ESPN & The NFL Is Closing In On a Massive Monday Night Football Contract

Hello higher cable & satellite rates. If you cann't stand sports, that's probably not what you want to hear as it is today, sports programming accounts for a large percentage of cable & satellite rates. Higher cable & satellite rates is all but a certainty as ESPN & the NFL close in on a massive 8 year extension of Monday Night Football on ESPN that could see the sports giant fork over nearly $2 billion per year to the NFL.

When word leaked last week that both ESPN & The NFL have been working on a contract extension since last October, it's really no big surprise as to the dollar amount of the extension as ESPN reported in a press release that the recently concluded 2010 season of Monday Night Football was ESPN's highest rated and most watched viewed season since ESPN assumed TV rights for MNF in 2006.

The ratings for the NFL have never been higher and the super sized TV contracts are a result of the ratings and the popularity of the NFL, which has never been higher, which just serves as an even bigger incentive for the NFL and NFLPA to avoid a lockout and get a CBA in place.

http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2010/12/espn%E2%80%99s-highest-rated-and-most-viewed-season-of-monday-night-football-2/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704733104576066200315643240.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

TV Schedule, Sunday January 9th

College Basketball:

Big 10:

Iowa @ Purdue 11am on Big 10 Network
Minnesota @ Ohio St. 1pm on Big 10 Network
Minnesota @ Wisconsin (women's) 3pm on Big 10 Network
Indiana @ Northwestern 6pm on Big 10 Network

Big 12:

Oklahoma St. @ Kansas St. (women's) 2:30pm FS Midwest & FS North

Missouri Valley:

Illinois St. @ Southern Illinois 2pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Indiana St. @ Drake 5pm on Mediacom Channel 22
Missouri St. @ Wichita St. 7:30pm on ESPNU

National Games:

Pitt @ Lousiville (women's) 11am on ESPNU
Dayton @ UMASS 1pm on CBS College Sports
Georgia @ Kentucky (women's) 1pm on ESPNU
Dayton @ Xavier (women's) 2pm on ESPN2
Colgate @ Princeton 3pm on ESPNU
Kansas @ Michigan 3:30pm on CBS
Tulane @ UAB (women's) 4pm on ESPN2
UTEP @ Marshall (women's) 4pm on CBS College Sports
Xavier @ Rhode Island 5:30pm on ESPNU
Maryland @ Duke 7pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, and FS North
UCLA @ USC 9:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, and FS North

College Football:

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl: Boston College vs Nevada 8pm on ESPN

College Hockey: Boston @ Vermont 6pm on CBS College Sports

Golf:

European PGA Tour 8am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour (Tournament of Champions - Final Round) 5pm on Golf Channel

NBA Basketball: Cleveland @ Phoenix 7pm on NBATV

NHL Hockey: NY Islanders @ Chicago 6pm on WGN

NFL Football:

AFC Wildcard: Baltimore @ Kansas City 12pm on CBS
NFC Wildcard: Green Bay @ Philadelphia 3:30pm on Fox

Disclaimer: All times are Central.

TV Schedule, Saturday January 8th

College Basketball:

Big 10:

Michigan St. @ Penn St. 12pm on Big 10 Network

Big 12:

Iowa St. @ Baylor (women's) 11am on Comcast SportsNet Chicago,
Kansas St. @ Oklahoma St. 12pm on ESPN2
Missouri @ Colorado 12:30pm on Big 12 Network
Baylor @ Texas Tech 1pm on ESPNU
UCONN @ Texas 2:30pm on ESPN
Texas A&M @ Oklahoma 3pm on Big 12 Network
Iowa St. @ Nebraska 7pm on CTN

National Games:

West Virgina @ Georgetown 10am on ESPN2
Austin Peay @ Murray St. 11am on ESPNU
Detroit Mercy @ Illinois-Chicago 1pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago & FS Midwest
UCONN @ Notre Dame (women's) 1pm on CBS
Wyoming @ New Mexico (women's) 1pm on CBS College Sports
Cal @ Arizona St. 1:30pm on FS Midwest & FS North
Air Force @ BYU 2pm on The Mtn.
Florida St. @ Virgina Tech 2pm on ESPN2
DePaul @ St. John's (women's) 3pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Ohio St. @ Iowa (women's) 3pm on CBS
Utah St. @ Nevada 3pm on ESPNU
UTEP @ UAB 3pm on CBS College Sports
San Diego St. @ Utah 3pm on VERSUS
USC @ UCLA (women's) 3:30pm on FS Midwest & FS North
Vanderbilt @ South Carolina 4pm on ESPN2
Utah @ San Diego St. (women's) 4:30pm on The Mtn.
Miami, FL @ Clemson 5pm on ESPNU
New Mexico @ Wyoming 5pm on CBS College Sports
Oregon St. @ Washington 5:30pm on Fox College Sports Pacific
Bucknell @ Navy 7pm on CBS College Sports
St. Johns @ Notre Dame 7pm on ESPNU
Weber St. @ Northern Arizona 7:30pm on Fox College Sports Pacific
TCU @ UNLV 9pm on The Mtn.
Oregon @ Washington St. 9:30pm on Fox College Sports Pacific

College Football:

BBVA Compass Bowl: Kentucky vs Pitt 11am on ESPN

College Hockey:

Minnesota St. @ Minnesota (women's) 4pm on Big 10 Network
Robert Norris @ North Dakota 7pm on Fox College Sports Central
Teams TBA 7pm on Mediacom Channel 22

Golf:

European PGA Tour 8am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour (Tournament of Champions 3rd Round) 4:30pm on Golf Channel

High School Football: U.S. Army All-American Game 12pm on NBC

NBA Basketball:

Boston @ Chicago 7pm on NBATV & WGN (Subject to blackout across Iowa on NBATV)

NHL Hockey:

Boston @ Montreal 6pm on NHL Network
Minnesota @ Pittsburgh 6pm on FS North
NY Rangers @ St. Louis 7pm on FS Midwest

NFL Football:

NFC Wildcard: New Orleans @ Seattle 3:30pm on NBC
AFC Wildcard: NY Jets @ Indianapolis 7pm on NBC

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

TV Schedule, Friday January 7

College Basketball:

Cleveland St. @ Butler 6pm on ESPNU
Bradley @ Drake 7pm on FS Midwest
Southern Illinois @ Creighton 7pm on KMTV (Omaha)
Rider @ Niagara 8pm on ESPNU

College Football:

FCS Championship: Delaware vs Eastern Washington 6pm on ESPN2
Cotton Bowl: LSU vs Texas A&M 7pm on Fox

College Hockey:

Miami @ Ohio St. 6:30pm on CBS College Sports
Michigan @ Michigan St. 6:30pm on Big 10 Network
Robert Morris @ North Dakota 7pm on Fox College Sports Central

College Wrestling: Southern Illinois @ Iowa 7pm on Mediacom Channel 22

Golf:

European PGA Tour 8am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour (Tournament of Champions 2nd Round) 4:30pm on Golf Channel

NBA Basketball:

Houston @ Orlando 7pm on ESPN
Portland @ Minnesota 7pm on FS North
New York @ Phoenix 9:30pm on ESPN

NHL Hockey: Ottawa @ Chicago 7:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago

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

Fox Sports (the Mothership) is back on the college football landscape

In the fall of 2010, a few eyebrows were raised when Fox Sports won the rights to the Inaugural Big 1O Championship Game, espically after Fox Sports lost the broadcast rights to the BCS, which lets face it, Fox Sports did an awful job with their coverage of the BCS.

Earlier this week when Conference USA inked a TV contract with Fox Sports which includes up to a minimum of twenty (20) football telecasts on the regional RSN's as well as a few basketball telecasts. However, what really stood out was that Fox had the right to put the Conference USA Football Championship Game on either Fox, FX, or FSN that will begin with the 2011 football season.

Then today, it was announced that Fox Sports had won the rights for the 2011 Pac 12 Championship game as well as increasing the number of regular season Pac 12 football games that FSN will televise.

When Fox Sports won the Conference USA TV rights, my thoughts were "yippy skippy", Fox will put the Conference USA Championship Game on FSN and no one will notice. Well with the announcement today that Fox Sports has won the rights for the Pac 12 Championship Game along with the previous announcement of Fox Sports winning the rights to televise the Big 10 Championship Game, all of a sudden, you are looking at a pretty strong triple header of college football the first Saturday in December on your local Fox affiliate.

A big question remains and that is how will Fox present the respective Conference Championship Games. I'm a strong supporter of Fox just tapping into the resources of the Big 10 Network as well as FSN's coverage of Conference USA & Pac 12 for the coverage the respective conference championship Games and leave the NFL guys out of it.

TV Schedule, Thursday January 6

College Basketball:

Michigan @ Purdue (women's) 5:30pm on Big 10 Network
Xavier @ Cincinnati 6pm on ESPN2
Villanova @ South Florida 6pm on ESPNU
IUPUI @ Oakland 6:30pm on Fox College Sports Atlantic
Denver @ Western Kentucky 7pm on Fox College Sports Central
Missouri St. @ Northern Iowa (women's) 7pm on Mediacom Channel 22
SMU @ Tulane (women's) 7pm on CBS College Sports
Wright St. @ Illinois-Chicago 7pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Idaho St. @ Northern Arizona 7:30pm on Fox College Sports Pacific
Penn St. @ Northwestern (women's) 7:30pm on Big 10 Network
Northwestern @ Illinois 8pm on ESPN2
St. Marys @ Loyola Marymount 8pm on ESPNU
Cal @ Arizona 9:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, and FS North
Idaho @ Nevada (women's) 10pm on ESPNU

College Football:

Go Daddy Bowl: Miami (OH) vs Middle Tennessee 7pm on ESPN

Golf:

European PGA Tour 8am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour (Tournament of Champions 1st Round) 4:30pm on Golf Channel

NBA Basketball:

Oklahoma City @ Dallas 7pm on TNT
Denver @ Sacaramento 9:30pm on TNT

NHL Hockey:

Minnestoa @ Boston 6pm on FS North
St. Louis @ Toronto 6pm on FS Midwest
Pittsburgh @ Monteral 6:30pm on NHL Network

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

BCS Ratings

Well, in my sports media predictions for 2011, I predicted that the BCS ratings would not see a drop and that's with a move from OTA (over the air) to cable. After tonight's Sugar Bowl, only one BCS game will remain to be played and that's the National Championship Game. Let's take alook at the 2011 BCS ratings.

Rose Bowl: In a press release by ESPN, the World Wide Leader in Sports is reporting that their telecast of The Rose Bowl turned in the third biggest audience in the history of cable television and on ESPN3.com, ESPN's coverage of the Rose Bowl averaged 71,436 viewers.

Later on New Years Night, ESPN's coverage of the Fiesta Bowl won the night as the most viewed program on OTA and cable with an audience of over 10.8 million viewers, which excluding NFL games, ranks as the second biggest audience in the history of ESPN.

Ratings information for last night's Orange Bowl wasn't available. One thing that the ratings have never taken into consideration is the number of viewers at sports bars across the country or at bowl watch parties, nor does the ratings reflect those who maybe watching via ESPN3.com or on a smart phone via ESPN Mobile.

IMO, the BCS moving from Fox Sports to ESPN has paid off, not just in the way the game is presented, but in ways to watch the games. One can only imagine what the ratings are going to be like for the BCS Championship Game next Monday night.

Links to the ESPN Ratings: http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/01/espns-rose-bowl-game-cable%E2%80%99s-third-biggest-audience/

TV Schedule, Wednesday January 5

College Basketball:

Purdue @ Penn St. 5:30pm on Big 10 Network
UAB @ Duke 6pm on ESPN2
Seton Hall @ Lousiville 6pm on ESPNU
Dayton @ St. Louis 7pm on CBS College Sports
San Diego ST. @ TCU 7pm on The Mtn.
Michigan @ Wisconsin 7:30pm on Big 10 Network
Memphis @ Tennessee 8pm on ESPN2
BYU @ UNLV 9pm on CBS College Sports
Utah @ Air Force 9pm on The Mtn.

High School Football: ESPN All-American Game 6pm on ESPN

NBA Basketball:

Chicago @ New Jersey 6pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Charlotte @ Minnesota 7pm on FS North
LA Lakers @ Phoenix 9:30pm on ESPN

NHL Hockey:

Dallas @ Chicago 7:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago+

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

TV Schedule, Tuesday January 4

College Basketball:

Indiana @ Minnesota 6pm on ESPN2
St. John's @ Louisville (women's) on CBS College Sports
Kentucky @ Duke (women's) 6pm on ESPNU
Evansville @ Northern Iowa 7pm on KCWI (Des Moines) & KWWL (Waterloo)
Missouri St. @ Creighton 7pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago+ and FS Midwest
Arkansas @ Texas 8pm on ESPNU
Ohio St. @ Iowa 8pm on Big 10 Network
Wyoming @ Colorado St. 8pm on The Mtn.

College Football:

Sugar Bowl: Arkansas vs Ohio St. 7:30pm on ESPN

NBA Basketball:

San Antonio @ New York 6:30pm on NBATV
Toronto @ Chicago 7pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago

NHL Hockey: Minnesota @ New Jersey 6pm on VERSUS

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

TV Schedule, Monday January 3rd

College Basketball:

Georgetown vs St. Johns 6pm on ESPN2
Penn @ Kentucky 6pm on ESPNU
Michigan St. @ Northwestern 6:30pm on Big 10 Network
Northern Illinois @ Iowa St. 7pm on the Cyclone TV Network
Florida St. @ Auburn 7pm on FS Midwest & FS Wisconsin
Rhode Island @ Florida 8pm on ESPNU

College Football:

Orange Bowl: Stanford vs Virgina Tech 7:30pm on ESPN

NBA Basketball:

Minnesota @ Boston 6:30pm on FS North
Philadelphia @ New Orleans 7pm on NBATV

NHL Hockey: Chicago @ Los Angeles 8pm on VERSUS

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