In San Diego, Tim Sullivan noted the Padres are 13 games into the season and the team’s broadcasts on FS San Diego “remain unavailable to the estimated 42 percent of San Diego County households served by Time Warner Cable, AT&T U-Verse and Dish Network.” Though Cox Cable and DirecTV “have agreed to carry the Padres, Time Warner claims Fox’ demands represent a 400 percent increase over the club’s 2011 pricing and reports ‘not much progress’ toward an agreement.” An “impetus toward a resolution in San Diego ... is practically invisible.” TWC Senior Dir of Integrated Communications Maureen Huff "declined to speak in specifics, but described her company’s total of defecting customers as ‘insignificant.’” Fox Sports VP/Communications Chris Bellitti on Tuesday said he “had no progress to report” regarding either TWC or AT&T U-Verse, but called discussions with Dish Network “a little more active.” Sullivan: “The longer the impasse, the more aggravation turns to apathy” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 4/18).
SHIFTING GEARS: NBC Sports Network earned a 0.3 U.S. rating and 468,000 viewers for the Izod IndyCar Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach last Sunday from 4:09-6:17pm ET. Those figures are up from a 0.2 rating and 323,000 viewers for the same race last year. The race in '10 averaged a 0.3 rating and 490,000. Last Sunday's telecast marks the first IndyCar race this season to see a year-over-year increase (THE DAILY). In Indianapolis, Curt Cavin cited the exciting race in Long Beach and wrote if IndyCar “can’t draw a number” for that race, then it “can’t draw on NBC Sports Network right now.” Cavin added driver Townsend Bell is “a keeper on TV” as a race analyst, as he was “terrific even though he stumbled once” on the network's "Through The Field" segment (INDYSTAR.com, 4/16).
CONTINUOUS COVERAGE: ESPN announced that it plans to cut down on the its commercial breaks during the first hour of its NFL Draft coverage next Thursday. The network will have a commercial break shortly after the first selection, then it will remain on-air without commercials for the remainder of the hour (John Ourand, THE DAILY).
