Sports TV News

Tim & Sid Prepare For TV Return

Published

8 years ago

July 1, 2015

They are recording the last podcast before their big return to television, and Tim Micallef and Sid Seixeiro are about to digress.

If you have somehow never seen or listened to the pair over their decade-plus on-air partnership, it is this type of verbal detour that shows off the brand of sports banter they specialize in.

Micallef throws out a “Where’s the Beef?” reference (admitting it’s dated), that sends Seixeiro reminiscing down a WrestleMania 2 rabbit hole that wends for a few minutes until Micallef gets him back to the actual news of the day — the most recent Pete Rose allegations. Seixeiro declares Rose’s rehabilitation tour done while Micallef tries to add a sober second thought, and then they’re on to the next topic.

That type of freewheeling sports and pop culture catchphrase-filled dialogue is a small slice of their career that has seen the pair move from TV to podcasting to radio across two national sports networks.

Starting out on The Score, they were poached by Rogers in 2011 to work early afternoons on Sportnet 590 The Fan, and now have seen their star rise to the point they are being given a national daily two-hour television slot from 5-7 p.m. on Sportsnet that starts July 1. The pair feels they are uniquely prepared to try and create a new kind of sports television show, one that will try to take their freeform approach to the screen, although that’s easier on radio than the traditionally more structured television.

“I think the mandate we’ve been given is that the highlights shows are changing in this country, the 6 o’clock sport news show is changing,” says Seixeiro. “People are on their phones, every one knows what’s going on. So the question is, what else can you give them?”

“Our radio show proved you could literally interact, without taking phone calls, with your audience and react in real-time to any news that is going on at the time, or whatever is hot and topical on that day,” says Micallef. “So now the question is how to take that to TV.”

The return to TV came as a bit of a surprise as the pair was seemingly doing well on in the 1-4 p.m. afternoon slot on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. They have a hardcore group of fans known as “Tim & Sid-izens” and have occasionally gone viral over the past year. Their over the top reaction to the winning goal of the 2014 Olympics Women’s gold medal hockey game has been watched over 830,000 times on YouTube. Seixeiro’s rant about ice dancing is almost over 220,000. Rogers clearly sees the pair as key to attracting a younger audience, wherever they might be.

“I don’t think of it as primarily a TV show, I think of it as a sports content factory that will be on all our platforms. So yes, it will be anchored at 5-7 p.m. on Sportsnet, but it will also live online on social media,” says Scott Moore, president of Sportsnet and NHL Properties for Rogers. “They are not just highlight guys, they know how to engage on any sports topic and the great thing about these guys is they can connect with sports fans on any number of levels. I think they are a special talent.”

To read the rest of this story visit the Toronto Star where it was originally published

Jason Barrett

Jason Barrett is the owner and operator of Barrett Sports Media. Prior to launching BSM he served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He has also produced national shows for ESPN Radio including GameNight and the Dan Patrick Show. You can find him on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or reach him by email at [email protected].

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Sports TV News

Scripps Sports Exec: Teams Are Making Contingency Deals For After Bally Sports Bankruptcy

Lawlor said that Scripps Sports “already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season.”

Published

9 hours ago

November 30, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

With the writing on the wall that Diamond Sports Group will drop its regional sports contracts after next year, entities like Scripps Sports are bracing for additional opportunities to work with various teams.

Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor recently said teams and leagues are already thinking ahead.

“There’s a lot of contingency planning by teams and leagues to have distribution options if the creditors pull the rug out early,” Lawlor told Cincinnati Business Courier. “It’s really messy right now.”

Lawlor added that Scripps has already been involved in contingency planning with those leagues and teams, with talks having gone on for months in some instances.

“(Scripps) already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season.

Scripps Sports already stepped in to help provide a new TV home for both the Vegas Golden Knights and the Arizona Coyotes. Lawlor said returns with those teams, particularly in Vegas, have been great.

“We’ve been blown away by the Golden Knights over-the-air ratings and the number of people who have subscribed to direct-to-consumer,” he said.

Jordan Bondurant

Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.

Sports TV News

Bob Iger: ESPN Could ‘Go It Alone’ and Not Take Financial Partners

“We are fully prepared to do that. It would be a little more challenging if we did.”

Published

9 hours ago

November 30, 2023

Jordan Bondurant

Courtesy: CNBC

As Disney continues to consider selling an ownership stake in ESPN, Disney CEO Bob Iger told employees he’s not ruling out the possibility of not bringing in new financial partners.

Front Office Sports reported Wednesday that Iger spoke at a Disney town hall on Tuesday and there’s no requirement in place that says Disney must seek out new investors to maintain ESPN’s financial future.

“We could go it alone,” he said. “We are fully prepared to do that. It would be a little more challenging if we did.”

Disney has already had some level of conversations with potential partners including pro sports leagues and big tech companies.

Jordan Bondurant

Sports TV News

NASCAR to Announce $1.1B Rights Deal with FOX, NBC, Prime Video, TNT

The $1.1 billion figure represents a nearly 40% increase in what the organization receives from its current deals.

Published

17 hours ago

November 29, 2023

BSM Staff

A photo of the NASCAR Cup Series, FOX, Prime Video, TNT, and NBC Sports logos

NASCAR is on the verge of announcing a new TV rights deal that will see the racing organization bring in $1.1 billion annually from five TV partners.

The $1.1 billion figure represents a nearly 40% increase in what the organization receives from its current deals.

Beginning in 2025 and running through the 2031 season, NASCAR will air its first 14 Cup Series events with FOX and FS1. The next five events will air on Amazon Prime Video, making the first time a NASCAR event will be shown exclusively on a streaming service.

Following Amazon’s portion of the schedule, another five events will be broadcast on both TNT and the B/R Sports tier of the Max streaming service. The final 14 races of the year will be broadcast with NBC, USA Network, and Peacock, according to reporting from Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern.

Previously, FOX Sports aired 18 races, while NBC aired 20, which includes two exhibition events.

In addition to its new deals with Amazon Prime Video and TNT for the Cup Series, NASCAR also has a previously announced new broadcast agreement with The CW to air each race of the Xfinity Series.

The upcoming announcement, which is expected either Wednesday or Thursday, comes on the heels of NASCAR President Steve Phelps admitting new TV partners would be entering the fray in the next contract.

“We are going to have an additional partner and we may have two additional partners,” Phelps told NBC Sports. “That’s kind of where we’re trying to figure out in these last few weeks — what that’s going to look like, but we already know we’re going to have more partners.”