QMI AGENCY's Patrick Kennedy reported The CBC's Don Cherry in the wake of the NHL lockout is "being asked to log longer hours during the coming short season." No longer will Cherry be able to "bolt from the CBC studio the moment the red light goes off" following his "Coach's Corner" segment. Cherry said, "This year, they want me to hang around until the end of the first period of the second (televised) game. I'll comment on it, too, and give fans out west a chance to hear me talk about their teams." There is "no word on whether Cherry is to be compensated for the extra toil." He is estimated to earn C$800,000 per season (QMI AGENCY, 1/8).
TEE TO GREEN: The AP's Doug Ferguson reported former golfer Notah Begay III this week at the PGA Tour Sony Open begins "as a full-time member of the broadcast team for NBC Sports and Golf Channel." Begay will be "a walking course reporter" at this week's event. When analyst Dottie Pepper retired last month, "an opening was created" at NBC and Golf Channel. Begay made his TV debut in '10 during Golf Channel's "Live From The Masters" coverage, and has "contributed to Golf Channel's coverage at the Masters and U.S. Open the last three years." He also will contribute to the net's "news programs and coverage from majors." Begay won four times on the PGA Tour "until his career was slowed by back injuries" (AP, 1/8).
BULLS' EYE OF THE BEHOLDER: CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS' Danny Ecker reports the Bulls "have seen a major drop in TV viewership" through the first 32 games of the NBA season as G Derrick Rose has yet to play a game due to injury. Bulls' local ratings on Comcast SportsNet Chicago are down 49% from last season's final regular-season average. The drop follows a 30% "year-over-year ratings increase last season." The team's average rating on WGN-CW is "slightly higher at 4.40 through the 14 games the channel has carried this season," though that is down roughly 45% from last year (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 1/9).
MASTER OF YOUR DOMAIN: BASEBALL AMERICA's Josh Leventhal reported MLB has paid a record $1.2M to "secure the domain name Rockies.com from the Canadian tourism portal Tourism Canadian Rockies." The sale was brokered by Venture Capital Group, which announced that the sale "was the largest for a sports domain transaction." The sale gives MLB the rights to "all but four of the domain names for its team's Websites." It still "does not own rights" for the Giants, Rays, Rangers and Twins (BASEBALLAMERICA.com, 1/8).
