Fang's Bites

Doing Some Tuesday Links

Well, yesterday I was two jobsites. Today, I forgot to bring my computer AC adapter and my phone so for several hours, I was without any communication to the outside world. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but it certainly felt strange not to have connection to the internet or Twitter.

Now that I’m back, I can provide some linkage and also do some press release posts. I’ll do the linkage first.

Big news from John Ourand and Sports Business Daily. We learn that UFC will move its programming from Versus and Spike TV to Fox, FX and Fuel TV with four MMA events a year on Fox.

Tim Baysinger from Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN will produce the Little League World Series in 3-D for the first time.

Adweek looks at a new ESPN ad that’s being aired in the UK.

Toni Fitzgerald in Media Life Magazine notes that a battle of unknowns in a playoff led to lower ratings for the PGA Championship on CBS.

Tony Manfred at the Business Insider Sports Page says details are coming out on the new ESPN Monday Night Football rights renewal from ESPN book author James Arthur Miller. This story has been out there since January when Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand broke it.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser says ESPN’s Brent Musburger and CBS’s Verne Lundquist will be honored in New York for their contributions to college football.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser says a former WABC-TV sports anchor has pleaded guilty inappropriately touching a minor.

SportGrid’s Ben Axelrod has video of Showtime’s Jim Gray berating boxing referee Russell Mora for missed low blows after the Abner Mares-Joseph Agbeko fight. Jim Gray is a real bulldog, let me tell you. This is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen.

Dan Fogarty has video of ESPN’s Jon Gruden saying, “this guy” multiple times during last night’s Jets-Texans game.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says there’s a glut of Terrelle Pryor jerseys. Were they exchanged for tattoos?

Jason Dachman of Sports Video Group talks about ESPN going into the third dimension for the Little League World Series.

Newsday’s Neil Best talks with CBS Sports Network analyst Rich Rodriguez about working in TV.

Joe Drape of the New York Times reports that NBC is in talks to air a series of Triple Crown prep races each Spring.

Daniel Massey in Crain’s New York Business writes that the Jets are catching up with the Giants as far as the New York tri-state area fan support is concerned.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union says a nationally syndicated radio show will be broadcasting live from Saratoga Race Course on Friday.

Ken McMillan from the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record notes that Notre Dame football will be heard locally throughout the season.

Dan Gross of the Philadelphia Daily News writes about the announced departure of Howard Eskin from sports radio WIP.

John Miller at Philadelphia Sports Daily says Howard Eskin will be missed.

In the Washington Post’s DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg says Rick “Doc” Walker will sub for the talkative Joe Theismann for this Friday’s game on the DC NFL team’s local broadcast.

Jim Williams in the Washington Examiner writes that Texas A&M to the SEC will have a huge fallout in college football.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Mac Engel talks with former Monday Night Football sideline reporter and current Inside Edition reporter Lisa Guerrero.

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron reports that Texans running back Arian Foster has signed to appear on both Yahoo! Sports Radio and a local radio station.

The San Antonio Express-News has a fascinating look at the evolution of every major sport on American TV in the last 21 years.

Jerry Garcia of the Express-News adds his thoughts on the most notable changes in sports television.

Mel Bracht of the Daily Oklahoman has the local ratings from the weekend.

Ed Sherman in Crain’s Chicago Business talks about how Comcast SportsNet Chicago got an interview with embattled Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano.

Tom Hoffarth has the Sports Calendar for this week.

Because of my busy schedule, I haven’t been able to cover the Barstool Sports/Tom Brady baby picture controversy as much I have liked. It’s a big story in Boston as sports radio station WEEI feigned outrage on a slow news day to get ratings. The story went national and Barstool Sports editor David Portnoy found himself today on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show to explain himself (you can go here and here to listen). Perhaps down the road I’ll spend more time on it and go into analytical mode on it.

In The Broadcast Booth, Dave Kohl looks at Howard Eskin’s announcement that he’s leaving his daily WIP show in Philadelphia.

The Canadian Sports Media blog notes that TSN accidentally leaked a portion of its 2011-12 NHL schedule over the weekend.

At Puck The Media, Steve Lepore says the NHL will finally release its national TV schedule on Thursday.

And that will do it. I’ve been trying to do these links since 3 p.m., but I’ve been interrupted so many times. Glad to finally be done.

On To The Tuesday Links

Let’s get your Tuesday linkage up and posted today. Good stuff to get to.

Variety’s Stuart Levine talks with NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus about the Versus rebrand to NBC Sports Network and other subjects.

The Associated Press has Lazarus hopeful that he can make former NBC Sports Emperor Dick Ebersol proud.

Brian Steinberg at Advertising Age writes that NBC’s rebrand of Versus plus having the Super Bowl this season puts the network in position to be a real challenger to ESPN.

Marisa Guthrie in the Hollywood Reporter’s Live Feed blog says NBC’s top brass was never worried about losing NFL games this season.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter writes that Canada’s Rogers Communications will stream live video of Toronto Blue Jays games online and on smartphones starting this month.

Georg Szalai of the Reporter notes that Fox Sports is protesting a plan to sell the Los Angeles Dodgers’ media rights. Fox says it agreed to a long-term extension of its current deal with the team, but MLB has rejected it.

To Adweek and Emma Bazilian who says Fox is going to war over the Dodgers’ media rights.

Todd Spangler at Multichannel News writes about AT&T U-verse suddenly dropping ESPN3D citing the high carriage fees and lack of subscribers.

George Winslow of Broadcasting & Cable notes that ESPN has promoted one of its executives.

Marcus Vanderberg of SportsNewser notes that Chicago sportscaster Mike Adamle was cleared of DUI charges.

Cam Martin of SportsNewser looks at Awful Announcing’s Joe Morgan Memorial Tournament that left Craig James as its “winner”.

Ken Kerschbaumer at Sports Video Group wonders if 3-D will have a role in the 2012 London Olympics.

At Outkick The Coverage, Clay Travis says it’s Yahoo! that’s poised to be ESPN’s true sports media rival in the 2nd decade of the 21st Century.

The Sports Biz Miss, Kristi Dosh in the Business of College Sports explains why BCS Automatic Qualifying conferences are not knocking down Boise State’s doors to have the school join their leagues.

Kristi also looks at how the Pac-12 Network will be distributed to several Top 100 media markets within the Conference footprint.

To Yahoo’s Puck Daddy where Sean Leahy talks with ESPN’s John Buccigross about his NHL guilty pleasures.

Jose Martinez of Complex speaks with ESPN’s Erin Andrews about her country music and Saturday Night Live obsessions.

USA Today’s Mike McCarthy also talks with Erin, this time about Twitter and her assessment of her first year on the anchor desk at College GameDay.

All Access reports that Fox Sports Radio is hooking up with Mastercard for a Stand Up to Cancer promotion.

Greg Bordonaro of Hartford Business writes that ESPN plans to take advantage of a Connecticut tax break incentive offer to add more jobs in the state.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union looks at NBC/Versus NHL voice Mike “Doc” Emrick receiving another honor.

Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call catches up with iconic Philadelphia Eagles radio voice Merrill Reese.

Paul Farhi of the Washington Post speaks with outgoing local sports anchor Brett Haber about his decision to leave his local station.

Adam Kilgore of the Post writes that MASN has not exercised the option on Washington Nationals TV voice Bob Carpenter’s contract, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t be back next season.

ESPN3.com will be streaming a Georgia rivalry high school football game later this month.

Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Big 12 schools decided to compromise on the Longhorn Network for one season.

Randy Riggs of the Austin (TX) American-Statesman writes that means no high school football games on the Longhorn Network for now.

Mike Finger in the Houston Chronicle says the Big 12 did leave open the possibility of having a conference game aired on the Longhorn Network this season.

Anthony Schoettle of the Indianapolis Business Journal says an NBC Sports Group deal to put NFL games on Versus would be a big help to the channel’s IndyCar package.

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that NFL Network and companion RedZone were picked up by Charter Communications.

Bob says Chicago Cubs radio voice Pat Hughes regales in telling stories about the late Marquette coach Al McGuire and their time calling the school’s games together.

In OnMilwaukee, Andy Tarnoff goes behind the scenes during a Brewers game production with the Fox Sports Wisconsin crew.

Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star writes that NBC’s Sunday Night Football crew is ready for the NFL season to start.

Shad Powers of the Desert (CA) Sun says MLB Network came through on Sunday.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News discusses the rebranding of Versus to NBC Sports Network.

In the Daly Planet, John Daly notes that ESPN NASCAR analyst Rusty Wallace has a conflict of interest when calling Nationwide Series races.

Toronto Sports Media says Sirius and XM in Canada might be pulling the plug on The Score radio channel.

The Canadian Sports Media blog has some thoughts on the last week in Canadian sports media.

Sports Media Watch notes that ESPN has brought in former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas as a studio NFL analyst.

Dave Kohl at Major League Programs looks at the moves to rebrand of Sporting News Radio and Versus.

And we’re done with the linkage for today.

Dragging Out The Monday Linkage

Lots of stuff coming out today. Rebranding news galore as we found out that Versus will undergo a name change on January 2, 2012. Then there’s Sporting News Radio changing its name to Yahoo! Sports Radio as of today. And Westwood One Radio has merged with Dial-Global today. Crazy day. Let’s do some linkage and hope nothing else breaks.

First, Mike McCarthy of USA Today broke the news last night of the Versus rebrand.

We have the reason for the rebrand to NBC Sports Network directly from NBC.

Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand has a story on the Versus rebrand.

Bob Fernandez of the Philadelphia Inquirer says the goal of the Versus rebrand is to gain more access for NBC Sports Network and to raise subscriber fees.

Georg Szalai at the Hollywood Reporter says NBC Sports hopes to provide marketers and affiliates with a better value for the channel.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that the new name for Versus will launch on January 2.

Stuart Levine from Variety says NBC Sports hopes the new name will give the channel better footing in competing against ESPN.

All Access looks at Sporting News Radio becoming Yahoo! Sports Radio as of today.

The Houston Chronicle’s David Barron explores the rebranding of Sporting News Radio.

John Kiesewetter of the Cincinnati Enquirer say local SNR affiliates were informed of the new name today.

To other stories now.

ESPN Ombudsman Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute wonders if ESPN got too entrenched in its NFL lockout coverage.

Eric Morath of the Wall Street Journal says Fox Sports is protesting an MLB-backed plan to sell media rights for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Overseas, Current’s Keith Olbermann writes in the London (UK) Guardian how News Corp. President Rupert Murdoch hired and fired him from Fox Sports Net.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com says Texas A&M is appealing to the NCAA to use a 17 year old rule to block Texas and the Longhorn Network from airing high school football games.

Dan Fogarty of SportsGrid says a Seattle sports radio host gave former Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard a real parting shot as he heads to Boston in a trade to the Red Sox.

Also at SportsGrid, Timothy Burke has a mashup of horrible Tim McCarver analysis from Saturday.

To Cam Martin of SportsNewser who writes is ESPN is renaming its RISE brand to reflect its true focus.

Louisa Ada Seltzer of Media Life Magazine notes the return of fans to NFL team websites which bodes well for the regular season.

Richard Lawler from Engadget HD notes that AT&T U-verse suddenly booted ESPN 3D off its lineup last night without any warning.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell says the NFL fantasy business seems to have recovered from the lockout.

Phil Mushnick of the New York Post is calling out some sports reporters for being lapdogs.

Pete Dougherty of the Albany Times Union has his reaction to NBC changing Versus’ name.

Pete also has the MLB Network schedule of games for early August.

Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes NBC/Versus NHL voice Mike Emrick will be honored by the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

In the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner says football may be back, and so will the stadium hostage game.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog says former ESPN’er Brett Haber is leaving his local DC gig to spend more time with his family.

Here’s the announcement of Haber’s departure from his local station.

Mark Washburn of the Charlotte (NC) Observer says two local radio stations are swapping their national ESPN and Fox Sports Radio affiliations.

Tom Jones from the St. Petersburg Times looks back at the weekend in sports TV.

In his blog, David Barron of the Houston Chronicle briefly touches upon the Sporting News Radio rebrand and discusses the passing of a legendary Texas play-by-play man.

The Pittsburg (KS) Morning Sun has a story from Jesse Cordova that ESPN will air a high school football game in neighboring Missouri.

The Denver Post’s Dusty Saunders says despite having a losing record last season, the Broncos will be covered aplenty on TV.

In the Salt Lake Tribune, Scott D. Pierce says Utah fans are already screaming about the lack of TV exposure in this year’s Pac-12 football schedule.

Brian T. Smith of the Tribune talks with new Fox Sports college football announcer Craig Bolerjack who comes over from CBS.

Tom Hoffarth in the Los Angeles Daily News has this week’s sports calendar.

Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News looks at how TV rights and market size come into play for any future Pac-12 expansion.

Jonathan Okanes in the Mercury News says there’s a new FM sports radio station in the Bay Area.

Rachel Bachman of The Oregonian talks with ESPN’s Desmond Howard, Kirk Herbstreit and Erin Andrews about the 25th anniversary of College GameDay.

Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star says sports seems to be getting the reality TV treatment throughout visual mediums.

Bruce Dowbiggin from the Toronto Globe and Mail says TSN seems to be a retraining ground for coaches.

To The Big Lead and Jason Lisk where he looks at the rather interesting tweets by NFL insiders Peter King and Adam Schefter.

Sports Media Watch learns that Turner Sports’ Marc Fein is leaving to pursue other opportunities.

That’s going to do it. Lots of links today.

Sporting News Radio Is Now Yahoo! Sports Radio

Here’s another rebrand for you. Sporting News Radio which is based out of Houston has rebranded as Yahoo! Sports Radio as of today. Gow Broadcasting which owns Sporting News Radio, now Yahoo! Sports Radio made the announcement today. The daily lineup which includes Steve Czaban, Tim Brando and Todd Wright remains intact. This give listeners access to the many writers Yahoo! Sports employs and they can now be heard regularly on Yahoo! Sports Radio.

The origin of Sporting News Radio date back to 1991 when it began as the Sports Entertainment Network, the third attempted company to syndicate all-sports programming across the country. Two years later, a Chicago investment group bought Sports Entertainment Network changing the name to One on One Sports. It eventually grew to a network of over 300 radio stations across the country.

In 2000, Sporting News bought One on One and changed the name to Sporting News Radio. Gow Broadcasting eventually purchased the assets of Sporting News Radio, moved the operations to Houston and today, made the announcement that it’s changing its name once again to Yahoo! Sports Radio with a network of 180 affiliates nationwide.

We have the press release from Gow Broadcasting and Yahoo.

Yahoo! Sports and Gow Broadcasting Hit the Radio Airwaves with Yahoo! Sports Radio

No. 1 online sports destination announces new relationship with leading sports radio network

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug 01, 2011 — Yahoo!, the premier digital media company, and Gow Broadcasting, LLC (formerly Mission Media Group, LLC), today announced the launch of Yahoo! Sports Radio. The new, national sports radio network can be heard on over 180 affiliate radio stations across the country, Sirius Satellite Radio, and a number of digital and mobile partners. This partnership enables Yahoo! Sports — the No. 1 destination for online sports with more than 50 million monthly unique users — to reach its avid fans in the largest local sports markets across the country.

“Yahoo! Sports Radio builds on our leadership as the No. 1 sports site online and creates a national and local outlet for our brand and talent,” said Ken Fuchs, VP Yahoo! Media Network. “As Yahoo! Sports covers the biggest events, stories and athletes on and off the field, our partnership with Gow Broadcasting will provide more access to our users and solutions to our advertising partners that want to connect with them wherever they consume sports.”

“We are delighted to enter this relationship with Yahoo! Sports,” said David Gow, CEO of Gow Broadcasting, LLC. “We have long enjoyed Yahoo! Sports’ content. We believe strongly that the resources at Yahoo! Sports combined with our on-air talent create the strongest sports roster in the industry. For our affiliates and our listeners, we can deliver top-shelf reporting, analysis and commentary.”

In this relationship, Yahoo Sports! and Gow Broadcasting will share content, develop new content together and engage audiences and advertisers across multiple platforms. The result is that Yahoo! Sports and Yahoo! Sports Radio are designed to be the first stop for news, information and sports commentary. Key features of the new Yahoo Sports Radio include:

– Yahoo! Sports Radio’s popular shows, such as the Steve Czaban show and the Tim Brando show, will feature experts from Yahoo! Sports. Dan Wetzel, Mike Silver, Adrian Wojnarowski, Charles Robinson and others will be regular participants on Yahoo! Sports Radio.

– Yahoo! Sports investigative stories and breaking news will be delivered simultaneously on both platforms.

– Yahoo! Sports Radio’s audio content will be featured on Yahoo Sports!, including Peter Gammon’s daily feature, and top interviews from Yahoo! Sports Radio’s shows.

– Yahoo! Sports Radio will also add shows such as Fantasy Freaks with experts Brandon Funston, Brad Evans and Andy Behrens and Rivals Radio with host Chris Childers, where fans can listen to college football and basketball programming with Rivals.com experts.

Yahoo! Sports Radio continues Yahoo!’s commitment to provide sports fans with personally relevant sporting content across all media where fans gather — including online, mobile, tablets, connected television, AT&T U-verse and multiple publications such as Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football and Rivals College preview magazines.

For more information on Yahoo! Sports Radio and a full list of local affiliates including New York (WFAN), Chicago (WSCR), San Francisco (KBWF) and Dallas (KTCK) visit: http://www.yahoosportsradio.com.

That is all for now.