New for baseball on Fox Sports: Frank Thomas, Kevin Burkhardt part of new studio shows; Decision to go with 3-man booth for A team

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More to come, but here’s the official rundown from Fox Sports.

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Since 1996, MLB on FOX is one of the most successful franchises in sports television, built on a foundation of 40 Emmy Awards, unprecedented coverage, innovations, legendary voices and some of the best moments in sports history.  This season, MLB on FOX welcomes in a new era as the national Saturday home of the nation’s pastime with exciting new voices, a Los Angeles-based pregame show and a new nightly highlights program on FOX Sports 1, America’s new sports network.

FOX Sports lifts the curtain on 2014 by today announcing that Emmy Award-winning play-by-play broadcaster, Joe Buck, the voice of MLB on FOX since its inception, is joined by analysts Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci as the new lead game broadcast team for MLB on FOX.  The announcement was made by Eric Shanks, President, COO & Executive Producer, FOX Sports, and John Entz, Executive Vice President, Production & Executive Producer, FOX Sports.  Reporters Ken Rosenthal and Erin Andrews join the team throughout the regular season, All-Star Game and postseason, including the World Series.  FOX Sports stalwarts Kenny Albert and Thom Brennaman also are scheduled for play-by-play assignments this season.

“Replacing an icon is never easy, and there is no doubt Tim McCarver revolutionized televised baseball analysis,” Entz said. “We’re convinced that in teaming Joe with Harold and Tom, we’ve built a crew with an all new dynamic that is as fresh, informative, opinionated and very entertaining.  Each is extremely talented and brings a unique voice and role, and we look forward seeing this team’s chemistry develop throughout the season.”

In addition to unveiling its new lead broadcast team, the MLB on FOX pregame show returns to the FOX Network Studios in Los Angeles for the first time since the 2012 season, and precedes most Saturday telecasts on FOX Sports 1.  Kevin Burkhardt is set as the main MLB on FOX studio host during the regular and entire postseason alongside a rotation of analysts including Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, former Dodger great Eric Karros, World Series Champion Gabe Kapler and former Reds pitcher C.J. Nitkowski.  FOX SPORTS LIVE’S Ryan Field also hosts during the regular season.  The pregame show premieres Saturday, April 5 (12:30-1:00 PM ET) on FOX Sports 1.

“This year, with the addition of FOX Sports 1 to our coverage plans, we’re able to provide more baseball content than ever before, and we are extremely excited about the possibilities,” Entz added.

“We’ve enjoyed our terrific partnership with the MLB Network the last two seasons, but given our investment in FOX Sports 1 infrastructure over the last year, the time was right to bring our baseball studio coverage back in-house.”

Furthering its commitment to the national pastime, MLB on FOX’s expanded studio coverage this season also includes the introduction of MLB WHIPAROUND on FOX Sports 1, a baseball-specific show airing weeknights with quick-turnaround highlights of in-progress games, news and analysis, also live from Los Angeles. Field and FOX Sports veteran Chris Myers host individual editions, with one or two analysts from the Thomas, Karros, Kapler and Nitkowski roster.  MLB WHIPAROUND premieres Monday, March 31, and airs Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights from 10:00-11:00 PM ET and most *Wednesdays from 12:00-1:00 AM ET (*airs at 10:00 PM ET on Wednesdays without prior programming conflict).

Buck (@Buck), winner of seven Emmy Awards for Outstanding Play-By-Play, has anchored FOX Sports’ national MLB coverage since its May 1996 debut, teaming with Hall of Famer Tim McCarver the last 17 seasons.  The pair also broadcast games with Bob Brenly, Al Leiter and Bret Boone.

Reynolds continues his role with the MLB Network, where he serves as a studio analyst and was nominated for a Sports Emmy Award in 2010 and 2011.  Prior to joining MLB Network, Reynolds served as a pregame and postgame analyst for TBS’ Sunday Afternoon MLB telecasts and the network’s coverage of the 2008 postseason.  During this time, Reynolds also appeared on New York Mets’ pregame and postgame coverage on SportsNet New York and served as a commentator for MLB.com.  From 1996 to 2006, he served as lead studio analyst for ESPN’s Baseball Tonight program, working on the network’s coverage of Sunday Night Baseball, the All-Star Game and postseason, including the World Series.

A two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove Award-winning second baseman during his 12-year career, Reynolds played with the Seattle Mariners from 1983-1992, Baltimore Orioles in 1993 and the then-California Angels in 1994.  He led the American League in stolen bases with 60 in 1987, in triples with 11 in 1988 and at-bats with 642 in 1990.  He is the only player other than the great Ricky Henderson to lead the AL in stolen bases during any season in the 1980s.  In 1991, Reynolds received the Roberto Clemente Award given annually to an MLB player selected for his character and charitable contributions to his community.

Already one of the top journalists to ever cover the game, Emmy Award-winner Tom Verducci begins his second season in the MLB on FOX game broadcast booth. He earned an Outstanding Sports Personality/Sports Reporter Emmy Award as a field reporter for TBS’ and MLB Network’s regular and postseason coverage, and In 2013, in addition to his role with MLB Network, worked 20 MLB on FOX national broadcasts before serving as a studio analyst for TBS’ coverage of the Division Series and American League Championship Series. Verducci began working as a field reporter for TBS in October 2008.  He also currently serves a senior baseball writer at Sports Illustrated where he contributes inside information and analysis for the magazine and SI.com.  Before joining Sports Illustrated, Verducci spent 10 years as a sports reporter for Newsday, serving as its national baseball columnist from 1990 to 1993.  With Joe Torre, Verducci co-authored “The Yankee Years,” a book published in 2009 that chronicled the New York Yankees’ dugout and organization.

One of the most talented young broadcasters in the country, Burkhardt (@kevinburkhardt) joined FOX Sports in July 2013, calling NFL games alongside analyst John Lynch and sideline reporter Erin Andrews. An immediate success, Burkhardt, along with Lynch and Andrews, earned a playoff assignment in his first season calling national NFL games. Prior to FOX, Burkhardt spent several seasons with SNY covering the New York Mets in a myriad of roles from on-field reporting to play-by-play and in studio hosting duties.

Recently elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year eligible, Thomas (@TheBigHurt_35) is one of the game’s all-time top sluggers. A two-time AL MVP and five-time All-Star, he finished his 19-year career with a .301 average, 521 home runs and 1,704 RBI before announcing his retirement in February 2010. Thomas spent the bulk of his career with the Chicago White Sox, and following his playing days worked as a pre- and postgame studio analyst for Comcast SportsNet Chicago, also occasionally filling in on game broadcasts. Thomas also appeared as a guest analyst during TBS’ coverage of the 2007 MLB Playoffs.

Karros has been with FOX Sports since 2007, serving as an MLB on FOX game and studio analyst and has worked each of the network’s All-Star Games and World Series since his arrival. A 14-year MLB veteran, Karros spent 12 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers where he was named NL Rookie of the Year in 1992 and set franchise records for career home runs (270) and career home runs at Dodger Stadium (130).

Already a familiar face on FOX Sports 1, Kapler (@gabekapler) is a panelist on FOX SPORTS LIVE, FOX Sports 1’s signature nightly news, highlights and opinion show. Kapler played for seven different Major League teams, making his debut with the Detroit Tigers in 1998 and playing his final season in 2010 with the Tampa Bay Rays. Kapler won a World Series with the 2004 Red Sox, and was on the field when the squad snapped its 86-year title drought.

A first-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds, Nitkowski (@CJNitkowski) played a decade in the Majors before spending an additional five years playing professionally overseas. After retiring from the game, the left-hander began his career in sports media, working as a writer, studio and radio host and color analyst. In 2013, he co-hosted “Eye on Baseball” for CBS Sports Radio, and also has served as an analyst for MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.

FOX Sports, MLB’s primary broadcast rights holder since 1996 and exclusive national broadcast partner since 2001, this year begins a new eight-year, multiplatform media rights agreement that adds national cable and digital coverage to its portfolio, doubling regular season exposures, mostly on Saturdays, from 26 to 52 combined on the FOX Broadcast Network and FOX Sports 1, with 20 Saturday doubleheaders, 10 exclusively on FOX Sports 1 and 10 split between FOX Sports 1 and the FOX Broadcast Network. For the first time ever, all regular season games, Division Series, League Championship Series, World Series games and the All-Star Game broadcast by FOX Sports are being streamed live via FOX Sports GO through participating video providers. Click here for the MLB on FOX schedule: http://foxs.pt/OHkT1X.

Been-there, done-that? Beadle to return to old SportsNation host role at ESPN

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Michelle Beadle blasted the big news last night via here Twitter feed.

Judging by the number of retweets and favorites, many of Beadle’s fans are looking forward to her return.

ESPN made it official this morning. Here’s the release:

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Michelle Beadle will return to SportsNation on ESPN2 today, hosting the show alongside commentators Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley.  Kellerman and Wiley will continue to offer their opinions and different viewpoints on the weekday afternoon show based in Los Angeles.  The trio will together continue the clever and off-beat SportsNation tradition of discussing the day’s hottest sports topics weekdays at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

“Michelle’s style of delivery has a way of bringing a fun edge to whatever she works on and her range of experience in both sports and entertainment makes her a truly unique talent,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, Production, Program Scheduling and Development.  “We know that fans really connect with her personality and we’re happy to welcome her back to ESPN and SportsNation.”

“I’ve missed the everyday fun of this show and this group so when given the chance to reunite, I got here as fast as I could,” said Beadle.  “For two years, I’ve kept my pirate costume hanging in my closet. It was starting to collect dust.  Returning to SportsNation is my destiny.”

Coinciding with Beadle’s return, SportsNation will launch an Instagram account on Monday featuring memes and photoshops that work well in social media as well as original video including Beadle behind the scenes at the show.  SportsNation has one of the highest levels of social engagement for an ESPN studio show with more than two million followers on Twitter and nearly two million likes on Facebook.

SportsNation was created in 2009 as a live sports television show born from the Internet, fueled by fan interaction and focused on fun.  With the youngest demographic of all of ESPN’s studio shows, SportsNation is different than most of the network’s offerings in that fan engagement and clever, imaginative segments are at the heart of the program.  On a daily basis, SportsNation engages with hundreds of thousands of sports fans across the country via ESPN.com’s SportsNation page.

Fans can follow the show on Facebook (facebook.com/sportsnation) and Twitter at @SportsNation, @MichelleDBeadle, @Max_Kellerman and @MarcellusWiley.

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To me, it seems like a bit of been-there, done-that for Beadle. I suspect a return to SportsNation is a way to get here back in the mix at ESPN.

However, I think she is destined to do more in her second trip at ESPN. Her profile now is much higher. Despite the disaster at NBC and NBCSN, Beadle is a talented and highly-engaging sports TV personality.

At some point, I would look for ESPN to come up with another vehicle for Beadle. The network did it once. It could do it again.

 

 

NBC, NHL need Blackhawks to stay strong for long time; Chicago accounts for nearly 25 % of national rating for Soldier Field game

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I have said it before and I will say it again. The rise of the Chicago Blackhawks is the best thing to happen to the NHL in years.

The Blackhawks and Chicago delivered again Saturday for NBC and the NHL.

Saturday’s Blackhawks-Pittsburgh outdoor game at Soldier Field in primetime did a 2.1 overnight rating for NBC; complete national numbers will be available today. It was NBC’s highest rating ever for a regular-season, non Winter Classic game.

Here’s why: Chicago did a whopping 14.9 local rating. That means the nation’s third largest market saw an estimated 525,000 homes tuned into the game, or nearly 25 percent of the total viewership for the entire country.

Pittsburgh also did its part with a 13.3 rating. That translates to an estimated 156,000 homes for the nation’s 23rd ranked Nielsen market.

Clearly, though, Chicago, by virtue of its size, is the driver when it comes to NBC and the NHL. It is astounding that a good portion of the city would stay home on a Saturday night to watch a regular-season game.

However, it was snowing, as you might have noticed. It hardly made for great hockey–more like push hockey. Surely, there are purists who think going outdoors are making a mockery out of the game.

But with this kind of rating, expect NBC and the NHL to continue to take games out to the cold and snow. And given the Chicago numbers, they definitely will find a way to get the Blackhawks into the mix.

 

Going out in cold again: NBC, NHL seek to capitalize on Olympic momentum with primetime game at Soldier Field

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My latest Chicago Tribune column is on tonight’s Chicago-Pittsburgh game at Soldier Field. With wind chills in the single digits, I am more than happy to watch from the comforts of home. Alas, the NBC announce team won’t be as lucky.

You also can access the entire column via my Twitter feed at Sherman_Report.

Here is an excerpt.

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If there were a watch-dog group that monitors abuse against sports announcers, surely it would look into what NBC is doing to Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk and Pierre McGuire.

For the fourth time this year, NBC is sending its lead NHL team outdoors for the call of Saturday night’s Blackhawks-Penguins game at Soldier Field. With the game-time temperature in the teens, the trio will be subjected to another brutal blast of winter.

When asked if this constituted unfair treatment to announcers, NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood replied: “They just spent two weeks in tropical Sochi, Russia. They could use some toughening up.”

Of course, NBC and NHL are thrilled to be out in the elements again. The timing and setting of Saturday’s game is no coincidence. The league wants to capitalize on the huge ratings and even bigger buzz hockey generated in the Olympics.

An outdoor matchup featuring the defending Stanley Cup champions facing the top star in hockey, Sidney Crosby, has so much potential appeal, NBC made it the first regular-season NHL game scheduled for network prime time since 1974; the 2011 Winter Classic in Pittsburgh actually aired in prime time on NBC because of weather delays.

“Going to Soldier Field is going to be an incredible venue for this game,” Flood said. “To be outdoors with these two teams, as well as they are playing, really set up a perfect storm for us.”

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Regarding the risk of losing the novelty with the NHL staging six outdoor games this year, Flood said:

“Everyone is going to step back and look at all of this,” Flood said. “The league has to decide what it wants to do. I could see doing three or four of them. I’m not sure we need to be doing as many (as six).”

 

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Weekend wrap: Nearing 70, Al Michaels says ‘I feel like 19’; Dan Jenkins writes memoirs in new book

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Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports media…

Al Michaels: Richard Deitsch of SI.com talks to Michaels about his Olympic hosting duties and how much longer he intends to work. Michaels turns 70 this year.

“In my brain, I feel 19,” he said. “I’m a rascal in my head. I like to have fun, I like to laugh. I have great pals and colleagues in the business. So a couple of things here: Number one is health, and knock on wood, I have stayed healthy. I don’t like to travel but that is part of the deal. Nothing is perfect. I still love the games. I have been a sports fan since I was six years old. I find them exciting. I love competition at the highest level in any sport, which is what the NFL is. I love strategy and drama, that still excites me. When a game is really good I am still excited as I ever was.

“I think when I get to the point where I can’t do it the way the way I am happy doing it, that will be the sign. Health is out of my hands. But if I can’t do it the way I want to do it, then it’s sayonara. I know one thing: I will not hang on. If I can’t do it the way I’m happy doing it, I’m out.”

Dan Jenkins: Sports Book Review Center has a look at Jenkins’ new autobiography. I will have my take on it soon.

As you’d expect, there is plenty of Jenkins’ style on display here. He not only quotes old leads from past stories that he composed, but comes up more than a quota’s worth of laugh-out-loud lines that the rest of us could never match. There are also funny lines by others. Mix that in with some name-dropping and other stories accumulated over a lifetime, and you have an entertaining book.

Dick Button: It’s a good day any time I get to type in Dick Button’s name. Sandy Keenan of the New York Times did a Q/A with the legend, who still looks spry at 84.

Are you ever tired of talking about skating?

Never. Skating encourages you to learn about so many art forms: dance, performance, athleticism, history, choreography, even haute couture. How could anyone tire of it?

Who is the next Dick Button?

Probably Johnny Weir. Now, wait a second — I can’t say that.

You just did. What do you like best about him?

He’s thoughtful, clear and recognizes what he has to do in this world to be firm and honest about what his passions are.

 

Kentucky Derby: Steve Lepore at Awful Announcing that NBC has signed a new 10-year deal to air America’s great race through 2025.

Erin Andrews: Reva Friedel of Awful Announcing asks if sports viewers will tune in to watch her on Dancing With The Stars?

Okay, first of all, I think I know approximately zero guys who are now going to watch DWTS with Andrews as the new co-host. People are more interested in watching the show for the “talent” rather than the hosts, am I right? Also, let’s keep in mind that this is a show that Lindsay Lohan turned down, so it has bigger problems than finding a younger, hotter, co-host.

SportsNet LA: Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News has a proposal to resolve the distribution issues over the new Dodgers network in LA.

Time Warner Cable, we agree to your financial terms. But the deal is, our customers have told us they want to see only the games. So we want the channel only from March 1 to Nov. 1, when there are exhibition- and regular-season contests.

For those other four months, the channel disappears and we don’t pay for it.

The math should work on this. Eight months at $4.50 means $36 per customer during the season. If TWC discounts the cost to, say, $4 to cover the entire 12-month period, that’s still $48 per customer. TWC would have to lower it all the way to $3 per subscriber for the full year to make it equal to the eight-month, full-price agreement. And you really can’t see that happening.

Michael Sam: Manny Randhawa of the National Sports Journalism Center reports on the media circus that was Sam’s press conference at the NFL Combine.

But the name of the player heading to a podium was not Michael Sam. It was Missouri’s other star defensive end, Kony Ealy, a projected first-round draft pick who would climb the steps to the stage. Much of the media throng that awaited Sam’s arrival also had questions for Ealy, and they weren’t all related to football, or even him.

“Kony, for those of us who don’t know Michael Sam, how would you describe him as a person?” was one such question asked of Ealy. He responded that Sam is “a loving brother,” and “caring for the team.” He added that “he’s fun to be around and fun to play with … there’s no other guy I’d rather go to war with.”

The next question?

A follow-up:

“How would you expect him to handle the type of scrutiny that he’s going to garner as he goes through this process and after he’s drafted?”

“Like a professional,” Ealy said. “He’s not a collegiate player anymore. He’s a professional, and I expect him to handle it no other way.”

Ealy was asked other questions about Sam, including one that spoke to the media’s preoccupation with the story about Sam’s sexual orientation over his ability as a football player:

“How does it feel to be getting less attention as a potential first round pick than Michael Sam?”

Olympics ratings: Sports Media Watch does a comprehensive review of NBC’s ratings.

Though the Sochi Olympics averaged the second-lowest primetime rating ever (12.3), NBC topped its competition on the other three major broadcast networks every single night of the games. By comparison, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics was the top draw of the night on 14 of 17 occasions, and the Turin Olympics topped the charts just 8 of 17 times. NBC beat ABC, CBS and FOX combined by 32% in ratings, 45% in viewership, and 51% among adults 18-49 during the Olympics, which the network says is a record.

Athletes and media: Michael Bradley of the National Sports Journalism Center at Indiana has issues with LeBron James’ advice to Tony Romo.

“Don’t watch ESPN. All these so-called everyone knows what to do, but they never put on a uniform, trying to tell you what to do. It’s not about that. I think Tony’s at a point now in his career where he’s one of the great quarterbacks we have in our game. It’s because of his work ethic.”

Forget for a moment the silly comment about Romo’s being one of the “great quarterbacks” in the NFL and focus on the bigger picture.

Don’t watch ESPN? There are a lot of reasons to follow that advice, but James is the last one to have any credibility about anybody’s relationship to the network. There may not be an athlete on the planet who has benefitted more from ESPN’s broad reach and promotional relationship with the NBA than James has. ESPN’s Bob Ley said as much when he tweeted at James, “Help me here @KingJames. Don’t watch ESPN – except when you’re the focus of a 1 hour show announcing your free agent decision?”

New Fox baseball team: Tom Verducci joins Grantland Rice as sportswriter to call World Series

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The Big Lead’s Jason McIntyre reports that Fox Sports plans to go with a three-man booth for its new No. 1 baseball team this year. Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci will join Joe Buck.

The move to bring in Reynolds, who has been at MLB Network since 2009, as a replacement for Tim McCarver hardly is a surprise. His name has been at the top of speculation for months. It will cap a huge comeback for the former Seattle Mariner, whose broadcast career was in shambles after he was dismissed by ESPN in 2006 over sexual harassment allegations. He later sued for wrongful termination and the case was settled out of court.

The decision to give Verducci such a high-profile role is a major surprise. The veteran baseball writer for Sports Illustrated has some experience calling games for TBS, MLB Network and Fox Sports.

But serving on Fox’s A-team is a whole new ballgame for Verducci. With the exception of Howard Cosell, who still defies description, Verducci would become the first World Series analyst in the booth in the modern TV era who did not actually play the game.

In fact, considering that Verducci still is best known for his work as a sportswriter (he’s still one of us!), he now would have something in common with Grantland Rice. As near as I can tell, Rice, who did World Series games on radio in the 1920s, is the only sportswriter to ever be on the call for the Fall Classic. If that isn’t true, please correct me. There are some names on the list compiled at Wikipedia that I don’t recognize. Regardless, it can’t be a long list of sportswriters working as analysts on World Series games.

(Update: It has been pointed out to me that a New York Times sportswriter W.O. McGeehan also did some World Series games on radio in the early ’20s).

So congratulations to Tom. Your fellow sportswriters will be cheering for you.

 

 

 

 

 

Follow-up: Delany says Big Ten not considering slate of Friday night games

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Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany now is saying the conference isn’t going to pursue a slate of Friday night games.

Yesterday during an appearance in Chicago, he clarified reports that he was seeking input about moving games to Friday to create a lucrative TV package.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune reports:

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany told the Tribune on Thursday the conference is not seeking to play more Friday night games, with the exception of the day after Thanksgiving. Friday night games on Labor Day weekend, before some schools are in session, will continue.

In addressing TV negotiations that are slated to begin in 2015, Delany said the conference is emphasizing increasing night games on Saturdays in November.

“We’re looking hard at more prime time,” he said. “We’re looking at many, many issues — 100 issues.

“We’re trying to enhance the (TV) package, but the notion that we’re playing Friday nights — I don’t think it will happen while I’m here. There are much higher priorities.”

Delany, whose contract runs through June 2018, said he took exception to a headline on Madison.com — “OK with Badgers football on Friday night?” — because it “gave the impression that we’re going to do it.”

“You never say never,” he said. “We might be playing on Netflix or YouTube (someday). You can’t know what is going to happen down the road.”

Now did Delany already get his input and discover that schools were in favor of Friday night games? Greenstein notes:

Delany said the three biggest obstacles to Friday night games are interference with high school games, the potential of missed class time for players and whether campuses can handle a weekday crowd.

Potential of missed class time for players? That’s funny, considering all the time basketball player miss during the season and especially during the NCAA tournament.

The original Friday night story broke out of Madison. However, it gained some traction when Tom Dienhart of BTN.com did a speculative piece on Friday night games earlier in the week.

Dienhart did a follow-up yesterday. He noted that in 2 1/2 years at BTN, he never got more response than he did over the Friday night game column.

Against:

Wanna really think outside the box? Play games at 1 pm on Sunday. There are legions of college football fans like myself who do not care one iota about the NFL. – Colin Meyer

Traveling for fans would be much more difficult for a Friday night game.  And Friday nights are for high school football. I’m pretty traditional and think it needs to stay on Saturdays. – Bob

I may be a bit of a traditionalist, but Friday nights are for high school football.  College football should leave Friday nights alone.  How would college football like it if the NFL started playing on Saturdays in September? – Dave

In favor:

Love the idea of Friday night football for non-conference games. It would really be good exposure for the weaker teams in the league when they play the normal “cupcakes” that are on the schedule. What else is there to watch on Friday night? – Drew Freeman

Why would any football fan object to Friday night Big Ten football? It would provide an opportunity to see more televised games! Trying to see all of the Big Ten games on Saturday is impossible. In fact, why don’t you have one of the games every night of the week? Hmmmm. There is nothing else worth watching on TV. – Robert Kuhl

As for me, as I wrote yesterday, I’m in favor of a weekly Friday night game. I believe the impact would be minimal on high school football.

Also, if you spread it around among the 14 schools, you’re looking at a school hosting a Friday night game once every other year. This wouldn’t be for every game. I don’t think it would be that much of a challenge to pull it off.

As one person wrote to Dienhart:

I will take Friday night games over these miserable 11 a.m. starts anytime. – Gerry

 

 

AWSM: Numbers need to improve for women in sports media

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It hardly comes as a shock that the numbers are bleak for women representation in sports media.

However, when you see the actual numbers, it is a stark wake-up call that more needs to be done.

The Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) responded to the third Annual Status of Women in U.S. Media report.

The depressing numbers in the Women’s Media Center report are further supported by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports’ most recent report card, which surveyed more than 150 newspapers and websites for gender and ethic diversity and ultimately issued an “F” grade for gender diversity.

Sports departments and their management teams around the country remain more than 90 percent male, and this lack of gender diversity at the top of sports departments means key decisions – from hiring to coverage, are being made on a daily basis by a very non-diverse group.

This must change.

The Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) is here to stand witness and also act as an agent of change, to push back against these barriers until they come down.

“These numbers reveal why the Association for Women in Sports Media is extremely vital and important in leading the discussion about why sports media must work harder to become more inclusive,” said AWSM president Stefanie Loh. “We constantly stress the important of gender diversity in sports media and we are committed to helping women get into this business and stay in the business in any way possible.”

AWSM believes this diversity is important because the industry needs to not only continue growing its share of consumers, it must also accurately reflect the communities we serve – a rich mix of different genders, ethnicities, races, sexual preferences/identifications and beliefs.

AWSM has been the sports media industry’s lead voice in promoting diversity for more than 25 years, through our internships and scholarships for students, professional opportunities for members, annual conventions and other vital programs.

We want to see sports media change, and AWSM is always proactive in working and leading the drive toward progress. Our membership, currently over 500, consists of men and women, students and professionals, from around the world.

We strongly urge the sports media industry to strive for greater inclusivity, and AWSM wants to foster conversation – and action – to convert these woeful statistics into higher numbers of women in the business.

The time to change is now, and AWSM welcomes the support of all who are interested in making sports media a better and stronger place of diversity.

Indeed.

Good idea: Big Ten exploring Friday night football games

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Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany reportedly is looking into the conference playing Friday night games.

I’m good with it.

I have wondered why it has taken the major conferences so long to jump on Friday nights. I would love to watch a Big Ten game on a night where TV doesn’t have much to offer on the football front.

Some smaller conferences have gone the Friday night route. But I’m not a small conference guy.

The idea of a Big Ten game on a Friday night is far more appealing.

Now don’t give me Friday night belongs to the high schools. Fans who attend high school games still are going to go, especially if you have a kid on the team. The impact would be minimal.

The travel inconvenience for fans is a consideration. Playing games on Friday nights would require taking a day off for some people who come a long way to watch the old school. But since when was the fan in the stands a major priority when TV is involved?

The Big Ten contract with ESPN/ABC runs through 2017. After the NBA, it will be the next big TV sports property up for auction. Delany knows the conference is in for a windfall, especially with Fox Sports 1 hungering to get more high-profile live programming.

Creating a special Friday night package only would enhance the inventory Delany would put out to market. Or he could keep it in-house and put the games on BTN, thus increasing the value of his network.

Either way, the Friday night option will be extremely profitable to the Big Ten. Start making your plans now.

 

DVR alert: Special NHL Revealed on behind-the-scenes with players at Olympics

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The hockey games were a big winner for NBCSN and the NHL at the Olympics. Now both hope to cash in again with NHL Revealed: A Season Like No Other Thursday night on NBCSN.

The two-hour film is a behind-the-scenes, all-access look at what occurred in Sochi.

On NHL.com, producer Ross Greenburg talked about the film.

It’s been a frantic few days for the producers of the NHL’s latest reality show.

The Olympic hockey tournament only wrapped up when Canada beat Sweden for gold on Sunday and a two-hour special episode of “NHL Revealed: A Season Like No Other” is scheduled to air Thursday night on CBC (and NBC in the U.S.).

That didn’t leave much time to put finishing touches on the behind-the-scenes look at the Sochi Games.

“We’re under the gun,” executive producer Ross Greenburg said in an interview this week. “We worked 18 days of pretty exciting hockey on and off the ice.”

From NHL COO John Collins:

It took months to line up approvals needed to make the film, from the International Olympic Committee, the NHL Players’ Association and the various national hockey federations.

NHL chief operating officer John Collins said the North American TV rights holders CBC and NBC played a critical role in getting co-operation with the project and getting the IOC and other parties on board.

“It gives fans an opportunity to get to know the players better and see how special they are,” said Collins. “The players are such good guys.

“There are so many people, particularly in the United States, who can’t relate because they haven’t grown up playing the game, so to be able to see who they are, especially with the backdrop of the Olympics, gives fans a chance to connect.”

He said another source of drama comes from players who are NHL teammates going against one another with their national teams. They will then show Olympic teammates playing against each other again back in the NHL in future episodes.

“It creates wonderful opportunities to tell stories,” he said.

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