Spanning the world to bring you the constant variety of sports media….
NFL Network: James Miller and Richard Sandomir of the New York Times write about the 10-year anniversary of the network, and how it almost was bought by ESPN.
Different as they are, ESPN and the NFL Network nearly became partners. In 2009, the league courted ESPN in a series of exhaustive negotiations that the league hoped would conclude with ESPN acquiring 50 percent of the NFL Network for $2 billion, according to league and network executives.
To help entice ESPN, the N.F.L. offered to reduce the price of “Monday Night Football.” The new “Monday Night” contract, which starts next season, will have ESPN paying an average of $1.9 billion a season, plus $100 million annually for a wild-card playoff game. The executives involved in the talks said the N.F.L. offered to cut the fee to $1.5 billion a year, with the playoff game tossed in as a signing bonus.
ESPN ratings: John Ourand and Austin Karp in Sports Business Daily have an interesting story about the drop in ratings for PTI and Around the Horn. There’s more to it.
ESPN executives acknowledge the drop from 2010, when both shows set viewership records. But they say the focus solely on TV viewership misses a bigger picture. They say more people than ever are watching these shows on DVR or WatchESPN — and roll out the numbers to back up their point. “PTI” has logged 1.3 million minutes viewed on WatchESPN, up 270 percent; “ATH” has logged 1.2 million minutes, up 335 percent. Overall, WatchESPN streams are up 77 percent over last year.
DVR usage is up on both shows. “PTI’s” 18 percent DVR rate (live plus seven days) is one of ESPN’s highest time-shifting rates. “ATH’s” time-shifting rate is 12 percent. And the “PTI” podcast is the top download in ESPN’s Podcenter so far this year; “ATH” is in the top 10.
It’s impossible to quantify that usage and its impact on overall viewership, but ESPN officials clearly believe both shows are drawing an all-time high audience.
“More people are watching than ever before,” Rydholm said. “They just aren’t watching in the same way as they did before.”
Calls of the month: Matt Yoder at Awful Announcing compiles his favorites for October.
Ohio State pulled off one of the most dramatic, unconventional covers in college football thanks to a wonky last second touchdown. Only Brent Musburger could truly understand the gravity of the situation and just how much money was changing hands.
John Wooden: Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News reports more books are being written about John Wooden.
Goodness gracious, sakes alive: Another book we’ve just got to read about John Wooden has landed on the shelves. With one more looming in the near future. And a third just aching for some outside forces to stop breaking bad.
Any more? Any reason why not?
Keith Olbermann: Michael Hainey of GQ has an interview on his return to ESPN and other subjects. Great headline on story: “The 4,567th and Final Comeback of Keith Olbermann.”
GQ: Do you believe in redemption?
Keith Olbermann: Yeah. I wound up working for ESPN again because I believe in it and because I was pursuing it. I’ve made no secret of this, and I believe it sincerely. As I said several times, if there’s anybody who bothers to write an obit for me, it will include something in the first paragraph about contentious exits. And I’d like to change that. So yeah, I kind of believe in redemption. This is my third tour at ESPN. I’ve had two at NBC, an eight-year run. We retire our presidents at eight years; I think we should retire our political commentators at something less than that. So I believe in it, and it’s not necessarily a permanent thing, but in this case I want to try to make it as permanent as circumstances will allow.
Michele Tafoya: Bob Wolfley of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel talks to Tafoya about the value of the sideline reporter.
“I can tell you that (Gaudelli) makes the most of the role,” Tafoya said during a telephone interview. “He sees the big picture. He never tries to jam something in that isn’t important. He doesn’t feel beholden to me. He and I work very hard together during the week. He and I have a conference call in the middle of the week. We have our own separate meeting alone, away from the crew, on the weekend heading into the game. It’s a completely different experience than I have had at any other place.”
Sage Steele: Richard Deitsch of SI.com talks to Steele about her new role as a host on ESPN’s NBA Countdown.
“Countdown had not had a host for a long time and they seemed pretty set on keeping it that way,” Steele said in a phone interview last week. “I had asked about the role in the past and I had always had interest in it but I was surprised. I’ve been in the business for 18 years and I have loved every moment but I’ve never been able to focus on one sport and really own one. It eventually was a no-brainer for me.”
Adrian Wojnarowski: Jason McIntyre of Big Lead has a podcast with the NBA writer for Yahoo! Sports.
Wojnarowski, along with a couple other writers, has been at the forefront of the modern sports column: Less navel-gazing pontificating – I think this, I think that – and more reporting/informed opinion. I worked with Wojnarowski a little over a decade ago at the Bergen Record, back when he was a general sports columnist, and twitter/sports blogs barely existed.
ESPN Ombudsman: In his latest column, Robert Lipsyte weighs in about David Pollack’s comments about Condoleezza Rice serving on the new BCS panel.
The ESPN female audience has risen to about 45 percent, according to last year’s figures, and the network has been making an effort to showcase female talent. The promotion of Doris Burke this month to studio analyst on “NBA Countdown” was a dramatic example.
But ESPN also has to do a better job of identifying those “good ol’ boy” comments and turning them into teachable moments for the guys who haven’t quite gotten their heads out of their lockers.