Draft sends ESPN, NFL Network to war

By: JOHN MAFFEI - Staff Writer | Thursday, April 26, 2007 11:19 PM PDT ∞

Basically, they're partners. But for one weekend a year, the NFL Network and ESPN are not-so-friendly rivals.

That weekend lies dead ahead, as the TV networks go toe-to-toe with NFL draft coverage.

The NFL Network kicks off its coverage of the two-day event at 8 a.m. Saturday with a pre-draft show. The network's Day 1 coverage concludes at 8 p.m. after a one-hour draft recap. Sunday's coverage starts at 8 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m., with a one-hour recap show to follow.

Likewise, ESPN starts at 8 a.m. Saturday with its own pre-draft show. Coverage runs until 5 p.m., when things switch to ESPN2 for the final hours. Sunday's coverage kicks off at 8 a.m. and runs until 3 p.m.

While the NFL Network is available only to viewers with digital cable and the sports tier, ESPN is available on basic cable on most systems.

This is ESPN's 28th consecutive year covering the NFL draft; the NFL Network started covering the draft last season.

Despite the challenge from the NFL Network, ESPN set viewer records last year with a 5.2 rating.

Still, ESPN officials are taking the threat seriously.

"Honestly, I don't worry about NFL TV," said Jay Rothman, senior coordinating producer for ESPN and the network's NFL draft producer since 1995. "The draft is such an overwhelming and complex task. It's like nothing else we do. It's 18 hours of totally unscripted TV. It's too intense to worry about what the other guy is doing.

"With the talent lineup we have and the experience we have, we're dialed in on this. With all due respect, last year was the first year we had competition on draft day, and we had a record number of viewers."

Chris Berman hosts Saturday's coverage on ESPN from Radio City Music Hall in New York. He will be joined on the set by draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., as well as NFL analysts Chris Mortensen and Steve Young and Carolina Panthers receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

ESPN's "Monday Night Football" crew of Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser will work from a second set. Suzy Kolber will conduct interviews with the draftees.

Trey Wingo, Sean Salisbury and Mark May will work from ESPN's studios in Bristol, Conn. Rachel Nichols will be stationed at the Steelers' headquarters, Sal Paolantonio is with the Buccaneers, and Ed Werder is with the Raiders.

"Plus, we have video conferencing with all 32 clubs," Rothman said.

Rich Eisen hosts the NFL Network's coverage from New York, working with analysts Mike Mayock, Steve Mariucci, Marshall Faulk and Charles Davis. Deion Sanders will interview draftees, and Adam Schefter will also be on-site.

Fran Charles, Jamie Dukes, Jesse Palmer, Alex Flanagan and former Chargers general manager Bobby Beathard will be stationed in a Los Angeles studio. NFL Network reporters will be stationed at five team facilities -- Chargers (Paul Burmeister), Cowboys (Scott Hansen), Falcons (Kara Henderson), Raiders (Derrin Horton) and Bengals (Solomon Wilcots).

The NFL Network, which will have access to all 32 NFL team headquarters, will try some different things, going with a "fan confessional room" to interview diehard fans. Also, Dukes will respond to viewer e-mails.

Plus, the NFL Network will have a camera on a boat with Wisconsin lineman Joe Thomas -- expected to be a high first-round pick -- as he fishes on a Wisconsin lake.

"At this network, the NFL is a full-time job," said Eric Weinberger, an NFL Network executive producer.

Maybe so, but for my money, I don't care what the fans think. I want to hear what the experts say. And ESPN has the better experts. Besides, who -- other than Wisconsin fans and the team that drafts him -- cares about a lineman on a boat?

So while I'll peek in on the NFL Network, ESPN is my destination.

Feeling the draft

> Barring a trade, the Chargers have the 30th selection in Saturday's draft. If each team takes its allotted 15 minutes in the first round, the Chargers may not pick until after 4 p.m. The Chargers also select 62nd, 93rd and 96th.

> Chris Ello, Bill Werndl, John Kentera and ex-NFL and college coach Dick Coury will anchor XX Sports Radio 1090's coverage of the NFL draft. Coverage begins at 9 a.m. Saturday from the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park and is open to the public. 1090's coverage continues to the end of the first round. Scott Kaplan and Billy Ray Smith will provide updates from Chargers headquarters in Murphy Canyon. Josh Rosenberg and Tom Howell will broadcast from the end of the first round to 4 p.m. from the station's La Jolla studios.

> KIOZ (105.3 FM), the Chargers' flagship station, will have draft day coverage from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Mikey Esparza and Eddie Pappani will be live from Radio City Music Hall. Lew Bush and Steve Quis will be camped out at Dave & Buster's in Mission Valley, with that venue open to the public. Brian Wilson and Mike Costa will be at Chargers headquarters.

> KOGO (600 AM) will have updates throughout the draft and KGB (101.5 FM) will have hourly updates from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

> Sprint has partnered with the NFL Network to provide fans coverage of the draft on their cell phones. So if you can't sit by the TV and a radio isn't available, there is another option to track the draft. The service is available to Sprint's Vision and Power Vision subscribers.

> Channel 8 will have a 30-minute "Chargers Draft Day" show at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Local notes

> Channel 4 will carry the 2007 Toyota Celebrity Golf Classic at 2 p.m. Saturday from Morgan Run in Rancho Santa Fe. The event, which brings together some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment, has a $200,000 purse. There will be replays at 4 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday.

> San Diego State's baseball team has a key Mountain West Conference series at Texas Christian this weekend. Saturday's game will be carried live on the mtn. at noon.

> It's a big weekend on TV for former North County softball players. On Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. on ESPN2, No. 1-ranked Tennessee (50-2) will battle No. 5 LSU (46-6). Junior Vanessa Soto (Mt. Carmel) starts at first base for LSU, while junior Erika Sluss (Rancho Buena Vista) is a key reserve. Also on Sunday, No. 4 Arizona (34-9) meets No. 16 Stanford (29-13) at 1:30 p.m. on CSTV. Arizona's Kristi Fox (Mt. Carmel) is one of the top players in the country, while freshman Sarah Akamine (Escondido) is the No. 2 pitcher for the Wildcats.

> CSTV will carry the Pepperdine-University of San Diego baseball game live at 3 p.m. Monday.

> Former slugger Phil Nevin is working with Darren Smith and Randy Jones on the "Padres BP Show" on XX Sports Radio 1090 and has fit in well. Nevin is glib and has good insights into the game. If he's serious about it, Nevin could have a future in broadcasting.

Big numbers

Ever wonder why the TV networks seem to carry every game between the Red Sox and Yankees? It's the numbers.

Sunday night's Yankees-Red Sox game on ESPN averaged 3.952 million households and 5.483 million viewers, making it the most-viewed "Sunday Night Baseball" telecast.

In addition, it was the most-viewed regular-season major-league game since Sept. 7, 1998 -- the night Mark McGwire hit his 61st home run, tying the single-season mark of Roger Maris.

Fox's Saturday coverage of the same series -- which was broadcast in 68 percent of the country -- did a 3.2 rating with 4.7 million viewers.

Fox jumps back into the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry again this weekend, sending Saturday afternoon's 12:30 p.m. game to most of the country.

Partly because of the Yankees-Red Sox battles, Fox is off to a great start with audiences at a seven-year high, averaging a 2.7 rating and 3.9 million viewers. That's up 13 percent from last year.

Horse talk

> NBC Sports has an outstanding 60-minute special -- "Barbaro: A Nation's Horse" -- scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, which would have been Barbaro's fourth birthday. The special on last year's Kentucky Derby winner includes some rare footage of the horse America fell in love with, as well as numerous interviews.

> ESPN2 has the Kentucky Derby Post Position Draw live at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Hoop scoop

The NBA playoffs are in full swing, and, according to SportsBusiness Journal, league officials would like to have new TV deals in place with partners ABC, ESPN and TNT by June.

The current TV deals all expire at the end of next season.

Regular-season ratings numbers for ABC reached 2.0, with a high of 3.5 for the Lakers-Heat matchup on Christmas Day. ESPN and TNT both posted 1.2 regular-season marks, with a high of 2.3 on TNT for the Oct. 31 Bulls-Heat game and a 1.8 on ESPN for Mavericks-Suns on March 14.

Playoff numbers, which were strong last year, could dip this season if the Lakers and Kobe Bryant are knocked out early -- they lost their first two games of their best-of-seven series to Phoenix. So ratings will revolve around the Cavaliers and LeBron James, as well as the Mavericks, Suns and Spurs. There just isn't a great, dominating team in the Eastern Conference to draw in viewers.

A key in a new deal for TNT could be a switch from Thursday nights, one of the strongest programming nights on network TV.

Around the dial

> CBS will not run an ad for Max Fly golf balls, saying it violates network guidelines for "excessive alcohol consumption." The ad features pro golfer John Daly singing in a bar and grabbing a beer while he's driving a golf cart. The ad, which has already aired on The Golf Channel, is rather tongue-in-cheek, but Daly has had two stays in alcohol rehab -- thus, the rub with CBS.

> NBC Sports and U.S. Figure Skating announced a three-year partnership to broadcast the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and Skate America. The deal calls for 10 hours of programming, with the ladies free skate from the U.S. Championships shown live in prime time on a Saturday night. Plus, the championships have been reformatted so that all finals will be shown live on the weekend and will not conflict with NFL games. Figure skating had been a staple on ABC/ESPN, but makes sense for NBC, the home of the Olympics.

> For soccer fans, ESPN2 will continue its live coverage of the UEFA Champions League semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday's game features Liverpool at Chelsea, with AC Milan playing at Manchester United on Wednesday.

> ESPN and the Big 12 Conference have signed an eight-year deal for football, men's and women's basketball as well as other sports.

-- John Maffei's TV/Radio Column appears every Friday. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.

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