Here's the essential part of the announcement:

The Cleveland Cavaliers and FSN Ohio have reached a new, long-term television rights agreement that greatly expands the 17-year relationship between the team and the network, it was announced today by Steve Liverani, Vice President and General Manager, FSN Ohio, and Len Komoroski, President, Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena.

Under terms of the agreement, FSN Ohio has acquired the rights to televise 70 Cavaliers games per season, beginning with the 2006-07 campaign, an increase of 30 games per season over the current agreement. The new agreement also calls for five of those 70 games to be simulcast on WUAB TV43. Financial terms were not disclosed.

[R}eturning next season is CAVALIERS COUNTDOWN, providing fans with commentary, features and in-depth pregame coverage of the Cleveland Cavaliers, 30 minutes prior to every game telecast. Wrapping up the action is CAVALIERS IN THE POST, a postgame show featuring highlights, interviews and analysis immediately following each telecast. And rounding out FSN Ohio’s Cavaliers coverage is CAVALIERS FAST BREAK, a Cavaliers-produced show featuring all the behind-the-scenes information a true fan needs.

FSN did not release the names on its announcing team, or exactly which games it will carry. That will come later, possibly next week.

About 15 minutes ago, CBS finally came on with coverage of the Bridgestone golf championship here in Akron. I'd be pretty excited to watch — except CBS is running tape-delayed coverage from much earlier today (nor, at this point, does it have a graphic onscreen identifying this as taped coverage). Because of worries about the weather, which has included rain here and there, the final round started early at Akron, with even the marquee names on the course before CBS started its telecast. So I've been following the tournament a bit online, and even more via live coverage on XM radio's Channel 146.

Since I spend a lot of my weekends out and about, XM has become ever more of a blessing for following national sports; I listened to a bunch of last weekend's PGA on XM as well. But it's been even more valuable today because CBS served its other corporate commitments (like a tennis preview) before getting to the golf. And, if it was airing on cable somewhere else, I could not find it this morning. So XM's broadcast (which was also available online at http://www.pgatour.com/mm/xmplayer/xmlive.html) kept me happy on the road. And now that I'm home, I'm sticking with XM. The end is sounding dramatic, and I don't want to miss it.

Oh, I may still watch some of the CBS telecast because I haven't had a chance to hear everything — I missed a stretch where Tiger Woods rallied because I was doing the week's grocery shopping — and because there are some shots I'd like to see as well as having heard. But I won't watch nearly as much TV as I might have if the network was giving me breaking news.

As has been mentioned, well, just about everywhere, the Cavaliers are working out a deal with FSN Ohio that would give the cable service almost all of the Cavaliers' games by 2007-08. I can already hear the complaints from people who expect to have some sports on local broadcast — much the way Indians fans howled when the team moved to FSN (and later to SportsTime Ohio, known to many viewers as "Where is that thing?").

But if I were king, I might make a different suggestion — one that would mute the screaming and give a boost to local broadcasters. Let FSN Ohio have most of the games, but make a deal with a local broadcaster for some kind of package of Saturday-night games.

The network affiliates would probably leap for it, since Saturday's an entertainment dead zone where the networks are concerned. (NBC and CBS stack in reruns, ABC is going with college football that night in the fall, The CW doesn't even program it and Fox has its reality tandem of "Cops" and "America's Most Wanted.") The schedule includes some decent teams — even if you just do road games, so as not to diminish the Saturday-going-out crowd at the Quicken Loans And Even Quicker Dumping Michael Reghi Arena.

Seems like a good idea all around.

Earlier today I wrote a couple of stories for tomorrow's Beacon Journal about being at the ESPYS. Here are the backstage highlights:

–  The red carpet is one long haul. According to notes handed out to reporters, a celebrity walking the red carpet passed, in order, platforms for ESPN News, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Extra, The Insider, Good Morning America, Cold Pizza, ESPN 360, ESPN.com and E!, among others. After all of those, they hit an area for print and radio writers; papers on the ground marked precious locations by the red-carpet rail for different organizations. And banked at different spots along the way were photographers.
   "It was so hot," said Danica Patrick, "and I was wearing silk."
   The stars also walked by a cheering section encouraged by announcements of which star was coming. LeBron James arrived a little more than 10 minutes after the two-hour red-carpet ceremony began but received the biggest ovation I heard during that time. (The arrival of Janet Jackson and boyfriend Jermaine Dupri was a very close second.) And, while some players could walk down the red carpet in a few minutes, James appeared to be stopped by every crew, taking more than 20 minutes to finish the walk.
  Because of all this, celebrities were highly selective about talking to people in the print and radio sections. Singer Vince Neil and comedian Kathy Griffin (who confided that she hates sports) were among the chatty folks. James walked past with a wave — although, once he was out of the sun, he paused to talk to some regular fans and even to pose for a few pictures.
  Those who did talk also risked getting caught by a crew from Howard Stern's show. I couldn't hear the questions, but some would look stunned and walk away after a moment. Others chatted away, including Kurt Warner and Doug Flutie. Flutie's reponses were especially funny to hear: "No. No. No. No. …"

–  It's no picnic when you win an award, either.   OK, you  did get one of this big ESPY trophys and a gift bag from the "diamond gift lounge." But here was what happened to people after they won: an official ESPY photo with the presenters, sound bites for ET, GMA, Access Hollywood and Extra, a stop at the diamond gift lounge with a sound bite for E!, the press room, the photo room and then a last sound bite for *li The Insider. *lf
     I spent the ceremony in the press room, a noisy area accommodating radio, print reporters, TV crews and one woman who spent a lot of time complaining that she didn't know who any of the athletes were. The ceremony was on monitors, but those were muted when winners came in to talk.
One reporter asked almost every winner about the best advice he or she had ever received. Some asked about music (Dwyane Wade listened to Eminem before playoff games), or clothes (Danica Patrick was in Dolce & Gabbana).
  Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the man behind CSI and Pirates of the Caribbean, was asked about Pirates' record-busting grosses as much as about Glory Road, which won the ESPY for best movie. ("Glory Road wasn't a huge success," he said, " but it was a meaningful picture for me.")  But Bruckheimer knows how the game is played; the real-life Texas Western players portrayed in Glory Road talked to the press first, with Bruckheimer following, so the players got their own share of press time without being overshadowed by the producer.
  Again, different stars had different reactions to the ritual. Shaun White, for one, seemed happy to talk as long as anyone listened. So did Andre 3000. And Alonzo Mourning was still emotional when he arrived. When Mourning was dealing with his kidney transplant, Lance Armstrong had been especially supportive. But they had never met before Wednesday night, and Mourning was moved when Armstrong paid tribute to him onstage.
  — The ESPYS have a dress code. The stars of the ESPYs don't.   "Dress is Formal," said the notes to reporters. "No Exceptions. No jeans, tenis shoes, t-shirts, flip-flops, shorts, etc."  Now, "formal" no longer means a tuxedo; I got by with a jacket and tie, and was still better dressed than some.  In the press room, a cameraman carped about having worn long pants as a result while seeing plenty of his red-carpet counterparts in shorts.
  Celebrity fashion, though, varies. Plenty of stars dressed up, but actor Matthew McConaughey, a friend of Armstrong's, didn't even have his shirt tucked in as he ambled down the red carpet — and he had a comparable sloppy-casual air for the telecast.
     — Lance Armstrong was happy as a host.  "It felt good," he said after the ceremony. "I was into it. I was really into it." And he was genuinely surprised by a bit where Will Ferrell serenaded him. "We rehearsed the whole show (but) they wouldn't let me see that piece. It was the first time I heard it."
  I asked him if he thought people would be surprised by his opening monologue — since I thought some of the jokes were PG-13.
  "Really?" he said with a sly grin. "Well, if (people) lived with me, they would know that was actually a step down, from R."
 
  Update: I also wrote a piece about press-room comments of interest to Northeast Ohio sports fans. You can find it here.

If you're looking for my (still expanding) notes about Katie Couric, they're in the "Katie, Katie, Katie" post below.

As for this item, back when NBC made a deal for Sunday night NFL games, I noted that it received the all-important "flexible scheduling" option. That meant the network wasn't stuck with one game that, as the season progressed, could prove to be a dog (the way ABC's "Monday Night Football" had to operate.) Instead, it will have some flexibility, so it could air a game involving playoff-contending teams and increase viewer interest.

How's flexible scheduling going to work. What follows are explanatory notes sent out by the NFL. It shows that NBC has options, but that CBS and Fox can still protect some games. Here's the text from the NFL:

The NFL this season will implement for the first time in its history a primetime “flexible scheduling” element on Sundays in Weeks 10-15 and in Week 17.

Flexible scheduling will ensure quality matchups on Sunday night in those weeks and give surprise teams a chance to play their way onto primetime.

The 2006 NFL schedule will list start times for all Sunday games during the “flex” weeks as 1:00 PM ET, except for games played in the Mountain or Pacific Time zones, which will be listed at 4:05 PM ET or 4:15 PM ET. 

The NBC Sunday night time slot for “flex” weeks will list teams as “TBD.”

Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved.  Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games airing on Thursday, Saturday or Monday nights.

Just as the six major college football conferences have done for many years, the NFL now will have additional flexibility to move the start times of games on Sundays, using a 12-day notice format.

For example, a game scheduled for Sunday, November 26 could move from a 1:00 PM ET kickoff to an 8:15 PM start, but the change would be made and announced no later than Tuesday, November 14.

The NFL has commonly moved games between 1:00 PM ET and 4:15 PM ET (eight times last season) on Sunday afternoons.  The new practice allows the NFL to employ flexible scheduling to include one of its primetime package of games – on Sunday evenings.

Sunday afternoon games, as in the past, can still be moved between 1:00 and 4:05 or 4:15 ET.

In Week 17, in order to ensure a Sunday night game with playoff implications, the decision to move the start time may be made on six days notice.

CBS and FOX will each be able to protect a total of five games in the seven weeks of flexible scheduling, but not more than one game in any week. 

During the 2005 regular season, the NFL conducted a study with mock flexible scheduling. An eight-person task force consisting of team executives, one from each division, was consulted on a weekly basis.  In addition, television network partners and the NFL’s broadcasting department participated weekly in the process.

SportsTime Ohio, the new TV overseer of the Cleveland Indians, hoped that the Adelphia/Time Warner merger would happen soon enough that its deal with Time Warner would also apply to the other cable system. But STO said it was talking to Adelphia just in case the merger didn't move quickly enough, and here are the key sections in the announcement of a deal:

SportsTime Ohio and Adelphia of Northern Ohio today announced that the new Indians television network will air on Adelphia beginning Thursday, March 16th with the telecast of the Spring Training Indians vs Minnesota Twins game at 8 p.m. The pre-game show will air at 7:30 pm. …

Adelphia customers will be able to view Cleveland Indians games on the following channels:

Cleveland and suburbs: Channel 17

Ashtabula Area: Channel 30

Lorain Area: Channel 23

Macedonia Area: Channel 97

Port Clinton Area: Channel 17

Adelphia subscribers in Northern Ohio will see five spring training games, 130 in-season games during the 2006 season and other original local programming centering on the interests and passions of Northern Ohio sports fans.

Now these guys need to complete deals with the satellite-dish services…

]]> http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/heldenfiles/2006/03/adelphia-deals-for-the-indians/feed/ 0 http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/heldenfiles/2006/01/the-rock-paper-scissors-movement-continues/ http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/heldenfiles/2006/01/the-rock-paper-scissors-movement-continues/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2006 17:06:07 +0000 RD Heldenfels http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/heldenfiles/?p=311

Hello to everyone who is here because of the link from www.tvtattle.com. (And thanks, Tattle, for linking to my late-night ravings about "Lost," found below under "Ladies and Gentlemen, M.C. Gainey.") Feel free to browse.

But in this post, I am going to another topic. About a year ago, I wrote a column about an FSN special showcasing a Rock Paper Scissors tournament. Yes, you read that right. And it was eerily fascinating television, applying all the cliches of sportscasting to an event you wouldn't usually think of as a made-for-TV sport. I could not find the column in the Beacon Journal's online archive but there was a blogger who saved it. (Note, the blog contains some strong language.) You can read it by going here and scrolling down to the section titled "Reaching A New Low."

Anyway, it appears that isn't the end of RPS on TV. Check out this story (which I found on TV Tattle,  by the way): A&E/RPS.

The press release from the RPS organization behind this event is here.

We finished that Alan Rickman Christmas double feature on Christmas Eve with a big dose of "Die Hard" and successfully fought the urge to watch "Love Actually" again. Caught a little of the Browns-Steelers, but it's not easy to stay interested in a game once it's 20-0 and feels much worse than that sounds.

Church service that evening, which turned out a bit differently than I expected. I had agreed to help out a little, but found that I had been enlisted as the balcony usher, and so had my own little flock — about 15 people — to tend to. Also unexpected: How protective I felt about them during the service. But it's still a challenge to navigate steps in the dark while carrying a large, lit candle.

Not much TV on Christmas Day. The one big viewing was of "Tommy Boy." Not a Christmas movie, but still a very funny one.

And now it's Monday. Vacation continues, but I am starting to get ready for the rest of the year. Just packed up the Christmas CDs and cassettes, for instance. After relaxing for a couple of days, I feel as if I should be doing something, and I suspect there will be lots of viewing today.

The Motor City Bowl, with the University of Akron playing, is on the list, and I've set the recorder for Monday Night Football. It's the last telecast of the season, and for now ABC's last regular-season game (since that the NBC/ESPN deal kicks in next year). So it is a milestone of sorts.

But how deeply has anyone cared about MNF since the Cosell/Meredith/Gifford era ended? As more than one person has noted, in those days, it didn't matter if the game was good or bad, because you were intriqued by the announcers; for the last many years, the game was paramount.

Besides, I have to think that at some point ABC will try to get back in the game, and not just by having the deal for its corporate sibling, ESPN. CBS lost its old football deal to Fox, then grabbed NBC's share of the pie. NBC made a lot of noise about not wanting football, then grabbed a package of prime-time Sunday games beginning next season. And in doing so, it got the NFL to agree to flexible scheduling, letting NBC have some playoff-significant games late in the season instead of sticking it with whatever the preseason schedule determined; the latter approach was the one ABC had to accept, and it did not accept it happily. Now that flexible scheduling is agreed to for prime time, who's to say ABC won't chase it the next time a football package is available?

And suddenly all that thinking feels too much like work. Let me get back to fun. Go Zips. Fear the Roo.

I've been thinking lately about the joys of football without sound, and I'll get to that later in this post. But first, fun with schedules.

I only made it to halftime of the Steelers-Browns game last night, because I needed to sleep and the 10-point Steeler lead felt pretty solid (well, solid enough not to overcome my weariness). But about 1:30 a.m. I woke up, wasn't going back to sleep immediately and flipped on the TV to check the score.

Then was stunned.

Not because the Steelers had won, or because Batch had broken his hand, or anything game-related. Instead, I was shocked because that "Saturday Night Live" documentary was on Channel 3, which picked up the local broadcast rights to ESPN's telecast of Browns-Steelers.

I had gone to great lengths to warn people that Browns-Steelers was going to send NBC's prime-time schedule into the wee hours, and the lineup I had written about had Penn & Teller from 12:30 to 2:30 a.m., followed by the "SNL" special.

My onscreen cable guide had the order reversed. I agonized. I hate making mistakes. Obviously human, I make them. But readers expect everything they see in the paper to be correct — and when it comes to TV, they plan their viewing around the lineups we include — so I check and double-check program times to make sure they're right.

I got up, double-checked the paper to see what I had written, then went online looking for an explanation. The Channel 3 Web site had the shows listed in the order they were actually airing. Could I have messed up? Finally I found a copy of the Browns telecast announcement that Channel 3 sent out; it had things the way I had written them. The schedule had gone out almost two weeks ago (and, because of the deadline for our TV supplement, I had written about the show a week before the piece was published). And the Channel 3 announcement had a note that it had been updated on Thursday, just a few days before the game.

So when the station flipped the shows, it seemed to have done so very late in the process. (Update: Channel 3 now says that the decision to flip the programs was made about two weeks ago. The station also says the change was made at NBC's request, since the network apparently thought it would do better with "SNL" in the post-football slot. But the station did not do a very good job of getting word about the change out.)

Even though the error was the result of bad information, it took me about an hour to get back to sleep. As I said, I hate mistakes.

As for watching football in silence, with so many night games, I find myself watching the end of good games in bed with the sound off, so my wife can sleep. Although some of the excitement from a live football game stems from crowd noise and the sounds of the players, on TV I find it more intense to watch it without sound.

You don't miss much, since yardage, downs, penalties and other crucial data are explained in onscreen graphics. And anyone who has watched much football knows what the announcers will say in a given situation — or at least knows anything sensible the announcers will say. Then, if you take away the audio, you have to pay more attention to the image on the screen. That increased level of concentration adds to the excitement, I think. When you have the sound on, you're letting the TV do a lot of the work for you, so you don't have to pay as close attention — especially if you're watching with a bunch of friends eager to high-five every triumph. Without the sound, you have to be in the game every second.

While there was at least one experiment with commentary-free TV, I doubt we'll ever have soundless sports, unless we make it by ourselves. For one thing, it's an inconvenience for people who watch TV in groups. Or for people who, say, have to be in the kitchen while the TV is on — loud — in another room, so they can keep track of the action and rush back to watch a key replay. For another, if you don't have announcers, there's no one to do a lot of commercial business — promoting other shows on the network, or telling you who sponsored the trivia question.

Besides, it's hard to fall asleep in front of the set without the steady hum of announcing.

Semi-busy day ahead. Several church commitments, grocery shopping, that sort of thing. I hope to file some TV notes later in the day, after I have had a chance to WATCH some television. Yesterday was pretty much overtaken by chores, shopping and a seeing my younger son in his high school's production of "Dead Man Walking."  Yes, you read that right.

Even my checking on the Buckeyes involved listening on the car radio. The only TV I remember was a few minutes of that "Saturday Night Live" commercials collection, and that was right before bed.

One thing has been rattling around in my head since Friday, though. How many times are we going to have to hear "the Q" before it sounds natural?

For those of you in other parts of the country (and pro basketball non-fans), "the Q" is the new, officially approved nickname for the arena where the Cleveland Cavaliers play. It used to be known as the Gund, which didn't exactly sing either, but at least it was a name I was used to. "The Q" — derived from Quicken Loans Arena, the venue's new name — just sounds odd, as if the team was now under the command of John de Lancie.

It was clear during Friday's telecast that the new name is going to be shoved into our ears until we're used to it; the announcers seemed to be dropping it at every opportunity. I hope the fans come up with a nickname of their own — "The Loaner," "The 'Ick," "The Gund And We Don't Care What Anyone Else Says." After all, I still think of the team as the Cavs no matter how hard they try to make me say 'Cavaliers,' and snicker whenever their uniform colors are referred to as 'wine and gold.' (What, 'purple' is declasse? Gallo may become a corporate sponsor?)

But eventually the media repetition will probably make "The Q" sound comfortable — just in time for a new owner, and another name change.

Having just spent a lot of energy on comparisons between "Survivor's" Stephenie and the Boston Red Sox, I'm remembering a conversation I had with a co-worker in late September.

I was talking TV with someone, and this guy said, "Aren't you a big baseball fan? … How are you watching everything?"

The answer was, I tried really hard. I caught the regular TV series that I felt were worth catching, and I watched as much baseball as I could. It was a great time to be watching baseball, too, with exciting playoff races (said excitement once again undercutting Bob Costas's complaints about the wild-card system). And, since I have loyalties to both the Red Sox and the Indians, I had a lot of different ways to feel excited and anxious.

Then the regular season was over. Goodbye, Indians. Then the playoffs saw the swift departure of Boston. And not long after the Yankees, watchable because you can root so ardently against them, also cleared the field. So what was left to watch?

Now, under certain conditions, I can be fully engaged in a game or a playoff involving two teams I have no history with or strong feelings about. Sometimes a game just feels important. Or you know a sport is dramatic; I fell briefly in love with NHL hockey based on huge sudden-death overtime games. Or you can work out elaborate rationalizations for watching: The White Sox should get some love because they're from the same division as the Indians, or the Angels are cheerable because they beat the Yankees. Or — well, there must be some way to root for a National League team, I just can't think what it is.

But maybe I've hit one of my sports walls, because I have only seen bits of playoff games, and not even the best parts of those. (The controversial call in the second Angels-White Sox game is in my visual memory bank only because I saw a dozen or more replays on ESPN.) I may come out of my semi-doze for the World Series, especially if it looks like Chicago's chance to end its long curse. But right now, I'm more like, "Wake me for spring training."

Right now, on my TV set, Tony Pena is rounding the bases off a wet Jacobs Field, his arms raised high, and the Indians have beaten the Red Sox in the first game of their American League Division series.

Yes, I'm looking at a tape. From 1995.

On Oct. 3, we'll mark the 10th anniversary of the Indians' return to the post-season, the end of the not-since-1954 era and the beginning of a string of playoff appearances. I taped those games — and the LCS, and the World Series — because I was covering the games at the time. I filed the tapes because I thought there might be a reason for comparison down the road. Also because I have a hard time throwing things away.

Now I'm thinking about a column about how TV presented the Indians — and postseason baseball — on TV 10 years ago. (And it's official: I'm going to write something about TV Indians '95 for Sunday's paper.)

It's sure a different team; this was the era of  Vizquel and Thome, Lofton and Belle, Baerga and Alomar. But baseball changes, players move. In '95, Manny Ramirez was an Indian. Roger Clemens was in a Red Sox uniform.

You didn't have to watch much TV from the era to see a different game. The Indians' first playoff game was on NBC, called by Bob Costas and Bob Uecker. That team was back for the second game. The third went over to ABC under the convoluted network-baseball deal of the time, with Steve Zabriskie and Tommy Hutton in the booth. Compared to today, the graphics were spartan and simple. (No info-bar at the top of the screen.) And the game felt quieter than it did with Fox's approach, all crash and thunder. I'm now really jazzed about looking more closely at the tapes.

While I was the office this morning, I had the TV set on next to my desk — but not because I was screening a show, or keeping an eye on a news channel. I was catching the end of the PGA championship. A co-worker (as you will see below, I work in a sea of sports fans) want to see it. And I was going to turn it on anyway, to see if Phil Mickelson could hold on for the win — and if Tiger Woods was going to get to play a little longer.

Woods, after all, had recovered enough that just a little bit more of a slide from the leaders could have put him in the playoffs. And I became a devoted golf watcher because of Tiger. Yes, I appreciate other golfing greats. But the thing that keeps me coming back to golf is WWTD — What Will Tiger Do? And then, because of that, I got to enjoy the exciting finish, including Mickelson's big win.

One gap in my golf education is watching a tournament without benefit of the TV cameras. I'm hoping to make up for that on Saturday, since my wife and I have tickets for the NEC at Firestone. I know it will be very different from TV. I've walked around Firestone before, so I have a sense of the massiveness of a golf course — a massiveness I'm not convinced that TV successfully conveys. But I'll be curious any other possible differences.

The gap between live and TV sports was also clear to me again this past Saturday, when the bride and I went to the Indians-Devil Rays game at Jacobs Field. Great seats, close to the field on the third-base line. Not such a great game — Indians went behind early, and not even a long rain delay could get them energized enough to make a battle out of it.

Still, it was a nice way to spend an evening, even if part of it was spent standing under cover, wondering when the downpour would stop, deciding which expensive food to eat and watching bits of a Red Sox-White Sox game on the stadium monitors. (Talk about proof that nothing is free: Every time that telecast on WGN went to a commercial break, the monitors went to an Indians logo — so no one in the stadium would see the ads.)

It was still getting out, a chance to watch other people, and better than being stretched on a couch, channel-flipping until a rain delay ended.

Of course, being at the Indians game meant that I wasn't at home for most of the telecast of the Browns. Hey, it's an exhibition game. The NFL may want to inflate such games' importance by calling them "preseason," but there's no real significance to any matchup where the starters are on the bench before the tailgaters have emptied their first keg.

I did get home in time to see some of it, though, and was unimpressed by what I heard from the gang of announcers WOIO had spread throughout the stadium. (The visual side was better, although some closeups on replays were not as good as you would expect from a network telecast.)

A co-worker stopped me in the hall today to comment on the awfulness of it. Another co-worker even called me during the telecast to wonder if the WOIO gang really thought the game was all about them. The answer is yes, in part because the games figure to bring an abundance of viewers to WOIO — and the rating Saturday was more than respectable, especially for an EXHIBITION game on a Saturday night — and the station wants to persuade them to check its news and other programs.

But the station's self-absorption doesn't just apply to football. WOIO is a bastion of first-person, look-at-us, we're-so-cool presentation. It's like watching bloggers compose.

And yes, I know I'm writing that in a blog. Which should tell you that — unlike WOIO — I am at least capable of feeling embarrassment.

I'm waiting for the day when a television series comes out on DVD first, then makes its way to cable or broadcast. That day is closer than you might think.

Already television producers are well aware of the importance of DVD to their revenues; shows like "Family Guy" and "Chappelle's Show" have proven their worth via video sales more than by the audience their telecasts have attracted.

And, while "Lost" is seen as a demonstration that audiences will sit through a season-long unresolved storyline, some observers are pointing to DVD as fueling that appetite, too. If you can sit down and watch a whole season of "24" on DVD, then you know the plot digressions along the way are taking you somewhere.

Anecdotal evidence suggests people wait for serialized shows to arrive on DVD — or they record the whole season's episodes before watching one, so they can follow the whole arc. Even a show people know, like "Lost," has viewers going back over reruns and recordings of the first season in search of clues; the DVD release in September will just encourage more of that. The commercial-free aspect of DVD is also appealing, to audiences and producers, because it creates an uninterrupted narrative that can be more involving for the audience.

We're already seeing very narrow gaps between series telecast and their DVD release. I know of some cases, with documentaries and children's shows at least, of DVDs preceding the actual telecast. So why shouldn't some enterprising producer make an entire comedy or drama series for immediate release on DVD, then sell it to a network? Word of mouth about the DVD might even give a boost to the later broadcast.

At least, I've been thinking about that some lately. But that's not the only thing. Lots of mental ping-pong lately.

– I see that CNN has finally suspended Bob Novak. Not for his role in the Valerie Plame nightmare. For swearing on the air and walking off a show. Here's a link to a story about the incident: Naughty Novak. (Note: Contains a strong word Novak used.)

You can draw your own conclusions from that about what's acceptable at the network and what isn't. Smearing, OK. Swearing, not OK. It also indicates that Novak is buckling some under the ongoing pressure to come clean about his role in the Plame case. And considering the pressure he has put on other people, I don't feel sorry for him.

– The great singer Little Milton has died. His version of "Grits Ain't Groceries" has been one of those songs stuck in my head ever since I heard a band do a cover of it when I was in college. Maybe you know the key lyric: "If I don't love you baby, grits ain't groceries/Eggs ain't poultry/And Mona Lisa was a man." How could you not love a song with lines like that? I did, anyway.

– Looking at the baseball standings, I've been wishing once again that all leagues instituted a .500-or-better rule, which simply says that any team has to have at least a .500 record to make the playoffs. If, say, a division leader has a sub-.500 record, then it still could not go. Instead, another team in the same conference with an over-.500 record that is not otherwise playoff-eligible would be chosen; if there are no such teams, then the playoffs are restructured with the eligible teams.

I have a hard time accepting the idea that a team incapable of winning half its regular-season games is somehow allowed into the playoffs. And I'd be a lot more likely to watch a playoff game on TV if it wasn't a horrible mismatch.