College Basketball This Week on ESPN

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

Date	Time(ET)	Game / Commentators	Networks
Thu, Dec 12	7 p.m.	Maryland at Boston College Tom Hart & Len Elmore	ESPNU
Fri, Dec 13	8 p.m.	Arkansas-Little Rock at No. 16 Memphis Greg Gaston & Darrin Horn	ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	No. 23 Iowa at No. 17 Iowa State Mike Couzens & Reid Gettys	ESPNU
Holiday Hoops Presented by Kay Jewelers (Dec. 18-25)
Sat, Dec 14	Noon	Western Kentucky at No. 6 Louisville Bob Wischusen & Kara Lawson	ESPN2
		VCU at Northern Iowa Rich Hollenberg & Mark Adams	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	Eastern Kentucky at No. 4 WisconsinWayne Randazzo & Kevin Lehman	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Tennessee at No. 12 Wichita State Mark Jones & Jimmy Dykes	ESPN2
		Louisiana Tech at No. 7 Oklahoma State Dave Armstrong & Bryndon Manzer	ESPNU
	3:15 p.m.	Notre Dame at Indiana Dave O’Brien & Dan Dakich	ESPN
	4 p.m.	No. 5 Michigan State at Oakland Carter Blackburn & Bruce Pearl	ESPN2
		UNC-Greensboro at Rutgers Jonathan Yardley & Mo Cassara	ESPN3
	5:15 p.m.	No. 11 Kentucky at No. 18 North Carolina Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale & Jay Bilas	ESPN
	6 p.m.	Detroit at NC State Roy Philpott & Stan Lewter	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	New Mexico at No. 13 Kansas Dave Flemming & Fran Fraschilla	ESPN2
		Furman at Clemson	ESPN3
	9 p.m.	Illinois at No. 15 Oregon Roxy Bernstein & Sean Farnham	ESPN2
Sun, Dec 15	Noon	Philadelphia University at Boston College Eric Frede & Malcolm Huckabay	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	UNC-Asheville at USC Upstate	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	Western Michigan at No. 24 Missouri Dave Neal & Jon Sundvold	ESPNU

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NBC Flexes Bears/Eagles for NFL Week 16

The NFL announced today that the week 16 game between the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles will be flexed onto Sunday Night Football (SNF) on NBC.

The original SNF match-up, the New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens, will now air Sunday, December 22nd at 4:25pm ET on CBS.

Here is the reconfigured week 16 NFL schedule (All times local):

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22

 

MIAMI AT BUFFALO	1:00 PM (ET)	CBS
NEW ORLEANS AT CAROLINA	1:00 PM (ET)	FOX
MINNESOTA AT CINCINNATI	1:00 PM (ET)	FOX
DENVER AT HOUSTON	12:00 PM (CT)	CBS
TENNESSEE AT JACKSONVILLE	1:00 PM (ET)	CBS
INDIANAPOLIS AT KANSAS CITY	12:00 PM (CT)	CBS
CLEVELAND AT NEW YORK JETS	1:00 PM (ET)	CBS
TAMPA BAY AT ST. LOUIS	12:00 PM (CT)	FOX
DALLAS AT WASHINGTON	1:00 PM (ET)	FOX
NEW YORK GIANTS AT DETROIT	4:05 PM (ET)	FOX
ARIZONA AT SEATTLE	1:05 PM (PT)	FOX
*NEW ENGLAND AT BALTIMORE	4:25 PM (ET)	CBS
PITTSBURGH AT GREEN BAY	3:25 PM (CT)	CBS
OAKLAND AT SAN DIEGO	1:25 PM (PT)	CBS
*CHICAGO AT PHILADELPHIA	8:30 PM (ET)	NBC

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23

ATLANTA AT SAN FRANCISCO

5:40 PM (PT)

ESPN

Curt Schilling Joins Sunday Night Baseball Crew

With the announcement that Orel Hershiser will be working on the Los Angeles Dodgers game telecasts, ESPN wasted no time today announcing who will take his place on the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast crew.  Curt Schilling will fill Hershiser’s role beginning next season.

Schilling has served as a Baseball Tonight studio analyst since 2010, and has also provided analysis for select MLB game telecasts on ESPN. He will continue to make studio appearances for the network.

“I’m excited to join an already outstanding team,” said Schilling. “I would like to bring a perspective that will help fans get inside the head of the guy on the mound, and behind the plate, while also helping fans to better understand the work and preparation that goes into pitching in the big leagues.”

“Curt is one of the most unique announcers we have ever had on baseball, or any other sport, for that matter.” said Jed Drake, ESPN executive producer and senior vice-president, production. “He speaks his mind, and when he does, it is almost always fascinating, insightful and quite often, provocative. People will watch Sunday Night Baseball because of what Curt might say – that’s a rare gift. And, did I mention that he was a ferocious competitor, who has three World Series rings? Enough said.”

Photo Courtesy ESPN

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.

Week 14 NFL Schedule, with Announcer Assignments

Here is the week 14 schedule in the NFL, along with the announcers calling each game:

THURSDAY, DEC. 05
GAME	TIME/SCORE	TV	ANNOUNCERS
Houston at Jacksonville	8:25 pm	NFL Network	Brad Nessler, Mike Mayock
SUNDAY, DEC. 08
GAME	TIME/SCORE	TV	ANNOUNCERS
Minnesota at Baltimore	1:00 pm	FOX	Chris Myers, Tim Ryan, Jennifer Hale
Kansas City at Washington	1:00 pm	CBS	Kevin Harlan, Solomon Wilcotts
Buffalo at Tampa Bay	1:00 pm	CBS	Spero Dedes, Steve Beuerlein
Miami at Pittsburgh	1:00 pm	CBS	Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts
Detroit at Philadelphia	1:00 pm	FOX	Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch, Molly McGrath
Oakland at N.Y. Jets	1:00 pm	CBS	Marv Albert, Rich Gannon
Indianapolis at Cincinnati	1:00 pm	CBS	Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf
Cleveland at New England	1:00 pm	CBS	Bill Macatee, Steve Tasker
Atlanta at Green Bay	1:00 pm	FOX	Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick, Laura Okmin
Tennessee at Denver	4:05 pm	CBS	Jim Nantz, Phil Simms
St. Louis at Arizona	4:25 pm	FOX	Dick Stockton, Ronde Barber, Kris Budden
Seattle at San Francisco	4:25 pm	FOX	Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Pam Oliver
N.Y. Giants at San Diego	4:25 pm	FOX	Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa
Carolina at New Orleans	8:30 pm	NBC	Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth
MONDAY, DEC. 09
GAME	TIME/SCORE	TV	ANNOUNCERS
Dallas at Chicago	8:40 pm	ESPN	Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden

College Basketball This Week on ESPN

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

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup / Commentators	Network
Thu, Dec 5	7 p.m.	Big 12/SEC Challenge: West Virginia at Missouri Mark Jones & Jimmy Dykes	ESPN2
		Big 12/SEC Challenge: TCU at Mississippi State Tom Hart & Carolyn Peck	ESPNU
		Rider at Monmouth Doug Sherman & Rob Kennedy	ESPN3
		Tennessee Tech at Lipscomb	ESPN3
	9 p.m.	Big 12/SEC Challenge: Ole Miss at Kansas State Dave Flemming & Miles Simon	ESPN2
Fri, Dec 6	7 p.m.	Loyola Marymount at Pittsburgh Tim Neverett & Curtis Aiken	ESPN3
	8:30 p.m.	Fairfield at Quinnipiac Doug Sherman & Rob Kennedy	ESPN3
	9:30 p.m.	Big 12/SEC Challenge: South Carolina at No. 9 Oklahoma State Micth Holthus & Reid Gettys	ESPNU
	10 p.m.	Big 12/SEC Challenge: No. 3 Kentucky at No. 20 Baylor Jon Sciambi & Fran Fraschilla	ESPN
Sat, Dec 7	Noon	Texas at Temple Adam Amin & Tim Welsh	ESPNU
	1 p.m.	Hofstra at SMU Dave Raymond & Stephen Howard	ESPN3
		Northwestern State at No. 16 Memphis Greg Gaston & Darrin Horn	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	Richmond at Wake Forest Evan Leplar & Pete Strickland	ESPN3
		East Tennessee State at Georgia Tech	ESPN3
		Eastern Michigan at Purdue Mike Couzens & Jeff Jackson	ESPN3
		William & Mary at Wofford	ESPN3
	3 p.m.	New Orleans at Minnesota BJ Schaben & Rich Zvosec	ESPN3
	3:15 p.m.	No. 6 Kansas at Colorado Dave O’Brien & Jimmy Dykes	ESPN2
	4 p.m.	Marshall at Penn State Tim Neverett & Brian Allen	ESPN3
	5 p.m.	Virginia at Wisconsin-Green Bay Mike Morgan & Brooke Weisbrod	ESPNU
	5:15 p.m.	UNLV at No. 2 Arizona  Roxy Bernstein & Miles Simon	ESPN2
	6 p.m.	San Jose State at Houston Brett Dolan & Reid Gettys	ESPN3
	7 p.m.	UNC Greensboro at North Carolina Joe Davis & Paul Biancardi	ESPNU
		Stetson at UCF Jesse Agler & Mark Wise	ESPN3
		Binghamton at No. 4 Syracuse Jason Benetti & Reggie Witherspoon	ESPN3
	9 p.m.	Alabama at USF Rich Hollenberg & Carolyn Peck	ESPNU
	11 p.m.	New Mexico State at No. 19 Gonzaga Steve Quis & Jon Crispin	ESPNU
Sun, Dec 8	12:30 p.m.	Virginia Tech at Miami (Fla.) Tom Hart & Jay Williams	ESPNU
	5 p.m.	No. 13 Oregon at Ole Miss Dave Neal & Kara Lawson	ESPNU
	6 p.m.	Jacksonville State at Florida State	ESPN3
	8 p.m.	Seton Hall at Rutgers Eamon McAnaney & Tim Welsh	ESPNU

ESPN Announces First Five Analysts for the World Cup

Next year’s World Cup will be the last on ESPN for a while.  Today the network announced five analysts who will work the tournament in Brazil.

Michael Ballack, Alexi Lalas, Steve McManaman, and  Santiago Solari will appear on pre-match, halftime and post-match shows, SportsCenter, ESPN FC, and FIFA World Cup-themed news and information programs. Taylor Twellman will primarily serve as a co-commentator. McManaman will also co-commentate on select matches.

The analysts will be on hand this Friday at 11:30am as ESPN2 televises the final draw for the World Cup.  Bob Ley will host.

“The quality and diversity of our analyst team was one of the keys to our 2010 World Cup success,” said Jed Drake, ESPN senior vice president and executive producer.  “Michael, Alexi, Macca, Santiago, Taylor and others to come, will form what we expect to be one of the best collections of football minds available anywhere for this global sporting event.”

College Football Schedule on ESPN

ESPN has an impressive slate of college football games this week, including conference championships.  Here is the schedule and announcer assignments:

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

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup/Commentator	Network
Thu, Dec 5	7:30 p.m.	No. 19 Louisville at Cincinnati Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Kaylee Hartung	ESPN
Fri, Dec 6	8 p.m.	Marathon MAC Football Championship: Bowling Green vs. No. 14 Northern Illinois (from Detroit) Carter Blackburn, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams	ESPN2
Sat, Dec 7	Noon	No. 17 Oklahoma at No. 6 Oklahoma State Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Shannon Spake	ABC
		No. 16 UCF at SMU Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Tom Luginbill	ESPN
		Conference USA Football Championship Game: Marshall at Rice Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen & Maria Taylor	ESPN2
	1 p.m.	Memphis at Connecticut John Brickley & Matt Chatham	ESPN3
	2 p.m.	SWAC Championship Game: Southern vs. Jackson State (from Houston) Mark Neely & Jay Walker	ESPNU
	7:30 p.m.	South Florida at Rutgers Mark Jones & Brock Huard	ESPN2
	7:45 p.m.	Pac-12 Championship Game Presented by Dr Pepper: No. 7 Stanford at No. 11 Arizona State TV: Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe Radio: Dave Flemming, David Norrie & Dave Shore	ESPN & ESPN Radio
	8 p.m.	Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game: No. 20 Duke vs. No. 1 Florida State (from Charlotte) TV: Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox Radio: Bill Rosinski, Bill Polian & Joe Schad	ABC & ESPN Radio

NBC Announces Other Hosts for Winter Olympics Coverage

NBC Sports announced today that Dan Patrick, Rebecca Lowe, and Lester Holt will play roles as host to parts of its Winter Olympics coverage this February from Sochi, Russia.

Patrick and Lowe will host NBC Sports Network’s (NBCSN) live weekday and weekend coverage of the games while Holt will serve as host of NBC’s weekday afternoon coverage.

“We are excited to add Dan, Rebecca and Lester to our roster of anchors,” said Jim Bell, Executive Producer, NBC Olympics. “With wide-ranging experience, they will provide NBC and NBCSN viewers with news, insight and storytelling.”

Patrick, Lowe, and Holt join Bob Costas, NBC’s primetime and late night host, and Al Michaels, who will serve as host for NBC on weekend afternoons and NBCSN on weekdays.

Few Changes to Week 15 NFL Schedule

NBC has decided not to flex a game into the Sunday Night Football prime time slot for week 15 of the NFL season and will retain its original match-up between the Bengals and Steelers.

The NFL did move the start time of the Saints/Rams and Cardinals/Titans to the late Sunday afternoon slot on Fox.

Here is the revamped week 15 NFL schedule (All times local):

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12 (WEEK 15)

SAN DIEGO AT DENVER

6:25 PM (MT)

NFLN

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15

WASHINGTON AT ATLANTA	1:00 PM (ET)	FOX
CHICAGO AT CLEVELAND	1:00 PM (ET)	FOX
HOUSTON AT INDIANAPOLIS	1:00 PM (ET)	CBS
BUFFALO AT JACKSONVILLE	1:00 PM (ET)	CBS
NEW ENGLAND AT MIAMI	1:00 PM (ET)	CBS
PHILADELPHIA AT MINNESOTA	12:00 PM (CT)	FOX
SEATTLE AT NEW YORK GIANTS	1:00 PM (ET)	FOX
SAN FRANCISCO AT TAMPA BAY	1:00 PM (ET)	FOX
NEW YORK JETS AT CAROLINA	4:05 PM (ET)	CBS
KANSAS CITY AT OAKLAND	1:05 PM (PT)	CBS
GREEN BAY AT DALLAS	3:25 PM (CT)	FOX
*NEW ORLEANS AT ST. LOUIS	3:25 PM (CT)	FOX
*ARIZONA AT TENNESSEE	3:25 PM (CT)	FOX
CINCINNATI AT PITTSBURGH	8:30 PM (ET)	NBC

MONDAY, DECEMBER 16

BALTIMORE AT DETROIT

8:40 PM (ET)

ESPN