Media Notes

Blue Jays Hoping To Have All 162 Games On Canadian Television This Season

In Toronto, Chris Zelkovich reports the Blue Jays are "hoping to have all 162 games on Canadian television for the first time in more than a decade" this season, but there is a "catch -- many could be on a channel that has yet to launch." The team yesterday confirmed that it is "hoping to get games on a channel tentatively named Rogers Sportsnet Extra, which could launch sometime this year." TSN "will carry 20 games, with five slated for TSN2 in September," and the remaining 137 games "will be shared by Rogers Sportsnet and the channel that has yet to launch." Zelkovich notes Sportsnet was "granted the licence for Sportsnet Extra in January with plans to air a variety of spots" (TORONTO STAR, 3/11).

THE BOYS OF SUMMER: Former MLBer Nomar Garciaparra has joined ESPN as a baseball analyst. Garciaparra will appear mainly on "Baseball Tonight," in addition to select appearances as a game analyst. He will make his ESPN debut later this month. Meanwhile, MASN announced that Mike Flanagan will join the Orioles broadcast team as a color analyst for the '10 season. Flanagan will work alongside play-by-play announcer Gary Thorne for about half of the Orioles games during this season. Flanagan replaces Buck Martinez, who recently became the play-by-play announcer for the Blue Jays (THE DAILY).

THE DARK KNIGHT: In K.C., Blair Kerkhoff notes 45% of the nearly 6,400 respondents to a K.C. Star survey of ESPN college basketball analyst Bob Knight's performance said that Knight is "terrible and should be fired," while only 28% indicated that they "love his insight." ESPN Exec VP/Production Norby Williamson said of Knight, "We didn't try to make him something we didn't want him to be. ... At the end of the day we're not going to try and turn him into some polished broadcaster. We want that unbridled, right as the game is happening, expertise. I want it as if I'm sitting on the bench next to him." ESPN's Brent Musburger said Knight is "probably the most honest basketball analyst I've ever worked with" (K.C. STAR, 3/11).