Monthly Archives: April 2011
SMJ Inbox- April 5, 2011
Time to look inside what was deleivered to the Sports Media Journal inbox this Tuesday…
NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game Numbers Flat, Tournament Overall a Success- Last night’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game scored an 11.7 rating for CBS, down from 2010 but still one of the highest rated finals in the last five years. In the first year of sharing coverage of the tournament with TBS, TNT, and turTV, the tourney registered an average rating of 6.4, up 7% from CBS’ coverage in 2010.
March Madness on Demand a Huge Hit- The 2011 March Madness on Demand delivered a 63% increase in total visits over the 2010 tournament. There were a total of 53 million visits to the site either via broadband or mobile applications.
Tournament Challenge on ESPN.com a Success…Even for Sports Media Bloggers- ESPN’s Tournament Challenge has come up with its final numbers. 4.7% of the 5.9 million brackets filled out selected UConn to win the championship. On a side note, Friend of SMJ Ken Fang at Fang’s Bites finished 3rd in the tournament of sports media writers and bloggers. Yours truly finished a respectable 12th.
Thursday’s NBA Match-ups on TNT Set- The NBA doubleheader on TNT this Thursday has been set. Leading off at 8pm ET will be the Boston Celtics at Chicago Bulls. The nightcap will feature the Portland Trail Blazers at Utah Jazz at 10:30pm ET.
SMJ Inbox- April 4, 2011
Another week…and another peek into the Sports Media Journal Inbox…
Solid Ratings Numbers for Final Four- CBS is reporting that ratings for Saturday’s Final Four games from Houston registered an average rating of 8.9, the same as 2010 and the highest since 2005…
It’s Masters Week and CBS is Prepping for Online Coverage- As coverage of the 2011 Masters begins this week, CBSSports.com has announced that it will have three online channels to cover the tournament. Masters Live will feature 75 hours of online video coverage, including a channel featuring the action at Amen Corner (holes 11,12, & 13), one at holes 15 & 16, and one dedicated to a featured group. CBS will employe special announcers for each of the three channels. Ian Eagle, Jerry Foltz, and Andrew Catalon will anchor coverage on the three channels respectively. CBSSports.com will also provide other special programming from Augusta.
Sirius XM has the Masters Covered on Radio- Sirius XM Radio will be providing hole-by-hole coverage of the Masters. Live coverage will begin at 2pm ET Thursday through Sunday on Sirius channel 209 and XM channel 146.
CBS College Sports Officially Re-branded as CBS Sports Network- CBS College Sports Network is no more. Beginning today, the network will now be known as College Sports Network. Here is the network’s new logo:
ESPN Announces Name and Logo for University of Texas Network- In anticipation of it’s launch in August, ESPN has announced that the new 24-hour sports channel for the University of Texas Athletics will be called The Longhorn Network. here is the network logo:
SMJ Inbox- April 1, 2011
No time to get to this yesterday so here is an early morning Friday look into what has been gathering in the Sports Media Journal inbox…
More Eyeballs Paying Attention to ESPN- ESPN has announced that the first quarter of 2011 has been the most viewed first quarter in the history of the network. ESPN has averaged a rating of 0.9, representing an average of just under 1.1 million viewers. Those numbers are 17% above the first quarter of 2010. The network credits its exclusive coverage of the BCS as one factor in its success.
ESPN Unveils Slate of Spring College Football Action- ESPN will be telecasting 14 spring college football games across its family of networks. Action begins this Saturday. Get the complete schedule here.
NBC Sports Group Announces NHL Schedule to Wrap-up the Regular Season- Hockey fans will be able to watch eight NHL games over eight days as the 2011 season comes to a close. NBC begins the coverage Sunday at 12:3opmET as the NY Rangers travel to take on the Philadelphia Flyers. Versus takes over coverage Monday with a doubleheader featuring the Bruins at Rangers (7:30pm ET) then Kings at Sharks (1opm ET). Versus will have single games Tuesday through Friday. Devils at Flyers (7:30pm ET) will be on the air Tuesday, Blues at Blackhawks (8pm ET) Wednesday, Thrashers at Rangers (7pm ET) Thursday, and Blackhawks at Red Wings (7:30pm ET) Friday. NBC wraps-up the season next Sunday at 12:30pm ET with coverage of the Red Wings at Blackhawks.
TBS Unveils First Three Sunday MLB on TBS Telecasts- The Boston Red Sox at Texas Rangers will be the debut telecast for the Sunday MLB on TBS. The game begins at 2pm ET. Next Sunday TBS will feature the Philadelphia Phillies at Atlanta Braves (1:3opm ET) while the Toronto Blue Jays will visit the Red Sox on April 17th (1:30pm ET).
Big Ten Network Announces Baseball and Softball Coverage- The Big Ten Network will begin its coverage of college baseball and softball this weekend. The network will have a doubleheader this Sunday featuring Iowa at Purdue in Women’s softball at Noon ET followed at 2pm ET with the baseball match-up between Northwestern and Ohio State.
Following the games Big Ten Diamond Report will make its season debut looking at all action on the field. The network looks to produce 140 games over the course of the spring.
