From SportBusiness Journal
Analysis by Katie Davis in SRM 334 (section 2)
After lackluster coverage of the London Paralympic Games, the NBC Sports Group is working with the United States Olympic Committee to create a deal that will give greater coverage of U.S Paralympic Athletes at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games than viewers have seen in previous games.
From a media and communications stand point, this deal marks a turning point in how disability sports, whether at the Paralympic level, or at a local level, will be broadcast. In the past few years, coverage of the Paralympic Games has increased, but not nearly to the level of the Olympic Games. These will the first games to offer live coverage of Paralympic events. I think that this broadcast will reach a larger demographic and make disability sports on television more common in United States households.
This deal demonstrates how the new model of communication is used. The deal entails not only 3.5 hours on NBC’s broadcast network and 46.5 hours on its cable channel, NBC Sports Network, but it also includes live streaming on the US Paralympics website. Presenting the option of live streaming by sport allows NBC and the U.S. Olympic Committee to reach various niche audiences. Having three different access points also allows viewers to have a more customized viewing experience, whether on standard television or through computers.Overall, after this deal is finalized, coverage of the Paralympic Games in Sochi will expand dramatically and allow viewers a more customized experience in how they watch the game. In turn, more people will become aware of disability sports.
--
Analysis by Craig Rollyson in SRM 334 (section 2)
On September 23, 2013, Sports Business Journal released an article announcing increased coverage for next year’s Winter Paralympic games in Sochi, Russia. Last year, NBC was heavily critiqued for not offering more coverage of the Paralympic games. The International Paralympic Committee, as well as persons with disabilities, expressed their frustration over such little exposure, mainly due to the significant impact last year’s games had on the Paralympic community.
NBC sports group is finalizing a deal with the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), which will result in a total of fifty hours of coverage on NBC and NBC Sports Network. This is a dramatic increase from last year’s measly five and a half hours of coverage that was also taped and reached viewers at delayed times. NBC will be showing the games live, as well as offering live streaming of Paralympic events in which United States athletes will be competing. Anyone with a computer will be able to view the games, and the streaming can be found at USParalympics.org. Although the deal has not been finalized, the main terms have been agreed upon, despite a few minor “kinks” that are still being worked out between NBC and the USOC.
From a media standpoint, the additional coverage will greatly benefit niche audiences, as well as those who just want to watch the games. The live streaming that is to be offered will allow a person to locate specific athletes in specific events, which will give the viewers more control over what he/she watches. This ability for viewers to watch what they want reflects the new version of the sports communication model. Instead of the games being offered solely to the mass media (NBC), which can only reach out to NBC viewers, they have offered content for niche audiences who can view the games through live streaming. Content providers are giving the viewers more control over what they watch, which will greatly expand the audience NBC aims to reach. The additional coverage will also be beneficial for those who have an interest in the Paralympic games. The additional fifty hours of live coverage will be a significant increase from last year’s games, which was tape-delayed. These changes will allow the millions of people in the United States to view the Paralympic games like never before, and bring new light and positive awareness to the Paralympic community. In the past, NBC offered only re-caps of the games, and no live coverage whatsoever. Next year, the United States will have full coverage of the top athletes with disabilities in the world, which should greatly increase the popularity of the event. In class we discussed how expanding to niche audiences and providing new and exciting content for viewers benefits media broadcasting networks. NBC will be offering the games to niche audiences, as well as providing new and interesting content for viewers, which will positively impact the network’s and bring long overdue, deserving awareness to the Paralympic games and participating athletes.
From ESPN.com
Analysis by Michael Creighton in SRM 334 (section 1)
The Grambling State football team did not play in their game scheduled for Saturday October 19 against Jackson State. According to an article on espn.go.com, the players were protesting poor facility conditions, management, and the administration. During the week leading up to the game the players boycotted practice and walked out of meetings. The administration fired the head coach, Doug Williams, in September and replaced him with an interim head coach that the players did not approve of even though they had submitted a list of other possible coaches they would have been much happier with. Facility conditions and management of the team have been deteriorating since the beginning of the season and the players had finally had enough of it and refused to get on the buses to travel to Saturday’s game. If the players had not refused to play in their game on Saturday I don’t think the media would have gotten involved.
Grambling State is a small school and does not receive much media attention as it is. Refusing to play in their game Saturday was the breaking point and now multiple media outlets are covering the story. It appears that the players were attempting to deal with the matter internally because there was no formal outcry or attempt to gain media attention. The original perception of the players boycotting the program was taken as a bunch of stuck up college athletes looking to corner the administration into getting what they wanted. As the media began to pick up on the story however, what they unveiled was a more serious matter that involved player safety and unsafe training conditions.
The letter that the players wrote to the administration detailing their concern and frustration with the program has been leaked through media outlets and provides the public with a much bettering understanding on why the players chose to forfeit their game. Additionally the media has given the public the opportunity to actually see the conditions that the players are complaining about by uploading pictures to the Internet. The situation at Grambling State highlights the power of the college athlete and their ability to gain media attention so quickly. On Saturday, the twitter account for the school’s newspaper, The Gramblinite, had hour-by-hour updates of whether or not the players were going to get on the buses to travel. Last week The Gramblinite also tweeted every time the players skipped a meeting or practice in protest. In today’s world, a tweet about a local situation or controversy can spread so quickly that the national media does not even have to try to locate a story; it simply falls into their lap. When I first saw the tweets about Grambling State, the most popular ones that appeared on my news feed stated that the football team would not be traveling to their game. To understand why they were not traveling I had to do some investigating. I think the media’s take had an interesting spin to it because the bigger concern is the player safety, not the fact that they forfeited their game. Luckily for the Grambling State football team their situation is being brought into the national spotlight. However, it is a shame they had to go through such drastic measures to get there.
--
Analysis by James Naylor in SRM 334 (section 1)
On Tuesday October 15th, the Grambling State football team held a meeting with administration. A team decision was made by the players to not attend practice the following day. Administration realized that it was time to make a change so they fired interim head coach Greg Ragsdale. The players decided to not play in Saturday’s game at Jackson State. Buses were in the parking lot waiting for players to board at 2:30 but no one showed. The buses waited over an hour for the student athletes, but they made their message to administration clear that they were not coming.
What is getting so much media attention however, is the letter the players collectively made regarding all the problems they want changed within the program. They noted complaints of mold and mildew in the locker room, grass growing excessively too high on the field, jersey’s that aren’t properly washed and are giving the players staff infections and a number of other things. What is most important here is all the coverage Grambling State is receiving over this. ESPN, Bleacher Report, and various social media have brought the public’s attention to this issue. If this story had not been brought to the public, these players could have been stuck accepting these poor conditions or potentially lose their scholarships. The media has made this a major news story and now Grambling State is responding to these players’ concerns by renovating the weight room and looking at the other problems like the jerseys being properly cleaned. What is very surprising about the media coverage of Grambling State is that this team is a very poor FCS college team. This national media attention is mostly due to the fact that the team simply forfeited. USA Today tweeted about the whole situation on Saturday stating, “The most interesting story in college football is the team that won’t be playing Saturday”.
This story relates specifically to our class because it is the perfect example of the new model and how information is being spread across the nation. Various media such as print, electronic and social media are disseminating this information about Grambling State, many with the main goal of helping this team reach their goals. The fact that this team forfeited and the condition in the program are horrible is already newsworthy, but since the media is covering this story so in depth, administration at Grambling State will now have to respond to these players’ concerns and not just sweep it under the rug. This just shows the power and importance of media in sports.
From MLB.com and AwfulAnnouncing.com
Analysis by Steve Dombrowski in SRM 334 (section 1)
America is always intrigued by an underdog story. This year that story is the rise and sudden success of the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team who has not made the playoffs in 21 years. Every year for the past seven, TBS has had the rights to broadcast all of Major League Baseball’s Divisional Series along with one of the Championship Series. This year, while watching the Pirates take on the Reds at PNC Park along the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh I was absolutely shocked by the lack of coverage of the pregame ceremony. The Buccos have been waiting over two decades for this and the emotions were extremely high. As a baseball fan, I was extremely intrigued by what they would do to celebrate and all TBS did was talk in the studio about how emotional it actually was. So we did a little research on the subject and we discovered that I was not the only one let down by TBS’s coverage as a whole.
With the popular demand in our society for coverage of sporting events, it is now essential to have top of the line analysis of the game. Especially now that it is playoff time, every pitch is critical. During October, baseball is competing with the NFL, college football, NHL, and the NBA preseason. All four major sports are playing at some part of their season so it is crucial that TBS gets the game perfectly. However, they have not. Fans and other analysts within the profession have been complaining about the ridiculous camera shots and at times lack to a quality audio. Another issue TBS is having is lack of experience in the booth. Cal Ripken, former Orioles great, was taken out of the studio and put in the booth for the first time in these playoffs. He replaced former Braves pitcher John Smoltz, who was demoted to the “B game” announcer. Smoltz had a generally good reputation for his commentary and it was a bit curious why he was replaced. Luckily Ripken has not been doing anything too bad to get noticed. However, when an announcer is poor or biased to a part in the game, many fans will change to some other game or at best mute their television. This is not what you want if you are paying millions, possibly billions of dollars for the rights to air the game.
This topic is relevant from a media standpoint because these issues are all about the production and success and blunders that go in to trying to make a game as pleasurable as possible. For example, the Truss Cam that was implemented at a couple of stadiums for these games is a cool new way to see different angles and get you up close and personal from a outfielders perspective. An example was Carl Crawford falling in to the stands to make a catch. The Truss Cam followed his whole route to the ball and showed us what it took to make such a spectacular play. However, an important lesson I have learned from our class is that you need to listen to your audience. Learn what they want to see from a game and give it to them. Announcers and analysts are trying to steal the spotlight and it takes away from the pleasure of simply viewing the game. Personally, with all of the technology, there is sometimes nothing better than curling up to watch a great game in the comforts of your home. However, if TBS wants to compete on Sundays with the NFL and get majority ratings, they need to adjust to the wants of their audience. There is nothing better than October baseball. From the first pitch to the last, there is constant focus and intensity from every single player on that field. The game itself is great. That alone can draw viewers in to see what is going in a game out in Los Angeles, or Boston, or even Pittsburgh. However, the analysis makes or breaks the ratings and unfortunately TBS just cannot catch up.
