http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13798528p-14640065c.html
2005 Kings Preview: Media Insider: With Webber gone, so is national spotlight
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, November 1, 2005
The Kings now are everywhere.
On the tube at home, on the flat screens in bars, on replay late at night. At least in this region.
On a national scale, the Kings have been scaled back a bit, for a very simple reason: They're not nearly as sexy as they used to be without the national appeal and drama undertone of a Chris Webber, a media magnet since his Fab Five days at Michigan. The Kings will be televised 10 times nationally this season (four by ESPN, five by TNT and one by ABC). That total could inch up or down with a "flex schedule" that allows ABC and ESPN to drop - or add - games based on intrigue, according to a programming executive.
"It's a difficult process," said Kelly Laferriere, an executive producer who oversees ABC and ESPN coverage of the NBA. "We work closely with the league (in deciding a schedule), and we share a mutual interest in bringing the best story lines. It could be a coach, a team or a player."
Translation: Without a true marquee player, the national audience will see less of the Kings, while the local market will be inundated with the product like never before. Every game will be televised either by Comcast SportsNet (56 games), News 10 (21, including the ABC game March 5 at Washington) or the national feeds. During leaner years, an entire season on the tube was pure fantasy with only a third of the games televised locally - maybe.
In the 2003-04 season, the Kings - with Webber, Vlade Divac and the boys among the Western Conference elite teams - were televised nationally 22 times, including a Christmas Day game against the Lakers. However, because the team didn't have a cable TV contract, only 56 games where televised.
The Kings and their fans faced another cable blackout at the start of last season before the franchise reached a 10-year agreement with Comcast.
And proof that, like with NBA teams, there are cycles: In a 13-year stretch ending in 1999, only 13 Kings games were on national TV, one token gift a year to remind the country that there was a franchise west of Denver and north of Los Angeles. Since the 1999-2000 season - the new era - 229 Kings regular-season and playoff games have been televised nationally, including six preseason games in the past four years.
"What the league will tell you is you've got to win," owner Gavin Maloof said. "The more you win, the more you're on TV. I don't know why they're not putting us on TV more."
And on the radio
KHTK 1140 especially has a hold on the Kings. It has been the franchise's flagship station for 12 seasons, with play-by-play man Gary Gerould still on top of his game. There again will be pre-and post-game analysis with player and coach reactions. On game day, there could be constant Kings chatter from 4 p.m. on the Sportsline 1140 program with Grant Napear and Mike Lamb to midnight with the Monty 'til Midnight program, meaning more Kings than ever before.
"When you factor in every single game, with all the hours, the insight, the programming, this is the most comprehensive broadcasting package in the NBA," said Jim Kozimor, who splits time between Comcast SportsNet, News 10 and 1140.
Around the dials
Armando Botello is in his ninth season broadcasting Kings games in Spanish on KRCX (99.9 FM).
* Napear and Jerry Reynolds again will provide the call for CSN and News10 games, with both vowing to offer harsh, yet fair critique and commentary.
Said Napear: "This is my 18th year doing the Kings, and I have never, ever had one person from the Kings tell me what to say or what not say on the air. And fans are not stupid. They know what's going on in the games. We're critical when we need to be."
* KHTK will have two Kings player segments on Sportsline during the season. Jason Hart will be on Tuesdays at 5:15 p.m., and Brad Miller on Fridays at 6:05 p.m. Bonzi Wells, the best Kings interview in the preseason, will be a Thursday morning regular on the Rise Guys at 8:40 a.m.
* TNT again will televise games Tuesdays and Thursdays, including some doubleheaders. TNT has a new set with an NBA city-scape theme and the simulation of being on a balcony 60 feet in the air called "TNT Arena." Ernie Johnson will host in studio with Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Kenny Smith and newcomer Reggie Miller offering opinion and candor. It's the best NBA crew on the air, with Ernie Johnson setting the table and Barkley never afraid to say anything.
* ESPN will carry games mostly on Wednesdays and Fridays, and rising-fast NBA TV will have games four nights a week. ABC will feature Sunday games in January and debut its season on Christmas with a doubleheader - Philadelphia-Detroit and L.A. Lakers-Miami.
* Paul Silas and B.J. Armstrong will work as TNT analysts, replacing George Karl (now coaching the Nuggets) and Mark Jackson (incredibly dry and boring).
* Hubie Brown and Al Michaels on ABC might be the best combo in the NBA. If Brown isn't the best game analyst, it's Doug Collins on TNT.
* Bill Walton of ESPN on Shareef Abdur-Rahim: "He's played his best basketball already."
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at (916) 321-1280 or jdavidson@sacbee.com.
2005 Kings Preview: Media Insider: With Webber gone, so is national spotlight
By Joe Davidson -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Tuesday, November 1, 2005
The Kings now are everywhere.
On the tube at home, on the flat screens in bars, on replay late at night. At least in this region.
On a national scale, the Kings have been scaled back a bit, for a very simple reason: They're not nearly as sexy as they used to be without the national appeal and drama undertone of a Chris Webber, a media magnet since his Fab Five days at Michigan. The Kings will be televised 10 times nationally this season (four by ESPN, five by TNT and one by ABC). That total could inch up or down with a "flex schedule" that allows ABC and ESPN to drop - or add - games based on intrigue, according to a programming executive.
"It's a difficult process," said Kelly Laferriere, an executive producer who oversees ABC and ESPN coverage of the NBA. "We work closely with the league (in deciding a schedule), and we share a mutual interest in bringing the best story lines. It could be a coach, a team or a player."
Translation: Without a true marquee player, the national audience will see less of the Kings, while the local market will be inundated with the product like never before. Every game will be televised either by Comcast SportsNet (56 games), News 10 (21, including the ABC game March 5 at Washington) or the national feeds. During leaner years, an entire season on the tube was pure fantasy with only a third of the games televised locally - maybe.
In the 2003-04 season, the Kings - with Webber, Vlade Divac and the boys among the Western Conference elite teams - were televised nationally 22 times, including a Christmas Day game against the Lakers. However, because the team didn't have a cable TV contract, only 56 games where televised.
The Kings and their fans faced another cable blackout at the start of last season before the franchise reached a 10-year agreement with Comcast.
And proof that, like with NBA teams, there are cycles: In a 13-year stretch ending in 1999, only 13 Kings games were on national TV, one token gift a year to remind the country that there was a franchise west of Denver and north of Los Angeles. Since the 1999-2000 season - the new era - 229 Kings regular-season and playoff games have been televised nationally, including six preseason games in the past four years.
"What the league will tell you is you've got to win," owner Gavin Maloof said. "The more you win, the more you're on TV. I don't know why they're not putting us on TV more."
And on the radio
KHTK 1140 especially has a hold on the Kings. It has been the franchise's flagship station for 12 seasons, with play-by-play man Gary Gerould still on top of his game. There again will be pre-and post-game analysis with player and coach reactions. On game day, there could be constant Kings chatter from 4 p.m. on the Sportsline 1140 program with Grant Napear and Mike Lamb to midnight with the Monty 'til Midnight program, meaning more Kings than ever before.
"When you factor in every single game, with all the hours, the insight, the programming, this is the most comprehensive broadcasting package in the NBA," said Jim Kozimor, who splits time between Comcast SportsNet, News 10 and 1140.
Around the dials
Armando Botello is in his ninth season broadcasting Kings games in Spanish on KRCX (99.9 FM).
* Napear and Jerry Reynolds again will provide the call for CSN and News10 games, with both vowing to offer harsh, yet fair critique and commentary.
Said Napear: "This is my 18th year doing the Kings, and I have never, ever had one person from the Kings tell me what to say or what not say on the air. And fans are not stupid. They know what's going on in the games. We're critical when we need to be."
* KHTK will have two Kings player segments on Sportsline during the season. Jason Hart will be on Tuesdays at 5:15 p.m., and Brad Miller on Fridays at 6:05 p.m. Bonzi Wells, the best Kings interview in the preseason, will be a Thursday morning regular on the Rise Guys at 8:40 a.m.
* TNT again will televise games Tuesdays and Thursdays, including some doubleheaders. TNT has a new set with an NBA city-scape theme and the simulation of being on a balcony 60 feet in the air called "TNT Arena." Ernie Johnson will host in studio with Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Kenny Smith and newcomer Reggie Miller offering opinion and candor. It's the best NBA crew on the air, with Ernie Johnson setting the table and Barkley never afraid to say anything.
* ESPN will carry games mostly on Wednesdays and Fridays, and rising-fast NBA TV will have games four nights a week. ABC will feature Sunday games in January and debut its season on Christmas with a doubleheader - Philadelphia-Detroit and L.A. Lakers-Miami.
* Paul Silas and B.J. Armstrong will work as TNT analysts, replacing George Karl (now coaching the Nuggets) and Mark Jackson (incredibly dry and boring).
* Hubie Brown and Al Michaels on ABC might be the best combo in the NBA. If Brown isn't the best game analyst, it's Doug Collins on TNT.
* Bill Walton of ESPN on Shareef Abdur-Rahim: "He's played his best basketball already."
About the writer: The Bee's Joe Davidson can be reached at (916) 321-1280 or jdavidson@sacbee.com.
that was just flat out embarrassing! At least we play tomorrow night, so if we come out strong & play well tomorrow, tonight will just be a distant memory.
