Sports Media Digest- December 20, 2011

Here are some of the sports media stories making news today:

•ESPN reports that the ratings for last night’s Monday Night Football (MNF) telecast between the Steelers and 49′ers was 11.7, good enough for the network to win the night. The game registered a rating of 44.2 in Pittsburgh and a 28.2 in San Francisco.
•ESPN has announced that its NBA pre-game show, Kia NBA Countdown, will now be produced out of the ESPN studio in Los Angeles, beginning with the season opener on Christmas Day. The network also announced that Magic Johnson will be joining the crew as a featured analyst. Magic will continue to conduct NBA interviews for SportsCenter and other ESPN news programs.
•TNT is getting set the the NBA opener on Christmas Day. Its TNT NBA Tip-Off will begin at 11a.m. ET in anticipation of the Noon tip-off between the Celtics and Knicks in New York. Ernie Johnson, Charles Barley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal will be part of the pre and post game show while game coverage will be handled by Marv Albert and Steve Kerr with sideline reports from Craig Sager.
•A FCC Chief Administrative Law Judge has ruled in favor of the Tennis Channel in its carriage dispute with Comcast. The judge ruled that Comcast engaged in a “serious violation of law” by “discriminat[ing] against Tennis Channel in favor of Golf Channel and Versus in terms and conditions of their distribution.” The cable television giant was ordered to pay a fine of $375,000 and provide a remediation solution “as soon as practicable”.
•The NFL Network has announced that its Wednesday NFL Replay will feature the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos. Sound FX for the week will feature Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. NFL Replay begins at 8:00p.m. ET.
•Tomorrow night will be the debut of Episode two of 24/7 Flyers/Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic on HBO. The program will air at 10:00p.m. ET/PT.
•ESPN has announced that its Friday Night Fights series will return to ESPN2, ESPN3, and ESPN Desportes. The series will begin its 14th season on the WWL on January 6th at 9:00p.m. ET.

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