Media Notes

Zucker (r) Discusses Future Of NBC, Online Video With WSJ's Kara Swisher

NBC Universal President & CEO Jeff Zucker last week participated in The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference, and he said the "issue with broadcast television is it's an inferior model to cable television, (which has) dual revenue streams." Zucker: "Having said that, the pipes still work. You look at our broadcast of the Summer Olympics from China last year, which was the most watched television event in history. Our broadcast of this year's Super Bowl." Meanwhile, Zucker said Hulu, a joint venture between News Corp. and NBCU, is "ahead of plan." Zucker: "We expect Hulu to be positive for us very soon." When asked if Hulu could ultimately feature a subscription service, Zucker said, "I think that's something we would certainly think about. ... It could be ad-supported, non-ad-supported, things like that" (Kara Swisher, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/2).

ACING THE COVERAGE: The WASHINGTON EXAMINER's Jim Williams wrote Tennis Channel has "established itself as a destination channel" for grand slam tournaments, as the network's joint production effort with ESPN2 "has provided seamless quality coverage for over 14 hours a day" of the French Open. Tennis Channel announcers Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe are a "treat and neither has a problem offering up a tough, but honest, observation." Tennis Channel "has arrived as a real force and an equal to their partners at ESPN2 on all the big tennis events" (WASHINGTON EXAMINER, 6/2).

NOTHING SLOW HERE: MLBAM and the National Pro Fast Pitch League have struck a multi-year partnership in which the softball property with MLBAM will have online live streaming of its matches for the first time at profastpitch.com. The free offering builds upon a trial streaming effort last year for the NPF title game and further extends MLBAM's reach into other facets of the baseball and softball industries (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).

NOTES: Friday will be the last original content day for ESPNTheMag.com, as after that all ESPN The Magazine stories and related content will be part of ESPN Insider (ESPN)....YAHOO SPORTS' Chris Chase wrote if ESPN football analyst and former Lions President & CEO Matt Millen is a "good commentator (and he is), who cares that he failed as a GM?" Chase: "They're two different skill sets" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/2).