Site Announcements

Former Rutgers player Eric LeGrand is joining the Rutgers football broadcast booth.

LeGrand was paralyzed last year from the shoulder down after making a tackle against Army on a kickoff play. The 20-year-old is now an inspirational story as he’s determined to walk once again.

“I think it’s really cool,” head coach Greg Schiano said. “He’s going to do post (game), pre (game) and halftime. So we’re going to get our E-rock report.”

He was a teenager when he created this blog, but now Brian Stelter is all grown up.

He terrorizes media execs on his beat at the New York Times, he has a starring role in the upcoming Page One: Inside The New York Times documentary (watch our @mediabeat interview with filmmaker Andrew Rossi after the jump) and now it’s been revealed he’s dating Kate Middleton look-alike, CNBC’s Nicole Lapin. Ahead of a mention in today’s Page Six, Stelter changed his Facebook status to “in a relationship.” The two (Nicole and Brian, not Kate and William) were spotted at the New York premiere of Page One Monday night at Lincoln Center.

Lapin anchors CNBC’s early morning (ET) show “Worldwide Exchange.”

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If Chris Bosh balling like a girl and LeBron James‘ postgame comments wasn’t enough fuel for the Miami haters, this should do the trick.

The Miami Herald ran the following Macy’s ad in Monday’s paper, congratulating Miami on winning the NBA championship.

Oops.

Regardless of last night’s outcome, there was no way the Heat could have clinched the series before Tuesday. Needless to say, someone at the Herald is in trouble today.

[H/T Fishbowl NY]

Say hi to Merrill Knox — who joins us this week as co-editor of our TV blogs: TVNewser and TVSpy. Merrill comes to us from Fox News Channel where she was a production assistant on “Your World with Neil Cavuto.”

A 2006 grad of Boston University, Merrill is a self-proclaimed TV news junkie. She’ll be splitting her time writing for TVNewser and TVSpy, covering events, conducting interviews, taking part in our original videos, Tweeting and — what she’s most excited about — moderating comments!

Also big news here at HQ, Alex Weprin has been bumped up to Senior Editor, taking on a greater role in the editorial operations of TVNewser and the site he helped launch last year: SportsNewser.

Welcome Merrill. And congrats Alex.

Kevin Allocca, you remember him — former TVNewser editor. Well he’s making a triumphant — okay, one hour — return to mediabistro leading a session of our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp. Kevin is now the manager of YouTube Trends and he’ll talk about the lessons he’s learned about viral video.

Kevin’s session is part of the 8-week online conference and workshop which draws hundreds of senior level professionals who listen to live speaker sessions and complete a rigorous social media course in small group sessions.

You know you need to know. So sign up now.

Barry Zito and other members of the San Francisco Giants recorded a video in support of Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) youth, expressing sympathy for those who feel like outcasts for their sexual orientation and exhorting them to hang in there because “it does get better.”

The Giants are the first major pro franchise to record such a video for the It Gets Better Project, which aims to curb suicides among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.

Summer may not officially start until late June, but here at mediabistro.com we are getting things started early with our “Summer Starts Now!” sale. Today only, you can save 25% on any of our courses when you use the code SUMMER25.

Among the courses: TV News Writing, which will help you develop your writing skills for television news. More information on that course, including how to sign up, here.

Click here to view all courses.

Note: This offer may not be applied to past purchases or combined with any other discounts or promotions. Not valid for Weekend Warrior: 2-Day Film School, Certificate Programs, Self-Paced Courses, or How-To Videos.

The Tennis Channel and ESPN agreed to a new four-year multimedia programming alliance for the Australian and French Opens.

As part of the deal, which takes effect with the 2012 French Open, ESPN’s telecast windows of the French Open will now be virtually live, starting at 5 a.m. ET for five hours. Both ESPN and the Tennis Channel will continue to broadcast from both Grand Slam events.

“Sports fans want to see the action live and that’s how we deliver tennis and all our sports,” said John Skipper, ESPN executive vice president, content. “Tennis fans are among the most dedicated – willing to stay up or get up to see live competition – and that’s what we will provide for years to come from Melbourne and Paris. In addition, we look forward to continuing our relationship with Tennis Channel to best serve tennis fans at both events.” Read more

MLB Network is ramping up its programming slate this season, adding a new afternoon studio show as well as its first talk show.

The talk show is “Intentional Talk” (sounds like “intentional walk,” get it?) and will be hosted by former Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar and Chris Rose at 5 PM ET on weekdays. The show “will focus on the hot topics and events of the day with appearances by special guests from sports, entertainment and pop culture, and an on-screen ticker displaying the latest headlines and feedback on Twitter and Facebook,” according to MLB Network. The show will originate from MLB Network’s Studio 42, as well as from the host’s personal studios via Cisco TelePresence.

There is also a new afternoon studio show “The Rundown,” hosted by Hazel Mae and Matt Yallof. The show will give updates on games underway, as well as previews of that evening’s games. It will also feature live look-ins to batting practice and games in progress.

More information, after the jump.

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If you’ve thought about running in a marathon and figured that extra weight might work against you, think again.

Sumo wrestler Kelly Gneiting, 40, is running the Los Angeles Marathon this weekend.

His weight? A trim 405 pounds.

The Los Angeles Times profiled the three-time national champion sumo wrestler, who hopes to set a Guinness record by being the heaviest person to cross a marathon finish line. It took him just under 12 hours to lumber his way through the 2008 Los Angeles Marathon. Read more