- After 31 years, HBO has canceled Inside the NFL. The show, with an all-star panel of Bob Costas, Dan Marino, Cris Collinsworth and Cris Carter, was just one of an almost infinite amount of football studio shows, and — despite averaging over 2 million viewers this season — was getting lost in the shuffle in a landscape where fans can see highlights on a variety of outlets. While HBO is dumping the show, NFL Films plans to distribute Inside the NFL on another network next season.
- While the U.S. Figure Skating Championships did not light up the ratings for NBC, the network was apparently impressed enough by the improved numbers to buy into more major figure skating events. The Chicago Tribune reports NBC has agreed to broadcast the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, after the event wraps up its tenure on ESPN this March. NBC is hoping to use figure skating and the NHL to promote the 2010 Winter Olympics.
- Soccer will get major exposure in the form of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader on ABC this summer. First, the network will air an MLS telecast at 12 PM ET, featuring David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy. That game will be Beckham’s first MLS appearance on broadcast television. The second game of the doubleheader features a match from the 2008 European Championships; the ESPN family of networks will air the entire Euro 2008 tournament, and the June 29 telecast will be one of two ABC is slated to air.
