Time to open up the sports media notebook for some stories you may have missed over the last few days.
Interesting story about sports being a possible saviour for cable TV, but also being a potential detriment. Derek Thompson at The Atlantic explores how cable and satellite customers pay for sports and channels like AMC whether they watch them or not. Whether this leads to more cord cutting or a move to an á la carte basis where you subscribe to the channels you want, is yet to be seen. We'll see if cable and satellite providers continue to push back against high-priced sports networks.
John Koblin of Deadspin catches up with former Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts who suddenly found that she was the beneficiary of a financial windfall. It led to her leaving the magazine when her contract expired. I knew that she was no longer with the magazine, but did not know why she left. Now we know.
NASCAR has banned its broadcast partners from using the cable-held aerial cameras. You may remember back in May that a Fox camera snapped and fell to the track injuring 10 fans at the Coca-Cola 600. Bob Pockrass of the Sporting News reports that ESPN will not be able to use its cable cam for the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis later this month and for any future races until further notice. The cause of the May's incident is still yet to be determined. ESPN was planning to use its aerial camera at Indianapolis and again at Watkins Glen.
On Friday, the National Hockey League and the NHL Players Association came to an agreement allowing pros to play in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. With that, a schedule has been released. Expect all Team USA games to be aired on NBC Sports Network, Another offshoot of this agreement, the NHL will be able to show Olympic hockey tournament highlights on both NHL.com and NHL Network, something that was lacking during the 2010 Vancouver Games. Expect to see NHL Network to have Olympic-themed NHL Tonight programs originating from Sochi in February.
The NHL also released its regular season schedule for 2013-14. The NBC Sports Group announced a 103 game schedule including 13 games on NBC with 90 on NBC Sports Network. The full release is here.
At the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center, Eric Deggans at the Tampa Bay Times says the only threat to Keith Olbermann's career is Keith himself.
ESPN Radio has announced its first five weeks of NFL regular season games. This marks the first time that ESPN Radio will air live NFL games. Calling the games will be Marc Kestecher, Sean McDonough, Bill Rosinski and Ryan Ruocco. Expected analysts will be Herm Edwards, Shaun O'Hara, Bill Polian and Damien Woody. ESPN Radio announced earlier this year it signed the out-of-market rights to air Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Giants, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers games.
Paulsen at Sports Media Watch says Fox's Baseball Night in America Saturday broadcasts barely moved the ratings needle for its eight game stretch this season. Not good.
As we go into the final day of the Open Championship, can you believe it's been 14 years since Jean van de Velde's epic collapse at Carnoustie?
And that will close the notebook for today. Enjoy your Sunday.
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