Posted by Randy Pants on July 16, 2009 at 08:14:36:
Sports biz round-up: WSCR going mobile; Obama helps All-Star ratings; new Comcast SportsNet show; Award named for Tribune's Mitchell
Posted by Ed Sherman
at 7/16/2009 6:14 AM CDT on Chicago Business
I'm not sure what I did with my idle time before I acquired my iPhone. It seems like I'm constantly scanning my emails, check the scores, or seeing that it is only 43 degrees in Barrow, Alaska. Nice to know somebody is having a worse summer than ours.
Now I have something else to keep me occupied. WSCR-AM 670 will have a new application that will allow you to directly access the station on your phone.
Currently, I can listen to SCR on my phone through AOL Radio. But with the new application, I can access it through one touch instead of two or three.
For more information, go to SCR's website.
Obama aids Fox: President Barack Obama definitely lured viewers to the All-Star game Tuesday. The game on Fox was seen by a total audience of 33.6 million viewers, the largest for the All-Star game since 1999. The game averaged 14.61 viewers, the largest since 2002.
Unfortunately, Fox took some heat for not getting a better view of Mr. Obama's pitch. Fox Sports President Ed Goren told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "The camera didn't get positioned where it was supposed to be. There are a lot of issues where we're not in total control when you have a president attending a game. ... There was a bit of a scramble there."
Indeed, I know Mr. Obama's presence presented some difficult challenges for Fox. It wasn't a typical All-Star game for the production team.
A kick: I never thought I would see the day when they would name an award after my old Tribune colleague, Fred Mitchell. But they did.
Mr. Mitchell was a renown kicker for Wittenberg University in the 60s (if you don't know, he'll tell you). The top Division II and III kicker now will receive the Fred Mitchell Award.
The award will be announced in December and the trophy will be presented in February at the National Football Foundation Chicago Metro Chapter Awards Ceremony at Halas Hall.
Congratulations, Fred.
New show: Comcast SportsNet will debut a new show, "net Impact Chicago" Friday at 9:30 p.m. The 30-minute program, which will air monthly, will present a behind-the-scenes look stories and personalities in Chicago sports.
The first episode will feature Josh Mora looking at Frank Thomas and Doug Glanville joining the "media" as analysts during the Cubs-Sox series. Luke Stuckmeyer has the story of Cubs announcer Bob Brenly and his son, Michael, who is a catcher with Class A Peoria. There also will be a look at Kenny Williams' venture into the restaurant business and Chuck Garfien's take on Ken Harrelson's "Hawkisms."