Sports Media Digest- May 23, 2012
Sunday Night Football Top Rated Program for the 2012-2013 TV Season- The 2012-2013 television season is over and Sunday Night Football has been crowned the top-rated prime-time program for the year. NBC has earned that honor for the second straight year. Over the course of the 19 telecasts Sunday Night Football earned an average audience of 21.5 million viewers.
TNT Nets a 5.3 Rating for NBA Eastern Conference Finals Opener- Turner Sports reports that last night’s opening game of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals register an average rating of 5.3 with 8.2 million viewers. The rating was up 10% over the network’s coverage of the first game of the Western Conference Finals last year.
Finebaum Joins ESPN and SEC Network- ESPN has announced that it has hired long-time sports voice Paul Finebaum to host a radio show which will eventually be simulcast on the SEC Network. The radio show will debut this August with the simulcast on the SEC Network to begin in August of 2014. Finebaum will also appear on a variety of other shows and outlets, including SportsCenter, College Football Live, College GameDay and in ESPN The Magazine.
Coca-Cola 600 This Weekend on Fox- Fox Sports continues its coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunday evening with the Coca-Cola 600 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Coverage begins at 5:30p.m. ET with pre-race action hosted by Chris Myers with Darrell and Michael Waltrip. When the race begins Mike Joy calls the action alongside analysts Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds while Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum patrol the pits for reports on teams and pit stops. FOX Sports’ Jeff Hammond serves as the network’s roving analyst.
ESPN Updates ACC Football Schedule
ESPN has added more games to its schedule of ACC football.
Here is the complete updated schedule as of May 23rd, with further games to be announced:
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Network |
| Thu, Aug 29 | 6 p.m. | North Carolina at No. 8 South Carolina * | ESPN |
| 6:30 p.m. | Presbyterian at Wake Forest | ESPN3 | |
| Fri, Aug 30 | 8 p.m. | Florida Atlantic at Miami (Fla.) | ESPNU |
| Sat, Aug 31 | Noon | Villanova at Boston College | ESPN3 |
| Noon | Elon at Georgia Tech | ESPN3 | |
| 12:30 p.m. | Louisiana Tech at NC State | ESPN3 ^ / ACC Network | |
| 12:30 p.m. | Florida International at Maryland | ESPN3 ^ / ACC Network | |
| 3:30 p.m. | BYU at Virginia | ESPNU | |
| 4 p.m. | North Carolina Central at Duke | ESPN3 | |
| 5:30 p.m. | Chick-fil-A Kickoff: Virginia Tech vs. No. 2 Alabama (from Atlanta) * | ESPN | |
| 8 p.m. | No. 7 Georgia at No. 12 Clemson * | ABC | |
| Mon, Sep 2 | 8 p.m. | No. 14 Florida State at Pittsburgh * | ESPN |
| Fri, Sep 6 | 8 p.m. | Wake Forest at Boston College * | ESPN2 |
| Sat, Sep 7 | Noon | No. 11 Florida at Miami (Fla.) | ESPN |
| 12:30 p.m. | Middle Tennessee at North Carolina | ESPN3 ^ / ACC Network | |
| 12:30 p.m. | South Carolina State at No. 12 Clemson | ESPN3 ^ / ACC Network | |
| 1:30 p.m. | Western Carolina at Virginia Tech | ESPN3 | |
| 3:30 p.m. | No. 3 Oregon at Virginia | ABC & ESPN2 | |
| 4 p.m. | Old Dominion at Maryland | ESPN3 | |
| 6 p.m. | Richmond at NC State | ESPN3 | |
| Sat, Sep 14 | 12:30 p.m. | New Mexico at Pittsburgh | ESPN3 ^ / ACC Network |
| 12:30 p.m. | Louisiana-Monroe at Wake Forest | ESPN3 ^ / ACC Network | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Nevada at No. 14 Florida State | ESPN or ESPN2 | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Georgia Tech at Duke | ESPNU | |
| 4 p.m. | Wagner at Syracuse | ESPN3 | |
| Thu, Sep 19 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 12 Clemson at NC State * | ESPN |
| Thu, Sep 26 | 7:30 p.m. | Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech * | ESPN |
| Thu, Oct 17 | TBD | Miami (Fla.) at North Carolina * | ESPN |
| Thu, Nov 14 | 7:30 p.m. | Georgia Tech at No. 12 Clemson * | ESPN |
| Fri, Nov 29 | TBD | Miami (Fla.) at Pittsburgh * | ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 |
| Sat, Dec 7 | 7:45 p.m. or 8 p.m. | Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game (from Charlotte) | ABC or ESPN |
NBA TV’s WNBA Broadcast Schedule
NBA TV today announced its slate of 45 games for the upcoming WNBA regular season.
Here is the complete schedule:
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Saturday MLB on Fox, with Announcer Assignments
Fox will telecast five regional MLB games this weekend as part of its Fox Saturday Baseball telecasts. Coverage begins at 7:00p.m. with Matt Vasgersian, Harold Reynolds and Cliff Floyd hosting the Fox Saturday Baseball Pregame Show.
Here is the schedule of games, along with announcer assignments and the markets each game can be seen:
St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers- Joe Buck, Tim McCarverand Ken Rosenthal. 32% of the country will see this game. MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, San Diego, St. Louis, Tulsa.
Atlanta Braves at New York Mets - Justin Kutcher and Tom Verducci. 25% of the country will see this game. MARKETS INCLUDE: Atlanta, Birmingham, Buffalo, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Jacksonville, Knoxville, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Raleigh, Tampa.
Miami Marlins at Chicago White Sox- Thomm Brennaman and Eric Karros. 14% of the country will see this game. MARKETS INCLUDE: Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Fort Myers, Miami, Minneapolis, West Palm Beach.
Oakland A’s at Houston Astros- Rick Waltz and Mitch Williams. 12% of the country will see this game. MARKETS INCLUDE: Austin, Dallas, Houston, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle.
Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals- Tom McCarthy and Bill Ripken. 12% of the country will see this game. MARKETS INCLUDE: Baltimore, Boston, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Providence, Richmond, Washington.
NBC Sports Coverage of the French Open
NBC Sports has unveiled its plans to cover the French Open beginning this week.
NBC plans to devote 27 hours to live matches from Roland Garros. Ted Robinson will lead the network’s coverage, along side analysts John McEnroe and Mary Carillo.
Action begins this Sunday. Here is the schedule for the French Open on NBC:
| FRENCH OPEN ON NBC | ||
| Sunday, May 26 | Noon – 3 p.m. ET | First Round (Live) |
| Monday, May 27 | Noon – 3 p.m. (all time zones) | First Round (Live ET) |
| Saturday, June 1 | Noon – 3 p.m. ET | Third Round (Live) |
| Sunday, June 2 | 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. ET | Fourth Round (Live) |
| Thursday, June 6 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. (all time zones) | Women’s Semifinals (Live ET) |
| Friday, June 7 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. (all time zones) | Men’s Semifinals (Live ET) |
| Saturday, June 8 | 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. ET | Women’s Final (live) |
| Sunday, June 9 | 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET | Men’s Final (Live) |
