TV Schedule, Sunday May 15

Auto Racing:

MotoGP Racing: Catalunyan Grand Prix 7am on Speed Channel
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: FedEx 400 11:30am on Fox
NHRA Drag Racing: Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals 6pm on ESPN2 (same day tape)
AMA Pro Racing: American Superbike 11pm on Speed Channel (same day tape)

Bull Riding: PBR Tour 10pm on VERSUS (same day tape)

College Baseball:

Minnesota @ Penn St. 11am on Big 10 Network
Memphis @ Rice 1pm on CBS Sports Network
Nebraska @ Texas A&M 1pm on Fox College Sports Central
Illinois @ Purdue 2pm on Big 10 Network

College Lacrosse:

NCAA Tournament: Maryland @ North Carolina 12pm on ESPN
NCAA Tournament: Bucknell @ Virgina 2pm on ESPNU
NCAA Tournament: Villanova @ Denver 4:15pm on ESPNU
NCAA Tournament: Siena @ Syracuse 6:30pm on ESPNU

College Softball:

ACC Championship: Teams TBA 12pm on Fox College Sports Atlantic
NCAA Selection Show 9pm on ESPNU

Cycling: Tour of California, Stage 1 4pm on VERSUS

Golf:

European PGA Tour 7am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour: The Players Championship (Final Round) 1pm on NBC

MLB Baseball:

Kansas City @ Detroit 12pm on FS Kansas City & Mediacom Channel 22 (postponed due to rain)
St. Louis @ Cincinnati 12pm on FS Midwest
Philadelphia @ Atlanta 12:30pm on TBS
Pittsburgh @ Milwaukee 1pm on FS Wisconsin
San Francisco @ Chicago Cubs 1pm on WGN (postponed due to rain)
Toronto @ Minnesota 1pm on FS North
Chicago White Sox @ Oakland 3pm on Comcast SportsNet Chiago
Boston @ NY Yankees 7pm on ESPN

NBA Playoffs:

Memphis @ Oklahoma City 2:30pm on ABC
Eastern Conference Finals, Game 1: Miami @ Chicago 7pm on TNT

NHL Western Conference Finals, Game 1: San Jose @ Vancouver 7pm on VERSUS

NLL Lacrosse: Washington @ Toronto 1pm on VERSUS

Soccer:

English Premiere League: Chelsea vs Newcastle United 7:30am on Fox Soccer Channel
English Premiere League: Liverpool vs Tottenham 10am on Fox Soccer Channel
Italian Serie A: Napoli vs Inter Milan 1:30pm on Fox Soccer Channel
Spanish Primera Division: Barcelona vs La Coruna 1:55pm on ESPN2
WPS Soccer: Philadelphia @ Atlanta 5pm on Fox Soccer Channel

Tennis:

WTA Tour: BNL D'italia 7am on Tennis Channel
ATP Tour: BNL D'italia 9am on Tennis Channel

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

Iowa/Nebraska on Black Friday could end up on The Big 10 Network

When the Big 10 announced that the inaugural conference matchup between Nebraska & Iowa was moving to Black Friday, most assumed the game would be televised on ABC and when ABC previously announced that Boston College @ Miami would be in the 2:30 (CT) window on ABC, the consensus was that Nebraska/Iowa would be 11am (CT) on ABC.

Well, borrowing a line from Lee Corso, "not so fast my friend". Couple of interesting nuggets that I saw on a message board last night. For three weeks during the college football season, the Big 10 Network ("BTN") gets to make the second selection in choosing telecasts behind ABC (it's normally ABC, ESPN/ESPN2 and BTN in the picking process). In addition, Mark Rudner from the Big 10 office, whom I follow on Twitter, tweeted late in the week that an additional 34 Saturday games will be shown on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2, Friday games were not mentioned.

No doubt that regionally, the Nebraska/Iowa matchup will be an instant rivalry, but it will take time to build a national following. This is why on Black Friday, I could see ABC going with The Backyard Brawl (Pitt vs West Virgina) for the 11am (CT) window and the BTN going with Nebraska/Iowa matchup on BTN in a possible 2:30 (CT) window. This game would certainly be a ratings boom for the BTN and if the Gus Johnson/Charles Davis team will call two games this year for BTN, imagine a little Johnson "rise and fire" from Lincoln on Black Friday.

2011 Stanley Cup Conference Finals Schedule

The 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs have reached the Conference Finals and the action begins this weekend.

According to a press release from the NBC Sports Group, Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals featuring Tampa Bay at Boston will face off tonight at 7pm (CT) on VERSUS. Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals will showcase San Jose at Vancouver and this series begins tomorrow night at 7pm (CT) on VERSUS as well.

For a complete schedule of the 2011 Stanley Cup Conference Finals, as well as TV information, please visit this website: http://sportsmedianews.com/05/2011-stanley-cup-conference-finals-schedule/

Sunday MLB on TBS continues with the 2011 Civil Rights Game

TBS Sports coverage of Sunday MLB action continues this weekend with the 2011 Civil Rights Game.

According to a press release from TBS Sports, Philadelphia will wrap up their weekend series in Atlanta with a 12:30pm (CT) start. Dick Stockon and Ron Darling will call the action and will have conversations throughout the game with Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks.

For more information as well as an upcoming schedule of Sunday MLB on TBS, please visit this website: http://sportsmedianews.com/05/sunday-mlb-on-tbs-continues-with-the-2011-civil-rights-game/

TV Schedule, Saturday May 14

Auto Racing:

Nationwide Series: Energy 200 Qualifying 9:30am on ESPN2
Sprint Cup Series: FedEx 400 Qualifying 11am on Speed Channel
Nationwide Series: Energy 200 1pm on ESPN
Rolex Sports Car Series: Bosch Engineering 250 4pm on Speed Channel
NHRA Drag Racing: Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals Qualifying 6pm on ESPN2 (same day tape)
MA Pro Racing: American Superbike 9pm on Speed Channel (same day tape)

Bull Riding: PBR Tour 10pm on VERSUS (same day tape)

College Baseball:

Miami @ Virgina 11am on Fox College Sports Atlantic
Michigan St. @ Indiana 2pm on Big 10 Network
Arkansas @ South Carolina 3:30pm on Fox College Sports Atlantic
Georgia @ Kentucky 3:30pm on Fox College Sports Pacific
Baylor @ Oklahoma 6:30pm on FS Midwest & FS North

College Lacrosse:

NCAA Tournament: Hofstra @ Johns Hopkins 11am on ESPN2
NCAA Tournament: Penn @ Notre Dame 1:30pm on ESPNU
NCAA Tournament: Delaware @ Duke 4pm on ESPNU
NCAA Tournament: Hartford @ Cornll 6:30pm on ESPNU

College Softball:

Conference USA Championship: Teams TBA 12pm on CBS Sports Network
Michigan @ Michigan St. 12pm on Big 10 Network
Missouri Valley Championship: Teams TBA 12pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago & FS Midwest
Atlantic 10 Championship: Teams TBA 2:30pm on CBS Sports Network
Oklahoma St. @ Nebraska 4:30pm on NET (Nebraska Public TV, available across most of Western Iowa)
SEC Championship: Teams TBA 7pm on ESPN
Big East Championship: Teams TBA 4pm on ESPN2

Golf:

European PGA Tour 7am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour: The Players Championship (Third Round) 1pm on NBC

MLB Baseball:

Chicago White Sox @ Oakland 3pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Kansas City @ Detroit 3pm on MLB Network (DirecTV Channel 214; subject to blackout across Iowa)
Pittsburgh @ Milwaukee 3pm on FS Wisconsin
St. Louis @ Cincinnati 3pm on FS Midwest
Toronto @ Minnesota 3pm on FS North
San Francisco @ Chicago Cubs 6pm on Fox (KPTM in Omaha/Council Bluffs & KXLT in Rochester/Mason City will have Boston @ NY Yankees)

NHL Eastern Conference Finals, Game 1: Tampa Bay @ Boston 7pm on VERSUS

Soccer:

English Premier League: Blackburn vs Manchester United 6:30am on ESPN2
English Premier League: Sunderland vs Wolverhampton 6:30am on Fox Soccer Channel
FA Cup: Manchester City vs Stoke City 9am on Fox Soccer Channel
Italian Serie A: AC Milan vs Cagliari 1:30pm Fox Soccer Channel
Women's Soccer: United States vs Japan 5:30pm on Fox Soccer Channel
MLS Soccer: Chicago @ Toronto 6:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago+
MLS Soccer: Houston @ Real Salt Lake 8pm on Fox Soccer Channel
MLS Soccer: Portland @ Seattle 10pm on ESPN2

Tennis:

WTA Tour: BNL d'Itallia 5am & 9:30am on Tennis Channel
ATP Tour: BNL d'Itallia 7am & 1pm on Tennis Channel

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

ABC & ESPN Announce Big 10 Conference football prime time telecasts

While Blogger was down the majority of yesterday afternoon and this morning, ABC & ESPN announced yesterday afternoon that seven Big 10 Conference football games will air in primetime this fall.

According to a press release from ESPN, some of the highlights are:

*An ESPN network will televise newest Big Ten member No. 13 Nebraska’s first two games against conference foes in consecutive weeks: at No. 14 Wisconsin Saturday, Oct. 1 and against No. 10 Ohio State Saturday, Oct. 8.

*ESPN will televise the first-ever night game at Michigan Stadium when the Wolverines host No. 17 Notre Dame on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Here's the full schedule with all times Central:

Thursday, September 1: UNLV @ Wisconsin 7pm on ESPN
Saturday, September 10: Notre Dame @ Michigan 7pm on ESPN
Saturday, October 1: Notre Dame @ Purdue and Nebraska @ Wiscosin 7pm on ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2
Saturday, October 8: Ohio St. @ Nebraska 7pm on ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2
Saturday, October 22: Wisconsin @ Michigan St. 7pm on ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2
Saturday, October 29: Wisconsin @ Ohio St. 7pm on ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2

Later this Spring or early in the Summer, The Big 10 will reveal a full schedule of televised games for the first three weeks of the season.

For more information, please visit this website: http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/05/12/espn-selects-seven-big-ten-college-football-games-for-prime-time/

TV Schedule, Friday May 13

ATP Tennis: BNL D’Italia, quarterfinals 6am on Tennis Channel (coverage continues all day)

Arena League Football: Tulsa @ New Orleans 7pm on NFL Network

Boxing: Friday Night Fights 8pm on ESPN2

College Baseball:

Georgia @ Kentucky 5:30pm on Fox College Sports Atlantic
Arkansas @ South Carolina 7pm on ESPNU

College Softball:

Purdue @ Indiana 3pm on Big 10 Network
Tennessee vs Auburn 3pm on ESPNU
Georgia vs Alabama or Ole Miss 4:30pm on ESPNU
Ohio St. @ Wisconin 5pm on Big 10 Network
Illinois @ Minnesota 7pm on Big 10 Network

MLB Baseball:

San Francisco @ Chicago Cubs 1:20pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Boston @ NY Yankees 6pm on MLB Network
Kansas City @ Detorit 6pm on FS Kansas City & Mediacom Channel 22
St. Louis @ Cincinnati 6pm on FS Midwest
Pittsburgh @ Milwaukee 7pm on FS Wisconsin
Toronto @ Minnesota 7pm on FS North
Chicago White Sox @ Oakland 9pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago

NASCAR:

Nationwide Series: Energy 200 Final Pracitce 11:30am on Speed Channel
Sprint Cup Series: FedEx 400 Happy Hour 1:30pm on Speed Channel
Camping World Series: Lucas Oil 200 7:30pm on Speed Channel

NBA Playoffs: Oklahoma City @ Memphis 8pm on ESPN

PGA Tour Golf: The Players Championship (Second Round) 12pm on Golf Channel

World Hockey Championships: Finland vs Russia 1pm on VERSUS

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

ESPN will broadcast a college basketball game from a U.S. Aircraft Carrier this fall

While Big 10 fans await the announcment sometime this afternoon of the televised ESPN/ABC primetime football games this fall, some exicting news was announced today for one Big 10 school.

To honor United States Veterans this fall, ESPN is introducing something new and that is televising a men's college basketball game on Veterans Day from a United States Aircraft Carrier.

According to a press release from ESPN, the inaugural Carrier Classic will be played aboard the deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier on November 11, 2011 and will feature Michigan St. against North Carolina.

For more information on this event as well as comments from the Head Coaches of the teams involved in this game, please visit this website: http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/05/12/game_deck_aircraft_carrier/

Exciting TV news coming tomorrow for Big 10 football fans.

ESPN & ABC will release their Big 10 football prime time telecasts tomorrow. There are two games that i'm sure will get prime time coverage on ABC and that's Nebraska @ Wisconsin, which this game has been speculated to be prime time for quite awhile with the other game being Ohio St. @ Nebraska. How many more prime time games will there be? We'll find out sometime tomorrow!

In addition, the Big 10 Network will reveal their prime time football telecasts sometime next week.

TV Schedule, Thursday May 12

ATP Tennis: BNL D'Itallia 5am @ 12pm on Tennis Channel

College Baseball: Mississippi St. @ Ole Miss 6:30pm on ESPNU

College Softball, SEC Tournament:

Kentucky vs Tennessee 11am on ESPNU
Auburn vs Florida 1:30pm on ESPNU
Georgia vs LSU 4pm on ESPNU
Alabama vs Mississippi St. 6:30pm on ESPN2

Golf:

European PGA Tour 8am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour: The Players Championship (First Round) 12pm on Golf Channel

MLB Baseball:

Tampa Bay @ Cleveland 11am on MLB Network
St. Louis @ Chicago Cubs 1pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago & FS Midwest
Kansas City @ NY Yankees 6pm on FS Kansas City & FS Midwest on Mediacom across Iowa
Seattle @ Baltimore 6pm on MLB Network (DirecTV Channel 214)

NBA Playoffs: Chicago @ Atlanta 7pm on ESPN

NHL Playoffs: Detroit @ San Jose 8pm on VERSUS

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

ABC & ESPN announces their early 2011 ACC football telecast schedule

The ACC took it's turn today with announcing a partial schedule of televised games for the upcoming 2011 college football season.

According to a press release from ESPN, throughout the first three weekends in September, a total of sixteen home ACC games will be televised across various ESPN platforms, including ESPN3.com

In addition, the ACC will be in the national spotlight on Labor Day Night as well as five times on Thursday nights. Additional TV selections will be made throughout the college football season on a 6-12 day notice.

For a complete schedule of ACC games that have been selected for TV coverage on multiple ESPN platforms, please visit this website: http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/05/11/acc-college-football-games-added-to-espn-2011-schedule/

ESPN/ABC announces it's early 2011 Pac-12 football telecast schedule

It's getting to be that time of year when the BCS conferences roll out their partial schedule of televised games for the upcoming season and today, the newly expanded Pac-12 conference released a partial schedule of TV games for the 2011 season.

According to a press release from ESPN, 10 Saturday games, 1 game the day after Thanksgiving were recently selected for TV coverage across the ESPN family of networks. That's in addition to the previously announced three Thursday night & two Friday night telecasts. Additional TV selections will be made throughout the college football season on a 6-12 day notice.

For a complete schedule of Pac-12 Conference games that have been selected for TV coverage on ESPN, ESPN, and ABC, please visit this Web Site.

TV Schedule,Wednesday May 11

MLB Baseball:

Detroit @ Minnesota 12pm on FS North
Kansas City @ NY Yankees 6pm on FS Kansas City & Mediacom Channel 22
St. Louis @ Chicago Cubs 7pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest & ESPN (subject to blackout across Iowa on ESPN)
Chicago White Sox @ LA Angels 9pm on WGN

Minor League Baseball: Indianapolis @ Durham 10am on MLB Network

NBA Playoffs:

Boston @ Miami 6pm on TNT
Memphis @ Oklahoma City 8:30pm on TNT

Tennis:

ATP Tour: BNL D'Itallia 5am & 12:30pm on Tennis Channel

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

Gus Johnson lands at Fox Sports

Not even a full twenty-four hours after ending his relationship with CBS Sports, Gus Johnson has started a new relationship with Fox Sports.  Gus Johnson today has been named the voice of college football for Fox Sports as well as continuing his role with the Big 10 Network and it's coverage of men's basketball.  In addition, once the college football season winds down, Johnson will call select NFL games on Fox Sports.

According to a press release from Fox Sports, Johnson will team with Charles Davis to call college football action for Big 12, Conference USA and Pac-12 regular-season games on FX, two games on the Big 10 Network, one of Fox Sport's conference championship games (either the Pac 12 Championship Game or the Big 10 Championship Game), and will conclude the college football season with The Cotton Bowl in early January.

This is a great move by Fox Sports, the creation of the Gus Johnson & Charles Davis team to be Fox Sports #1 college football announcing team goes a long way to getting Fox Sports full time coverage of college football off the ground.  This team will be 1000% better than what Fox Sports rolled out for it's BCS coverage.

For more information, please visit this site:  http://static.foxsports.com/content/fscom/binary/2011/05/10/Gus_Johnson_Joins_FOX_Release1305059400886.pdf

Just a quick update on the partial blackout of the FS North/Mediacom situation

Mediacom & FS North still haven't reached an agreement on those extra 20 or so Twins games that FS North will be televising and the downer for Twins fans is that Francisco Loriano's no hitter from last week was not seen by Mediacom subscribers.

I know the non sports fans are praising Mediacom for not caving in to FS North, but it's been noted over and over again that sports on television is what's driving the ratings & advertising revenue.

Twins fans with Mediacom aren't alone, there's a similar situation happening down in Georgia with Mediacom & FS South for additional Atlanta Braves games that FS South is televising this year as well.

Yes, the baseball season is a very long marathon and to the non sports fan, having 20 out of 162 games go untelevised may not seem to be alot of games, but as a Royals fan, I watch the Royals on TV like some watch a cable primetime series or Dancing With The Stars and even I feel lost when a Royals game goes untelevised.  I cann't imagine how ticked off Mediacom subscsribers were last week when they couldn't watch Loriano's no hitter.

The announcer revolving door keeps on spinning

According to published reports, CBS Sports & Gus Johnson have parted ways and Johnson appears headed to Fox Sports.

Here are some links from the sports media industry on the news:

http://tucsoncitizen.com/usa-today-sports/2011/05/09/gus-johnson-leaving-cbs-poised-to-jump-to-fox/

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/05/announcer-gus-johnson-poised-to-jump-to-fox-from-cbs/1

TV Schedule, Tuesday May 10

ATP Tennis: Internazionali BNL D'Italia 5am & 12:30pm on Tennis Channel

College Baseball:

Indiana @ Kentucky 5:30pm on Fox College Sports Atlantic
Nebraska @ Creighton 7pm on ESPNU

English Premier League Soccer: Manchester City vs Tottenham 1:30pm on Fox Soccer Channel

MLB Baseball:

Kansas City @ NY Yankees 6pm on FS Kansas City & Mediacom Channel 22
St. Louis @ Chicago Cubs 7pm on FS Midwest & WGN
Cincinnati @ Houston 7pm on MLB Network (DirecTV Channel 214)
Detroit @ Minnesota 7pm on FS North
San Diego @ Milwaukee 7pm on FS Wisconsin
Chicago White Sox @ LA Angels 9pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago

NBA Playoffs: Atlanta @ Chicago 7pm on TNT

NHL Playoffs: San Jose @ Detroit 7pm on VERSUS

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

TV Schedule, Monday May 9

ATP Tennis: Internazionali BNL D'Italia 5am & 12:30pm on Tennis Channel

MLB Baseball:

Minnesota @ Boston 6pm on ESPN & FS North (subject to blackout across Iowa on ESPN)
San Diego @ Milwaukee 7pm on FS Wisconsin
Chicago White Sox @ LA Angels 9pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago

NBA Playoffs:

Miami @ Boston 6pm on TNT
Oklahoma City @ Memphis 8:30pm on TNT

NHL Playoffs: Vancouver @ Nashville 7pm on VERSUS

Soccer:

Italian Serie A: Juventus vs Chievo 1:30pm on Fox Soccer Channel
English Premiere League: Fulham vs Liverpool 1:55pm on ESPN2

World Hockey Championships: Switzerland vs United States 9am on VERSUS

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