Sports Media Weekly No. 173- Brian Berger, Sports Business Radio

It’s been an interesting sports media week and we have it covered on Sports Media Weekly.

Joining Ken Fang of Fang’s Bites and me for the program this week is Brian Berger of Sports Business Radio.

We begin the program looking at the appearance late this afternoon of Alex Rodriguez on the Mike Francesa radio program on WFAN in New York.  Rodriguez sought the sympathetic ear of Francesa after storming out of his hearing today with an arbitrator over his 211 game suspension issued by Major League Baseball earlier this year.  Brian, who also works as a media consultant for athletes, chimes in on whether Rodriguez’ strategy will pay off for him in the court of public opinion.

Over to the the NFL next and Ken’s piece on Awful Announcing on the flex options that await the league’s media partners when the new television contracts take effect next year.

We then move to the news that CBS NFL game analyst Dan Dierdorf will be retiring at the end of the current NFL season after 30 years televising games for CBS and ABC.

College basketball may be seeing quite the change in coverage at the NCAA Final Four beginning next year as Turner Sports takes over televising the national semi-final games.  John Ourand at Sports Business Journal  has the details.

We wrap the news segment by looking at the news by NBC that Bob Costas will be adding late night hosting duties to his primetime gig at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

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Dan Dierdorf to Retire at the End of NFL Season

CBS Sports announced today that NFL game analyst Dan Dierdorf will be retiring from broadcasting at the end of the current NFL season.

Dierdorf spent 13 years as a Hall-of-Fame offensive lineman in the NFL.  After his retirement Dierdorf spent 30 years as a game analyst for both CBS and ABC.

“I have been blessed to spend my entire life in the game I love,” said Dierdorf.  “I had an opportunity to go from the field directly to the broadcast booth where I have had the privilege of working with the giants of our business including Ray Scott, Lindsey Nelson, Jack Buck, Dick Stockton, Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Verne Lundquist, Dick Enberg and lastly, my partner, Greg Gumbel. It has become a challenge for me to travel to a different NFL city every week, so it’s time to step aside. This has been a wonderful ride as I really have lived the dream.”

“For 43 NFL seasons Dan Dierdorf has been a consummate professional both on the field and in the broadcast booth,” said Sean McManus, Chairman, CBS Sports. “Very few people in any profession can boast a Hall of Fame playing career and Hall of Fame broadcasting career.  Dan, without question, is one of them.  His CBS Sports family will miss him on Sundays, but we wish him all the best in his retirement.”