sports

KCTV, Meredith’s CBS affiliate in Kansas City, is doubling down on sports coverage with a daily, half-hour sports show called The Locker Room Show. It’s hosted by Dani Welniak, a former women’s professional football player, and produced by Nikki Rushing. “I don’t feel an immense amount of pressure, like: oh, two women are in charge. I think it adds to the product versus adding pressure,” Rushing says.

ESPN’s deeper investment in Snapchat comes as other publishers like the New York Times and Bleacher Report have paused their channels. But for ESPN, producing shows on Snapchat aligns with its digital strategy of meeting sports fans in places they already are. Snapchat also has proven to be a useful way to make revenue and to direct viewers to ESPN on television and to content on ESPN+.

Former MSG exec Michael McCarthy is tapped to be general manager of Marquee Sports Network, set to launch in February 2020.

The results are in for the 40th annual Sports Emmy Awards. ESPN and NBC tied for the most trophies with six apiece, and their respective network groups also played to a draw with eight each.

After airing every Indy 500 from 1965 through last season, ABC was outbid for the rights by NBC, giving the network exclusivity over the IndyCar Series. And that means Mike Tirico, who spent 25 years with ESPN before heading to NBC in 2016, will host the broadcast Sunday alongside Danica Patrick and a host of other celebrities, analysts and reporters.

CBS and CBS Sports Network will televise 20 Big East Conference men’s regular-season basketball games per year through the 2024-25 season in a new sublicense deal with Fox Sports. The pact includes at least two appearances for each of the 10 Big East schools.

Sinclair’s deal to buy the former Fox regional sports networks values them at less than expected.

This is the second time Vince McMahon has launched a football league. The networks will start airing its games its games when the new league starts on Feb. 8, 2020, after the NFL season ends with the Super Bowl. The first version of the XFL — a joint venture of WWE and NBC — lasted one season in 2001.

Byron Allen becomes an equity and content partner in the new RSN holding company, Diamond Sports Group. The RSNs includes exclusive local rights to 42 professional teams consisting of 14 Major League Baseball teams, 16 National Basketball Association teams, and 12 National Hockey League  teams.

The current version of FS1 is geared toward studio shows with a mix of debate, interviews and analysis and it’s finding traction among viewers. Last year’s studio programming generated a 28% increase in viewers over 2017.

The 13-game package will stream on the MLB channel on YouTube platforms globally. The games will include pre- and post-game shows, and will be produced by MLB Network.

Before the public got a look at the upcoming NFL regular-season schedule on Wednesday, Howard Katz, the league’s SVP of broadcasting and media operations, relayed to Fox, CBS, NBC and ESPN what games they received. In interviews with network executives, all four networks thought Katz’s task of formulating this year’s packages was fair.

As the NBA post-season action gets underway, strong demand has already gobbled up between 85% and 95% of the inventory on ESPN, ABC and Turner’s TNT with percentage rate increases over last year in the high single digits, according to time buyers and sellers.

CBS was a huge beneficiary of Woods’ win. It was on the air for 10 hours on Sunday because the final round was moved up due to possible inclement weather. CBS started at 9 a.m. ET and had six hours of live coverage followed by a four-hour recap show.

Sinclair Broadcast Group and Jerry Reinsdorf’s Stadium wants to be America’s biggest sports network. And it doesn’t want to be on cable. Stadium, which reaches some 25 million homes — the majority of them on free TV — is a bet on the future of broadcast television.