Sports+Media+Update+2

Update 2 Due: midnight Feb 16th

=**SMT Provides Touch Screen Capability for MLB Network's Coverage**=

//MLB Network Leverages Technology to Deliver Dynamic, Comprehensive Baseball News & Analysis//

BY: Annika Dawson

SMT, the industry's leading provider of award-winning graphics, statistics and video enhancement solutions for sports broadcasts, today announced that MLB Network is using its touch screen technology, called "Launch Pad," to let avid baseball fans share their input on baseball news and analysis. The network is using SMT's GOTO Board™, a custom 103-inch interactive touch screen, to capture and display fans’ questions and comments on their favorite teams during MLB Network’s Emmy Award-winning studio programming MLB Tonight as well as Front Burner and Hot Stove. Fans can submit queries via Twitter, Facebook and phone and watch as MLB Network’s on-air personalities respond to their comments and questions during live telecasts. "With the help of SMT, we have elevated the dynamics of our production and viewer experience," said Tony Petitti, president and CEO of MLB Network. "The GOTO Board provides our on-air talent with a level of interactivity to deliver the most relevant analysis to our viewers." In addition to the social media capability, SMT's GOTO Board displays and integrates a grid of video feeds for up to 15 live games simultaneously. Each game on the grid can be enlarged to the entire screen to hone in on baseball action. The GOTO Board’s telestration feature helps MLB Network on-air personalities explain their observations of the game by controlling the playout of MLB Network’s EVS system, including zooming in on the video and drawing on the screen to illustrate their positions. A supporting data engine helps the GOTO Board deliver a wealth of information and statistics about the game including scores, pitching matchups, in-game box scores, division standings, schedules, league leaders, and historical statistics. The system is also being used to integrate MLB Network's 2010 Postseason programming with up-to-date playoff brackets and real-time Postseason statistics. "On a daily basis, MLB Network delivers hours of live baseball news, analysis and highlights," said Don Tupper, SMT's vice president of business development. "Through the use of technology, MLB Network can package the greatest moments and statistical nuances of everyday baseball into a visually appealing, informational way that keeps their core audience coming back for more." MLB Network began using SMT’s technology during the 2010 season and will continue its use throughout the off-season and 2011 MLB season.

Have a look: media type="youtube" key="gviXKh8CHEg" height="390" width="640"

By Amy Liao
 * Endorsements for ESPN Broadcasters **

 Many of the broadcasters on the “College GreenDay” show have secretly been endorsed by the Nike Company to do speaking engagements about their products. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Lee Corso were the three broadcasters that Nike has been quietly endorsing.

Josh Krulewitz, an ESPN spokesman, defends the broadcasters when the endorsements were made public and says, “By any objective measure, Chris, Kirk and Lee’s on-air work is unassailable. Their content has not been compromised by this relationship.” Although the announcer’s deals with Nike were never disclosed to the viewers and Krulewitz was unaware of the deal until recently, he supports their decision to leave the endorsement deal.

The “College GameDay” won Sports Emmy awards for outstanding weekly studio show for two years and is a major weekly showcase for college football. So it is not a surprise that Nike has endorsement deals with the announcers from programs like “GameDay.”

Derek Kent, a Nike spokesman, has also confirmed the deals with Fowler, Corso and Herbstreit. Corso said, “We don’t do very much and they’re unbelievable to us. We wear their product, which is part of it.” But he said they were not obligated to tell viewers about the Nike connection. “I might have Nike shoes on, but it’s got nothing to do with ‘College GameDay.’” Although the announcers defend their endorsement deals, Nike’s tie to the “GameDay” them create potential conflicts of interest. For more information about this story, go to [|The New York Times]. ===[|The Ratings Game: Flyers Earn Best Rating on CSN in Nearly a Decade] ===

by: Daniella Mora-Balbo

Recent sports TV ratings news, including an eight-year high for the Flyers on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, an over 800% increase for the Dubai Desert Classic on The Golf Channel, and a record pace for the NBA on TNT.


 * The Flyers' win over the Lightning Tuesday night earned a 3.7 rating on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, the highest rating for a Flyers telecast on the network in over eight years. CSN Philadelphia's Flyers ratings in the month of February are up 22% from the full season average. (Comcast)
 * Final round coverage of the Dubai Desert Classic earned 1.054 million viewers on The Golf Channel Sunday, up a whopping 834% from last year. ( [|Fang's Bites] )
 * TNT is averaging a 1.5 U.S. rating and 2.416 million viewers for NBA coverage through February 10, up 32% in ratings and 36% in viewership from the same point last year (1.2, 1.774M), and on pace for the network's most-viewed NBA season ever. The net's top season came in 1995-96, when it averaged 1.885 million viewers. (Turner Sports)

Posted By Dan PerezAOL purchased Huffington Post for $315 million the night of the Super Bowl on February 6th. The purchase of the Huffington Post will most certainly lead to an increase in opportunities for outlets, while also increasing the amount of coverage fans will receive for their individual favorite teams. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=145133

Ashley Novack

=Who wants their own baseball team?=



The New York Time reported this week that a group of Mets fans created BuyTheMets.com a site where fans of the major league team could buys shares of the wary franchise. At the moment only interested investors have signed up; no money has being moved. I think this is a solid effort made by fans to help build up their out-of-luck team. Although the Mets are looking for "millionaire and billionaire buyers," dedicated fans have shown that they can make an impact on their team and attract media attention by simply creating a website. Gaining mass public support is easily done with home-grown stories like this; something that a one man show could have trouble with.

For the full story: []

=Sports media: NFL Network corners Combine coverage=

by Sarah Cole

The Miami Herald published an article on the 2011 NFL Combine. The Combine is where players run drills as auditions for NFL teams. In 2010, 5.2 million people watched the NFL Combine, over a span of four days, on the NFL Network. ESPN is in 100 million homes across the country and 57 million for NFL Network.

The NFL Network will be showing 30 live hours of the Combine starting next Thursday. They will be using 23 announcers, most of which will be evaluating the positions they formerly played, i.e. Kurt Warner, quarterbacks, Warren Sapp, defensive linemen, and Deion Sanders, defensive backs.

The radio is going a different direction, on Friday the UM athletic department will be offering 14 hours of live chats with UM coaches and players, all through social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, UStream and UTube. Any fans who go to hurricanesports.com will be directed to the chats and interviews.

The article broke down some of the players that would be participating in the Combine as well.

This article was great for sports media because most of the article pertained to actual media outlets and not just about the athletes participating in the Combine. How it would be broadcasting and things that they are trying in order to attract more attention and ratings. It addressed everything we have been discussing in class and is even relevant to other topics in this wiki project such as social networks.

[|__http://www.miamiherald.com/__]

Ryan Miller snaps in Post-Game Conference
The media loves to report when Ryan Miller is playing poorly. The goalie for the Buffalo Sabres had one of his worst games in his career last Sunday and the sports reporters were all over him because of it. He tied his career number for goals allowed and even his coach admitted to him “having a rough night.” Afterwards in the post-game conference he was acting standoffish and did not want to talk to any reporters. When one of the reporters kept pressuring him to talk Miller snapped and accused him of writing his whole article in the second period. The Sabres are currently on a tough losing streak and some think it is because of Miller and his attitude. For more information on this topic, [|click here.]