| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, Febuary 4, 2004
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | ESPN Today Announces That “Playmakers” Will Not Return For Second Season |
| • | Knicks, Rangers To Move From WFAN To ESPN Radio Starting In ’04-05 |
| • | Reebok Brand President & CEO Martin Coles To Be Replaced By Jay Margolis |
| • | Comcast Cable To Broadcast Seven AFL Colorado Crush Games This Season |
| • | Comcast Announces Deal To Become Exclusive Video Provider At MCI Center |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
ESPN TODAY SHUTTERS SECOND SEASON OF “PLAYMAKERS”
ESPN Exec VP/Programming & Production Mark Shapiro today announced that ESPN’s original series “Playmakers” will not resume production. In a statement, Shapiro said in part, “Many considerations went into to this decision, not the least of which was the reaction from a longtime and valued partner [NFL]. We are proud of the show on many levels – it was a creative and critical success, and we are appreciative that viewers clearly embraced this new genre on our network – so much so that we are actively engaged in pursuing our next drama” (ESPN).
ESPN RADIO TO AIR KNICKS, RANGERS GAMES STARTING NEXT SEASON
By Russell Adams, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
WFAN-AM has decided to “take a pass” on renewing its deals with the Knicks and Rangers, according to WFAN GM Lee Davis. Davis said that while WFAN has enjoyed its relationship with the two clubs, extending the current agreements “would not have been in WFAN’s best financial interests.” The decision leaves WFAN with rights to the Mets and Giants beyond this year, although the station reportedly is considering the Nets, Devils and Islanders – all teams whose deals expire at the end of their respective seasons. ESPN Radio’s N.Y. affil, 1050 ESPN Radio, today announced that the station is taking on the Knicks and Rangers broadcast rights.
REEBOK BRAND PRESIDENT & CEO MARTIN COLES RESIGNS
Reebok today announced that Reebok Int’l President & COO Jay Margolis has assumed the daily responsibilities of leading the Reebok brand, following the resignation of brand President & CEO Martin Coles, who cited personal reasons for his resignation. Reebok will not replace the position (Reebok).
MLB TODAY OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES JAPANESE BROADCAST DEALS
As first reported in sister publication SportsBusiness Journal and the Wall Street Journal, MLB today officially announced that Dentsu – which holds the Japanese TV and radio rights for MLB broadcasts – has selected NHK, Sky PefecTV!, TBS and Fuji TV to air MLB games during the ’04 season. All four networks have previously telecast MLB games in Japan (MLB).
COMCAST CABLE TO AIR SEVEN AFL COLORADO CRUSH GAMES
Comcast Cable today announced that it will broadcast seven AFL Colorado Crush games this season on Comcast Channel 5 in the Denver/Boulder metro area. Comcast will carry six Crush home games and one away game. The two-year deal also calls for a 30-minute program to be aired twice weekly. The station will broadcast the team’s season-opener Friday night against the Las Vegas Gladiators (Comcast Cable).
BUZZER BEATERS
Sporting News this week features Patriots QB Tom Brady on the cover, with the header, “Thriller … Tom Brady And The Heartstoppers Do It Again.”
Sports Illustrated this week features Brady on the cover, with the header, “The Hero (Again) … MVP Tom Brady Leads The Patriots To Their Second Championship In Three Years.”
ESPN The Magazine this week features Knicks President Isiah Thomas and G Stephon Marbury on the cover, with the header, “Can Steph and Isiah Save The East? Can Anyone?”
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| Sporting News | Sports Illustrated |
The AP reports that the Int’l Baseball Federation “will not sanction a World Cup unless there is [drug] testing that meets Olympic guidelines, which would complicate plans to launch a tournament in March 2005.” The IBF informed MLB of its stance last month (AP, 2/4).
Comcast and Washington Sports & Entertainment today announced an agreement for Comcast to become the exclusive video provider at MCI Center. Comcast will provide video services for more than 300 TVs in the arena (Comcast).
The JACKSONVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL reports that the Jaguars have chosen Exeter, PA-based WPCS to “install a wireless network for Alltel Stadium that will be used for point-of-sale concessions” (BIZJOURNALS.com, 2/4).
The NFL and Sirius Satellite Radio today officially announced a seven-year agreement for the company to broadcast all NFL games live nationwide and become the league’s official radio partner. The deal was first reported in December (Sirius).
AD AGE reports that Fox Sports Marketing Group Exec VP/Marketing Neal Tiles will become Exec VP/Marketing for DirecTV, a new position, effective next week. Tiles was “instrumental in helping to make Fox Sports competitive with long-established rival ESPN.” Fox hired Tiles in ‘97 away from ESPN, where he had been Senior VP/Marketing (ADAGE.com, 2/4).
The SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS reports that USA Gymnastics announced it would hold rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline Olympic trials at the Event Center on San Jose State Univ.’s campus June 19 (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/4).
Action Performance today announced an agreement with Hawk Sports Management for an exclusive marketing and licensing contract with NASCAR driver Ricky Craven through ’06. Action Performance receives exclusive rights to produce merchandise depicting Craven and his No. 32 Tide Chevy, including die-cast replicas, apparel and other merchandise (Action Performance).
The TOLEDO BLADE reports that the Triple-A Int’l League Toledo Mud Hens yesterday delivered a $1.7M check to the Lucas County Commissioners, which “represents most of the profit the team earned” during the ’03 season. The club must pay the county to “help retire the debt for the building of the $39.2[M] Fifth Third Field” (TOLEDO BLADE, 2/4).
BLOOMBERG NEWS reports that former Yankees C Joe Girardi has joined the YES Network broadcast team. Girardi will serve as a game analyst, as well as a postgame studio analyst for at least 50 games (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 2/4).
The SEATTLE TIMES reports that ISC has “invited representatives from [Washington] and Snohomish and Kitsap counties to visit its headquarters during the week of the Daytona 500,” which is scheduled for February 15 (SEATTLE TIMES, 2/4).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem will deliver his annual State of the Tour address from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at 6:30pm ET. PGATour.com will offer a live audio stream of the address.
The Hornets will celebrate the 1,000,000th fan to come through the New Orleans Arena doors during the team’s 7:00pm CT game against the Mavericks.
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air Lakers-Cavaliers at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NCAA men’s basketball: Colorado-Texas at 8:00pm ET and Louisville-Memphis at 10:00pm.
ESPN Classic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Allen Iverson at 8:00pm ET.
NFL Network’s condensed“Game of the Week” features Super Bowl XXXVIII at 9:00pm ET.
Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino will appear on MSNBC’s “Deborah Norville Tonight” at 9:00pm ET.
HBO will air the season finale of “Inside the NFL” at 10:00pm ET.
Raiders T Lincoln Kennedy, Patriots S Rodney Harrison, N.Y. Post columnist Peter Vecsey and singer Scott Stapp are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick will appear on “Late Night” at 11:35pm ET.
A&E’s “Biography” will profile Jimmy Hoffa at 8:00pm ET.
E!’s “True Hollywood Story” will profile Mark Wahlberg at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Sen. John Edwards |
| “The Tonight Show” | Dr. Phil McGraw |
| “The Late Late Show” | Carrie Fisher |
| “Late Night” | Matt Lauer |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Kylie Minogue |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
In a front-page piece, the PORTLAND TRIBUNE offers an excerpt from the forthcoming book, “Kobe Bryant: The Game Of His Life,” written by Jeffrey Scott Shapiro and a small cadre of journalists grouped under the pen name Jennifer Stevens. The excerpt includes a Portland woman’s alleged encounter with Kobe Bryant at the Benson Hotel in April ’03 (PORTLAND TRIBUNE).
The Baltimore SUN’s Tom Keyser writes, “Bettors considered it a great leap forward, and the horse racing industry considered it the next source for growth. But now, the promising world of telephone and Internet wagering has become racing’s latest battleground. At the center of combat is Magna Entertainment. … In the past six weeks, Magna has pulled its tracks’ races from most competing account-wagering systems and prohibited them from accepting bets on races from Magna tracks” (Baltimore SUN).
USA TODAY’s Mike Dodd offers a Sports Section Cover Story, and writes, “The [NFL] promotes a wholesome, all-American image while aiming for the young, red-blooded male demographic that advertisers covet. The culture clash was never more apparent than in Super Bowl XXXVIII on Sunday. … The NFL is left to defend a marketing strategy that exposed its inevitable drawbacks” (USA TODAY).
See The Daily Insider’s Articles of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Mindbenders: An archeologist finds a coin dated 48 B.C. How did she know it was a fake?
IN OTHER NEWS……
AD AGE reports that Seattle-based class action lawyer Steve Berman has a filed a lawsuit against A-B and SABMiller. The suit accuses the world’s two biggest brewers of “advertising to minors and seeks $4[B] in disgorgement of profit” (ADAGE.com, 2/4).
REUTERS reports that BSkyB CFO Martin Stewart is “leaving the firm, three months after” James Murdoch was named to replace Tony Ball as CEO. Stewart “will remain as CFO through August 4, or until a new CFO is found.” He will also resign from the BSkyB BOD (REUTERS, 2/4).
THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN VIEWERSHIP RANKINGS
The following lists the final Nielsen viewership numbers for the top ten primetime shows for the week of January 26-February 1. Also provided are the weekly viewership averages for each net (USA TODAY, 2/4).
| RK | PROGRAM | NET | DAY | VIEWERS (IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | Super Bowl XXXVIII | CBS | Sun | 89.8 |
| 2) | Survivor: All Stars | CBS | Sun | 33.5 |
| 3) | American Idol | Fox | Tue | 29.6 |
| 4) | American Idol | Fox | Wed | 28.3 |
| 5) | Friends | NBC | Thu | 20.9 |
| 6) | CSI | CBS | Thu | 20.2 |
| 7) | The Apprentice | NBC | Thu | 18.9 |
| 8) | Fear Factor | NBC | Mon | 17.8 |
| 9) | Without A Trace | CBS | Thu | 17.5 |
| 10) | Will & Grace | NBC | Thu | 17.3 |
| | space |
| NET | VIEWERS |
| CBS | 25.3 |
| Fox | 9.8 |
| NBC | 9.4 |
| ABC | 7.9 |
| UPN | 4.0 |
| WB | 3.7 |
Note: The Daily has opted to exclude this week’s No. 2 show – Super Bowl XXXVIII postgame – which tallied 59.0 million viewers.
…TODAY’S ANSWER
B.C. stands for “Before Christ.” Since Christ was not yet born when the coin would have been made, the date would be impossible.
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