NEWS - JANUARY 2013
Bob Papa, voice of NY Giants, gets behind the mike for fourth international Super Bowl call
Bob Raissman January 24th, 2013
The Giants won’t be playing in Super Bowl XLVII , but their radio voice will be in the Superdome when the 49ers and Ravens meet.
Bob Papa will do TV play-by-play on the international telecast beamed to 180 countries. Papa, joined by Joe Theismann, knows the drill. This is the fourth time a far-flung audience will hear his Supe call.
That doesn’t count his three other trips to the Super Bowl with the Giants. Big Blue came out winners in two of those games, providing moments Papa will never forget.
“I think of other broadcasters who have never gotten that chance,” Papa says. “I’m fortunate.”
Still, there is a bit of disappointment over the Giants not following up last year’s Super Bowl win with another trip to the ultimate game. “Disappointment in the sense they didn’t get into the playoffs and at least give themselves the opportunity to make a run,” Papa says.
It’s not like Papa didn’t have something else to do after the Giants packed it in. His HBO “Boxing After Dark” gig, daily SiriusXM NFL Radio show, and Giants-related TV programming (now a year-round venture) keep the plate full. There are also upcoming assignments on the Golf Channel.
Once the playoffs began, Papa still found himself watching other voices work. And it wasn’t like Papa was in front of his TV with friends and family. “I still can’t sit back and watch it as a fan,” Papa says. “I’ve got to watch in a work mode. I like to be able to watch football in peace and quiet.”
The NFL Radio responsibility makes this serious approach a necessity. While watching a telecast Papa pays more attention to what the analyst has to say. “I’m trying to gain insight on an anatomy of a play,” he says. “Why it worked. Or why it didn’t.”
Watching is a priority but it makes Papa antsy. It’s not what he does.
“You want to be behind the microphone. You want to be the voice of the event,” he says. “Because more than anything else I do, play-by-play is what’s at my core.”
Working the international Super Bowl broadcast gives him that opportunity. It’s a tricky assignment, but he’s done it before calling XLIII (Steelers-Cardinals), XLIV (Saints-Colts) and XLV (Packers-Steelers). Those experiences made him aware of the millions tuning in who don’t know much, if anything, about the game of football.
“We try to simplify the broadcast, not use much technical terminology. One thing we really try to do is explain the rules. You have to approach it that you’re on a different level than an American audience,” Papa says. “This might be the only game a lot of these people watch.”
And the only reason they might be watching is to see the halftime show. Beyonce will be gracing the Superdome stage. Going into the game, the international broadcasters are strongly advised to make multiple mentions of the halftime show.
“It’s very important to the whole (international) package,”Papa says. “We’ll hit it more than CBS will hit it.”
See, this will definitely be a different kind of Super Bowl telecast. It would be worth watching just to see how the talkative Theismann handles the challenge.
“I always joke with Joe,” Papa says. “ ‘Joe you have another opportunity to confuse the world.’ ”
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Ron Darling, Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez will play major roles on SNY’s expanded NY Mets pregame
Bob Raissman January 19, 2013
Those viewers wanting more of Keith Hernandez , Ron Darling and Gary Cohen will have their wish fulfilled this season. Well-embedded moles say SportsNet New York will be adding a new “pre” pregame studio show prominently featuring the three crooners.
The pre-pregame, anchored by Chris Carlin and Bobby Ojeda, will begin at 6 p.m. Kevin Burkhardt will be in his normal roving reporter role. He also is expected to get additional face time on the show.
A new voice likely will be added to the program as well. At 6:30 p.m., “Mets Pre-Game Live” will begin at its usual time.
In order to make room for the new pregame element, “Wheelhouse” will be canceled. Wheelhouse host Brian Custer gets shifted to the primary anchor spot on SportsNite, SNY’s news/info show, where he will be teamed with Gary Apple.
Besides more Hernandez, Darling, Cohen and Burkhardt, the added half-hour pregame is designed to provide the opportunity for more demonstrational and social media segments. Sources said SNY will also feature beat writers from visiting teams on the show.
There is precedent for an expanded pregame. YES has been airing “Yankees Batting Practice Today” since 2006.
While the move to the expanded pregame is significant, so is Custer’s shift to SportsNite, SNY’s signature show. It provides evidence, through his work on “Wheelhouse” and “Jets Postgame Live” his star is on the rise.
The eventual end of “Wheelhouse” leaves SNY with two “debate” shows, “Daily News Live” and “Loudmouths.” Network brainiacs will have to develop another half-hour block of programming to run following the baseball season. Sources said development of a new show is already underway.
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CBS SPORTS TO BROADCAST Super Bowl XLVII LIVE ON FEBRUARY 3
Press Release January 8th, 2013
Jim Nantz and Phil Simms Call Super Bowl XLVII
CBS Sports’ Seven Hours of Super Bowl Pre-Game Coverage Originates from Three Sites Highlighted by
THE Super Bowl TODAY; PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM: SUPER BOWL EDITION; and NEW ORLEANS: LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL
First Ever Extended Post-Game Show, SUPER BOWL TODAY POST-GAME SHOW, Continues on CBS Sports Network
CBS Sports culminates its coverage of the 2012-13 NFL season with SUPER BOWL XLVII on Sunday, Feb. 3 (6:30 PM, ET kick-off) from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La., live on the CBS Television Network. Super Bowl XLVII will be the Network’s 18th Super Bowl broadcast overall.
CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz and Phil Simms call the action, marking the third time in his illustrious 28-year CBS Sports broadcasting career that Nantz calls play-by-play for the Super Bowl, and fifth overall for the Network. Nantz called his first Super Bowl in 2007 and hosted the Network’s Super Bowl pre-game show, THE SUPER BOWL TODAY, in 2001 and 2004. Simms provides analysis for his seventh Super Bowl, the fifth for CBS Sports. Nantz and Simms are joined on the broadcast by NFL ON CBS analysts Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots serving as sideline reporters.
CBS Sports’ seven hours of pre-game coverage of Super Bowl XLVII begins with ROAD TO THE SUPER BOWL (11:00 AM, ET), followed by NEW ORLEANS: LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL (12:00 Noon, ET), PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM: SUPER BOWL EDITION (1:00 PM, ET) and THE SUPER BOWL TODAY, the Network’s live pre-game studio show (2:00-6:00 PM, ET) with James Brown along with Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe, Bill Cowher, as well as Greg Gumbel, and NFL Insider Jason La Canfora, reporters Lesley Visser, Tasker and Wilcots.
In addition, CBS Sports Network, the 24-hour cable home of CBS Sports, debuts its Super Bowl coverage with more than 50 hours of original programming including first-time ever extended post-game coverage with SUPER BOWL LIVE: POST-GAME SHOW, hosted by Brown, Marino, Esiason, Sharpe and Cowher.
Sean McManus is Chairman, CBS Sports and serves as Executive Producer for the Network’s coverage of THE NFL ON CBS and Super Bowl XLVII. Harold Bryant is Executive Producer and Vice President, Production, CBS Sports. Super Bowl XLVII is produced by Lance Barrow, Coordinating Producer and Lead Game Producer, THE NFL ON CBS, and directed by Mike Arnold, Lead Game Director, THE NFL ON CBS.
THE SUPER BOWL TODAY is produced by Eric Mann, Senior Producer, CBS Sports and THE NFL TODAY, and directed by Bob Matina, Director, THE NFL TODAY.
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Following is a preliminary schedule of pre-game programming on CBS (all times Eastern):
11:00 AM, ET: ROAD TO THE SUPER BOWL—ROAD TO THE SUPER BOWLis NFL Films’ annual look back at the greatest sights and sounds of the 2012 NFL season. Culled by NFL Films producers, the one-hour special features the best of nearly 100 players and coaches wired for sound, focusing on the most exciting moments and the best teams on the journey to New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII.Original orchestral music was once again used in producing the show. ROAD TO THE SUPER BOWL debuted following the 1969 season.
12:00 NOON, ET: NEW ORLEANS: LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL sponsored by PEPSI—
CBS Sports celebrates the host city of New Orleans with a special one-hour program hosted by one of the Crescent City’s very own, internationally-acclaimed musician, composer and bandleader, Wynton Marsalis. The Grammy Award-winning Marsalis takes us to one of the most unique cities in the world introducing the rhythm and soul of the Big Easy through its music, its people, traditions and love of football and the New Orleans Saints as it prepares for the biggest party of the year.
1:00 PM, ET: PHIL SIMMS ALL-IRON TEAM: SUPER BOWL EDITION sponsored by GEICO—A true Football Lovers show, CBS Sports’ lead NFL analyst and former N.Y. Giants Super Bowl XXI MVP Phil Simms, and his broadcast partner, Jim Nantz,takes a look at some of the greatest stories in Super Bowl history. He will count down many of his favorite moments, including the top Catches, Blunders, Gambles and Runs in the history of the biggest game in sports. He also will delve deep into the history of The Game, and tell the little known stories of the top assistant coaches, most unlikely heroes, players who should have been MVP, and the best teams never to win the Lombardi Trophy. Some of these great stories will be told by the players and coaches themselves. Bill Belichick, John Elway, Sean Payton, David Tyree, plus an unprecedented reunion for the first time ever of Leon Lett and Don Beebe, who shared in one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl lore, will all be featured. [The All-Iron Trophy is an old fashioned iron emblematic of Simms’ obsession with ironing. According to his mother, as a child Phil pressed his football and baseball uniforms, and to this day remains committed to creases.]
2:00 PM, ET: THE SUPER BOWL TODAY—Originating live from three separate sites in New Orleans: CBS Super Bowl Park at Jackson Square, Champions Square and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, James Brown, Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher, along with Greg Gumbel, anchor the Network’s pre-game show previewing all the football and excitement leading up to Super Bowl XLVII. NFL Insider Jason La Canfora, reporters Lesley Visser, along with Steve Tasker and Solomon Wilcots, also will cover the pre-game activities.
Sponsors of the pre-game show include: Kraft (2:00-3:00 PM, ET); Century 21 (3:00-4:00 PM, ET); Pizza Hut (4:00-5:00 PM, ET); Mercedes-Benz (5:00-5:30 PM, ET) and Disney’s “The Lone Ranger” (5:30-6:00 PM, ET).
6:00 PM, ET: SUPER BOWL ON CBS KICK-OFF SHOW
The SUPER BOWL ON CBS Kick-Off Show will be sponsored by Hyundai.
6:30 PM, ET: SUPER BOWL XLVII – Kick-off of Super Bowl XLVII live from New Orleans on the CBS Television Network.
Immediately following the Toyota SUPER BOWL TODAY POST-GAME SHOW, the first-ever extended post-game coverage continues live with the SUPER BOWL TODAY POST-GAME SHOW on CBS Sports Network.
In addition, CBS presents its new hit show, ELEMENTARY.
ELEMENTARY—stars Jonny Lee Miller as eccentric, mischievous detective Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson, a former surgeon turned sober companion. Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, Sherlock escapes to Manhattan where his wealthy father forces him to live with his worst nightmare – a sobriety coach. Now running free in New York solving crimes, it’s simple deduction that he’s going to need someone to keep him grounded, and it’s elementary that it’s a job for Watson. Also, Aidan Quinn stars as Capt. Thomas Gregson, who knows from previous experience working with Scotland Yard that Sherlock is brilliant at closing cases, along with Jon Michael Hill, who portrays Det. Marcus Bell, a top-notch investigator who is initially skeptical of Holmes and his unorthodox methods. Robert Doherty, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Craig Sweeny are executive producers for CBS Television Studios.
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Rams Chris Long Named To USA Football All-Fundamentals Team
Dave Jobe January 8th, 2013
(KTVI)-St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long has been named to the 2012 USA Football All-Fundamentals Team. The team honors 26 NFL players, 11 offense, 11 defense, and four special teams, whose good football technique should be emulated by young players.
Each player chosen for the All-Fundamentals Team will receive a $1,500 equipment grant from USA Football to donate to the youth or high school football program of his choice.
A fan vote will determine All-Fundamentals Team captains at www.facebook.com/usafootball. Fans may vote for one captain on offense, defense and special teams. USA Football will award each of the three captains a $3,000 equipment grant to donate and an All-Fundamentals Team helmet trophy. Voting is open through Jan. 21.
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Brennaman and Billick get bumped up to a playoff broadcast
Josh Alper January 4th 2013
Playoff time is usually not a time when you opt to make big changes with the things that you didn’t bother altering during the regular season, but FOX is throwing caution to the wind next weekend all the same.
Neil Best of Newsday reports that FOX has shuffled the order of their broadcast teams for the Divisional Playoff round. Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick will call one of the games for the network with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman handling the other game. That means FOX’s longtime No. 2 broadcast team of Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa will be benched for the playoffs.
“We thought both broadcast teams had very strong years and decided to give Thom and Brian the opportunity to call a playoff game this season,” Fox spokesman Dan Bell said.
Bell probably won’t find much support on the assertion that the Albert/Moose/Goose team had a very strong year. I’ve never been a fan of the crew, especially Siragusa’s almost universally unhelpful interjections from field level, and it’s tough to think of anyone I’ve ever spoken to that had strong positive feelings about the work done by the trio. Brennaman and Billick don’t draw universal raves, but there’s a lot less animosity to their presence than there is for a group which could be set up for a push down the roster in 2013.
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Aisha Tyler, Boomer Esiason to Host CBS’s SUPER BOWL’S GREATEST COMMERCIALS 2013
TV News Desk January 4th, 2013
Super Bowl’S GREATEST COMMERCIALS 2013 is an interactive countdown special where viewers will be able to vote LIVE on CBS.com via Facebook and Twitter for their favorite Super Bowl Commercials. The special, hosted by Boomer Esiason, Analyst for CBS Sports’ NFL pre-game show THE NFL TODAY, and Aisha Tyler, co-host of THE TALK, will be broadcast Wednesday, Jan. 30 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
Sponsors present their best commercials during the Super Bowl, and the big game wouldn’t be quite the same without them. For the advertising COMMUNITY, the Super Bowl is their Super Bowl, and often creates commercials specifically for the enormous viewership that The Game provides. For many, watching the commercials is the most entertaining part of the Super Bowl. Advertisers try to get their money’s worth by rolling out their most creative and innovative spots. This one-hour special, now in its 13th year, will originate from Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans, home of “Super Bowl XLVII.”
Viewers once again will get to vote for their favorite Super Bowl commercial of all time. Beginning today, the top 12 vote-getters from the past decade of “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials” will go head-to-head on www.cbs.com/superbowl, where fans will be able to vote via Facebook and Twitter to determine the top three Super Bowl commercials of all time. Those three top Super Bowl commercials will advance to the live vote during the broadcast, where viewers will decide the outcome and the winner will be revealed at the end of the show. Voting Now Open on CBS.com via Facebook and Twitter for the 12 Fan-Favorite Super Bowl Commercials
Will a spot from a super-stalwart like Budweiser, Coke or Fed Ex take the prize… or will it be an edgy newcomer like Doritos, Bridgestone or Tide? It’s old school vs. new school, classics vs. fan favorites – the ultimate showdown of Super Bowl commercials, the pop culture phenomena that has become almost as big as The Game itself.
Boomer Esiason, who quarterbacked the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals during a 14-year NFL career, joined CBS Sports in February 2002 as a studio analyst for THE NFL TODAY, the CBS Television Network’s NFL pre-game show. He joins host JAmes Brown, Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe and Bill Cowher in the studio.
Upon retiring after the 1997 season, Esiason headed straight for the broadcast booth. He made his debut as a commentator for ABC’s NFL “Monday Night Football,” and called “MNF” games for two years. For the past 11 years he has called games for Dial Global Sports’ “Monday Night Football” broadcasts, teaming with Marv Albert for eight of those years. Once again this year he will team with Kevin Harlan on the MNF radio broadcasts. Esiason debuted as host of WFAN’s national weekday morning radio show BOOMER AND CARTON IN THE MORNING on Sept. 4, 2007. Esiason hosted “The Boomer Esiason Show” on Madison Square Garden Network for eight years. During the 2001 season, he served as an analyst on FOX Sports Net’s “NFL This Morning.”
After an All-America career at the University of Maryland, Esiason was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft and became one of the most successful quarterbacks in NFL history. In 1986, he earned his first of four Pro Bowl bids while leading the NFL’s most productive offense. In 1988, he led the NFL with a 97.4 passer rating and helped the Bengals win the AFC Championship before their loss to San Francisco in Super Bowl XXIII. That year, Esiason was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player by the Pro Football Writers of America and the Associated Press. He again was the NFL passing leader in 1989 as Cincinnati claimed another division title. In 1993, after being traded to the Jets, Esiason became a Pro Bowler for the second time. In only three seasons with the Jets, he became the team’s fourth-leading all-time passer. After playing a season for the Arizona Cardinals, he returned to Cincinnati, where he ended his career with 2,969 completions in 5,205 pass attempts (57 percent completion percentage) for 247 touchdowns and 37,920 yards.
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CineSport’s Football Inside Out Premieres: In-Depth Look at NFL Playoffs: Collinsworth, Esiason, Long & Simms
Press Release January 3rd, 2013
NEW YORK, Jan 03, 2013 (BUSINESS WIRE) — –Now Available on Hulu, Hulu Plus and the CineSport Network
CineSport, the nation’s leading digital sports video producer and distributor, brings you Football Inside Out, a new digital series that goes beyond the typical NFL shouting.
Football Inside Out features legendary gridiron greats turned broadcasters, Cris Collinsworth, Boomer Esiason, Howie Long and Phil Simms, from The Experts Network (TXN). Bringing them together with the nation’s most prominent local reporters from top newspapers, Football Inside Out provides the unique analysis that fans crave.
Noah Coslov (@NoahCoslov), CineSport’s Host and Managing Editor, said, “This online content is all about inside information. Our roster of former All-Pros and the best sports writers in the industry bring fans the perspectives that can only come from those who know football at the deepest level. Football Inside Out is the fast-paced comprehensive series that football fans have been missing.”
Football Inside Out delivers the All-Pro analysts’ take on the playoff stories that are on every fan’s radar. “FIO” also goes “scrambling” around the country to check in with CineSport’s network of NFL beat reporters for the latest news and notes. This gives the audience a chance to hear from the credentialed writers who have the inside sources and the pulse of the locker room on the “trending” topics around the league.
According to former All-Pro and NFL MVP Boomer Esiason, “The great thing about Football Inside Out is that this is the first time Howie, Phil, Cris and I are all appearing in up to the minute, online content together.”
Football Inside Out is available on the popular national online video destination Hulu and the Hulu Plus subscription service, as well as being syndicated across CineSport’s vast network of websites. Click here for today’s episode: http://www.hulu.com/football-inside-out
CineSport (@CineSport), the web’s number one producer and distributor of digital sports video with over 11 million unique viewers a month (comScore Video Metrix Sports category 2012) provides sports news, programming and production services to more than 100 blue chip web sites throughout the country including: New York Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In addition, CineSport recently launched its VaMP(tm) video platform. The new “Video and Monetization Platform” was developed specifically to meet the needs of news and information sites and provides them with an end-to-end video programming, hosting and advertising platform.