In N.Y., Steel & Gelles note a year after it was announced, Comcast’s "audacious acquisition of Time Warner Cable remains in limbo." In recent weeks, the "air of inevitability around the deal has dissipated." With the FCC proposing "stringent new rules to govern the Internet, analysts have grown more skeptical about the acquisition being approved." Advisors to both companies "acknowledge that passing regulatory muster is far from certain." Comcast Exec VP David Cohen "expressed confidence that the merger would still be approved but acknowledged that the outcome was hard to handicap" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/9).
BE LIKE MIKE: SI.com's Richard Deitsch wrote ESPN Radio was "well-served on Sunday morning by Dari Nowkhah, who carried the network’s coverage" on the death of former UNC basketball coach Dean Smith ably. Nowkhah "allowed his guests -- Matt Doherty, Bob Valvano, Seth Greenberg, Herb Magee and Dino Gaudio, among others -- room to share their memories, providing great radio for the listeners." Nowkhah was "filling in for Mike Lupica" (SI.com, 2/8).
FOREIGN SOIL: CABLEFAX DAILY reports Pac-12 Networks "made their entry into China through a contract with Chinese interactive video platform LeTV to live stream men's basketball games in China this season." The deal "covers 27 games, including every game of the Pac-12 Tournament." LeTV users can "live stream the games on PCs, tablets, mobile devices, and LeTV Super TV (OTT) devices." LeTV "already has sports partnerships" with the NBA, FIFA, PGA, NFL and MLB (CABLEFAX DAILY, 2/9).
DIGITAL UNDERGROUND: For the first time ever, ESPN Films will premiere a full-length "30 for 30" film digitally with the debut of “Sole Man” on Grantland.com in six parts from April 6-10. The film about former sports marketing exec Sonny Vaccaro marks the directorial debut of Jon Weinbach and Dan Marks, whose previous collaborations include “Straight Outta LA.” It will make its ESPN primetime TV debut on April 16 at 9:00pm ET (ESPN).
