Tag Archives: ESPN
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 |
Sports Media Weekly No. 150- Matt Yoder, Awful Announcing & Ian Eagle, CBS Sports, Tennis Channel
After a week away Ken Fang of Fang’s Bites and I are back for a fresh edition of Sports Media Weekly.
We are joined for a jam-packed news segment by Matt Yoder, managing editor of Awful Announcing.
We begin the show with a lengthy discussion of the layoffs underway at ESPN. Reports indicate ESPN is planning to dismiss nearly 400 employees in response to the network not meeting corporate profit margins.
We dovetail the discussion to ESPN’s recent upfront presentation where it announced the completion of a new digital studio and plans for the SEC Network. We also touch upon the announcement last week that ESPN has secured the exclusive U.S. rights to the U.S. Open tennis tournament beginning in 2015.
We then move to the news from Fox Sports of it’s hiring of Andy Roddick to serve as co-host of Fox Sports 1′s Fox Sports LIVE show which debuts this August.
We finish our news segment looking back at the life of U.S. Open champion and long time CBS golf analyst Ken Venturi.
Our second guest this week is Sports Media Weekly favorite Ian Eagle. Ian is leaving this week for Paris to be part of Tennis Channel’s coverage of the French Open. Ian shares stories of his work at the Open, his experience working this season broadcasting the Brooklyn Nets, plans for his return to the NFL with CBS, and his relationship with other graduates of Syracuse University.
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Sports Media Digest- May 22, 2013
Andy Roddick to Join Fox Sports Live- Fox Sports continues to name its roster of talent for the launch of Fox Sports 1 in August. Today they announced the hire of former tennis star Andy Roddick. Roddick will serve as co-host with Charissa Thompson for the network’s Fox Sports LIVE nightly highlights show. Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports LIVE debuts August 17th.
NBC Sees Uptick in Preakness Viewership- NBC Sports reports viewership for last Saturday’s Preakness Stakes were up 20% over 2012 and the highest since 2009. The audience averaged 9.7 million viewers. The 5.9 rating for the race was 13% higher than last year.
Carlesimo Joins ESPN for NBA Playoff Coverage- Former NBA coach P.J. Carelsimo will be part of the ESPN crew as it continues with its coverage of the NBA Playoffs. Carlesimo, who will work for the network through the NBA Finals, begins his work Thursday at the 9:00 a.m. ET edition of SportsCenter and contribute to additional studio programming, including NBA Tonight.
ESPN/ABC Preps for Indy 500- ESPN and ABC Sports are set to telecast the 49th Indianapolis 500 this Sunday. Pre-race coverage begins at 11:00a.m. ET with the green flag set for 12:15 p.m. ET. Marty Reid will call the race with analysis by Scott Goodyear and Eddie Cheever. SportsCenter anchor Lindsay Czarniak will host the telecast while pit reporters will be Rick DeBruhl, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch.
NASCAR Nationwide Series on ESPN Saturday from Charlotte- ESPN will be on hand Saturday to televise the NASCAR Nationwide Series race from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Coverage begins with NASCAR Countdown at 2:30 p.m. with the race’s green flag at 3:02 p.m. Allen Bestwick leads the telecast with analysts Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree.
CBS’ Coverage of the Crown Plaza Invitational- CBS’ coverage of the PGA Tour continues this weekend with the Crown Plaza Invitation from Colonial. Action begins Saturday and Sunday at 3:00p.m. ET. Jim Nantz,and Sir Nick Faldo, ab\nchor the coverage. Ian Baker-Finch calls the action at the 17th hole and Gary McCord at the 16th hole. David Feherty serves as on-course reporter.
Fox Sports Has UEFA Champions League Finale Saturday- Fox Sports will provide extensive coverage of the final of the UEFA Champions League this weekend between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Gus Johnson and Warren Barton have the call of the match. Rob Stone hosts on-site pregame, halftime and post-game coverage with Fox Soccer analysts Eric Wynalda and Brian McBride beginning at 2:00p.m. ET.
Cardinals Grace SI Cover- The dominant St Louis Cardinals starting rotation is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated:
Major League Baseball this Week on ESPN
Here is the slate of games, along with announcer assignments, of Major League Baseball this week on ESPN:
| Date | Time (ET) | Game / Commentators | Networks |
| Wed, May 22 | 7 p.m. | Wednesday Night Baseball presented by T-Mobile: New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles Karl Ravech, Barry Larkin |
ESPN, WatchESPN |
| 10 p.m. | Baseball Tonight presented by Snapper Tractors Jon Sciambi, Aaron Boone, Mark Mulder |
ESPN, WatchESPN | |
| Sat, May 25 | 6:30 p.m. | MLB on ESPN Radio: Atlanta Braves at New York Mets Sciambi, Chris Singleton |
ESPN Radio |
| Sun, May 26 | 7 p.m. | Baseball Tonight presented by Chevrolet Chris Berman, Curt Schilling |
ESPN, WatchESPN |
| 8 p.m. | Sunday Night Baseball presented by Taco Bell: Atlanta Braves at New York Mets ESPN: Dan Shulman, John Kruk, Orel Hershiser, Buster Olney ESPN Radio: Jon Sciambi, Chris Singleton ESPN Deportes: Ernesto Jerez, Luis Alfredo Alvarez, Guillermo Celis |
ESPN, ESPN Radio, ESPN DeportesWatchESPN |
