Google lost the 700 MHz spectrum auction to AT&T and Verizon last week and by week’s end they had an even more innovative proposal to the FCC: give Google white space spectrum for free and make the world a better place. AT&T and Verizon, who laid out a combined $16 billion for 700MHz spectrum, have not reacted to the proposal.

ESPN, Japan's Nippon Television Network (NTV) and Genesis Networks will attempt a triple-play combination Tuesday morning with a live broadcast from the Tokyo Dome of the 2008 the MLB regular season opener between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics. "I am looking forward to seeing us interface with NTV," says Matt Sandulli, ESPN senior coordinating producer. "We surely will bring out the local flavor of Tokyo."

The team at Major League Baseball International is used to working through international cultural (not to mention technical) differences but the trip to China and Japan, which culminates in the first game of the season tomorrow morning when the Boston Red Sox play the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome, has the team working extra hard to ensure the nuances of the game aren’t lost in translation.

Red Sox nation headed to Japan this week as New England Sports Network descended into Tokyo and worked with NHK to cover the opening game of the season between the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics this morning. And while the debate over New England clam chowder vs, unagi rages on Mike Narracci, Red Sox Baseball senior coordinating director, says the experience has been great.

The Philadelphia Eagles may have missed the playoffs in 2007, but Rob Alberino has ensured that the Eagles Television Network (ETN) will continue to lead the League in 2008. Alberino, vice president of broadcasting and executive producer for ETN, is transitioning all of the network’s content to HD, and with three brand new Panasonic 1080p camcorders in hand, ETN is bringing fans closer to the team than ever before.

Polish state broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) is expanding its fleet of HD-equipped outside broadcast vehicles with a new truck that can handle up to 20 Sony HD cameras. TVP transmits a dedicated sport channel alongside its general entertainment, news and arts services and is now supporting a growing amount of high definition programming.

Formula 1 motor racing will be back on BBC Television from next season and UK racing fans are getting giddy as racing action goes back to being commercial free. The UK public service broadcaster has regained the exclusive rights to broadcast the highly popular sport on TV, radio, broadband and mobile platforms from 2009 to 2013 inclusively. F1 coverage had been a mainstay of BBC TV's sport output before it lost the contract to ITV in 1996. This, and the loss of Test cricket to Sky and Channel 4, was seen to signify the BBC's increasing loss of power in the face of commercial broadcasters with much more money available to bid for the TV rights to major sporting events.

Getting up close and personal sound took a dramatic leap forward when Quantum5X Systems hooked up the latest version of their PlayerMic with the NBA. The original PlayerMic was a transmitter encased in an aluminum housing with a hardwired lavalier microphone attracted to it. That kind of hard metal casing worked fine for the full-body uniforms of baseball and hockey. (Nicely padded uniforms in the latter case, as well.)

Wohler Technologies has appointed Kim Templeman-Holmes as vice president of sales and marketing, a position in which he will be responsible for leading Wohler's sales and marketing teams while taking on a key role in strategic planning and product and business development.

Genesis Networks, a provider of next-generation global video transmission services, has completed installation of transmit-receive circuits at Azzurro HD's all-digital, HD-enabled aggregation and switching facility located in The HUB at 32 Avenue of the Americas in downtown Manhattan.

NEP Supershooters has selected Cobalt equipment for the new WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) mobile production vehicle. Products chosen include the 9062 up/down/cross converter, the award-winning 9035 analog-to-digital audio embedder with frame sync and A/V processing controls, and the award-winning 8090 HD/SD 12-bit standalone analog-to-digital converter.

Sennheiser is now shipping the EM 3732 twin receiver with 90MHz switching bandwidth. The new flagship of Sennheiser's 3000 Series, the EM 3732 offers automatic scanning functionality, choice of five frequency ranges, transmitter synchronization via infrared interface, flexible analogue and digital connection options and exemplary audio quality.

RF Central, a digital microwave technology provider, is unveiling its new and improved NLL-II 5.8 GHz portable digital microwave link at NAB 2008 (Booths C3007 and C6622). The updated NLL-II now offers both balanced microphone and line level inputs via switch selectable XLR connectors on both the transmitter and receiver. This makes the NLL-II ideal for use by roaming news and sports crews. The redesigned NLL-II is now also equipped with phantom power for microphones.

Verizon Wireless and AT&T won most of the spectrum in the FCC's 700 MHz auction, according to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. Verizon's Wireless bid $9.6 billion to grab a large block of valuable spectrum, bolstering its nationwide network and positioning it to roll out next-generation, high-speed wireless infrastructure known as LTE. AT&T bid $6.6 billion to grab spectrum that will supplement the 700-MHz spectrum it purchased before the auction from Aloha Partners for $2.5 billion.

The Associated Press reports that any thoughts of the 2008 Summer Olympics having a transformative impact on the Chinese government seem to be vanishing quickly as the government has banned live broadcasts from Tiananmen Square during the Olympics. “Tiananmen is the face of China, the face of Beijing, so many broadcasters would like to do live or recorded coverage of the square,” said Yosuke Fujiwara, the head of broadcast relations for Beijing Olympic Broadcasting, a joint venture between Beijing Olympic organizers and an Olympic committee subsidiary. The high-profile landmark would see the obvious place for NBC's Today Show to set up camp during the games but now NBC and other broadcasters will need to find a new place to call home.

Ascent Media Systems & Technology Services has named Mark Devins as director, business development as part of the company’s increased focus on the convergence of IT and media technology.