I’ll give you a few links tonight.
First, ESPN Ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber looks at Monday Night Football and feels the reduction of roles for sideline reporters Michelle Tafoya and Suzy Kolber are the least of its problems.
Newsday’s Neil Best is back blogging after taking the weekend off. He writes about NBC adding Oxygen to its Olympic family of networks. And Neil says CBS putting all of the NCAA Tournament games online and lifting local blackouts will definitely lower work productivity.
And here’s the CBS press release about March Madness on Demand for the NCAA Tournament. Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes in his Business of Sport blog about March Madness on Demand.
The Ventura County Star’s Jim Carlisle has reader reaction to his Friday column about tape delayed Lakers game in his blog.
Chris Pursell of TV Week reports that ESPN has hired Damon Phillips, the founder of SportsTVInsider.com, as the Vice President of ESPN360.
John Feinstein has a very nice column in the Washington Post about the return of Dick Vitale to ESPN.
There are a couple of more Chris Berman videos. One is him talking about the Canadian deux deux deux or codeine. And the other is him trying to get a table for three of his friends at the ESPN Zone in Baltimore. This is funny stuff.
Good friend, LC, has reaction to Dale Arnold and Jon Rish joining the Red Sox radio broadcast booth.
And Fox Sports tells us that the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday the NASCAR season to a fast start.
BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT GETS 2008 NASCAR ON FOX
SEASON OFF TO FAST START
Season Opening Event Powers FOX to Primetime Win;
Posts +6% Increase Over Last Year
The 2008 NASCAR on FOX season got off to a strong start Saturday night by notching a 5.1 household rating and a 9 share (8.5 million viewers) for the Budweiser Shootout from Daytona. Saturday’s 5.1/9 is a +6% gain over last year’s 4.8/9 for the Shootout, according to Nielsen Fast National ratings released today.
The Budweiser Shootout powered FOX to primetime wins for the night in both household rating and the Adults 18-49 demographic. Among all homes, FOX’s 5.1/9 for the Shootout scored a +19% win over second place NBC’s 4.3/8 and FOX’s 3.0 rating in Adults 18-49 was good for an impressive +30% win over ABC’s 2.3. The Shootout also saw ratings increases among Men 25-54 (+6%, 5.1 vs. 4.8) and Men 55+ (+8%, 5.6 vs. 5.2).
Viewing of the Budweiser Shootout peaked at a 6.1/11 from 10:00-10:10 PM ET as over 10 million viewers saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. take the checkered flag in his first outing in the No. 88 car for Hendrick Motorsports.
That will do it for now.
