Sports TV News
Hard Knocks Director: NFL Films Has Built Trust With Teams
“The league is constantly trying to figure out what teams are good fits for different projects and different shows.”
Published
5 months agoon
By
BSM Staff
HBO Sports and NFL Films will premiere the first episode of the in-season edition of Hard Knocks with the Miami Dolphins on Tuesday night at 9 PM ET on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. New episodes of the acclaimed, 18-time Emmy award-winning series will debut on Tuesday through January 9th and then on each Tuesday during the team’s potential postseason run.
Ahead of the team’s Black Friday matchup against the New York Jets, 560 WQAM morning host Joe Rose asked NFL Films producer and director Steve Trout about the process the league went through in securing the Dolphins for the series.
“The league is constantly trying to figure out what teams are good fits for different projects and different shows,” Trout said. “I’m not exactly sure how that all went down, but once it was decided, the Dolphins have been open-arms [in] welcoming us…. You get organizations that [are] transparent and they’re okay with showing what’s happening because I think it’s very clear they believe in what’s happening.”
The New York Jets appeared on the training camp edition of the show, which drew considerable interest and intrigue pertaining to the mystique surrounding new quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Throughout the program, Jets fans became accustomed to Rodgers and the impact he was having on the team, along with meetings between players and coaches and how they go about player development.
The team lost Rodgers to an Achilles injury on its first offensive drive of the season, but the four-time NFL Most Valuable Player is trying to expedite his return to the field, perhaps during this season. Whereas the Jets’ edition of Hard Knocks took place in training camp and the preseason, the Dolphins are in the midst of contending for the Super Bowl and taking part in a similar, but modified production.
“The August Hard Knocks is really six to eight times bigger than what we have here,” Trout said. “We’ve got to keep it small because we’re here for so much longer. I think what we’ve mastered over our 20 years of this is blending into the background and being the fly on the wall, and the model for this in-season has to be that way because you’re coming in – the plane’s already in flight – and so you’ve really got to make yourself small, yet still capture all that genuine gold if you will.”
Rose remarked that the Dolphins team has felt like a fun group to follow throughout the season, a sentiment Trout backed by avouching that he cannot discern any change in demeanor or actions just because of the presence of cameras. For HBO Sports and NFL Films, that is a fundamental aspect of the production every time the company brings cameras around an organization, and the Dolphins have been, to Trout, among the most genuine to appear on the program.
“Maybe people watch on a Sunday for three hours and they’re under a helmet and they’re football players,” Trout said. “Our goal is to make them dads and husbands and sons and friends, and so I think you’re going to see that tonight.”
When the Jets were on the program before the season, there were reports that the team was limiting access to meetings where players were cut from the group ahead of the season. Because of this, Hard Knocks displayed these difficult moments utilizing different forms of storytelling and shot selections based on their inventory. The Dolphins do not seem to be limiting access to their team, nor is the team selectively removing parts of episodes beforehand unless they contain proprietary information that could influence competitive balance, such as play calls.
“I think the reason, Joe, that NFL Films is able to do it is because of the trust; because teams trust us more than the FOXs or the ESPNs or the CBSs of the world,” Rose said. “They’re not watching the show to pick out scenes…. We’re just trying to tell a story, and they allow us to do that and tell the story because of that trust, and I think that’s been built up over the years.”
Sports TV News
Report: ESPN and the NBA Close to Finalizing Deal
The deal being worked on would have ESPN remaining with the top package and that would include the NBA Finals staying on ABC.
Published
2 days agoon
April 26, 2024By
BSM Staff
As the NBA’s exclusive negotiating period came to an end earlier this week for its current broadcast partners, sources have continued to say Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery were 75% or more to the finish line of a renewed deal with the NBA. The Puck’s John Ourand is now reporting ESPN and the NBA “have essentially come to terms on a package.”
In the report, Ourand says the deal being worked on would have ESPN remaining with the top package and that would include the NBA Finals staying on ABC. With that, Ourand says his sources are telling him ESPN will end up with less games in order for the NBA to create another package for a streamer. He reports something similar for Warner Bros. Discovery, however, says that deal is not as far along.
Numerous reports have indicated that Amazon, Apple, YouTube TV, Comcast (NBCUniversal/Peacock) and Netflix have all expressed potential interest on the streaming side. Other reports have said the NBA could look to sell games within the In-Season Tournament to a separate media company, as well, potentially adding a fourth partner in the deal.
Sports Business Journal’s Alex Karp had also reported last week that no matter what offers could come in from other networks or streamers, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have a right to match the offer.
Sports TV News
Bill Belichick to Join ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ Weekly in the Fall
“Is there any chance I could be on your show during the Fall?”
Published
2 days agoon
April 26, 2024By
BSM Staff
In what had to be one of the most covered non-game events in NFL history, the 2024 NFL Draft might very well be remembered as ‘The Belichick Draft.’ Bill Belichick, who has taken part in NFL Drafts for decades as a coach, took part in The Pat McAfee Draft Spectacular for night one of the draft as an analyst and by all accounts was a major hit.
As the show, which was carried on ESPN+, started to wrap up, McAfee said to Belichick, “Tonight was awesome…You crushed it.”
Belichick replied saying, “Is there any chance I could be on your show during the fall?” McAfee replied, “You mean like Mondays?”
And with that it appears much like Aaron Rodgers and Nick Saban in the past, Bill Belichick will be a weekly guest during the football season on The Pat McAfee Show.
Many wondered if Belichick would be a fit with McAfee and his cohorts and for those that tuned into the Draft Spectacular, it seems that was answered with a resounding yes. While McAfee’s team stayed in character throughout the broadcast, Belichick fit in well in both analyzing the players and teams while at the same time being comfortable enough to be relaxed and have fun with the style of broadcast McAfee presents.
Earlier this week Andrew Marchand of The Athletic said all signs are pointing to Belichick also being a recurring guest on Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli, also known as the ManningCast.
Sports TV News
‘NHL on ESPN’ Attains Double-Digit Increase in Regular Season Viewership
Regular season games on ESPN networks averaged 666,000 total viewers, a 13% increase from last season.
Published
2 days agoon
April 25, 2024By
BSM Staff
The third season under the seven-year agreement between The Walt Disney Company and National Hockey League was a success, with the NHL on ESPN property delivering double-digit viewership increases. For the regular season, NHL broadcasts on ESPN averaged 486,000 total viewers, which is up 25% compared to last season. Within the Persons 18-49 demographic, the property averaged 211,000 viewers, a 20% year-over-year increase.
Regular season games on ESPN networks averaged 666,000 total viewers, a 13% increase from last season. Additionally, the Persons 18-49 demographic came to an average of 230,000 viewers, which is up 4% year-over-year. ESPN also produced digital content that accrued more traffic than last season with 42 million unique viewers and 1.5 billion minutes, up 14% and 11% on the year, respectively.
The network broadcast an opening night tripleheader on Tuesday, Oct. 10 that started with a game between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning at 5:30 p.m. EST. Following the interconference matchup was a tilt between the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins at 8 p.m. EST. The night concluded with a matchup between the two newest teams in the NHL – the Seattle Kraken against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. These games averaged 909,000 total viewers, up 40% from the 2022-23 season opening night doubleheader.
Later in the season, the network broadcast both Stadium Series games from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. – which included the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and New York Rangers. The latter matchup between the Islanders and Rangers became the most-viewed regular season game since ESPN reacquired rights to the NHL in 2021, averaging 1.6 million viewers.
ESPN is broadcasting games within the Stanley Cup Playoffs as teams strive to win the league championship at season’s end. Viewership of Round 1 games across ESPN, TBS and truTV have amassed a 51% increase in ratings and 60% rise in viewership from last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, according to a report from Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. The Walt Disney Company will broadcast the Stanley Cup Final on ABC for the second time under the existing deal with the NHL.
