Random Notes

• NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” ended up as the first sports franchise to win the No. 1 primetime fall-spring programming spot according to the Nielsen Ratings, as Fox’s “American Idol” finished Wednesday with a series-low mark. “SNF” averaged 21.5 million viewers during the official TV season, from Sept. 19, 2011 through May 23, 2012. (Courtesy Los Angeles Daily News)

• Bob Costas, Dan Shulman, Tom Boman, Wyatt Thompson, Bill Roth, Wes Durham and Chris Farrow are among the featured speakers at the One Day Ticket to Sportscasting Success seminar, June 11th, 2012 in Salisbury, NC. Limited seating remaining.The event is part of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA) annual awards weekend and will be the premier sportscasting seminar of recent years. Learn more!

• WCCO-AM in Minneapolis has extended its deal to broadcast University of St. Thomas football through the 2013 season. Dave Lee and Eric Nelson will continue to call the action. (Courtesy AllAccess)

• Sports Anchor Todd Romero is leaving WKMG-TV in Orlando, FL for a similar job at Denver’s Altitude Sports in Denver.

• Ben Ross is joining WOLO-TV in Columbia, SC as a sports anchor/reporter. He leaves KULR8 in Billings, MT.

• Sports Anchor/Reporter Randy Scott is leaving NESN for ESPN.

• STAA client Riley Corcoran has been awarded Best Play-by-Play Broadcaster and Best Sports Show in the State of Idaho by the ISBA (Idaho State Broadcaster’s Association). Corcoran is a 2011 graduate of Washington State University.

• Fox was the big winner tonight in the fifth annual Sports Business Awards, presented by SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily. The network was cited for “Best in Sports Media” and “Best in Sports Television.” ESPN Digital Media won for “Best in Digital Sports Media,” and ESPN’s WatchESPN captured the “Best in Sports Technology” award. (Courtesy Albany Times Union)

• Broadcaster’s Edge provides the simplest way for play-by-play broadcasters to prepare for a game. Click here to listen to the software’s creator, Brian Freedman, explain how Broadcasters Edge improves your broadcasts and saves time. Rave reviews from network, big league, and college announcers. www.broadcastersedge.com.

• The Washington Nationals are awaiting a June 1 deadline to find out how much their 2013 television rights will be worth. Industry reports have the team asking the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network for anywhere from $90 to $110 million a year. The Nationals currently get about $29 million a year from MASN. (Courtesy DCRTV)

• Western Kentucky University grad Paxton Boyd has been hired as a Sports Anchor/Reporter at WYMT-TV in Lexington, KY.

• Kevin Sheehan has signed a two-year deal to stay with ESPN 980 in Washington D.C. Sheehan co-hosts The Sports Fix with Thom Loverro daily from noon to 2 pm.

• Technical troubles for Fox Sports Midwest led to an unexpected twist for Cardinals fans, who got to hear legendary sportscaster Dick Enberg do play-by-play of most of the Cardinals-Padres game Monday night and enjoy a commercial-free telecast most of the way. Problems at the master control center in Houston caused the glitches on that telecast and at Fox outlets in other markets. That sent FSM scrambling to pick up the Fox Sports San Diego feed in order to get the telecast on locally. (Courtesy St. Louis Post Dispatch)

• Atlanta Falcons radio voice, Wes Durham, offers networking advice for sportscasting vets and rookies. Watch STAAtv here!

• Sports Anchor/Reporter Neille Giffune is leaving WFMZ-TV in Allentown, PA for a news job at WEYI in Toledo, OH.

• CBS sports talker 105.7 The Fan, WJZ-FM, continued its downward slide in the April radio ratings, released this week. The station placed 15th in April among the overall 12-and-older demographic, down from 14th in March, and 13th in February. Its morning team of Ed Norris and Steve Davis was down to 12th place, from seventh place in February. Hearst news talker WBAL-AM, 1090, which carries the Orioles, placed fifth. (Courtesy DCRTV)

• STAA’s Sports Broadcasting Seminar series is available to download instantly to your iPod, iPhone, iPad or MP3 player. Learn more.

• Nighttime host Arnie Spanier is leaving 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. Spanier tweets that his last day is June 1st.