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• Bill Pugh, former program director at XTRA Sports 690 in San Diego and at Sporting News Radio Network, has been named Operations Manager at Clear Channel San Diego. Pugh will oversee all seven Clear Channel stations in the market.

• Veteran San Diego sports talk host Lee Hamilton's contract at XTRA Sports 1360 expires in the next month or two, and I wouldn't be surprised if the station asked Hacksaw to leave or, at the least, accept a smaller and, most importantly, less expensive role. (Courtesy San Diego Union Tribune)

• Despite a disastrous season by the Padres and the loss of its FM affiliate at 105.7 FM, XX Sports Radio (1090 AM) held on to the 1.8 rating it posted in the Winter Arbitron Ratings for audiences 12-plus. That rating, however, is down from a 2.3 last spring and a 2.7 last summer, when the Padres were in contention in the National League West. For the first time in 15 years, 1090 showed up in the L.A., ratings, although at 0.2. Sports radio in L.A. doesn't do well, however, with KLAC (570) the tops at a 1.1 and KSPN (710) at 0.7. In an odd quirk, KLAC posted an 0.5 rating in San Diego. XTRA Sports 1360 (1360 AM), San Diego's new station, and ESPN 800 (800 AM) didn't show up on the ratings, which only extended to 0.4. (Courtesy North County Times)

• Millenium Radio is selling Fox Sports Radio 1260 in Trenton, NJ to Domestic Church Media.

• The new Chiefs sideline reporter for KCFX, Kendall Gammon, said he’s not going to try to overly impress everyone in his first year on the Chiefs’ broadcasting team. “There’s a certain amount of trepidation going into this,” he said. “But hey, it took (the NFL) 15 years to figure out I was a fraud as a player, so maybe it’ll take even longer for this.” (Courtesy Kansas City Star)

• ArenaBowl XXII, the championship game of the Arena Football League, airs live at noon Sunday on ABC with the Philadelphia Soul facing the defending champion San Jose SaberCats in New Orleans. The network will use 14 cameras to cover the action, and coaches and players from both teams will wear microphones and will participate in conversations with announcers Ray Bentley and Bob Wischusen. (Courtesy North County Times)

• 710 ESPN Radio in Los Angeles is moving afternoon host Dave Dameshek from on-air to online. Dameshek will host a daily podcast on the station's website. Brian Long and Dave Denholm will handle the 4-7 pm slot until a permanent replacement is found.

• In Chicago's most recent radio ratings, sports-talk WMVP-AM 1000 (3.8) regained the lead in its seesaw battle with WSCR-AM 670 (2.8) in men 25-54. (Courtesy Chicago Tribune)

• Heartfelt condolences to Jim Kaat, whose wife Mary Ann, 64, died yesterday after suffering complications from the bladder cancer she was diagnosed with in 2004. Kaat, who retired from the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network booth following the 2007 season, said the family will hold a private service in Ripon, Wis. A celebration of Mary Ann's life will be held later this year at Kaat's Florida home. (Courtesy New York Daily News)

• With Eagles season drawing near, Fox29 is edging closer to hiring a sports anchor to replace Don Tollefson, whose contract was not renewed. Though no one at Fox29 will talk, word is that news director Kingsley Smith is thinking local, and that WIP's Anthony Gargano is one of several names being considered. (Gargano, who contributes to Fox29's Good Day, wouldn't comment last week.) Tollefson is working the 10 a.m.-to-noon Saturday shift on WPEN (950); his shows this weekend and next are four-hour remotes from car dealerships. (Courtesy Philadelphia Inquirer)

• Ex-ESPN analyst Michael Irvin will join the NFL Network — at least for this weekend. The league's network today announces that Irvin, inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame last year, will be on coverage of this year's inductions Saturday and on a preview show Friday night. (The network this week carries 30 hours of Hall-related programming.) Says NFL Network executive producer Eric Weinberger: "There's no better example of true passion for the game … than the emotional induction speech given by Michael last year. (Courtesy USA Today)

• On Tuesday, Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts were in desperate need of a clue. Happened during a WFAN interview with Hall of Famer Phil Niekro. Joey B asked Niekro how his "brother Joe" was doing. "He had an aneurysm about a year and a half ago and died," Niekro said. Joe Niekro, a two-time 20 game winner who recorded 221 career wins, died in 2006 of a brain aneurysm at the age of 61. Benigno told Niekro, "I did not know that." The talkie was embarrassed, but did not try to hide or cover his mistake. Someone else did. If you go to WFAN's Web site, and click on Benigno/Roberts' interview with Niekro, you won't hear the exchange concerning Joe Niekro's death. It was edited out of the interview. (New York Daily News)

• Congratulations to STAA client Jonah Goldberg. The voice of minor league baseball's Harlingen WhiteWings, Goldberg will call his 500th career game tonight.

• So why did Brett Favre do his interview on Fox News this week? Favre assuredly knew he would have a sympathetic interviewer in Greta Van Susteren, a Packers fan and shareholder. In fact, Favre's wife reportedly pitched the idea to Van Susteren in an e-mail. ``I'd like to say I got the Favre interview because of dogged determination, but it kind of fell in my lap,' Van Susteren told mediabis. (Courtesy Miami Herald)

• Hired this week: former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer (as an ESPN analyst on assorted programs) and golfer Tom Watson (to work British Open broadcasts on ABC). (Courtesy Miami Herald)

• NBC got permission to borrow Mike Breen from ABC/ESPN and Doug Collins from TNT to call men's basketball. (Courtesy Miami Herald)

• Troy Hirsch, who has worked news and sports at KNSD 7/39 in San Diego, will be the sports director when Fox switches affiliates in San Diego from Channel 6 to Channel 5. Hirsch joins a news staff that will include Kathleen Bade, Susan Lennon, Arthel Neville and Chrissy Russo. The new Fox 5 launches Aug. 1. Meanwhile, Channel 6 will keep its news team when it relaunches as a CW affiliate. C.S. Keys will continue as sports director. (Courtesy North County Times)

• After 10 days, 20.8 million viewers have tuned into some portion of the Versus coverage of the Tour de France, making it the most-watched Tour in network history. The ratings for live morning coverage are flat at .3, but Versus officials said the station's late-night race encores have shown an increase in viewership, as has the station's performance among men ages 18-34. (Courtesy North County Times)

• Television viewership two weeks ago for Tiger Woods's AT&T National, the first significant U.S. tournament since surgery knocked him out for the rest of this season, fell 40 percent, to 2.18 million from 3.62 million a year earlier, according to Nielsen Media Research. (Courtesy Bloomberg)

• Through the first 10 days of the Tour de France coverage on Versus, 20.8 million viewers have tuned in to some portion of the race, according to Nielsen Media Research data, making it the most-watched Tour telecast in the cable network's history. For the live morning race telecasts during the first 10 days, the network has averaged a household rating of 0.3, flat from last year. Versus shows the competition live in the morning, televises an encore of the morning race in the afternoon, a fringe encore telecast at 5 p.m., a prime time encore at 8 p.m. And a late night encore at midnight. (Courtesy Media Week)

• Monday night's ESPN telecast of the State Farm Home Run Derby was the most viewed program on ad-supported cable to date this year, averaging a 6.4 rating. The telecast attracted 6,184,000 household impressions, making it the most-viewed Home Run Derby ever among households. The telecast--which was up 35% in viewers, 29% in households over last year and 25% from last year's 5.1 rating--was ESPN's most-viewed non-NFL program among households since 2006. (Courtesy TV Week)

• ESPN Radio is adding "Football Tonight" to its daily lineup, from 7-8 pm EDT, starting July 21st. John Seibel and Freddie Coleman will be alternating hosts. The network is also adding an hour-long Sportscenter weeknights at midnight EDT. Doug Brown will host.

• The NFL Network today announces that New York Giants radio announcer Bob Papa will be its new play-by-play announcer with Chris Collinsworth on its eight regular-season NFL games. Papa, who also will call Olympic boxing for NBC, replaces Bryant Gumbel. (Courtesy USA Today

• KOA morning sports anchor Alan Roach will handle public address announcing this season at Denver Broncos home games.

• WMSP-Birmingham sports talk host Paul Finebaum has at least temporarily given up is twice-weekly column for teh Mobile Press-Register. According to the Press-Register, complications related to the surgery to repair a detached retina are now requiring an additional series of tests. More surgery is also possible. (Courtesy Montgomery Advertiser)

• Veteran sportscaster Gary Bender has been chosen for induction into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Bender is a graduate of the University of Kansas and started his broadcasting career in the Sunflower State.

• KAND-AM in Dallas is adding Fox Sports Radio programming for weeknights and weekends.

• With Matt Vasgersian working Phillies-Diamondbacks for Fox tomorrow, Steve Quis will call Padres-Braves this weekend with Tony Gwynn on Channel 4 San Diego. (Courtesy San Diego Union Tribune)

• Channel 4 San Diego reporter Jenny Cavnar has recently been getting sports talk opportunities on XTRA Sports 1360.

• Brandi Chastain will serve as an NBC Olympic game analyst for men's and women's soccer. (Courtesy USA Today)

• ESPN has asked the NFL to extend its rights to "Monday Night Football" through 2018. The current deal runs through 2013. A deal could be tied to distribution rights to the NFL Network. (Courtesy Sports Business Journal)

• The finals of the PGA Tour's AT&T National had a 1.5 rating, down 48 percent from last year when Tiger Woods played. (Courtesy North County Times)

• The new Women's Professional Soccer League, which is set to open play in 2009, is talking to NBC Universal, Fox Soccer Channel and ESPN about TV rights. (Courtesy North County Times)

• Rod Simons, who has been replaced as KSTP's sports anchor, will serve as a news reporter until his contract expires in October. Phil Aldridge, who had been working at the ABC affiliate in Denver, will make his debut Sunday as KSTP's sports anchor. (Courtesy Minneapolis Star Tribune)

• IMG Sports Media has been appointed to be the exclusive media rights agent and advisor for the college Bowl Championship Series (BCS). Fox currently holds the TV rights to televise most of the series through 2010, with NBC owning the rights to the Rose Bowl. IMG will negotiate the next U.S. TV rights agreement with the television networks on behalf of the BCS, which is managed by the commissioners of the 11 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision conferences, the director of athletics at the University of Notre Dame, and representatives of the bowl organizations. (Courtesy Media Week)

• NBC Universal will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of Beijing Olympic Games coverage, the most ambitious single media project in history. NBCU's unprecedented Olympics coverage features the most live coverage in the United States (75 percent in all), across the most platforms, of any Summer Olympics in history when the Games of the XXIX Olympiad commence on Aug. 8. (Courtesy NBC Universal)

• WFAN morning show hosts Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton will be doing play-by-play for the Brooklyn Cylones baseball game on Monday. It will be the fourth straight year that the station has broadcast a Cyclones game.

• Turner Sports has installed Bryan Perez, the current global CEO of the concert/event company Live Nation, as the new senior vp and general manager for NBA Digital. Starting in mid-July, Perez, who's also held high-profile business development and marketing roles at Clear Channel Entertainment, the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars, and Madison Square Garden, will take over the day to day operations for all of the NBC's digital business in what is a newly created position. He'll report directly to Turner Sports president David Levy and NBA COO and deputy commissioner Adam Silver. (Courtesy Media Week)

• XM will air the All-Star Game, the Home Run Derby, and exclusive radio coverage of the XM All-Star Futures Game, featuring the top minor-league prospects from the U.S. and abroad. XM's baseball talk radio channel MLB Home Plate will be live from New York starting July 12 with Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. at the All-Star FanFest at the Javits Center in Manhattan. (Courtesy XM)

• Rafael Nadal's five-set victory over Roger Federer drew the highest preliminary U.S. television rating for a Wimbledon title match in eight years as the sport's top two men played the longest final in tournament history. The match, which took almost seven hours to complete around two rain delays, was watched in 4.6 percent of homes in the largest U.S. media markets, according to Nielsen Media Research Inc., an increase of 44 percent over last year's final between the same two men. The match was the highest rated for a final involving two non-U.S. players since Michael Stich beat Boris Becker in 1991. (Courtesy Bloomberg)

• Fox Sports Radio has added Super Talk 101.7 in Blacksburg, VA and WFIN-AM in Findlay, OH.

• Former Memphis Redbirds broadcaster David Kelly has accepted a position with the Sports Marketing Wing of the University of Arizona Athletic Department, IMG (International Management Group), to become a Sponsorship Marketing Coordinator. Kelly will also assume the role of Network Host for football and men's basketball radio broadcasts, and do radio play-by-play work for the university's baseball and softball teams.

• Congratulations to WTMM-FM (104.5) program director and sports­talk show host Brian Sinkoff, who became a father for the first time last Friday. Sinkoff’s wife gave birth to Zachary Samuel Sinkoff at 1:33 p.m. at Albany Med. (Courtesy Schenectady Gazette)

• Condolences go out to the family of former WPEC Sports Director Jim Gallagher, who died Wednesday. Gallagher had a legendary career as a sportscaster in the area and longtime FAU fans may remeber him as first voice of the Owls basketball team, a position he held from 1989-1995. (Courtsy Palm Beach Post)

• NBC lucked out with two famous Americans — and a sibling-vs.-sibling subplot — in the Wimbledon women's final. NBC drew a 3.4 overnight rating for Saturday's broadcast, which translates to 3.4% of households in 56 urban TV markets — up 21% from last year. The rating peaked at 5.1% at the end of Venus Williams' win against sister Serena. Given Sunday's virtual all-day men's final — "dinner at Wimbledon," as NBC's John McEnroe noted — NBC should get a strong rating for Rafael Nadal's win against Roger Federer. McEnroe, who's not given the hyperbole, called it "the greatest match we've ever seen —ever!" He also ended a post-match interview with Federer by saying, "Give me a hug!" (Courtesy USA Today)

• The Dolphins are in serious discussions to move their ancillary programming from NBC 6 to WFOR 4, which has emerged as the favorite to carry The Tony Sparano Show. The move to WFOR would make sense, considering Channel 4 televises the preseason games. (Courtesy Miami Herald)

• Jeff Conine has spoken to the Marlins about a wide-ranging job for next season that could include some fill-in broadcasting work. (Courtesy Miami Herald)

• Ratings for Fox Saturday baseball this season are down 16%, almost identical with ESPN’s drop for its telecasts this season, 17%. (Courtesy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)