In Salt Lake City, Scott Pierce notes the Pac-12 Mountain channel as of July 21 will "no longer be part of Comcast's Digital starter package." It will "move to the Sports Entertainment package," which costs an "extra $10 a month." At the same time, the Pac-12 Nets' national channels "are moving to the less-expensive Digital Starter tier." Pac-12 Nets President Lydia Murphy-Stephans earlier this year said that this switch "had been planned since P12N launched" in '12 (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 6/1).
ACE IN THE HOLE: In Ft. Worth, Jimmy Burch notes there was a "significant spike in CBS' weekend TV ratings" for the PGA Tour Dean & DeLuca Invitational, which was won by Jordan Spieth. The event received its "highest combined ratings for weekend rounds in 11 years" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 6/1).
INSIDER INFORMATION: THE BIG LEAD's Jason Lisk noted MLB reporter Jon Heyman "has reached an agreement to write for FanRag Sports Network." Heyman last wrote for CBS Sports, but has "been a free agent" since the beginning of this year. He will continue his TV work "as an insider with MLB Network." FanRag Sports Network Dir of Content Tommy Stokke said that Heyman "will begin writing this week, with his 'Inside Baseball' notes feature to appear weekly" starting tomorrow (THEBIGLEAD.com, 5/31).
THROWING UP BRICKS: In Las Vegas, Ron Kantowski profiled Fox Sports Radio's John Tournor, who goes by the on-air name of JT The Brick and is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his show. Tournour "was a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch" before "getting a sports talk show of his own." He said that "sports talk radio has evolved" during the two decades. Tournour added that sports radio "used to be mostly about the Knicks' shooting percentage." He added that now "it's mainly about what happens outside the lines" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 5/30).
