Boston Sports Media Watch

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% [?]

According to Michael Felger on WEEI this morning, last night’s local TV ratings break down as follows:

• Boston Bruins on NESN, 7:00pm – 10.2

• Boston Celtics on TNT, 8:00pm - 12.2

• Boston Red Sox on NESN, 10:00pm – 4.5

Update – According to NESN, the Red Sox number was really 5.5 – since the game was also shown on NESNPlus channels, and those weren’t factored into the 4.5 number.

The Bruins rating was the second highest Bruins rating in NESN history, behind only the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game 7 (11.2).

NESN’s ratings in the key demographic categories also established benchmarks, including an 11.4 for Men 25-54 and an 8.6 for Adults 25-54. The Men 25-54 demo rating was #1 in the Boston DMA on Tuesday night while the Adults 25-54 demo rating was second in the market only to American Idol.

Popularity: 10% [?]

In what had been long speculated since he had missed several Spring Training games and then missed the entire Red Sox-Tampa Bay series, NESN has announced that Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy will be out indefinitely as he recovers from cancer surgery.

Remy himself has made reference to his absence at his Twitter page and NESN made the announcement at its site.

David Scott has the official NESN announcement as Scott’s Shots.

At Sawxheads, a Red Sox fan site, Remy just wrote:

Hi Everyone!

I appreciate all of your concern and I hope to be back in the booth soon. I will you keep posted right here at Sawxheads!

Thanks -Jerry

NESN says Dennis Eckersley will join play-by-play man Don Orsillo through the end of the current homestand, then new analyst Dave Roberts will be in the booth when the Sox head out west through May 17.

Plans beyond that date are unknown.

Our best to Jerry. He recently quit smoking due to complications from his illness in the Spring.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Last Friday’s first game of the Bruins/Hurricanes Eastern Conference Semifinals drew a 9.5 rating for NESN.

The rating ties the network’s best Bruins rating of the 2008/09 season and is also NESN’s third highest rated Bruins broadcast in its 25 year history of covering the team.

Last night’s game two was broadcast on VERSUS, but Wednesday night’s game three will be on NESN beginning at 7:00 PM with the network’s pre-game show WB Mason Bruins Face-Off LIVE. Game 4 will also be shown live on NESN on Friday, May 8. Both games are scheduled to start at 7:30 PM.

Popularity: 7% [?]

From Fang’s Bites:

Due to Jerry Remy being out with pneumonia, NESN has to tap relief announcers to pitch in during the Remdawg’s absence. In the spring, Jerry contracted pneumonia and according to his Twitter page, Remy did not fully recover and went back to work too early.

This past weekend, Jerry missed the entire Red Sox-Tampa series. From Thursday-Saturday, NESN was able to bring in Buck Martinez from TBS and MASN to fill in.

I e-mailed NESN’s spokesman Gary Roy about the two game Yankees series and he told me that Dennis Eckersley will be working Don Orsillo with a special appearance by new NESN analyst Dave Roberts for a couple of innings today and tomorrow.

Eck in the Booth on NESN (Fang’s Bites)

Popularity: 9% [?]