Sports Media Digest- June 4, 2012

http://sportsmediajournal.com/ ESPN Sees Highest NBA Playoff Rating on Cable Ever with Heat/Celtics- Game Four of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics gave ESPN an overnight rating of 7.9, the highest ever for an NBA playoff game on cable. The rating peaked to 10.7 during overtime of the Celtics’ 93-91 victory. The 7.9 rating was 39% higher than Game Four of last year’s Western Conference Finals on ESPN (Mavericks/Thunder). CBS Sees Huge Boost in Viewership for the Memorial- Tiger Woods’ victory in yesterday’s Memorial Tournament translated to a boost in viewership for CBS. The average overnight rating for yesterday’s final round was 3.8, up 138% from 2011′s figure of 1.6. Saturday’s third round rated at 2.5, 67% over a year ago. Game Three of Stanley Cup Finals tonight on NBC Sports Network- The Stanley Cup Finals between the Devils and Kings moves tonight to the NBC Sports Network for Game Three. Pre-game coverage begins at 7:30p.m. ET with NHL Live with Liam McHugh and analysts Mike Milbury and Keith Jones. Al Michaels is also expected to make an appearance during the pre-game show. Mike “Doc” Emrick, Eddie Olczyk and Pierre McGuire will have the call of the game at 8:00p.m. ET. L.A. Kings and Fox Sports West Announce Contract Extension- The success of the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Playoffs comes at an opportune time as the team announced today it has reached a long-term agreement to have the team’s games telecast on Fox Sports West. Fox Sports West will televise approximately 75 regular-season Kings games per season, pending games selected for national distribution. The network will also televise select early round playoff match-ups and pre-season games. Fox Sports West has been the home of the Kings since 1985. Long time Kings announcer Bob Miller and analyst Jim Fox are expected to return under the new deal. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. WatchESPN Soon to be Available on XBox Live- Microsoft and ESPN have announced that they have expanded the ESPN on XBox Live experience to now include WatchESPN. Beginning later this year authenticated versions of ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line will be available to Xbox LIVE Gold members who receive their video subscription from Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Verizon FiOS TV or Comcast Xfinity TV.