Friday, December 10, 1999
SPORTS ON TV-RADIO
CBS eyes won't be on UC for a while
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
You won't see the No. 1 team in the country on CBS this year until the postseason.
That's because the network doesn't have a deal with Conference USA. The University of Cincinnati is a C-USA team, so you'll get no UC games on the network that carries the NCAA Tournament.
“During the regular season, we have to have a deal with individual conferences (to show conference games),” CBS spokeswoman Karen Mateo said. “If we don't, we can only pick up a handful of games.”
Louisville is the only C-USA team that will play a game broadcast on CBS during the regular season. The Cardinals play Kentucky Dec.18.
Ironically, the Conference USA Tournament final is on CBS March 11. That will be the first chance for the Bearcats to appear on CBS.
UC won't die of underexposure. The Bearcats are on ABC twice, ESPN nine times and ESPN2 twice.
MARSHALL RATES: The Mid-American Conference championship game between Marshall and Western Michigan drew a 2.01 rating on ESPN2, one of the top-10 rated shows in ESPN2 history.
That makes the bowl wizards look even sillier for relegating Marshall to the Motor City Bowl.
BOB COUNTDOWN: WBOB-AM (1160) announced the first four of its Tristate All-Century Athletes list: 20. Tony Trabert; 19. Boomer Esiason; 18. Jack Twyman; 17. Dave Parker.
The station had Parker, Twyman and Trabert on live. That will be the case with the rest of the honorees.
“If they're alive, we've got them,” midday host Lance McAlister said.
The station will announce four more today, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The announcements are made at 8:20a.m., 11:20, 2:20p.m. and 5:20.
“It's been great,” McAlister said. “Russ Jackson and I have been putting together the bios. It's impossible to fit what these people did in 45-second spots.”
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Andy Furman has gone solo — without Cris Collinsworth — on WLW's SportsTalk for a year now. Furman has proven you don't need to be a former sports star to pull big ratings in the premier sports slot in town. Thursday night, Furman put together a terrific show with guests Pete Rose, Pokey Reese and Aaron Boone.
LOOSE LIPS: Beware the live microphone. Musketeers analyst and former Muskie Byron Larkin obviously didn't know WLW had come back from a break during the Miami-Xavier game Wednesday when he said, “You just can't lose to a team like this ... ”
PAYS TO BE UK: The University of Kentucky signed a new radio and television deal with Host Communications. The five-year deal is worth $17.65 million.
That represents a 53 percent increase over the current deal with Host, which pays UK $2.3 annually.
MORE OUTSIDE: ESPN announced it's expanding its serious journalism show, Outside the Lines. Beginning in April, a half-hour show will air each Sunday morning, and the network will do 12 one-hour prime-time shows, up from eight a year.
Outside the Lines, hosted by Bob Ley, has won eight Emmys and three Cable ACE awards.
John Fay covers TV/radio for The Enquirer. He can be reached at 768-8445
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