Boston Sports Media Watch

WEEI today announced the lineup for their “NFL Sunday” football program.

The lineup has changed quite a bit over the years, with Ron Hobson and Kevin Mannix being replaced with the likes of Tom E Curran and Paul Perillo. Dale Arnold was the original host, and Greg Dickerson, Michael Felger and Doug Brown have also hosted the show in the past.

Dale Arnold will return as the show’s host this year, and he will be joined by his weekday co-host Michael Holley. WEEI.com’s Christopher Price will also be on the show, as will former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria.

The show will air from 9:00am to Noon on Sundays. WEEI’s “The Real Post Game Show” will also return, with Pete Sheppard, Fred Smerlas and Steve DeOssie.  

NESN adds Ted Johnson

NESN today announced that former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson will join the network as a regular contributor to NESN SportsDesk this football season. He will join anchor Cole Wright, reporter Kathryn Tappen, Mike Reiss  and The Providence Journal’sShalise Manza Young as regular contributors this season.

Johnson will regularly team up with Reiss on Saturdays for a look ahead at the coming week’s game followed by a Sunday or Monday appearance to analyze what happened in that week’s game. Johnson and Reiss will also team up for a mid-week report to provide commentary on the latest Patriots and NFL news.

Popularity: 10% [?]

I’m a little late on this, so I apologize…

JERRY REMY TO RETURN TO THE NESN BROADCAST BOOTH THIS FRIDAY, AUGUST 21ST

Popular Announcer Will Return to Work on a Part-Time Basis for the Remainder of the Season

BOSTON, MA – NESN announced today that longtime Red Sox color commentator Jerry Remy will return to the NESN broadcast booth on a part-time basis beginning this Friday, August 21st when the Red Sox host the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. Remy took a leave of absence in May to fully recover from the effects of cancer surgery which included a bout with depression.

“I want to thank NESN, the Red Sox, and all of Red Sox Nation for their incredible level of support,” said Remy. “I’m really looking forward to getting back to work and doing the job that I miss terribly.”

“We are thrilled that Jerry is ready to get back in the booth this week,” said NESN president Sean McGrail. “He is an important part of the NESN family and we are all very happy that he will be back in his familiar spot next to Don Orsillo on Friday.”

Jerry Remy began as NESN’s Boston Red Sox color analyst in 1988, and has been working with play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo since the 2001 season. Voted Massachusetts’ favorite TV announcer by Sports Illustrated in 2004, Remy has been honored with four Emmy Awards and was named the Massachusetts Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in 2004. Remy played 10 years in the major leagues including 7 years as the Red Sox second baseman. The Somerset, MA native had his best year in 1978 when he batted .278, scored 87 runs, stole 30 bases and was selected to the American League All-Star team. A 2006 inductee into the Red Sox Hall of Fame, Remy was elected president of Red Sox Nation in September of 2007.

Is that last sentence really necessary in a professional bio?

Popularity: 5% [?]

This information was just passed along by Gary Roy at NESN:

The Red Sox swept the Yankees at Fenway Park this week and Red Sox fans were watching on NESN in near record numbers. NESN averaged a 16.7 HH rating in the Boston DMA for the three games, the network’s best 3 game series since August of 2007 (16.8). NESN’s season average continues to rise (9.4 HH) as the Red Sox travel to Philadelphia to take on the defending World Series Champion Phillies this weekend.

The Red Sox likely got off to a slower than usual start in the ratings this season not just because of the absence of Jerry Remy, but more likely because in April and May either the Bruins or Celtics (and sometimes both) were on nearly every night during that span. Some of the Red Sox games were bumped to a NESN Plus channel which probably lowered the ratings a bit. Plus the Red Sox went to the West coast twice, which resulted in the late night starts and even later finishes.

Popularity: 7% [?]

A great annual event in Boston sports is coming up fast.

“The Tradition” is a yearly fundraiser benefit for The Sports Museum and its series  of innovative educational programs, such as Stand Strong: A Character Building Program For Young People and The Will McDonough Writing Contest.

This is the 8th  Annual edition of the “The Tradition”. Sponsored by New Balance in association with NESN, this unique event is held on the arena floor of the TD Banknorth Garden and features an awards ceremony and gala reception to honor sports legends.

Here is the list of presenters and honorees for this years event:

• Dr. William Morgan will present Curt Schilling with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Bill Belichick will present Troy Brown with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Jerry Solomon will present Nancy Kerrigan with the Figure Skating Legacy Award.
• Mike Lynch, WCVB sports anchor, will present Jack Parker and Jerry York with the Special Achievement Award.
• Aubre Jones & Bill Russell will present Sam Jones, with the Basketball Legacy Award.
• Milt Schmidt will present Ken Hodge with the Hockey Legacy Award.
• WEEI’s Dale Arnold and Michael Holley will emcee the event.

The Tradition will be held on Wednesday, June 24th from 5:30 to 9:30 pm at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Tickets are priced at $150 for General Seating and $250 for Preferred Seating.  For more information  or  to  purchase  tickets  online,  please  visit www.sportsmuseum.org or www.tdbanknorthgarden.com or call  617-624-1237.  For  sponsorship  opportunities,  please  call Rusty Sullivan, Executive Director of  The Sports Museum at 617-624-1237.

Popularity: 7% [?]

I guess I’m still trying to figure out whether this is a joke, or not…

RAMIRO TORRES JOINS GRANITE CITY ELECTRIC RED SOX FINAL POST GAME SHOW WITH TALENTS JIM RICE AND TOM CARON

Torres recently signs on with NESN as on air contributor of the feedback segment and reading listener comments and emails during post game show.

Boston, Massachusetts – June 11, 2009 – Ramiro Torres will join Jim Rice and Tom Caron delivering post game coverage on Granite City Electric Red Sox Final Post Game Show. The show delivers more feedback from the Red Sox locker room and a look ahead at the next day’s match-ups.

“I can’t wait to get started. I have been a red sox fan my whole life and to be a part of this show is a dream come true”, says Torres on joining Granite City Electric Red Sox Final Post Game Show. Ramiro Torres will be making his first appearance on the show Thursday, June 11th, after the Red Sox/Yankees game at 7:10 PM.

Currently, Torres is the host of the Ramiro and Pebbles Morning Show at the #1 hip hop station in Boston, Jamn 94.5 at Clear Channel Communications. Torres is also host of the Weekend Top 30 Countdown, a nationally syndicated weekend countdown show.

Alongside radio, Ramiro has made numerous Television appearances and is currently a co-host on Community Auditions; a New England based Television Talent Show which has garnered more Emmy nominations than any other program in New England history.

Hey, he can’t be worse than “The Voice of the Fan” Jack Welch, can he?

Popularity: 7% [?]

Apparently the Red Sox ratings on NESN are noteworthy even down in New York.

Neil Best, the intrepid sports media writer and blogger for Newsday.com has the following note:

The Sox’ average game rating is 8.92 percent of homes in the Boston area, down 6.8 percent from 9.57 at this point last season.

He then also makes the following observation:

Red Sox games regularly attract a higher percentage of the Boston market than what the Yankees and Mets average combined in New York.

I know population factors into it, but that is still pretty interesting.

Popularity: 7% [?]

A few things on my mind this week…

Looking forward to the return of the RemDawg…he posted on Twitter that he was getting closer to a return…but his absence might end up doing Don Orsillo a lot of good in the long run. Remy is about the only partner Orsillo has ever worked with on the Red Sox telecasts, and this experience (I think they’ve trotted out about 27 partners for Orsillo thus far this season) has allowed Orsillo to stretch his legs a little, and this a good thing. Dennis Eckersley has been his most frequent partner, and at first, Eck would comment on a play and ask Orsillo his opinion, and there would be a pregnant pause, and Don clearly wasn’t used to having his partner ask him about the play. They’ve gotten as time has gone by, and in the Orsillo is going to be better for the entire experience.

Chad Finn, God bless him, might be the only person in town who takes more shots at WEEI than I do. Here’s a nice zinger from today’s Boston.com chat:

[Comment From Guest]
Do you now find it amusing that the Big Show has been so dismissive of people who were suggesting that Ortiz get his eyes checked? Their confidence in their opinions seems spectacularly misplaced. I still remember them making fun of every caller in the fall of 2006 who said the Patriots needed a reciever who could “stretch the field,” then the following spring they couldn’t stop talking about how Moss’ speed was going to improve the offense.

12:51 Chad Finn:
Nah. Their mode of operation is to be dismissive of anyone who knows more than they do and has an original thought. So they tend to do a lot of dismissing.

On the other hand, Finn has passed me on the “snide comments from Ordway” scoreboard.

Earlier in the week, Tom E Curran addressed his December column, in which the possibility that Tom Brady’s 2009 season was in jeopardy was suggested:

In December, a source told me Brady was significantly behind in his rehab from the early October surgery that fixed his torn ACL and MCL. A buildup of scar tissue after an infection set in limited the range of motion in Brady’s knee and there was laxity in both the ACL and MCL. While the source never said Brady’s 2009 season was doomed, it was noted that the laxity could present a problem if the scar tissue and range of motion prevented him from strengthening his leg.

Clearly, Brady’s made up whatever time he was behind. Now, the strength of the knee and repair by Dr. Neal El Attrache, who performed the surgery have made the knee strong enough for Brady to participate at a fairly astonishing level in early June.

Health is a transitory thing. And while I most definitely stand by the original story and the bona fides of my source, Brady is certainly not behind schedule now.

It’s better than Curran’s last comments on the matter where he merely said that “NBCSports.com” had reported that Brady was behind in his rehab.

Popularity: 8% [?]

NESN’s Jerry Remy, who has been off of the NESN Red Sox telecasts for much of this season while recovering from complications following offseason lung cancer surgery, posted an audio Tweet today thanking everyone for their support and stating that he hopes to be back in the booth very soon.

We hope so too.

During his absence, Remy’s Twitter page has been regularly updated.

Popularity: 7% [?]

NESN has announced yet another series produced by Original NESN Entertainment (ONE).

Pocket Money is scheduled to debut in August 2009 and will feature 20 half-hour episodes that will air weekdays at 5:30 PM and 11:30 PM.

Pocket Money will be hosted by Boston sports super-fan as portrayed by comedian Nick Stevens. Fitzy will engage sports fans in public settings across the region and ask them New England sports trivia questions for a chance to win some ‘pocket money’ (in increments of $5, $10, and $20). The show will travel to popular locations including Boston Common, Fenway Park, MBTA stops, city streets, and college campuses.

Nick Stevens (aka Fitzy) is originally from Braintree, MA, and has been writing and performing sketch, standup and character comedy in NY for over ten years. In 2004 he was a contestant on the first season of ESPN’s Dream Job. He developed the Boston sports-obsessed “Fitzy” character which landed him a chance to cover the 2007 season of Monday Night Football for ESPN.com. Currently he writes and hosts the Burly Sports Show for Heavy.com and has done on-air comedic commentary for several networks including VH1, CNN HN and the NFL Network.

Townie News – Official Home of Paul ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald.

Hanging with…Paul ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald – The Boston Globe

Popularity: 11% [?]

Last night’s Bruins game seven loss to the Hurricanes was the highest rated Bruins game in NESN’s 25-year history, scoring a 14.2 household rating.

Here’s the full network release:

BOSTON, MA – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, earned a 14.2 household rating in the Boston DMA for game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal against the Carolina Hurricanes. This is by far the highest Bruins game rating in NESN’s 25 year history, beating the previous top rating (11.2 for the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 7) by a full three rating points.

The 14.2 rating means that an average of 340,800 households in the Boston television market were watching NESN’s 3 ½ hours of coverage. The ratings peaked during overtime with an 18.6 household rating between 11 PM and 11:15 PM, which equals a total of 446,400 households.

NESN’s game 7 ratings in the key demographic categories also established new network records, including a 15.9 for Men 25-54, a 12.4 for Adults 25-54 and an 8.8 for Women 25-54. NESN’s household rating and almost every demo rating was #1 in the Boston DMA on Thursday night beating every other program in the market including season finales on all the major broadcast networks.

“The Bruins had a remarkable run this season and Bruins fans have proven without a doubt that Boston is one of the best hockey towns in the country,” said NESN president Sean McGrail. “We want to thank Bruins fans for making this hockey season the most watched in our 25 years of covering the black and gold.”

During the 2009 playoffs, NESN carried a total of 9 games and established new network post-season records for live game coverage (9.6), pre-game (2.7) and post-game programming (2.7). This season’s playoffs also generated five of the top 7 Bruins telecasts in network history.

Popularity: 10% [?]