College Football 2012 on National Radio- Week 1

It's time folks. College Football is back on the radio, and with it comes the weekly national schedule updates. Here's the Week 1 plans from the 6 major providers. I realize I missed the Thursday Game. I will attempt to usually have this posted on Wednesday, but Touchdown radio had to choose another game after Compass Media took Miami/ Boston College from Touchdown Radio's hands. As a bonus this year, I will try and list the play-by-play teams for each game. Look forward to next week's listings.

Thursday, August 30
7 PM- South Carolina at Vanderbilt- Touchdown Radio (Frank Frangie, Gino Torretta, Roxy Bernstein)

Friday, August 31
7:30 PM- Chick-fil-A Kickoff: NC State vs. Tennessee- ESPN Radio (Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Joe Schad)
8 PM- Boise State at Michigan State- Sports USA (John Ahlers, Gary Barnett)

Saturday, September 1
9:00 AM- Emerald Isle Classic: Notre Dame vs. Navy- IMG Notre Dame Radio Network (Don Criqui, Jeff Jeffers)
3 PM- Miami at Boston College- Compass Media (Gregg Daniels, Tony Hill)

6:30 PM- Chick-fil-A Kickoff: Auburn vs. Clemson- Dial Global (John Tatuges, Terry Donahue)
7:30 PM- Hawaii at USC- ESPN Radio (Rich Cellini, John Mackovic, Brett McMurphy)
8 PM- Cowboys Classic: Michigan vs. Alabama- ESPN Radio (Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, Joe Schad)

ESPN Radio finally announcs college football schedule

Yesterday ESPN Media Zone released more than 450 games that will be televised on the ESPN Family this year. Included on the list was most of the ESPN Radio schedule for 2012-13. Remember this is the first year that every USC home game will be available on ESPN Radio and ESPNRadio.com. However they will have their own separate broadcast team from the previously announced returning team of Bill Rosinski, David Norrie, and Joe Schad. Due to time conflicts, not all games will be available on every ESPN Radio affiliate. Check your local listings to see which game, if any, will be carried in your area.

Friday, August 31- 6:30 PM- Chick-fil-A Kickoff: Tennessee vs. NC State

Saturday, September 1- 7:30 PM- Hawaii at USC
8 PM- Cowboys Classic: Michigan vs. Alabama

Saturday, September 8- 3:30 PM- Florida at Texas A&M
7:30 PM- Nebraska at UCLA

Saturday, September 15- 6 PM- Florida at Tennessee

Saturday, September 22- TBD- LSU at Auburn
TBD- Cal at USC

Thursday, September 27- 9 PM- Stanford at Washington

Saturday, September 29- TBD- Tennessee at Georgia
TBD- Mississippi at Alabama

Saturday, October 6- TBD- West Virginia at Texas
TBD- LSU at Florida

Saturday, October 13- TBD- TCU at Baylor

Saturday, October 20- TBD- Michigan State at Michigan
TBD- Colorado at USC

 Saturday, October 27- 8 PM- Michigan at Nebraska

Thursday, November 1- 7:30 PM- Virginia Tech at Miami

Saturday, November 3- TBD- Missouri at Florida
TBD- Oregon at USC

Thursday, November 8- 7:30 PM- Florida State at Virginia Tech

Saturday, November 10- TBD- West Virginia at Oklahoma State
TBD- Baylor at Oklahoma
TBD- Arizona State at USC

Thursday, November 15- 7:30 PM- North Carolina at Virginia

Saturday, November 17- TBD- Iowa at Michigan
TBD- USC at UCLA

Friday, November 23- 2:30 PM- LSU at Arkansas

Saturday, November 24- TBD- Notre Dame at USC
TBD- Oklahoma State at Oklahoma

Friday, November 30- TBD- Pac-12 Championship Game

Saturday, December 1- TBD- 7:45 or 8:00 PM- Dr. Pepper ACC Championship Game
TBD- Oklahoma State at Baylor

Saturday, December 15- 1 PM- New Mexico Bowl
4:30 Pm- Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Thursday, December 20- 8 PM- Poinsettia Bowl

Friday, December 21- 7:30 PM- St. Petersburg Bowl

Saturday, December 22- Noon- New Orleans Bowl

Monday, December 24- 8 PM- Hawaii Bowl

Thursday, December 27- 9:45 PM- Holiday Bowl

Saturday, December 28- 5:30 PM- Russell Athletic Bowl
9 PM- Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas

Sunday, December 29- 3:15 PM- Pinstripe Bowl
6:45 PM- Alamo Bowl
10:15 PM- Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl

Monday, December 31- 3:30 PM- Liberty Bowl
7:30 PM- Chick-fil-A Bowl

Tuesday, January 1- 1 PM- Capital One Bowl
1 PM-Outback Bowl
5 PM- Rose Bowl
8:30 PM- Orange Bowl

Wednesday, January 2- 8:30 PM- Sugar Bowl

Thursday, January 3- 8:30 PM- Fiesta Bowl

Friday, January 4- 7 PM- Cotton Bowl

Saturday, January 5- 1 PM- BBVA Compass Bowl

Monday, January 7- 8:30 PM- BCS National Championship

Additional games could still be added to the schedule, mostly Thursday and Friday night games, but this is the full announced schedule for now.

Touchdown Radio finally releases 2012 schedule

After months and months of waiting, Touchdown Radio has finally released their 2012 schedule.  One USC football game is scheduled to be broadcast by Touchdown radio, meaning at least 10 of USC's 12 games will be broadcast to a national audience. Below is the full touchdown radio schedule for 2012-13.

August 30- South Carolina at Vanderbilt
September 8- USC at Syracuse
September 15- Cal at Ohio State
September 22- Kentucky at Florida
September 29- Arkansas vs. Texas A&M
October 6- Georgia at South Carolina
October 13- Alabama at Missouri
October 20- Florida State at Miami
October 27- Mississippi State at Alabama
November 3- Michigan at Minnesota
November 10- Georgia at Auburn
November 17- Ole Miss at LSU
November 22- TCU at Texas (they have it listed on a Saturday, but the Big 12 Media Guide says it will be Thanksgiving Night)
December 1- Texas at Kansas State
December 8- TBD
December 27- Military Bowl (Touchdown Radio has had the Military Bowl every year since it started, but it would be unusual for them to do a DH)
December 27- Belk Bowl (This is a ? because last year they didn't list it on their schedule, yet they produced and broadcast the Belk Bowl nationally)
December 31- Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
January 1- Gator Bowl

2012 Dial Global Olympics schedule

In association with NBC Sports group, Dial Global will once again serve as the exclusive radio home for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games from London. They are sparing no expense with the coverage.

John Tatuges and Kevin Kugler will produce a nightly recap show titled "Late Night in London." The recap will be broadcast from 9 PM- 11 PM with a new show every night beginning July 27 with the Opening Ceremonies and going all the way through the Closing Ceremonies (August 12).

Dial Global will also produce live play-by-play action in a limited capacity. Every USA men's basketball prelim game (July 29th (vs. France), July 31st (vs. Tunisia), August 2nd (opponent TBD), August 4th (opponent TBD), August 6th (vs. Argentina), Team USA Men’s Quarterfinal: Wednesday, August 8th (if the U.S. advances to the medal round), Team USA Men’s Semifinal: Friday, August 10th (if the U.S. reaches the semifinal)*, *If Team USA loses in the semifinal round, Dial Global Sports will also broadcast the Bronze Medal Game at 5:45 AM Eastern on Sunday 8/12/12) will be included in the Play-by-Play coverage. The gold medal games in both men's and women's basketball will also be done by Dial Global.

Dial Global won't focus solely on men's basketball. The men's and women's soccer championship games will be broadcast by Dial Global.

In terms of coverage, Dial Global will offer updates 3-times an hour throughout the day, and teams will also be covering gymnastics, swimming, and athletics for the Dial Global games coverage.

More details can be found in their announcement schedule at  http://dialglobalsports.com/2012/06/the-summer-olympics-on-the-dial-global-radio-network/. Details on each announcer for Dial Global Sports can be found at http://dialglobalsports.com/olympic-announcers/.

Make way for NBC Sports Radio Network

In a joint announcement made today, NBC Sports Network and Dial Global Sports will team up to form the NBC Sports Radio Network. For most media fans, this is good news. Instead of having NBC Sports personnel like Cris Collinsworth, Michelle Beadle, Al Michaels, BobCostas, Tony Dungy, and many others appear once a week on ESPN Radio and other media groups, you will have a select group that will host daily radio shows. Groups like The Two Stews could very well be finding themselves with a national radio feed to broadcast on daily instead of doing every few months as guest hosts for Dan Patrick.

One of the big targets with this group is The Dan Patrick Show. Most people know The Dan Patrick Show isn't produced by Fox Sports. Yet it airs nationwide on Fox Sports Radio and on FSN. Dan and the Danettes may very easily be finding themselves with a new radio home with NBC Sports radio Network.

Perhaps the most interesting thing mentioned isn't about the shows. They specifically mention that NBC Sports radio network will carry a large amount of Dial Global Sports coverage. In some cases, like with the olympics, this is easy to understand since Dial Global Sports produces radio broadcasts for the Olympics thanks to a current contract with NBC Sports. This coverage could grow a lot more though.

Think about it. The NHL hasn't had a radio home since Westwood One dumped them back in 2006. Could it be inconceivable to see NBC Sports Radio Network doing play-by-play coverage of the NHL conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals? What about their NCAA contracts with the MWC, CAA, and Ivy League? If I were NBC Sports Radio network, I would be working on buying out the MWC Radio Network contract. I would then produce the radio broadcasts for every game in the CAA and MWC men's basketball tournaments and do the women's championship games to. They have the exclusive TV rights already, and Dial Global has the men's basketball Championship game rights. Expand it further. It also allows you to gain ground on groups like ESPN Radio (Big 12 & ACC) and Compass Media Networks (Big 10). Ironically the Pac-12 and SEC have their rights with Dial Global. How about during football and basketball season? Honestly, in order to get a step above the radio competition on Saturday, how about simulcasting your Ivy League, CAA, and MWC games of the week on NBC Sports Radio Network? Or if you can't do that, how about buying out a group that has struggled to get radio affiliates, like Touchdown Radio Productions, and having them produce a game of the week?

I truly believe NBC Sports Radio Network has the talent to proceed within staff already. Many Comcast Regional Network hosts have their own community shows already. It won't be that hard to transition them to the national stage. However you need additional content to pull people away from Fox Sports Radio and Yahoo! Radio. Play-by-play for sports may very well be the key. We have already seen the Angels enter into a baseball contract for a Game-of-the-Week on Compass Media though most weeks it's two games). Let NBC Sports Radio Network do the same. Enter into a contract with a team already within house (like the Cubs) that will get national attention and do one or two games of the week during baseball. Get rights to do additional Golf coverage (currently The US Open is done by ESPN Radio and The Masters by Dial Global Sports, but those are the only golf championships on the radio, and NBC has rights in Golf Network giving them rights to cover every golf event). Give people a reason to turn away from the shows they are familiar with and have a new home to fall in love with.

NBC Sports Radio Network will be broadcast online at NBCSports.com and at dialglobalsports.com with the shows and hourly updates. Play-by-play coverage could also be streamed online if a league contract, like NFL and MLB, doesn't prohibit it. Golf, NCAA Football and Basketball, and the NHL could all find themselves with a new radio home to prosper within.

More info can be found in the Press Release at  http://dialglobalsports.com/2012/06/nbc-sports-group-and-dial-global-partner-to-form-the-nbc-sports-radio-network/.

Dial Global Announces 2012 NCAA Football schedule

Dial Global will produce 15 regular season telecasts and 3 post-season college tilts for the 2012 season. Perhaps the most surprising move is that they didn't pick up a USC road game. Even more surprising is that the early schedule only lists 1 game a week whereas they've had 2 games a week for the past 4 years, and the most shocking development of all is the Cotton Bowl is now gone from Dial Global's broadcast schedule. Most times are still TBA. Below is the schedule announced by Dial Global for 2012.

September 1:
6:30 PM- Auburn vs. Clemson

September 3:
7:30 PM- Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech

September 8:
TBA- Washington at LSU

September 15:
TBA- Alabama at Arkansas

September 22:
TBA- Clemson at Florida State

September 29:
TBA- Ohio State at Michigan State
7:30 PM- Wisconsin at Nebraska

October 6:
TBA- Oklahoma at Texas Tech

October 13:
TBA- South Carolina at LSU

October 20:
TBA- Virginia Tech at Clemson

October 27:
3 PM- Georgia vs. Florida

November 3:
7:30 PM- Alabama at LSU

November 10:
TBA- Arkansas at South Carolina

November 17:
TBA- Stanford at Oregon

November 24:
11:30 AM- Michigan at Ohio State

December 1:
3:30 PM- SEC Championship

December 8:
2 PM- Army vs. Navy

January 5:
11:30 AM- FCS Championship

Dial Global releases NFL Sunday afternoon schedule for first 7 weeks

Dial Global is the last if the 3 networks to release their afternoon doubleheader schedule, but it certainly doesn't appear to be lacking any type of quality. Here is the schedule for the first 7 weeks of the season.

September 9:
12:30 PM- Washington Redskins at New Orleans Saints
3:45 PM- San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers

September 16:
12:30 PM- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New York Giants
3:45 PM- Tennessee Titans at San Diego Chargers

September 23:
12:30 PM- New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
3:45 PM- Houston Texans at Denver Broncos

September 30:
12:30 PM- Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons
3:45 PM- Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars

October 7:
12:30 PM- Philadelphia Eagles at Pittsburgh Steelers
3:45 PM- Denver Broncos at New England Patriots

October 14:
12:30 PM- Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles
3:45 PM- Buffalo Bills at Arizona Cardinals

October 21:
12:30 PM- Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans
3:45 PM- New York Jets at New England Patriots

Dial Global announces College World Series announce team

While the regionals begin this weekend, Dial Global Sports is gearing up for their live broadcasts of the 2012 College World Series. As reported earlier, Dial Global will broadcast every game of the College World Series. Lets clarify that statement. Every game of the College World Series, not the regionals leading up to it, will be streamed live by Dial Global. So if you were hoping to listen to Dallas Baptist vs. Baylor this week via Dial Global, then you're out of luck. You have to wait until the 8-teams that will meet in Omaha (June 15) begin play before you can do so.

Now that the downside is done, Dial Global has released its broadcast team. Kevin Kugler will be one of the play-by-play announcers for Dial Global. This is the 9th season Kugler will help with the NCAA Radio broadcasts of the College World Series. He started in 2004 as a field reporter for NCAA Radio and moved up to the play-by-play position in 2007.

Scott Graham also returns to the College World Series as a play-by-play man for the second consecutive year.

Joining them as the analyst is John Bishop.

The team of Kevin Kugler and John Bishop has also been hired by NRG Media to do play-by-play action of the preliminaries at TD Ameritrade Park. Joining them for the prelim games will be field reporters Matt Schick, David Gustafson, and Chris Whitney. These games won't be streamed live at dialglobalsports.com, and it is unknown if NRG Media will have a streaming spot online for them. It is believed NCAA.com might carry those games.

Broadcasts at the College World Series will take place daily at 4:40 PM and 8:40 PM.

Compass Media 2012 NFL schedule slowly being finalized

Compass Media will once again feature the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders every week of the year for the 2012 season. Every game, including Primetime games that used to be Dial Global exclusives, will be available to Compass Media providers. In fact Compass Media will have 6 Primetime games this season. Compass Media will also produce a game of the week that usually doesn't features the Cowboys or Raiders most weeks. Most games after week 6 won't be announced until 2 to 3 weeks before their broadcasts. Compass Media has contracts with the Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers, and Seattle Seahawks for select games (at least 1 per season) and every game for the Raiders and Cowboys. Here is what is known so far with the 2012 Compass Media NFL schedule.

PRE-SEASON:
Monday, August 13
7:30 PM- Dallas Cowboys at Oakland Raiders

Friday, August 17
9:30 PM- Oakland Raiders at Arizona Cardinals

Saturday, August 18
8:30 PM- Dallas Cowboys at San Diego Chargers

Saturday, August 25
6:30 PM- Detroit Lions at Oakland Raiders
7:30 PM- St. Louis Rams at Dallas Cowboys

Wednesday, August 29
8 PM- Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys

Thursday, August 30
9:30 PM- Oakland Raiders at Seattle Seahawks

REGULAR SEASON
Wednesday, September 5
8 PM- Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants

Sunday, September 9
12:30 PM- Atlanta Falcons at Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills at New York Jets (affiliates choice)
3:45 PM- Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Monday, September 10
10 PM- San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders

Sunday, September 16
12:30 PM- Oakland Raiders at Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia Eagles
3:45 PM- Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks

Sunday, September 23
12:30 PM- Detroit Lions at Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys
3:45 PM- Pittsburgh Steelers at Oakland Raiders

Sunday, September 30
12:30 PM- San Francisco 49ers at New York Giants and San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs (affiliates choice)
3:45 PM- Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos

Monday, October 1
8 PM- Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys

Sunday, October 7
12:30 PM- Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons at Washington Redskins (affiliates choice)
3:45 PM- Buffalo Bills at San Francisco 49ers

Sunday, October 14
12:30 PM- Oakland Raiders at Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys at Baltimore ravens
3:45 PM- New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers

(other games announced not involving Dallas or Oakland)
Sunday, October 28
12:30 PM- Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles

Sunday, November 18
12:30 PM- Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins

Sunday, November 25
12:30 PM- Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs

Your LA Angels on Compass Media Announcers are...

The LA Angels on Compass Media Networks officially launched Tuesday night with the Yankees at Angels and will continue this Friday night when the Texas Rangers come to town. What many people aren't aware is whom Compass Media got to call the action.

Chris Carrino, the play-by-play announcer for the New Jersey Nets, moves over from his Compass Media NFL duties as one of two play-by-play announcers Compass Media will use for the Angels broadcasts. The other broadcaster is SD4 sports broadcaster and former Padres TV play-by-play man Steve Quis. Quis has been calling basketball games for the San Diego Toreros and San Diego State Aztecs this past season and is also the voice of Pac-12 baseball on FSN. In fact you can watch a Quis broadcast with the BYU at USD game online at http://byutvsports.com/filmroom/watch/?id=3d8e0850-b94a-40b0-87b1-dcffa4a44b60.

In terms of analyzing the games, the Angels also have two men ready to roll. Steve Phillips and Darryl Hamilton will provide analysis for the Angels broadcasts.

The one bad thing about this is the LA Angels on Compass Media Networks broadcasts won't be available to listen to online. ESPN Radio pays MLB a fee to broadcast their games online, but those games aren't available with the MLB Audio Subscription package. Likewise the Angels on Compass Media Networks broadcasts won't be available through MLB Audio. Many of the ESPN Radio affiliates that have signed on to carry the package won't be able to do so until the NBA Playoffs end. My recommendation would be to check your local listings to see if you have an affiliate carrying the Angels on Compass Media package. Or you can hope that you come across a random stream when you check sports radio stations online.

VCU & Butler to A10 in 2012-13; Whose the real winner in A10

CBS Sports is reporting today that Butler will move to the A10 for the 2012-13 season instead of the 2013-14 season since the Horizon League wouldn't let them play in the tourney basketball championship if they stay. So the A-10 will have basketball mid-major powers in Butler, VCU, Dayton, UMass, Rhode Island, St. Joseph's, St. Louis, Temple, and Xavier. So whose the real winner with this move?

Obviously the A10 is a winner because their basketball RPI jumps up and they have 9 schools with a history of competing in the NCAA Tourney regularly now in their conference. Does that make the conference the real winner though. I don't think so.

The real winner is CBS. Think about it. CBS Sports Network has the TV contract for A10 basketball. they can schedule 3-4 A10 matches a week. the demand for A10 basketball could push them to new limits and get them on cable systems they haven't been on before.

Not only that, but CBS has the rights to the A10 regional TV network. Can anyone say the A10 regional network might not be the most demanded basketball TV network after the Big East Network and ACC Network with this move? Most people honestly say the SEC is an inconsistent basketball conference, and the Pac-12 isn't elite in basketball. The A10 will certainly be in more demand than these two conferences.

Not only that, but the A10 can now open up a contract for streaming rights. Does anyone not think ESPN3 wouldn't want A10 games to be streamed on their service? What about CBS creating a new streaming service solely for A10 games like they do for Big Ten Basketball on CBS and SEC Football on CBS games)? Would NBC Sports Network, which has talked about possibly adding the MWC games on NBCSN to NBCSports.com, be interested in streaming them? One thing's for certain. The addition of VCU & Butler will lead to a higher demand for A10 games, and the conference stands to be the real winner when the next TV deal comes up.

Sports USA releases first half of 2012 NFL schedule

What's this? It's still May and Sports USA is releasing info on their 2012 NFL schedule already? That's right. It's important to know that afternoon NFL games aren't exclusive to any group. The only group that gets exclusive broadcasting rights is Dial Global Sports with Thursday, Sunday, and Monday Night Football as well as the playoffs. Any other group can enter into a contract with specific teams to broadcast some or all of their games nationally. That's why the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders have every game on Compass Media Networks. That's why Sports USA can compile a schedule this early on without having to worry about conflicts from Dial Global or Compass Media. Here's the first half of the 2012 NFL schedule on Sports USA. This will be the 11th year Sports USA has a NFL Doubleheader scheduled each Sunday.

September 9
1 PM- New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans
4 PM- Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals

September 16
1 PM- New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
4 PM- New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers

September 23
1 PM- St. Louis Rams at Chicago Bears
4 PM- Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals

September 30
1 PM- Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions
4 PM- New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers

October 7
1 PM- Cleveland Browns at New York Giants
4 PM- Seattle Seahawks at Carolina Panthers

October 14
1 PM- Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns
4 PM- New England Patriots at Seattle Seahawks

October 21
1 PM- TBA
4 PM- New York Jets at New England Patriots

October 28
1 PM- New England Patriots vs. St. Louis Rams from London
4 PM- TBA

Weeks 9-17 will be announced 2 to 3 weeks in advance.