Media Notes

SPORTS MEDIA JOURNAL's Ray Frager wrote CBS' final-round coverage of the PGA Championship Sunday reminded him "just how superior the network's telecasts of the Masters are ... because the Masters mandates fewer commercials." The drama "would have built to even greater levels Sunday if we hadn't been pulled away several times for breaks after Tiger Woods and Y.E. Yang had hit their tee shots." Frager: "I don't begrudge CBS its revenue -- and the final holes were handled without undue interruptions -- but I couldn't help but think about how much better the viewing experience would have been" (SPORTSMEDIAJOURNAL.com, 8/17).

STUDIO SHIFT: In Dallas, Barry Horn writes Pro Football HOFer Michael Irvin "appears on the verge of signing with the NFL Network to join its in-season Sunday pregame and postgame studio shows." Meanwhile, ESPN Radio 103.3 Dallas Program Dir Tom Lee confirmed that he "expects Irvin to sign a new contract soon to continue with the local radio talk show he has hosted since" January '08 (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 8/18).

TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM: In L.A., Meg James wrote the USOC is "taking one for the team" by indefinitely delaying the launch of the U.S. Olympic Network. The effort was "handled clumsily from the start," and Chicago 2016 officials "worried that the brouhaha would hamper their efforts" to host the '16 Games. USOC Chair Larry Probst: "There is no question that we underestimated the intensity of the reaction that we got from multiple constituents. ... The USOC wants to do everything it can to help support the Chicago bid" (LATIMES.com, 8/17).