Twitter & ESPN Strike Deal
140 Character Not Enough
If you like sports highlights but spend more time on social networks than watching TV, Twitter and ESPN are going to do their best to meet your needs.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Twitter and ESPN plan to announce a deepening of their existing relationship, agreeing on a pact under which the leading sports channel will unveil a wide variety of highlight clips in its tweets. The videos would be available on Twitter “shortly after” they take place live.
Naturally, the new arrangement which expands on a pact signed in December under which ESPN began embedding replays of college football highlights into its tweets is all about ad revenue. The sports network will place ads inside the clips, and advertisers will agree to purchase a minimum number of promoted tweets related to the highlights, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sports covered under the deal include World Cup soccer and X Games tournaments, according to the Journal.
A Twitter spokesperson confirmed the Journal’s story, and this afternoon, several people in senior roles at the social-networking giant posted tweets linking to it. Adam Bain, Twitter’s head of revenue, went so far as to note in his tweet,
“More news from the upfronts,” referring to the TV network meetings with advertisers that are taking place this week.
The Twitter-ESPN agreement goes a long way to bolstering the theory that Twitter is moving quickly to strengthen its ties to TV networks. Last month, a Bloomberg report suggested that Twitter was in talks with NBC and Viacom about bringing more of those networks’ content to the tweets users see all in the hopes of boosting ad revenue.
And earlier today, the Journal also noted that Twitter and Fox agreed to bring some of that TV network’s video to users via the tweets they see. As with the ESPN relationship, the Fox pact would be built to leverage advertisers’ ability to reach users.
Jenn Brown out at ESPN
TALENT
Once tabbed as the heir apparent to Erin Andrews, Jenn Brown has left ESPN as reported by Sports Illustrated. The reasons for her departure are still unclear, but ESPN confirmed Brown is no longer working for Bristol.
Brown joined ESPN in February 2010, and when Andrews left the mothership last summer, it seemed like Brown would be taking over her role as ESPN’s most visible sideline reporter. But then that gig went to Samantha Ponder, who took over Thursday night sideline reporting duties on ESPN as well as Andrews’ old spot on the College Gameday set. Brown was paired with Dave Pasch and Bob Griese, generally calling the early game on ESPN.
Brown’s future is currently unknown. Brown seemed to slowly fade from the spotlight in recent months and with the nice jobs ESPNers have picked up elsewhere (Michelle Beadle at NBC, Erin Andrews at Fox, Rachel Nichols at CNN), perhaps the grass was greener elsewhere.
Jerry Jones Says He Would Fire Himself As General Manager
Mr Delusional
Jerry Jones is both the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys. The former says he’d have fired the latter if he weren’t both.
In an interview that aired before Sunday Night Football, Bob Costas asked Jones whether he’d have fired himself as general manager following his team’s years of struggling:
“Well, I think so, because he was there to dismiss. I’ve always worked for myself and you can’t do that. You basically have to straighten that guy out in the mirror when you work for yourself. But certainly, if I’d had the discretion, I’ve done it with coaches and certainly I would have changed a general manager.”Once you make it through that self-referential haze of circular logic, you realize Jones the owner is full of it. Why couldn’t he fire yourself. Just because it wouldn’t involve a conversation in front of a mirror, a pink slip and severance pay, doesn’t mean he couldn’t wave the white flag and bring in another person to take over as GM. His definition is all semantics. Jones doesn’t fire himself because he thinks he’s the best man for the job.
NBC Apologizes For Airing Monkey Commercial After Gabby Douglas Win
NBC apologized for the timing of one of its commercials that featured a monkey on the Olympic rings. The commercial was promoting NBC’s upcoming sitcom “Animal Practice” and it aired immediately after Bob Costas discussed Gabby Douglas’ gold-medal winning effort in the women’s all-around gymnastics. NBC has apologized for it.
“Gabby Douglas’ gold medal performance last night was a historic and inspiring achievement,” NBC said in a statement on Friday.
“This spot promoting ‘Animal Practice,’ which has run three times previously, is one in a series with an Olympic theme which have been scheduled for maximum exposure. Certainly no offense was intended.”
Jared Allen Angered At Matt Kalil
These Will Be Here All Day
Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen isn’t looking to tango on a daily basis with a rookie looking to show off. He made that very clear a couple weeks ago during an appearance on NBC SportsTalk.
“Just don’t touch me,” Allen said. “I’m too old to deal with overzealous rookies right now. Keep your hands out of my face, don’t grab my jersey, and we won’t have to fist fight.”
First round draft pick Matt Kalil missed that interview. The rookie left tackle has been stonewalling Allen throughout practice, which incited the rage of Allen, who cursed loudly and took some swings after the whistles were blown.
This is good news for the Vikings if Kalil is able to hold his own against an All-Pro fresh off a 22-sack season. Minnesota invested its No. 4 overall pick in Kalil, hoping it has found the long-term cornerstone of its offensive line and blind side protection to quarterback Christian Ponder.
Hope Solo Airs It Out In New Autobiography
TALENT
Hope Solo likes to talk. She’s typically unfiltered and has been even more so in the weeks leading up to the London Games. We in the page-view business aren’t mad at that one bit.
So it should come as no surprise that Solo will capitalize on what she hopes will be a gold medal for the U.S. women’s national soccer team in these Games with an autobiography to be released Aug. 14, just after the Olympics. You might think the goalkeeper has nothing else to reveal about her storied life, and you’d be wrong. For starters, she was conceived during a conjugal visit, a tidbit she revealed in excerpts from Solo: A Memoir of Hope, provided to NBC Olympics.
“… my mother, who had moved to Everett, Washington, as a young woman, married my father and became pregnant with me during a conjugal visit while my father was serving a prison sentence in Washington. My brother, Marcus, was a toddler at the time. Overwhelmed, my mother had no choice but to move in with her parents in Richland. My father followed after his release. He and my mother eventually set up house behind the smiley-face fence, a few blocks from my grandparents.”
In a majority of the excerpts provided Hope describes her adolescent relationship with her father, who was a noted thief and, as she describes, a “con man.”
“It’s a complicated thing, knowing how much pain my father caused in my life and the lives of others whom I love, yet still holding love for him in my heart. No matter what he did, he was my father. He helped create the person I am. He showered me with love; he just didn’t know how to be a husband or a father or a responsible member of society. Yes, he was a con man. Yes, he was a ladies man. Yes, he was unreliable at best and a criminal at worst.”
Bob Costas Plans To Honor Munich Murder Victims Despite IOC Refusal
Sabotage
Bob Costas intends to take a stand and lodge an official complaint against the International Olympic Committee and he will do it publicly, over the air, with tens of millions of people listening.
Costas, the lead announcer for NBC’s upcoming coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, says he’s baffled by the IOC’s decision to deny Israel’s request for a moment of silence acknowledging the massacre of Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.
“I intend to note that the IOC denied the request,” Costas said. “Many people find that denial more than puzzling but insensitive. Here’s a minute of silence right now.”
Costas plans to make his statement and essentially call out the IOC during the Opening Ceremony on July 27 when the Israeli team enters the 80,000-seat Olympic stadium.
The London Games mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy in Munich, when Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes and coaches.
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon personally called for a minute of silence during the London Opening Ceremony, but the request was turned down by the IOC. A separate initiative backed by Ankie Spitzer, whose husband was Israel’s murdered fencing coach and who has led a 40-year campaign for a commemoration, garnered the support of the German Bundestag, the Canadian House of Commons, the U.S. Senate and the Australian House of Representatives.
But in late May, IOC President Jacques Rogge announced that, “The IOC has officially paid tribute to the memory of the athletes on several occasions,” and would not do so in London.
“I have to call the baby by its name,” Spitzer said, “the IOC’s refusal is pure discrimination.” Equal parts “greed and anti-Semitism,” she added.
TODAY Show Confuses Michael Vick With Another Black QB During Interview
During an interview with Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, the Today show aired footage of former quarterback Jerrod Johnson.
Vick, a left-handed quarterback who wears No. 7, was erroneously represented as the right-handed No. 8 wearing Johnson during Matt Lauer’s questioning.
Erin Andrews Heads To FOX To Host College Football Pregame Show
TALENT
Erin Andrews will host FOX’s new college football pregame show. Two days after ESPN said the broadcaster was leaving after eight years, FOX officially announced her hiring. Andrews also will contribute to the network’s NFL and Major League Baseball coverage.
The main FOX network will start its first regular-season college football package this fall. The 30-minute pregame show will premiere Sept. 1. Fox plans to challenge ESPN in the primetime slot as the network this season carries its first-ever regular-season college football.
Andrews has over 1.3 million Twitter followers. She calls the new job a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”
In terms of who’ll replace Andrews in those reporting roles, one possibility is Jenn Brown,who was recently taken off ESPN’s Thursday night college football for an undisclosed reassignment.
ESPN’s second leading lady Michelle Beadle recently also left as she departed for NBC.
Dennis Rodman Sentenced For Failing To Pay Child Support
Low Down Dirty
Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman was sentenced in family court Tuesday to 104 hours of community service on four counts of contempt for failing to pay child support.
Court Commissioner Barry Michaelson also placed Rodman on three years of informal probation. The sentence includes the condition that Rodman pay current child and spousal support obligations.
“My suggestion is to use your talents as a motivator, as a fine, fine athlete and as a fine person to assist others in need,” Michaelson told the Basketball Hall of Famer.
During a recent appearance on NBC’s Today show, Rodman suggested he was keeping up with payments for his children and ex-wife.
“I am not a deadbeat dad.” Rodman said. “Yeah, I pay child support. I’m not one of the guys that made Michael Jordan money or Scottie Pippen money. I made a decent living in the NBA, but broke? I’m not broke.”
NBCLA Uses Wrong Kings Logo For Playoff Picture
Penalty Box
Exciting times for the city of Los Angeles concerning it’s sports teams as they are advancing deep into the playoffs. Unfortunately, NBC Los Angeles did a story about the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Kings all involved in playoff series at the same time but they used the wrong Kings logo.
They used a logo for the NBA’s Sacramento Kings instead of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings.
Eli Manning To Host Saturday Night Live
Live From New York Its...
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning will follow his brother onto the set of “Saturday Night Live” when he hosts NBC’s late-night sketch comedy show.
The reigning Super Bowl MVP will appear alongside musical guest Rihanna on May 5, the show announced late Saturday.
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning hosted the show after winning his lone Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts in 2007. Younger brother Eli will have a tough act to follow after Peyton’s well-received appearance included fan-favorites such as the “United Way” skit.
Dana Jacobson Leaving ESPN
TALENT
Dana Jacobson, who’s been at ESPN for 10 years as an anchor and studio host, will leave ESPN next month. ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys, it’s “the intention that she will remain on-air” until her ESPN contract expires at the end of April. ESPN had offered her a contract extension.
Jacobson, who had hosted ESPN2′s First Take daytime talk show until January, is among several prominent ESPN on-air staffers — such as Erin Andrews, ScottVan Pelt and Michelle Beadle — whose ESPN contracts are expiring soon.
That’s happening as various cable TV sports channels with microscopic ratings, such as the NBC and CBS sports channels, are looking to their non-event programming.
Jacobson’s most highly-publicized moment while at ESPN came in 2008 when she was suspended after being inebriated and making an onstage anti-Jesus rant at a roast for ESPN’s Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg in Atlantic City.
Peyton Manning’s Tip Gets Waiter Fired
Good Job By The Owner
It’s no secret that Indianapolis Colts fans are going to miss Peyton Manning. There is also another segment of the Indianapolis population who’s going to miss Manning and that’s waiters and waitresses.
According to a photograph of a receipt from the Angus Barn in Raleigh, North Carolina, Manning recently left a $200 tip for a $739.58 tab that already included 18% gratuity. The receipt was dated 3/2/12. Earlier that day Manning had been surreptitiously filmed going through throwing drills on the nearby campus of Duke University.
Generally, celebrity tipping habits get publicized and go viral when someone is a particularly poor tipper. In a list of the Top Ten Cheapest Celebrity Tippers compiled by the Miami New Times in August 2011, two athletes cracked the top five. The cheapest celebrity tipper, according to the story, was Tiger Woods. Ranking at No. 4 was Miami Heat superstar LeBron James.
According to NBC-17, the photo of the signed receipt was first loosed upon the Internet when the server posted it on Facebook. The owner of the Angus Barn, Van Eure, was not pleased and fired the server for posting someones private information on the Internet without consent.
Donald Trump Thinks Peyton Manning Should Go To Miami
Go Run The USFL
Donald Trump, the billionaire mogul who flirted with a run at the U.S. presidency, has a definitive opinion on almost everything. No surprise then that The Donald knows exactly where Peyton Manning should go next.
The star of NBC’s The Apprentice would “love to see” Manning sign with the Miami Dolphins, Trump said Thursday while touting his $150 million purchase of The Doral Resort in Miami, according to the New York Daily News:
First of all (Dolphins owner) Steve Ross is a very good friend of mine,” Trump bellowed before a roomful of reporters and TV cameras at the WGC Cadillac Championship, where Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy were fighting it out in the first round.
“He’s a member of my club in Palm Beach and I think Peyton would be great for Miami. It would be a fantastic thing for this area.
Trump’s endorsement of the Dolphins over his hometown New York Jets didn’t go over well with the paper. Trump’s buddies with Jets owner Woody Johnson. The Jets are said to be one of the dozen or so NFL clubs pursuing the ex-Indianapolis Colts QB — despite the presence of starter Mark Sanchez. Trump “betrayed” his pal Johnson’s Jets when he touted the Dolphins, said the Daily News.
Molly Solomon Becomes First Female Executive Producer At Sports Network
TALENT
Molly Solomon will become the first female to hold position of executive producer at a national TV sports channel. Solomon which will became the executive producer for the Golf Channel and an Olympic TV veteran at NBC Sports.
She will also retain her duties as coordinating producer of NBC 2012 Summer Olympics coverage although she will also assume her GC responsibilities immediately. Says GC president Mike McCarley: “She’s a great team player who can lead a small army, like we do for the Olympics.”
SNL Spoof Racist Jeremy Lin Stereotypes
NBC’s Saturday Night Live wasted no time addressing the “Linsanity” surrounding new New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin, as the opening sketch of this week’s show skewered the overuse of Lin puns and addressed the racially insensitive missteps made by some of the media as the Asian-American point guard has gained national prominence.
M.I.A. Flips Middle Finger During Super Bowl Halftime Show
She's Number One
There wasn’t a wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl halftime show this year but another naughty action by one of the performers has the officials apologizing.
M.I.A., who joined Madonna on stage in Lucas Oil Stadium to help sing ‘Give Me All Your Luvin’,’ flipped the middle finger to the camera as the song came to a explicit word, which she stopped short of saying.
NBC was late on its delay and allowed the act to be broadcast. NBC and the NFL later issued apologies for the incident.
“The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show,” NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said. “Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers.”
Said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy: “The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans.”
It was the first significant controversy during a Super Bowl halftime act since the 2004 performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII featuring Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction.”
Jerry Jones Says He’s Had 50 Concussions
That Explains Some Decisons
During one of the segments in the debut of Costas Tonight on NBC Sports Network, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones chimed in on a topic that had been addressed before he took the stage. Jones, who played college football at Arkansas, said that he has had “50 concussions.”
He then joked that, if he hadn’t suffered so many blows to the head, he would have been the President of the U.S. instead of the owner of the Cowboys.
Jones quickly pointed out he wasn’t trying to make light of the challenges players are facing. Still, some may believe that the remark came off as a bit insensitive to the plight of the men who are suffering the effects of a career of concussions especially on the same day that Hall of Fame running back and former Cowboy Tony Dorsett added his name to a lawsuit thats suing the NFL along with Riddell over concussions.
NFL Creating Awards Show To Be Hosted By Alec Baldwin
Schweddy Balls
The NFL will announce the annual league awards, including Most Valuable Player, in a two-hour prime-time special “NFL Honors” to air on NBC on Super Bowl eve, Feb. 4.
All seven AP NFL awards will be presented from 8-10 CST p.m. live from the Murat Theater in Indianapolis during a show hosted by “30 Rock” star Alec Baldwin. The show will feature a live performance by Lenny Kravitz and appearances by Hall of Famers Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe and Steve Young.
In addition to MVP, the league will announce the winner of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, which recognizes a player’s community service as well as playing excellence. The other awards are Coach of the Year, Comeback Player, Defensive Player and Defensive Rookie, and Offensive Player and Offensive Rookie.
Last year, the awards were presented on the NFL Network throughout the week leading up to the Super Bowl.
Chicago Dealership Offers Free Cars If Bears Shut Out Packers
Brilliant
The likely hood of the Chicago Bears shutting out the Green Bay Packers this Sunday night on NBC is as close to a hundred percent not happening as you can get. However Sawicki Motors, a car dealership in the town of Rochelle in north central Illinois has come a marketing scheme that us in San Antonio talking about it. See if the Bears hold the Packers scoreless on Christmas, the dealership will give out free cars.
The Packers come into the game with the leagues highest scoring offense at 34.3 points per game. Nevertheless though, Sawicki Motors general manager Ron Matula, a native Chicagoan, insists he would love to see it happen, saying, “It’d be the best Christmas present that I ever handed out. I’m hoping that Green Bay scores zero points.”
So if someone buys a car between now and Friday at Sawicki Motors and the Bears shut out the Packers, they’ll be given a 100% rebate on the purchase. They’ll do this for the first $1 million worth of vehicles sold through Friday.
Super Bowl XLVI To Be Streamed Live
Flaming
For the first time the Super Bowl will be streamed online and to mobile phones thanks to an agreement between NBC and the NFL. NBC will air Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, along with the Pro Bowl and a wild-card Saturday doubleheader during the postseason.
All those games will be streamed live for free viewing on the Internet and select mobile phones. The mobile option will be in play for Verizon wireless customers who use NFL Mobile and have the necessary plan and device to handle the video content.
They will be treated to some extra special features that include being able to watch games from different camera angles and get in-game highlights.
Bob Costas Interviews Jerry Sandusky
Bob Costas scored the exclusive interview with Jerry Sandusky as part of Rock Center, the new Brian Williams hosted show on NBC. During the interview Sandusky was asked by Costas “are you sexually attracted to young boys, to underage boys?” To which Sandusky instead of just flat out saying NO gave a lengthy answer of “am I sexually attracted to underage boys? Sexually attracted, you know, I enjoy young people. I love to be around them. But no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”
Ndamakong Suh Trains Kevin From The Office
Detroit Lions defensive tackle and all-around badass Ndamukong Suh helps Brain Baumgarter, aka Kevin Malone from the NBC sitcom The Office, who wants to become an NFL offensive lineman.
