Stan Van Gundy CBS/Turner’s NCAA Tournament coverage and Reggie Miller Out, the Post has learned.
Miller decided to skip the tournament, giving him a bit more of a break from his NBA commitments.
Background: Had worked with Miller Kevin Harlan And Dan Bonner In previous years. Van Gundy is expected to slide in with Harlan and Bonner, but nothing is set in stone.
The tournament is one of the hardest, if not the hardest, jobs for top sportscasters to prepare for because you only find out on Sunday night the eight teams whose games you’ll be calling on Thursday or Friday. Announcers rarely see many of the lower-profile teams or don’t see them at all during the season. You then call six games over two days.
New Look/Old Look: The tourney will get a new look later this year Jay Wright Joined CBS/Turner. For this is also the last season Jim Nantz As the final four sound. next year, Ian Eagle will take over as CBS/Turner’s No. 1 NCAA game-caller.
ESPN’s Big Moves
In nomenclature Burke Magnus As president of content, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro In some ways the position of executive vice president is changing Connor Shell Abandoned when he left at the end of 2020. However, Magnus’s title is bigger, his power bigger and ESPN’s manifest fortune greater.
Under the new Disney setup Bob Iger made it so that ESPN would report its own breakout financials.
Pitaro is still the most important executive at ESPN, but the company’s future rests primarily with Magnus and Roselyn DurantJoe becomes ESPN’s executive vice president, programming and acquisitions.
While Pitaro and Magnus will be involved, Durant will be the one to figure out what makes the most sense with the NBA and future rights deals.
ESPN has been the Yankees of sports media. In this setup, there is Pitaro Hal SteinbrennerMagnus A Randy Levin/Brian Cashman Hybrid and Durant Aaron Boone.
Quick clicks
It’s amazing how much social media relevance the “first time” has achieved. Throwaway lines from Stephen A. Smith And Molly cream ESPN about the NHL was considered treason. with Michael K As a guest debater on the show, Kirim asked which New York team would be the next team to win the championship. Kay said to the rangers. “They don’t count,” Kareem replied. No offense to Rangers, he added. Smith said he doesn’t know anything about hockey except that Puck is black and that he’s apparently friends with him. Gary Bateman. If I’m ESPN, Smith and Qerim, I’ll be very happy that every little thing you say becomes a big thing. Yes, it was a bit insulting for hockey fans, but Smith is the center of the show and they were looking for an answer to be one of the NBA, MLB or NFL teams.
… broadcast with WFAN’s net Chris Carino And Tim Capstra is art Carino is very accurate on all calls, and Capstra does all the analysis. But what makes it stand out even more is that during the flow of the game, they find a way to refer to baseball’s new pitch clock and the old one. Buck Williams Stories If young broadcasters want to hear how the game should be called, they should tune in.
…SNY’s spring training games look better than those on the YES Network because SNY has its announcers on site. Yes saving some shekels, but one feels lost when you are not live. By not being on site, it hurts you even during the regular season because there is a flow to cover the game.
MSG pay-per-view
A few years ago, a very top TV executive told me about cord-cutting and streaming: “We’re just going to do less.” This is the reality of the situation.
That brings me to MSG Network’s upcoming MSG+, which will cost $30 a month and then offer the ability to buy individual games for $10. It feels priced not to be successful or, at least, designed to keep people paying for cable.
Right now, cable subscribers pay 12 months a year for MSGN, but why would anyone opting for a streaming package? From the end of the NBA and NHL regular season in mid-April until the start of the next season in October, there is nothing to pay. It is about six months. MSG+ is offering an annual rate of $310. Why wouldn’t people turn it on and off for $180? Or will people just turn to cable?
One point that gets lost in this conversation: Who isn’t getting these games who want them? There are definitely some people. But $30 a month?
(MSG has a dispute with Comcast, so a Comcast user could be a potential customer. Besides, the market is very crowded.)
There are steps to be taken to offer streaming, but in trying to make as much money as the cable networks, some of these plans feel like they won’t make much money, if any. At least in the near term.
It’s complicated because of the relationship with cable subscribers, but if the price doesn’t seem fair — and $30 a month seems like a lot — I’m not sure where the audience is going to come from.
