Fox Sports Media Group co-President & co-COO Eric Shanks said that the network's Olympic coverage "would depart the traditional Olympic TV formula" if Fox wins the bidding for the '14 Sochi and '16 Rio de Janeiro Games next month. Shanks said, "We plan on doing everything live. It just makes sense." USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand noted Shanks is the first Fox official to say that the net would "depart from NBC's formula of holding the best Olympic action on tape for primetime shows." Fox would "still have packaged primetime shows that feature storytelling and features" (USATODAY.com, 5/25).
CANADA DRY: ADWEEK's Anthony Crupi wrote the Canucks' advancement to the Stanley Cup Final "could prove to have a chilling effect on NBC's ratings." The net is "almost certain to take a hit" because the Vancouver market is "not included in the Nielsen TV ratings sample." The Senators were the last Canadian team to play in the Cup Final, in '07, and that year's Ducks-Senators series "drew the lowest ratings in history, averaging just 1.76 million viewers over a span of five games." Tomorrow's Lightning-Bruins Eastern Conference Finals Game Seven will determine who plays the Canucks, and Crupi wrote a Bruins win "could help defray the loss of those Western Conference households." Crupi: "The Hub is hockey mad" (ADWEEK.com, 5/25).
GIVE ME LIBERTY.... In Memphis, Ron Higgins reports the Dec. 31 AutoZone Liberty Bowl "will be televised on ABC instead of ESPN." The game "will be one of just five bowls out of the 35 postseason games not televised by ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU." AutoZone Liberty Bowl Exec Dir Steve Ehrhart "gave much credit for the bowl and ABC getting together to" AutoZone Senior VP/Marketing Lisa Kranc (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 5/26).
FACES IN THE CROWD: MLBAM has struck a partnership with JibJab Media Inc., which has built renown in recent years for allowing Internet users to insert photos of themselves or others into humorous animated videos. The two entities will collaborate on a new effort within Jib Jab's "Starring You" platform in which fans will be able to place photos into videos of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame." Those videos will then be embeddable into Facebook, Twitter, e-mail or personal blogs. The program will be accessible from MLB.com, the 30 individual club sites and JibJab.com (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
