Boston Sports Media Watch

On Peter Gammons’ ESPN.com blog  (Insider subscription required) on Saturday, he dropped the following tidbit in there right at the end:

Former big league infielder Lou Merloni caused a stir when he mentioned on a Comcast show in Boston that in 2001 a doctor addressed the Red Sox in spring training and suggested that if taken correctly, steroids could be helpful. Merloni has been hammered publicly, and then-GM Dan Duquette denied it. But a former major leaguer who was in camp that spring training corroborated Merloni’s story and says: “I’m not sure of the name of the doctor; he was someone outside the Boston organization. In no way did I think Boston was trying to push steroids; I think they just wanted to educate us on the subject. But you could tell by the faces on the training staff that they didn’t think the doctor would say the things he did.”

Now if someone could just remember this gentleman’s name, or who it was that asked him to come in and speak…

Popularity: 11% [?]

If you missed it on The Baseball Show Saturday on CSN/WEEI, for Red Sox utilityman Lou Merloni talked about a time he was in a team meeting “before this last regime” when the following happened:

(Your best bet with the video is to hit play, then hit pause and let the video load entirely, and then hit play again)

If you can’t play the video, here is the important part of what Merloni said:

There’s a doctor up there and he’s talking about steroids, and everyone was like ‘here we go, we’re gonna sit here and get the whole thing — they’re bad for you.’ No. He spins it and says ‘you know what, if you take steroids and sit on the couch all winter long, you can actually get stronger than someone who works out clean, if you’re going to take steroids, one cycle won’t hurt you, abusing steroids it will.’ He sat there for one hour and told us how to properly use steroids while I’m with the Boston Red Sox, sitting there with the rest of the organization, and after this I said ‘what the heck was that?

If you watch the video, neither Sean McAdam or Steve Buckley immediately follow up on Merloni’s bombshell, Buckley instead tells Merloni he’s on a different topic altogether than what they’re talking about – which was whether it was the owners or the players association that first sounded the alarm about the dangers and entensive use of steroids. Here you had an ex-player say that the team condoned the use of steroids, and there was no real challenge or followup to the statement.

Nick Cafardo posted about the segment on the Extra Bases blog and has Merloni saying that the team never encouraged the players to use steroids, but just told them how to safely use them.

Former GM Dan Duquette is quoted in the post, denying that the incident took place. Cafardo also has Troy O’Leary and another unnamed player from the Red Sox in that era who also does not remember that meeting.

Merloni clarified on Sports Sunday that it was not a Red Sox team doctor that spoke to the club. So who was it?

Popularity: 13% [?]

More ratings updates, this time from Comcast SportsNet. In their last game telecast of the season, CSN ended on a high note, averaging a  new record 10.1 Saturday night with a peak of 16.6. The national networks (TNT, ESPN, ABC) have the remaining games, but CSN will have full pre and post game coverage.

Once again the Comcast telecast out-rated the TNT telecast, with CSN pulling the 10.1 and TNT a 7.2. Putting those together, that’s a hefty 17.3 average rating for the game.

COMCAST SPORTSNET’S CELTICS-BULLS GAME 7 PEAKS NEAR 750,000 HOMES AND SETS NETWORK RECORD WITH 10.1

BURLINGTON, MA – Comcast SportsNet’s Celtics vs. Bulls Game 7 telecast peaked at a 16.6 rating and 730,400 New England homes while averaging a 10.1 rating and 484,000 homes for the entire telecast. Game 7 smashed the 28-year-old regional sports network’s previous record of 8.2 set one game before during the Celtics-Bulls Game 6 telecast.

Game 7 on CSN was the highest rated sports or non-sports rated program of the evening, out-rating both the Kentucky Derby (7.7) on NBC and the Boston Red Sox (8.6) on NESN. CSN’s telecast bested TNT’s telecast which earned a 7.2 rating.

For the series, Comcast SportsNet averaged an estimated 7.3 rating and 321,200 homes in New England. CSN shared all six of its telecasts in market with a national network (4.4 average) and out-performed the national network by 66 percent.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Last night’s Celtics/Bulls triple overtime thriller scored a combined 13.4 rating. Comcast SportsNet scored a very impressive 8.2 rating, while TNT netted 5.2.

As the release below shows, that 8.2 is the highest Celtics rating in CSN network history, going back 28 years.

COMCAST SPORTSNET’S GAME 6 TRIPLE OVERTIME THRILLER NETS 28-YEAR REGIONAL SPORTS NETWORK HIGHEST RATINGS IN HISTORY

Celtics-Bulls First Round Series Up Nearly 10 percent over Celtics-Hawks of 2008

CSN Has Deciding Game 7 Saturday Night Starting at 7 p.m.

BURLINGTON, MA – The Boston Celtics are generating more interest than any time during Comcast SportsNet’s 28-year history. CSN achieved its highest rating in network history during the Celtics-Bulls Game 6 triple overtime thriller with an 8.2 rating. Game 6 reached an estimated 360,800 homes in New England.

Despite sharing each telecast in New England with a national network and the absence of Kevin Garnett, CSN is outperforming last year’s historic playoff run through five telecasts by nearly 10 percent. CSN has averaged a 6.8 hh rating (299,200), which is up 9.6 percent over CSN’s 6.2 playoff average through five Celtics-Hawks telecasts.

During the Celtics-Bulls series, CSN has outperformed the national network by 78 percent 6.8 to 3.8. In game 6, CSN averaged an 8.2 hh (360,800) rating and TNT a 5.2. In Game 5, CSN bested TNT in ratings nearly 2 to 1 with a 6.3 hh rating (277,200) and TNT a 3.3.

Tomorrow night’s deciding game seven will also be shown on Comcast SportsNet, with the schedule as follows:

7 p.m. – Celtics Pre-Game Live with Gary Tanguay and Donny Marshall

8 p.m. – Celtics vs. Bulls with Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn

10:30 p.m. – Celtics Post-Game Live

Popularity: 8% [?]

Comcast SportsNet, New England’s original sports network, earned 10 Emmy nominations from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Boston/New England Chapter, including a 17th consecutive nomination for its Boston Celtics telecasts. Comcast SportsNet’s Celtics telecasts took home the Emmy in the Sporting Event category in 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2008.

Comcast SportsNet’s 10 nominations include:

Sporting Event/Game-live/Unedited

Boston Celtics – Paul Lucey, producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Jim Burgoyne, director of production; Andy Levine, associate producer; Jeff Grice, editor; Mike Gorman, play-by-play; Tommy Heinsohn, analyst; Greg Dickerson, reporter; Donny Marshall, analyst; Barry Alley, videographer and Jim Edmonds, director.

Sports Series (2)

Celtics Now – Kevin Miller, coordinating producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Nate Long, producer; Joe Rolfe, editor; Donny Marshall, host and Laura Behnke, host.

Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight – Kevin Miller, coordinating producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Jim Burgoyne, director of production; Jim Aberdale, producer; Koom Lam, producer; Lucy St. Pierre, director; Gary Tanguay, host and Mike Felger, host.

Sports One-Time Special (2)

Manny Being Manny: The Final Days in Boston - Kevin Miller, coordinating producer; William Bridgen, executive producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Torey Champagne, producer/editor; TJ Powers, graphics/editor and Tom Guilmette, videographer.

Drive for 17: Championship Season – Paul Lucey, producer; Steve Reagan, executive producer; Jim Burgoyne, director of production; Andy Levine, associate producer; Mike Gorman, host and Jeff Grice, editor.

Promotion Program-Campaign

The Network of Champions – Steve Ratner, Executive Producer

Editor Program

2008 NBA Playoffs – Andy Levine

Editor Short Form (Promos/PSA/Commercials)

Comcast SportsNet promos – TJ Powers

Graphics Arts Program

Comcast SportsNet promos – TJ Powers

Graphic Arts Short Turnaround

2008 NBA Playoffs/Celtics Graphics package – TJ Powers

“I commend all our nominees for their hard work and devotion. We are extremely fortunate that the Boston sports scene has been running at full tilt year after year, and these nominations represent hours of work preparing the region’s best coverage,” Bill Bridgen, Comcast SportsNet executive vice president and general manager.

Related: Red Sox Productions Nominated for 7 New England Emmys

Popularity: 7% [?]

The Celtics blowout win in game three of their opening round playoff series scored a strong 10.8 rating combined between Comcast SportsNet and TNT.

CSN picked up 6.8 of that rating number, leaving the remaining 4.0 to TNT.

You can browse notes from the TNT broadcast here.

Popularity: 8% [?]

I’m a little late on this, but here goes:

With the Bruins and Celtics going head-to-head on Monday night, the Bruins (according to what I heard on D&C yesterday morning) did an 8.9 on NESN.

The Celtics, did a 9.0, combined between CSN and TNT.

Nationally, the Celtics did well for TNT, according to Sports Media Watch:

Game 2 of the Bulls/Celtics series, featuring a game-winning shot by Boston’s Ray Allen, drew a 2.5 U.S. rating from 7:07-9:53 PM Monday night, up 39% from a 1.8 U.S. rating for Wizards/Cavaliers Game 2 in the comparable timeslot last year.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Last summer, my wife and I built a house out in the country. We’re so far out there that Comcast cable isn’t an option for us, so we had to go with Satellite TV. After comparing and going back and forth, we settled with DISH Network over DirecTV, mostly because of equipment and pricing. Before signing up, I made sure that DISH had NESN and Comcast SportsNet in HD, because obviously if they didn’t offer those channels, it would’ve been a dealbreaker.

So we got it installed, and come to find out, NESN is only in HD for the actual Red Sox and Bruins telecasts, and some of the pre and post-game shows. All the other programming is shown in standard def. I’ve dealt with this, mostly because obviously the most important thing is getting the actual games in HD.

Then the Celtics season started, and it turns out that only the Celtics home games are in HD. The road games and all other programming on CSN is in standard def. Not cool. Still, I dealt with it, mostly because I didn’t have a choice. I commited to a two year contract to get a free HD-DVR. I guess I could break the contract, but I’m too cheap to pay the penalty for doing so.

However, after last night, it might be an option. Last night’s game was shown on both CSN and TNT. However, only the TNT broadcast was in HD. I guess their reasoning is that they don’t want to waste bandwidth by showing the same game on two HD channels, but it still stinks. I obviously had to watch the game on TNT, but I did switch over a few times to CSN to see if Tommy was ranting about particular calls during the game, but overall, I’ve got to say I’m very disappointed with the NESN and CSN offerings from DISH Network.

In an unrelated note, this could have an impact on CSN’s ratings for the games. I think the same situation happened on Saturday, where only the ESPN game was in HD. This would result in at least a small amount of viewers being taken away from CSN, and over to the other network, which is offering the game in HD.

End of rant.

Popularity: 8% [?]

For last Thursday night’s Bruins/Canadiens game one, NESN scored a 9.4 rating.

The post below this one outlines the national numbers ESPN got for Celtics/Bulls, but locally, Saturday’s Celtics/Bulls game one scored a 9.5 rating, which was split between CSN (4.8) and ESPN (4.7)

It is striking how similar the ratings were, despite a number of factors – the difference in the dates/times of the games, the networks involved, and the “buzz”  for each team heading into their playoff series. The Bruins had a positive vibe, while the Celtics enter the playoffs reeling from the news that Kevin Garnett will likely not play in the postseason, and Danny Ainge suffering a heart attack.

It’s unfortunate for CSN that ESPN split the ratings. It’s probably safe to assume that those who watched the game on ESPN would’ve also watched it on CSN, which would’ve given them the entire 9.5 number.

I’ll be interested to find out how the numbers work tonight. The Celtics game is again split, this time between CSN and TNT. The Bruins again have NESN all to themselves.

Popularity: 8% [?]

If you’re dreading the national pregame shows, Celtics fans have a couple of local options to help get them ready for today’s Celtics/Bulls playoff opener.

The Celtic Pride Radio show, heard on 890 ESPN is expanding their coverage for the postseason.

Celtics fans can tune into 890 ESPN an hour before all Celtics Playoff Games.  Radio duo Patrick Gilroy and Jeff Hickman, now in their 6th year together will get Celtics fans prepared for the best the NBA has to offer.

Playoff coverage will feature special guests Dee Brown and Antoine Walker, who along with Gilroy and Hickman, will be giving away Converse sweatshirts and sneakers during every show.

Also prior to every Celtics playoff game, fans can check out Comcast SportsNet’s Game Day Central which will feature their team’s take on the upcoming game as well as exclusive interviews, recaps and previews.

The Celtics-Bulls Game 1 edition features video from Paul Pierce on playing in the Garden during the playoff’s; Greg Dickerson’s game day notes; Tommy’s Hein-sight, and a look behind enemy lines.

To get to Game Day Central click http://csnne.com/wickedgoodsports/celtics/game-day-central/.

For links and blog updates, you can always go to CelticsLinks.com and get the latest headlines and chatter.

You’ll want to go to BruinsLinks.com and RedSoxLinks.com as well as those two team are also in action today.

Popularity: 8% [?]