Tag: Super Bowl

The Eagles Win Ugly

The Eagles played the Washington Redskins in this week’s Sunday night matchup. ESPN isn’t ABC, and Sunday night isn’t Monday night. In other words this is less special nationwide, but critical for us, a family of Eagles fans.

It started terribly as the Redskins returned the opening kickoff most of the way down the field and then quickly scored. Then, amazingly, the Eagles returned the favor, scoring seconds later on their first possession. It looked like this would be a wide open shout out.

Bad guess on my part.

Helaine, who scours the Internet for anything good about the Eagles or bad about their opponent, knew there was bad blood between these two teams after Philadelphia had been accused of running up the score the first time they met. Some rumors said the Redskins would play dirty.

Bad guess on her part.

What we ended up watching was an ugly game. Donovan McNabb, one of the top few quarterbacks in the league looked awful. He drilled he ball to the carpet and gave up a critical interception. Terrell Owens, the Eagles trash talking wide receiver, fumbled the ball trying to stretch out a play within spitting distance of the end zone.

I like the ESPN announcers, but by halftime they were starting to sound like ‘homers’ rooting for the Redskins. I find that annoying. At least I did tonight.

The game had heartbreak written all over it. I knew it was bad because Helaine turned down the sound on the TV. Though the Eagles led, the Redskins continued to threaten until an interception in the final seconds locked it up.

The final score: Eagles 17 – Washington 14. It could have easily been the reverse.

The Eagles are now 12-1, much better than anyone could have imagined or asked for. Tonight they were referred to as the only true Super Bowl contender in the NFC. Yet this game only went to reinforce our worry that one off night, one blown play, could end it all.

Stern to Sirius

Howard Stern announced today that he’d be going to Sirius, the satellite delivered radio service, a year from January. Whether Viacom will find it in their best interest to keep him on the air for that year plus period is certainly being debated now.

I had speculated earlier that Stern would be part of the post-Janet Jackson fallout. Mel Karmazin is no longer at Viacom, and he was Stern’s biggest supporter. I was probably wrong in connecting this to Janet Jackson… though maybe not 100%.

The whole Super Bowl, wardrobe malfunction affair has driven radio station operators, like Clear Channel, to reassess. Maybe Howard is feeling reigned in a little.

I see two interesting outcomes from this move. As little as I personally appreciate Howard Stern, he is a powerful force with his audience. He will give credibility to Sirius – get them additional subscribers. Their stock (not particularly pricey to begin with) is up almost 15% as I write this.

The second effect will be felt by people who don’t listen to Stern and don’t subscribe to satellite radio. Just as more adult or racy content on HBO, Showtime and even MTV, led the broadcast networks to spice up their programming to compete, a good showing by Stern might force the same shift on radio.

It would be ironic if Stern’s move off-air ends up moving on-air toward his type of content.

This is a story that isn’t completely played out by any means.

Another Media Prediction

After the Janet/Justin Super Bowl incident, I predicted there would be repercussions at MTV – even though MTV is not regulated by the FCC. It didn’t take long before some of the more explicit videos they play were pushed out of prime time.

Videos are no longer a big thing on MTV, so this move isn’t as significant as it might seem. Still, a change is a change. It is certainly a reaction to an upwelling of public sentiment.

Now, in light of Howard Stern’s banishment by Clear Channel, I predict he’ll soon be gone from Viacom&#185 as well.

Let me preface my explanation by saying I have no political ax to grind. What will be will be. It’s fun to make these predictions in the blog because I really can’t hide from them later. Just remember – this is only my read on the situation.

Here’s the set-up. Tuesday, Howard Stern had the ‘other’ participant in the now infamous Paris Hilton video, on-the-air. They talked, and took some phone calls. One listener asked some questions which were crude and racist, to say the least.

Wednesday evening, Matt Drudge had a short transcript of the conversation on his website. I’m glad I got to read it. I’m just as glad it’s no longer there.

I would hope Stern has the ability to monitor and censor inappropriate material before it hits air. In this case, he did not.

On Wednesday, after hearing an aircheck, Clear Channel Communications took action and issued this press release:

“Clear Channel drew a line in the sand today with regard to protecting our listeners from indecent content and Howard Stern’s show blew right through it,” said John Hogan, president and CEO of Clear Channel Radio. “It was vulgar, offensive, and insulting, not just to women and African Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency. We will not air Howard Stern on Clear Channel stations until we are assured that his show will conform to acceptable standards of responsible broadcasting,” Hogan said.

Though America’s largest broadcasting company, Clear Channel only runs Stern on a handful of stations. Viacom is the actual syndicator of the show, and also runs it in many markets nationwide.

In this case, the tail (Clear Channel) will wag the dog (Viacom)!

Viacom is between a rock and a hard place because of statements earlier in the week. From Reuters:

Viacom president Mel Karmazin reportedly has imposed a crackdown on sexually explicit material on Infinity stations, declaring in a recent company-wide conference call: “This company won’t be a poster child for indecency.”

So, what can they do? Considering the Congressional hearings post-Super Bowl and Karmazin’s own public pledge, how can they stand behind Stern… especially in light of what Clear Channel’s CEO said?

They can’t. End of story. Hang out the “Help Wanted” sign. Stern is done.

&#185 – Stern is syndicated by Infinity Broadcasting. Infinity, in turn, is owned by Viacom.