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SAUNDERS: Collinsworth rising above rest

Dusty Saunders, Special to the Rocky

Published November 23, 2008 at 10:32 p.m.

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An FSN Rocky Mountain worker installs a camera at Coors Field, left, before the 2007 season. The cable outlet showed only seven games in 1997; it will be 150 in 2009.

Photo by Ahmad Terry / The Rocky/2007

An FSN Rocky Mountain worker installs a camera at Coors Field, left, before the 2007 season. The cable outlet showed only seven games in 1997; it will be 150 in 2009.

Washington State's Matt Mullennix celebrates with the Apple Cup trophy, but considering the poor season the Cougars and Washington have had, why did anyone watch?

Photo by Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Washington State's Matt Mullennix celebrates with the Apple Cup trophy, but considering the poor season the Cougars and Washington have had, why did anyone watch?

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Sports fans infected with Broncomania can recall what happened in the Nov. 6 game at Cleveland.

Denver was trailing 30-27 with less than two minutes to play when Jay Cutler overthrew Brandon Marshall in the end zone for what would have been the go-ahead touchdown.

NFL Network analyst Cris Collinsworth noted the Broncos should again go to Marshall because he was taller and more flexible than the Browns defender.

On the next play, in the same corner of the end zone, Marshall scored on a pass from Cutler.

Collinsworth a prophet?

Doubtful.

But he is the best NFL analyst on television.

Unfortunately, Collinsworth's game profile is relatively low since the NFL Network, during its eight-week Thursday night run, reaches only about 40 percent of the nation's television homes.

His keen, observing mind finds a larger audience on Sunday night, since he's part of the cast of thousands that covers NBC's NFL games.

Collinsworth also has been a steady anchor for several years on Inside the NFL, which, this season, moved from HBO to Showtime.

Still, it's Collinsworth's live action work that sets him apart from his contemporaries, including the often-sainted John Madden, whom Collinsworth replaced during a recent NBC Sunday night game in Tampa, Fla.

Collinsworth analyzes without overanalyzing.

He's relatively sparse with words, particularly when compared with Phil Simms, who sometimes talks as if NBC Sports is paying him by the word.

And Collinsworth voices strong opinions, staying away from phrases like "it looks like" or "it might have been."

During that Cleveland game, Collinsworth described how Marshall definitely ran a wrong route when a Cutler pass was intercepted. There was no "it looks like" commentary.

An astute student of the game, Collinsworth is seldom wrong with his definitive analysis.

Speaking of Broncos coverage, CBS' Dick Enberg and Randy Cross turned in workmanlike performances during Oakland's unexpected spanking of Denver.

For Enberg, covering the Broncos has almost been a career job, first on NBC and now CBS.

I wonder if the versatile play-by-play broadcaster has kept track of the number of Denver games he's covered?

CABLE LINES: Need another graphic example of how cable and satellite are replacing broadcast television in the sports world?

In 1997, FSN Rocky Mountain, in its maiden season of Rockies coverage, aired seven games. KWGN-Channel 2 was the main broadcast outlet (90 games).

The Rockies recently signed a new 12-year deal with FSN that leaves broadcast television out of the loop.

FSN, following the lead of other major league franchises, will air 150 games in 2009, all in high definition.

In recent seasons, KTVD-Channel 20 has aired around 20 games, mostly on Sunday afternoon.

This migration of Major League Baseball from broadcast to cable has been accelerating for more than a decade.

The major reason: financial considerations, since basic cable has two revenue streams - advertising sales and subscription fees from cable operators.

Broadcast television relies basically on advertising.

Tim Griggs, executive vice president and general manger of FSN Rocky Mountain, also notes the cable network reaches geographic areas not available to broadcast stations.

In case you missed the announcement, ESPN, beginning in 2011, will have the rights to the BCS playoffs for four years under a $125 million-a-year deal. Fox, the current rights holder, declined to match ESPN's offer.

The network's financial solvency comes from its rights fees from cable operators and advertising revenue, much of it the high-end variety.

It's difficult to fathom that when basic cable was in its infancy, pioneer leaders like the late Bill Daniels of Denver envisioned an advertising-free service.

RATINGS ROULETTE: I'm curious to see FSN's regional Saturday audience ratings when Washington State beat Washington in double overtime. Neither team had won a Pacific-10 Conference contest and the loss pushed Washington's season record to 0-11.

Occasionally, audience ratings fall below the 1 figure, which, I'm told, means that not only weren't you watching, but that you called a friend and told him not to watch.

Dusty Saunders writes periodically about sports broadcasting. Contact him at tvtime@comcast.net.

Comments

  • November 24, 2008

    7:59 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ssc writes:

    yes, collinsworth is fantastic. not only his style and his knowledge, but the fact that he actually plays close attention to the game while he's talking. unlike a clown like randy cross who's too busy expressing his (usually erroneous) opinion to actually watch the action on the field.

  • November 24, 2008

    10:57 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    troopermsu writes:

    How long before broadcast stations switch to cable stations so they can develop the second revenue stream?