In N.Y., Marc Berman notes the Nuggets were announced Thursday as the "club that will be followed" on NBA TV's reality-TV show, "The Association." The NBA "approached the Knicks about being the spotlighted team, but an arrangement could not be worked out.” Sources said that the access “required for such a reality program was more than the Garden was willing to allow.” Plus, MSG Network “prides itself on having exclusive inside footage of the Knicks” (N.Y. POST, 1/20).
ALL-STAR PRODUCTION: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will produce the '12 AHL All-Star Classic, including the skills competition Jan. 29 and the game Jan. 30 from Atlantic City. That means CSN Mid-Atlantic's Joe Beninati will provide play-by-play and Craig Laughlin will be the main analyst. Alan May will be on-air and Bill Bell will be the exec producer. The two-day event will be carried live by Sportsnet in Canada, ESPN America in northern Europe and the Middle East and 25 RSNs in the U.S. (John Ourand, THE DAILY).
TURNING THE LIGHTS BACK ON: In Ft. Lauderdale, Tom Jicha reports WSVN-Fox “decided to lift its blackout in DirecTV homes" so subscribers could see Sunday's Giants-49ers NFC Championship game. The station is “embroiled in a retransmission-consent dispute with DirecTV, which resulted in the local station pulling its link to the satellite program provider at midnight last Friday” (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 1/20).
