Fox Sports latest hairbrain idea

You know, when Fox Sports splashed onto the scene with winning the broadcast rights to the NFC in the early 90's, as a 20 something, I thought their coverage was really hip, but now as a 37 year old, I cann't stand "Fox NFL Sunday" and my hatred for Fox Sports is going up even more.

Yesterday's USA Today reported that Fox will be adding music to their regional coverage of the Arizona/Carolina game. The music will not be going in or out of commercial breaks, but during gameplay itself and it's a possibility that Fox could do this during the Super Bowl.

The good news is that Sunday's Arizona/Carolina broadcast is only going to Arizona and a small portion of the Carolina's, so most of the country will be spared from this train wreck.

Don't know what idea was worse, the glowing puck back in the day when Fox aired the NHL or this one.

Link to article: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2010-12-16-nfl-music-soundtrack_N.htm

TV Schedule, Saturday December 18

College Basketball:

USC @ Kansas 11am on ESPN
Central Florida vs Miami, FL 12pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, and FS North
Arkansas @ Texas A&M 1pm on ESPN2
Illinois vs Illinois-Chicago 1pm on Big 10 Network
South Carolina @ Ohio St. 1pm on CBS (KMTV in Omaha will air Stanford @ Butler)
Florida vs Kansas St. 2:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, and FS North
Baylor vs Gonzaga 3pm on ESPN2
Indiana St. vs Purdue 3pm on Big 10 Network
North Carolina vs Texas 3pm on CBS
BYU vs UCLA 4:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, and FS North
Alabama vs Oklahoma St. 5:30pm on ESPN2
Prairie View A&M @ Michigan St. 5:30pm on Big 10 Network
Detroit Mercy @ Central Michigan 6pm on ESPNU
Idaho St. @ Creighton 7pm on KMTV (Omaha)
Iowa @ Drake 7pm on Medacom Channel 22
Wake Forest @ Xavier 7pm on CBS College Sports
Western Kentucky @ Murray St. 7:30pm on Fox College Sports
Cincinnati vs Oklahoma 8pm on ESPNU
Texas Tech @ UTEP 9pm on CBS College Sports
Florida St. @ Loyola Marymount 10pm on ESPNU

College Football:

Division II Championship: Minnesota-Duluth vs Delta St. 10am on ESPN2
FCS Second Semi-final: Georgia Southern @ Delaware 11am on ESPNU
New Mexico Bowl: BYU vs UTEP 1pm on ESPN
Division III Championship: Mount Union vs Wisconsin-Whitewater 2:30pm on ESPNU
NAIA Championship: Teams TBA 3:30pm on CBS College Sports
Humanitarian Bowl: Fresno St. vs Northern Illinois 4:30pm on ESPN
New Orleans Bowl: Ohio vs Troy 8pm on ESPN

Women's College Volleyball, National Championship: Cal vs Penn St. 7:30pm on ESPN2

Golf:

European PGA Tour 8:30am on Golf Channel

NBA Basketball:

Miami @ Washington 6pm on NBATV

NHL Hockey:

Toronto @ Vancouver 6pm on NHL Network
San Jose @ St. Louis 7pm on FS Midwest
Minnesota @ Calgary 9pm on FS North

Disclaimer: All Times are Central and outside of Iowa, blackouts are likely for Regional NHL telecasts.

TV Schedule, Friday December 17

College Basketball:

SIU-Edwardsville @ Indiana 6pm on Big 10 Network
Tennessee @ UNC-Charlotte 7pm on CBS College Sports
Arizona St. @ Nevada 8pm on ESPNU

College Football: Villanova at Eastern Washington 7pm on ESPN2

Golf:

European PGA Tour 8:30am on Golf Channel

NBA Basketball:

Miami @ New York 6pm on ESPN
Phoenix @ Dallas 8:30pm on ESPN
Minnesota @ Portland 9pm on FS North

NHL Hockey: Detroit @ Chicago 7:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago @ NHL Network (subject to blackout on NHL Network)

Disclaimer: All times are Central and blackouts are likely for regional NBA & NHL telecasts outside of Iowa.

TV Schedule, Thursday December 16

College Basketball:

American @ Northwestern 7pm on Big 10 Network
Oral Roberts @ Missouri 7pm on Mediacom Channel 22

College Volleyball, Final Four:

1st semifinal: Penn St. vs Texas 6pm on ESPN2
2nd semifinal: Cal vs USC 8:30pm on ESPN2

Golf: European PGA Tour 8:30am on Golf Channel

NBA Basketball:

Atlanta @ Boston 7pm on TNT
San Antonio @ Denver 9:30pm on TNT

NFL Football: San Francisco @ San Diego 7pm on NFL Network

NHL Hockey:

Boston @ Montreal 6pm on NHL Network
Los Angeles @ St. Louis 7pm on FS Midwest
Ottawa @ Minnesota 7pm on FS North

Disclaimer: All times are Central. Outside of Iowa, blackouts are likely for regional NHL telecasts.

TV Schedule, Wednesday December 15

College Basketball:

Florida Gulf Coast @ Ohio St. 5:30pm on Big 10 Network
UNC-Greensboror @ Wake Forest 6pm on ESPNU
Akron @ Minnestoa 7:30pm on Big 10 Network
Auburn @ USF 8pm on ESPNU

NBA Basketball:

Boston @ New York 6pm on ESPN
Chicago @ Toronto 6pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Minnesota @ Phoenix 8pm on FS North & Mediacom Channel 22
Portland @ Dallas 8:30pm on ESPN

NHL Hockey:

St. Louis @ Detroit 6:30pm on FS Midwest

Disclaimer: All times are Central and outside of Iowa, blackouts are likely for regional NBA & NHL telecasts

TV Schedule, Tuesday December 14

College Basketball:

North Carolina Central @ Michigan 6pm on Big 10 Network
Oakland @ Tennessee 6pm on ESPNU
Tennessee @ Baylor (women's) 6pm on ESPN2
Drexel @ Louisville 8pm on ESPNU

NBA Basketball:

Orlando @ Denver 8pm on NBATV
Minnesota @ Golden St. 9:30pm on FS North

NHL Hockey: Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia 6pm on VERSUS

Disclaimer: All times are Central and outside of Iowa, blackouts are likely for regional NBA telecasts.

A couple of retransmission battles to keep an eye on

Hearst TV (owners of KCCI-Des Moines and KETV-Omaha) and DirecTV are in a retransmission battle and if an agreement isn't finalized by the end of the year, DirecTV will have to take KCCI & KETV off their programming packages until an agreement is done.

Here we go again with Sinclair and Mediacom, their agreement is up the end of the year as well and potentially, KDSM (Des Moines) and KGAN and KFXA, both out of Cedar Rapids could go dark on Mediacom if a programming deal isn't made prior to the end of the year.

TV Schedule, Monday December 13

College Basketball: Green Bay @ Wisconsin 7pm on Big 10 Network

NFL Football:

NY Giants vs Minnesota (played in Detroit) 6:20pm on KXLT (Rochester/Mason City)
Baltimore @ Houston 7:30pm on ESPN

NBA Basketball: Indiana @ Chicago 7pm on NBATV

NHL Hockey:

Los Angeles @ Detroit 6:30pm on VERSUS
Chicago @ Colorado 8pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago

Disclaimer: All times are Central and outside of Iowa, blackouts are likely for regional NHL telecasts.

TV Schedule, Sunday December 12

College Basketball:

Appalachian St. @ Georgetown 11am on ESPNU
Tennessee @ Texas (women's) 12pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, and FS North
Villanova @ LaSalle 1pm on ESPNU
Wisconsin-Milwaukee @ Wisconsin (women's) 1pm on Big 10 Network
Boston College @ Maryland 3pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, and FS North
Vermont @ Dartmouth 3pm on ESPNU
Clemson @ Florida St. 5pm on FS Midwest & FS Wisconsin
Northern Colorado @ Illinois 5pm on Big 10 Network
South Florida @ Kent St. 5:30pm on ESPNU
Texas Southern @ Iowa St. 5:30pm on Mediacom Channel 22
West Virgina @ Duquesne 6pm on CBS College Sports

College Wrestling: Missouri @ Purdue 11am on Big 10 Network

NFL Football:

Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh 12pm on CBS (KMTV Omaha will have Oakland @ Jacksonville)
Green Bay @ Detroit 12pm on FOX (KYOU Ottumwa will have St. Louis @ New Orleans at 3:05pm
Kansas City @ San Diego 3:15pm on KMTV (Omaha), KMEG (Sioux City), KTVO Digital 3.2 (Ottumwa)
New England @ Chicago 3:15pm on KCCI (Des Moines), KMIT (Mason City), KGAN (Cedar Rapids), and WHBF (Davenport)
Philadelphia @ Dallas 7:15pm on NBC

NHL Hockey:

Washington @ NY Rangers 6pm on NHL Network
Minnesota @ Anaheim 7pm on FS North

Golf:

European PGA Tour 8:30am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour 2pm on NBC

Disclaimer: All times are Central and outside of Iowa, blackouts may apply for regional NHL telecasts.