Clippers Have a TV Problem

The Clippers are already on a losing streak, having lost their over-the-air broadcaster.

Only 40 of the Clippers’ 82 regular-season games will be televised locally, all by Fox Sports Net 2.

Channel 9 televised 25 Clipper games last season, but the team broke off negotiations in late August in hopes of getting a better deal from another station.

Then came Sept. 11. The ensuing economic uncertainty led Channel 5, after getting close to a deal with the Clippers, to bow out.

The Clippers went back to see if any more games could be televised by Fox Sports Net 2, but were told budgetary restraints would not allow it.

“We know we have a good product, but these are bad economic times,” said Andy Roeser, the Clippers’ executive vice president. “We will continue to work to get this thing resolved, but for now we will not be on an over-the-air station.”

Walton Moving Up

There is some good news, at least for Clipper commentator Bill Walton. He was promoted to NBC’s No. 1 NBA team this week. He and Steve Jones will team with Marv Albert. They replace Doug Collins, who has moved on to coach the Washington Wizards and give Michael Jordan a few tips.

Walton’s new position will not preclude him from working Clipper games, although NBC obviously will take precedence.

“I’ve been hoping and praying for this day for 11 years,” he said. “This will go down as one of the most special days in my entire life.

“This is, without question, the great accomplishment of my life. I am ecstatic. I have not been able to feel the ground for a few days.”

Leave it to Walton to be understated.

He is aware he is outspoken. Maybe you can’t blame him. Since overcoming his stuttering, he has been like a kid with a new toy.

He knows he rubs some people the wrong way.

“I am who I am,” he said. “When you’re 6-11, have red hair, a big nose, freckles, a speech impediment and you’re a Deadhead, you get your share of comments.

“As a player, I loved to play on the road. The crowd fired me up. The antagonism of the road inspired me.”

Unlikely Career

What’s amazing is that Walton is even a broadcaster, let alone a network’s top dog. Broadcasting was something he never thought he could do. He thought if he could only talk without stuttering, that would be a plus.

When he was 28, Walton hooked up with the late Marty Glickman at a social gathering in San Diego.

“He took me aside,” Walton, 48, said this week. “In a five-minute discussion, he gave me the tips and a program to learn how to speak, to develop speech and communication as a skill.

“He said to take these tips and implement them with the learning and the training methods from all your coaches, people like John Wooden, Jack Ramsay and Lenny Wilkens and all the different ones I came in contact with.”

Years later Glickman was told about the impact that short conversation had on Walton’s life, and Glickman was genuinely surprised.

Glickman helped Walton with his speech problems, but he couldn’t cure them.

“I still work at it to this very day,” Walton said. “Obviously, I still have problems with it.

“For me to make a living as a broadcaster and public speaker, who would have ever thought? This is the most unlikely career path for me.”

Good Report Card

When Fox Sports Net first introduced the “Southern California Sports Report” in April 2000, the show took some ridiculing. It came across as amateurish, particularly because the anchors were asked to be homers.

The show now seems to have found its niche. This April it switched to an earlier time slot so it could follow game telecasts, and ratings have improved 129%, going from a .19 average to a .44 on Fox Sports Net alone. Combined with Fox Sports Net 2, the rating is a .82.

Todd Donoho and John Fricke have been good additions, as have local college reporters Matt Stevens and Petros Papadakis. Working Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers into the mix on Sunday nights doesn’t appear to have hurt the show too much either.

The ratings should continue to improve with the arrival of the basketball season.

Short Waves

Today marks the end of a run for ESPN’s “Up Close.” It is being replaced by “Unscripted With Chris Connelly,” which will air weekdays at 2 p.m., with re-airs on ESPN2 at 11:30 p.m. ... Another new show is “Pardon the Interruption,” with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post. Kornheiser and Wilbon must be ESPN’s answer to Plaschke and Simers on Fox Sports Net.

Jay Mohr is moving over to ESPN after the football season and will have a new show, “Mohr Sports,” that will be part of a new three-hour Sunday night block of programming. The show is part of a new multifaceted deal Mohr has signed with Disney. ... ESPN has moved next year’s ESPY Awards show from Feb. 4 to July 10. A site will be named later.

Recommended viewing: “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf” on ESPN Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. offers an amazing match between Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam. One shoots 64, the other 65. ... On ESPN Classic Wednesday at 4 p.m. will be a “SportsCentury Flashback” on Game 5 of the 1986 American League championship series between the Angels and Boston Red Sox--the Donnie Moore game.

Joe E. Gibbs, co-founder of the Golf Channel with Arnold Palmer and its CEO and president, has announced he will retire at the end of the year. ...Chick Hearn will conduct a seminar on careers in broadcasting Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the Museum of Television and Radio’s L.A. RadioFest. Information: 310 786-1000.

Radio daze: Kevin Malone is serving as Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian’s postseason baseball analyst on KSPN (1110) three times a week via phone. No word on whether Malone has earned a permanent spot on the station. ... Tonight’s Jackie Slater show on KSPN is being preempted by baseball. ... KMPC (1540) has named Tim Parker program director. He replaces Kurt Kretzschmar.

In Closing

Trev Alberts has a new show that airs on CNN/SI Tuesdays and Wednesdays at various times. Alberts came out of the box pretty strong last week.

“I’ve tried to give Dennis Miller the benefit of the doubt,” Alberts said. “But it’s clear to me that the Dennis Miller experiment should be over. He has become nothing more than a stat boy. Get rid of him.”