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34th Annual Sports Emmy Awards Nominations Announced

Just received this from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the full press release of the nominations for the 34th Annual Sports Emmy Awards.

NBC Sports Group received the most nominations with 58 followed by ESPN with 43 and Turner in third with 27.

Bob Costas was nominated yet again for Outstanding Studio Host along with Dan Patrick, James Brown, Ernie Johnson and Rich Eisen.

There were only four nominees for Outstanding Play-by-play, Mike Breen, Mike Emrick, Al Michaels and Jim Nantz.

Cris Collinsworth received another nomination for Outstanding Event Analyst. He’s joined by Ato Boldon of NBC Olympics, Jon Gruden, Jim Kaat and Mike Mayock.

Studio Analyst was full with Charles Barkley of TNT, Tony Dungy of NBC’s Football Night in America, CBS’ Boomer Esiason, MLB Network’s Harold Reynolds, Bill Ripken also from MLB Network and Kurt Warner of NFL Network.

Let us take a look at the full list. We need a jump break in here as well. Let’s go. Lots of things to read through. Get ready to scroll.

THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES ANNOUNCES THE NOMINEES FOR THE 34th ANNUAL SPORTS EMMY® AWARDS

Winners to be Honored During the May 7th Ceremony At Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center

New York, NY – March 20, 2013 – The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today announced the nominees for the 34th Annual Sports Emmy® Awards.

More than 170 nominees were announced in 34 categories including Outstanding Live Sports Special, Live Series, Sports Documentary, Studio Show, Promotional Announcements, Play-by-Play Personality and Studio Analyst. The Awards will be given out at the prestigious Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center located in the Time Warner Center on Tuesday, May 7th, 2013 in New York City.

“What a world we live in,” said Malachy Wienges, Chair, NATAS. “The Olympics, NASCAR, the Super Bowl, the Final Four, the World Series, The Stanley Cup, The NBA, the US Open, the Masters…it just goes on and on! This is another outstanding year for the sports community and for The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The entries received in this year’s Sports Emmy Awards illustrate the high-water mark of quality each of us gets to enjoy every time we turn on our favorite program. With so much talent vying for the prestigious Emmy Award and with many of the today’s leading sports broadcasters, personalities, and television professionals in attendance, it promises to be an exciting evening.”

The networks of NBC Sports Group (NBC, NBC Sports Network, Golf Channel nbcolympics.com, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, nbcsports.com, & Telemundo) lead the nomination totals with 58, ESPN (ESPN, ESPN2, grantland.com, ABC, ESPN3D, ESPNU & ESPNews), garnered 43, and Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, NCAA.com & truTV) garnered 27. A complete list of all Networks and individual show nominations follows below.

A complete list of all nominees is attached and also available at www.emmyonline.tv/sports

34th Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network Group
Network or Network Group Nominations

NBC Sports Group (NBC, NBC Sports Network, Golf Channel, nbcolympics.com, Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC, nbcsports.com, Telemundo) — 58
ESPN (ESPN, ESPN 2, grantland.com, ABC, ESPN 3D, ESPNU, ESPNews) — 43
Turner Sports (TNT, TBS, NBA TV, truTV, NCAA.com) — 27
FOX Sports Media Group (FOX, SPEED, FOX Soccer Channel) — 17
HBO Sports — 17
NFL Network (NFL Network, NFL Media, NFL.com) — 16
CBS (CBS, Showtime, CBS Sports Network) — 15
MLB Network — 9
DIRECTV — 1
YouTube — 1

34th Annual Sports Emmy Award Nominations by Network

NETWORK — NOMINATIONS

NBC — 36
ESPN — 23
HBO Sports — 17
FOX — 13
NFL Network — 13
TNT — 13
CBS — 10
ESPN2 — 10
MLB Network — 9
NBC Sports Network — 9
TBS — 5
NBA TV — 4
Showtime — 4
truTV — 4
grantland.com — 3
NBCOlympics.com — 3
Speed — 3
ABC — 2
Bravo — 2
ESPN3D — 2
ESPNU — 2
Golf Channel — 2
MSNBC — 2
NFL Media — 2
Telemundo — 2
CBS Sports Network — 1
CNBC — 1
DIRECTV — 1
ESPNews — 1
FOX Soccer Channel — 1
nbcsports.com — 1
NCAA.com — 1
NFL.com — 1
YouTube — 1

BREAKDOWN OF MULTIPLE PROGRAM — SERIES NOMINATIONS

Program/Network/Nominations
Games of the XXX Olympiad (NBC/Bravo/CNBC/MSNBC/NBC SportsNetwork/NBCOlympics.com/Telemundo) — 14
NBA on TNT (TNT) — 6
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (TNT) — 6
E:60 (ESPN2) — 5
24/7 (HBO) — 4
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins (HBO) — 4
MLB on FOX (FOX) — 4
Outside the Lines (ESPN) — 4
Sunday Night Football (NBC) — 4
NASCAR on FOX (FOX) — 3
NFL Films Presents (NFL Network) — 3
30 for 30 (ESPN) — 2
A Football Life (NFL Network) — 2
College Gameday (ESPN) — 2
The Dream Team (NBA TV) — 2
Inside the NBA (NBA TV) — 2
Inside the NFL (Showtime) –2
MLB Network Division Series (MLB Network) — 2
MLB Tonight (MLB Network) — 2
Namath (HBO) — 2
NCAA March Madness (TBS) — 2
NFL on FOX (FOX) — 2
SportsCenter (ESPN) — 2
Sport Science (ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNews) — 2
UEFA Euro 2012 (ESPN) — 2

The nominations are coming after a jump break.
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Some Quick Monday Sports Media Thoughts

Haven’t done a sports media thoughts post in a while. Figured you’re owed one. Let’s do this in bullet form, of course.

• ESPN’s 30 for 30 series has been good since it started, but Sunday’s “Survive and Advance” documentary on the 1983 North Carolina State NCAA Championship team elevated it to something very special. Directed by Jonathan Hock and executive produced by the team’s point guard, Derek Whittenburg, the documentary chronicled the miracle NC State team that entered the ACC Tournament with 10 losses and needed to beat Wake Forest, North Carolina and Virginia to get to the NCAA Tournament and did. And then continued its run to the Final Four where it beat Georgia to advance to the National Championship Game against Phi Slamma Jama, Houston.

  There were interviews with several members of the team including Thurl Bailey, Whittenburg, Terry Gannon who is now a broadcaster for ESPN and NBC, Cozell McQueen and others. The only ones missing were Jim Valvano who died of cancer in 1993 and Lorenzo Charles who scored the winning basket who died in a bus accident in 2011. Director Hock captured the feeling of the magical run. As usual in the 30 for 30 films, no narrator, just sound bites and archival footage, but it works extremely well in this case.

  While the team comes off very well, the star of the documentary is Gannon who is very funny and weaves some great tales. His best story was his telling of taking a charge from Houston’s Clyde Drexler in the National Championship Game.

  The 30 for 30′s have been very good, but “Survive and Advance” is truly the best of the series to date. It’s not just a very good sports documentary, but one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in any category. There are a lot of things where ESPN has fallen short, but 30 for 30 is the network’s star. It’s quality television and if you have an opportunity to watch the re-airs later this week, by all means do so. You won’t be sorry.

• College basketball’s Championship Week gave us the opportunity to see some great basketball in the conference tournaments. It also allowed us to hear Bill Walton throughout the Pac-12 Tournament. Now, I don’t have the Pac-12 Network as DirecTV continues to keep it off its lineup, but thanks to the ESPN Family of Networks, viewers were able to hear some gems from the Big Red. Yes, Walton can go off on tangents, but they are so entertaining that I watched all three games that I normally may not have viewed. It’s hard to imagine that Walton had retired a few years ago due to chronic back pain and even considered suicide. Thankfully, Walton reconsidered and underwent a procedure to correct the pain. His return to the airwaves is the viewer’s gain.

  Kudos go to Dave Pasch for being a very good straight man and for also being patient when Walton went on his rants.

  I gathered quotage from Thursday’s quarterfinals, Friday’s semifinals and Saturday’s final. It’s good reading. You’ll definitely get a laugh.

• CBS’ NCAA Tournament Selection Show returned for the 32nd consecutive year on Sunday. The network has the selections down to a science, first the number one overall seed, the picks for each region, reaction shots from selected schools, an interview with the Selection Committee Chairman and analysis. One addition this year was the Perpetually Angry Doug Gottlieb.

  Already in a crowded studio with Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony and Seth Davis, Gottlieb shoehorned his opinions and overpowered Anthony and Davis to the point where they had to interrupt the ESPN retread. I understand Gottlieb is fulfilling a dream by calling NCAA Tournament games, but the studio is not his strength. Gottlieb’s performance on Sunday is on par with Joe Montana’s horrendous performance in the NFL on NBC studio back in 1995. While Gottlieb did not look like a deer caught in the headlights like Montana did, he did not come off well. He looked angry. He pointed at the American people and he tried to cram too many opinions while trying to stir things up with Davis. It was not good television. I am afraid of what will happen when Gottlieb joins the CBS/Turner studio for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight with Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

• Lastly, we expect an announcement on the SEC TV network next month. Conference commissioner Mike Slive told Yahoo’s Pat Forde that the league will make an official unveiling of the network sometime next month. The SEC already makes megabucks from CBS and ESPN in contracts that led other conferences to follow and lead to massive upheaval ending long standing rivalries. It’s expected that ESPN will partner in an SEC cable network similar to how Fox Sports partners with the Big Ten for its network.

  When the infrastructure is in place, the SEC will make a boatload of money and follow in the footsteps of the Big Ten Network in becoming a cash cow. And viewers who were getting used to watching the over the air SEC Network which replaced Raycom in syndicating third tier games, now will have to transition to seeing those events on cable.

  More upheaval is exactly what sports fan want.

We’re done. Enjoy your Monday.

First Four and 2nd Round Tip Times and Announcing Assignments for 2013 NCAA Tournament

Ok, we have the tip times and the announcing assignments for the First Four™ and 2nd Round games of the NCAA Tournament. It’s all below. No need for me to say anything. You can see where your favorite teams are playing and who’s calling the game on either CBS, TBS, TNT or truTV.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS’ EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF 2013 NCAA^® DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TIPS OFF MARCH 19

Announce and Production Teams Assigned for NCAA First Four™ and Second Round Coverage

Turner Sports and CBS Sports’ exclusive coverage of the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship will tip off with first round coverage of the NCAA First Four™ on Tuesday, March 19, and Wednesday, March 20 (6 p.m. ET; both days), on truTV. Second-round game coverage will begin Thursday, March 21, and Friday, March 22 (Noon-Midnight; both days), with all games available live in their entirety across four national television networks – CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.  Additionally, on Thursday and Friday, truTV will televise a one-hour pregame show at 11 a.m.

Marv Albert and Steve Kerr will call the action, with Craig Sager courtside for the two First Four games on Tuesday. Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, along with courtside reporter Tracy Wolfson, will handle the call for the First Four games on Wednesday.  Studio coverage for the First Four originates from Atlanta and features Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Steve Smith and Rex Chapman on Tuesday with Matt Winer, Seth Davis, Smith and Chapman providing analysis on Wednesday (6 p.m.; both days).

Following are the tip times for the First Four games, as well as the announce and production team assignments for the second round games.  Tip times for the third round games on Saturday will be announced on Thursday after the conclusion of the day’s games. Sunday’s tip times will be released after the conclusion of play on Friday.  Fans can access a Channel Finder for every tournament game at www.ncaa.com/march-madness.

NCAA March Madness Live^® will provide college basketball fans unparalleled multi-screen digital access to the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship including live streaming of every game.  The digital suite of products will also feature video highlights, full game replays, real-time game alerts, live game scoring, real-time tournament brackets, personal channel lineup features, live stats, robust social media integration and more.

FIRST ROUND GAMES TUESDAY, MARCH 19
Tip (ET)	Network		Site		Game		Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
6:40 p.m.	truTV		Dayton I		N.C. A&T vs. Liberty		Marv Albert/Steve Kerr// Craig Sager
9:15 p.m.	truTV		Dayton II		Middle Tennessee  vs. St. Mary’s		Albert/Kerr//Sager
FIRST ROUND GAMES WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20
6:40 p.m.	truTV	Dayton I			LIU-Brooklyn vs. James Madison		Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
9:15 p.m.	truTV	Dayton II			Boise St. vs. LaSalle		Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
SECOND ROUND GAMES THURSDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 21 (Noon-5 p.m. ET)
Tip (ET)	Network		Site		Game		Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
12:15 p.m.	CBS		Auburn Hills I		Valparaiso vs. Michigan State		Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Rachel Nichols
12:40 p.m.	truTV		Lexington I		Bucknell vs. Butler		Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel// Allie LaForce
1:40 p.m.	TBS		Salt Lake City I		Wichita St. vs. Pittsburgh		Spero Dedes/Doug Gottlieb//Jamie Maggio
2:10 p.m.	TNT		San Jose I		New Mexico State vs. Saint Louis		Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//Marty Snider
2:45 p.m.	CBS		Auburn Hills II		Middle Tennessee/St. Mary’s vs. Memphis		Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery//Rachel Nichols
3:10 p.m.	truTV		Lexington II		Davidson vs. Marquette		Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Allie LaForce
4:10 p.m.	TBS		Salt Lake City II		Southern U. vs. Gonzaga		Spero Dedes/Doug Gottlieb//Jamie Maggio
4:40 p.m.	TNT		San Jose II		Oregon vs. Oklahoma St.		Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//Marty Snider
SECOND ROUND GAMES THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 21 (6:30 p.m.-Midnight ET) (Announce Teams Same as Day Games)
6:50 p.m.	TBS		Lexington III	N.C. A&T/Liberty vs. Louisville		Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Allie LaForce
7:15 p.m.	CBS		Auburn Hills III	South Dakota St. vs. Michigan		Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Rachel Nichols
7:20 p.m.	TNT		Salt Lake City III	Belmont vs. Arizona		Spero Dedes/Doug Gottlieb//Jamie Maggio
7:27 p.m.	truTV		San Jose III	California vs. UNLV		Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner//Marty Snider
9:20 p.m.	TBS		Lexington IV	Missouri vs. Colorado St.		Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel//Allie LaForce
9:45 p.m.	CBS		Auburn Hills IV	Akron vs. VCU		Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Rachel Nichols
9:50 p.m.	TNT		Salt Lake City IV	Harvard vs. New Mexico		Spero Dedes/Doug Gottlieb//Jamie Maggio
9:57 p.m.	truTV		San Jose IV	Montana vs. Syracuse		Anderson/Bonner//Snider
SECOND ROUND GAMES FRIDAY AFTERNOON, MARCH 22 (Noon-5 p.m. ET)
Tip (ET)	Network		Site	Game		Play-by-Play/Analyst//Reporter
12:15 p.m.	CBS		Philadelphia I	Albany vs. Duke		Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Lewis Johnson
12:40 p.m.	truTV		Kansas City I	Ole Miss vs. Wisconsin		Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager
1:40 p.m.	TBS		Dayton I	Temple vs. N.C. State		Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
2:10 p.m.	TNT		Austin I	Pacific vs. Miami		Tim Brando/Mike Gminski// Otis Livingston
2:45 p.m.	CBS		Philadelphia II	Cincinnati vs. Creighton		Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Lewis Johnson
3:10 p.m.	truTV		Kansas City II	Boise St./LaSalle vs. Kansas State		Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager
4:10 p.m.	TBS		Dayton II	LIU Brooklyn/James Madison vs. Indiana		Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
4:40 p.m.	TNT		Austin II	Colorado vs. Illinois		Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//Otis Livingston
SECOND ROUND GAMES FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 22 (6:30 p.m.-Midnight ET) (Announce Teams Same as Day Games)
6:50 p.m.	TBS		Philadelphia III	Florida Gulf Coast vs. Georgetown		Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Lewis Johnson
7:15 p.m.	CBS		Dayton III	Iona vs. Ohio State		Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
7:20 p.m.	TNT		Kansas City III	Villanova vs. North Carolina		Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager
7:27 p.m.	truTV		Austin III	Northwestern St. vs. Florida		Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//Otis Livingston
9:20 p.m.	TBS		Philadelphia IV	Oklahoma vs. San Diego State		Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller//Lewis Johnson
9:45 p.m.	CBS		Dayton IV	Iowa St. vs. Notre Dame		Jim Nantz/Clark Kellogg//Tracy Wolfson
9:50 p.m.	TNT		Kansas City IV	Western Kentucky vs. Kansas		Marv Albert/Steve Kerr//Craig Sager
9:57 p.m.	truTV		Austin IV	Minnesota vs. UCLA		Tim Brando/Mike Gminski//Otis Livingston

That’s it.

CBS/Turner Sports Announce The 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Broadcast Schedule

This is a long release with lots of grids. I’ll keep this wraparound short and you can read this for yourself.

TURNER SPORTS AND CBS SPORTS ANNOUNCE 2013 NCAA^® DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TELECAST SCHEDULE

ALL GAMES TO BE BROADCAST NATIONALLY ACROSS CBS, TBS, TNT AND truTV

For the third consecutive year, CBS Sports and Turner Sports will provide live coverage of all 67 games from the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship across four national television networks – TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.  Turner Sports and CBS Sports will present fully integrated game and studio productions across the four networks with pregame, halftime, bridge and post-game shows from studios in New York City and Atlanta. Studio shows will include THE ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR^®and NCAA TIP-OFF pregame shows, AT THE HALF, TOURNAMENT CENTRAL and the INSIDE MARCH MADNESS^® post-game show.

The 2013 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship will tip off in primetime with the NCAA First Four™ on truTV on Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20 with coverage beginning at 6:00 PM, ET both nights. Coverage will culminate with the Final Four games on Saturday, April 6, and for the 32^nd straight year, CBS Sports broadcasts the National Championship game, which airs Monday, April 8 at 9:00 PM, ET from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Additional highlights include (complete telecast schedule attached):

• Turner Sports will televise 41 games across its three television networks (TBS, TNT and truTV).
• CBS will broadcast 26 games throughout the tournament including the second round, third round, Sweet 16^®, Elite 8^®, Final Four and National Championship. CBS will also air the Division II Men’s National Championship game on Sunday, April 7 at 4:00 PM, ET from Philips Arena.
• TBS will televise 16 contests including games in the second round, third round and Sweet 16.
• truTV, including the First Four™, will air a total of 13 games also spanning the second and third rounds.
• TNT will televise 12 games including second and third round match ups.

Coverage of the 2013 NCAA Tournament will culminate with extensive live coverage of the Final Four games and National Championship from Atlanta. Saturday’s Final Four coverage will begin on CBS with THE FINAL FOUR SHOW (4:00-6:00 PM, ET), followed by the broadcast of the two national semifinal games beginning at 6:00 PM, ET. truTV will wrap up the day’s Final Four coverage with INSIDE MARCH MADNESS.

NCAA March Madness Live®, managed by Turner Sports and in partnership with CBS Sports and the NCAA, will provide live streaming video of every broadcast for the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship from the First Four™ through the National Championship Game.

NCAA, March Madness, Elite 8, Sweet 16, First Four, Final Four and Road to the Final Four are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The schedules for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four and National Championship Game will be coming after the break.
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REPORT: TBS Likely To Air The NCAA Final Four and National Championship Game in 2014

This coming from the great John Ourand of Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily, it appears that Turner Sports will begin airing the NCAA Men’s Final Four™ and National Championship game starting next year, two years earlier than expected. When CBS and Turner combined to win the rights for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in 2010, one stipulation was that Turner’s TBS would begin airing the Final Four™ in 2016 and alternate with CBS every other year until the contract’s end in 2024.

With this being the 32nd year for CBS airing the NCAA Tournament, it appears its run of airing Final Fours consecutively starting in 1982 will end in 2013. However, it will continue airing the Final Four™ in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023. TBS will have the event in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024.

Ourand tweeted the following in the last hour:

This development certainly came out of left field and we’ll be monitoring for more developments on Tuesday.

UPDATE, 11:20 p.m.: Richard Sandomir of the New York Times also has a quick blurb on the story, but that may be updated throughout the night.

Selection Sunday Tips Off the 2013 NCAA Tournament

On Sunday, CBS Sports airs the official NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show at 6 p.m. ET. It marks the 32nd consecutive year that the Tiffany Network will air the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Greg Gumbel will host and be joined by Greg Anthony, Doug Gottlieb and Seth Davis in New York. Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr will be in Chicago, IL, site of the Big Ten Championship, to analyze the 68 team field. NCAA Tournament Selection Committee Chairman Mike Bobinski will be the featured guest to discuss the reasoning behind the picks and why some were left out.

That will be followed by Selection Sunday on truTV hosted by Ernie Johnson in Atlanta with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Rex Chapman. Matt Winer will be on hand conduct interviews.

Here are the particulars of Selection Sunday on CBS and Turner Sports.

CBS SPORTS AND TURNER SPORTS BEGIN ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR^® WITH “NCAA^® BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTION SHOW” ON SUNDAY, MARCH 17 ON CBS

SELECTION SUNDAY ON truTV follows With In-Depth Analysis of the Bracket and Interviews with NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee Members
CBS Sports Broadcasts Exclusive, Live Announcement of 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Field of 68

Turner Sports and CBS Sports begin the road to the Final Four with the exclusive, live first-time announcement of the pairings for the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship airing on CBS on Sunday, March 17 (6:00-7:00 PM, ET) during the NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTION SHOW.

Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony, Doug Gottlieb and Seth Davis host the NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTION SHOW live from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York.  Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr join Gumbel, Anthony, Gottlieb and Davis via satellite from the United Center, site of the Big Ten Championship, in Chicago, Ill.  In addition, Mike Bobinski, Chairman of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee, joins live from Indianapolis, Ind. to provide an in-depth look into the selection process.

Immediately following the Selection Show at 7:00 PM, ET, the SELECTION SUNDAY ON truTV studio show will provide in-depth analysis of the entire tournament field from Turner Studios in Atlanta.  Ernie Johnson hosts the one-hour special and will be joined by Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and former Kentucky Wildcat Rex Chapman. Also, Matt Winer will conduct interviews with select members of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee in Indianapolis to discuss the bracket and provide details regarding the group’s deliberations throughout the weekend.  Anthony, Gottlieb and Davis also will join the show live via satellite from New York.

Additionally, the NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTION SHOW will be available via NCAA® March Madness® Live at www.ncaa.com/marchmadness, the March Madness Live® app on tablets and mobile devices, and will launch from www.CBSSports.com and www.bleacherreport.com.

Game coverage for the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship begins on Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20 with the NCAA FIRST FOUR™ ON truTV, and the tournament concludes with the National Championship game Monday, April 8 on CBS.

That is all.

CBS/ Turner Unveil 2013 NCAA Tournament Announcing Teams

Announced today by the CBS/Turner Sports consortium for the 2013 NCAA Tournament, the 75th incarnation of college basketball’s national championship, will be the men and women who will be in front of the camera this year. As usual, Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr will work the Final Four™ from Atlanta.

Some changes from last year, first Doug Gottlieb who came to CBS from ESPN late last year will call 2nd and 3rd round games with Spero Dedes replacing Bob Wenzel. Lesley Visser becomes a special contributor to the studio shows, leaving the sidelines. Rachel Nichols of Turner Sports takes her place on the team of Uncle Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery. And Allie LaForce, co-host of CBS Sports Network’s Lead Off with the aforementioned Gottlieb will work the sidelines as well with Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel.

Your regional final teams will be Nantz/Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson, Marv Albert/Steve Kerr /Craig Sager, Lundquist/Raftery/Nichols and Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Len Elmore/Lewis Johnson.

Calling the one half of the First Four™ games in Dayton, OH will be Albert and Kerr on March 19.

And the studio will be manned by hosts Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson in New York with Matt Winer in Atlanta. Studio analysts will be Greg Anthony, Charles Barkley, Seth Davis, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Steve Smith. Doug Gottlieb joins the New York crew for the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight.

Here’s the CBS/Turner announcement.

CBS Sports and Turner Sports Return All-Star Line-up of Broadcast Teams for Coverage of 2013 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship

?Turner Sports and CBS Sports today announces its lineup of broadcast teams for the third year of combined coverage of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Once again, CBS Sports and Turner Sports provide live, full national coverage of the tournament’s 67 games across four national television networks – TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV – as well as across multiple platforms including NCAA March Madness Live®.

The tournament tips off on Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20 with the NCAA FIRST FOUR™ on truTV Presented by Northwestern Mutual. Marv Albert and Steve Kerr will be courtside calling the action from Dayton, Ohio on March 19, with Craig Sager reporting. Wednesday’s FIRST FOUR broadcast team, which will also call the second and third round games from the Dayton site, will be announced on Selection Sunday.

For the third consecutive year Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, Steve Kerr and reporter Tracy Wolfson will team up for the Final Four® and National Championship game live from Atlanta, Ga. on Saturday, April 6 and Monday, April 8.

Joining this year’s announcer line-up are Doug Gottlieb, who will serve as a game and studio analyst, and courtside reporters Rachel Nichols and Allie LaForce.

Following are the announcer pairings for the second and third rounds (Thursday, March 21-Sunday, March 24):

Play-By-Play / Analyst // Reporter
*Regional Announce Teams

Jim Nantz / Clark Kellogg // Tracy Wolfson*
Marv Albert / Steve Kerr // Craig Sager*
Verne Lundquist / Bill Raftery // Rachel Nichols*
Kevin Harlan / Reggie Miller / Len Elmore // Lewis Johnson*
Ian Eagle / Jim Spanarkel // Allie LaForce
Brian Anderson / Dan Bonner // Marty Snider
Tim Brando / Mike Gminski // Otis Livingston
Spero Dedes / Doug Gottlieb // Jaime Maggio

Studio Coverage

For the third consecutive year, Turner Sports and CBS Sports will utilize two studios, based in New York and Atlanta, to cover all the tournament action. Studio coverage again will be anchored by Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson with Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith providing analysis throughout the tournament from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. Matt Winer anchors the coverage from Turner Studios in Atlanta and will be joined by Seth Davis and Steve Smith. In addition, Lesley Visser will serve as a contributor.

During the Regional Semi-finals and Finals, Gottlieb will join the New York studio team. Gumbel will remain in New York alongside Barkley, Anthony, Gottlieb and Kenny Smith, while Johnson will shift to the Atlanta studio to join Davis and Steve Smith.

Studio coverage for the FIRST FOUR originates from Atlanta and will feature Johnson, Barkley, Kenny Smith and Steve Smith on Tuesday with Winer, Davis and Steve Smith providing analysis on Wednesday.

There you have it.

March Madness Live Returns and So Does Authentication

Remember last year when Turner took over March Madness Live and it was so complicated to authenticate to get the free streaming of the NCAA Tournament? And it got to the point where some gave up while others got so frustrated, they decided to pay the $3.99 fee even though they could have watched for free?

Well, Turner Sports has decided to bring back the authentication process, but simplify it. This year, there won’t be a fee. Games that air on TBS, TNT and truTV will require authentication. Games on CBS won’t. And there will be a four hour preview option that won’t require registration.

March Madness Live will launch on mobiles and tablets in March (naturally) and will be available for download for both Apple and Google platforms.

All 67 games of the NCAA Tournament including the Final Four™ will be streamed on March Madness Live

Let us take a look at what’s in store this year for March Madness Live.

NCAA March Madness Live® to Offer Fans an Unprecedented Multi-Screen Viewing Experience for the 2013 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship

NCAA March Madness Live® App Available in App Store and Google Play in March

NCAA March Madness Live® will provide college basketball fans with unparalleled multi-screen digital access to the 2013 NCAA® Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Produced by Turner Sports, NCAA March Madness Live® will offer free streaming across all devices to pay TV subscribers throughout the tournament and is designed to be either a primary or companion viewing experience available to fans across a collection of screens including online, mobile and tablet. NCAA March Madness Live® will feature social and interactive components to provide portable access to the tournament and – in partnership between the NCAA, Turner Sports and CBS Sports – will launch from www.ncaa.com/marchmadness, www.CBSSports.com and www.bleacherreport.com, along with Google Play and the App Store beginning in March.

NCAA March Madness Live® will provide an unlimited viewing experience throughout Turner Sports and CBS Sports’ coverage of the entire tournament. Fans will have access to all games on TNT, TBS and truTV on the digital device of their choice, by logging in with their TV service provider information, and all games broadcast on CBS with no registration required. As an added feature, NCAA March Madness Live® will offer a preview option that allows up to four hours of live game streaming that does not require viewer registration.

For the third consecutive year, all 67 games of the tournament will again be available live on TV in their entirety across CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.

“Whether viewing on a big-screen TV or a computer, tablet, or smart phone, fans can enjoy the incomparable excitement of March Madness anywhere they are and however they choose,” said Matthew Hong, senior vice president and general manager of operations, for Turner Sports. “With Turner’s commitment to TV Everywhere, passionate fans can use NCAA March Madness Live® as either a first- or second-screen interactive experience to enjoy all 67 tournament games.”

“NCAA March Madness Live® provides our membership and fan bases with the most up to date coverage of the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship so everyone can catch all of the action at any time and from any place,” said Keith Martin, managing director of championships and alliances. “We’re in an age now where fans want access to games simultaneously and they want to chat about what they’ve seen.  NCAA March Madness Live® is a great resource for fans who want to keep up with the games while they are at an arena, at home or from any location.”

This year’s NCAA March Madness Live® product offers several enhancements including:

• Redesigned for optimization across platforms – With improved navigation, NCAA March Madness Live® will have a completely new look and feel while also providing users with the same levels of access and a consistent user experience across all devices
• Available on new devices – NCAA March Madness Live® will be available on more devices than ever before including smart phones and tablets with the Android 4.0+ operating system, the iPhone 5 and iPad mini
• NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge – The official bracket game of March Madness includes new designs and feature enhancements on smart phones and tablets, along with expanded social functionality across all devices allowing fans to join groups, share brackets and chat with friends and other passionate fans via Facebook
• NCAA March Madness Social Arena – A forum to extend the conversation surrounding all of the games within NCAA March Madness Live® products, fans can follow game and tournament tweets, participate in fan chats, watch the games and keep a pulse on all the key moments of every game via the NCAA March Madness Social Arena.  Fans can participate in the social commentary by using the hashtag #marchmadness

Additionally, NCAA March Madness Live® will once again provide video highlights, full game replays and real-time game alerts, as well as fan-favorite features, including live game scoring, real-time tournament brackets, personal channel lineup features, live stats, live social companion views and the return of the “Boss Button.” Fans will have direct access to live radio broadcasts, courtesy of Westwood One/Dial Global Radio Network, for all 67 games across the collection of digital products.

There you have it.

CNN/Turner Sports Hires ESPN’s Rachel Nichols

Well, this is an interesting hire by CNN/Turner Sports. We haven’t seen regular sports coverage on CNN since the demise of the late, great nightly Sports Tonight that was co-anchored by Nick Charles and Fred Hickman. Now comes word that CNN and Turner have hired reporter Rachel Nichols. She’ll be utilized by CNN right away for the Super Bowl. In addition, she’ll anchor a weekend show focusing on sports personalities. CNN says that show will premiere later this year.

For Turner Sports, Rachel will be seen regularly on its NBA and MLB coverage. I imagine that she’ll also be seen on CBS/Turner’s NCAA Tournament coverage as well.

And for CNN, she’ll cover the Olympics, so Rachel will be CNN’s Sports Department.

We have the official joint CNN/Turner Sports announcement.

RACHEL NICHOLS JOINS CNN AND TURNER SPORTS

Nichols Will Anchor New Weekend CNN Sports Program and Report for Turner Sports Across Television and Digital Platforms

CNN and Turner Sports have hired veteran ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols, it was announced today by Jeff Zucker, President, CNN Worldwide, and David Levy, President, Sales, Distribution & Sports, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Nichols will serve as a sports reporter for CNN and Turner Sports and will anchor a new weekend sports program on CNN/U.S. beginning later this year. Her CNN program will focus on the most interesting stories and personalities in the world of sports. In her role with Turner Sports, Nichols will handle a wide variety of assignments across the division’s vast sports properties including the NBA and Major League Baseball. Additionally, Nichols will cover all major sporting events, including the Olympics for CNN. Her first assignment will be the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

“We’re just thrilled that a sports journalist of Rachel’s stature and expertise will now be a regular part of the CNN lineup,” said Zucker. “Her arrival, beginning next week, is an important step in expanding the range of programming and storytelling on CNN.”

“Rachel is a high profile talent and skilled reporter and we are proud to have her join the Turner Broadcasting family,” said Levy. “Rachel’s broadcast experience covering a wide variety of assignments including breaking news, major sports events, human interest features and investigative pieces will be a perfect fit across Turner Sports’ many properties and platforms.”

“I couldn’t be more excited to join the CNN and Turner Sports family,” said Nichols. “I believe in Jeff’s vision for CNN, and have always admired the great work of Turner Sports and what David has done there. I’m looking forward to getting started at the Super Bowl.”

Prior to joining CNN and Turner Sports, Nichols spent nine years at ESPN, working as a correspondent for SportsCenter, Sunday NFL Countdown, NBA Countdown and the network’s newsmagazine show, E:60, as well performing sideline duties on a number of Monday Night Football broadcasts. Earlier in her career, Nichols worked as a reporter for the Washington Post and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.

A native of Potomac, Maryland, Nichols received a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Overall, a very good hire by Turner Broadcasting.

UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.: ESPN has issued a statement through spokesman Josh Krulewitz:

The Big Dozen Sports Media Stories of 2012

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

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

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

12. Embrace Debate Leads To Rob Parker Suspension

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

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

11. Steve Sabol (1942-2012)

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

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

10. Big Media Taps Into New Media

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

9. NASCAR Renews with Fox

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

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

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

7. NFL Network Picks Up Its Last Two Holdouts

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

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

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

5. CBS & NBC Announce New Sports Radio Networks

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

4. ESPN Free Agency

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

3. Fox Spending Spree

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

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

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

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

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

1. NBC’s Olympics Both Fail and Succeed

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

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

Honorable Mentions:

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

Various Wednesday Links

I’ll do a few links for you this evening.

I’ll start with a strange story that surfaced today from a University of Maryland journalism class during which ESPN Vice President and Executive Editor John Walsh made some rather strange statements about Deadspin’s John Koblin over the Lynn Hoppes plagiarism situation. Deadspin has raised issues of Hoppes lifting material from Wikipedia. In the journalism class, student Mark Sanchez asked Walsh about Hoppes and the plagiarism. Walsh then made puzzling statements that Koblin was angry that Hoppes stole his girlfriend. This is quite interesting except that Koblin is gay. The whole thing came out on Twitter in this very interesting thread. John Koblin later talked with Walsh who denied making the statements. One of the strangest stories I’ve ever seen this year or any other year.

A story that broke Wednesday night, Michael Hiestand of USA Today reports that CBS/Turner might get permission to use ESPN’s Dick Vitale on the NCAA Tournament and team him with Charles Barkley.

ESPN has gained the rights to air the NBA in the UK and Ireland.

Jason Howerton at The Blaze writes that Bob Costas and Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly had a discussion on guns.

Dave Scott from ESPN’s Front Row public relations blog notes that Sean McDonough is recovering from surgery to correct  a rare ear condition.

Tom Van Riper of Forbes says former ESPN’er Brian Kenny brings a big network feel to MLB Network.

Reuters has a Disney executive crowing about ESPN ad sales being ahead of last year’s pace.

David Goetzl from MediaPost notes that SodaStream will advertise in Super Bowl XLVII on CBS.

Brian Steinberg of Advertising Age looks at the companies buying time in the Super Bowl.

Ed Sherman from The Sherman Report talks with former Fox Sports Vice Chairman Ed Goren about a career that spans many decades back to his days with CBS.

Ed also has former New York Times writer Robert Lipsyte discussing Bob Costas’ halftime commentary on Sunday Night Football.

Dee McVicker from Radio World says ESPN has been studying consumers’ cross-platform habits.

SportsRantz notes that Cumulus Media has purchased radio stations that ensures that CBS Sports Radio will be heard on FM in the nation’s top three markets.

Matthew Kitchen of Esquire talks with ESPN’s Samantha Steele.

Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing has video of a Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic anchor mocked LeBron James after the Washington Wizards defeated the Miami Heat last night.

Sports Media Watch says the SEC Championship Game on CBS did really well in the ratings.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe says WBZ-TV’s Steve Burton went out on a limb to say the NHL Lockout could be resolved.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News talks about Fox’s spending spree reaching to Cleveland.

Jerry Barmash from Fishbowl New York notes that the Jets are staying with ESPN Radio NY for years to come.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Week 14 NFL TV Schedule.

Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says TV rights fees help teams spend on free agents.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner delves into a Sports Business Journal report stating that Fox Sports was interested in buying MASN.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle talks with former Astros analyst Jim Deshaies about leaving for the Chicago Cubs.

The Chronicle prints a press release stating that ESPN’er Steve Bunin is joining Comcast SportsNet Houston.

Mel Bracht in The Oklahoman has the weekend TV ratings for Oklahoma City.

Jay Miller at Crain’s Cleveland Business speculates about the sale of Sports Time Ohio to Fox Sports. Your humble blogger is quoted in the story. (subscription might be required)

Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch says the extra cash from STO’s sale may not help the Dolan family which owns the Cleveland MLB team.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN’s Samantha Steele is now engaged.

Chris Kue of the Chicago Tribune has Jim Deshaies looking forward to being the new Cubs analyst.

Lewis Lazare at the Chicago Business Journal says Comcast SportsNet Chicago has hired a new news director.

Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune writes that the Raiders are shooting down any rumors of ESPN’s Jon Gruden coaching the team once again.

Jeff Blair from the Toronto Globe and Mail talks about the late Blue Jays voice Tom Cheek being bestowed a Baseball Hall of Fame honor posthumously.

At Yahoo’s Puck Daddy, Greg Wyshynski speculates on how many games would be played if the NHL Lockout ever gets resolved.

I think that will end our linkage for the night.

Breaking Out The Monday Linkage

It’s been a while since I’ve done linkage. I’ll provide some on this Cyber Monday.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says having Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship Game will bring in some monster ratings for ESPN.

Chris Chase of USA Today’s Game On notes that the NFL had Rich Eisen and NFL Network pull an interview segment with actor Bradley Cooper due to NFL gambling references.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch talks with Turner Sports’ Chris Webber and reviews the weekend in sports television.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life writes that Notre Dame is as close to a guaranteed ratings success for college football as anything.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter says the NHL’s TV partners are caught trying to fill programming holes due to the lockout.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report has the first of a two part interview with SiriusXM’s Dino Costa.

Brad Gagnon of Awful Announcing writes that the Sunday NFL pregame shows are dramatically losing viewers this season.

The Big Lead notes that ESPN college football analyst Jesse Palmer had to apologize for doing the “Hook ‘Em Horns” sign upside down.

Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch throws some cold water on some silly agendas by the Hub’s sports writers.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times says don’t expect too many changes to YES with News Corp. buying a minority stake in the channel.

In the New York Post, Phil Mushnick says Rutgers’ move to the Big Ten is all about the money. Tell me something I don’t know, Phil.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with John Gilchrist who played Mikey in the iconic Life cereal commercials.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the college football TV schedule for Week 14.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call talks with Eastern PA native Lisa Salters about returning home for ESPN’s Monday Night Football tonight.

It’s official. David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun hates CBS.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner feels Maryland’s move to the Big Ten makes sense.

Tom Jones at the Tampa Bay Times has his review of the weekend in sports television.

Over to Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News who has a profile of ESPN’s Ed Werder and his daughter’s successful battle to beat a nasty brain tumor.

David Barron looks at a few items in his regular sports media column.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has ESPN’s Trent Dilfer commenting on the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line.

Paul M. Banks at the Chicago Sports Media Watch notes the high overnight rating for Notre Dame-USC.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post says compares the current Broncos radio analyst to the very first one.

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

And Tom has the five things he learned from this weekend.

Sports Media Watch says the move of the Thanksgiving Night game from NFL Network to NBC paid off in spades this year.

SMW says the Thanksgiving afternoon game on Fox suffered a drop from the year before.

SMW notes that the early Thanksgiving Day game on CBS had the best ratings of the three games on Turkey Day.

Joe Favorito says Atlantis in the Bahamas is fast becoming the place for premiere college basketball teams.

Adam Herman at the New York Rangers Blog says the NHL instructed NBC Sports not to air a charity hockey game this past weekend.

That’s going to do it for now.

truTV Airs This Year’s Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Brooklyn

Long a staple of ESPN’s college basketball programming and played at Madison Square Garden, this year marks a change for this year’s Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, both for venue and network. The Coaches vs. Cancer Classic moves from Manhattan to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and also goes to Turner’s truTV.

In addition, Turner will utilize Brian Anderson to call the play-by-play, CBS/Turner’s Greg Anderson and NBA TV’s Steve Smith will be analysts and we’ll have Craig Sager’s loud suits to contend with for two nights. Seth Davis will also be on hand.

truTV will air the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic this Friday and Saturday starting at 7 p.m. ET. The tournament has a field of Brigham Young, Florida State, Notre Dame and St. Joesph’s.

Here’s Turner’s press release.

truTV to Exclusively Televise 2012 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic November 16-17

Match-ups to Feature Brigham Young vs. Florida State; Notre Dame vs. Saint Joseph’s

truTV will exclusively televise the 2012 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Friday, Nov. 16, and Saturday, Nov. 17, from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Action will begin with a doubleheader Friday, Nov. 16, with Brigham Young taking on Florida State at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Notre Dame and Saint Joseph’s. Coverage will continue Saturday, Nov. 17, with the Consolation Game at 7 p.m., followed by the 2012 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Championship Game. Brian Anderson will call the games on truTV alongside analysts Greg Anthony and Steve Smith with Craig Sager reporting courtside and contributor Seth Davis.

As part of truTV’s coverage of the tournament, St. Joseph’s will provide the network with special “all-access” coverage which will allow truTV’s cameras into the team’s locker room for exclusive behind-the-scenes footage throughout the tournament. Additionally, the network will present the following features during the event:

• Turner Sports’ Ernie Johnson sat down with Brigham Young head coach Dave Rose and his family to discuss how their journey through Rose’s battle with pancreatic cancer three years ago changed his life.
• A profile of Notre Dame sixth-year senior and team captain Scott Martin who has dealt with his father’s lymphoma eye cancer diagnosis and an ACL injury which sidelined him during his junior year.

2012 COACHES VS. CANCER TELECAST SCHEDULE:

DAY/DATE
TIME (ET)	EVENT
Friday, November 16
7 p.m. ET	Brigham Young vs. Florida State
	Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Greg Anthony and Steve Smith (analysts) with Craig Sager (reporter) and Seth Davis (contributor)
	Notre Dame vs. Saint Joseph’s
	Brian Anderson, Greg Anthony and Steve Smith with Craig Sager and Seth Davis
Saturday, November 17
7 p.m.	Consolation Game
	Brian Anderson, Greg Anthony and Steve Smith with Craig Sager and Seth Davis
	Championship Game
	Brian Anderson, Greg Anthony and Steve Smith with Craig Sager and Seth Davis

Satellite and Telco Affiliates Channel Information (Nationwide)

	truTV	truTV HD
DIRECTV	246	246-1
Dish Network	204	9430
Verizon	183	683
AT&T	164	1164

truTV and truTV HD Channel Designations in the Team Markets:

Team	City	Cable Provider	truTV	truTV HD
Brigham Young	Salt Lake City, Utah	Comcast	44	736
Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	Comcast	65	398
Notre Dame	South Bend, Ind.	Comcast	65	320
Saint Joseph’s	Philadelphia, Pa.	Comcast	69	841

That’s all.

NBA on TNT Kicks Off The 2012-13 Season With A Doubleheader

On Tuesday, TNT will have the season opening games for the new season. It begins with the Boston Celtics taking on the Miami Heat. Included in the coverage will be the Ring Ceremony as the Heat celebrates its championship from last season.

Marv Albert, Steve Kerr and the Czar of the Telestrator, Mike Fratello will be on hand to call all of the action for TNT. David Aldridge will be the courtside reporter. Game coverage kicks off at 8 p.m. ET.

TNT has pregame coverage with the Inside the NBA crew starting at 7 p.m.

And the nightcap will have the Dallas Mavericks taking on the Los Angeles Lakers live from Staples Center at 10:30 p.m. Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller will be there to call the action and Craig Sager’s loud wardrobe will roam the sidelines.

Here’s the TNT press release.

2012-13 NBA Season Tips Off October 30 Exclusively on TNT withDefending NBA Champion Heat vs. Celtics & New-Look Lakers Hosting Mavericks

Miami Heat Ring Ceremony to Precede Game Action During TNT NBA Tip-Off Pre-game Show at 7 p.m. ET
Inside the NBA Studio Team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith On Site in Brooklyn Nov. 1

Turner Broadcasting tips off its 29^th year of NBA coverage with TNT featuring two nights of doubleheaders beginning Tuesday, Oct. 30, with the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat hosting the Boston Celtics at 8 p.m. ET. Marv Albert will call the game with analyst Steve Kerr and reporter Craig Sager. In the nightcap, the Los Angeles Lakers will host the Dallas Mavericks at 10:30 p.m. Kevin Harlan will handle play-by-play with analyst Reggie Miller and reporter David Aldridge.

The network’s opening night coverage will include the Miami Heat Ring Ceremony during the one-hour TNT NBA Tip-Off pregame show – with TNT’s Emmy® Award-winning studio show team of host Ernie Johnson and analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal – at 7 p.m. ET.  Johnson, Barkley, Smith and O’Neal will return following the doubleheader for the Inside the NBA post-game show.

TNT’s opening week action will continue Thursday, Nov. 1, with the home debut of the Brooklyn Nets against the New York Knicks at 7 p.m. Albert will call the game with Kerr and Sager. Additionally, TNT’s studio team of Johnson, Barkley, O’Neal and Smith will be live from Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the game. The studio crew will contribute to a special one-hour pre-game show at 6 p.m. on NBA TV. Matt Winer will also anchor NBA TV’s pre-game coverage from Turner Studios in Atlanta with analysts Chris Webber and Rick Fox, along with Inside the NBA on TNT. The Nov. 1 doubleheader will conclude with a Western Conference Finals rematch between the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs at 9:30 p.m. Harlan will be courtside along with Miller and Aldridge.

NBA on TNT Opening Week Schedule:

DAY/DATE
TIME (ET)	EVENT
Tuesday, October 30
7 p.m.	TNT NBA Tip-Off ’12 (including Miami Heat Ring Ceremony)
	Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith (analysts)
8 p.m.	Boston Celtics @ Miami Heat
	Marv Albert (play-by-play), Steve Kerr and Mike Fratello (analysts) with David Aldridge (reporter)
10:30 p.m.	Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Lakers
	Kevin Harlan (play-by-play) and Reggie Miller (analyst) with Craig Sager (reporter)
Post-game	Inside the NBA
	Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley, Shaquile O’Neal and Kenny Smith (analysts)
Thursday, November 1
6 p.m.	Special NBA TV Pre-Game Show (NBA TV telecast)
	Matt Winer (host), Chris Webber and Rick Fox (analysts) from Atlanta
	Ernie Johnson (host), Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith (analysts) from Brooklyn
7 p.m.	New York Knicks @ New Jersey Nets
	Marv Albert and Steve Kerr with Craig Sager
9:30 p.m.	Oklahoma City Thunder @ San Antonio Spurs
	Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller with David Aldridge
Post-game	Inside the NBA (live from Turner Studios in Atlanta)
	Matt Winer (host), Chris Webber and Rick Fox (analysts)

That will do it.

Sports Media Weekly, No. 124 — Matt Winer, NBA TV/Turner Sports

We’re up to Podcast Edition No. 124 and Keith Thibault of Sports Media Journal and I are steaming along as we continue to talk with the movers and shakers in sports media.

In this show, Keith and I talk about:

• The World Series on Fox.
• The NHL lockout effecting NBC Sports Network’s programming.
• Armen Keteyian being the first on-air hire for CBS/Showtime’s “60 Minutes Sports” launching in January.
• CBS Sports Radio’s ever-evolving daily lineup.
• The new cast of ESPN’s NBA Countdown.

Our guest was Matt Winer, studio host of NBA TV and host of the MLB Postseason on TBS plus the NCAA Tournament on CBS/Turner.

We talked with Matt on various subjects including his work at NBA TV, the recently completed MLB Postseason on TBS, the upcoming NBA season, how he’s enjoyed working with Turner Sports since leaving ESPN. And Matt and I talked about the Felix Baumgartner space jump that captivated the world a couple of weeks ago and how Matt watched everything unfold before he had to do his hosting duties on TBS.

Another fun podcast. Download it on iTunes by searching for “Sports Media Journal” or just go

TBS To Offer Exclusive Coverage of American League Championship Series

It’s a quick turnaround. Saturday night begins the American League Championship Series between the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees, long-time rivals dating back to the early days of the AL. Now they’ll meet the in ALCS starting at 8:07 p.m. on Saturday.

TBS will be the network offering full coverage of the ALCS from start to finish. The ALCS is slated to have two afternoon games, one on Sunday for Game 2 and the other for Game 5 if necessary on Thursday.

Ernie Johnson, Jr., John Smoltz and Ron Darling will call the games. Matt Winer, Cal Ripken, Jr., Dennis Eckersley and David Wells will be in the TBS studios in Atlanta.

Here are details from TBS for the ALCS starting Saturday night.

TBS’ Exclusive Coverage of the American League Championship Series Begins Saturday, Oct. 13

TBS’s exclusive MLB Postseason coverage will continue with the American League Championship Series beginning Saturday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m. ET. Ernie Johnson will call the best-of-seven ALCS with analysts John Smoltz and Ron Darling and reporter Craig Sager.

The network’s coverage will begin with the MLB On-Deck pre-game show, with host Matt Winer and analysts Cal Ripken, Jr., Dennis Eckersley and David Wells, at 7:30 p.m. The studio team will return for the Inside MLB post-game show with a complete recap following each game telecast.

ALCS on TBS Telecast Schedule
(All Times Eastern)

Date	Time (ET)	Series
Saturday, Oct. 13	7:30 p.m.	MLB On-Deck
	8 p.m.	ALCS Game 1: Detroit at New York
	11:30 p.m.	Inside MLB
Sunday, Oct. 14	3:30 p.m.	MLB On-Deck
	4 p.m.	ALCS Game 2: Detroit at New York
	7:30 p.m.	Inside MLB
Tuesday, Oct. 16	7:30 p.m.	MLB On-Deck
	8 p.m.	ALCS Game 3: New York at Detroit
	11:30 p.m.	Inside MLB
Wednesday, Oct. 17	7:30 p.m.	MLB On-Deck
	8 p.m.	ALCS Game 4: New York at Detroit
	11:30 p.m.	Inside MLB
Thursday, Oct. 18	3:30 p.m.	MLB On-Deck
	4 p.m.*	ALCS Game 5: New York at Detroit
	7:30 p.m.	Inside MLB
Saturday, Oct. 20	7:30 p.m.	MLB On-Deck
	8 p.m.*	ALCS Game 6: Detroit at New York
	11:30 p.m.	Inside MLB
Sunday, Oct. 21	7:30 p.m.	MLB On-Deck
	8 p.m.*	ALCS Game 7: Detroit at New York
	11:30 p.m.	Inside MLB

*if necessary

That will do it.

TBS Has A Game 5 MLB LDS Doubleheader on Friday

For the first time since MLB began the League Division Series format began in 1995, all four series will go the distance. And TBS for the first time since obtaining the rights to the MLB Postseason in 2007, it will have the maximum amount of first round games, 20 out of a possible 20 (2 Wild Cards and 18 LDS games). Back when TBS began airing playoff baseball, it had bad luck airing just 13 out of a possible 20 in 2007. But this year, it gets to have a Game 5 doubleheader on Friday.

And for the first time in this year’s MLB Postseason, the St. Louis-Washington National League Division Series gets the primetime slot at 8:37 p.m. ET. Game 5 of the Baltimore-New York Yankees series begins early at 5:07 p.m. If you’re wondering why the ALDS goes early, it’s because the American League Championship Series will begin on Saturday. That’s right. There’s a short turnaround this year in between Game 5 of the ALDS and Game 1 of the ALCS. This is a one-time only thing. I’m sure the schedule makers at MLB will ensure at least a one day rest next year.

Here’s the press release from TBS.

TBS to Televise Two MLB Division Series Elimination Games Friday, Oct. 12

TBS will exclusively two MLB Division Series Game 5 match-ups on Friday, Oct. 12, including Baltimore vs. New York (if nec.) at 5 p.m. ET and St. Louis vs. Washington (if nec.) at 8:30 p.m. MLB On-Deck will preview the day’s action 30 minutes prior to the start of the first game and Inside MLB will recap the games on TBS.

The network will exclusively televise the American League Championship Series coverage on TBS. The ALCS will begin on TBS on Saturday, Oct. 13. The network’s commentator pairings for the Division Series games:

Date	Time (ET)	Games/Commentator Teams	Network
Friday, Oct. 12	4:30 p.m.	MLB On-Deck Matt Winer, Dennis Eckersley and David Wells	TBS
	5 p.m.	ALDS Game 5: Baltimore at New York Ernie Johnson, John Smoltz, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Craig Sager	TBS
	8:30 p.m.	NLDS Game 5: St. Louis at Washington Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and David Aldridge	TBS
	Post-game	Inside MLB Matt Winer, Dennis Eckersley and David Wells	TBS

That will do it.

Turner Sports Ready To Air As Many As Four MLB LDS Games on Thursday

With Major League Baseball having a full array of League Division Series games on Wednesday, there’s the possibility of it happening again on Thursday, provided that Oakland and San Francisco extend their series tonight.

If that happens, then Turner Sports will get a full array of games with three being aired on TBS and a late game on TNT. The schedule would begin at 1 p.m. ET with Game 5 of San Francisco-Cincinnati on TBS, then Game 4 of St. Louis-Washington at 4 p.m. also on TBS, then Game 4 of Baltimore-New York Yankees at 7:37 p.m. again on TBS. Should a Game 5 be required for Detroit-Oakland, that will air on TNT at 9:37 p.m.

If Detroit-Oakland is decided tonight on TNT, then the games on TBS would slide down an hour to 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. respectively.

Here’s the Turner Sports press release.

Turner Sports to Televise Up to Four MLB Division Series Games on Thursday, Oct. 11

Wednesday’s Lineup Features Giants vs. Reds (Game 4) and Orioles vs. Yankees (Game 3) on TBS; Tigers vs. Athletics (Game 4) on TNT

Turner Sports’ coverage of the 2012 MLB Postseason will continue today, Wednesday, Oct. 10, with a doubleheader on TBS – San Francisco vs. Cincinnati (Game 4) at 4 p.m. ET, followed by Baltimore vs. New York (Game 3) at 7:30 p.m. Coverage will begin with the MLB On-Deck pregame show at 3:30 p.m. and conclude with the Inside MLB post-game show. Detroit vs. Oakland (Game 4) will air on TNT beginning at 9:30 p.m.

On Thursday, Oct. 11, TBS will exclusively televise up to three Division Series games including San Francisco vs. Cincinnati (Game 5, if nec.) at 1 p.m., St. Louis vs. Washington (Game 4) at 4 p.m. and  Baltimore vs. New York (Game 4) at 7:30 p.m. on TBS, and Detroit vs. Oakland (Game 5, if nec.) at 9:30 p.m. on TNT. If the Tigers/Athletics series ends in four games, the Giants/Reds, Cardinals/Nationals and Orioles/Yankees telecasts will shift to one hour later on TBS.

TBS will exclusively televise up to 18 Division Series games and the American League Championship Series coverage on TBS. The network’s commentator pairings for the upcoming Division Series games:

Date	Time (ET)	Games/Commentator Teams	Network
Wednesday, Oct. 10	3:30 p.m.	MLB On-Deck Matt Winer, Dennis Eckersley, David Wells and Shane Victorino	TBS
	4 p.m.	NLDS Game 4: San Francisco at Cincinnati Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, Joe Simpson and Tom Verducci	TBS
	7:30 p.m.	ALDS Game 3: Baltimore at New York Ernie Johnson, John Smoltz, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Craig Sager	TBS
	9:30 p.m.	ALDS Game 4: Detroit at Oakland Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Jaime Maggio	TNT
Thursday, Oct. 11	12:30 p.m.*	MLB On-Deck Matt Winer, Dennis Eckersley and David Wells	TBS
	1 p.m.*	NLDS Game 5 (if nec.): San Francisco at Cincinnati Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, Joe Simpson and Tom Verducci	TBS
	4 p.m.*	ALDS Game 4: St. Louis at Washington Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and David Aldridge	TBS
	7:30 p.m.*	ALDS Game 4: Baltimore at New York Ernie Johnson, John Smoltz, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Craig Sager	TBS
	9:37 p.m.	ALDS Game 5 (if nec.): Detroit at Oakland Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Jaime Maggio	TNT
	Post-game	Inside MLB Matt Winer, Dennis Eckersley and David Wells	TBS

*Shifts to one hour later on TBS if the DET-OAK series ends on Wednesday, October 10.

There you have it.

TBS/TNT Combine For Airing Up To Three MLB LDS Games on Wednesday

Turner Sports is gearing up for a busy day on Wednesday. Depending on what happens on Tuesday, TBS and TNT could combine to air three League Division Series games. As we know, MLB Network will be airing Game 3 of the St. Louis-Washington series at 1 p.m. ET. Then 4:07 p.m., TBS will come in with a potential Game 4 of the San Francisco-Cincinnati series followed by Game 3 of Baltimore-New York Yankees at 7:37 p.m. TNT will air a possible Game 4 of Detroit-Oakland at 9:37 p.m.

If both of the Bay Area series ends today, then the Yankees game would slide to 8:37 p.m.

We have Turner Sports’ preview of Wednesday’s action.

Turner Sports to Exclusively Televise Up to Three MLB Division Series Games on Wednesday, Oct. 10

TBS’ coverage of the 2012 MLB Postseason will continue tonight, Tuesday, Oct. 9 with an exclusive doubleheader – San Francisco vs. Cincinnati (Game 3) at 5:30 p.m. ET, followed by Detroit vs. Oakland (Game 3) at 9 p.m. Coverage will begin with the MLB On-Deck pregame show at 5 p.m. and conclude with the Inside MLB post-game show.

On Wednesday, Oct. 10, Turner Sports will exclusively televise up to three Division Series games including San Francisco vs. Cincinnati (Game 4, if nec.) at 4 p.m. and  Baltimore vs. New York (Game 3) at 7:30 p.m. on TBS and Detroit vs. Oakland (Game 4, if nec.) at 9:30 p.m. on TNT. If the Giants/Reds and Tigers/Athletics series end in three games, the Orioles/Yankees telecast will move to 8:30 p.m. on TBS.

TBS will exclusively televise up to 18 Division Series games and the American League Championship Series coverage on TBS. The network’s commentator pairings for the upcoming Division Series games:

Date	Time (ET)	Games/Commentator Teams	Network
Tuesday, Oct. 9	5 p.m.	MLB On-Deck Matt Winer, Dennis Eckersley, David Wells and Shane Victorino	TBS
	5:30 p.m.	NLDS Game 3: San Francisco at Cincinnati Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, Joe Simpson and Tom Verducci	TBS
	9 p.m.	ALDS Game 3: Detroit at Oakland Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Jaime Maggio	TBS
	Post-game	Inside MLB Matt Winer, Dennis Eckersley, David Wells and Shane Victorino	TBS
Wednesday, Oct. 10	3:30 p.m.	MLB On-Deck Matt Winer, Dennis Eckersley, David Wells and Shane Victorino	TBS
	4 p.m.	NLDS Game 4 (if nec.): San Francisco at Cincinnati Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, Joe Simpson and Tom Verducci	TBS
	7:30 p.m.*	ALDS Game 3: Baltimore at New York Ernie Johnson, John Smoltz, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Craig Sager	TBS
	9:30 p.m.	ALDS Game 4 (if nec.): Detroit at Oakland Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Jaime Maggio	TNT
	Post-game	Inside MLB Matt Winer, Dennis Eckersley, David Wells and Shane Victorino	TBS

*Shifts to 8:30 p.m. (ET) on TBS if the CIN-SF and DET-OAK series both end on Tuesday, October 9^th

There you have it.

Your Thursday Linkage

Let’s do a few links for you.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at the local MLB TV ratings.

Mike Ozanian from Forbes explains what the new national MLB TV deals mean for the upcoming bids for the Los Angeles Dodgers TV rights.

Georg Szalai of the Hollywood Reporter has an NBC Sports executive defending its decision not to air live coverage of the Paralympics.

ESPN Ombudsman Jason Fry at the Poynter Institute discusses ESPN taking credit for the work of others and standardizing its editorial policies.

Bradley Klein of Golfweek was not enamored with the amount of commercials in NBC’s Ryder Cup coverage. Thanks to Ed Sherman for the link.

Speaking of Ed, he wonders if this season will be the last for the partnership of Chicago White Sox TV announcers Ken Harrelson and Steve Stone.

Jill Goldsmith from Variety discusses the new carriage deal between Disney and Cablevision that includes WatchESPN, Longhorn Network and other ESPN platforms.

Broadcasting & Cable reports on Golf Channel’s record viewership for the third quarter of 2012.

Dan Daly from Sports Video Group explores how Fox and Turner are preparing to pick up audio during the MLB Postseason.

ESPN’s Kristi Dosh looks at the next Manchester United cash deal.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell wonders how much Master Swindler Curt Schilling can receive for selling his bloody sock. I live in Rhode Island and I’m an angry taxpayer on the hook thanks to Curt’s 38 Studios deal.

Rocco Pendoia at The Street wonders if national sports radio can generate revenue for CBS.

Jordan Rabinowitz at SportsGrid has the painful video of actor Liam Neeson’s appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter as Mike Hill asked him about Tim Tebow. You can only imagine the results.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with SiriusXM’s Chris Russo.

Jerry Barmash at FishbowlNY says YES has received its best ratings in two years for the last two Red Sox-Yankees games.

The Schenectady Gazette’s Ken Schott says local sports anchor Andrew Catalon will call UConn women’s basketball on SNY this season.

Pete Dougherty at the Albany Times Union has the Week 5 NFL TV schedule for the Capital Region.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record looks at the SNY UConn Women’s basketball schedule.

Tom Luicci of the Newark Star-Ledger talks with ESPN analyst John Congemi about Saturday’s UConn-Rutgers game.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says IndyCar racing returns next year to Pocono Raceway, but in a shorter form and with ABC televising the race over NBC Sports Network.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun has a slideshow in which he gives grades to the MASN Orioles broadcasters for this season.

David notes the O’s home finale’s ratings on MASN almost doubled from the last season.

In the Washington Post, Dan Steinberg wants to know why former WaPo columnist Michael Wilbon trashed DC in ESPN The Magazine.

Dan also responds to Michael’s trashing of him.

David Barron at the Houston Chronicle says the final day of the Astros season meant saying goodbye on both TV and radio.

Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes that several Oklahoma City Thunder players were gripped by ESPN’s “Broke” 30 for 30 documentary.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Reds set a ratings record on Fox Sports Ohio.

In the Los Angeles Times, Joe Flint writes about the Disney carriage deal with Cablevision.

Joe Eskanazi of San Francisco explains how the Bleacher Report became so big.

John Carvalho at ChuckOliver.net delves into the feud between South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier and a newspaper columnist.

Andrew Kameka of Mobile Play says WatchESPN is now adding support for Apple AirPlay through iOS6.

Dave Kohl has some various sports media thoughts in The Broadcast Booth.

I’m going to end it there.

Bringing Out Some Wednesday Links For You

Time for some linkage in this mid-week and last day of the 2012 MLB regular season. Lots of things to get to.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand analyzes the new MLB TV deals with Fox and Turner.

Nate Davis of USA Today’s Game On blog previews tonight’s NFL Network “A Football Life” documentary.

John Ourand and David Broughton of Sports Business Journal report on this season’s local MLB TV ratings.

Eriq Gardner of the Hollywood Reporter has a Fox Sports executive being very bullish on soccer.

Alex Ben Block of the Reporter goes over the MLB contracts with Fox and Turner.

John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable writes that the American Cable Association, which hates everything, is railing against the MLB TV deals.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News also delves into the new MLB deals.

Mike says Monday night’s Chicago Bears-Dallas Cowboys game garnered cable’s third biggest audience of the year.

Kristian Dyer at Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner blog notes that Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones has apologized for an unintentional insensitive tweet responding to the paralyzed Eric LeGrand.

Spiracle Media through Storify harnessed some tweets from athletes who watched the extremely fascinating 30 for 30 documentary, “Broke” on ESPN.

Ed Sherman from The Sherman Report anticipates Fox’s next move to create an all-sports cable channel.

Ken Kerschbaumer of Sports Video Group looks at PGA.com’s video coverage of the Ryder Cup.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell explores the NFL financial advisory program in hopes of preventing athletes from going broke.

NFL referee Ed Hochuli is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated.

Chad Finn of the Boston Globe explores the latest Arbitron ratings for the city’s sports radio stations.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times looks at the new MLB TV deals.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has the Week 6 college football TV schedule.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog notes that ESPN’s and former DC sports reporter Lindsay Czarniak celebrated the Nationals on SportsCenter.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes about the new MLB TV deals.

Mel Bracht of The Oklahoman says last Saturday’s Texas-Oklahoma State game registered huge local ratings.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Mark Dawidziak tells us that former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel will be joining a local TV station as a weekly contributor. Thanks to The Big Lead for the link.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says a local sports anchor will not face charges stemming from a domestic violence case.

Howie Magner of Milwaukee Magazine profiles Trenni Kusnierek, now of Comcast SportsNet New England, on her battle with depression.

Robert Feder of TimeOut Chicago writes that the Bulls have renewed their Spanish radio rights (scroll down).

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch has a full story on the Bulls’ renewal.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News says the new TV deals with Fox and Turner gives MLB plenty of stability into the next decade.

James Mirtle of the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that CBC’s Don Cherry is blasting the Maple Leafs for their treatment of one of their players.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Globe and Mail notes that the MLB Postseason will have teams from both small and big markets.

Cork Gaines at the Business Insider Sports Page has some memorable quotes from last night’s 30 for 30 “Broke” documentary.

John Daly at the Daly Planet explores the possibilities for the much discussed, but unconfirmed Fox Sports 1.

Joe Favorito says College Radio Day is a very good thing for aspiring broadcasters.

The legend of Australian hurdler Michelle Jenneke is growing thanks to a new animated gif showing her warming up in the rain. This has nothing to do with sports media. Just me linking to Michelle Jenneke.

And that is all.

Wrapping Up All of the New MLB TV Deals Into One

Now that we know what comprises the new TV deals for Major League Baseball starting in 2014, let’s summarize and go over them from ESPN to Turner Sports with Fox Sports and MLB Network in between.

Wading through all of the features each partner receives, we know that MLB will increase its total take from the partners, not including MLB Network, to $12.4 billion over the eight year span of the contract starting in 2014 and ending in 2021. This means MLB Network will receive $1.55 billion annually from ESPN, Fox and Turner, just over double of what it is currently receiving from the three networks.

The amount of games seen on national cable will go up to over 140 games a year from over 100 (again not including MLB Network).

The amount of games on broadcast television will go down from 26 games to 12. This is eerily similar to what happened in 1988 when CBS won the rights to MLB for the 1990-1993 seasons, after ABC and NBC combined for 32 national games a year. CBS was later convinced to increase its games to 16 before the 1990 season.

Fox and TBS will alternate leagues every year during the MLB Postseason, meaning TBS will have two American League Division Series and the AL Championship Series one year with Fox taking the National League and vice-versa. MLB Network will carry two LDS games, one from each league.

So let’s go over what each network will receive as part of its contract.

• 90 regular season games mostly on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday nights with reduced local blackouts.
• Games on Opening Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day.
• Rights to the All-Star Home Run Derby.
• Rights to all League Tiebreaker Games.
• Rights to air one Wild Card Playoff Game.
• Rights to highlights for Baseball Tonight.
• Increased streaming rights for WatchESPN.
• Rights for radio and international broadcasts.

• 12 Saturday afternoon games on Fox (down from 26).
• 40 games on cable outlets (either on FX or the new Fox Sports 1).
• All Fox Saturday Baseball games will be made available to MLB Extra Innings and MLB.TV (subject to local blackout).
• Rights to the All-Star Game.
• Rights to two League Division Series (one game sold to MLB Network, several games aired on Fox Cable).
• Rights to one League Championship Series.
• Rights to the World Series.
• TV Everywhere rights, streaming on computers, mobile and tablet devices.
• Rights to a nightly baseball highlights show.
• Spanish language rights to all games carried on Fox and Fox Cable.
• A weekly show produced by MLB Productions.

• 150 Regular Season games mostly aired on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights.
• Two League Division Series games, one coming from each League.
• Rights to the MLB All-Star Selection Show (coming from TBS).
• Rights to the All-Star Futures Game (coming from ESPN).
• Rights to the MLB First-Year Player Draft.

• 13 Sunday afternoon  regular season games (down from 26) during the second half of the season with no local blackouts.
• Rights to one Wild Card Playoff Game.
• Rights to two League Division Series (one game sold to MLB Network).
• Rights to one League Championship Series.
• TV Everywhere rights, streaming on computers, mobile and tablet devices.
• Digital rights for Turner platforms including the Bleacher Report.

Overall, MLB did rather well for itself. Looking at the deals, in essence, Fox took half of Turner’s games for its cable portion of the contract to be aired either on FX or Fox Sports 1. The amount of games on over the air television goes down, but one can say cable came out the winner in the new contracts with more regular season contests and more playoffs.

The key point is the length of the deal, eight years bringing MLB plenty of stability into the next decade.

Quick Tuesday Linkage

Let’s do a few links on this Tuesday.

Edmund Lee of Bloomberg analyzes the new MLB TV deals with Fox and Turner.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today says with some playoff spots decided, ESPN has dropped plans for a duel MLB doubleheaders on Wednesday.

Jacqueline Palank of the Wall Street Journal reviews ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary, “Broke” which premieres tonight.

Nat Ives from Advertising Age writes that one unexpected beneficiary of the NFL referees lockout was Buffalo Wild Wings.

At Forbes, the great Maury Brown writes about Time Warner Cable launching not one, but two regional sports networks in Southern California.

Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life Magazine says NBC’s Sunday Night Football is expected to dominate the night, but media buyers say ABC’s lineup is a good alternative.

Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report looks at tonight’s 30 for 30 premiere.

Jordan Rabinowitz of SportsGrid has a sneak peek of tonight’s 30 for 30 doc.

Mike Reynolds from Multichannel News says two regional sports networks made their debuts Monday with lots of fanfare, but a low viewership.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable notes that NBC Sports Network has signed its second NCAA Division I Conference to air its basketball games.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell wonders what’s keeping Mark Sanchez from losing his job as New York Jets starting quarterback.

Tim Burke at Deadspin has video of an ESPN raw feed of a motorsports event that really has to be seen to be believed.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union notes that ESPN will focus on the American League East in its final day of MLB regular season coverage.

Ken McMillan of the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record says Army makes a couple of appearances on CBS Sports Network’s college hockey coverage.

Kevin Cooney of the Bucks County (PA) Courier Times notes a milestone for Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes about CBS Sports Network making a new hire.

Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog says MASN and a local radio station are bolstering their baseball coverage for the postseason.

Dan notes that ESPN The Magazine devoting an entire issue to DC sports.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal says two central Florida radio stations have switched to NBC Sports Radio.

The Orlando Sentinel looks at one sports radio station flipping to NBC Sports Radio from ESPN Radio.

Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that Georgia football coach Mark Richt makes an appearance in a College GameDay promo.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer says Fox Sports Ohio will air Xavier basketball games this season.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch recaps yesterday’s Bulls Media Day.

The Kansas City Star explains why it doesn’t put the DC NFL team’s name in its copy.

Joe Flint from the Los Angeles Times says MLB hit a home run by more than doubling its rights fees from Fox and Turner.

James Mirtle of the Toronto Globe and Mail talks about ESPN getting the rights to the Russian KHL featuring locked out NHL players.

Matt Yoder from Awful Announcing notes former New York Knicks GM Isiah Thomas could be coming to ESPN.

Sports Media Watch says Bears-Cowboys gave ESPN some big overnight numbers for Monday Night Football.

That’s going to do it for today.

MLB Announces Deal With Fox & Turner Sports

We get the official MLB announcement on its new eight year media rights deals with Fox Sports and Turner Sports. We have highlights of the deal.

• There will be no more silly blackouts of the Fox Saturday Baseball games. They will be available on the out-of-market MLB Extra Innings package and MLB.TV.
• MLB Network will have rights to two League Division Series games from Fox.
• TBS will have TV Everywhere streaming rights including interactive TV rights allowing Turner to create ancillary programming around its games.
• Fox increases its availability from 26 to 52 games with 12 airing on the Fox network, 40 others on the new Fox Sports 1 all-sports cable channel.
• TBS will have 13 Sunday afternoon games.

Other details are included in the Major League Baseball press release below.

MLB, FOX AND TURNER REACH NEW EIGHT-YEAR TELEVISION AGREEMENTS

Combined With Recent ESPN Deal, Total MLB National TV Revenue Will More than Double
FOX to Continue Broadcasting World Series and All-Star Game Through 2021
Turner and FOX to Split LCS and Division Series
MLB Network Acquires Two Division Series Games from FOX

Major League Baseball today announced new, historic eight-year national media rights agreements with FOX Sports Media Group (FSMG) and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. that – combined with the recently announced new ESPN deal – establish the national television landscape for the sport in the U.S. through 2021.  Combined, the three deals will deliver more than a 100% increase in annual rights fees to Major League Baseball over the current deals.  As part of the new agreements – which take effect beginning in 2014 – the World Series and All-Star Game will remain on FOX, while the League Championship Series and Division Series will be shared across FSMG, TBS and MLB Network.  Both deals also include digital “TV Everywhere” rights to stream televised games and other MLB-related programming online and through mobile devices.

Under the terms of the new agreements, FSMG will retain the rights to the World Series, the All-Star Game and one League Championship Series while adding coverage of two Division Series starting in 2014.  FSMG will also double its number of regular season national windows on Saturdays from 26 to 52, with 12 of those windows exclusive to FOX and as many as 40 non-exclusive windows on another nationally distributed FOX channel.  TBS will retain the rights to air one League Championship Series, two Division Series and one of the Wild Card Games presented by Budweiser.  TBS will also air afternoon games with new co-exist rights on the final 13 Sundays of the regular season.  FSMG and Turner will alternate each year which league’s DS and LCS games they telecast, with MLB Network airing two Division Series games each year from the same league as FOX.

Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig said:  “I have often said in recent years that we are living in the golden age of baseball and that the game has never been more popular.  But to see the unprecedented and historic commitment these networks have made to televising Major League Baseball for years to come is truly amazing.  On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am thrilled that we will continue our relationships with both FOX and Turner.  Both networks are passionate about baseball and are committed to covering, promoting and growing the sport, and I want to thank them for their continued support.”

“It is with tremendous pleasure that we’re able to extend and advance our relationship with Major League Baseball for another eight years,” said Randy Freer and Eric Shanks, co-presidents, FOX Sports Media Group.  “MLB, both nationally and regionally, has been part of our DNA here at FOX for a long time, and we’re looking forward to working with MLB on many new initiatives that will grow and promote the sport in coming years.”

“Major League Baseball on TBS has very much been a staple of our programming foundation for more than 35 years and the network has been the home to so many memorable baseball moments over that time,” said David Levy, President of Sales, Distribution and Sports, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.  “When you look at the overall scope of television and digital rights that we acquired, this new agreement adds considerable value to our portfolio of sports offerings.”

Additional highlights of the new agreements include:

• Games included in the FOX Saturday national exclusive windows, which were previously blacked out to MLB Extra Innings and MLB.TV viewers, will be available beginning in 2014.
• In addition to two Division Series games, MLB Network has also acquired the rights to telecast both the MLB All-Star Game Selection Show and the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game.
• Turner will have interactive television rights, which includes the rights to create companion and ancillary products related to the TBS broadcast of regular and Postseason games.
• FSMG will air a weekly 30-minute show created by Major League Baseball Productions.

I have MLB Network’s announcement coming up.

Turner Sports Officially Announces 8-Year Deal with MLB

We have received the official announcement from Turner Sports of its new eight year deal with Major League Baseball. We know about the 13 regular season games it will carry with no local blackouts. We know of the one Wild Card Playoff Game and two League Division Series. We did not know that the two LDS will be from the same league every year, alternating between the American and National Leagues. We do know that TBS will carry one League Championship Series every year alternating leagues with Fox as it has since 2007.

Here are the new features for Turner. It will get TV Everywhere rights meaning it can stream its games on various Turner platforms on computers, mobiles and tablets. There will be digital rights for the Bleacher Report.

Here’s the Turner announcement.

TURNER BROADCASTING AND MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL REACH AN EIGHT-YEAR MEDIA RIGHTS EXTENSION

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and Major League Baseball have reached an eight-year, media rights extension that will encompass a variety of screens and platforms it was announced today by MLB Commissioner Allan H. Selig and David Levy, President of Sales, Distribution and Sports, Turner Broadcasting.  This new agreement builds on MLB’s long-standing relationship with Turner Sports and is highlighted by an extension of TBS’s television rights for the MLB postseason and the addition of co-exist rights for the network’s ‘Sunday MLB on TBS’ franchise. The agreement also features TV Everywhere rights and expanded digital rights for Turner’s portfolio.

The extended agreement, effective 2014 through 2021, will guarantee a 45-plus year continuous relationship between Turner and MLB, dating back to 1973 when the company began televising MLB games on WTCG (now TBS). The partnership represents one of the longest-running relationships between a media company and league in the history of televised sports.  The current agreement between MLB and Turner, which started in 2007, will conclude following the 2013 season.

“Major League Baseball on TBS has been a staple of our programming foundation and the home to so many memorable baseball moments,” said Levy. “This agreement reflects our respect for one another’s business and the mutual regard we have with MLB.”

Selig added: “I have often said in recent years that we are living in the golden age of baseball and that the game has never been more popular.  But to see the unprecedented and historic commitment these networks have made to televising Major League Baseball for years to come is truly amazing.  On behalf of Major League Baseball, I am thrilled that we will continue our relationships with both FOX and Turner.  Both networks are passionate about baseball and are committed to covering, promoting and growing the sport, and I want to thank them for their continued support.”

Beginning with the 2014 MLB season, Turner’s expanded package will include the following television rights:

• TBS will have exclusive television rights to one League Championship Series each year of the agreement.  As part of the deal, the ALCS and NLCS will alternate each year between TBS and Fox.
• TBS will have exclusive rights to broadcast two of the four MLB Division Series, which will alternate between AL and NL each year.
• TBS will carry one Wild Card Game, presented by Budweiser, which will alternate between the AL and NL each year.
• TBS will also air afternoon games with new co-exist rights on the final 13 Sundays of the regular season as part of the network’s ‘Sunday MLB on TBS’ Game of the Week package

“This new agreement adds considerable value to our portfolio of offerings,” adds Levy.  “We’re pleased to extend our relationship with the MLB brand across multiple screens to create an even richer baseball experience for our viewers, advertisers and distribution partners.”

Fox’s announcement will be posted as soon as its available.

MLB To Announce New Deals With Fox Sports & Turner Today

I just received an advisory that Major League Baseball will announce its new media deals with Fox Sports and Turner Sports at midday today. Some details of the Fox’s and Turner’s deals have leaked already, but we’ll get confirmation of what both companies will air starting in 2014.

Whether or not there will be additional details released, MLB will double its cash haul from ESPN, Fox and Turner starting in 2014. In addition, there will be stability as the same TV partners in this current contract that expires in 2013 will remain through 2021.

I’ll monitor the media conference call later and post the announcements from Fox and Turner when they become available.

TBS Unveils The Announcing Crews for the 2012 MLB Postseason

With the rights to the two Wild Card Playoff games, along with rights to the entire League Division Series (albeit for two games that go to MLB Network) and the American League Championship Series, Turner Sports has made public the announcing assignments for the 2012 MLB Postseason.

One change from the studio crew. Cal Ripken, Jr. moves from the studio to joining Ernie Johnson, Jr. and John Smoltz for one Wild Card game and one LDS. Brian Anderson will be the part of the other main team joined by Joe Simpson and Ron Darling. Other teams for the LDS will Dick Stockton and Bob Brenly. NESN’s Don Orsillo heads back to the postseason to be joined by Buck Martinez. Nice to have EJ back after he was away last year tending to family business.

On-field reporters will be Jaime Maggio, David Aldridge, Tom Verducci and Craig Sager.

The studio crew will have Matt Winer, Dennis Eckersley and David Wells.

We’ll find out which announcing teams will be assigned to which series when we discover the matchups. Here’s the Turner Sports press release.

2012 MLB Postseason Begins Exclusively on TBS with First-EverWild Card Games on Friday, October 5

TBS’ Exclusive MLB Postseason Coverage Includes up to 18 Division Series Games and the ALCS

TBS will offer extensive coverage of the 2012 MLB Postseason beginning with the exclusive presentation of the first-ever Wild Card on Friday, October 5. The network, in its sixth consecutive year televising the Division Series and one League Championship Series, will also be the exclusive home of up to 18 Division Series games and the entire American League Championship Series coverage on TBS.

TBS’ coverage of the Wild Card, LDS and ALCS will be handled by a deep roster of veteran commentators:

• Ernie Johnson will handle play-by-play alongside analysts John Smoltz and Ron Darling for the network’s exclusive coverage of the ALCS.
• For the network’s coverage of the Wild Card and Division Series, TBS will feature a pair of three-man commentator teams: play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson, who called Roy Halladay’s historic no-hitter on TBS during the 2010 NLDS, will be joined by veteran analysts Darling and Joe Simpson; and Johnson will mark his return to the TBS postseason broadcast booth, handling play-by-play alongside Hall of Famer Cal Ripken and Smoltz.
• Division Series announce teams will also include veteran play-by-play announcer Dick Stockton, joined in the booth once again by former MLB manager and long-time TV analyst Bob Brenly; and Don Orsillo (play-by-play) and Buck Martinez (analyst) will return for their sixth and fifth postseasons, respectively, with TBS.
• Reporters for the LDS will include MLB insider and Sports Illustrated/SI.com senior baseball writer Tom Verducci, who will also provide reports from the National League Championship Series (NLCS). Craig Sager will return to the MLB Postseason on TBS for his sixth year as a reporter and will work the ALCS for the network. Turner Sports veteran David Aldridge, who covered the MLB Postseason on TBS from 2007-2010, will return as a reporter during the LDS. Jaime Maggio, who has served as a reporter for the 2011 MLB Postseason on TBS, NBA Playoffs on TNT and Turner Sports’ presentation of the NCAA Tournament, will contribute to the network’s LDS coverage.

The MLB On-Deck pre-game show and Inside MLB post-game show will have in-depth game reports and post-game interviews from every LDS game, as well as the ALCS and NLCS. Matt Winer will once again serve as studio host alongside returning veteran analysts: Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley and two-time World Champion David Wells during the LDS.

In the first year of the new postseason format, two Wild Card teams in each league will play a single-elimination game with each winner advancing to compete with the three division championship from its respective leagues in the Division Series.

The network’s production plans will utilize state-of-the-art technology to bring fans unique insights into each game:

• 3D Hologram Imagery: Innovative 3D imagery will illustrate detailed examples of pitch grips while demonstrating the pressure points, release points and rotation. Analysts will use the tool to explain how pitches work and how the hitter approaches each type of pitch.
• Super Slo-Mo: TBS will triple the amount of Super Slow-Motion cameras utilized throughout the network’s postseason coverage.
• Bloomberg Stats: TBS will once again utilize Bloomberg Sports’ vast resources as they integrate comprehensive statistical information into each telecast. The service allows game and studio analysts to examine every pitch of each game to find patterns and pick out tendencies.
• Pitch Trax: The in-game technology which illustrates pitch location throughout the game will return to TBS for the postseason.

Additionally, Turner Sports will encourage fans interaction across social media platforms:

• Twitter: @MLB_TBS, @PostseasonPete and @TurnerSportsPR will provide game alerts, programming information and key statistical information throughout the postseason. Also, TBS MLB broadcasters will periodically answer questions from fans via Twitter chats. Fans can use #Postseason to join the conversation throughout the Wild Card games, LDS, ALCS and NLCS.

Facebook:  Fans can also check out the MLB on TBS Facebook page to find the latest schedule information, behind-the-scenes photos and other special features

There you have it.

Some Monday Linkage

I’ll do some quick linkage on this Monday.

In USA Today, Michael Hiestand talks with NFL on Fox rules analyst Mike Pereira.

In his extensive Monday Morning Quarterback column, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King remembers NFL Films’ Steve Sabol.

John Ourand at Sports Business Journal notes that MLB will be increasing its haul from ESPN, Fox and Turner in the latest TV contract.

Rick Porter at zap2it says NBC’s Sunday Night Football and CBS beat the Emmys on ABC like a drum on Sunday.

Anthony Crupi of AdWeek writes that the NHL lockout is putting NBC Sports Network in a huge bind.

Toni Fitzgerald at Media Life says NBC’s Sunday Night Football scored an overnight ratings win over the network competition.

Ed Sherman at The Sherman Report talks with NFL Network’s Rich Eisen.

ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell says the next big thing is putting team logos on food.

Mike McCarthy at Sports Biz USA tells us that the Brooklyn Nets cheerleaders will stress more of the sizzle in their uniforms.

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times writes that not every Time Warner Cable customer had access to NFL Network and NFL RedZone yesterday.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is the reason why Americans can’t have nice things.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says Notre Dame’s resurgence has NBC executives doing backflips at its headquarters.

David Zurawik in the Baltimore Sun says NBC’s Hines Ward still doesn’t feel the love from Ravens fans.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle writes that Sunday’s Texans-Broncos game received a big rating in H-Town.

David says former Red Sox and Astros voice Jerry Trupiano called two recent games for MLB.com.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer has the channel numbers for NFL Network and NFL RedZone for Insight customers.

Bob Wolfley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tells us that Texans-Broncos did really well locally.

Paul M. Banks at the Chicago Sports Media Watch reports that Comcast SportsNet has replaced the popular Sarah Kustok with a new reporter.

The Los Angeles Daily News’ Tom Hoffarth has five things he learned from the weekend.

Tom has the SoCal sports calendar for this week.

Bruce Dowbiggin in the Toronto Globe and Mail notes that Blue Jays analyst Greg Zaun may be facing some disciplinary action after criticizing the team culture following Yunel Escobar’s homophobic incident.

Matt Yoder of Awful Announcing looks at how a DirecTV error made Lions fans miss a key touchdown during Sunday’s game against Tennessee.

Sports Media Watch notes the overnight ratings for Sunday Night Football.

SMW says IndyCar finished its worst rated season ever.

That’s all.

A Look at The New MLB TV Deals

I’m a bit late in writing on the impending MLB deals. But with a little perspective, I can provide you with a look at the new TV contracts, plus give you the winners and losers that provides MLB with increased rights fees from its three partners.

Last week, Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reported that Major League Baseball was about to renew its agreements with current rightsholders, Fox Sports and Turner Broadcasting with a few differences from their current deals. And last month, it was announced that ESPN had agreed on a new eight year deal that increases its commitment to baseball plus brings the Alleged Worldwide Leader back into the MLB Postseason.

Up until the media reports on the new Fox and Turner deals, there was speculation about Turner bringing in CBS as a partner and Fox possibly combining its regular season Saturday games with Turner’s package of postseason series. However, when everything was all said and done, Fox and Turner remained as partners with some slight changes to their packages. And while the new deals with Fox and Turner have yet to be confirmed, expect a formal announcement soon.

Let’s review what each network will offer the American people when the new contracts take effect in 2014.

First, MLB will see increased rights payments from ESPN, Fox and Turner totaling $1.55 billion per year starting in 2014, up from the current $755 million.

Second, MLB will have four national cable outlets for games which will be explained later.

Third, Fox will have an increased role in the MLB Postseason after giving back some games in the current contract.

Fourth, MLB Network will have increased playoff games as well.

Now, let’s break down what each network will offer under their new contracts.

• ESPN will offer 90 regular season games.
• ESPN keeps its present Sunday, Monday and Wednesday night windows.
• Brings back holiday games on Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day.
• Reduced local blackouts.
• Coverage of Opening Day games.
• Retains rights to the All-Star Home Run Derby and other All-Star Weekend events.
• Gains rights to one Wild Card Playoff game.
• Retains radio and international rights.
• Increases digital rights.

• Retains rights to Saturday afternoon games.
• Increases amount of regular season games and will place them on rebranded Speed channel, to be reportedly named “Fox Sports 1″
• Retains rights to the annual All-Star Game.
• Gains rights to two League Division Series, some games to be sold to MLB Network, others will be aired on Fox Sports One.
• Retains rights to one League Championship Series and the World Series.

• Reduced amount of Sunday afternoon games from 26 to 13.
• No local blackouts of its Sunday broadcasts.
• Retains rights to one Wild Card Playoff game.
• Rights to two League Division Series, down from four in the current contract.
• Retains rights to one League Championship Series.
• Increased digital rights for the newly-acquired Bleacher Report.

• Continued broadcast of games on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and selected Saturday night games.
• Purchased rights from Fox to air League Division Series games.

While Major League Baseball will keep the status quo with its television partners, you can see that roles will change. ESPN is back in the postseason with one Wild Card game and increases its regular season inventory. Fox gets to use baseball to create an all-new cable sports network to compete with ESPN while increasing its inventory of Saturday games. TBS halves its Sunday games reducing to its lowest amount of games dating back to its days of airing the Atlanta Braves.

So our winners: ESPN and Fox. They get to increase their regular season inventory as well as their postseason inventory. Fox also has baseball for its new cable network.

Losers: Turner Sports. It has to pay more for less, both for regular season and postseason games. And NBC Sports which had been at the bargaining table hoping to get back into the baseball business and was depending on MLB to shore up NBC Sports Network. Now the Peacock has to look to NASCAR as a possible savior.

In conclusion, MLB will have a new outlet to air games in Fox Sports 1 plus keeping all of its media partners. Also, MLB will have a goal of four cable networks airing its games, ESPN, Fox’s entry, MLB Network and TBS. Fox will remain the only broadcast network. And MLB will get more money in its bank account.

Overall, this latest negotiation turned out to be very successful and provides plenty of stability through the 2021 season.

Some Wednesday Links

Can you believe it’s Wednesday already? Holiday on Monday makes the work week go faster.

To the linkage which has been too scarce on the site.

Michael Hiestand of USA Today looks at some of the changes on the NFL’s TV partners this season.

John Ourand of Sports Business Journal talks about the fierce bidding between Fox and Turner for the MLB TV contract.

Mike Ozanian of Forbes has a video interview with MLB Advanced Media’s Bob Bowman about the company’s video technology which is being used all over the internet.

Tim Baysinger of Broadcasting & Cable says CBS Sports is adding an on-air medical consultant to its NFL coverage this season.

Mike Reynolds at Multichannel News says CBS/CBS Sports Network’s coverage of the US Open this past Labor Day Weekend was on the mark.

Anthony Crupi of Adweek tells us that General Motors is all over the NFL season opening game.

Natalie Zmuda from Advertising Age discusses what Pepsi is doing to maximize its branding in a new 10 year contract with the National Football League.

Michael Bradley at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says when it comes to the NFL on TV, it’s all about the money.

Ed Sherman at the Sherman Report looks at what’s new on NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage this season.

ESPN’s Darren Rovell looks at the best of Aramark’s NFL stadium food for this season.

The great people at Awful Announcing have started an offshoot site called Awful Advertisements.

Speaking about Awful Announcing, Brad Gagnon talks about former New York Giant Shaun O’Hara joining NFL Network.

At the New York Times, Richard Sandomir notes that SNY analyst Keith Hernandez’s famous mustache is now turning grey and could actually be shaved off!

Newsday’s Neil Best looks at the new Monday Night Football booth for this season.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union writes that a former New York Giants offensive lineman will be joining NFL Network as an analyst.

Pete says local listeners to last Saturday’s Northwestern-Syracuse game were suddenly left in limbo late in the 4th quarter.

Ken Schott from the Schenectady Gazette has your Week 2 college football schedule on TV.

Keith Groller at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call says the NFL is back on TV.

Sheil Kapadia of Philadelphia Magazine reports that former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is headed to television.

Dave Hughes from DCRTV.com writes in Press Box that legendary Voice of the University of Maryland sports, Johnny Holliday will be honored in November.

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner talks with NBC’s Al Michaels who’s in his 25th year of calling the National Football League’s premier primetime game.

Adam H. Beasley at the Miami Herald recaps the season finale of HBO’s Hard Knocks.

Steve Svekis of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel notes that Hard Knocks showed all of the Miami Dolphins’ warts.

Eric Deggans of the Tampa Bay Tribune likes that the NFL on Fox’s Michael Strahan is joining Kelly Ripa on “Live”.

David Barron of the Houston Chronicle has CBS’ Jim Nantz and Phil Simms being bullish on the Texans’ chances this season.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman notes that last Saturday’s OU-UTEP game was the lowest rated Sooners game in five years.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes that NBC Sports Radio launched around the country last night, but not in the Queen City.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Bob Wolfley looks at Dwayne Wade’s new autobiography.

Paul M. Banks at Chicago Sports Media Watch notes that Notre Dame football radio analyst Allen Pinkett has been suspended for comments he made about recruiting criminals for the program.

Dusty Saunders of the Denver Post profiles a long-time local sports radio host.

Scott D. Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune tells us what we already know, that the NFL is the king of sports television.

Bruce Dowbiggin of the Toronto Globe and Mail says the NHL’s Canadian TV partners have been notoriously silent about the impending lockout.

Sports Media Watch says ESPN has added a former referee to the Monday Night Football lineup.

Dave Kohl of the Broadcast Booth says Fox Sports almost lost its college football opener when its MLB games went long.

That’s going to do it for now.