Lots of stuff from the NBC Sports media department today -
PHILLY VISITS CROSBY, MALKIN & PITTSBURGH IN NHL GAME OF THE WEEK, SUNDAY ON NBC
This game has the potential to get real physical and nasty. NBC's McGuire
Remainder of Game of the Week”Schedule Announced
NEW YORK - March 18, 2009 - Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins host their intrastate rival the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL "Game of the Week," Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC, presented in high definition. Hockey Hall of Famer Mike "Doc" Emrick (play-by-play), Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Pierre McGuire (inside-the-glass reporter) call the action. McGuire will pull double duty, hosting NBC's studio show alongside analyst Mike Milbury on site at Mellon Arena.
The surging Penguins are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games to move into a tie with the Flyers for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference with the Flyers holding three games in hand.
MCGUIRE ON THE RIVALRY: "It's no secret the animosity between these two teams. They really dislike each other. This game has the potential to get real physical and nasty."
MCGUIRE ON THE STREAKING PENGUINS: "The coaching change has brought some freshness to the dressing room which had become stagnant and maybe even polluted. The tone is now more instructional than through intimidation.
MCGUIRE ON PENGUINS TRADE DEADLINE MOVES: "The GM really made some bold moves in acquiring [Bill] Guerin and [Chris] Kunitz at the deadline. It really energized Sidney Crosby."
MCGUIRE ON THE FLYERS: "This team can go far but a lot will depend on where Marty Biron's head is at come playoff time. Also we know how good their special teams play is but they're going to have to be able to score five-on-five as well.
MINNESOTA AT DETROIT & DETROIT AT CHICAGO FLEXED INTO "GAME OF THE WEEK": The final two "Game of the Week" contests have been announced. Sunday, April 5 at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC, the Minnesota Wild will face off against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings in Detroit. On the final day of the season, Sunday, April 12, the "Game of the Week" travels to the Windy City as the Chicago Blackhawks host the Red Wings a 2 p.m. faceoff.
WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT NBC'S COVERAGE:
ON EMRICK:
NY Daily News: "The top spot among hockey broadcasters."
NY Post: "His dead-on descriptions, devoted application of history and superb sense of all moments are superior in the chronicles of any form of live broadcasting."
ON MILBURY:
Boston Globe: "Never shy with an opinion...a quote machine."
Philadelphia Inquirer: "Pierre McGuire's verbal sparring with Milbury has been nothing short of classic theater."
NY Daily News: "Mike Milbury has brought reality -- and a sharp edge -- to the Peacock's NHL studio. He also has displayed something many analysts -- in all sports -- lack: guts."
ON MCGUIRE:
Toronto Sun: "Excels as an ice-level analyst."
Newsday: "A bundle of energy and a born schmoozer."
ON THE INSIDE-THE-GLASS POSITION CREATED BY NBC PRODUCER SAM FLOOD:
Newsday: "Innovative...now widely copied."
Toronto Sun: "One of the best recent innovations in hockey telecasts."
ON NBC's COVERAGE:
ESPN.com: "The NHL has never looked or sounded better in its free, on-the-air history."
NBCSPORTS.COM & NHL.COM PRESENT "STAR-CAM": NBCSports.com and NHL.com will offer a "Star-cam" in conjunction with NBC broadcasts, which will follow one player on each team throughout each of his shifts. Following the game, NBCSports.com will present a post-game show with game highlights and highlights from "Star-cam" and "Net-cam," along with analysis from McGuire and Milbury.
REMAINING 2009 NHL GAME OF THE WEEK SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 22, 12:30 p.m. ET
Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh
Sunday, April 5, 12:30 p.m. ET
Minnesota @ Detroit
Sunday, April 12, 2 p.m. ET
Detroit @ Chicago
NBC will also broadcast weekend games throughout the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and up to five Stanley Cup Final games (Games 1, 2, 5, 6 & 7).
US SNOWBOARDING GRAND PRIX, SATURDAY, 2 PM ET
NBC Sports presents the US Snowboarding Grand Prix from Killington, Vt., Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. Highlighting the competition are Grand Prix standings leader Elijah Teter, who with a victory wins the title; two-time X Games gold medalist Steve Fisher and 2009 World Cup gold medalist Greg Bretz. Representing the women are three-time Grand Prix gold medalist and current overall standings leader Kelly Clark, Tamarack Grand Prix silver medalist Clair Bidez and 2008 Vans Cup gold medalist Lizzy Beerman.
Commentators Pat Parnell, Todd Richards, and Tina Dixon cover the action.
NBC Universal Unveils Online and Technology Partners for 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games
NBC's Olympic on-line coverage will be delivered by MSN - NBCOlympics.com on MSN”-- and use Microsoft’s Silverlight Technology to Stream Exclusive Interactive Video from Vancouver Winter Games to NBC’s U.S. Audience
NEW YORK, NY AND LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 18, 2009 - NBC Universal, owner of the exclusive U.S. media rights to the upcoming Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada (February 12-28, 2010), announced today that it was teaming up with Microsoft and MSN to again create "NBCOlympics.com on MSN," a next-generation online experience for Olympic fans across the United States that set online viewing records and drew critical acclaim at the Beijing Games last August. With competition video in both live and on-demand formats, deep analysis and results delivered from NBC's award-winning broadcast and digital media teams, and Microsoft's Silverlight technology to deliver deeply immersive user experiences, NBCOlympics.com's coverage will be powered by Microsoft and MSN technology to complement NBC's broadcast programming and put millions of fans in control of the Olympic sports, athletes and countries they want to watch.
"For the Beijing Olympics, Microsoft Silverlight technology set the standard by helping deliver the most dynamic online viewing experience to date," said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics. "With the Vancouver version of NBCOlympics.com on MSN, we plan to raise the bar even higher."
The two companies will work together to deliver Olympic coverage to the U.S. online audience, powered by Microsoft's Silverlight technology. During the Vancouver Games, NBCOlympics.com (http://www.nbcolympics.com) content will be prominently featured on the MSN.com homepage (http://www.msn.com), as well as on MSN Video (http://video.msn.com) and across the MSN and Windows Live networks, all moving the massive MSN Network audience to NBCOlympics.com's complete coverage of the Games.
"We're thrilled to be NBC's exclusive online partner for the Olympic Winter Games and to delight the millions of Olympic fans with extensive online coverage," said Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president, Online Audience Business Group. "Building on our record-breaking success in Beijing, we will deliver an immersive, high quality and engaging experience for our customers."
As a result of this unprecedented collaboration, "NBCOlympics.com on MSN" will deliver:
· Live event video coverage with simultaneous live video streams.
· More than 1,000 hours of on-demand video content including full-event replays, highlights, features, interviews and encore packages.
· An HD-experience powered by Silverlight that gives users the choice of a high-quality full screen viewing experience unlike any on the Internet today.
· Unique data views powered by Silverlight that enable fans to have access not only to high quality video, but also to the wealth of related content including results, statistics, comprehensive bios, rules and expert analysis from NBC's Olympic digital media team in Vancouver.
· Live video alerts so fans can stay connected to the events and teams they care most about
"We are excited to continue our partnership with NBC during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics," said Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of the .NET Developer Platform at Microsoft. "We are confident that Silverlight will deliver the best experience possible to millions of sports fans via the Web."
NBCOlympics.com on MSN, which MediaWeek Magazine called "a sweeping success" and the Los Angeles Times said "re-wrote rules for media in the future," produced staggering statistics throughout the Beijing Games with 1.2 billion page views and 52.1 million unique users, more than doubling the combined totals for the Athens and Torino Games, while the 75.5 million video streams was seven time more than Athens and Torino combined. A total of 9.9 million hours of video consumed equates to 1,126 years of video.
BEIJING TORINO ATHENS
Page Views: 1.2 Billion 331.5 million 229.9 million
Unique Users: 52.1 million 13.3 million 11.9 million
Video Streams: 75.5 million 8.4 million 2.4 million
Hours of Video: 9.9 million N/A N/A
NBCOlympics.com on MSN also shaped the way viewers consumed the Olympics in Beijing:
· 46% of Olympic viewers said that being able to watch the Olympics on multiple platforms enhanced their Olympic viewing experience.
· 24% of Olympic viewers said that they watched more of the Beijing Olympics because it was available on NBCOlympics.com as well as on TV.
· 75% of visitors to NBCOlympics.com used TV and the website simultaneously at least once.
About NBC Olympics:
NBC has broadcast 11 Olympics, the most Olympics broadcast by any network. NBC surpassed ABC's 10 Olympics with the 2008 Beijing Games, the most watched television event in U.S. history with 215 million viewers.
The 2010 Vancouver Games mark the sixth of an unprecedented seven consecutive Olympic broadcasts by NBC Sports. The impressive streak began with the 2000 Sydney Games and continues through the 2012 London Games. NBC has broadcast eight of the last 10 Olympic Games, both summer and winter; Vancouver will mark the ninth out of the last 11.
NBC SPORTS BROADCASTS COVERAGE OF TRANSITIONS CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY & SUNDAY, 3PM ET
NBC Tees Up Week Four of Six Straight Weekends of PGA TOUR Coverage
St. Petersburg Times: “It's clear that NBC has the best golf coverage.”
NEW YORK - March 18, 2009 - A world class field, which includes winners of 19 major championships, competes this weekend at the Transitions Championship as NBC Sports tees up week four of six straight weekends of PGA TOUR broadcast coverage, Saturday and Sunday from 3-6 p.m. ET, presented in high definition. The event, held at the Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla., has crucial FedEx Cup points at stake.
Host Dan Hicks and analyst Johnny Miller, in their 10th season together as NBC Sports' lead golf announcers, will anchor the coverage from the 18th hole tower. They are joined by tower reporter Gary Koch, a Tampa resident; course reporters Roger Maltbie and Mark Rolfing; and interviewer/essayist Jimmy Roberts. NBC's golf coverage is produced by Tommy Roy, among the most nominated persons in the history of the Sports Emmys.
Past winners of the event in this year's field include Sean O'Hair (2008), Mark Calcavecchia (2007) and Retief Goosen (2003), challenged by Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Adam Scott and Nick Watney, who last weekend went toe-to-toe with Phil Mickelson at Doral.
The Copperhead course ranked among the 10 most difficult on the PGA TOUR in 2008.
KOCH ON COPPERHEAD: "It's a very good test of golf. The viewers will be surprised; it's not a typical Florida golf course. It has elevation changes of as much as 30 to 40 feet, very different from what the players usually face in Florida."
DORAL SCORES FOR NBC: NBC Sports' final round coverage of the WGC-CA Championship at Doral earned a 3.4 national rating and an 8 share, the best rating for any golf event, excluding The Masters and U.S. Open, in a year (final round at Bay Hill, 3/16/08, 3.5/8) and a 13 percent increase over the 2008 final round at Doral (3.0/7). The Doral rating was 3 percent higher than the final round of the 2008 British Open (3.3) and 21 percent greater than the final round of 2008 PGA Championship (2.8).
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT NBC'S GOLF COVERAGE:
USA Today: "With avid golfer Tommy Roy as producer, NBC seems to capture more of the beyond-the-obvious nuances of the game...The most thorough coverage in golf."
St. Petersburg Times: "It's clear that NBC has the best golf coverage."
USA Today: "Excellent eavesdropping of players conversations with caddies."
ON JOHNNY MILLER:
Golf Digest: "The dominant voice in golf."
LA Times: "Doesn't just sound like an expert, he is one."
NY Post: "Unquestionably golf's best analyst."
USA Today: "The best color analyst in golf, if not all sports TV."
Vijay Singh: "Miller knows what goes through our heads. A lot of times we just don't want to hear it."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "He interacts with Roger Maltbie (aka, The Course Whisperer) as though they are at a backyard BBQ."
ON MILLER AND DAN HICKS:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Golf's best announcing team."
ON HICKS:
USA Today: "Smooth and underrated. The perfect complement to Johnny Miller."
LA Times: "Few are smoother than Hicks."
LA Times: "Has a ringmasters job and handles it with ease."
ON MALTBIE:
Golf Digest: "A combination of a player's feel and a critic's discerning eye."
ON DOTTIE PEPPER:
NY Post: "Strong, well-informed, direct, concise, not to shy to speak non-pandering, been-there opinion."
Palm Beach Post: "Genuine emotion by a knowledgeable player. Golf needs a dose of passion, not just whispered euphemism."
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