Friday, January 7, 2011

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.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

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.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

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.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

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.

Monday, January 3, 2011

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.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

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.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

TV Schedule, Sunday January 2nd

College Basketball:

Georgia @ Wake Forest 12pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, and FS North
Illinois @ Michigan St. (women's) 11am on Big 10 Network
Rutgers @ Villanova 12pm on ESPNU
Michigan @ Iowa (women's) 1pm on Big 10 Network
Stanford @ Cal (women's) 2:30pm on FS Midwest and FS North
Penn St. @ Michigan 3pm on Big 10 Network
LSU @ Virgina 4:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago+ and Mediacom Channel 22
Miami, OH @ Kansas 5pm on ESPNU
Wisconsin @ Illinois 5pm on Big 10 Network
Oklahoma @ TCU (women's) 5pm on The Mtn.
Miami @ Duke 6:30pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Mediacom Channel 22, and FS Wisconsin
Arizona @ Oregon St. 9pm on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Midwest, and FS North

NBA Basketball: Houston @ Portland 8pm on NBATV

NFL Football:

Oakland @ Kansas City 12pm on CBS (WHBF Davenport will have Pittsburgh @ Cleveland)
Tampa Bay @ New Orleans 12pm on Fox (KXLT Rochester/Mason City will have Minnesota @ Detroit)
Tennessee @ Indianapolis 3:15pm on CBS
Chicago @ Green Bay 3:15pm on Fox
St. Louis @ Seattle 7:20pm on NBC

NHL Hockey:

Dallas @ St. Louis 5pm on FS Midwest
Phoenix @ Minnesota 5pm on FS North
Chicago @ Anaheim 6pm on WGN

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

Big 12 Conference Basketball on over-the-air TV in Iowa

A week from today begins the Saturday afternoon package of Big 12 Conference basketball games via the Big 12 Network. The following over the air stations across Iowa will be airing Big 12 Network games:

WOI-TV (Ames/Des Moines)
KFXA-TV (Cedar Rapids)
KYOU-TV (Ottumwa)
KXVO-TV (Omaha)

In addition to the Big 12 package, several mid-week Iowa St. conference games will be shown across the state on the Cyclone Television Network. The 2011 CTN affiliate list include:

WOI-TV (Ames/Des Moines)
KCRG-TV (Cedar Rapids)
WHBF-TV (Davenport)
KCAU-TV (Sioux City)
Mediacom Cable (Mason City, Ottumwa, and Keokuk)

Note: Listing of affiliate's was taken from both the Big 12 Sports and ISU websites. If your area isn't listed above, please check local listings for last minute changes. Big 12 Network games are available nationally on YES Network and Altitude Sports.