Sports broadcasting random notes

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• STAA client Matt Leite is broadcasting the IIHF Women's U18 World Championships in Chicago for FastHockey.com in conjunction with USAHockey. The tournament includes the U.S.A., Canada, Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic, Finland, Japan, and Germany, including many Olympians from the 2010 Winter games in Vancouver.

• Long-time Huntsville sports talk host and Alabama Vipers (Arena 2) commentator Thom Abraham will rejoin the team and once again be the "Voice of the Vipers". Abraham currently hosts a sports talk show in Nashville, but will be making the drive to Huntsville for the Vipers. The games will be heard on SportsRadio 730 AM The UMP, and on FM 103.9. (Courtesy WAAY-TV)

• MASN, the television home of the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals, will launch on Comcast in the Harrisburg PA area just in time for Major League Baseball's Opening Day. Starting March 31, the Baltimore-based Mid-Atlantic Sports Network will be televised on Comcast systems in Harrisburg, Lykens, Lebanon, Hershey, Millersburg, and Elizabethtown in central Pennsylvania. Comcast will also carry MASN2, MASN-HD, and MASN2-HD. (Courtesy DCRTV)

• STAA client Tom Fallon will be calling play-by-play for some upcoming baseball and softball video webcasts for Lafayette College and the Lafayette Sports Network, known online as LSN All-Access. The games can be viewed on Lafayette's official athletics website www.goleopards.com.

• Major League Baseball is rebranding the MLB Home Plate channel on XM Radio as “MLB Network Radio.” (Courtesy Albany Times Union)

• DC's WTEM, ESPN 980, is the second most listened to sports talker in Baltimore, ahead of Charm City's own Fox 1370, WNST (1570 AM), and WJZ-AM (1300). With 105.7 The Fan, WJZ-FM, on top in the February sports radio ratings. (Courtesy DCRTV)

• Chet Simmons, who helped launch ABC Sports and was president of NBC Sports and ESPN and the founding commissioner of the USFL, died Thursday in Atlanta. He was 81. (Courtesy Houston Chronicle)

• There were a few interesting upticks and downticks during February for sports radio in Houston, according to the latest Arbitrons. The four all-sports stations combined for a 5.8 share among men 25-54 in morning drive and 5.1 in afternoon drive. KFNC (97.5 FM) has taken the lead at midday from KILT (610 AM), which leads the other dayparts. KFNC, KGOW and KBME (790 AM) are neck and neck for second behind KILT in morning drive, and KBME is moving within striking distance of KILT in afternoon drive. (Courtesy Houston Chronicle)

• Joe Buck, on St. Louis radio station KSLG, says he doubts his Joe Buck Live show will return to HBO. “I think there’s been kind of a shift in the philosophy there, and where that show ends up in the wash, we’ll find out,” he said. “ (Courtesy Houston Chronicle)

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• Former Astros infielder Morgan Ensberg and Olympic softball gold medalists Michelle Smith, Jessica Mendoza and Amanda Freed are among the analysts for ESPN’s college baseball and softball games this season. (Courtesy Houston Chronicle)

• TCU is leaving KESN, the ESPN Radio-owned station in Dallas-Fort Worth, for AM blowtorch WBAP and its new FM simulcast signal of KPMZ. (Courtesy Houston Chronicle)

• Local multimedia maven Chance McClain of KGOW (1560 AM) says his musical short Horrible Turn, an unauthorized prequel to Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, has been nominated for the 2010 Streamy Awards in the category of best original music. The awards, which recognize achievement in Web TV production and entertainment, will be presented next month in Los Angeles. Performers include Spencer Tillman, Sean Pendergast and Raheel Ramazanali, all of whom, thankfully, opted to keep their day jobs. It can be viewed free of charge at horribleturn.com. (Courtesy Houston Chronicle)

• In the latest shows trying to broaden their reach by simulcasting on TV and radio, MLB's Home Plate channel on XM satellite radio will be rebranded as the MLB Network Radio — and simulcast various MLB Network TV shows such as MLB Tonight. (Courtesy USA Today)

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• Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will recognize Phil Chenier's 25 years as the network's color analyst for the Washington Wizards by hosting "Phil Chenier Night" on April 2 as the Wizards host the Chicago Bulls at Verizon Center at 7 PM. (Courtesy DCRTV)

• We're getting an official start date for the new John Riggins afternoon drive radio show. Monday, April 5th, the Redskins great will start doing the 4 PM to 7 PM weekday show on WTOP's 103.5 digital HD3 signal. DCRTV hears that local sports veterans Lou Holder, of Fox5, and Kevin Stanfield, who'd produced for Tony Kornheiser's old 3WT radio show, will be joining Riggins in the endeavor. (Courtesy DCRTV)

• Producer Ed Barnes put together a pretty good spring-training telecast Wednesday night on Channel 4 San Diego, from in-booth interviews with three Padres executives to showing some great footage of Chris Young playing basketball at Princeton. Too bad he was ordered to go along with what I can only assume was a Padres request to turn the game into a bad version of a telethon. I would never say having Mark Neely and Mark Grant announce when people had bought season tickets was bush league, because that would be an insult to bush leaguers everywhere. (Courtesy San Diego Union Tribune)

• Real Salt Lake, KALL 700 Sports and Bustos Media are proud to announce that the long-time radio homes of Utah's Major League Soccer side will continue partnerships with the defending MLS Cup champion in 2010. KALL 700 Sports will return as the flagship English radio home of Real Salt Lake, while the team's Spanish language broadcasts will air on a pair of Bustos Media stations - ESPN Deportes 1600-AM and Magia 106.1 FM. (Press Release)

• The San Jose Earthquakes have announced their English and Spanish language radio broadcast partners for the 2010 season. 1220 KDOW will broadcast all Earthquakes games on the radio in English, while 1370 KZSF "La Kaliente" will air all home games in Spanish.(Press Release)

• Marquette coach Buzz Williams is among six college basketball coaches who will serve as guest studio analysts for the NCAA tournament on CBS College Sports Network television this week. Other coaches in the mix are Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh, Seth Greenberg of Virginia Tech, Tony Barbee of Auburn, Dave Rose of BYU and former St. John's coach Norm Roberts. (Courtesy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

• Tommy Griffiths, who most recently worked in Norfolk, VA, is the latest to audition on air for the vacant morning show slot on XX Sports Radio in San Diego.

• When a batter hits, say, an infield grounder in TV baseball, a high camera behind home plate follows the play before a camera even with first base shows you whether the runner beats the throw. But on ESPN's Philadelphia Phillies-Atlanta Braves MLB spring training game today (1 p.m. ET), the first-base camera will be placed about halfway toward home — and shoot wider in hopes of catching fielders and baserunners in the same TV shot. Says ESPN coordinating producer Matt Sandulli: "The basic idea is to show viewers more of the game on the field." (Courtesy USA Today)

• Veteran radio host Craig Shemon filled-in this morning on XX Sports Radio in San Diego. Shemon is thought to be one of the leading candidates to replace Scott Kaplan and Billy Ray Smith should the station be unable to resolve a contract dispute with their former show.

• WIP Philadelphia overnight host Big Daddy Graham announced on the station Monday that he has been diagnosed with throat cancer. Graham is optimistic about his chances for a complete recovery.

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