In San Jose, Chuck Barney reports U.S. women's hockey F Kendall Coyne Schofield will make her debut as a "member of the Sharks broadcast team on NBC Sports California" this season. She will "appear for 'select' games as an in-game analyst," joining Randy Hahn and either Jamie Baker or Bret Hedican in the booth. While NBC Sports California and NBC Sports Bay Area have "employed women as sideline reporters and studio hosts, this will be the first time they have a woman in the broadcast booth" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 9/6).
DIGITAL AGE: In DC, Deron Snyder wrote MLB games streamed on YouTube are as "smooth and polished as any national or regional broadcast," and "best of all, there are no commercials." Compared to streaming games on Facebook Watch, YouTube "doesn't require viewers to create a profile or log in, granting access without encroaching on privacy." There is "no doubt" YouTube's 13-game package is "good for baseball." But it is just a "small step in luring larger and younger audiences" for MLB. A more "enlightened blackout policy would help" as well (WASHINGTON TIMES, 9/5).
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes ESPN's "evisceration of the U.S. Open was again met with fury ... from tennis fans." Rather than "feeding in and out of good, full-view matches, ESPN chose to chop the screen to show two or three at once, making none discernable to those with, at the maximum, two eyes." Also, the net's "abandonment or unwarranted adornments of good matches to cut to interviews with celebrities were frequent" (N.Y. POST, 9/6).
