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Hot air: Winless Dallas Cowboys trump unbeaten Houston Texans as topic of interest for TV networks
11:03 PM CDT on Friday, September 24, 2010
Column by BARRY HORN / The Dallas Morning News | bhorn@dallasnews.com
Barry Horn
Archive | Blog | E-mail
A tale of two Texas cities: It is the best of NFL times in Houston, where the Texans are 2-0. It is the worst of times in Dallas, where the Cowboys are 0-2 and the hand-wringing has begun.
On which tale have the television networks and their trusty analysts focused this week as the Cowboys prepare to visit the Texans at noon Sunday?
Well, here's what ESPN is planning for its Sunday morning studio show. In its own words: "Dallas Dysfunction – Ed Werder reports on the dysfunction in Dallas, an 0-2 team reeling from the pressure of entering the season favored to be the first team to both host the Super Bowl and play in the big game."
As for the Texans, who beat the Washington Redskins – who beat the Cowboys – and earned an easy victory over the AFC champion Indianapolis Colts? Not a single peep in this week's extensive news release from Bristol.
Let's just say winless in Dallas is headline news. Winning in Houston is irrelevant. At least it is for now. Even a victory over the Cowboys won't help. A 0-3 Cowboys team would just add fuel to the story. The Texans would have to approach 16-0 before stirring network interest.
The Cowboys will be a strong pregame presence at Fox and CBS on Sunday as well. All the Texans can hope for is a cameo role.
Consider that Fox's A-Team – Troy Aikman and Joe Buck – will be making its first visit to Reliant Stadium on Sunday. Yes, the Texans are an AFC team and CBS owns that beat. So how many times has CBS' top team – Jim Nantz, an original Texans season-ticket holder, and Phil Simms – worked Houston games? That would be once, last year's season-opening loss to the New York Jets. NBC Sunday Night Football's Al Michaels, who used to work Monday Night Football for ABC, has never called a game at Reliant Stadium,
The Texans haven't even achieved elite status in their hometown. Sunday's win at Washington pulled a healthy 27.3 rating in Houston. That was the best number for a Texans game in Sweat City since the franchise debuted with a season-opening victory over the Cowboys in 2002. That game pulled a 42.2. The Cowboys topped 27.3 in Dallas-Fort Worth 14 times last season. Both games this season have been in the 30s.
In addition to national games on NBC and ESPN, Fox tries to send every Cowboys game it can to the Houston market. That means just about every Cowboys game that doesn't clash with Texans home games.
Last Sunday, Fox showed the Bears-Cowboys game in Houston, but later in the day CBS showed the Patriots-Jets – rather than the Texans-Redskins – in Dallas.
While Texans games averaged a 17.5 rating in Houston last season, Cowboys games averaged a 13.0.
Analysts' takes on the Cowboys: On Showtime's Inside the NFL this week, Simms was asked if it's time for the Cowboys to panic. The usually understated Simms replied, "Yes."
"It's the way they are losing," said the Super Bowl-winning quarterback. "When you look at the Dallas Cowboys real quick, you watch Tony Romo playing very fast. Now why is he playing a little hyper and very fast? Because he knows he thinks he's going to get hit. So it's speeding up his process. Arguably taking their best player and throwing him a little bit off of his game ... :
Meanwhile, NBC's Cris Collinsworth pointed his finger at the Cowboys' offense and defense.
"Obviously the offensive line is shaken up," Collinsworth said. "The running game isn't anywhere close to where it should be. And let's face it, this defense was supposed to carry the load until the offensive line got healthy. You don't give up that number of points (27) to the Chicago Bears at home and not have issues. So now they have issues on the offensive side, and defensively they better wake up because they are going to have to carry this team for a good period of time."
Radio Daze
Some things to ponder looking at the freshly downloaded official ratings for August:
(Recall that the numbers come from the only demographic that really matters in the world of sports talk radio: Men 25-54.)
Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket remains at the top of the sports talk heap. Weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. the station averaged an 8.1 share, best of any station in the market. That's up from 7.4 in August 2009. ESPN 103.3 FM averaged a 3.5 share last month, up from 3.1 a year ago. 105.3 FM The Fan averaged a 2.5 share, down from a 2.8 last August.
The Ticket led every hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with The Fan finishing second from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Rangers baseball on The Fan dominated the post-7 p.m. ratings but offered no appreciable pop to the daytime numbers.
Highest-rated hour was The Ticket's Dunham and Miller from 7-8 a.m., which posted an 11.5 share, and it was the only hour that topped 100,000 listeners stopping by. Coincidentally, 7-8 a.m. was ESPN's top hour when Mike and Mike attracted a 5.5 share. The Fan's top hour was at 11 a.m., when Richie Whitt and Greg Williams posted a 3.2.
A Fox tale
When Fox Sports originally decided not to broadcast this afternoon's Rangers-Oakland A's game, it looked as if it would be the only Rangers game not to make TV this season.
Baseball from 3 to 6 p.m. on Saturdays is the exclusive province of Fox. No local broadcast can compete. Night games are another matter.
So when Fox announced that it would offer either the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees or Cincinnati Reds-San Diego Padres around the country today, the Rangers asked the A's if the game might be pushed back at least three hours so it could be sent back to Dallas-Fort Worth on either Fox Sports Net or KTXA (Channel 27). The Rangers might as well have asked for pitcher Trevor Cahill in a trade for first baseman Jorge Cantu, who has hit like a pitcher. The A's weren't interested.
Now this wouldn't have been a big deal if the Rangers already had clinched the American League West title. But their recent stall hasn't helped. When the possibility hit that today's game could be the division-clincher, the Rangers and Fox Sports Southwest boss Jon Heidtke began looking at options.
There was talk of showing the game on big screens at The Ballpark or on a tape-delayed basis. Neither was satisfactory.
So Heidtke, the cable guy in Las Colinas, called the broadcast network bigwigs in Los Angeles and asked for help. Fox discussed the problem with Major League Baseball, and a solution was reached. The Rangers-A's was added as a third game to the network lineup.
Sounds simple, but there were lots of technical issues. Routing of commercials and graphics styles had to be worked out. Today's game will be a Fox Sports Southwest production that will be aired on KDFW (Channel 4).
And there has been interest in the game outside of Dallas-Fort Worth.
The game, with Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve in the booth, will be broadcast to 19 markets in Texas, Oklahoma City , Tulsa, Okla., and Shreveport, La.
Around the Horn
• ESPN is strongly considering bringing its College Football GameDay back to Fair Park next week as pregame window dressing for the Texas-Oklahoma game. A Texas victory over UCLA and an Oklahoma victory over Cincinnati today would go a long way in nailing down GameDay's third consecutive trip to the Red River Rivalry. There is some sentiment at the network, however, for Lee Corso , Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler and Co. to instead make an early morning appearance at Stanford-Oregon , should both remain undefeated. The dark horse in the race would be Florida-Alabama . For what it's worth: Erin Andrews, the newest addition to the now three-hour GameDay affair, has voiced a desire to attend her first Texas-Oklahoma game.
• Dallas-based producer Mickey Holden has conjured up a series for Big Ten Network on the 20 greatest athletes in conference history. Ohio State track and fielder Jesse Owens has to be No. 1, doesn't he?
• • •
11:03 PM CDT on Friday, September 24, 2010
Column by BARRY HORN / The Dallas Morning News | bhorn@dallasnews.com
Barry Horn
Archive | Blog | E-mail
A tale of two Texas cities: It is the best of NFL times in Houston, where the Texans are 2-0. It is the worst of times in Dallas, where the Cowboys are 0-2 and the hand-wringing has begun.
On which tale have the television networks and their trusty analysts focused this week as the Cowboys prepare to visit the Texans at noon Sunday?
Well, here's what ESPN is planning for its Sunday morning studio show. In its own words: "Dallas Dysfunction – Ed Werder reports on the dysfunction in Dallas, an 0-2 team reeling from the pressure of entering the season favored to be the first team to both host the Super Bowl and play in the big game."
As for the Texans, who beat the Washington Redskins – who beat the Cowboys – and earned an easy victory over the AFC champion Indianapolis Colts? Not a single peep in this week's extensive news release from Bristol.
Let's just say winless in Dallas is headline news. Winning in Houston is irrelevant. At least it is for now. Even a victory over the Cowboys won't help. A 0-3 Cowboys team would just add fuel to the story. The Texans would have to approach 16-0 before stirring network interest.
The Cowboys will be a strong pregame presence at Fox and CBS on Sunday as well. All the Texans can hope for is a cameo role.
Consider that Fox's A-Team – Troy Aikman and Joe Buck – will be making its first visit to Reliant Stadium on Sunday. Yes, the Texans are an AFC team and CBS owns that beat. So how many times has CBS' top team – Jim Nantz, an original Texans season-ticket holder, and Phil Simms – worked Houston games? That would be once, last year's season-opening loss to the New York Jets. NBC Sunday Night Football's Al Michaels, who used to work Monday Night Football for ABC, has never called a game at Reliant Stadium,
The Texans haven't even achieved elite status in their hometown. Sunday's win at Washington pulled a healthy 27.3 rating in Houston. That was the best number for a Texans game in Sweat City since the franchise debuted with a season-opening victory over the Cowboys in 2002. That game pulled a 42.2. The Cowboys topped 27.3 in Dallas-Fort Worth 14 times last season. Both games this season have been in the 30s.
In addition to national games on NBC and ESPN, Fox tries to send every Cowboys game it can to the Houston market. That means just about every Cowboys game that doesn't clash with Texans home games.
Last Sunday, Fox showed the Bears-Cowboys game in Houston, but later in the day CBS showed the Patriots-Jets – rather than the Texans-Redskins – in Dallas.
While Texans games averaged a 17.5 rating in Houston last season, Cowboys games averaged a 13.0.
Analysts' takes on the Cowboys: On Showtime's Inside the NFL this week, Simms was asked if it's time for the Cowboys to panic. The usually understated Simms replied, "Yes."
"It's the way they are losing," said the Super Bowl-winning quarterback. "When you look at the Dallas Cowboys real quick, you watch Tony Romo playing very fast. Now why is he playing a little hyper and very fast? Because he knows he thinks he's going to get hit. So it's speeding up his process. Arguably taking their best player and throwing him a little bit off of his game ... :
Meanwhile, NBC's Cris Collinsworth pointed his finger at the Cowboys' offense and defense.
"Obviously the offensive line is shaken up," Collinsworth said. "The running game isn't anywhere close to where it should be. And let's face it, this defense was supposed to carry the load until the offensive line got healthy. You don't give up that number of points (27) to the Chicago Bears at home and not have issues. So now they have issues on the offensive side, and defensively they better wake up because they are going to have to carry this team for a good period of time."
Radio Daze
Some things to ponder looking at the freshly downloaded official ratings for August:
(Recall that the numbers come from the only demographic that really matters in the world of sports talk radio: Men 25-54.)
Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket remains at the top of the sports talk heap. Weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. the station averaged an 8.1 share, best of any station in the market. That's up from 7.4 in August 2009. ESPN 103.3 FM averaged a 3.5 share last month, up from 3.1 a year ago. 105.3 FM The Fan averaged a 2.5 share, down from a 2.8 last August.
The Ticket led every hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with The Fan finishing second from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Rangers baseball on The Fan dominated the post-7 p.m. ratings but offered no appreciable pop to the daytime numbers.
Highest-rated hour was The Ticket's Dunham and Miller from 7-8 a.m., which posted an 11.5 share, and it was the only hour that topped 100,000 listeners stopping by. Coincidentally, 7-8 a.m. was ESPN's top hour when Mike and Mike attracted a 5.5 share. The Fan's top hour was at 11 a.m., when Richie Whitt and Greg Williams posted a 3.2.
A Fox tale
When Fox Sports originally decided not to broadcast this afternoon's Rangers-Oakland A's game, it looked as if it would be the only Rangers game not to make TV this season.
Baseball from 3 to 6 p.m. on Saturdays is the exclusive province of Fox. No local broadcast can compete. Night games are another matter.
So when Fox announced that it would offer either the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees or Cincinnati Reds-San Diego Padres around the country today, the Rangers asked the A's if the game might be pushed back at least three hours so it could be sent back to Dallas-Fort Worth on either Fox Sports Net or KTXA (Channel 27). The Rangers might as well have asked for pitcher Trevor Cahill in a trade for first baseman Jorge Cantu, who has hit like a pitcher. The A's weren't interested.
Now this wouldn't have been a big deal if the Rangers already had clinched the American League West title. But their recent stall hasn't helped. When the possibility hit that today's game could be the division-clincher, the Rangers and Fox Sports Southwest boss Jon Heidtke began looking at options.
There was talk of showing the game on big screens at The Ballpark or on a tape-delayed basis. Neither was satisfactory.
So Heidtke, the cable guy in Las Colinas, called the broadcast network bigwigs in Los Angeles and asked for help. Fox discussed the problem with Major League Baseball, and a solution was reached. The Rangers-A's was added as a third game to the network lineup.
Sounds simple, but there were lots of technical issues. Routing of commercials and graphics styles had to be worked out. Today's game will be a Fox Sports Southwest production that will be aired on KDFW (Channel 4).
And there has been interest in the game outside of Dallas-Fort Worth.
The game, with Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve in the booth, will be broadcast to 19 markets in Texas, Oklahoma City , Tulsa, Okla., and Shreveport, La.
Around the Horn
• ESPN is strongly considering bringing its College Football GameDay back to Fair Park next week as pregame window dressing for the Texas-Oklahoma game. A Texas victory over UCLA and an Oklahoma victory over Cincinnati today would go a long way in nailing down GameDay's third consecutive trip to the Red River Rivalry. There is some sentiment at the network, however, for Lee Corso , Kirk Herbstreit, Chris Fowler and Co. to instead make an early morning appearance at Stanford-Oregon , should both remain undefeated. The dark horse in the race would be Florida-Alabama . For what it's worth: Erin Andrews, the newest addition to the now three-hour GameDay affair, has voiced a desire to attend her first Texas-Oklahoma game.
• Dallas-based producer Mickey Holden has conjured up a series for Big Ten Network on the 20 greatest athletes in conference history. Ohio State track and fielder Jesse Owens has to be No. 1, doesn't he?
• • •