Sports on TV

[nsentv]

There've been tons of topics like this in the past, I know, but I figured, why not another one?

Here's the TV deal, so to speak:

NFL - Starting in 2006, AFC on CBS, NFC on FOX, Sunday Nights on NBC and Monday Nights on ESPN. Possibilities also include a Thursday or Saturday night game on OLN, NFL Network, TNT or other.

MLB - Sticking with ESPN through 2013. OLN a possibility for more cable rights. FOX might be bowing out with the exception of the World Series in the next TV deal, with ABC a strong possibility to pick up the early round playoff games.

NBA - Stuck with ABC/ESPN, thriving with TNT; while ABC and ESPN continue to set ratings lows, TNT continues to set ratings records. No possibility for change till 2008, and Commissioner Stern is thinking about extending the deal.

NHL - Stuck with OLN for this season and the next; while its too early to say, the fact that NHL games tied for 386th on the network the other day don't say very much for a league that's arguably as exciting as its ever been; hopefully, the backing of a legitimate network sports division (NBC Sports rivals ESPN and surpasses FOX by miles) will help hockey return to respectablity.

NCAA FB - FOX gets three BCS games starting in 2007; fractured network affiliations continue, with CBS getting the SEC, NBC getting Notre Dame home games, and ABC pretty much getting the rest.

NCAA CB - CBS will probably have March Madness well after we all die.

NASCAR - NBC is out, ABC/ESPN are in starting in 2007; FOX/FX will likely remain partners till the end (if there is one) of the NASCAR boom.

IRL - With ABC getting NASCAR, look for IRL to slowly fade to black in terms of network exposure, unless NBC is willing to take a risk on the Danica-dependent racing league.

TENNIS - Grand slams continue to be diminished on ESPN2, though a much needed respite comes with the US Open and world's better coverage on USA Network. NBC and CBS continue to televise the big matches from three of the four Grand Slams. No changes in the works.

GOLF - ABC might bow out of televising early season events, but outside of that, nothing looks like it will change.

Now, by network:

ESPN - on the rise, unfortunately; recent moves give ESPN the leverage to continue to marginalize sports without competition. Look for the Mickey Mouse network to continue morphing into FOX territory, now that it's assured a big piece of the baseball pie, the NBA till 2008, and Monday Night Football starting next year. With all these assets, ESPN can now feel no pressure in losing its sporting events, and can thereby feel relaxed in continuing their constant stream of self-promotion and crappy reality shows.

OLN - SO CLOSE! Had Bud Selig had the cajones to give baseball to OLN, we would have an incredible battle for supremacy between ESPN and OLN, meaning that we would get better production from both networks (competition brings the best out of everyone; see EA Sports and SEGA). Not only that, but the NHL would be in business. With baseball and possibly the NFL, the NHL could've received much needed promotion to lift it from the ratings doldrums.

FSN - Uhh... no. Not yet, anyway.

FOX - Getting the BCS starting in 2007 (with the exception of the Rose Bowl), keeping the NFL and NASCAR for the forseeable future, and apparently trying to loosen as many bonds as it can with MLB (skipping the Divison Series, and according to some, the LCS as well). While that would be good for MLB (any network is better than FOX), and good for FOX (less pre-emption of their crappy shows), one almost has to wonder if the risk would be more than the reward.

ABC - No more pro football or BCS games (with the exception of the Rose Bowl), but with the popularity of NASCAR, and the not-quite-dead NBA, the sports division shouldn't collapse yet. If NASCAR stays hot, and the NBA overcomes the constant onslaught of bad news its gotten since 2003, ABC might end up being a still fairly strong network. Plus, even with the loss of BCS games, the network still has college football regular season games, and other smaller sporting events.

NBC - Getting the NFL but dropping NASCAR, NBC seems either on the cusp of a comeback or on the cusp of complacency. Getting the NFL will help quite a bit, but losing NASCAR isn't the best thing for a network that has fallen into sports anonymity. While still a strong presence in tennis and golf, one would argue that NBC did its best work with the NBA and MLB, two sports which it has sacrificed to networks who don't know what to do with them.

CBS - They only have one major sport, but it's the biggest one. Not only that, but they have March Madness and the US Tennis Open as well. Combine that with The Masters and the PGA Tournament, and CBS is pretty solid. No real changes coming up, though one could argue that the network should've gone after Sunday Night games (imagine having 60 Minutes as a lead-in to an NFL pregame show)...

UPN/WB - The NFL is so popular, that, if Paul Tagliabue were to put games on Thursday nights on either one of these two last place networks, they would out rate any of the usual Thursday Night fare (yes, that includes CSI and whatever crap NBC is spewing).

[NJTank]

Take baseball from Fox and their sound effects please.

[Cyclopsis Joe]

Take NASCAR away from JAWS..PLEASE.

[See Red]

Please take baseball away from Fox.

I can take the sound effects up to a certain point -- I can put the TV on mute so I don't have to listen to the crappy commentary -- but the worst, to me, anyway, was during the Yankees/Red Sox series to end the season, they went to a split screen mode for an entire inning to show the middle innings of the White Sox/Indians series. Ugh.

I hate their crappy graphics, their crappy sound effects, and their crappy commentators.

Another thing I hate about Fox is they wait till the absolute last second to come back to a game. On occassion, they'll come back from commercial right as a batter makes contact with the ball.

[pcgd]

but the worst, to me, anyway, was during the Yankees/Red Sox series to end the season, they went to a split screen mode for an entire inning to show the middle innings of the White Sox/Indians series. Ugh.

Replace "middle innings of White Sox/Indians" with "anything to do with Red Sox/Yankees" and welcome to a regular broadcast for the rest of America.

[Jigga]

but the worst, to me, anyway, was during the Yankees/Red Sox series to end the season, they went to a split screen mode for an entire inning to show the middle innings of the White Sox/Indians series.  Ugh.

Replace "middle innings of White Sox/Indians" with "anything to do with Red Sox/Yankees" and welcome to a regular broadcast for the rest of America.

good point!

[yh]

How long is the duration of the present Arena Football League deal with NBC?

[sscrunner06]

through 2006

AFL/NBC Deal

[STL FANATIC]

Another thing I hate about Fox is they wait till the absolute last second to come back to a game. On occassion, they'll come back from commercial right as a batter makes contact with the ball.

This bothered me a lot during the playoffs. It was ridiculous. And it's not just on commercial breaks. They show a replay from one of their crappy fancy camera angles or show some statistical graphic labeled with a stupid pun after EVERY SINGLE PITCH. And then, they cut back just in time or too late to see the next pitch...

And the kicker that really had me ticked off. In the final game of the Cards-Astros series (game six), there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The Cards were down by four, but they had one out to go, PERIOD. The whole series (actually just since the Sox had won theirs) they had been putting a graphic up that had half the Astros logo and half the Cards logo and then VS. and then the Sox logo. Well, with the Cards still have one out left before elimination, that graphic came up but the Cards logo was not there. Thankfully, Mark Grudzielanek got a hit and I was hoping we could make them look stupid. We didn't, next batter was retired and the series was over, but I was ticked about that. It should be noted that this was the game after the Cards were down two runs with one STRIKE left in the ninth and nobody on before rallying to comeback and win. Yet, this time FOX just decided it was over. That always makes me angry.

Similarly, (and this is not so much a FOX beef, because even the local broadcasts tend to do this and are sometime premature) in Game 5 FOX named Lance Berkman their player of the game entering then 9th for his cheap home run into the Crawford boxes. Of course we all know the player of the game ended up being Albert Pujols. Once again though, they named the player of the game early in game six too...just didn't matter that time.

[rockchalk]

Am I the only one that thinks baseball is better on more than one broadcast network? It loses some consistency, but you have more chances to see more games, especially during the regular season. What I would hope would be something like this starting in 2007 (or whatever)

ABC:Opening Night game (usually reserved for ESPN, they can hand it over)

All AL playoffs and All-Star Game in even years.

NL playoffs and World Series in odd years

Saturday Game(s) of the Week beginning of season until College Football

FOX:One big game to kick off coverage on network for season

All AL playoffs and ASG in odd years.

All NL playoffs and World Series in even years

Saturday (Yankees/Red Sox/Cardinals) Game(s) of the Week starting Labor Day weekend

Sunday package beginning of season until NFL season starts

Sure, ratings suck and it would be impossible to get either network to agree to a full season schedule like this, but hey, what else is on weekend afternoons during the summer. There's only so many golf tournaments to go around.

[yh]

I wish ABC would bring back Monday Night Baseball. I always enjoyed that.

[Redlands, CA]

Does anyone hate Joe Buck?

[NJTank]

I do, I think he ussed nepatism to advance when he is not nearly one of the best announcers in NFL or MLB.

[sscrunner06]

I do, I think he ussed nepatism to advance when he is not nearly one of the best announcers in NFL or MLB.

I second that.

[oakland ehs]

the sound effects on fox piss me off, but nothing makes me more upset than showing the fans after EVERY SINGLE GOD DAMN PITCH in the late innings and cutting back just as the pitcher is in his windup. it's much more intense watching a game and seeing the catcher give his signals, the batter step in, and have a zoom on the pitcher's face as he focuses, rather than joe smith in the upper deck - who cares about the fans every 5 seconds?

[nsentv]

Thought I'd resurrect this to say that Golf is leaving ABC and ESPN (with the exception of the British and US Opens) entirely starting next year. The Golf Channel will televise every early round of the non-major tournaments, and CBS and NBC will pick up a huge portion of ABC's schedule.

As one person put it, ABC seems to be offloading sports. First the BCS, then the NFL and now golf. They'll have the NBA (til 2008) and NASCAR (for the foreseeable future) but that sports lineup isn't as strong as it was in 2003. Also, and this might just be false hope, but I have a feeling that the NBA is gonna ditch ABC after 2008 and go running back to NBC as fast as humanly possible. That, and FOX is looking to get some regular season college football (see Big 10). ABC could end up with nothing but NASCAR in the next couple of years.