Hello, and welcome to the AA Mailbag, where you get to ask questions about sports media. We’re always looking for new material for the mailbag, so feel free to ask us questions on Twitter with #AAMailbag (or e-mail me at stevemlepore@gmail.com). It’s a very busy time for sports, which means it’s a very busy time for sports media, so let’s dig into the mailbag and see what comes up this time around.
Matt B asks:
Why are games on the NHL Network not on NHL GameCenter Live? Should [they] add additional price tier to include?
NHL Network games do not appear on NHL GameCenter Live because the NHL wants people to have some reason to watch the channel. That said, the fact that I can live stream any NBC/NBCSN game (including playoffs) but not any NHL Network game is a little silly. NHL Network games should, at worst, be added to the NBC Sports Live Extra package of games.
Steve Uhlmann asks:
Any word from MLB on improvements for MLB.tv this year? It was pretty bad last year, especially on PS3/XBox.
Well, I personally think MLB.tv is pretty good on my own PS3, and am watching a Mets-Nationals Spring Training game on it as we electronically speak. That said, the big improvement for MLB.tv this season will be the ability to stream Fox and FS1 games. Though they’ll co-exist with Fox’s own Fox Sports Go, it’s still a massive improvement over where we were before.
Armand Broady asks:
What are ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball and Wednesday Night Baseball crews?
An ESPN spokesperson told me this afternoon that Dave O’Brien and Aaron Boone will call games on Monday nights, while Jon Sciambi and Rick Sutcliffe will broadcast Wednesday night games most of the time. Wednesdays, however, will be similar to last year in that ESPN will put analysts related to the teams playing in each particular game in the booth. An example given was new hire Eric Wedge calling a Mariners game (Wedge was the manager in Seattle prior to joining ESPN).
Jeremy Schilling asks:
Do you think MLB Net is worried that FS1’s new highlight show may take viewers away from MLB Tonight?
I’m not sure of anyone at MLB Network’s feelings of Fox’s MLB Whiparound, but I can only assume anyone working at MLB Network has words similar to what ESPN Senior VP of Production Mike McQuade told me during our interview last week:
“I think competition is coming from everywhere,” says McQuade. “Quite candidly, we’re trying to do the best show we can every single night. Competition is a good thing, and personally I thrive on that, I hope they come out and do a good show and push us.”
That said, it is a little weird that Harold Reynolds will be in the studio on MLB Network directly competing with a show on FS1, his other main employer.
Alex Wach asks:
Will we be seeing a major turnover in announcing in the next 5-10 years due to aging broadcasters?
I think so, especially on the play-by-play side. You look 10 years into the future, and names like Al Michaels, Verne Lundquist, Mike Emrick, Marv Albert and Dick Stockton will probably either be retired or close to it. That’ll mean a new lead play-by-play man for the NFL, SEC, NHL and NBA. That said, there will be younger voices ready to go and we’ll have to get used to them. But just listing those names that probably will be gone within the next decade, it’s pretty staggering.
Matthias asks:
Could FS1 buy a few NHL games per year for national TV?
It probably wouldn’t happen unless there were some case where NBC was seriously hemorrhaging money and needed to recoup some losses on the sport, which doesn’t appear to be happening. The package isn’t the NHL’s to sell, it could only work under some sort of sub-licensing deal that NBC would work out with another network. This happens often in college football.
That said, I really don’t see NBC giving up their monopoly, especially not to a direct competitor. NHL games on NBCSN were easily outdrawing the Big East on FS1 this winter, so why help them out unless you were getting serious financial compensation? It’s as long as a longshot gets.
Stu Dolgon asks:
Why didn’t NHL Net move to NBC in Connecticut?
For that answer, we have to go to Chris Botta, excellent reporter that he is, and his piece on NHL Network in Sports Business Journal a while back:
A year later, the league committed to move into a $20 million studio NBC Sports Group was building in Stamford, Conn. But the league since has decided not to make the move because it would cut too deeply into the network’s margins, a source said. While the new digs would have resulted in higher-quality programming, it would not have provided more programming.
I’ll let you come up with your own reaction to that.
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