TNT NBA announcer Marv Albert said reports of a scuffle involving himself and members of rapper 50 Cent's entourage while preparing for an appearance on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" are "upsetting." Albert said that he "found various online accounts of things Albert says never happened." Albert: "I kept reading about new things that never happened. Maybe it will keep going until Jimmy Kimmel gets punched." He added, "Maybe I'll look back and think it's humorous" (USA TODAY, 11/23). More Albert: "As much as I value my street cred, my posse and his posse weren't even in the same room (N.Y. POST, 11/23).
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Oregon-Arizona On ABC (In Yellow) Not
Shown To "Significant Chunk" Of Country |
DUCKING THE ISSUE: SI.com's Andy Staples noted ABC Saturday did not show the conclusion of the Oregon-Arizona game, which went into double overtime, to a "significant chunk of the country," instead electing to show the "entire Texas blowout of Kansas." The network following Kansas-Texas showed a "brief studio hit with John Saunders and Jesse Palmer," instead Oregon-Arizona. ESPN "paid a signifcant fee for the rights to broadcast Pac-10 games," and the net has the "means, the opportunity and the desire to allow its viewers to watch one of the most exciting football games of the season." The lack of coverage should "raise alarm bells for first-year Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott" (SI.com, 11/21).
MISSING THE SPOT: In St. Petersburg, Tom Jones wrote ABC/ESPN "continues to show a blatant conflict of interest with its commercials for its NBA coverage." A new spot featuring Magic G Vince Carter with announcers Mike Breen and Mark Jackson is the "latest in a series of commercials featuring NBA players mixing with ABC/ESPN announcers who cover their games," which "makes the viewer question the announcers' comments every time they talk about a player who has appeared" in a TV spot with them (TAMPABAY.com, 11/22).
THAT'S THE CABLE TALKING: In N.Y., Arango & Carter in a business-section cover story wrote under the header, "Unsteady Future For Broadcast: A New Economic Model Gives Cable Firmer Footing." Profit margins for cable nets are "much better compared with broadcast," and "illustrative of this is a comparison of NBC to ESPN." Revenue for the two networks last year was "roughly equal," as NBC generated about $5.6B in ad revenue while ESPN generated about $6B in revenue -- $1.6B from ads and $4.4B from sub fees. But ESPN was "vastly more profitable" with a cash flow of about $1.4B, compared to $304M for NBC (N.Y. TIMES, 11/21).
