| ON THE AIR TV stations jump on Eagles' bandwagon By LAURA NACHMAN The broadcast stations that usually bury sports at the end of
newscasts have suddenly turned into ESPN this week.
Reporters from every station in town are in St. Louis for Sunday's
NFC Championship game between the Eagles and the Rams.
For NBC 10, it's Vai Sikahema, Bill Baldini and John Clark. Jenna
Wolfe represents WB17. Beasley Reece and Cydney Long are there for
KYW-3, and Gary Papa and David Henry (watch out, St. Louis cheese steak
shop owners) are 6ABC's reporters.
Don "The Human Bobblehead Doll" Tollefson and Jennaphr
Frederick are in St. Louis for Fox-Philadelphia. Fox-Philadelphia, which
is broadcasting the game, will have an Eagles special at 7 p.m. tomorrow
and will do "Game Day Live" from 2:30- 3:30 p.m. Sunday
John Madden and Pat Summerall, who just announced that he is retiring
from the booth after the Super Bowl, will do the Eagles-Rams game at
4:15 p.m.
Fox-Philadelphia and Comcast SportsNet will air live specials
immediately following the game. And, of course, the local stations will
be doing their Sunday night sports shows following their late newscasts.
For cable, Derrick Gunn and Matt Yallof are in St. Louis for CSN and
"The Sports Connection with Lou Tilley" will have a special
Saturday night show at 8 on CN8.
In the spotlight
Three of the NFL's most marketable players will be participating in
Sunday's game.
According to a survey conducted by an industry publication, Sports
Business Daily, the league's most marketable players are Kurt Warner,
Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb and Marshall Faulk.
Advertising professionals said: "McNabb blends old school
toughness with new age family appeal." Warner's myriad of
endorsement deals includes Campbell's Chunky Soup, Disney, Milk, Nike,
and Tri-Star Productions.
Ratings game
Last week's Eagles-Bears game dominated the ratings with a 42.6/57
share for Fox-Philadelphia. Each ratings point equals 28,010 homes. It
is the ninth week in a row the Eagles game was the top rated show in
town.
Final thought
Now that AOL is part of the new NBA contract, will we be hearing Karl
"The Mailman" Malone saying "You've Got Mail"?
Laura Nachman writes about television and radio sports for the
Courier Times. Write her in care of the Courier Times, 8400 Route 13,
Levittown, PA 19057, fax 215-949-4177 or email bradyresident@aol.com.
Friday, January 25, 2002
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