NFL Draft Fallout and Other Things

The NFL Draft is over and the next big sporting event is the NBA Playoffs and next week, it’ll be the Kentucky Derby. The rites of the Sporting Spring are well underway.

First the links. USA Today’s Michael Hiestand has the review of the weekend ratings. Just four events were measured which shows that the TV offerings were pretty slow. Fox had a NASCAR race, CBS had golf and a Formula 1 race. ABC had the NBA Playoffs, while NBC had an Arena Football game which didn’t appear in Hiestand’s story.

In today’s Boston Globe, Bill Griffith writes about the “3 Games to Glory III” DVD which focuses on the three postseason games the New England Patriots played, which of course, led to their win in the Super Bowl. He also has some local news and notes.

Steve Zipay of New York Newsday this year’s NBA Playoffs lack sex appeal as big market teams such as New York and Los Angeles are missing. I have to agree with him. Zipay also talks to Marv Albert about his interest in NBC’s Sunday Night Football gig and also discusses the New Jersey Nets whose games Albert will call next year on the YES Network.

The New York Daily News is always good for a media column on Tuesday. Bob Raissman provides the fodder today and he mostly writes about the panic in New York over the Yankees’ poor start. But he does praise YES analyst Jim Kaat for not succumbing to it.

The dispute between Time Warner and Cablevision over FSN and the MSG Network is approaching its third month with no end in sight. Fans have been deprived of the New York Mets and god forbid, the New York-New Jersey MetroStars of the MLS. Richard Sandomir of the New York Times (registration required) writes that the dispute is leading to binding arbitration. Sandomir also wonders where New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is. He has brokered deals between the two companies in the past and is missing in this dispute.

Over in Chicago, one-time sports radio king, WSCR has topped rival WMVP in the latest ratings battle between the two stations. But as Chicago Tribune media writer Teddy Greenstein points out, both sides are claiming victory in the latest ratings period. WSCR officials are happy with their success and Greenstein writes that the station was helped by Illinois’ run to the Final Four and adding Steve Stone as a baseball analyst. Greenstein also reports that the White Sox are close to a deal with WSCR which would take the team away from WMVP after this season.

Broadcasting & Cable magazine has an article on whether the networks can make money on the new NFL deals. The networks have used the NFL as a loss leader since the 1980’s although CBS says it made money on its current deal through its Owned and Operated stations. NBC says it will make money on the Sunday Night Football deal in a similar vein.

For a college baseball team, getting on any type of TV is a big deal. The Wichita State Shockers will be shown on ESPN2 and ESPNU. The Wichita Eagle has a story. It’s not a big deal nationally, but I thought I would give you a story from the Midwest on this.

For those of you who are watching the NBA Playoffs, TNT is attempting to hire Kobe Bryant as a studio analyst for its games. The LA Daily News has a brief story on that plus a meeting to be held between Bryant and former Laker coach Phil Jackson.

That’s it for now. Back later with more down the line.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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