Cynopsis: Sports
05.29.13

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, May 29, 2013, and this is your first early morning Sports briefing. 

Tennis Channel took a legal hit in its fight against Comcast when the US District Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled unanimously for Comcast yesterday. Comcast was fighting an FCC program carriage order for the network. “Without showing any benefit for Comcast from incurring the additional fees for assigning Tennis a more advantageous tier, the Commission has not provided evidence that Comcast discriminated against Tennis on the basis of affiliation,” the court said.

However, Tennis Channel isn’t done yet. The network said in a statement that, “Based on the merits of this particular case, we believe that it is the obligation of the FCC to act in the public interest to ensure a diverse marketplace of voices, as mandated by Congress when it introduced the Cable Act. As a small, independent company defending ourselves against one of the world’s largest media conglomerates, we would love for this long process to be justly resolved and behind us. However, Comcast’s clear pattern of discrimination against Tennis Channel in favor of the competing networks that it owns as detailed at length by the FCC  warrants further review of the panel’s decision and we intend to seek that review.”

On the Air

The PGA TOUR and DIRECTV announced a new partnership that will offer golf fans exclusive features and enhanced coverage of four PGA TOUR events this year. The programming and marketing alliance will see DIRECTV rounding off its existing bonus coverage of the four major golf championships with the PGA TOUR Experience by offering viewers expanded, live weekend coverage of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance (this weekend); the Travelers Championship (June 22-23); the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational (Aug. 3-4); and The Barclays (Aug. 24-25). DIRECTV’s viewers will receive a four-in-one screen Mix Channel that showacases the CBS Sports network feed; “Launch Pad,” a channel dedicated to analyzing golf’s most explosive shot, the long drive; “ShotLink Channel,” a data-intensive view of tournament competition; and a “Featured Group” channel.

NBC’s coverage of the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday morning was seen by nearly 1.5 million viewers, marking the most-watched Formula One race on U.S. television in six years. Viewership was up 241% vs. last year’s race thanks to its boost on broadcast television, according to Nielsen’s fast national data. The race drew a 1.0 household rating. However, the most watched race of the day was the Coca-Cola 600, which posted a 4.1 score in overnight numbers, which includes the red flag delay. ABC’s coverage of the Indianapolis 500 earned a 3.8 in overnight tallies.

Golf Channel announced plans for Golf’s Longest Day, where nearly 1,000 amateur and professional golfers try to qualify for less than 70 spots available to compete in the U.S. Open Championship. On Monday, June 3, a team of more than 50 reporters and production professionals will cover 13 locations around the United States for 17 consecutive hours starting at 7a and running through midnight. Television coverage will be hosted by Rich Lerner and Steve Sands from Golf Channel studios, while content produced from Golf Channel’s new digital studio will be hosted by Whit Watson and Ryan Burr.

ESPN Radio inked multi-year agreements with the New York Giants, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins for out-of-market Sunday afternoon syndication rights to their games starting with the upcoming season. The deals mark the first time ESPN Radio will broadcast NFL game action nationally on its over-the-air terrestrial network, however, the teams will continue to broadcast in their home markets through their official local stations.

The NFL’s 2014 Draft is locked in and will now take place from May 8-10 at Radio City Music Hall in New York, two weeks later than its usual slot. The league maintains that no decision has been made for the Drafts in 2015 and beyond.

The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of the Sacramento Kings to a group led by TIBCO Software Chairman Vivek Ranadive. Current team owners the Maloof family reached a deal to sell a 65% controlling interest in the Kings to Ranadive’s group at a total franchise valuation of $535 million.

MSG+ announced that the channel will carry the New York Liberty’s entire home schedule this season, for a total of 17 games. The action starts Friday, May 31 at 7:30p p.m. when the team hosts the Tulsa Shock.

Save the date! The annual Cynopsis: Sports Media Summit is set to take place on Aug. 14 in NY, and will feature some of the biggest names driving sports today. In addition, we are holding our Women of Action cocktail event celebrating and discussing the impact women are having in the sports industry on Aug. 13.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Sponsorship & Promotion

Bank of America is activating a new MLB sponsorship that will benefit two military charities in Wounded Warrior Project and Welcome Back Veterans. This week and next, Bank of America representatives will attend the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, and Giants ballparks where they will ask fans to record a message of thanks to the military via iPads. These messages will then be tagged with #troopthanks and then uploaded to the BoA site. Each message will generate a $1 donation to Wounded Warrior Project and Welcome Back Veterans, with up to a $1 million contribution by the end of the baseball season.

The Professional Bull Riders are partnering up with the Texas Department of Transportation. The alliance will see the use of PBR footage and photos in PSA campaigns throughout the state until the end of 2013, as well as TxDOT brand exposure at 11 PBR Touring Pro Division events in Texas from May to September 2013. First up will be Shorty Gorham for its “Click it or Ticket” PSA, which will run from May 20-June 2 on network affiliates all across the state.

Digital & Production

espnW launched a beta version of a completely redesigned espnW that utilizes responsive design and a time-based feed designed to simplify navigation and enhance the user experience. The new espnW.com will be organized into three primary content areas: News & Commentary, Athlete’s Life, and W in Action. espnW is also launching a new initiative dubbed The Summer of W, which will consist of two main platforms, 98 Days to Shine – a social photo challenge – and editorial content on espnW.com. All summer long, through Labor Day, espnW.com will inspire women as they set new goals and tackle new athletic endeavors.

Turner Sports announced that the Bleacher Report Team Stream app is now available for the first time for BlackBerry 10 smartphones. The app offers a personalized sports news experience for fans via customized, curated sports stories from Bleacher Report and other top destinations around the Internet.

Two-time defending MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy and Chevrolet launched the Galaxy Social Hub Connected by Chevrolet to kick off the third year of their partnership. The Galaxy Social Hub is designed to serve as a second-screen platform for Galaxy fans and marks the first of its kind in the MLS by aggregating all of the social media conversations among Galaxy fans in one place, and providing fresh content for fans across all of those platforms.

Roster Moves

LockerDome locked in veteran sports executive Keith Cutler to the newly created position of Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships. In his role, Cutler will now oversee the operations of LockerDome’s NYC-based Advertising Sales and Business Development office, focusing on both large-scale revenue and distribution deals. Cutlet previously served as SVP, Sales and Business Development at CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group; as well as Executive Vice President, Sports Sales and Marketing at Turner Broadcasting; and Publisher, USA TODAY Baseball Weekly.

The Main Event, the featured game of the day sponsored by Thuuz, real-time sports discovery for mobile & connected TV platforms
Red Wings vs. Blackhawks Tonight 8:00p. Thuuz rating:92
Chicago hopes to complete the comeback in this decisive game 7. On NBCSN.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

ON THIS DAY in 1987: Robin Ventura sets a college baseball record with hits in 57 games.

In The Know: How many double stitches are on a regulation MLB baseball? (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: The Padres last played in the World Series against what team? Answer: The New York Yankees. Kudos: Leopold Myrie-OMD/Sydney; Ben Sturner-Leverage Agency/NY; Douglas Pucci-TV Media Insights/NY; Kyle Helm-CBS Sports Network/NY; Sam Berg-Golf Digest/NY; Joe Guarnieri-ESPN Remote Operations/Bristol; Doug Jacobs-Integrated Sports Media/Hoboken; Randy Ingram-WBTW-TV/Myrtle Beach; Mark Altabe-Citibank, NA/Jersey City; Ron Salcedo-Zimmerman/Nashville; John Ward-NBC Golf Media/Chicago; Michael Bell-NCC Media/Dallas; Kevin Micklo-Two X Four Advertising/Chicago; Nick Monroe-Monroe Photography/San Diego; Alan Berkes-The Ballpark/LA; Chris Navalta-Graham & Associates/San Francisco; Willie Price-American Forces Network/Riverside.

Later — Chris
Chris Pursell for Cynopsis | Sports
05.29.13

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