The National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the PGA Tour, and ESPN today challenged tech companies’ “white spaces” proposals, including a “beacon” plan supported by Google, and asked the Federal Communications Commission to remain focused on protecting wireless microphones from interference from new devices operating in the “white spaces.” In their joint filing, the leagues and ESPN – as members of the Sports Technology Alliance – assert that the FCC must require the technology companies that want to sell wireless white spaces devices to prove that their devices won’t interfere with wireless microphones, which already operate in white spaces.

Madison Square Garden Network is making use of a new technology developed by PVI that lets fans know how fast slap shots and wrist shots are blasting towards the goal. “The pace of a hockey game is so fast, and the broadcaster with this technology can break down plays,” says Sam McCleery, PVI Executive VP, sales and marketing.

The International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships open play this weekend in Quebec City, Quebec and Halifax, Nova Scotia, but fans who tune into the World Championship Sports Network’s live stream of the event on WCSN.com will see the Canadian ice rink by way of Europe. WCSN’s television network will televise only 18 of the 56 championship games, so the Internet entity is leaning on a European partner for streaming support.

MLB Advanced Media, LP (MLBAM) and Ensequence, signed a three-year deal to extend their partnership to continue delivering the Emmy Award winning MLB.TV Mosaic.

MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems, a provider of fiber optic transport systems for video, audio has joined the Sports Video Group as a corporate sponsor.

The Wall Street Journal reports that AT&T is planning to launch a television service for cellphones next week, following in the footsteps of rival Verizon Wireless, even as skeptics question whether there is consumer demand for such mobile broadcast-style programming. The service will be available in 58 markets and will offer programs from major TV networks, including CBS, Comedy Central, NBC and Fox.

A new direct-to-home (DTH) service offering from Genesis Networks enables content providers to reach every DTH platform and DBS platform worldwide with a single connection. With the Genesis Networks DTH service, broadcasters are able to avoid the high costs of satellite transmissions and maintain exceptional quality of service (QoS) by accessing Genesis' global HD video-over-IP fiber network.

Brazil’s TV Globo, one of the world’s largest broadcasters, has selected Cifer technology from Pro-Bel’s Vistek range to handle the signal conversion required for its Beijing 2008 Olympic Games coverage.

Volicon, a provider of media monitoring, recording, archiving, and streaming solutions, has implemented the Volicon Observer enterprise video monitoring solution for compliance recording and fault detection at SKY Italia. The 52-channel Observer system, purchased through Rome-based systems integrator Allyn, has replaced SKY Italia's previous tape-based model to simplify the broadcaster's monitoring workflow.

Miranda Technologies will supply Post-Newsweek Stations with a centralized news graphics system using its Xmedia Suite template-based graphic workflow tools.

Burst Media, a provider of advertising representation, services, and technology to independent Web publishers, has announced a partnership with RealGM.com to launch the RealGM Sports Network, an online advertising network for advertisers looking to reach sports enthusiasts. The network, built on the Burst AdConductor platform, will be anchored by RealGM.com and supplemented with 30 hand-picked sites that cater to fans of college and professional sports.

Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG), is standardizing on the Snell & Wilcox Kahuna SD/HD multiformat production switcher across its news-producing stations as they transition to HD news production.

Matt Bourne has been named Vice President of Business Public Relations. He will be responsible for handling public relations matters for Major League Baseball's business groups, which will include promotional activity around the 2008 MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium and the launch of the MLB Network in January 2009.

The Newseum, a new 250,000-square-foot museum of the news media in Washington, D.C., has chosen the ScheduALL production and operations management solution for its state-of-the-art HD production facilities and A/V resources. The highly visible Newseum, which opened April 11, 2008, is using ScheduALL to schedule, track, and manage all broadcasting equipment, personnel, and resources.

Even though the NFL hasn't played a game in Los Angeles in almost 14 years, there's a chance the city could land one of pro football's marquee events.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Adobe's Flash multimedia player is making the move to more cellphones as cellphone operators look to deliver a handheld Web experience that more closely resembles a PC experience. "Carriers and their partners need to solve the problem of mobile Web adoption before any of these business models make any sense at all," says Cole Brodman, T-Mobile USA's chief technology officer.

Google responded to an FCC filing by the Sports Technology Alliance yesterday by stating that "It's really too bad that some people prefer the comfort of the past to the promise of the future, and defend the status quo instead of working to bring the Internet to more Americans." But Google left us scratching our heads when, in the next paragraph, it stated that "We enjoy the Super Bowl and NCAA tournament as much as the next sports fan, and wouldn't support any plan that interferes with professional sports."

The medical community is beginning to get involved in the battle over White Spaces, as shown in this article on CNET.com. "If a new white space application that's operating thousands of times more powerfully came online, either in the hospital or outside the hospital, it could very well directly interfere with the telemetry system and prevent patient monitoring," Tim Kottak, engineering general manager for GE Healthcare's systems and wireless division, said in a telephone interview with CNET News.com this week. "The whole system could be taken out." Even EnGadget weighed in on the issue.