Davis focuses on job with ESPN

By: JOHN MAFFEI - Staff Writer | Thursday, February 7, 2008 11:09 PM PST ∞

He's the most-valuable person regular viewers of Channel 4 have never heard of.

Working behind the scenes in the production truck, he's one of those men responsible for the station's network-quality Padres broadcasts.

But after 17 years in San Diego ---- 13 of those with Cox Communications, Channel 4's parent company ----- Nick Davis, coordinating producer for Padres baseball, is leaving to join ESPN.

"I love San Diego and I love Channel 4," Davis said. "And I'll stack our telecasts ---- whether it's Padres, San Diego State, USD or the high school championships ---- up against anyone.

"I didn't want to leave, but ESPN pursued me. And it was an offer I just couldn't refuse."

Davis, who lives with his family in Rancho Penasquitos, will be the coordinating producer for Major League Baseball and boxing --- two sports he loves ---- for ESPN.

That requires a move to ESPN's Bristol, Conn., headquarters. But he's not going away completely.

"Are you kidding, who would leave San Diego?" Davis said. "I'll rent an apartment in Bristol, but we'll keep the home in San Diego.

"Part of the deal with ESPN is that I get home as often as possible. Whenever ESPN has a baseball game on the West Coast, I'll be home for two or three days before or after the game. So it's not like I'm leaving for good."

Davis was a receiver at Purdue in his college days, earning a B.A. in communications, graduating in 1983.

He moved to San Diego in 1991. In 1993, he landed a job as producer and director for programming at Dimension Cable Services in Vista.

He joined Cox Communications in 1995 when it merged with Dimension.

"There is no finer person than Nick Davis," said Dennis Morgigno, station manager at Channel 4 and the man who oversees the day-to-day operation. "This is a great deal for Nick, but we hate to lose him.

"He takes an awful lot of pride in his work, and it shows on the air.

"In a way, though, this says a lot about what we're doing. I've been saying for years that our production is on par with anyone in the country.

"So for ESPN to recognize Nick and what we're doing, is pretty good."

Davis said the people at ESPN are very familiar at what's going on at Channel 4.

"And they love it," Davis said. "I think that validates the quality of our local production, and the fact we put the same effort into everything we do."

At ESPN, Davis will have a hand in scheduling as well as working with the network's talent.

"My goal is to increase the presence of the West Coast baseball teams on ESPN, especially on Sunday nights," Davis said. "I want to make sure there is a West Coast presence. That's an exciting prospects.

"Still, I hate leaving Channel 4 because it has been a big part of my life. And there are so many talented people there.

"But the opportunity to work at ESPN, ABC and Disney and the long-term ramifications was just too good to pass up."

Hoop scoop

- There are four top-notch NBA games on TV Sunday. The slate includes: Spurs-Celtics at 10 a.m. on ABC, Lakers-Heat at 12:30 p,m. on ABC, Nuggets-Cavaliers at 4 p.m. on ESPN and Wizards-Suns (with Shaquille O'Neal) at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

- For high school fans, ESPNU will have four games involving ESPN High Elite 25 teams Saturday from the Primetime New Jersey Shootout. At 5 p.m., two New York teams ---- No. 5 Rice meets Nov. 14 Lincoln. The second game at 7 p.m., pits No. 7 Oak Hill Academy (Va.) vs. No. 13 St. Patrick (N.J.).

- Channel 4 San Diego hopes to carry four CIF San Diego Section championship games live from Cox Arena at San Diego State on Feb. 29. The problem is that Channel 4 and the CIF don't have a signed contract yet. The deal should get done, however, and Channel 4 will carry the Girls Division III title game at 1:30 p.m., the boys Division III at 3:30 p.m., the Girls Division I at 7 p.m. and the boys Division I at 9 p.m. There will be no TV of Saturday's four-game championship schedule.

- The pairings were announced for the ESPNU BracketBusters on Feb. 22-24. The best games pit nationally ranked teams Drake and Butler, Kent State vs. Saint Mary's, Rider vs. Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara vs. Utah State.

Super Bowl fallout

- Last Sunday's Super Bowl XLII was the most-watched sporting event in history with a total of 148.3 million viewers.

- The game averaged 97.5 million viewers, exceeding the combined total of the 2007 "Academy Awards" (40.1 million), the 2007 "American Idol" finale (30.8 million) and the November 2007 "Dancing with the Stars" finale (24.9 million).

- An average of 108 million viewers were watching when Giants receiver David Tyree made his incredible catch in the fourth quarter.

- An average of 111 million viewers were watching when Giants receiver Plaxico Burress made his game-winning catch.

- In Boston, the game drew an amazing 81 share of the audience. In New York, the game drew a 67 share.

- Ratings for the "Super Bowl Pregame Show" ---- clearly aimed at a younger audience ---- were up 6 percent.

- Ratings in France were up 63 percent from last year, up 24 percent in Canada and 9 percent in Mexico. The game drew 51 percent of the TV audience in the UK.

Tennis anyone?

- Versus and the Tennis Channel will provide coverage of this weekend's Davis Cup matches, pitting the U.S and Austria from Vienna. Live matches start at 9 a.m. today, Saturday and Sunday on Versus with replays at 5 p.m. each day on the Tennis Channel.

Andy Roddick and James Blake will play singles with Bob and Mike Bryan playing doubles for U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe.

- The Tennis Channel will also have coverage of the Russia-Serbia matches.

- ESPN's "Outside the Lines" has a piece on gambling on the ATP Tour. The show examines how suspicious betting patterns on the August 2007 match in Poland launched an investigation. The show airs at 6:30 a.m. Sunday with a replay at 9 a.m. on ESPNNEWS.

Around the dial

- Marv Albert has re-signed with TNT and will be the network's lead NBA analyst through the 2015-2016 season and will call additional games on NBA-TV. Albert also serves as the voice of "Monday Night Football" on radio and calls about 50 New Jersey Nets games a season on the YES Network.

- The NASCAR Sprint Cup season revs up this weekend with the Budweiser Shootout from Daytona at 5 p.m. Saturday on Fox. Qualifying for the Daytona 500 starts at 10 a.m. Sunday with coverage on Fox.

- DirecTV will air two specials with never-before-seen NASCAR footage at 4 tonight in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500.

- The NFL season draws to a close with Sunday's Pro Bowl from Hawaii. The game on Fox kicks off at 1:30 p.m. Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa and Brian Baldinger call the action.

- Hockey fans get a chance to see the top-ranked college programs in the country when No. 2-ranked Michigan travels to No. 1 Miami-Ohio for a game at 5 tonight on CSTV.

- Celebrating Black History Month, CSTV has a pair of outstanding specials: "Uninvited: The 1951 USF Football Team" at 5:30 p.m. Sunday and "Tackling Segregation: The 1970 USC-Alabama Game" at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

- Sunday's "NHL Game of the Week" on NBC features the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks at Detroit. The teams face off at 12:30 p.m.

- Looking for something a little different on Sunday? ESPN2 has a women's college gymnastics meet, pitting No. 2 Georgia and No. 5 LSU. Coverage starts at 9:30 a.m.

- CNBC has "Swoosh! Inside Nike" what promises to be a very entertaining special, looking inside the world's largest shoe and apparel company. The show airs at 7 and 10 p.m. Tuesday.

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