Media Notes

Padres' Garfinkel Wants To Make Broadcasts Available To More Fans

Padres President & COO Tom Garfinkel said the team's goal is to make TV broadcasts "available to as many fans as possible in the future." In San Diego, Jay Posner writes that is "good news to Padres fans who don't have cable TV ... and have been blacked out." Cox Cable, which owns Channel 4 San Diego, and Time Warner Cable have been the "only outlets by which local fans could see the Padres" on TV. Garfinkel "clearly isn't a fan" of the TV deal and it is "going to make for very interesting discussions before Cox's deal expires after the 2011 season." Garfinkel said the team already "started having discussions with Cox exclusively about the future." Posner: "Cox no doubt wants the exclusivity to continue; the Padres don't. But does the club have an alternative?" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 7/10).

SHOWSTOPPER: In Boston, Chad Finn writes CSN New England's "Sports Sunday," hosted by Michael Felger, was "particularly insightful and informative this past Sunday, most notably when it came to the breaking news that Rasheed Wallace had decided to sign with the Celtics." Felger "spoke immediately to Wallace's agent, Bill Strickland, who detailed why his client chose Boston." It was a "nifty and well-executed juggling act by Felger and the show's producers, who had been prepared to lead the show with the Red Sox" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/10).

MISSING THE MARK: In L.A., Tom Hoffarth writes of ABC's "The Superstars," "It's not even fake TV at its worst. It's nostalgia spun forward into a summer replacement series." The show "puts a heavy burden on host" John Saunders, who is "scrambling toward the end of his career." Saunders has "referred to this as a 'grueling competition,' assuming the audience is completely stupid beyond all ability to change the channel, or has bought into the premise that WWE is also real" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 7/10). Through two episodes, "The Superstars" is averaging a 2.7 final Nielsen rating and 4.121 million viewers. The show's premiere ranked 41st among all broadcast TV primetime shows for the week ending June 28, while the second episode ranked 54th for the week ending July 5 (THE DAILY).

NOTES: SPORTS MEDIA WATCH noted ESPN on Wednesday brought back a re-designed BottomLine "nearly three months after its short-lived debut." The new BottomLine debuted on April 6 but "did not even last a full day due to technical difficulties" (SPORTSMEDIAWATCH.BLOGSPOT.com, 7/9)....In Utah, Scott Pierce writes The mtn. has "made massive progress in increasing its distribution," but that "doesn't mean that it's anywhere near where Mountain West Conference coaches, players, presidents and fans want it to be." It is "sort of depressing to think that The mtn. is in 7 million homes and the Big Ten Network is in 73 million" (DESERET NEWS, 7/10).