BUSINESS INSIDER's Troy Wolverton noted Amazon has been "stuffing Alexa full of sports knowledge" ahead of this NFL season. Users can now ask Alexa myriad NFL questions, like the "odds on the upcoming game." In the near future, Alexa will be able to "give fantasy football fans updates on their players, and alert users when their teams are about to take the field." Alexa "relies on some 50 different sources," including Stats and Sportradar, to "provide answers to sports-related inquiries" (BUSINESSINSIDER.com, 9/16).
CALI COMPETITION: In San Diego, Jay Posner notes three of California's four NFL teams were on TV in Southern California on Sunday, and the Chargers came away with "by far" the highest rating in the San Diego market. While Chargers-Bills was the "only one airing without NFL competition," the 14.5 local rating for a 10:00am PT game was 24% higher than the "combined rating for the afternoon games involving the Raiders and Rams." Raiders-Broncos, which started just before 1:30pm PT, had a 7.9 local rating in the market, "slightly more than double the 3.8 rating" for Cardinals-Rams, which began just after 1:00pm. The story was different in the L.A. market, where the highest rating of the three games "belonged to the one team that no longer calls the city home," as Raiders-Broncos had an 8.4 local rating (SANDIEGOUNIONTRIBUNE.com, 9/17).
GRIZZLED VETERAN: The AP's Barry Wilner notes NBC's Michele Tafoya "worked her 250th game" on Sunday night when roving the sidelines for Giants-Cowboys. By necessity, the time Tafoya and her sideLine peers have on the air is "limited," so "being concise and precise are essential." NBC Sports Exec Producer Fred Gaudelli said, "The No. 1 job for any broadcaster is 'getting it right.' Michele embraces that responsibility and works extremely hard to fulfill it" (AP, 9/18).
