By Dave Hughes
DCRTV.com

Channel 13/WJZ said nearly 1.2 million Baltimore-market viewers watched the Ravens' AFC Championship game loss to the Patriots Jan. 22.

That's a viewership record for the CBS-owned station. Approximately 78,000 more viewers watched the Ravens-Giants Super Bowl in 2001.

WJZ-TV's audience approached 1.3 million during the final minutes of the game, when the Ravens missed a 32-yard field goal, costing them a shot at victory.

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Nationals reporter Debbi Taylor will not be returning to MASN broadcasts for the 2012 season, Adam Kilgore at the Washington Post reports.

Kilgore wrote that Taylor confirmed the news in an email. She wrote: "It seems they are eliminating the reporter position, unfortunately. It was a great run."

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Comcast SportsNet will premiere "My Life 365: Kevin Plank" at 7 p.m. Jan. 27. The Emmy Award-winning "My Life" series, which is hosted by Ron Thompson, chronicles the lives of the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area's most influential sports figures, providing insight on their careers, families and community involvement.

Previous subjects of the series have included Ted Leonsis, Dominique Dawes, Grant Hill and Allen Iverson.

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CBS sports talker WJZ-FM, 105.7 The Fan, placed fifth in the monthly radio ratings for Baltimore during the "holiday" time period, from mid-December through mid-January.

Its "Norris And Davis" morning show ranked third in the age 12 and older demographic.

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D.C.-area-based Gannett has bought Fantasy Sports Ventures, a web sports network best known for its Big Lead Sports site. Gannett invested in Fantasy Sports in 2008.

Fantasy Sports has more than 19 million unique users, and Gannett said combining them with the audience for its existing sports sites would make it one of the Internet's top five sites, according to the "All Things D" Web site.

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D.C.'s Channel 5/WTTG has officially acknowledged that it mistakenly ran a batch of Comcast Xfinity ads during the pro football action of the Giants-49ers game on Jan. 22.

The spots were a result of technical problems at D.C.'s Fox-owned TVer and caused a wave of complaints on area sports websites, including via Twitter and Facebook.

A station statement said: "Sunday night, Fox 5 experienced technical problems that affected the airing of Comcast Xfinity commercials during the NFC championship game. We apologize for the impact these technical issues had on the viewing experience of Comcast subscribers and have taken additional steps to ensure that these problems do not happen again."

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Brian Mitchell will host a new Comcast SportsNet show, "SportsTalk Live," which airs at 10:30 p.m. weeknights.

The former Redskin has hosted radio shows for WTEM and WJFK, and done TV work for CSN and WUSA.

Mitchell co-hosts the new show with Ivan Carter, who had hosted CSN's now-discontinued "Washington Post Live."

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WTOP Sports Director Dave Johnson is one of the hardest-working men in Washington, D.C., sports. He handles the play-by-play duties for the Wizards on 106.7 The Fan, is the television voice of D.C. United and serves as a fill-in anchor at Comcast SportNet.

"WTOP has been wonderful allowing me to do both the Wizards and D.C. United," Johnson told Jim Williams at washingtonexaminer.com. "I take some equipment with me on the road, and it allows me do the morning drive sports reports on WTOP. The cool thing is the equipment allows me to sound just like I am sitting in studio, no matter where I am on the road. As for the Wizards and D.C. United, both organizations have allowed me to be creative in my scheduling to make things work."

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Baltimore's Sinclair Broadcasting bought the "Ring Of Honor" professional wrestling group last summer.

Now, it will air the grudge matches on its stations nationwide, including Channel 45/WBFF, the Baltimore Sun reports.

Posted Jan. 27, 2012