In Reno, Chris Murray reported the Mountain West Conference football title game is "moving to the ESPN family of networks." The MWC and ESPN "agreed to a rights deal for ESPN or ESPN2 to air the game for the next five years," through the '19-20 season. CBS "aired the game the last two seasons but declined its option" for '15, "leaving the rights open to the highest bidder" (RGJ.com, 5/15). Last season’s MWC title game between Boise State and Fresno State "was the lowest-rated college football broadcast of the season for CBS" (COLORADOAN.com, 5/15).
ON THE RAZOR'S EDGE? Stars President & CEO Jim Lites said the process of finding the successor for TV and radio play-by-play announcer Ralph Strangis is "pretty well down the road." In Dallas, Barry Horn noted fans "might recognize the name of one of the leading candidates: It’s analyst Daryl Reaugh." Lites said of Reaugh, "Razor has come at us hard. He really wants to do it. He’s done play-by-play and is really good. We’re keeping our options open.” But Horn reported there "appears to be a different favorite whom Lites wants to pair with analyst Reaugh." Lites said the candidate “is a national guy" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/16).
MISSING THE FAIRWAY: GOLFWEEK's Martin Kaufmann wrote Fox "promised so much" for its golf coverage, but so far it has "delivered so little." During the net's recent coverage of the men's and women's U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championships, there were "few interesting camera angles" and "no graphics to illustrate green contours." The network has "placed an emphasis on enhancing ambient sounds to bring viewers closer to the action." That "seems like a good idea," but at Pacific Dunes, the site of the four-ball, the "sound of crashing waves became a distraction." Among the announcers, Juli Inkster "might be the biggest disappointment." She was "serviceable as an on-course reporter during the Men’s Four-Ball, and irredeemably bad as lead analyst during the Women’s Four-Ball" (GOLFWEEK.com, 5/17).
