A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM CBS SPORTS NETWORK

Cynopsis: Sports
03.15.13

Good morning. It’s Friday, March 15, 2013, and this is your first early morning Sports briefing. 

With MLB Network scoring record ratings on the return of the World Baseball Classic, the channel is prepping for the home stretch leading into the Championship game on Tuesday, March 19 at 8p. After scoring the most-watched non-postseason game ever with Team USA’s win over Canada on Sunday as well as the network’s most-watched weekend ever with the tournament, Cynopsis Sports asked Tony Petitti, President and CEO of the MLB Network, about the tournament’s move to the channel.

Petitti on the World Baseball Classic: We’ve seen a great response from fans and our viewers. So far the World Baseball Classic games are among our most-viewed ever, including last Sunday’s USA vs. Canada game as our most-watched non-Postseason game. The tournament has been driving viewership across the board as well, with last week ranking as our most-watched week ever, including our best single day (Sunday) and our best-ever weekend. As we head into the conclusion of this week’s double elimination round with the USA, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico all still in contention to advance, we expect this trend to continue through the championship round in San Francisco Sunday through Tuesday. This is all leading up to our busiest time of the year with the start of the new MLB season in just two weeks.

On social media’s impact: Social media now is an important part of how we promote our programming on a daily basis. We’re using the World Baseball Classic as a way to engage fans in the tournament overall, and our game telecasts in particular, making sure they are aware of the most up-to-date scores, posting content from our on-site production, conducting product giveaways, and partnering with a check-in service like Viggle. We’re receiving terrific support from our affiliate partners with promotion for the World Baseball Classic games on their social media platforms, too.

This tournament is also the first time that any MLB Network live game telecasts will be available on an authenticated basis on multiple platforms through our partners at Bright House Networks, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable. We know that more fans are looking to watch live game content through a multi-screen experience and we’ve found that the most-viewed games are also the most streamed games.

On lessons learned: Between our first Postseason game telecasts last October to this WBC, we’ve seen first-hand what exclusive content can do for us in terms of awareness, viewership, and opportunity. Securing exclusive and important live programming has been a goal of ours since we launched, and we will continue to produce the high-quality game telecasts and studio shows viewers have come to expect from us.

On promoting the sport: The World Baseball Classic is the only international baseball tournament where MLB players and players from other professional leagues compete for and represent their countries, and it’s showcasing top-level baseball by some of the best players in the game. In addition to the ratings success we’ve seen with the tournament so far, there have already been ratings and attendance records set for this year’s tournament in Taiwan and Japan. The game has its roots here in the U.S., but this highlights a different style of play to fans here and shows U.S. fans the passion for it around the world.

On the Air

In a surprising move, Phil Anschutz is halting plans to sell Anschutz Entertainment Group and announced that Tim Leiweke is leaving his long-time post atop the company. Dan Beckerman will now take over as the new President and CEO. “We appreciate the role Tim has played in the development of AEG, and thank him for the many contributions he has made to the company,” Anschutz said in a statement. “We wish him well in his new endeavors.” Meanwhile, Beckerman told reporters that the company still plans to go forward with the plan to build an NFL stadium and to bring a football team to Los Angeles.

The Southeastern Conference is targeting mid-April to announce plans for the upcoming SEC Network, according to Yahoo! News. The league has been renegotiating media rights following the additions of Missouri and Texas A&M and is expected to partner with ESPN for the new channel.

NHL owners made their new realignment and post-season plans official, approving a new format that will feature two eight-team divisions in the Eastern Conference, and two seven-team divisions in the West starting next season that will see the Red Wings and Blue Jackets swinging to the East while the Jets move West. The new playoff format will feature the top three teams in each division heading to the playoffs while the next two teams with the best records in each conference will then earn wild-card berths.

ESPN is set to offer more than 16 hours of programming on March 17 for Selection Sunday, when the 68-team field for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament is revealed. The slate will include studio shows across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU; the ACC and SEC Championships; as well as the debut of ESPN Films ’30 for 30 documentary Survive and Advance. Greg Shaheen, who oversaw the operation of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship as the senior vice president of championships and alliances until 2012, will join ESPN to offer insight into the selection process of the Tournament Committee. The day begins with a two-hour College Basketball Live beginning at 11a on ESPN2 and will include two Bracketology Presented by Staples programs as well as a special SportsCenter at 6p. ESPNU’s lineup will include the NIT Selection Show at 9p.

Meanwhile, ESPN also announced plans for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Selection Special Presented by Capital One on Monday, March 18, at 7p on the flagship.  The show will unveil the 64-team NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship field with first-year host Kevin Negandhi along with analysts Kara Lawson, Carolyn Peck, Doris Burke and Rebecca Lobo in studio.

Around the dial, CBS Sports Network’s coverage of the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship will offer over 90 hours of live studio programming. Coverage tips off on Sunday with NCAA March Madness Bracket Breakdown at 4p. CBS Sports Network’s NCAA Tournament coverage will also include encore showings of every 2013 Tournament game that airs on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Studio programming will be anchored by Adam Zucker, Brent Stover and Dana Jacobson.

BTN heads into the first of four games in the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament celebrating a record. The network announced that February 2013 ranked as BTN’s highest-rated month ever in primetime, according to Nielsen, with upticks of 20% over February 2012 and surpassing January’s record ratings. Those scores were bolstered by a 33% ratings increase in Big Ten Men’s Conference Basketball in February 2013 versus February 2012, with a .88 HH rating versus a .66 rating in BTN’s metered markets.

The merger of GRAND-AM Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series is resulted in the creation of United SportsCar Racing, which was announced yesterday at Sebring International Raceway. The newly-combined outfit will debut in 2014 with the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona. The International Motor Sports Association will serve as the sanctioning body for United SportsCar Racing. The organization also announced the new competition class names for 2014.

Tickets are now available for the Cynopsis: Sports Media Awards, which will take place on April 17 at Yale Club in Manhattan. Click here for more info.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Sponsorship & Promotion

Century 21 is heading to Indianapolis, where the company will team up with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing to serve as the primary sponsor for IZOD IndyCar Series driver Josef Newgarden’s car in the Indianapolis 500. The 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 will take place on May 26 on ABC.

NASCAR rookie (and former action sports star) Travis Pastrana is the centerpiece of ESPN’s latest Names are Made Here campaign designed to promote the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The commercial will begin airing across ESPN platforms on March 18 in advance of ESPN’s telecast of the Nationwide Series race at Fontana, Calif., on March 23. The new spot features Pastrana doing a double flip on a motorcycle at the X Games, performing a jump across a body of water in a car and parachuting from an airplane, then switches to scenes of him racing in NASCAR.

BTN announced the registration is now open for the second-annual BTN Big 10K and 5K on July 27, 2013 in downtown Chicago. This year, the race, which will be shown on BTN, will benefit Special Olympics. Fleet Feet Sports  Chicago is again partnering with BTN to put on both races. The event again will feature a post-race FanFest and Tailgate party, complete with music, football-themed games and activities, as well as appearances by former Big Ten athletes, and tents hosted by all 12 Chicago Big Ten Alumni Associations.

Digital Fields

NCAA.com, managed by Turner Sports, is set to offer fans comprehensive coverage of the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. The site will feature over 200 hours of coverage that will include live video streaming, score updates, real-time game highlights, press conferences as well as all 67 games of the tournament live via NCAA March Madness Live. Features include an interactive bracket, as well as games such as the Capital One NCAA March Madness Round-by-Round Challenge, and the NCAA Women’s Bracket Challenge and a look back at 75 Years of March Madness.

Univision Studios is teaming with NASCAR for an original webnovela called Arranque de Pasion, La Historia de Ela. The story will feature actress Kate del Castillo, Carlos Ponce and Christian Meier. The story follows a talented NASCAR driver who “has been playing second fiddle to her long-time boyfriend and teammate” before he is involved in an accident and replaced by his brother. The series debuts on April 1 at midnight and will offer a series of five-to-seven minute webisodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Univision.com

Yahoo! Sports has made March 31st Fantasy Baseball Commissioner Appreciation Day, and is paying homage to the tireless fantasy players for the baseball season. As part of the celebration, commissioners who established leagues on Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball 2013 can enter via to prizes that include one-on-one consultations with Yahoo! fantasy experts. On Commissioner Appreciation Day, grand prize-winning Commissioners will receive a pair of tickets from SeatGeek to 5 regular season MLB games.

The Main Event

Selection Sunday is always full of controversy and water cooler candy. The NCAA Basketball Championship Selection Show airs on CBS at 6p. Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony, Doug Gottlieb and Seth Davis host. Afterward, watch Bluegrass Kingdom: The Gospel of Kentucky Basketball on truTV at 8p.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

ON THIS DAY in 1988: The St Louis Cardinals officially move to Arizona.

In The Know: Although he is famous for portraying boxer Apollo Creed, actor Carl Weathers was actually once a player for what NFL team? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)

Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: What schools has the most NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament appearances without reaching a Final Four? Answer: BYU with 27. Kudos: Moira McKenna-Golf Digest/NY; Lewis Blaustein-Lewis Brand Solutions, Inc./NY; Mike Vest-IMG/Greensboro/Winston-Salem; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA.

Later — Chris
Chris Pursell for Cynopsis | Sports
03.15.13

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