As I return home from work, I notice there are some stories I can link you to tonight.
We start things off with Newsday’s Neil Best who’s been on top of the Mike & the Mad Dog contract talks and stands by his story that the pair could split by Labor Day. Tonight, Neil has word that if Mike Francesa does not come to an agreement with WFAN, one possible landing is at MSG Network. Things get more interesting by the day.
Two things from CNBC’s Darren Rovell (I always feel classier whenever I link to Darren, I don’t know why). First is his take on the possible sale of the Pittsburgh Steelers by the Rooney family to take advantage of the Inheritance Tax which is expected to go exponentially in 2010. Next, Darren says Nike could not be happier with the exposure it received at the Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Final.
Keith Groller of the Allentown (PA) Morning Call writes that the Wimbledon men’s final could be a big boon for tennis.
Ken Schott of the Schenectady Gazette writes about NBC’s plans to bring the Olympics from Communist China home to the viewer.
Ken McMillan of the HudsonValley Times Herald-Record says the 3,600 hours of coverage from Communist China is a massive undertaking.
Michael David Smith of the AOL Fanhouse blog says fans of swimming and gymnastics will see their favorite sports in primetime while track & field will be seen in the morning.
Paul J. Gough of the Hollywood Reporter has the breakdown of the sports each NBC network will cover.
Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that the 3,600 hours of coverage surpasses the amount of any past Olympics by far.
John Consoli of Mediaweek says every Olympic sport will be televised or streamed.
However, with all the hype surrounding the Olympics, Kevin Downey of Media Life Magazine reports that advertisers are not lining up to buy spots because of the bad press coming out of Communist China.
By the way, here’s the breakdown by network of how many hours the networks of NBC Universal will show during the Olympic games, Monday – Friday:
By Network:
NBC: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.*** All time zones
8 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.** ET/PT
Midnight – 1:30 a.m.** ET/PT
MSNBC: 5 a.m. – 5 p.m.* ET
CNBC: Midnight – 4:30 a.m.* ET
5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.* ET
USA: 2 a.m. – 12 p.m.*ET
OXYGEN: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.** ET/PT
Chronological:
CNBC: Midnight – 4:30 a.m.
USA: 2 a.m. – 12 p.m.
MSNBC: 5 a.m. – 5 p.m.
NBC: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
CNBC: 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
OXYGEN: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
NBC: 8 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.
NBC: Midnight – 1:30 a.m. (late night show)
Brent Hunsberger of the Oregonian writes in his Playbook & Profits blog that NBC got decent ratings for the U.S. Olympic Track & Field and Swimming trials on Sunday.
Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News wonders if FSN would ever show the entire replay of the Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda’s near perfect game against the Braves.
Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post writes that the Nationals are drawing miniscule ratings on MASN. Thomas Boswell of the Post wonders why the Nats are striking out on TV. And Marc Fisher in the Post blogs that MASN does not treat the Nationals as its number one priority.
Scott Venci of the Green Bay Press-Gazette talks with ESPN’s John Anderson who’s having a big summer as host of ABC’s Wipeout.
Bob Hertzel of the Times West Virginian says TV is what drives college football and basketball.
Ryan Suchomel of the Iowa City Press-Citizen says the Big Ten Network and Mediacom are heading to the table in attempt to bring the channel into the Hawkeye State.
Jake Schaller over at Red Orbit writes that beleaguered Mountain West network, the mtn., will debut on DirecTV in August.
There’s your update for tonight. I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.
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