The Seahawks have signed a multiyear deal with Bonneville Seattle Media Group that maintains ESPN Radio Seattle 710 and KIRO-FM as the official radio broadcast partners of the team. Both stations will continue to broadcast play-by-play for all Seahawks games, as well as pre- and postgame coverage. In addition, the new deal includes special programming, joint community service projects and exclusive web content. The stations have partnered with the Seahawks for 42 years (Seahawks).
GOING MOBILE: VARIETY's Todd Spangler noted ESPN and NBCU have "extended their media-rights deals with the NFL to include live-streaming games on mobile devices -- deals that come after Verizon struck a new digital pact with the league relinquishing its status as the exclusive mobile home for NFL games in the U.S." No word yet from CBS and Fox, the NFL’s two other U.S. broadcast partners, about "whether they’ve also landed mobile rights" (VARIETY.com, 12/20).
BEST TO WORST: SI.com's Jimmy Traina provided an update to his rankings of NFL broadcast teams from before the start of the season "based on what we've seen over the past four months." CBS' Jim Nantz and Tony Romo took the top spot, as "no analyst has had a better year than Romo, who went straight from the field to the booth." Romo's presence "seemed to invigorate Nantz." Second on the list was Fox' Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, with Buck having an "outstanding year." He always "rises to the occasion and gives you that big-game feel." Third is NBC's Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, who has "gotten a little like Jon Gruden with the constant praise of every player." Last on the list is ESPN's Sean McDonough and Gruden. Traina: "We're still waiting for the first time Gruden says something bad about a player" (SI.com, 12/19).
