO AGREEMENT

New York, NY — October 19, 2010 — Westwood One and the Masters Tournament announced today the renewal of an agreement maintaining Westwood One as the exclusive radio play-by-play provider for the 2011 event. The renewed agreement provides Westwood One with on-course radio rights, including live hole-by-hole coverage. In addition, the broadcast will also be streamed live on the Tournament’s official Web site, www.masters.com.

“Westwood One is committed to maintaining its long-standing leadership position in play-by-play sports on radio,” said Westwood One President Rod Sherwood. “This renewal continues the longest running national radio broadcast partnership in all of sports, and we are looking forward to an exciting season of bringing listeners the highest quality sports broadcasts on the air in 2011.”

Westwood One has been the radio home of the Masters for nearly 60 years, providing exclusive play-by-play coverage of historic Tournament victories from defending champion Phil Mickelson to those of four-time champion Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Nick Faldo, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and many more. In 2011, the tradition continues as Westwood One presents live coverage of the world’s best players vying for the Green Jacket. Tournament dates are April 7-10, 2011.

Westwood One is the leader in play-by-play sports broadcasts on radio. Westwood One’s sports lineup includes: regular season NFL football, the Playoffs and the Super Bowl; NCAA Football and Basketball including the Final Four; College World Series; Frozen Four; the Olympics and more.

More stuff coming up. We have a lot of press releases.

Grinding Out Some Wednesday Linkage

Let’s do some linkage while I can.

Some sad news from MSNBC. Columnist Mike Celizic who has been with the network writing for both MSNBC and NBCSports.com died today at the age of 61. George Malone of MSNBC writes an appreciation of Celizic.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says in a very strange move, Ines Sainz takes a shot at the Association of Women in Sports Media. Any sympathy Ms. Sainz had just went out the window.

Patrick Rishe of Forbes uses Sainz to discuss the selling of sex in sports. 

If you thought The Decision was 73 minutes of painful television, USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says just wait until you see ESPN’s coverage of Miami Heat training camp featuring LeBron James.

At Fox Sports, Brian Lowry wishes the networks would tone down the promos during football games.

Marisa Guthrie of Broadcasting & Cable writes that Comedy Central is developing a sports comedy show that would be hosted by Saturday Night Live alumnus Norm MacDonald.

Speaking of SNL alumni, Philiana Ng from the Hollywood Reporter says Seth Myers will return‘ as ESPY host next year.

At Multichannel News, Mike Reynolds explores the new agreement between Turner Sports and NCAA for the company to take over the collegiate sports governing body’s digital properties.

Anthony Crupi at Mediaweek says the New York Jets helped ESPN to win the cable primetime ratings last week.

Alex Keriazes of the Laconia (NH) Citizen went behind the scenes with ESPN’s NASCAR production crew when it stopped at Loudon last weekend for the Sprint Cup Chase opener. 

Richard Sandomir from the New York Times looks at how the NFL is trying to enhance the fan experience at games.

Neil Best sighting. Newsday’s Neil Best notes the ratings across the country for ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary on “The House of Steinbrenner”.

Phil Corso and Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News discuss TBS airing clips of the MLB Postseason on New York subway trains. 

At the Albany Times Union, Pete Dougherty says ESPN’s total coverage of The Masters expands by two hours next year.

Pete has MSG Network’s NHL schedule featuring the Devils, Islanders, Rangers and Sabres.

Pete also has the NHL preseason TV schedule in the Capital Region.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record writes that NBA TV will air the FIBA Women’s World Championships.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News says MSG Network Sabres studio analyst Mike Robitaille will be back on TV this season after a horrific car accident earlier this year.

Laura Nachman says there’s no full-time sports reporter at the Philadelphia Fox affiliate.

The Allentown (PA) Morning Call says SportsNation will air live from Penn State on Thursday.

The Delmarva (MD) Daily Times says the new ESPN3.com promos featuring Tangier Island will help the area to boost tourism and give it a true national spotlight.

At the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says DC NFL team radio analyst Sam Huff got a little confused over the NFL overtime rules.

Dan says even though DC is crazy over its NFL team, there are some who think the Post covers it too much.

Dustin Long at the Virginian-Pilot looks into why NASCAR’s TV ratings continue to fall. 

Cammy Clark of the Miami Herald talks with a South Florida attorney who now hosts an adventure TV series for Fox Sports Net.

Tom Jones at the St. Petersburg Times says the Rays-Yankees series opener on Monday did very well for Sun Sports.

Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News notes that the Cowboys pulled huge local ratings for its early afternoon game against the Bears.

Chuck Carlton of the Morning News has highlights of a conference call featuring Big 12 Commissioner Don Beebe discussing the early departure of Colorado and what it means for the league’s TV money distribution.

The San Antonio Business Journal notes that Fox Sports Radio will premiere a new weekend show combining financial news with sports. 

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Bengals home opener rated very well locally.

John says the documentary on Pete Rose and his pursuit of his 4,192nd career hit will play in a local theater next month.

Ed Sherman at Crain’s Chicago Business says the Bears win over Dallas on Sunday leaves ESPN salivating over next Monday night’s matchup with the Packers.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley gives a sarcastic “Thank you” to The Masters.

Dan Caesar at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the Rams cleaned up in the ratings once again.

Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman notes that ESPN’s Erin Andrews will be in Boise to co-host College Gameday and roam the sidelines for the Oregon State-Boise State game on Saturday.

Chadd writes that there’s speculation on who will be the guest prognosticator for College Gameday’s stop in the Potato State. 

Debbie Goffa of the Los Angeles Times says the Kings have released their TV schedule.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says if Canada sends a team to the Commonwealth Games in India next month, CBC will cover them as planned. There’s been all types of problems with the facilities.

John Daly at the Daly Planet has some ideas on how the NASCAR TV partners can improve its ratings.

The great people at the old Fire Joe Morgan blog have taken over Deadspin for a day and we get this post featuring Philadelphia Daily News curmudgeon Bill Conlin.

Gene Swindoli of Gene’s Page talks with Friend of Fang’s Bites Bob Rathbun of Fox Sports Net.

Sports Media Watch has the weekend overnight ratings.

SMW says ratings for Monday Night Football in Week 2 were even with last year, but viewership was up.

Dave Kohl of the Major League Programs blog notes that the ratings for the NFL are in the stratosphere.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has CBC’s plans for NHL Opening Night.

Glenn Davis at SportsGrid notes the New York tabloids are having fun with Braylon Edwards’ misfortune.

And we’ll end our links there.

Back to Work Links

Back to work after a weekend that was much too short. I’ll do some linkage for you now.

Starting with USA Today’s Michael Hiestand who says ESPN’s Jon Gruden has adjusted to being a TV personality.

John Ourand and Michael Smith of the Sports Business Journal give us the anatomy of the CBS/Turner deal for the NCAA Tournament.

John has a story on Fox Sports.com and the Wall Street Journal sharing editorial resources for the first time this week.

In the Sporting News’ Sporting Blog, On The DL’s Dan Levy talks with ESPN’s Trey Wingo and goes over the weekend’s NFL Draft coverage.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says as the NHL’s ratings are hot and that’s good for the league as it enters a TV rights renewal.

Writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Jason Fry is wary of six Gannett newspapers taking stories about the New Jersey Devils written by a team employee.

Dan Lamothe of the Springfield Republican’s Red Sox Monster blog notes that Heidi Watney returned to work on NESN after a brief absence.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the history of the Mets and Yankees theme songs.

Lynn Zinser of the Times says now that the NFL Draft is over, it’s time to get back to regular sports viewing. 

Phil Mushnick in the New York Post feels WFAN’s Mike Francesa should have scolded Giants co-owner John Mara on personal seat licenses during an interview.

Larry McShane of the New York Daily News chuckles over the fact that a BBC reporter was not allowed into Augusta National Golf Club to cover The Masters and did live shots back to the UK from a nearby course. 

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Daily Gazette looks at the record viewership for the NFL Draft.

Aaron Nathans of the Delaware News-Journal says a Philly sports fan isn’t too happy that he can’t watch Phillies games on DirecTV. 

Jim Williams from the Washington Examiner has a preview of tonight’s NBA Playoff action on TNT and NBA TV.

Eric Frazier of the Charlotte Observer says teams are turning more to social media to attract fans. 

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times looks over the weekend in sports TV.

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the NFL couldn’t be more pleased over the Draft’s TV ratings. 

In Crain’s Chicago Business, Ed Sherman says the Cubs-White Sox Crosstown Series will get its own trophy.

Ed talks with Comcast SportsNet Chicago President Jim Corso about the channel’s relationship with the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks.

Robert Sanchez of the Chicago Daily Herald says former Chicagoan Greg Gumbel will be in town this week to give a motivational speech. 

Dusty Saunders from the Denver Post says Avalance TV voice Mike Haynes sees a bright future for the team. 

Tom Hoffarth from the Los Angeles Daily News has the SoCal sports calendar for this week.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN host Michael Landsberg was not offended by an anti-Semetic remark made by analyst Jacques Demers.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says NHL TV coverage can be confusing at times.

The Sports Media Watch says the Boston-Miami NBA playoff game on Sunday did not perform well on ABC.

SMW notes that four of five NBA playoff games on ESPN increased on their ratings from last year.

SMW says San Antonio-Dallas, Game 4 on TNT really went up from last year.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media says NBC had matching ratings for its NHL coverage this past weekend.

Joe Favorito says Rutgers is waiting on a big decision on whether to go to the Big Ten or remain in the Big East.

We’ll finish there.

CBS Gets Its "Phil" Of Audience For Final Round of The Masters

CBS continued to ride a big ratings wave of momentum for the final round of The Masters on Sunday. With plenty of attention on Tiger Woods, we saw that the story went from Tiger to Phil Mickelson as Lefty put his stamp on this year’s tournament. Saturday saw the largest audience for The Masters in 9 years and on Sunday, CBS saw similar numbers. And the ratings jumped 36% higher from the year before.

CBS SPORTS’ MASTERS® FINAL-ROUND COVERAGE EARNS HIGHEST RATING IN NINE YEARS

SUNDAY’S BROADCAST RATING UP 36 % FROM LAST YEAR

CBS Sports’ final-round coverage of the 2010 Masters on Sunday, April 11, which saw Phil Mickelson win his third Green Jacket, earned its highest rating in nine years with an average overnight household rating/share of 12.0/25, up 36% from last year’s final-round coverage (8.8/21; Angel Cabrera’s win in a two-hole playoff). This year’s final-round coverage is the third highest-rated final round of any golf tournament since at least 1986 in the metered markets (as far back as recorded CBS Nielsen data).

 The highest-rated final round of a tournament was the 1997 Masters with a 15.8/32 when Tiger Woods won his first Green Jacket. The second highest-rated final round also was the Masters in 2001 when Woods won his second Green Jacket earning a rating/share of 12.9/27 in the metered markets. 

This year’s final round rating peaked at 14.7/28 from 6:30-7:00 PM, ET.  

We’re not seeing actual numbers as far as total audience is concerned, but I’m sure that will be coming henceforth. When it does, you’ll see it here.

The Tiger Effect Hits CBS At The Masters In A Big Way

Having Tiger Woods in contention in a major golf tournament is one thing. Having him return from his long layoff due to scandal is another.

On Thursday, interest in Tiger brought ESPN almost five million viewers, the most viewed golf tournament in cable TV history.

On Saturday, CBS received monster ratings. How big you ask? Look at the press release.

CBS SPORTS’ MASTERS THIRD-ROUND EARNS HIGHEST RATING IN NINE YEARS

SATURDAY’S BROADCAST RATINGS UP 33 % FROM LAST YEAR

CBS Sports’ coverage of the 2010 Masters on Saturday, April 10 scored its highest rating in nine years earning an average overnight household rating/share of 7.6/18, up 33% from last year’s Saturday third-round coverage (5.7/13). This year’s Saturday third round coverage is also the third highest-rated Saturday of any major championship since at least 1986 in the metered markets (as far back as recorded CBS Nielsen data).

The highest rated Saturday of a major championship was the 1997 Masters third round with an 8.6/20 when Tiger Woods was on his quest for his first Green Jacket. The second highest-rated Saturday of a major championship was also the Masters when in 2001, Tiger Woods was on his way to his second Green Jacket earning a 7.9/19.

This year’s third round rating peaked at 8.6/19 from 6:00-6:30 PM, ET.

That’s it.

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Time For Saturday Linkage

After being at a jobsite early this morning, I can now give you some linkage. Trying to warm up after being cut in half by the winds off Narragansett Bay. Let’s do this.

Starting with Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter, he mentions that ESPN is being sued over its GameCast online feature.

According to the Hartford Courant, ESPN is apparently hiring.

Jackie Majerus of the Bristol (CT) Press writes about ESPN’s new Building 13. I guess ESPN does not have Triskaidekaphobia.

Hiawatha Bray of the Boston Globe was at the same Comcast Masters 3-D viewing event I attended on Thursday and filed this report.

It appears the wife of ex-ESPN MLB analyst Steve Phillips has withdrawn her divorce petition.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News scratches his head over the Sabres’ decline in the ratings. 

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union got to see The Masters in 3-D.

Laura Nachman says the late Tom Brookshier of the Philadelphia Eagles, CBS and WIP will be honored later this month.

Laura says Verizion Fios subscribers get The Comcast Network added to their lineup.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner tells us to expect big ratings for The Masters today.

Jim recaps Charles Barkley’s comments on Masters chairman Billy Payne on TNT the other night.

Chip Cirillo from The Tennessean says the Music City Bowl returns to New Year’s Eve this year. 

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says after a regular season of being mostly shutout by ABC, ESPN and TNT, the NBA TV partners will be showing plenty of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the postseason.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Times recaps the week in blogging and sports media.

Gary Lycan of the Orange County Register likes ESPN Radio putting some of its programming plus some Anaheim Angels games on a competing station. 

Paula Duffy in the Los Angeles Examiner says women’s sports pioneer Billie Jean King will get the ESPN Homecoming treatment next week.

Mike Freeman of the San Diego Union-Tribune saw The Masters in 3-D on Friday.

Earlier this week, Rose DiManno of the Toronto Star took ESPN’s Erin Andrews to task for looking like a bimbo on “Dancing With the Stars.”

Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina gets Erin’s reaction to the DiManno column.

Milton Kent at Fanhouse feels the CBS-produced Masters telecast on ESPN overgushed on the event.

Brian McTaggert of MLB.com says Houston Astros legend Jeff Bagwell is joining the TV broadcast booth tonight.

The Sports Media Watch notes that last Sunday’s NBA on ABC doubleheader saw increased ratings.

SMW informs us that NBC saw an increase for the NHL Game of the Week.

And SMW has various ratings odds and ends.

We’ll end it there for today. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.

Tiger At The Masters Delivers For ESPN

I’m away from my computer, but I want to get this up right away. I’ve been waiting for this press release since this morning and its finally come in. I believe ESPN was waiting for the final numbers and they are indeed in.

The numbers for the 1st round of The Masters are astounding and ESPN executives have to be doing backflips in Bristol, CT as the interest in Tiger Woods’ return was quite high.

We’re talking the highest cable audience ever for a golf event and this is the 1st round! To say the ratings were good is like saying a shark likes to eat. Holy frijoles!

Check out the release. I’ll clean this up when I get to my computer.

Masters Delivers Most-Viewed Golf Telecast in Cable History

ESPN’s live coverage of the 2010 Masters Tournament on Thursday, April 12 (4-7:38 p.m. ET), generated an average of 4,936,000 viewers (based on fast nationals) to become the most-viewed golf telecast in cable history. The telecast surpassed the 2008 U.S. Open Championship playoff held Monday, June 16, 2008 (4,762,000 viewers), when Tiger Woods defeated Rocco Mediate on ESPN.

Thursday’s first round of the tournament posted a 4.0 fast national household coverage rating and 3,931,000 household impressions, both ranking second to the 2008 U.S. Open Championship playoff (4.2 rating; 4,056,000 households).

The 4,936,000 viewers represent a 47 percent increase over last year’s comparable Thursday coverage (3,366,000 viewers). The corresponding household rating (4.0 vs. 2.8 in 2009) and household impressions (3,931,000 vs. 2,749,000 last year) were up 43 percent.

Compared to 2008, this year’s Thursday coverage was up 102 percent in viewers (2,447,000 viewers), 89 percent in households (2,081,000 impressions) and 82 percent in household rating (2.2).

Live coverage of the Masters Tournament on ESPN3.com led to a nearly nine-fold increase – 787 percent among unique viewers over last year’s first round.

Tiger’s First Tee Shot on SportsCenter

Based on overnight ratings from the metered markets, SportsCenter’s live show on Thursday from 1-2 p.m. – which included live coverage of Tiger Woods’ first tee shot at 1:42 p.m. – averaged a 0.8 rating. The 0.8 rating more than doubled last year’s rating for the same one-hour window (0.3). SportsCenter’s live coverage from 1:30-1:45 p.m. delivered a 1.1 overnight rating, up 267 percent over the same time period last year (0.3).

Amazing stuff. Back later.

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CBS’ Weekend Programming Other Than The Masters

As you well know by now, CBS is airing The Masters this weekend and I’ll have complete times in the Weekend Viewing Picks coming up later today. But in the meantime, CBS is showing other stuff. On Sunday before the final round of The Masters, there’s another Jim Nantz Remembers special looking back at the 1977 tournament in which Tom Watson won. Maybe it’s a harbinger of things to come.

CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR FEATURES

“JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: THE 1977 MASTERS®” ON SUNDAY, APRIL 11

CBS Sports will broadcast a CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR special JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: THE 1977 MASTERS® on Sunday, April 11 (1:00-2:00 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network. Jim Nantz, this year covering his 25^th Masters for CBS Sports, and 23^rd as host, revisits one of the most memorable Masters in its storied history.  In a classic showdown between two of golf’s greatest players and gentlemen, young Tom Watson held off the veteran Jack Nicklaus – already a five-time Masters champion at that point – for the first of his two green jackets.   

“Tom Watson’s magical performance last summer at Turnberry has rekindled appreciation and interest in his legendary career,” said Nantz. “This year’s Masters will be Tom’s first appearance in a major since his near-epic victory last summer at the Open Championship. His 1977 Masters triumph was a riveting final round showdown with Jack Nicklaus. Golf fans are going to love re-visiting the drama of that day.”

For the first time since its initial airing viewers will get to re-live the tension-filled final round as it unfolded 33 years ago. This one-hour special includes a conversation with 60-year-old Tom Watson, who discusses his great career at Augusta, and reflects on his heartbreaking loss last summer at Turnberry in the Open Championship, where he turned back the clock and nearly became the oldest player to win a major.  

JIM NANTZ REMEMBERS AUGUSTA: THE 1977 MASTERS is produced and directed by Chris Svendsen. The Executive Producer is Jim Nantz. 

Before Jim Nantz Remembers, the CBS Sports Spectacular has Monster Jam Trucks.

CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR JAMS WITH MONSTER TRUCK FINALS ON SUNDAY

CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR presents the MONSTER JAM WORLD FINALS, one of the most talked about monster truck competitions, on Sunday, April 11 (12:00 Noon-1:00 PM, ET; taped 3/27), from Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev.  Twenty-four drivers will go head-to-head on the extreme obstacle course including Jim Creten driving his monster truck known as Bounty Hunter. Also competing are archrivals Dennis Anderson in Graver Digger and Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction.  Scott Douglass provides the narration.  CBS Sports’ Ross Schneiderman serves as coordinating producer.

Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

More stuff coming up.

Seeing The Masters in 3-D

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to view The Masters in 3-D. Invited to a viewing party in Boston by Comcast, I was able to watch live action from selected holes from the back nine at Augusta National Golf Club.

The TV sets are of course in 3-D. I had to wear rather bulky 3-D glasses to watch the live golf otherwise I would have seen side-by-side images. However, once I was able to watch with the glasses, the picture was truly amazing.

I was able to see the undulation in the greens. In addition, I could tell the difference in the slope of the fairways. Graphics popped out of the screen. I could also determine how far a tree was from a golfer or how far the crowd was from the tee box. As a light drizzle was falling in Augusta, I could see the detail of the raindrops onto the water.

Using Masters vernacular, patrons at the bottom of the screen also seemed to pop out of the set. It was as if I could reach out and touch someone.

The picture was truly spectacular. Golf is a perfect event for 3-D and seemingly was made for three dimensions. I give credit to Comcast for jumping on the technology as it sent the 3-D signals directly from Augusta to its media center via fiber optic network where it was distributed to Comcast cable providers in addition to Time Warner, Cox and Cablevision in the United States as well as other participating cable providers around the world.

Is it the future of sport? The jury is still out, but if the technology gets more affordable, I can see people supporting 3-D. However, if the technology remains around $3,500 per set, then people will be hesitant to buy TV sets.

I expect to view The Masters in 3-D again this weekend and I’ll also provide my impressions at that time.

Some Thursday Linkage

I’ll give you some linkage. Later today, I’ll be heading to Boston to see the 3-D presentation of The Masters. It will be quite interesting. Looking forward to it. I’ll give you a review sometime during the weekend.

To your links.

Speaking of 3-D, David Tanklefsky of Broadcasting & Cable says Sony and the World Cup in South Africa have unveiled the 3-D broadcast schedule for the event.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News discusses an over 30% ratings gain for UConn’s win at the NCAA Women’s Final Four for ESPN.

Bill Cromwell of Media Life Magazine writes that media time buyers are confident that this weekend’s Masters audience could top 20 million due to interest in Tiger Woods.

Also from Media Life, Diego Vasquez talks with former CBS Sports President Neil Pilson on his thoughts about Tiger and this weekend’s audience for The Masters.

John Paul Newport of the Wall Street Journal reviews the 3-D coverage of The Masters. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says the new Nike Tiger Woods ad raises more questions about the man than it answers.

Stuart Elliot and Stephanie Clifford of the Times get reaction to the commercial from various ad executives.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the Nike Tiger ad has been polarizing in the hours since it premiered. 

Jessica Heslam of the Boston Herald notes some programming changes at CBS Radio’s sports radio station.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union tells us MSG Plus will air mixed martial arts programming.

Pete says a local sports talk show is going on hiatus for three days.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call has Fox Sports’ Joe Buck being high on the Philadelphia Phillies for this season.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says the Baltimore Orioles season opener on Monday gave MASN its highest audience ever.

Jim talks with Donald Trump about his new Golf Channel series and his new golf course in the DC area.

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business provides his reaction to the Tiger Woods ad.

Ed has the odds of Tiger winning The Masters.

Jim O’Donnell of the Chicago Sun-Times says Tiger at The Masters will change how the sports media covers athletes. I thought it already changed.

Bob Mayhall from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat writes that Tiger will dominate coverage at The Masters no matter where he finishes this weekend.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News talks about Tiger and the high interest in The Masters this weekend. 

Diane Pucin of the Los Angeles Times wonders what exactly is Tiger trying to achieve with the new Nike ad?

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star is trying to lower the expectations for the ratings for The Masters this weekend.

Joe Favorito says the Twins and Angels kicked off MLB Opening Week with some interesting promotions.

The Sports Media Watch notes that last Saturday’s Manchester United-Chelsea matchup on ESPN2 set a record rating for an English Premier League match in the United States.

SMW says Sunday’s Yankees-Red Sox MLB season opener on ESPN2 fared worse than last year’s game and was beaten by the Women’s Final Four on ESPN.

SMW also has the ratings for The Masters dating back to 1982.

Sox & Dawgs has the video of a new Olympia Sports ad airing during Red Sox games featuring the always lovely softball star, Jennie Finch.

Dave Kohl in the Major League Programs blog looks at the local radio ratings for MLB. 

That’s going to do it for today.

Wednesday’s Links

Let’s do some links on this Wednesday. Turning out to be a crazy day for me, but you want linkage so here goes.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand instructs us on how to keep track of Tiger Woods at The Masters on Thursday.

Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times writing for the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center gives his impressions of the Tiger Woods press conference on Monday.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell talks about how much playing with Tiger is worth to sponsors.

Darren writes that the Tiger ticket bump is finally paying off at The Masters. 

And Darren looks at a sports betting hedge fund coming to fruition.

The Associated Press reports that the Virginia FBI is investigating the death threats to ESPN’s Erin Andrews as they may have emanated from that state.

Michael Malone of Broadcasting & Cable says Fox Sports will produce over 175 MLB games in Spanish for Time Warner and Bright House Cable customers.

Glen Dickson of B&C writes that CBS is declaring its 3-D telecast of the NCAA Championship Game a success.

Mike Shields from Mediaweek reports that over a half million people logged onto CBS’ March Madness on Demand Monday to watch the NCAA men’s basketball Championship.

Richard Sandomir in the New York Times looks at CBS possibly losing the NCAA Tournament after this broadcasting the event for three decades.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union writes that SNY set a ratings record for the Mets season opener on Monday.

Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News says the NCAA Championship Game scored in the ratings in Western New York.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s Sporting Bog says the Nationals’ season opener on MASN rated higher than last year’s.

The Washington Examiner’s Jim Williams also discusses the National’s good ratings on MASN.

SarahTalalay of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says Fort Lauderdale is deciding what to do with its baseball stadium which was the Spring Training home to the Yankees and Orioles.

Henry Unger from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution speaks to a Sports Business professor on Tiger Woods’ influence on TV ratings. 

Jeff Mosier of the Dallas Morning News writes that the NFL and Fox Sports were at Cowboys Stadium this week to prepare for Super Bowl XLV.

Mel Bracht in the Daily Oklahoman says 3-D should help interest in The Masters.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has noticed an extensive delay in the radio broadcast of the Reds.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business is calling on The Masters to increase its TV coverage.

Tod Leonard of the San Diego Union-Tribune says Tiger Woods’ afternoon tee time will put his back 9 play on ESPN tomorrow. 

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News looks at The Masters multiplatform coverage.

Ron Bellamy of the Eugene (OR) Register-Guard says the departure of University of Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti for ESPN gets messier by the day.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Greg Johns says a long-time local sportscaster is changing stations.

Chris Zelkovich at the Toronto Star says CBS will focus plenty of its Masters coverage on Tiger provided he makes the cut.

In the Windsor Star, Greek restaurant owner Nick Pontikis writes about his friend, Ernie Harwell.  Thanks to the great 38 Cliches blog for the link.

Maury Brown at the Biz of Baseball notes some changes to the MLB Extra Innings blackout policy regarding Fox.

The Sports Media Watch has the overnight weekend TV ratings.

SMW says the debut of ESPN Sports Saturday on ABC did rather poorly.

SMW has some various ratings news and notes.

To Steve Lepore and Puck The Media who has a listing of local NHL ratings for regional sports networks through the halfway point of the regular season.

A big feather in the cap for ESPN UK, it’s won the mobile rights for all English Premier League matches for the next three years.

That will do it.

The Masters on ESPN and Sirius XM

As we’re pretty much all aware, The Masters is this week. I already gave you CBS’ press release on its coverage. Now, I have ESPN’s and Sirius XM’s coverage plans for the tournament. First, this is ESPN’s press release.

ESPN’s 2010 Masters Coverage Includes Expansive Multimedia Applications

Live Coverage of Tiger Woods’ First Tee Shot Thursday

First & Second Rounds Plus Par 3 Contest Live on ESPN3.com

ESPN’s expansive coverage of the Masters Tournament includes live Tournament play, the Par 3 Contest the day preceding the Tournament, highlights, news and information and analysis on a variety of ESPN platforms in the U.S. and around the world, including television, radio and online.

Television in the U.S.

ESPN and ESPN HD will present live first- and second-round action, Thursday, April 8, and Friday, April 9, from 4-7:30 p.m. ET. An encore presentation will air in primetime each night from 8-11 p.m. ESPN Deportes, ESPN’s Spanish-language U.S. sports network, will also televise the first and second rounds live from 4-7:30 p.m.

Prior to the live television windows Thursday and Friday, SportsCenter will provide live cut-ins and in-progress highlights beginning at 9 a.m., including the first tee shots Thursday live from the grouping that includes Tiger Woods.

ESPN’s Mike Tirico will serve as host of ESPN’s telecasts with Curtis Strange providing analysis, including the Par 3 Contest.  CBS will produce the telecasts, which will also include Jim Nantz, Nick Faldo, Peter Oosterhuis, Verne Lundquist, David Feherty  Bill Macatee, Peter Kostis and Ian-Baker Finch. Francisco Aleman and Silvia Bertolaccini have the call on ESPN Deportes with John Sutcliffe serving as the on course reporter.

The Masters Par 3 Contest will air Wednesday, April 7, live in high definition from 3-5 p.m. on ESPN and ESPN3.com. The Par 3 Contest is the traditional event held each Wednesday prior to the Masters that includes Tournament participants, non-competing past champions and honorary invitees in a fun, family atmosphere. The event, which began in 1960, was first televised by ESPN in 2008.

ESPN will also produce live 3D coverage of the Masters for the Par 3 Contest (Wednesday, April 7 from 3-5 p.m.) and all four rounds (Thursday and Friday, April 8-9 from 4-6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, April 10-11 from 5-7 p.m.). The 3D presentation will cover holes 4, 8 and 9 on the Par 3 course Wednesday and have extensive coverage of the back nine on the main course Thursday through Sunday.  The 3D coverage will be available through Augusta National to customers of Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and Cablevision  and via Masters.com . Terry Gannon will host with Andy North Wednesday through Friday. Tirico and North will be paired together Saturday and Sunday.

The Masters Online

In addition, there will be extensive Masters Tournament offerings for fans online across ESPN.com, ESPN3.com (formerly ESPN360.com) and Masters.com:

ESPN.com 

• The Road to Augusta, a series of articles leading up to the Masters;
• Live “look-ins” and extensive highlights during tournament week
• live leaderboard link from Masters.com;
• features on Tiger Woods;
• columns by national columnist Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com golf writers Bob Harig and Jason Sobel;
• live tournament action via CoverItLive from Sobel;
• exclusive ESPN.com video analysis segments nightly during the Tournament;
• live audio updates and interviews on ESPNRadio.com.
• an original online putting game, fantasy and trivia games;

Plus:

• “Amen Corner,” “Featured Group,” “Hole Nos. 15 and 16,” and “Masters Extra” live on Masters.com;
• ESPN.com and Golf Digest will collaborate for extensive online editorial reporting of The Masters, including ESPN.com’s complete Masters news and information, contributions from Golf Digest and Golf World, ESPN podcasts, live chats and more.

ESPN3.com

ESPN3.com will offer live simulcasts of ESPN’s telecasts of the Par 3 Contest and the first two rounds of the Tournament. 

Additional ESPN coverage of The Masters:

SportsCenter

SportsCenter Masters segments, hosted by Mike Tirico and Scott Van Pelt from a brand new set on the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club, will begin Monday, April 5 on the 9 a.m. show and will include Tiger Woods’ press conference live at 2 p.m. (Note: SportsCenter will air on ESPNEWS at that time). Tirico and Van Pelt will be joined by analysts Andy North and Curtis Strange and reporters Tom Rinaldi and Wendi Nix.  Van Pelt will also host with North a special 60-minute preview SportsCenter at The Masters Wednesday, April 8, at 5 p.m. following the Par 3 Contest telecast.

ESPN International

This year 82 countries will see the Masters on ESPN platforms. Fans in these countries can follow The Masters on ESPN television, online, mobile and broadband platforms. The Masters is available in:

• Asia (15.5 hours to 16 countries and 174 million households via ESS),
• Latin America (all four rounds to 45 Countries, 25.3 million households),
• Canada (11.6 million households with the first two rounds of The Masters live on TSN, with same-day re-airs in primetime of the final two rounds and on RDS, which will carry all four rounds live in French)
• North Africa and the Middle East (all four rounds to 19 countries, 600,000 households)
• The Par 3 Contest, the first two rounds and exclusive “Amen Corner,” “Featured Group,” and “Hole Nos. 15 and 16,” will be live on ESPN360.com in Latin America. 

ESPN Radio

ESPN Radio SportsCenter reporter Dan Davis will present updates from Augusta National Golf Club throughout the Masters Tournament Wednesday-Sunday, April 7-11. Davis will provide live hourly updates (3:40.-8:40 p.m.) during the first two rounds, and twice-an-hour reports at 20 and 40 minutes past the hour (1:20-8:40 p.m.) throughout the weekend’s SportsCenter Saturday and SportsCenter Sunday programs. Davis’ reports will also run on weekday’s SportsCenter A.M. (5-6 a.m.) and be featured in ESPN Radio’s one-hour Masters Recap specials (10-11 p.m.) within Thursday and Friday’s SportsCenter Tonight (10 p.m.-1 a.m.)

ESPNEWS

ESPNEWS will offer all the latest Masters news beginning Monday, April 5, with the live Tiger Woods press conference, interviews, pre- and post-round news conferences and analysis from Scott Van Pelt, Andy North and Mike Tirico.

ESPN Classic

ESPN Classic will televise a 43-hour Masters Tribute featuring Official Masters Films beginning Tuesday, April 6, at 9 p.m. leading right up to the first round Masters telecast on Thursday.

ABC SUPERSIGN

The first and second rounds will be simulcast live on the ABC SuperSign in New York City’s Time Square, Wednesday April 8, from 3-5 p.m. and Thursday and Friday, April 9-10, from 4-7:30 p.m.

ABC SuperSign? Ok, let’s go to Sirius XM which will have live coverage from Augusta all week.

SIRIUS XM RADIO TO BROADCAST THE 2010 MASTERS LIVE NATIONWIDE

SIRIUS XM will offer live play-by-play from Augusta and daily analysis leading up to and throughout Masters Week

SIRIUS XM Radio will offer live hole-by-hole coverage of the 2010 Masters Tournament from Thursday, April 8, through Sunday, April 11, nationwide on XM channel 146 and on SIRIUS channel 209 with the “Best of XM” programming package.

SIRIUS XM listeners will get extensive coverage with live play-by-play from Augusta National, plus expert analysis leading up to and throughout the event.

Live broadcasts from Augusta will begin at 12:00 pm ET Thursday through Sunday of Masters Week with The Masters Today, a daily preview show that will lead into each day’s on-course play-by-play. The live hole-by-hole coverage will air from 2:00 pm ET through the end of each day’s play giving fans live reports from around the course and access to golfers on and off the leader board. On-course coverage will be immediately followed by a nightly wrap-up show, Masters Replay, that will include a recap of the day’s action with highlights, analysis and interviews with players.

One more press release coming up.

Busy Sports Monday Linkage

We have a lot of stuff going on today. You have the NCAA men’s basketball National Championship game between Butler and Duke. There’s MLB Opening Day in earnest with a whole host of games. And of course, the Tiger Woods press conference at The Masters. Let’s get to the linkage.

Starting with the great Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated looks at the media covering the Tiger Woods press conference today.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand talks with CBS’ Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg about Butler’s impact on the NCAA Tournament.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk notices that someone at ESPN screwed up royally today.

John Consoli of Mediaweek says advertising for the first two months of the MLB regular season is almost sold out for the sport’s TV partners.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says Universal Sports has tapped a former Fox Cable executive to lead the network.

Mike says SNY plans all-access coverage for the New York Mets season opener today.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life Magazine says CBS is hoping for a close game and excellent ratings for the NCAA Championship Game tonight.

The Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center has dispatched its students to the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis over the last week and they’ve cranked out some very good stories. I’ll link you to one right now. John Patischnock talks with St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist and frequent ESPN guest Bryan Burwell about the diversity of college basketball announcers and analysts on TV and radio.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says Butler merchandising has blown up the last two years.

In the Sporting News, Dan Levy of On The DL discusses a whole bunch of issues including the NCAA Championship, ESPN’s MLB analysts, Erin Andrews and other stuff. 

Very good article in the New York Times by Big Ten Network host Dave Revsine passing his love of the Chicago White Sox to his oldest daughter just like his dad with him.

Katherine Q. Seelye of the Times went to Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill in Boston to find out who would pay $500 for the season to watch Red Sox games on TV.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times-Union has the tip time for tonight’s NCAA Championship game.

Pete says MLB Extra Innings out of market pay per view package is free on digital cable and DirecTV this week.

Tim Wilkin of the Times-Union speaks with ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose. 

Ken Schott at the Schenectady Gazette notes the first bad home run call of the season by New York Yankees voice John Sterling.

Ken McMillan at the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says it’s time for baseball on TV. 

Earl Holland at the Delmarva (MD) Daily Times says FM sports talk comes to the local area as of today. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner says MASN will be all over today’s Nationals season opener.

Jim says ESPN and ESPN2 have a full slate of MLB games on Opening Day.

Jim says John Riggins’ new radio show premieres on an HD channel this week.

Jim previews tonight’s NCAA Championship game.

Tom Jones of the St. Petersburg Times anticipates today’s Tiger Woods press conference.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman says watching baseball on TV hasn’t been any better than today.

Mel looks at the MLB teams available on radio in Oklahoma.

Mel also has the MLB teams available on TV.

Mel has the MLB TV schedule for Fox Sports Oklahoma. 

Mel explores the MLB ratings for the Oklahoma City Fox TV affiliate.

Mel has the national MLB TV schedule for the next two months.

Mel looks at the offseason announcer moves in MLB.

In the Cincinnati Enquirer, John Kiesewetter talks with Reds announcer Thom Brennaman who looks forward to spending more time with the kids.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is not a fan of the NCAA Tournament expanding from 65 teams.

Duane Dudek of the Journal Sentinel writes that Brewers flagship radio station WTMJ will go all out for Opening Day. 

Ed Sherman of Crain’s Chicago Business says Frank Thomas will have a role on White Sox games on Comcast SportsNet this season.

Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune waxes poetic on the late Jack Brickhouse.

Lewis Lazare of the Chicago Sun-Times discusses Comcast SportsNet using an ad agency to help promote its on-air talent. 

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post writes that Tiger at The Masters is the big sports story of the week.

Tom Hoffarth at the Los Angeles Daily News had the privilege of speaking with legendary Dodgers voice Vin Scully.

Tom has more with Vin in his blog. I got so engrossed with the interview that I forgot I was doing links.

From the Toronto Star, Chris Zelkovich notes that Blue Jays voice Jerry Howarth is still going strong after 30 years with the club.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that it’s a big day at Augusta National Country Club as Tiger Woods takes the podium.

Bailey Stephens at MLB.com looks at how MLB Network is gearing up for its 2nd full season of coverage.

The Sports Media Watch has its Weekend Ratings Predictions. 

Comcast demonstrates what’s in store for those who can watch The Masters in 3-D.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media looks at the playoff TV situation in both the US and Canada if the postseason began today.

There you have it. Plenty of linkage for today.

CBS Gets Ready For The Masters

As the Final Four is about to get underway, CBS looks forward to The Masters next weekend. The network outlines its plans for the Tradition Unlike Any Other.

ANGEL CABRERA DEFENDS 2009 MASTERS® VICTORY

CBS SPORTS BROADCASTS MASTERS® FOR 55th CONSECUTIVE YEAR

Masters® Is Longest-Running Sporting Event Broadcast on One Network

The Masters®, the most renowned tournament in golf, will be broadcast on CBS for the 55th consecutive year from the majestic setting of Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.  This year marks the 74th Masters Tournament, one of the most highly anticipated sporting events of the year.  Last year, Argentinean Angel Cabrera became the Masters’ first South American champion by defeating Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell in the Tournament’s first three-man playoff since 1987.

CBS Sports will bring viewers all the color, artistry and drama inherent to the world’s most prestigious golf tournament and first major of the year with live third-round coverage of the Masters on Saturday, April 10 (3:30-7:00 PM, ET).  Final-round 18-hole coverage is scheduled for Sunday, April 11 (2:00-7:00 PM, ET).  Highlights of early-round play will be presented by CBS Sports on Thursday, April 8 and Friday, April 9 (11:35-11:50 PM, ET; both nights).

For the 25th consecutive year Jim Nantz will cover the Masters for CBS (his 23^rd year as host).  He also handles coverage of the Highlight Shows, originating from Butler Cabin on the grounds of Augusta National. Three-time Masters champion Sir Nick Faldo joins Nantz in the 18^th hole tower as lead analyst. This year marks 20 years since Faldo’s 1990 sudden-death playoff with Raymond Floyd to win the Green Jacket for the second consecutive year.  Peter Oosterhuis will describe the action at the 17th hole; Verne Lundquist, the 16th hole; David Feherty,  the 15th hole and Highlight Shows;  Bill Macatee,  the 14th hole; Peter Kostis,  the 13th hole; and Ian Baker-Finch will tell the story at the 11th and 12^th  holes. Ian Eagle and Matt Gogel return to call the live streaming video action for Amen Corner Live, along with Bobby Clampett for 15 & 16 Live  and Grant Boone and Billy Kratzert  for Featured Group.

  

Augusta National, home of the Masters since its inception in 1934, is the unrivaled host  to the world’s greatest players and the most memorable moments in golf.  Cabrera returns to Augusta to lead the tournament field of invitees, which is considered America’s most prestigious gathering of professional and amateur golfers. The 2010 tournament field of invitees expected to compete includes past Masters champions:  Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O’Meara, Trevor Immelman, Larry Mize, Ben Crenshaw, Fred Couples, Craig Stadler, Tom Watson,  Zach Johnson, Ian Woosnam, Raymond Floyd, Bernhard Langer and Sandy Lyle;  other U.S. players:   Kenny Perry, Anthony Kim, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, David Duval, Chad Campbell, Stewart Cink, Sean O’Hair, Nick Watney,  Steve Marino, Justin Leonard and Kevin Na. Other international stars include Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, Camilo Villegas, Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els, Rory McIlroy, Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia,   Ryo Ishikawa, Luke Donald, Geoff Ogilvy, Michael Campbell,  Rory Sabbatini, Adam Scott, Tim Clark, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Shingo Katayama, Nathan Green, Marc Leishman, Robert Allenby and Lee Westwood. (*For the complete 2010 Masters Tournament invitees log onto Masters.com)

CBS Sports’ coverage of the Masters will be produced by Lance Barrow, coordinating producer of CBS golf, along with David Winner, and directed by Steve Milton and Bob Matina. Jim Rikhoff will serve as replay producer.  Bob Mansbach will produce the late night highlight shows and Chris Svendsen will direct. Harold Bryant is Vice President, Production, CBS Sports.

Sean McManus is President, CBS News and Sports.

Links will come up shortly after a few press release posts.