DirecTV To Carry Time Warner's New RSNs

DirecTV subscribers in L.A. will be able to watch the Lakers on Time Warner Cable SportsNet tomorrow tonight – and for the rest of the season – after the satellite operator signed a long-term carriage deal for TWCSN and the Spanish-language TWC Deportes. Sources say DirecTV will try to h ...

ESPN Locks Up Sugar, Orange Bowl TV Rights

In the past 24 hours, ESPN officially announced deals to carry the Sugar and Orange Bowls through '26. This morning, ESPN formally announced a 12-year deal with the ACC that gives ESPN control of the Orange Bowl's media rights. Financial terms were not disclosed, but sources say ESPN has agreed to p ...

Tags: Media, ESPN, NCAA

ESPN Acquires Sugar Bowl Media Rights

ESPN officially announced a 12-year deal with the SEC and Big 12 conferences this afternoon that gives ESPN control of the Sugar Bowl's media rights through '26. Financial terms were not disclosed. But sources say ESPN has agreed to pay $80M per year for the Sugar Bowl, which previously was called t ...

NBC's Bell Talks New Olympic Role

NBC yesterday formally introduced Jim Bell as full-time Exec Producer of NBCUniversal’s Olympic Games coverage after spending more than seven years working on "Today." After the announcement, Bell spoke about his new role. Q : As the full-time Exec Producer of the Olympics, what will you d ...

Tags: Media, NBC

ESPN Partners With Wooden Award

ESPN signed a sponsorship deal to become the multimedia and announcement partner for college basketball's John R. Wooden Award. The deal gives ESPN rights to announce the award winner during the Final Four weekend and create programming around it during the season, including the Pre-Season Top 50 ca ...

AFL Signs Title Sponsor For '13 Season

The Arena Football League has signed a one-year title sponsorship deal with Net10 Wireless for the '13 season. The prepaid cell phone company last season sponsored national broadcasts of the AFL on NFL Network, but will become the league’s first title sponsorship for the upcoming season.  ...

Tags: Marketing and Sponsorship, Arena Football League

CBS Sports Network Picks Up AFL Games

CBS Sports Network signed a deal to carry Arena Football League games for the next two years. The cable channel will have 19 regular-season games and two playoff games starting next season. The league's championship game, ArenaBowl, will air on CBS, the broadcast network. Next year's championship ga ...

CSN Mid-Atlantic Hires Gary Williams

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic hired former Univ. of Maryland men's basketball coach Gary Williams as a college basketball analyst. Williams will be a studio analyst for shows including "Geico SportsNet Central" and "SportsTalk Live." He also will contribute to CSN Mid-Atlantic's websites. He will ...

Ustream, IMG Media Reach Partnership

Soccer matches from the Netherlands Cup were not available on U.S. television last week, but digital media company Ustream streamed the matches for free on its website thanks to a new deal the company cut last month with IMG Media that is expected to be announced officially this week. The deal ...

Tags: Media

Blazers-Lakers Earns 2.82 On TWCSN

Early ratings are in for Time Warner Cable SportsNet's first Lakers game. Last night's game against the Trail Blazers pulled a 2.82 local rating and averaged 89,000 homes for the channel, which launched Oct. 1. Last year, Lakers games on FS West averaged a 4.7 rating. Of course, last night's game wa ...