The GLOBE & MAIL's David Shoalts writes TSN "was the clear winner over Sportsnet in the annual battle for best telecast on the NHL’s trade-deadline day." TSN’s presentation "on a deadly dull day as far as the trades went ... was a clear artistic success." The net "did make the biggest mistake of the day in allowing a moronic, vulgar tweet" about a couple of Maple Leafs players "to flash across the screen but its panelists were funny, frank and irreverent with former Leafs head coach Ron Wilson leading the way." Sportsnet, on the other hand, "played it straight." For the most part, it offered "standard stuff from their panels as they waited for the blockbuster deals that never came" (GLOBE & MAIL, 3/3).
POUND FOR POUND: In Akron, George Thomas noted WEWS-ABC on Sunday will launch "two Browns-centric shows slated to air weekly." The first, "Inside the Cleveland Browns," airs at 11:00am ET and will be hosted by former NFLer Dustin Fox. He will be "joined by" local radio personality Sara Carnes. The "Dawg Pound Report" will follow at 11:30am and will be hosted by WEWS Sports Dir Andy Baskin and Browns Senior Media Broadcaster Nathan Zegura. The net can be expected "to beef up" its schedule with more programming "both over-the-air and online" as football season approaches. The net last November "became the pre-season home" of the Browns (OHIO.com, 3/2).
DISCOVER IT: White House Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor/Strategy & Communications Dan Pfeiffer on his recent trip to Silicon Valley said of Snapchat's new Discover feature, "One of the coolest things out there right now ... is what Snapchat is doing with ESPN, CNN, Vice and some others through their Discover function. That has fundamentally changed the way I watch ESPN, because you can't really have ESPN on in the office -- it's kind of frowned on in the morning" (POLITICO.com, 3/2).
BACK "NEIN": GOLF WORLD MONDAY's Geoff Shackelford wrote the Back9Network's Feb. 23 decision to suspend operations "hardly came as a surprise." The net "had to pay to air" on DirecTV "rather than collect cable-subscriber fees." The primary victims of the net's demise "are the employees who took a chance on the start-up and now find themselves out of work" (GOLF WORLD MONDAY, 3/2 issue).
