Some CBS-centric Press Releases

I think this is a first for Fang’s Bites. We have a whole slew of press releases and I will split them up. This is the first time I’ve devoted one entire multiple press release post to CBS and we have stuff to give you.

First is the appearance of Michael Vick on 60 Minutes this Sunday. He’ll be interviewed by James Brown.

FORMER NFL STAR MICHAEL VICK SPEAKS TO CBS SPORTS “NFL TODAY” ANCHOR JAMES BROWN ON “60 MINUTES” AUGUST 16 IN HIS FIRST INTERVIEW SINCE ADMITTING TO DOGFIGHTING AND GOING TO PRISON

Former pro-football star Michael Vick speaks to CBS Sports NFL TODAY Anchor James Brown on 60 MINUTES in his first interview since he admitted two years ago to running a dogfighting ring – a crime that landed him in federal prison for 18 months and got him suspended from the NFL. The interview, conducted today (8/10) in Virginia, will be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, Aug. 16 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

The ex-Atlanta Falcon’s quarterback was conditionally re-instated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on July 27th, a week after he was released from federal custody. If a team is interested in him, Vick could be playing again in a regular league game by the sixth week of the NFL season.

The segment will also include interviews with Wayne Pacelle, head of the Humane Society of the U.S., the country’s largest organization dedicated to the protection of animals. Tony Dungy, the former NFL coach who will be a special advisor to Vick, will also be interviewed.

CBS Sports held a media conference call today with its golf crew regarding this week’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine.

EXCERPTS FROM CBS SPORTS’ 2009 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP CONFERENCE CALL

CBS Sports broadcasts golf’s final major of the season with live 18-hole coverage of the 2009 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP on Saturday, Aug. 15 and Sunday, Aug. 16 (2:00-7:00 PM, ET, both days), from Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. CBS Sports will broadcast highlights of early-round action immediately following the LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN on Thursday, Aug. 13 and Friday, Aug. 14 (12:35-1:07 PM, ET; both days).

Following are excerpts from CBS Sports’ 2009 PGA Championship conference call on Monday, August 10.

OPENING STATEMENTS:

Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports: “As you all know, I am a firm believer in momentum and I think we have an awful lot of momentum going into this year’s PGA Championship, both in terms of what we’ve seen recently on television and our last couple of events, with the Buick (Open) event and most recently, with the drama and the story we had at Firestone (Bridgestone Invitational) yesterday. I think we have had terrific broadcasts, I think we have had great stories, great coverage, and obviously superlative ratings. We are excited to get back to Minnesota. We are excited for the PGA Championship and the storylines, which the analysts and the hosts and the anchors can talk about. But the storylines going into this year’s PGA Championship are pretty darn good. We are excited to be on our way to Chaska, Minnesota.”

Jim Nantz, CBS Sports lead golf anchor: “I am just thrilled that we have majors, to have Augusta and the PGA. To have the story of course of Augusta every spring and then be able to kind of wrap up the year of major golf (with the PGA Championship), it’s a great privilege to have that responsibility. I am looking forward to seeing of course, along with the rest of the world, how Tiger is going to perform on this incredible stretch we are seeing right now. You have this feeling it’s going to be three in a row, but who knows? He just completed yesterday the pre-major slam. He won his last tournament now all four majors. Not the last tournament, but his last tournament entering a major. It has not added up to a victory in a major yet, but all systems are go right now for Tiger.”

Peter Kostis, CBS Sports on-course reporter and analyst: “We have had three majors this year that, while having compelling stories, could have been phenomenal stories had the outcome been a little bit different. For some reason, I think that this fourth one (PGA Championship) is going to be the one that knocks the socks off the first three. I just think that something special is happening and I cannot quite tell you what it is but I am really looking forward to it.”

Sir Nick Faldo, CBS Sports lead golf analyst and six-time major championship winner: “Ditto. I think that the prelude has been fantastic. I think Hazeltine is going to be an incredible test, with very long par fives and a pretty daunting finish. If I may pre-empt the first six questions (of who is going to win), the answer is Tiger Woods, thank you.”

Harold Bryant, Vice President, Production, CBS Sports: “We are of course bringing our SwingVision technology back to the PGA. This year it is RF-based, so it can move around as you saw. Yesterday, we had some tremendous shots of players from the bunker, from the rough, and we will have that throughout the broadcast. We are also using Golf Track technology
in partnership with Turner. We have employed a company that creates virtual hole animations and can show us the slopes of the green and also help show us ball position where players have been hitting them throughout the day or the tournament. And that’s our technology as well as our standards, cameras and EBS equipment will be all over the course.”

Lance Barrow, Coordinating Producer, Golf, CBS Sports: “I think ever since CBS Sports has partnered with PGA of America since John Daly won at Crooked Stick (1991) through last year at Oakland Hills with (Padraig) Harrington, it has been an exciting PGA Championship each year. Obviously, we have had the opportunity since 1997 to see Tiger Woods and what he has done at this Championship, and over the last couple of weeks what Tiger has done. I think this will be maybe one of the greatest, if not the greatest PGA Championship, that will be contested here in Minnesota, at a great golf course in Hazeltine.”

QUESTIONS:

After Tiger’s missed cut at the British Open, is it overlooked how difficult it really is to win a major considering how easy Tiger has made it look over the years?

Peter Kostis: “No question, Tiger is a victim of his own success. You can go down the litany of stats. On one hand, Tiger is completely unlike anyone else out there playing. On the other hand, he is exactly like everyone else. He has days where his rhythm goes off. He has days when his ball striking goes off, when his putting goes off, just like everybody who plays the game of golf does. In particular, Tiger’s swing issues, I feel, are magnified in left-to-right winds. At Turnberry (British Open) going out, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, all those holes at the beginning of his rounds were left-to-right winds and that is where he had his trouble. It was a poor time to happen. He missed the cut by a shot and it is not the end of the world. Like I said, on one level he is not human. And on another level, he is 100% human.”

How do you think Hazeltine sets up for him?

Kostis: “It has the potential to be an extremely long golf course, and as well be very windy, if the weather allows. So, (the winner) is going to be somebody with plenty of power, someone who can put the ball in the fairway. There is no question about that. It is a golf course like many golf courses. The more they try to Tiger-proof it, the more it plays into his hands. He is a clear-cut favorite coming into this event. The golf course is so long you could actually make a case that a medium-length hitter is going to do as well because a lot of people are going to misread he’s going to have to lay up and use your short game and all that stuff. But, what aspect of that part of golf does Tiger not do well? I mean, he’s got it covered.”

Talk about the Tiger factor in terms of ratings. What kind of boost will you get?

Sean McManus: “Well, I will just give you some numbers. Of the five tournaments that Tiger has won this season, four have been on CBS Sports. The numbers are pretty remarkable. The Memorial was up 100%, these are Sunday ratings, AT&T National up 180%; Buick Open up 164%. And yesterday’s final round (Bridgestone Invitational), the overnight ratings are up 104%. So you can pretty much count on anywhere between 100% on the low side to 175% increase. It is nothing new. But I think that because Tiger was off for an extended period of time, and he has not been as competitive in the majors, that when he is on the leader board, it somehow feels a little more special these days. I think that’s part of the reason why the increases have been greater this year than they have in the past. It is a clear cut enormous ratings boost when Tiger is in contention on either Saturday or Sunday. It is mathematical and predictable. And, it is good if you have him in that situation on your broadcast.”

What is it about Hazeltine that presents a challenge?

Lance Barrow: “One of the things about Hazeltine is that it is a long, long golf course. It is a little bit different from when we were here a few years back. But what is great about this golf course is that it sets up well for our cameras. I would not say it’s a flat golf course, but there are not a lot of hills and things like that that will keep us from being able to see shots land. It’s pretty well straight forward. With the experience of doing the tournament here a few years ago, there will not be a lot of challenges for our crew getting around because most of them know where they need to go from point A to point B.”

Tiger has always gauged his year on how he performs in the majors. How can you sum up Tiger’s year so far?All things considered that he is coming off of major knee surgery and he has won tournaments, but no majors thus far.

Sir Nick Faldo: “For Tiger, it is all about majors. That is his yardstick, as it was Jack Nicklaus’ yardstick. He wants to pass Jack Nicklaus with the 18 majors. The way he set it up to win all four (tournaments before a major) is all good so he would deem that everything is on schedule, but he has not quite been able to pull it off (win a major). Sometimes it is caused by his swing, sometimes it is the weather, as we saw was pretty obvious at Turnberry. I t
hink it is pretty impressive to get yourself ready physically, technically, emotionally, and timing it that well to be prepared for a major. He just about does it every single time. To finish it off, the other guys definitely want to stop him but this one looks like the only person who can beat Tiger Woods is Tiger Woods. It is really as simple as that, I feel.”

Kostis: “I think we tend to forget that Tiger is coming off of major surgery. If you look at running backs, or any other athlete that has had this surgery, they take about 18 months to two years before they are back to 100%. I think a lot of people made the assumption that because Tiger is back playing golf, he is 100%. In my opinion, he is nowhere near 100%. What he has done to this point was done on a leg that was greatly improved since the U.S. Open in San Diego, but is nowhere near 100%. I want to give him props for a phenomenal year to this point. He desperately wants to win majors, but I also think Tiger is measuring himself with a little bit of a different yardstick coming off of the surgery. All of his success this year has come in spite of the operation, not because of the operation. He still has to get his strength back and I think that has been shown in the majors.”

And CBS Sports is happy with another huge ratings increase for a PGA Tour event as Tiger Woods pulled out a win at the Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday.

RATINGS SOAR FOR CBS SPORTS’ COVERAGE OF PGA TOUR’S “WGC: BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL” FINAL ROUND WITH 104% INCREASE

CBS Sports’ final-round coverage of the PGA TOUR’s WGC: BRIDGESTONE INVITATIONAL, which saw Tiger Woods win his 70^th PGA TOUR event on Sunday, Aug. 9 (2:00-6:00 PM, ET), scored an overnight household rating/share of 4.7/11, up +104% from last year’s 2.3/5 in the metered markets.

Sunday’s final-round rating peaked at a 6.7/15 from 5:30-6:00 PM, ET.

CBS Sports’ third-round coverage of the WGC: BRIDGESTONE INVIATIONAL on Saturday, Aug. 8 (2:00-6:00 PM, ET) earned an overnight household rating/share of 2.4/6, up +41% from last year’s 1.7/4 in the metered markets.

Of the five tournaments Tiger Woods has won so far this season, four have been broadcast on CBS Sports and have seen triple-digit ratings increases for the final round compared to the previous year: Memorial Tournament (3.2/8, up 100%); AT&T National (4.2/10, up 180%) and Buick Open (3.7/9, up 164%).

Next will be a football-centric press release post. Keep your RSS feeds updated.