- ESPN plans to launch a Chicago specific version of ESPN.com. The new site, ESPNChicago.com, will launch in April and will feature Chicago related sports news, a “‘SportsCenter’-style newscast with a three- to five-minute highlight reel of the day’s top stories“, and contributions from ESPN personalities with Chicago ties, including Gene Wojciechowski and Scoop Jackson.
- The Tennis Channel has canceled plans to air coverage of the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships after Dubai denied a visa to Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer. In place of coverage of the event, Tennis Channel is looking “into its archive to find Peer?s best tournament performance to replay Feb. 28 or March 1, the dates of the men?s semifinals and final.”
- The 2009 NBA Playoffs schedule is beginning to come into focus. The playoffs will begin on Saturday, April 18 with a game on ABC at 3 PM, followed by a tripleheader on ESPN at 5:30, 8 and 10:30. ABC will air the same amount of playoff games as last year, including Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals on a Saturday night (May 23). As revealed earlier this week, both Sunday night games of the NBA Finals will begin at 8 PM ET, an hour earlier than in previous years. On both nights, NBA Countdown will air at 7:30 PM ET.
