Apparently, Sox sells… Even in New York.
The proof is in the ratings, but evidently officials at Fox Sports Net New York are convinced there is enough demand and enough of a market for New England sports and Red Sox-based highlights.
So they are carrying Fox Sports Net New England’s Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight show’s late edition each weeknight live at 10 p.m. and taped at 10:30 p.m.
The show, hosted by Rumford native Gary Tanguay and Greg Dickerson, dedicates most of its coverage to the Red Sox with input and contributions from Boston Herald reporters Tony Massarotti and Michael Felger, the Providence Journal’s Sean McAdam, WEEI radio’s Michael Holley, and The Score’s Andy Gresh.
“One of the things I’ve found through satellite TV, as well as e-mails and feedback from people is there are a lot of Sox fans throughout the country and they want to follow New England sports,” said Tanguay. “That certainly applies to New York as well.
“I mean, when we’re at the studio, we’re always checking out Yankees programming on the YES Network. You want to know what the enemy is up to.”
Skip Perham, FSNNE marketing and communications manager, said there were no rating numbers to look at as of press time.
“They’re just taking a wait-and-see approach on it. It’s kind of a trial run for the show in New York,” said Perham. “They’re definitely intrigued by the concept and looking at it as something unique in the marketplace for the summer.”
With the addition of FSN New York’s audience, the late edition of Sports Tonight’s audience has almost quadrupled, going from being available in 3.7 million households in New England to 12.5 million households in six New England states plus the tri-state New York region (New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania).
Perham said no ratings numbers for the show in the New York market were available as of press time.
“New Englanders living in New York were facing a summer of watching Johnny Damon highlights,” said FSN New England senior vice-president and general manager David Woodman in a press release. “We are happy to provide a panacea. FSN New York was looking for a unique sports show that would provide the large number of Boston sports fans with a Boston perspective on the local sports scene.”
Div. III ball hits the Net
Internet broadcast company D3Cast is providing free, live audio and video webcasts of all the games at the NCAA Division III New England Baseball Regional in Harwich, Mass.
The double-elimination regional qualifier involves Maine-based teams the University of Southern Maine, Saint Joseph’s College of Standish and Bowdoin College of Brunswick.
Today’s schedule matches up the remaining four teams in three games (noon, 3:30 p.m., and 7 p.m.) to determine the champion. To see or listen to the webcasts, Internet users can log on to www.d3cast.com. Users must have RealPlayer to run the webcasts, which will also be available to be replayed 30 minutes after the games end.
OLN on ice, back on Dish
Outdoor Life Network, which was involved in a dispute with EchoStar’s Dish Network over OLN’s placement in a higher-priced channel package tier by Dish for the last 61/2 months, was ready to lace ’em up for the NHL playoff semifinals, which started two weeks ago.
After resolving the dispute that lasted just over 61/2 months and resulted in Dish’s 11.4 million subscribers not having access to OLN’s NHL TV package during that time period, OLN – which will change its name to the Versus network next fall – is back on the Dish Network channel lineup.
OLN, which left Dish Oct. 20 and returned April 24 (three days after the start of the NHL playoffs), is airing 15-20 semifinal games in this, the first year of a two-year contract which includes a one-year extension.
OLN is carried on cable and satellite systems nationwide.
Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net
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