While John Davidson hasn’t seen the Blackhawks in person this season, the Fox Sports hockey analyst feels he’s captured the team’s essence.
The Hawks “compete,” says Davidson, who will be working Sunday afternoon’s telecast with Mike Emrick and Joe Micheletti. “There’s something special about this team. Both clubs are on a mission.”
Davidson, due to his regular-season schedule of working Rangers games for Madison Square Garden Network, seldom saw a Western Conference team in person. He did, however, spend many hours watching games on TV, both live and on tape.
“I watch a lot,” says Davidson. “I have a satellite dish (at home). I’ll watch both teams (Thursday night) and I’ll make calls to the staffs of both teams. I like to be as prepared as possible and let the game just take place. I did the Rangers all year. To get out and see other teams is kind of a bonus.”
Fox has seen its hockey ratings slowly creep upward, averaging a 2.0 rating with a five share for the first three playoff Sundays, up 25 percent from ABC’s 1.6 average for three weekends last year.
“You’ve got to learn to walk before you can run,” says Davidson, who began his broadcasting career in 1984 after 10 years as National Hockey League goaltender. “There’s certainly a lot of effort on the part of the Fox people to put on the best product they can. It was a screwy season. Just getting on the air and going in the direction we’re going is good. I know some people don’t like the (postseason) scheduling, but, hey, everybody loves the TV money. They just have to pay the price for it.”
Which is something he sees Fox doing. “I know the people I work with–Mike Emrick, Richie Zyontz, Sandy Grossman–they work at it,” says Davidson, who also has worked on Stanley Cup coverage by the Canadian Broadcasting Company and SportsChannel America. “I have a lot of respect for them for that reason.”
– Fox has decided, if possible, to air Games 1, 4 and 7 (if necessary) of the Stanley Cup finals in prime time on Saturday nights, starting June 17. “We’re trying to give (the NHL ratings) a jolt,” said a Fox Sports spokesman. “It’s part of a plan to bring (the NHL) to a broader audience.”
Playing hardball: WMVP-AM 1000 has hired pitching coach Ferguson Jenkins to provide Cubs updates on the day of each new series for the remainder of the season. Jenkins’ first report, as the Cubs open a weekend series against the Marlins, will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday. Announcers John Rooney and Ed Farmer provide a similar service for the White Sox. . . . While television ratings for major-league baseball games around the country have tumbled, there’s an exception at WGN-Ch. 9. Through the recently completed May sweeps, Channel 9’s 23 Cubs telecasts–helped no doubt by the team’s fast start–averaged a 5.7 rating with a 12 share, up 2 percent from last year’s 5.6/14 for 39 games. At the same time, the station’s White Sox eight airings averaged a 3.8/7, down 12 percent from last year’s 4.3/8 for 14 games.
Other stuff: SportsChannel has begun gearing up to telecast the final two rounds of next weekend’s Celebrity Golf Association tournament at White Eagle Golf Club. “We’re trying to make it not too gimmicky,” says programming boss Mike Bogad, who plans for three hours of coverage Saturday and Sunday, with Steve Kashul and CGA founder Jim Karvellas as announcers. “But golf is not a sport we do regularly,” adds Bogad. Because of that, he will cover only the final three holes with eight cameras. Golf, Bogad says, “is more involved than the other sports we do.” . . . WGN-AM continues to hunt for a successor to Bears announcer Dick Butkus. While staffers (and ex-Bears) Glen Kozlowski and Ron Rivera are on the list, WGN program director Tisa LaSorte doesn’t expect a decision for a couple of weeks. . . . CNN Sports executive producer Jim Walton succeeds Bill MacPhail as senior vice president after MacPhail retires Friday. MacPhail, uncle of Cubs president Andy MacPhail, joined CNN in 1979 to start the cable network’s sports department after a long career at CBS, both in sports and in news. . . . CBS has added the June 25 NASCAR Busch Series Grand National race at Watkins Glen, N.Y., to its schedule. . . . fX, Fox Broadcasting’s cable network, will begin a weekly live Sunday night sports show Sept. 3 from Fox Sports’ studios in Los Angeles. . . . And Former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson has launched his own sports and television consulting and marketing company, Pilson Communications Inc.
Programming notes: Due to CLTV’s telecast of the Cubs-Marlins contest at 5 p.m. Sunday, there will be no “Let’s Talk Hawks” postgame show. . . . Former Bulls guard George “Iceman” Gervin talks about his San Antonio youth center that stresses education on “NBA Inside Stuff” at 11 a.m. Saturday on WMAQ-Ch. 5.