The SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS noted the A's have "worked out an agreement" with KGMZ-FM to "have their games broadcast on that radio station" through at least '18. KGMZ has been the A's flagship since '11, and the new deal includes "all 162 regular-season games." Ken Korach "will continue as the team's lead announcer, and Vince Cotroneo also will return, as will color analyst Ray Fosse" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 2/27).
IT'S AWESOME, BABY! SI.com's Richard Deitsch offers a "request for ESPN to assign" Dick Vitale to call the March 7 Duke-North Carolina basketball game along with Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas. Assigning Vitale to the game would be a "terrific gesture for a longtime employee who helped turn that game into a national watch," and the net would "get great publicity for giving Vitale a final swan song for the game that defined him" (SI.com, 3/2).
FULL-COURT PRESS: In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote the performance of Knicks analyst Walt Frazier on MSG Network this season "has been terrific." Frazier's frustration at the team's poor play "mirrors the frustration of the diehards," but his "analysis makes these nightly beatdowns interesting." When Frazier talks about coach Derek Fisher, he "does not let him skate, not giving him a rookie-coach pass" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/1).
BUMP BALL: The TELEVISION POST reported ESPN "has been awarded" the U.S. rights for cricket's India Premier League through '17 for $12.4M. Willow TV "was the incumbent rights-holder" for the U.S. (TELEVISIONPOST.com, 2/28).
