Sports Media Weekly No. 177- 2013 Year in Review

Welcome to the final edition of Sports Media Weekly, not only for 2013 but for the foreseeable future.

Ken Fang of Fang’s Bites and I use this final program to look back at some of the notable sports media stories for 2013 and what we can expect for 2014.

Among the items up for discussion:

The launch of Fox Sports 1;
Rights fees for the U.S. Open and Canadian NHL changing hands;
The return of Keith Olbermann to ESPN;
NCAA Basketball coverage changes coming in 2014;
Ratings, ratings, ratings;
The passing of Pat Summerall and Ken Venturi and the retirement of Tim McCarver and Dan Dierdorf;
Looking ahead to 2014 with the Winter Olympics and the World Cup.

For the second portion of the show Ken pulled a fast one on me as he spoke with members of the media on what was supposed to be their look back at the year, but instead they directed their remarks elsewhere:

Richard Deitsch, Sports Illustrated
Steve Lapore, Awful Announcing
Dan Levy, The Bleacher Report
Paulsen, Sports Media Watch
Neil Best, Newsday
Joe Flint, LA Times
John Ourand, Sports Business Journal
Ian Eagle, CBS Sports
John Daly, The Daly Planet
Matt Yoder, Awful Announcing
Michelle Beadle, NBC

I want to thank everyone on that list for their kind remarks.  It means a lot.

I also want to thank all of you who have made Sports Media Weekly a successful four-plus year endeavor.  It is what I will miss the most as I suspend Sports Media Journal.

Have a great 2014.  All the best!

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Sports Media Weekly No. 176- Ed Sherman, The Sherman Report

Only two editions of Sports Media Weekly remain and this week Ken Fang of Fang’s Bites and I are joined by Ed Sherman of The Sherman Report.

We begin the program looking at news that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may be taking a look at relaxing the blackout rules sports leagues impose on local television coverage of sports if the local’s team’s arenas are not sold out.

We next take a look at the college bowl season which gets underway this week and ESPN’s plans for what it calls a “Megacast” of the BCS Championship Game.

NBC today announced its 1,539+ hours of coverage for the Sochi Winter Olympics which begin in February.  In the news it was announced that all major events will be telecast live and then re-played in prime time–a move the three of us agree will benefit viewers and should not negatively impact NBC’s prime time ratings.

We wrap-up the news segment by looking at how ESPN has won a duPont Award for a segment on Outside the Lines while the show appears to be less of a priority in Bristol.

Ken and I will return on Monday, December 30th for our look back at the top sports media news of 2013 and what we can expect for the new year.

And yes, Ken and I do discuss my announcement of the closing of Sports Media Journal on January 1st.

Sports Media Weekly No. 174- John Ourand, Sports Business Journal

After a week off for the holiday Ken Fang of Fang’s Bites and I are back for another edition of Sports Media Weekly.

Joining Ken and me this week is John Ourand from Sports Business Journal.

We start the show by looking back at the big sports media story from a week ago, the news that Rogers Communications has won the sole national NHL media rights in Canada away from TSN and CBC.  We look at the impact the deal will have in Canada as well as what it may mean for sports rights deals here in the U.S.A.

We move on to the NFL and the news from Fox Sports that it has already sold its entire ad inventory for February’s Super Bowl XLVIII.  The news proves once again that football is king on TV and with sponsors.

We look back at the spectacular weekend of college football and, in particular, CBS’ coverage of the Alabama/Auburn Iron Bowl.  We all give kudos to CBS for its coverage of the game and striking the right tone both in pictures and in words from Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson, and Tracey Wolfson.

As ESPN prepares for coverage of its final World Cup for a while we discuss the potential U.S. rights fee battle for the UEFA Champions League matches.  Fox Sports currently holds the rights, but ESPN and NBC are looking to snatch the package away.

We wrap the show by discussing Deadspin’s purchase of a baseball Hall of Fame vote and how that may shake out.

College Basketball This Week on ESPN

Here is this week’s college basketball schedule, along with announcer assignments, on the networks of ESPN

Thu, Nov 21	10:30 a.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: Quarterfinal: Charlotte vs. Kansas State (San Juan) Alvaro Martin & LaPhonso Ellis	ESPNU
	12:30 p.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: Quarterfinal: Northeastern vs. Georgetown (San Juan) Alvaro Martin & LaPhonso Ellis	ESPNU
		Charleston Classic: Quarterfinal: Nebraska vs. UMass (Charleston, S.C.) Bob Picozzi & Tim Welsh	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Charleston Classic: Quarterfinal: UAB vs. No. 19 New Mexico (Charleston, S.C.) Bob Picozzi & Tim Welsh	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: Quarterfinal: Long Beach State vs. No. 14 Michigan (San Juan) Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	ESPN2
	5 p.m.	Charleston Classic: Quarterfinal: Georgia vs. Davidson (Charleston, S.C.) Rich Hollenberg & Len Elmore	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	2K Sports Classic: Semifinal: No. 18 Connecticut vs. Boston College (New York City) John Saunders, Fran Fraschilla & Jeff Goodman	ESPN2
		Citadel at Wake Forest Dave Weekley & Stan Lewter	ESPN3
		UCF at Miami (Fla.)	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: Quarterfinal: Florida State vs. No. 10 VCU (San Juan) Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	ESPNU
	8 p.m.	Charleston Classic: Quarterfinal: Temple vs. Clemson (Charleston, S.C.) Rich Hollenberg & Len Elmore	ESPN3
		Bowling Green at No. 12 Wisconsin BJ Schaben & Rich Zvosec	ESPN3
		Howard at Houston Brett Dolan & Reid Gettys	ESPN3
	9 p.m.	2K Sports Classic: Semifinal: Indiana vs. Washington (New York City) John Saunder, Fran Fraschilla & Jeff Goodman	ESPN2
Fri, Nov 22	Noon	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: Consolation: TBD (San Juan) Alvaro Martin & LaPhonso Ellis	ESPNU or ESPN3
		Charleston Classic: Consolation: TBD (Charleston, S.C.) Bob Picozzi & Tim Welsh	ESPNU or ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: Semifinal: TBD (San Juan) Alvaro Martin & LaPhonso Ellis	ESPN2 or ESPNU
		Charleston Classic: Semifinal: TBD (Charleston, S.C.) Bob Picozzi & Tim Welsh	ESPN2 or ESPNU
	5 p.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: Semifinal: TBD (San Juan) Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	ESPN2 or ESPNU
		2K Sports Classic: 3rd Place: TBD (New York City) John Saunders & Fran Fraschilla	ESPN2 or ESPNU
	7 p.m.	2K Sports Classic: Championship: TBD (New York City) John Saunders, Fran Fraschilla & Jeff Goodman	ESPN2
		Charleston Classic: Consolation: TBD (Charleston, S.C.) Rich Hollenberg & Len Elmore	ESPN3
		Stetson at UCF Kevin Corke & Mike Wise	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: Consolation: TBD (San Juan) Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	ESPNU
	9 p.m.	Santa Clara at Notre Dame Mike Couzens & Darrin Horn	ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	Charleston Classic: Semifinal: TBD (Charleston, S.C.) Rich Hollenberg & Len Elmore	ESPNU
Sat, Nov 23	Noon	Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic: Semifinal: No. 24 North Carolina vs. Richmond (Uncasville, Conn.) Doug Sherman & Malcolm Huckabay	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic: Semifinal: No. 3 Louisville vs. Fairfield (Uncasville, Conn.) Doug Sherman & Malcolm Huckabay	ESPN3
		William & Mary at Rutgers Jonathan Yardley & John Celestand	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Liberty at Virginia Booker Corrigan & Cory Alexander	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Ave Maria at Florida Gulf Coast	ESPN3
Sun, Nov 24	11:30 a.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: 7th Place: TBD (San Juan) Alvaro Martin & LaPhonso Ellis	ESPN3
	Noon	Charleston Classic: 3rd Place: TBD (Charleston, S.C.) Bob Picozzi & Tim Welsh	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic: Championship: TBD (Uncasville, Conn.) Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale & Andy Katz	ESPN
	2 p.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: 5th Place: TBD (San Juan) Alvaro Martin & LaPhonso Ellis	ESPNU
		Army at Notre Dame Mike Couzens & Sean Harrington	ESPN3
		North Carolina A&T at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Charleston Classic: 7th Place: TBD (Charleston, S.C.) Bob Picozzi & Tim Welsh	ESPN3
		Arkansas Pine-Bluff at SMU Brett Dolan & Stephen Howard	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic: 3rdPlace: TBD (Uncasville, Conn.) Doug Sherman & Malcolm Huckabay	ESPN3
	4:30 p.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: 3rd Place: TBD (San Juan) Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	ESPN2
		Harvard at Colorado Rich Cellini & Miles Simon	ESPNU
	6:30 p.m.	Puerto Rico Tip-Off: Championship: TBD (San Juan) Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	ESPN2
		Vermont at No. 6 Duke Tom Hart & Adrian Branch	ESPNU
		Charleston Classic: 5th Place: TBD (Charleston, S.C.) Rich Hollenberg & Len Elmore	ESPN3
	9 p.m.	Charleston Classic: Championship: TBD (Charleston, S.C.) Rich Hollenberg & Len Elmore	ESPN2

College Football This Week on ESPN

Here is this week’s college football schedule, along with announcer assignments, on the networks of ESPN:

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPNEWS, Longhorn Network and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup/Commentator	Network
Tue, Nov 19	8 p.m.	Kent State at Ohio Adam Amin & Ray Bentley	ESPN2
		Buffalo at Miami (Ohio) Joe Davis & Robert Smith	ESPNU
Wed, Nov 20	8 p.m.	No. 16 Northern Illinois at Toledo Dave Lamont, Desmond Howard & Quint Kessenich	ESPN2
Thu, Nov 21	7:30 p.m.	Rutgers at No. 18 UCF Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Ponder	ESPN
	9:30 p.m.	UNLV at Air Force Mark Neely & Jay Walker	ESPNU
Fri, Nov 22	9:30 p.m.	Navy at San Jose State Carter Blackburn, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams	ESPN2
Sat, Nov 23	11 a.m.	Liberty at Charleston Southern	ESPN3
	Noon	No. 13 Michigan State at Northwestern Bob Wischusen, Rod Gilmore & Quint Kessenich	ESPN
		Duke at Wake Forest Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Paul Carcaterra	ESPN2
		Virginia at Miami (Fla.) Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
		Cincinnati at Houston Adam Amin & Rene Ingoglia	ESPNEWS
		Memphis at No. 21 Louisville Eamon McAnaney, Anthony Becht & Brooke Weisbrod	ESPN3 * & RSN
		Old Dominion at North Carolina	ESPN3 * & RSN
		The Citadel at No. 7 Clemson Jim Barber, John Bunting & Angela Mallen	ESPN3
	12:21 p.m.	Mississippi State vs. Arkansas (from Little Rock) Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN3 * & SEC TV
	12:30 p.m.	Pitt at Syracuse	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
		East Carolina at NC State	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
	1 p.m.	Massachusetts at Central Michigan Dan Gutowsky & Bob Chmeil	ESPN3
		Bowling Green at Eastern Michigan Michael Reghi & Dustin Fox	ESPN3
		Coastal Carolina at No. 11 South Carolina	ESPN3 * & PPV
	1:30 p.m.	Alabama A&M at Georgia Tech Shawn Kenney, Stan Lewter & Steffi Sorensen	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Florida Classic: Florida A&M vs. Bethune-Cookman (from Orlando) Mark Neely & Jay Walker	ESPN Classic
		Eastern Illinois at Tennessee-Martin	ESPN3
		UT-Chattanooga at No. 1 Alabama	ESPN3 * & PPV
		Georgia Southern at Florida	ESPN3 * & PPV
		South Dakota State at Youngstown State	ESPN3 *
	3 p.m.	Georgia State at Arkansas State Brock Bowling & Forest Conoly	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	Indiana at No. 3 Ohio State Dave Flemming, Chris Spielman & Shannon Spake	ABC & ESPN2 **
		No. 5 Oregon at Arizona Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ABC & ESPN2 ** & ESPN Radio
		No. 19 Wisconsin at No. 25 Minnesota Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Tom Luginbill	ESPN
		Idaho at No. 2 Florida State Anish Shroff & Kelly Stouffer	ESPNU
		Boston College at Maryland	ESPN3 * & RSN
	4 p.m.	New Mexico at No. 15 Fresno State Joe Davis, David Diaz-Infante & Shelley Smith	ESPNEWS
		Cal at No. 9 Stanford Joe Davis & David Diaz-Infante	ESPN Radio
		Sam Houston State at Central Arkansas	ESPN3 *
	7 p.m.	Vanderbilt at Tennessee Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Maria Taylor	ESPN2
		Kentucky at Georgia Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Dawn Davenport	ESPNU
		Western Kentucky at Texas State John Sadak & Kevin O’Connell	Longhorn Network
		SMU at South Florida Drew Fellios & Doug Graber	ESPN3
		Connecticut at Temple Dave Weekley & KC Keeler	ESPN3
		Louisiana-Monroe at South Alabama	ESPN3 *
		Nicholls State at Southeastern Louisiana	ESPN3 *
		McNeese State at Lamar	ESPN3 *
	7:45 p.m.	No. 8 Missouri at No. 24 Ole Miss Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ESPN
	8 p.m.	No. 4 Baylor at No. 10 Oklahoma State Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox	ABC
	10:30 p.m.	Washington at Oregon State Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza	ESPN2

College Football This Week on ESPN

Here is this week’s college football schedule, along with announcer assignments, on the networks of ESPN:

ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup/Commentator	Network
Tue, Nov 12	7:30 p.m.	Buffalo at Toledo Adam Amin & Kelly Stouffer	ESPNU
		Ohio at Bowling Green Michael Reghi & Rocky Boiman	ESPN3
Wed, Nov 13	8 p.m.	Ball State at No. 15 Northern Illinois Bob Wischusen, Desmond Howard & Quint Kessenich	ESPN2
		Miami (Ohio) at Kent State Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
Thu, Nov 14	7:30 p.m.	Georgia Tech at No. 8 Clemson Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Ponder	ESPN
		Morgan State at South Carolina State Mark Neely & Jay Walker	ESPNU
Fri, Nov 15	9 p.m.	Washington at No. 13 UCLA Carter Blackburn, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams	ESPN2
Sat, Nov 16	Noon	No. 3 Ohio State at Illinois Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Tom Luginbill	ESPN
		Indiana at No. 22 Wisconsin Bob Wischusen, Rod Gilmore & Quint Kessenich	ESPN2
		Troy at Ole Miss Tom Hart & John Congemi	ESPNU
		Cincinnati at Rutgers Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Paul Carcaterra	ESPNEWS
		No. 17 UCF at Temple Eamon McAnaney, Anthony Becht & Brooke Weisbrod	ESPN3 * & RSN
		Central Michigan at Western Michigan Michael Reghi & Doug Graber	ESPN3 * & RSN
		Wagner at Saint Francis	ESPN3
	12:21 p.m.	Kentucky at Vanderbilt Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Cara Capuano	ESPN3 * & SEC TV
	12:30 p.m.	North Carolina at Pitt	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
		Maryland at Virginia Tech	ESPN3 * & ACC Network
		NC State at Boston College	ESPN3 * & RSN
	1 p.m.	Akron at Massachusetts Bob Picozzi & KC Keeler	ESPN3
		Yale at Princeton Dave Popkin & Pete Najarian	ESPN3
		Jacksonville State at Eastern Illinois	ESPN3
		Presbyterian at Coastal Carolina	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette at Georgia State Ryan Rose & Warrick Dunn	ESPN3
		North Dakota State at Youngstown State	ESPN3
		Northern Iowa at Missouri State	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Connecticut at SMU Trey Bender & Kevin O’Connell	ESPN3
		Tennessee-Chattanooga at Samford	ESPN3
	3:30 p.m.	No. 16 Michigan State at Nebraska Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Shannon Spake	ABC & ESPN2 **
		Syracuse at No. 2 Florida State Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Jeannine Edwards	ABC & ESPN2 **
		No. 23 Miami (Fla.) at Duke Anish Shroff & Kelly Stouffer	ESPNU
	7 p.m.	Florida at No. 10 South Carolina Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Maria Taylor	ESPN2
		Houston at No. 20 Louisville Clay Matvick, Matt Stinchcomb & Dawn Davenport	ESPNU
		Memphis at South Florida Shawn Kenney, Al Groh & Steffi Sorensen	ESPN3
	7:30 p.m.	Texas State at Arkansas State	ESPN3
	7:45 p.m.	No. 1 Alabama at Mississippi State Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	No. 4 Stanford at USC Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox	ABC & ESPN Radio
		Northwestern State at McNeese State	ESPN3
	10:15 p.m.	Wyoming at Boise State Mark Jones, Brock Huard & Jessica Mendoza	ESPN2
	10:30 p.m.	San Jose State at Nevada Joe Davis & David Diaz-Infante	ESPNU

ESPN at the World Series

Even though ESPN does not have the television rights to the World Series, it will have a strong presence at this year’s Fall Classic.

Baseball Tonight will report on the road for the World Series, beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 22, with a World Series preview show at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Baseball Tonight will air before and after most World Series games (generally at 7 p.m. and midnight) with Karl Ravech, Baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, John Kruk, Curt Schilling, Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian providing analysis and commentary.

In addition, Chris Berman, Jon Sciambi, Adnan Virk and Ravech will anchor daily, on-site SportsCenter coverage from the Baseball Tonight set with Orel Hershiser, Aaron Boone, Rick Sutcliffe, Chris Singleton, Larkin, Kruk, Schilling, Olney and Kurkjian making appearances. Updates will begin at 9 a.m. and continue throughout the day.

ESPN Radio does have the radio broadcast rights to the World Series.  Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser will call each game of the series.

ESPN.com will also be on site with contributors including ESPN MLB Insiders Olney, Kurkjian, Jayson Stark, Jerry Crasnick, Jim Caple and Jim Bowden.  It will also create and maintain a dedicated World Series page with extensive game coverage, news, analysis, scouting reports, expert predictions, polls, videos and statistics;

Here is the ESPN schedule for its coverage of the World Series:

Date	Time	Game / Commentators	Networks
Tue, Oct. 22	7 p.m.	Baseball Tonight Karl Ravech, Barry Larkin, John Kruk, Buster Olney, Tim Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
Wed, Oct. 23	4 p.m.	Baseball Tonight at the World Series	ESPN.com
	7 p.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Kruk, Curt Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
	8 p.m.*	World Series Game 1: St. Louis Cardinals at Boston Red Sox Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser	ESPN Radio
	12 a.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Kruk, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
Thu, Oct. 24	4 p.m.	Baseball Tonight at the World Series	ESPN.com
	7 p.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Kruk, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
	8 p.m.*	World Series Game 2: St. Louis Cardinals at Boston Red Sox Shulman, Hershiser	ESPN Radio
	12 a.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Kruk, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
Sat, Oct. 26	4 p.m.	Baseball Tonight at the World Series	ESPN.com
	8 p.m.*	World Series Game 3: Boston Red Sox at St. Louis Cardinals Shulman, Hershiser	ESPN Radio
Sun, Oct. 27	4 p.m.	Baseball Tonight at the World Series	ESPN.com
	7 p.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
	8 p.m.*	World Series Game 4: Boston Red Sox at St. Louis Cardinals Shulman, Hershiser	ESPN Radio
	12 a.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Kruk, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
Mon, Oct. 28	4 p.m.	Baseball Tonight at the World Series	ESPN.com
	7 p.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Kruk, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
	8 p.m.*	World Series Game 5: Boston Red Sox at St. Louis Cardinals** Shulman, Hershiser	ESPN Radio
	12 a.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Kruk, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
Wed, Oct. 30	4 p.m.	Baseball Tonight at the World Series	ESPN.com
	7 p.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Kruk, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
	8 p.m.*	World Series Game 6: St. Louis Cardinals at Boston Red Sox** Shulman, Hershiser	ESPN Radio
	1 a.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Kruk, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
Thu, Oct. 31	4 p.m.	Baseball Tonight at the World Series	ESPN.com
	7 p.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Kruk, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN
	8 p.m.*	World Series Game 7: St. Louis Cardinals at Boston Red Sox** Shulman, Hershiser	ESPN Radio
	1:30 a.m.	Baseball Tonight Ravech, Larkin, Kruk, Schilling, Olney, Kurkjian	ESPN2,WatchESPN

*Pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m.

**If necessary

FIFA World Cup Qualifying Matches on ESPN

The ESPN family of networks will air 39 World Cup qualifying matches beginning this Friday through next Tuesday.  Among the matches will be the U.S. men’s team match against Jamaica Friday night on ESPN.

Here is the schedule, along with network designation:

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Network(s)
Fri, Oct 11	11 a.m.	Armenia vs. Bulgaria	ESPN3
	11:30 a.m.	Lithuania vs. Latvia	ESPN3
	12 p.m.	Croatia vs. Belgium	ESPN Deportes / WatchESPN / ESPN3
	12 p.m.	Azerbaijan vs. Northern Ireland	ESPN3
	12 p.m.	Moldova vs. San Marino	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Malta vs. Czech Republic	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Liechtenstein	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Luxembourg vs. Russia	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Netherlands vs. Hungary	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Estonia vs. Turkey	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Albania vs. Switzerland	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Andorra vs. Romania	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	Germany vs. Ireland	ESPN2 / WatchESPN
	2:45 p.m.	Greece vs. Slovakia	ESPN3
	2:45 p.m.	Slovenia vs. Norway	ESPN3
	2:45 p.m.	Iceland vs. Cyprus	ESPN3
	2:55 p.m.	France vs. Australia (Friendly Match)	ESPN3
	3:45 p.m.	Portugal vs. Israel	ESPN3
	4 p.m.	Spain vs. Belarus	ESPN Deportes / WatchESPN / ESPN3
	6 p.m.	United States vs. Jamaica	ESPN / WatchESPN
	9:15 p.m.	Mexico vs. Panama	ESPNEWS / WatchESPN
Sun, Oct 13	9 p.m.	Portland Timbers vs. Seattle Sounders	ESPN / ESPN Deportes / WatchESPN
Tue, Oct 15	1 p.m.	Israel vs. Northern Ireland	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Portugal vs. Luxembourg	ESPN Deportes / WatchESPN / ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Azerbaijan vs. Russia	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Lithuania vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina	ESPN3
	1 p.m.	Greece vs. Liechtenstein	ESPN3
	1:30 p.m.	Cyprus vs. Albania	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Switzerland vs. Slovenia	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Turkey vs. Netherlands	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Hungary vs. Andorra	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Romania vs. Estonia	ESPN3
	2:10 p.m.	Latvia vs. Slovakia	ESPN3
	2:15 p.m.	Bulgaria vs. Czech Republic	ESPN3
	2:30 p.m.	ESPN FC FIFA World Cup Whiparound	ESPN2 / WatchESPN
	2:30 p.m.	Serbia vs. Macedonia	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	San Marino vs. Ukraine	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Montenegro vs. Moldova	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Scotland vs. Croatia	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Belgium vs. Wales	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	Spain vs. Georgia	ESPN Deportes / WatchESPN / ESPN3
	3 p.m.	France vs. Finland	ESPN3

ESPNU Midnight Madness Schedule

ESPN announced the schedule of telecasts on ESPNU as part of its coverage of college basketball’s Midnight Madness.

Here is the schedule, which begins at 9:00p.m. ET on October 18th:

Basketball Team/ Commentator	Event Names	Network (Timing ET)
Duke TBD & Dino Gaudio	Countdown to Craziness	ESPNU/ ESPN3 (8 p.m.)
Florida Gulf Coast LaPhonso Ellis	Dunk City After Dark	ESPNU
Kentucky Jimmy Dykes & Darrin Horn	Big Blue Madness	ESPNU/ ESPN3 (7:30 p.m.)
Memphis Bruce Pearl	Memphis Madness	ESPNU
New Mexico Miles Simon	The Lobo Howl	ESPNU
Oklahoma State  Fran Fraschilla & Sean Farnham	Homecoming & Hoops	ESPNU/ ESPN3 (10 p.m.)
Syracuse Rich Hollenberg & Tim Welsh	Orange Madness	ESPNU/ ESPN3 (9 p.m.)
UConn Rebecca Lobo & Kara Lawson	First Night	ESPNU/ ESPN3 (7 p.m.)
Wichita State Len Elmore	Shocker Madness	ESPNU

ESPN3 will carry six Midnight Madness events live in their entirety, beginning tomorrow, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m., with Late Night in the Phog featuring the Kansas men’s basketball team.

Sports Media Digest- October 2, 2013

NL Wild Card Ratings Up 15% over 2012

Turner Sports reports that last night National League Wild Card game between the Reds and Pirates averaged a 3.0 rating and 4.6 million total viewers, up 15% over last year’s NL Wild Card game between the Cardinals and Braves.

The game also  won the night across all cable networks among total viewers.

ESPN Sees 14% Increase in Ratings for MLB

With the Major League Baseball regular season complete ESPN reports that its ratings numbers for the 2013 season are up 14% over 2012.

ESPN finished with a 0.8 U.S. household rating in 2013, up from a 0.7 in 2012, according to Nielsen.

Avery Johnson Joins ESPN as NBA Analyst

ESPN announced today that former NBA player and coach Avery Johnson has joined the network as a NBA analyst.

Johnson will provide analysis for NBA Coast 2 Coast and NBA Tonight, while also making regular appearances on SportsCenter and additional ESPN news and information programming.  Johnson will make his in-studio debut on Monday, October 21.

“I have a wealth of knowledge that I’ve accumulated in my 23 years in the NBA as a head coach and point guard and I’m excited to share my insights with NBA fans,” said Johnson. “I’m thrilled to re-join ESPN and work with their talented team.”

New Features for NBA League Pass as it Enters its 20th Season

NBA Digital announced today that there will be some added features to its NBA League Pass is this, its 20th season.

The new features will be available on NBA League Pass Broadband, which is available complimentary to NBA League Pass and as a standalone product.  Additional package options include NBA League Pass Mobile and NBA League Pass Choice, allowing fans to choose up to five teams to watch during the regular season.

NFL Action Still Tops In Ratings

For the fourth season NFL games were the top ranked program in television.  Additionally, NFL action was the top ranked program in 28 of the 30 NFL markets:

Week of 9/23–9/29			HH	HH	RTG
Market	Game	Date	RTG	SHR	Rank
Denver	Raiders at Broncos*	09/23/2013	44.4	65	1
Kansas City	Giants at Chiefs	09/29/2013	39.3	72	1
Seattle	Seahawks at Texans	09/29/2013	36.1	68	1
Boston	Patriots at Falcons	09/29/2013	34.5	56	1
Indianapolis	Colts at Jaguars	09/29/2013	34.0	57	1
Buffalo	Ravens at Bills	09/29/2013	33.7	64	1
Minneapolis	Steelers at Vikings	09/29/2013	33.2	67	1
Detroit	Bears at Lions	09/29/2013	32.3	56	1
Pittsburgh	Steelers at Vikings	09/29/2013	31.0	59	1
Baltimore	Ravens at Bills	09/29/2013	30.5	58	1
Chicago	Bears at Lions	09/29/2013	30.4	61	1
Cincinnati	Bengals at Browns	09/29/2013	29.2	51	1
Washington, DC	Redskins at Raiders	09/29/2013	29.0	51	1
Nashville	Jets at Titans	09/29/2013	28.9	44	1
Cleveland	Bengals at Browns	09/29/2013	27.6	56	1
San Diego	Cowboys at Chargers	09/29/2013	27.5	55	1
Houston	Seahawks at Texans	09/29/2013	27.3	55	1
Dallas	Cowboys at Chargers	09/29/2013	26.8	48	1
Philadelphia	Eagles at Broncos	09/29/2013	26.2	44	1
Atlanta	Patriots at Falcons	09/29/2013	25.5	40	1
Tampa	Cardinals at Buccaneers	09/29/2013	20.5	40	1
Phoenix	Cardinals at Buccaneers	09/29/2013	19.3	40	1
San Fran-Oakland	49ers at Rams**	09/26/2013	18.7	39	1
St. Louis	49ers at Rams**	09/26/2013	16.6	28	1
Jacksonville	Colts at Jaguars	09/29/2013	16.4	33	1
New York	Giants at Chiefs	09/29/2013	15.2	35	1
Charlotte	Patriots at Falcons	09/29/2013	15.0	26	1
Miami	Eagles at Broncos	09/29/2013	11.1	21	1

MLB Playoff Preview on Cover of SI

This week’s Sports Illustrated previews the Major League Baseball playoffs.  Here is the cover: