Media Notes

NBC Responds To Columnist's Criticism  Of Postrace Coverage At Allstate 400

After the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER’s David Poole criticized NBC’s postrace coverage of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol offered “his side of the story.” Ebersol said that he authorized the postrace show to be extended, and that during the 21-minute coverage, there was “only one 30-second commercial and a one-minute preview” of the Raiders-Eagles preseason game. The rest “was devoted to interviews, analysis and results of the race.” Responding to Poole writing NBC’s coverage of the Chase for the Nextel Cup would be a “10-week promo” for the NFL, Ebersol said that the net “will promote its NASCAR coverage aggressively the rest of this season.” This is NBC’s last year as a NASCAR TV rights holder (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 8/9).

SEASON PREMIER: Setanta Sports has sublicensed the rights to over 90 ’06-07 Premier League matches from Fox Soccer Channel (FSC). Setanta is carried by DirecTV and GlobecastTV (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 8/7 issue)....FSC will air a series of Premier League games Sundays at 11:00am ET, which was previously a window for PPV games. FSC will also air 17 Monday matches and several mid-week games. The net will broadcast over 150 Premier League games during the season, and Fox Sports en Espanol will also air select matches (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 8/7 issue).

NOTES: North Carolina-based SportsOneSource Group, which provides news on the sporting goods industry, will acquire Sporting Goods Business (SGB) and its related properties. SportsOneSource, which is partially owned by VNU Inc., acquired SGB through VNU Business Media (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 8/9)....FSN will air Evander Holyfield’s return to the ring against Jeremy Bates live August 18 at 10:30pm ET. “BDSSP’s” Chris Rose and John Salley will provide analysis (CABLEFAX DAILY, 8/9).