There's a new entry into the massive media hype machine of Super Bowl week, as NBC Sports Network — which didn't have any coverage last year when the cable outlet was known as Versus — plans 18 hours of programming next week. And the best two hours figures to be the debut of "Costas Tonight.''
That show will be conducted in a theater Indianapolis, site of the Super Bowl, at 7 p.m. Thursday. And Costas' long track record with such programming at HBO and other outlets means a quality product can be expected.
"Costas Tonight" will air monthly — four times a year in a two-hour town-hall meeting format, such as will be the case next week, and the other times in a studio setting in which an issue will be addressed or a long-form interview with a guest of note will take place. That's similar to what Costas did for HBO for eight years before leaving in 2009 to join the then-upstart MLB Network.
"When I left, one thing I missed was the kind of programming HBO — until now — uniquely did,'' Costas said Thursday. "You just couldn't do it anywhere else. And now essentially this new NBC Sports Network has let me re-configure what I did at HBO.''
So much so that Ross Greenburg, who was president of HBO Sports when Costas was there, is the executive producer of the new Costas town hall meeting shows. And several other key executives who were instrumental in the success of Costas' HBO programs are with him again.
He said the guest list for the opener isn't set, but it is expected to include big names and address an array of football topics.
"We hope, like the shows on HBO, they are simultaneously journalistic and informative but also lively and entertaining, that is the idea,'' Costas said.
It will be a whirlwind year for Costas, who has added these NBC Sports Network duties to what already was a busy schedule. He continues at NBC's over-the-air sports division, for which he hosts its NFL coverage as well as key NHL events, horse races and golf tournaments. Then this summer he'll serve as NBC's lead Olympics host, the 10th time he will have done so. Plus he is a key member of MLB Network's staff.
"This will be my busiest year in a long time, but the thing that is great about it is there isn't a single thing that I'll be asked to do that I don't really enjoy,'' he said. "There's nothing there that's just inventory.''
Costas was reached Thursday while he was in Boston, where he had interviewed new Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine for MLB Network's "Studio 42 with Bob Costas'' program.
"At the baseball network, I give them great credit in that they never use me on anything that isn't well-suited to me,'' he said. "They never use me just for the sake of using me.''
While he does some play-by-play, he also is used on historical pieces, issue-oriented programs, Hall of Fame day and long-form interviews. "Stuff where what I have to say might move the needle a little bit,'' he said.
And that needle points toward NBC Sports Net on Thursday.
"He is the single brightest star in our talent stable,'' Jon Miller, NBC Sports' president of programming, said recently. "... Everything he touches is done first class. ... I can't tell you how important it is to have him be our captain.''
SEC SCHEDULING FLAP
Mizzou is headed to the Southeastern Conference next season, and will be joining a league in which there is some controversy brewing over scheduling in men's basketball — specifically cries of favorable treatment to the powerhouse Kentucky program.
Four seasons ago, as part of a contract it signed with ESPN, it added a regular Thursday night game to its schedule to give that network a game to show. And because the primary day the SEC plays is Saturday, that created a quick turnaround for the teams in action on Thursday.
According to The Associated Press, "coaches figured those games would be divvied equally between everyone. Instead, it appears top-ranked Kentucky is getting a favorable draw. The Wildcats don't have a Thursday-Saturday setup this season, but they play four Saturday games against teams coming off Thursday night tips.''
The AP says Kentucky has played only twice on one day's rest since the Thursday game was added, and that two schools have had that happen seven times and four have been in that situation five times.
ESPN also shows the SEC on Tuesdays, and because ESPN's ratings usually are better on that night than on Thursdays, Kentucky — the league's main draw — often is scheduled for Tuesdays.
"It's not Kentucky's fault," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings, who is from Collinsville, told the AP. "... It's an issue with the league office, and I understand that television dictates certain things, and that's fine. ... I think (the league needs) to take a look and see whether ... things are equitable or not."
NFL IN SPOTLIGHT
The huge success of the NFL is the subject of a segment of this weekend's edition of "60 Minutes,'' which airs at 6 p.m. Sunday (KMOV, Channel 4, locally).
Commissioner Roger Goodell discusses why the league has become so popular and what it has to do to keep its stature. One of the highlights figures to be cameras showing Goodell and his staff at their weekly meeting to review officiating mistakes in recent games, which CBS says is the first time the NFL has allowed this to be filmed.
CARDS V. CUBS
The Cardinals and Cubs will be at it next week. Brian Finch, whose duties for the Cards include managing stadium tours, competes against Cubs account executive Ryan Balogh on MLB Network's "Baseball IQ'' quiz show at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. It is one match in which 32 participants compete in a bracket-style tournament that airs through Feb. 23, with the winner earning $5,000 for charity (Cardinals Care, in Finch's case).
