NBC earned a 2.4 overnight Nielsen rating for its coverage of yesterday's Rangers-Flyers Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, down from a 2.8 rating for last year's Capitals-Penguins outdoor game, which aired in primetime. It also was down from a 2.6 rating for the '10 Flyers-Bruins game, which began at 1:00pm ET. The delayed 3:00pm start of yesterday's game meant it faced competition from the Michigan State-Georgia Outback Bowl that went into three overtimes and the start of the Oregon-Wisconsin Rose Bowl. The Philadelphia market earned a 11.9 local rating for hockey game, while the N.Y. market drew a 4.3 rating (THE DAILY). In L.A., Helene Elliott writes when viewed through NBC's cameras, the Winter Classic "lacked the charm and us-against-the-elements appeal the league needs for this annual game to be more than a made-for-TV contrivance." NBC's broadcast "had too few shots of fans and conveyed no sense of what it felt like to sit among a crowd that exceeded 46,000 and to look up and see the sky instead of an arena roof" (L.A. TIMES, 1/3).
ENTERTING THE RING: ESPN has hired Bernardo Osuna to host the studio show for "Friday Night Fights." Osuna replaces Brian Kenny, who recently left ESPN to join MLB Network. Osuna's debut will come Jan. 6 at 9:00pm ET on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN3.Typically, the show will be produced from ESPN's Bristol, Conn., campus. But Osuna occasionally will be on site. He was a guest analyst on the show in '09 and '10 (John Ourand, THE DAILY).
SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT: In Tampa Bay, Tom Jones noted the "talented and likeable" Dana Jacobson has been "pulled from her co-anchor duties" on ESPN2's "First Take." With her being reassigned, she likely "will get lost in ESPN's large stable of anchors." It also means that ESPN "will continue to force" Skip Bayless on us, as well as a "format that encourages yelling for yelling's sake" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 1/2).
