Don Fernando or Dick Button? America's adults have spoken.
On Saturday, the US Figure Skating Championships were on NBC, in prime time, during the writer's strike. Not only did the Ladies Free Skate and Short Program not win the night, it didn't place or show, finishing dead last among the 4 major networks with a 3.5 rating.
To make matters worse, even Univision's infamous "Sabado Gigante" spanked the Peacock in the all important adults 18-49 demographic. NBC averaged a pathetic 0.9 rating and a 3 share.
No wonder that Don Fernando is always smiling.
In the overall ratings on Sunday night, the Men's competition garnered a 3.5 and placed 5th in both of its 2 hours, lagging behind ABC, CBS, Fox and Univision, but ahead of the CW.
At no point during the weekend did skating reach a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demo.
Even the old East German judges would have given it a 1.2.
For your convenience, and a chance to preview what your schedule may look like in a few months, here is what Fox has planned for the 2008 regular season. Fox will also televise the All-Star Game from Yankee Stadium, the NLCS and the World Series.
Once again ALL GAMES, regardless of time zone, will start at 3:55 PM Eastern, except for May 3 and May 10 which will start at 3:45 PM Eastern.
Some people with nothing better to do on a work day drove to the Bristol, CT headquarters of ESPN to protest something they haven't heard.
The same people are demanding that Dana Jacobson, the host of ESPN2's First Take, be fired for something she didn't say on the air, and may not have said at all.
The leader of this bunch acknowledges he hasn't heard Jacobson's supposedly anti-Christian comment, but that he will forgive her - once she's lost her job.
Yet an insult of Notre Dame (Mike Golic'salma mater) at a social function where off-color humor is invited and expected is of no concern to these protesters. The protesters also flatly state that Jacobson would have been fired if she offended Jews, African-Americans or homosexuals. But of course there's no proof of that either.
The only substance that the "Christian Defense Coalition" has is a report, from the The Press of Atlantic City, saying Jacobson,
"made an absolute fool of herself, swilling vodka from a Belvedere bottle, mumbling along and cursing like a sailor as Mike & Mike rested their heads in their hands in embarrassment."
But Scott Cronick, an editor for The Press who wrote that story has also said,
A TV personality is suspended and her employer is still pressured to fire her for something she may not have said, and certainly didn't say on the air or even in her place of work. The same person who wrote about her behavior also denied ever hearing the supposed inflammatory remark. Yet that doesn't hold the same weight as a self appointed moral minority group's belief that the TV personality may have said something offensive to Christians?
At almost any other point during yesterday's Golf Channel broadcast of the Buick Invitational, such a glitch would go almost unnoticed, and certainly wouldn't warrant comment.
It's live TV (even if it's golf). Things aren't always perfect.
But for the lone minute of yesterday's show that was under the microscope and subject to scrutiny by anyone with an opinion and access to a computer, Golf Channel blew it.
All they had to do was come on the air cleanly, and maybe this mess would begin to go away. Let everyone hear embattled anchor Kelly Tilghman apologize and the world can focus on other crimes against humanity.
But that was too much to ask.
As Tilghman spoke, the world heard nothing. Not because people weren't listening, but because there was nothing to hear.
Somehow, some way, something went wrong and wasn't corrected until Tilghman was halfway through her second sentence. It's tough to tell who was at fault by viewing the clip. It could have come from master control. It could have come from the site. Maybe the A-1 didn't track the right channels. Maybe the EVS playback screwed up.
If her on-camera was live, the glitch could have come from the booth, but surely that couldn't have been live. Nobody would have been that risky. We hope.
Take a look for yourself.
If the Cialis billboard ran from master control, the error could have come from any of the above mentioned places. If the billboard ran from the truck, it almost certainly came from the truck. We'll see if anyone comes forward with an explanation.
Regardless, it's as close to inexcusable as you can get.
Embarrassed yet again, Golf Channel responded by putting the full text of Tilghman's apology on their web site.
Meanwhile the critics had a field day, with some pointing out other Golf Channel audio mistakes such as these from last weekend's Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
Tough times lately for audio, especially when everyone associated with golf was hoping no noose would be good noose.
Happy 90th birthday wishes go out to Ernie Harwell, the Hall Of Fame voice of the Detroit Tigers and a hall of fame person to anyone and everyone he ever worked with.
Lovely piece.
Raise a glass to many, many more happy and healthy birthdays for Ernie.
Comcast's and Time Warner's holy war continues against NFL Network, but the football channel now has an ally with even higher power.
In fact, some would say Almighty.
NFL Net signed a distribution deal with Sky Angel, a self proclaimed "Christian-Centered" subscription service based in Naples, Fl. Founded in 1980, Sky Angel was originally delivered to homes via satellite, but is now changing to internet delivery to televisions via set top boxes. Sky Angel's IPTV service is currently taking pre-orders for an expected launch next month. The company will not say how many satellite subscribers it has or how many IPTV subscribers it expects.
One thing Sky Angel does not have is a wealth of sports programming. NFL Network joins a sports line up that consists of networks such as Tennis Channel and The Sportsman Channel.
Make that only consists of Tennis Channel and The Sportsman Channel.
Golf Channel? Nope. Versus? Sorry. None of the 5 ESPN networks are offered either. Then again, Dana Jacobson is clearly not Sky Angel material.
The World Wide Leader has plenty of company. Sky Angel's line-up does not include many "traditional" channels across the board.
How will NFL Network mesh with Sky Angel's other programming? CEO Rob Johnson says, “NFL Network fits in with our desire to provide America with more programming that the entire family can enjoy together.”
We're betting Johnson's entire family hasn't seen "NFL Cheerleading Playoffs" or the cheerleading documentary series "Making Of The Squad".
It has been widely reported that NFL Network charges secular cable companies and satellite providers 70 cents per customer, per month. Details of how much Sky Angel will pay per customer were not released.
Regardless, while their deal with Sky Angel may only amount to a few pennies from heaven, it's now clear that NFL Network is "On A Mission from God".
Don Fernando or Dick Button? America's adults have spoken.
