TV Schedule, Saturday October 15

ATP Tennis: Shanghai Rolex Masters 3:30am & 7am on Tennis Channel

Auto Racing:

Formula One: Korean Grand Prix Qualifying 12am on Speed Channel
Camping World Series: Smiths 350 2:30pm on Speed Channel
Sprint Cup Series: Bank of America 500 6:30pm on ABC
Motorcycle Racing: Monster Energy Cup 9pm on Speed Channel
NHRA Drag Racing: Arizona Nationals Qualifying 11:30pm on ESPN2 (same day tape)

Bull Riding: PBR Tour 10:30pm on VERSUS (same day tape)

College Football:

Big 10:

Indiana @ Wisconsin 11am on ESPN2
Michigan @ Michigan St. 11am on ESPN
Purdue @ Penn St. 11am on BTN
Ohio St. @ Illinois 2:30pm on ABC
Northwestern @ Iowa 11am on BTN

Big 12:

Baylor @ Texas A&M 11am on FX
Oklahoma St. @ Texas 2:30pm on ESPN
Kansas St. @ Texas Tech 6pm on FS Midwest (check onscreen guide for channel number) & FS Wisconsin
Oklahoma @ Kansas 8:15pm on ESPN2

National Games:

Louisville @ Cincinnati 11am on SNY & MASN
Utah @ Pitt 11am on ESPNU
South Carolina @ Mississippi St. 11:20am on SEC Network
UNLV @ Wyoming 1pm on The Mtn. & CBS Sports Network
Florida St. @ Duke 2pm on various FSN's
Ball St. @ Ohio 2:30pm on Sports Time Ohio
Colorado @ Washington 2:30pm on Root Sports NW & Root Sports Rocky Mountain
Georgia Tech @ Virgina 2:30pm on ESPNU
LSU @ Tennessee 2:30pm on CBS
Penn @ Columbia 2:30pm on VERSUS
South Florida @ UCONN 2:30pm on SNY & MASN
UMASS @ Delaware 2:30pm on Comcast SportsNet New England
Central Florida @ SMU 2:30pm on FS Midwest & FS North
Western Michigan @ Northern Illinois 2:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago
BYU @ Oregon St. 3pm on Fox College Sports Pacific
Alabama @ Ole Miss 5pm on ESPN2
Boise St. @ Colorado St. 5pm on the MTN.
Florida @ Auburn 6pm on ESPN
Georgia @ Vanderbilt 6pm on various FSN's
Stanford @ Washington St. 6:30pm on VERSUS
UAB @ Tulsa 7pm on CBS Sports Network
Arizona St. @ Oregon 9:15pm on ESPN

Extreme Sports: Dew Tour Championship 2:30pm on NBC

Golf:

European PGA Tour 8am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour: McGladrey Classic (Third Round) 1pm on Golf Channel
Nationwide Tour: Miccosukee Championship 4pm on Golf Channel (same day tape)
Champions Tour: AT&T Championship (Second Round) 6:30pm on Golf Channel (same day tape)
LPGA Tour: Sime Dary Malaysia (Final Round) 8:30pm on Golf Channel (same day tape)

Horse Racing: Queen Elizabeth II Stakes 4pm on NBC

MLB Baseball, ALCS Game 6: Detroit @ Texas 6:30pm on FOX

NHL Hockey:

Detroit @ Minnesota 7pm on FS North
Boston @ Chicago 7:30pm on NHL Network (subject to blackout across Iowa)
St. Louis @ San Jose 9pm on FS Midwest

Rugby: Wales vs France 2:45am on Universal Sports

Soccer:

English Premier League: Manchester City vs Aston Villa 9am on FOX Soccer
English Premier League: Chelsea vs Everton 11:30am on FOX Soccer
Italian Serie A: AC Milan vs Palermo 1:30pm on FOX Soccer
MLS: Chicago @ D.C. United 6:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago
MLS: San Jose @ Seattle 9:30pm on FOX Soccer

Disclaimer: All times are Central.

Big 12 TV partners didn't want BYU to join the Big 12

The college football realignment has been all about TV & TV revenue, well today, news has gotten out that the Big 12 TV partners didn't want BYU to join the Big 12 and that's why TCU got the invitation earlier this week.

According to CBS Sports.com, the Big 12 TV partners had issues with (1) BYU's policy of not playing games in any sport on Sunday, (2) BYU requesting that an unknown minimum number of games be nationally televised, and (3) BYU requesting any game that wasn't picked up by ESPN or FOX be shown on BYUTV.   I could see issue #2 being a problem because the 2:30pm (CT) Big 12 window on ABC isn't guaranteed to be a full national telecast, same goes for any football telecast picked up by FOX Sports Net.

What I don't understand is why the Big 12's TV partners wouldn't agree to third-tier TV rights (games not televised by ESPN or FOX) being picked up by BYUTV, which might be one or two games a year at the max.  What's different than say when Nebraska was in the Big 12 and having 3 non-conference games on PPV versus one or two BYU games regulated to third-tier rights being shown on BYUTV?  The Big 12 has never shared third-tier TV revenue, so that's not an issue.

The Big 12 TV partners objecting to BYU's policy of  not playing on Sunday's is baffling to me.  The Big 12 Basketball Tournament wraps up on Saturday night, so that won't be a problem.  I don't recall the Big 12 playing that many regular season college basketball games on Sunday's to begin with and please don't tell me that ESPN or FOX Sports had an issue with  televising potential BYU baseball games on a Sunday afternoon or any other Olympic Sport for that matter.

So the Big 12 TV partners said no to a national brand like BYU and said yes to TCU, who outside of football really brings nothing to the table and the Big 12 already had the Dallas/Fort Worth market covered?  The more things change, the more they stay the same in the Big 12.

Another year goes by and no NFL Network on Time Warner Cable

As the NFL Network celebrates it's 8th year on the air, it would appear that another year has gone by without Time Warner Cable, the nation's second biggest cable provider, offering the channel on it's cable system.

The Sports Business Daily is reporting today that despite being close on price, talks between Time Warner & the NFL have broken off and neither side expects a deal to be reached this year.  So that means Time Warner subscribers in Kansas City, Dallas, and other NFL markets that are served by Time Warner will go without seeing the NFL Network's bundle of 8 late season NFL games.

What I don't get, is how can the NFL Network have reached agreement with Comcast, Cox and even Mediacom which serves mostly rural areas to place the channel in digital programming packages but not Time Warner.

ESPNU to provide coverage of basketball media days

The 2011-12 college basketball season gets underway tonight with coverage of Midnight Madness on ESPNU and the preseason coverage continues next week on ESPNU with coverage of various conference media days.

According to a Press Release from ESPN, coverage of conference media days begins on October 19th with the ACC & Big East beginning at 11am (CT).  The Big 12 media day is October 20 and the Big 10 media day is October 27, coverage begins at 1pm (CT) both days.

For more information, including a complete schedule, please visit the Web Site linked above.

300+ non-conference basketball games to air on ESPN networks

More than 300 non-conference basketball games are on the schedule for the ESPN family of networks with nearly 100 games to be shown exclusively on ESPN3.com

According to a Press Release from ESPN, the non-conference schedule tips off November 7th with the annual Coaches vs Cancer Classic.

Some of the new events include the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic featuring Michigan St. vs North Carolina to be played November 11 from the deck of the USS Carl Vinson and the State Farm Champions Classic, and 3-year event featuring the sports winningest programs.  The participants this year Duke, Michigan St., Kentucky and Kansas.  This event will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City and will take place on November 15.

For more information, including a complete schedule, please visit the Web Site linked above.

TV Schedule, Friday October 14

ATP Tennis: Shanghai Rolex Masters 5am & 7am on Tennis Channel

College Basketball: Whip around coverage of Midnight Madness 8pm on ESPNU

College Football: Hawaii @ San Jose St. 8pm on ESPN

College Hockey:

Minnesota @ Minnesota-Duluth 7pm on FS North
Maine @ North Dakota 7:30pm on Fox College Sports Central

Golf:

European PGA Tour 8am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour: McGladrey Classic (Second Round) 1pm on Golf Channel
Nationwide Tour: Micosukee Championship (Second Round) 4pm on Golf Channel
Champions Tour: AT&T Championship (First Round) 6:30pm on Golf Channel (same day tape)
LPGA Tour: Sime Darby Malaysia (Second Round) 8:30pm n Golf Channel (same day tape)

High School Football:

Hopewell (PA) vs Central Valley (PA) 5pm on ESPN2
Louisa-Muscatine @ Iowa City Regina 7:30pm on KCRG-DT 9.2/Mediacom channel 109/ImOn channel 709 (Cedar Rapids)

MLB Baseball, NLCS Game 5: Milwaukee @ St. Louis 7pm on TBS

NASCAR:

Nationwide Series: Dollar General 300 Qualifying 2pm on ESPN2
Sprint Cup Series: Bank of America 500 Practice 3:30pm on ESPN2
Sprint Cup Series: Bank of America 500 Happy Hour 5pm on ESPN2
Nationwide Series: Dollar General 300 6:30pm on ESPN2

Soccer:

College: New Hampshire @ Maryland-Baltimore County 6pm on FOX Soccer
College: Stanford @ Arizona St. (women's) 9pm on FOX Soccer
MLS: Real Salt Lake @ Colorado 9:30pm on ESPN2

Sports Radio on TV:

Mike & Mike in the Morning: 5am on ESPN2
Dan Patrick: 8am on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, & FS North
The Herd: 9am on ESPNews
Tim Brando: 9am on CBS Sports Network
Scott Van Pelt Show: 12pm on ESPNews

Disclaimer: All times are Central.

TV Schedule, Thursday October 13

College Football:

Texas Southern @ Alabama A&M 6:30pm on ESPNU
San Diego St. @ Air Force 7pm on CBS Sports Network
USC @ Cal 8pm on ESPN

Golf:

European PGA Tour: 8am on Golf Channel
PGA Tour: McGladrey Classic (First Round) 1pm on Golf Channel
Nationwide Tour: Miccosukee Championship (First Round) 4pm on Golf Channel

MLB Baseball Championship Series:

ALCS Game 5: Texas @ Detroit 3pm on FOX
NLCS Game 4: Milwaukee @ St. Louis 7pm on TBS

NASCAR:

Nationwide Series: Dollar General 300 Practice 5pm on ESPN2
Sprint Cup Series: Bank of America 500 Qualifying 6pm on ESPN2

NHL Hockey:

Washington @ Pittsburgh 6pm on NHL Network
Edmonton @ Minnesota 7pm on FS North
St. Louis @ Dallas 7:30pm on FS Midwest
Winnipeg @ Chicago 7:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago

Sports Radio on TV:

Mike & Mike in the Morning: 5am on ESPN2
Dan Patrick: 8am on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, & FS North
The Herd: 9am on ESPNews
Tim Brando: 9am on CBS Sports Network
Scott Van Pelt Show: 12pm on ESPNews

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

NFL games dominate the most watched sporting events since the Super Bowl

Just how popular is the NFL?  The 2011 NFL season is just 5 weeks old and already, since the Super Bowl this past February, 9 out of the 10 most-watched sporting events have been NFL games.

According to a Press Release from the NFL, a pair of week 5 games, Jets vs Patriots and Packers vs Falcons topped the most-watched list with 22.6 million & 22.0 million viewers respectively.

For a complete ranking of the most-watched sporting events since the February's Super Bowl, please visit the Web Site linked above.

Ratings for game 3 of the ALCS is the best to date

The ratings are in for Game 3 of the ALCS and these were the best ratings yet for any game in the league championship series.  According to a Press Release from Fox Sports, Game 3 of the ALCS match-up between Detroit & Texas posted a 5.3/8 rating/household share generating 8.4 million viewers.

Battling several rain delays, ratings for the ALCS is on par with last years ALCS.  For more information, please visit the Web Site linked above.

TV Schedule, Wednesday October 12

ATP Tennis: Shanghai Rolex Masters 1am on Tennis Channel

College Volleyball:

Kansas @ Missouri 6:30pm on FS Midwest
Michigan @ Illinois 7pm on BTN
Tennessee @ Kentucky 7pm on ESPNU
Hawaii @ New Mexico St. 9pm on ESPNU

MLB Playoffs:

ALCS, Game 4: Texas @ Detroit 3pm on FOX
NLCS, Game 3: Milwaukee @ St. Louis 7pm on TBS

NHL Hockey: Boston @ Carolina 6:30pm on VERSUS

Soccer: FC Dallas @ Chicago Fire 7:30pm Comcast SportsNet Chicago

Sports Radio on TV:

Mike & Mike in the Morning: 5am on ESPN2
Dan Patrick: 8am on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, & FS North
The Herd: 9am on ESPNews
Tim Brando: 9am on CBS Sports Network
Scott Van Pelt Show: 12pm on ESPNews

Disclaimer: All times are Central.

CBS Sports announces it's 2011-12 college basketball schedule

Midnight Madness, the start of the 2011-12 college basketball season is this weekend and today, CBS Sports has announced it's schedule of televised games for the 2011-12 season.

According to a Press Release from CBS Sports, the 2011-12 season will mark CBS Sports 31st consecutive season of televising college basketball and the 14 week schedule begins on December 3rd with Kentucky hosting North Carolina.

Forty-four regular season games from 11 conferences with 5 conference championship games airing on CBS.  For a complete schedule and a look at some of the marquee games that are on the schedule, please visit the Web Site linked above.

VERSUS to televise the Boston Bruin Stanley Cup Celebration

Leading into it's first exclusive Wednesday Night NHL telecast, VERSUS will present live coverage of the Boston Bruin Stanley Cup Championship tomorrow night starting at 5:30pm (CT).

According to a Press Release from the NBC Sports Group, VERSUS' live coverage of the celebration will take part as part of the new studio show on VERSUS called NBC SportsTalk which hits the air at 5pm (CT) tomorrow night.

Following coverage of the Stanley Cup Celebration, VERSUS will have live coverage of the  Boston/Carolina game with the puck being dropped at 6:30pm (CT).

Monday Night Football wins the ratings night for ESPN

Last night's Monday Night Football game on ESPN between Chicago & Detroit easily won the night for ESPN on both broadcast TV & cable TV.

 According to a Press Release from ESPN, last night's game generated a 10.3 rating and 16.38 million viewers in the United States making it the fifth most-watched program on cable TV this year.

For more information, please visit the Web Site linked above.

A sneak peek at college football across the ESPN platforms this weekend

With the college football season at the midway point, the ESPN family of networks is preparing for another big weekend of college football telecasts.

According to a Press Release from ESPN, there will be three showdowns on various ESPN networks that will showcase top-25 ranked teams and additional 9 telecasts that will showcase undefeated teams.

Michigan @ Michigan St., Oklahoma St. @ Texas, and Arizona St. @ Oregon are the marquee games this week on the ESPN family of networks.  For more information, including a complete schedule of college football telecasts across multiple ESPN platforms, please visit the Web Site linked above.

Ratings for last night's Sunday Night Football up 20% from last year

The TV ratings machine that is the NFL continues to put up big numbers with last night's Sunday Night Football telecast on NBC being the latest NFL production to put up big ratings numbers.

According to a Press Release from NBC Sports, viewership for the week 5 edition of Sunday Night Football showcasing the defending Super Bowl Champions Green Bay Packers was up 20% from last year at the same time and up 30% from two years ago.  The 14.0 rating and 22 share easily won the ratings battle for Sunday night.

For more information, including a historical look at the ratings for NFL on NBC as well as the highest rated TV markets for last night's game, please visit the Web Site linked above.

TV Schedule, Tuesday October 11

MLB, ALCS Game 4: Texas @ Detroit 6:30pm on FOX

NHL Hockey:

Minnesota @ Ottawa 6:30pm on FS North
Florida @ Pittsburgh 6:30pm on VERSUS

Soccer:

Men's European Championship Qualifier: Belgium @ Germany 11:55am on ESPN2
College: Lafayette @ Princeton 4pm on ESPNU
College: Wake Forest @ College of Charleston 6pm on FOX Soccer
Men's Exhibition: Ecuador @ United States 6pm on ESPN2
Men's Exhibition: Brazil @ Mexico 8:30pm on ESPN2

Sports Radio on TV:

Mike & Mike in the Morning: 5am on ESPN2
Dan Patrick: 8am on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, & FS North
The Herd: 9am on ESPNews
Tim Brando: 9am on CBS Sports Network
Scott Van Pelt Show: 12pm on ESPNews

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

TV Schedule, Monday October 10

MLB Baseball:

ALCS, Game 2: Detroit @ Texas 3pm on FOX
NLCS, Game 2: St. Louis @ Milwaukee 7pm on TBS

NFL Football: Chicago @ Detroit 7:30pm on ESPN

NHL Hockey:

Minnesota @ NY Islanders 12pm on FS North
Calgary @ St. Louis 1pm on FS Midwest
Tampa Bay @ Washington 6pm on VERSUS

Sports Radio on TV:

Mike & Mike in the Morning: 5am on ESPN2
Dan Patrick: 8am on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, & FS North
The Herd: 9am on ESPNews
Tim Brando: 9am on CBS Sports Network
Scott Van Pelt Show: 12pm on ESPNews

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