Sports Media Digest- January 4, 2013

http://sportsmediajournal.com/ Fiesta Ratings Down, BCS Still Up for ESPN- ESPN reported today that the overnight ratings for last night’s Fiesta Bowl game camein at 7.7, down from the 9.0 figure from a year ago when the game followed the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Through four BCS games the average rating on ESPN is 7.5, up 1% over 2012. College Hoops on CBS- CBS will have a women’s basketball double header on Saturday and a men’s game on Sunday. Tomorrow at 2:00p.m. ET the Lady Boilermakers of Purdue will take on Nebraska with Dave Ryan and Debbie Antonelli on the call. At 4:00p.m. ET Don Criqui and Mary Murphy will call Big East action as #1 Connecticut takes on #5 Notre Dame. On Sunday at 4:30p.m. ET Tim Brando and Clark Kellogg will call men’s action as Kansas take son Temple. Lakers at Rockets Next NBA TV Fan Night Presentation- NBA TV will televise the Los Angeles Lakers at the Houston Rockets for this Tuesday’s Fan Night game. Tip-off is 8:00p.m. ET. Fans can vote for the following games for the Fan Night game on January 15th: New Orleans Hornets @ Philadelphia 76ers; Indiana Pacers @ Charlotte Bobcats; Toronto Raptors @ Brooklyn Nets; or Portland Trail Blazers @ Denver Nuggets. Friday Night Fights Begins New Season Tonight on ESPN- ESPN will begin its 15th season of Friday Night Fights tonight. The main event will feature undefeated Junior Lightweights Rances “Kid Blast” Barthelemy (17-0, 11 KOs) vs. Arash Usmanee (20-0, 10 KOs). Other bouts are Jonathan “Mantequilla” Gonzalez (15-0-1, 13 KOs) against Derek Ennis (23-3-1, 13 KOs) and featherweights Hairon Socarras (5-0-1, 4 KOs) and Josh Bowles (6-0, 1 KO). Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas have the call with Todd Grisham in the studio. PBA Tour This Weekend on ESPN- The next stop on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour will air this weekend on ESPN. Lon McEachern and Randy Petersen will be on hand from Las Vegas for the Bowlers Journal Scorpion Championship Sunday at 1:00p.m. ET.