THE DAILY each Friday offers our take on the performances over the past week of people and entities in sports business. Here are this week’s newsmakers:
WIN: MELANIE OUDIN: Just when women’s tennis needed it the most, the 17-year old from outside Atlanta shoots through the draw with a mixture of grit and grace. She’s a great story, telegenic, helped fueled strong ratings and viewership numbers for both CBS and ESPN2, made the media rounds and pushed women’s tennis on morning talk shows and has upcoming appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “Ellen.” Whatever happens, she arrives at the right time in the right city and handles all of it with charm.
LOSE: NBC: We understand the need to market and promote, but we will throw a flag on things that are too contrived or forced. This week, NBC gets a penalty for its plans, as reported by VARIETY, to push Monday's launch of "The Jay Leno Show" with props during the Bears-Packers "SNF" game. Thursday night's Titans-Steelers game also featured a number of promos for the show. With DICK EBERSOL and NBC claiming to always keep the focus on the game, this effort looks like one of those over-the-top, non-organic, “corporate synergy” ideas that takes viewers for idiots.
DRAW: TENNIS CHANNEL: Execs at the network should be happy with the ratings for its first U.S. Open, as the tournament adds another feather to its Grand Slam cap. But the network’s viewer numbers will remain small until it figures out how to move to a better tier on major operators Comcast, Time Warner Cable or Cablevision. We do not envy that dispute, but it is the drag on the network’s growth.
