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News: Islanders player by player Brendan Burke it will be successful Jason Benetti As the Peacock’s top Sunday morning baseball player, The Post has learned.
What you need to know: NBC/Peacock did much better than Apple in the first season of its baseball package. Benetti had a talent for play-by-play, using analysts for each team playing Sunday morning games. Benetti moved to Fox Sports, leaving NBC scrambling for his replacement. A rotating analyst setup is expected to be maintained.
Brendan Baseball: Burke is a proven network-level broadcaster. He called hockey for NBC, and now he does the NHL for TNT. Burke will miss the first four games of the season as the Peacock’s NHL playoffs end for TNT.
Pinstripe Pride: Burke put himself back on the baseball map doing a great job John Sterling on Yankees radio Suzyn Waldman for some games last season. FAN is very high, and it was thought that he could be the successor of Sterling. However, his hockey schedule would likely prevent that. (And it probably doesn’t matter because Sterling, who is about to turn 85, will never retire.)
Burke first called it minor league baseball.
Orioles player Kevin Brown (left, with Melanie Newman and Jim Palmer) was talking about the Peacock job.via Twitter/@kevinnbrown
Brown out: NBC had meaningful conversations with Orioles players Kevin Brown, according to sources, but no agreement was reached. This opened the door for Burke. NBC Sports declined comment.
Other games: We thought it might be fun for Peacock to be NBC Mike Tirico make a match—the man likes to work—but that’s not happening, according to sources. We have heard Chris VostersAccording to the Blackhawks player, Burke shuffles a few games before taking over for the rest of the season in mid-May.
Quick clicks
the greatest Caitlin Clark The impact on TV ratings can linger for years. The Iowa star — whose team lost to LSU on Sunday in an officiating-confused championship game — was the reason Friday night’s national semifinal against South Carolina drew more than 5 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Next year, this could grow even more, especially if the UConn star gets injured Paige Bueckers or another rival emerges and they meet Clark’s Iowa in the Final Four or for the championship. But the real Clark effect could be with the WNBA. There have been many stars in the WNBA, but the reason Clark is standing out is because she plays with the flair of one. Larry Bird or a steph curry. Must watch TV if you like basketball. This could be huge for the WNBA when she joins the league in a year or two. Sunday’s NCAA final was in the evening on ABC, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if it was in prime time next year.
Caitlin Clark could elevate the television prospects for women’s college basketball and the WNBA for years to come.Getty Images
… in the national championship game call, Ryan Ruocco he hit the right note, called the referee, and Clark was in foul trouble all game and scored a terrible technical foul. It’s a fine line for every player, but Ruocco found the right place to direct the analyst. Rebecca Lobo.
…YES decided to price their direct-to-consumer product at $24.99 per month with an introductory promotion of $19.99 per month. Direct-to-consumer will grow, but it may take some time. In the meantime, it’s great for those with YouTube TV, which doesn’t include BAI, for example. So, direct-to-consumer YES is a good extension if you want Yankees games, but want the lower (but increasing) price of YouTube TV or other services versus cable. … Next year the BAI Network is going to look pretty good. Ian Eagle He will provide play-by-play commentary for the men’s Final Four, while Ruocco will enter his fourth year as the women’s Final Four play-by-play announcer. Eagle is YES’ longtime starter at Nets games, and Ruocco is No. 2. Ruocco also calls the WNBA Finals on ESPN. We can extend MSG to the network: to ESPN Mike Breen has called the most NBA Finals in history – this year’s will be number 18. Needless to say, the biggest basketball games will have the sound of New York.
Ian Eagle, center, the television voice of the Nets, will take play-by-play in the 2024 men’s Final Four.NCAA Photos via Getty Images
… ESPN’s mic segments during MLB broadcasts were a hit last year. He picked up where he left off on Thursday Alex Bregman in the stars Bregman, who wears No. 2, said he was one of his favorite players growing up Derek Jeter. It was apparently a family affair. When Bregman made his Yankee Stadium debut, he said his mother wore a jersey but wore a Jeter T-shirt underneath. good things … Speaking of Jeter, he confirmed what we previously reported: He will make his Fox Sports debut in the London Series on Saturday, June 24. Jeter can celebrate his birthday. King Charles III. The captain turns 49 on June 26th… Aaaaaaand Chris Russoson, Timis a graduate assistant Danny Shoutsy’s staff UConn goes for the national title on Monday night. I wrote a short story on Sunday. … Frank Thomas is officially out of Fox Sports.
Khan Academy
We had the CEO of WWE Nick Khan last week on the podcast. If you’re reading this newsletter and haven’t heard it yet, I suggest you give it a try. The reaction has been overwhelming.
We asked Khan about the possible sale of WWE, and he said the market was strong and he couldn’t get into specifics. CNBC reported Sunday that WWE is being sold to Endeavor and will create a new publicly traded company.
Khan, who was one of the most influential sports media players ever before moving to WWE, had some gems of information and advice, including the words to live by: “Complaining is not a strategy.”
WWE CEO Nick Khan was our podcast guest this week.
Let’s go over some of the things he said.
1. He basically agreed with what we projected in this newsletter last week: The NBA’s upcoming television rights deals, which begin with the 2025-26 season, include ESPN, Amazon, Warner Bros. It will have Discovery and NBC.
Khan thought ESPN would go hard for WBD’s All-Star Game because of the hospitality component. It could happen, but sources tell me it’s not necessarily a priority.
Khan also thought that NBC and WBD could fight for Tuesday night rights, as I wrote, with the idea that Amazon Prime Video takes over Thursdays. NBC followed up “Sunday Night Football” with “Sunday Night Basketball.”
2. Khan, who was in the middle of ESPN’s SEC rights deal when he was still at CAA, said he thinks the Pac-12 dropped the ball, and the Big 12 did a tremendous job cutting the line and working out extensions with ESPN. and Fox.
What does the future hold for WWE star Roman Reigns?AP
His advice to the Pac-12 would be to do a short-term deal with high visibility. Of all the ways the Pac-12 can get out of that situation, this is the best we’ve heard. Remember: complaining is not a strategy.
3. Khan said he believed WBD and Comcast could make major consolidation moves after the 2024 election, depending on whether a Republican or Democrat wins the White House. Khan said no deal will be reached with the current administration.
4. Khan said there is a good chance that the wrestling star Roman Kingdoms He is going to Hollywood, but also that he will continue to work with WWE.
There was much more to the podcast, including Khan’s predictions for when ESPN will go live to consumer and WWE’s next TV deal.
Rocket review
Roger Clemens had a good game as an ESPN television analyst on Opening Day.AP
Roger Clemens He showed some potential as a game analyst during ESPN’s Astros-White Sox opening night coverage. Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.
Clemens was at his best when talking about the game. Often with all-time greats, even tarnished names like Clemens, there’s a tendency to talk about how he did in his prime. A little is fine, but the best analysts talk about the present and include the ancient (see: David Koneto which Clemens did slightly because Cone was YES).
Clemens used some funny jargon, but what stood out was his ability to dissect pitches. And when he said something like, say, the White Sox’s Opening Day start Dylan Cease being dirty, his opinion carries more weight.
Clemens made mistakes with performance-enhancing drugs and there have been consequences (he’s not in the Hall of Fame), but he was shameless — crazy? — enough to prove whether he did it to risk going to jail. There is no reason to prevent Clemens from doing more as a broadcaster. Maybe not full time, but guest spots.