Sports Media Watch presents 20 notable sports media stories of the year 2013. Today, #15-#11, including a ‘major’ TV deal, a high-profile interview, newcomers from north of the border, and the end of a decades-long career.
#15: ESPN Swipes Tennis’ U.S. Open From CBS
ESPN continued to hoard grand slam tennis in 2013. In May, the ESPN family of networks acquired complete rights to tennis’ U.S. Open starting in 2015, putting a number on CBS’ four-decade long relationship with the event. Though ESPN has always had difficulty incorporating the U.S. Open into its football-dominated fall schedule, every single match will be carried on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPN3.com, including both singles finals on ESPN. After CBS finishes its lame duck campaign next year, ESPN will own full rights to three of the four major tennis tournaments, including the two most prestigious (Wimbledon and the U.S. Open).
#14: Lance Does ‘Oprah’
Of all people, Oprah Winfrey conducted arguably the year’s biggest interview in the sports world. After years of stringent denials — and months after being banned for life by the World Anti-Doping Agency — Lance Armstrong chose the Oprah Winfrey Network when he finally decided to confess his use of performance enhancing drugs. The two-part interview with Oprah on “Oprah’s Next Chapter” was a boon for OWN, earning the second-largest audience in the young history of the struggling network. It was not quite as beneficial for Armstrong, whose less-than-convincing performance did nothing to help his tanking public image.
#13: Musical Chairs on “NBA Countdown”
ESPN’s “NBA Countdown” has long been an afterthought compared to “Inside the NBA” on TNT, but it has been far more interesting behind-the-scenes. After the Stan Van Gundy mess last year, this year’s controversy was the abrupt resignation of Magic Johnson, allegedly in a power struggle with newcomer Bill Simmons. According to Deadspin, Simmons was behind ESPN’s decision to replace longtime “Countdown” analyst Michael Wilbon with Doug Collins — a move that left Johnson “privately seething” and precipitated his departure (10/10/13). Simmons vehemently denied the report, citing the fact that he had been noncommittal about returning to the show: “I didn’t think I was coming back. … They probably thought I was leaving, too. They weren’t going to listen to someone who wasn’t coming back” (SI.com, 10/13/13). Neither explanation was a particularly good sign.
#12: Jay and Dan Cross the Border
Almost completely unknown in the United States, TSN “SportsCentre” anchors Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole were among the first hires by Fox Sports 1 earlier this year. The duo, so well-known in Canada that even the prime minister commented on their departure, gave the new channel a ready-made, long established duo to host its “SportsCenter” alternative. Onrait and O’Toole have arguably been the faces of Fox Sports 1 thus far, embodying the irreverent style that has been the center of the network’s marketing strategy since day one. While ‘Jay and Dan’ is not quite ‘Dan and Keith,’ FOX has been noticeably bullish — even periodically using the anchors on FOX NFL studio coverage. With all of that said, they have thus far not helped “Fox Sports Live” make a dent in ESPN’s dominance.
#11: Tim McCarver Retires
One of the most criticized broadcasters in the business called it a career in 2013. Tim McCarver, the lead analyst for “MLB on FOX” since its 1996 debut — and the lead analyst for ABC and CBS previously — announced his retirement before the start of the season, putting an end to three decades of virtual ubiquity on national baseball telecasts. Though he has left open the possibility of a return, McCarver’s streak of 24 straight World Series is almost certainly at an end. For as much criticism as he received from viewers, McCarver got a warm send-off from FOX. The network signed off its coverage of the World Series with a retrospective of his career and and some heartfelt worlds from an emotional Joe Buck.
The #10-#6 stories of 2013 will be posted on Sunday, December 22
