Super Bowl Update

24/7 Wall St. has named Dish Network the worst company to work for.  Some 346 current or former Dish employees went online to share their tales of woe ― and it gave the satellite giant the worst spot, beating out such other poor places to work as Dillard's and RadioShack. [Bloomberg Businessweek]

Paducah sports radio station WPAD-1560 AM/99.5 FM has dumped its ESPN Radio programming for a combination of Fox Sports Radio shows and part of the new CBS Sports Radio schedule.  Dan Patrick, Jim Rome, and Doug Gottlieb are part of the station's all-new lineup. [West Kentucky Star]

NBCUniversal and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) have reached a new agreement to offer NBCUniversal’s entire portfolio of broadcast and cable content to NRTC’s members. NRTC represents the advanced telecommunications and information technology interests of 1,500 rural utilities and affiliates in 48 states. [Press Release]

NBCUniversal and Mediacom Communications have announced a multi-year affiliation agreement to offer NBCUniversal’s entire portfolio of award-winning broadcast and cable content to Mediacom’s customers. This agreement includes expansive rights to carry the Olympic Games, as well as on-demand content from NBCUniversal’s cable and broadcast network portfolio and access to live channels across multiple platforms, both in and out of the home across the U.S.

To access the online programming, customers must subscribe to Mediacom’s Family TV package.

The agreement covers retransmission consent for continued carriage of all NBCUniversal’s cable networks, including, Bravo, Chiller, cloo, CNBC, E!, G4, Golf Channel, MSNBC, mun2, NBC Sports Network, Oxygen, Sprout, Style, Syfy, Telemundo, Universal HD, USA, as well as Comcast SportsNet.  

“We are very pleased to complete this agreement with NBCUniversal because it provides our customers with greater flexibility and choice in their search for entertaining content,” said Italia Commisso Weinand, Mediacom’s EVP of Programming and Human Resources. “Whether at home or on the go, Mediacom customers will have access to the very best NBCUniversal programming."

NBCU and Hearst are looking to grab "metrosexual" male viewers previously ignored by networks like Spike and History, and they're going to use the G4 network - rebranded with Esquire magazine's name - to bring them into the fold. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Univision and Bounce TV announced a deal this morning that will see the Spanish-language network add the African-American-themed diginet in San Francisco, Boston, Tampa, Miami, Denver, Sacramento and Raleigh.  The new deal brings Bounce TV’s coverage to 86% of African-American television homes and 68% of total U.S. TV households. [TVNewsCheck]

NBCUniversal and Suddenlink Communications today announced an extensive affiliation agreement to offer NBCUniversal’s entire portfolio of broadcast and cable content to Suddenlink cable customers.

For Suddenlink customers in this part of the country, the agreement covers retransmission consent for continued carriage of cable networks USA, Bravo Media, cloo, Chiller, CNBC, G4, MSNBC, mun2, NBC Sports Network, Oxygen Media, Syfy, Telemundo Media and Universal HD.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are thrilled to continue our successful and long standing partnership with Suddenlink,” said Matt Bond, NBCU EVP, content distribution. “This agreement underscores our commitment to TV Everywhere and I’m pleased Suddenlink appreciates the value our strong portfolio of broadcast stations, cable networks and Olympics coverage delivers to their subscribers.”

“We’re excited about the opportunity to continue featuring NBCUniversal networks and stations on our cable line ups, under an agreement that is fair and reasonable to our customers,” said Patty McCaskill, SVP and chief programming officer, Suddenlink. “Among other things, this agreement allows us to enhance our Suddenlink2GO service, which give our customers the ability to enjoy popular programs on multiple devices, inside and outside their homes.”

The E.W. Scripps Co.'s television stations - which dropped Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in favor of two new shows Scripps created in-house - are doing well with those new shows, the company says.  Acknowledging that ratings are lower, Scripps VP Bob Sullivan says they're "almost to goal" with Let’s Ask America and The List. [TVNewsCheck]

The late Tonight Show host was one of TV's most private people, but the public may finally get to learn more about Johnny Carson now that his estate has given its blessing for a film based on Carson's life. [The Washington Post]

After presiding over Today's first ratings losses in more than a decade and a half, as well as the firing of Ann Curry that some blame for those losses, Jim Bell is getting ... a promotion!? Yes, Bell will now be executive producer of NBCUniversal's coverage of the Olympics.  He led the network's record-breaking but widely-panned coverage of the London Games earlier this year. [The Hollywood Reporter]

In preparing for the second season of his daytime talk show, Anderson Cooper has shaken things up a bit, modifying its format and even changing its name from "just plain" Anderson to Anderson Live. [USA Today]

While the NBC-owned-and-operated stations are doing well - most station groups are this year, and a rising political tide lifts all boats, as the saying goes - parent company Comcast's broadcast operation overall (which includes NBC) isn't, although the company does expect to break even on the Olympics (see below) ... despite its bungling of the coverage. [TVNewsCheck]

NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke says that his company is outperforming its own expectations - at least from the standpoint of money - with its coverage of the Summer Olympics in London. "We're way ahead of where we thought we would be," he told analysts. "Given the trends, we stand to make money on future Olympics." I guess we'll see. [The Wrap]

After nine years at ESPN, radio host Doug Gottlieb is jumping ship, reports Big Lead Sports' Jason McIntyre. He's expected to land at CBS Sports. [Big Lead Sports]

If you typed in MSNBC.com on your computer or mobile device this evening, you've probably noticed that something is different.

MSNBC.com, you see, no longer exists - at least as it was.  (More on that in a moment.)  Check your browser:  You'll notice that in the address bar that it reads "NBCNews.com" instead.

The move comes just a few weeks after speculation arose that NBC News might finally get its own website, and is the result of NBCUniversal acquiring the half of the joint venture between itself and Microsoft that Microsoft owned.  Financial details of that acquisition haven't been divulged.

For now, not a whole lot - other than the name, anyway - will change, because the 16-year-old venture will take at least a couple of years to unwind.

And eventually MSNBC.com will return as a site dedicated specifically to the MSNBC cable news network.  For the time being, though, it'll redirect to NBCNews.com.