CBS Sports Network is getting into the NFL business, according to a source. The cable channel is planning to produce a four-hour pregame show on Sunday mornings this fall, starting at 9:00am ET. The show will be called "That Other Pregame Show," and its last hour will air against "The NFL Today" on CBS. Staffing decisions still have not been finalized, but CBS will use some of its NFL talent on the show. It also will have new faces on the set. The show will compete against similar offerings on ESPN and NFL Network. A formal announcement should come later this summer (John Ourand, Staff Writer).
UNIVERSAL REMOTE: Universal Sports signed a multiyear distribution deal with Time Warner Cable that will put the channel on the provider’s sports tier. It is the first national cable agreement Universal Sports has negotiated. It has agreements with Dish and DirecTV, but its other cable deals are with regional providers. The channel, owned by Leo Hindery’s InterMedia Partners, specializes in airing Olympic sports (Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer).
TUCKER'S TOWN: Sporting News Media has hired Ross Tucker as its lead pro football columnist and video analyst. Tucker, an analyst on SiriusXM NFL Radio and NBC Sports Network and a former NFLer, will contribute a weekly column and create a series of online videos. Sporting News Media is a joint venture involving American City Business Journals, parent company of THE DAILY and SportsBusiness Journal (Eric Fisher, Staff Writer).
MAJOR DEAL FOR THE MINORS: The Baseball Internet Rights Co. (BIRCO), the affiliated minors' digital media rights venture, has struck a multiyear agreement with California-based audio streaming outfit TuneIn to provide free live audio of every Minor League Baseball game. The agreement represents the first rights deal for BIRCO, and content will be available through more than 200 connected devices, TuneIn.com and the TuneIn Radio mobile application. TuneIn reaches more than 40 million monthly listeners (Fisher).
