Interesting NFL TV Results in Reader Poll

With a week to vote in an online poll, USA Today readers selected their favorites among NFL announcers and broadcast teams -- and some of the results were interesting, if not surprising.

First, the winners ...

• Best Game Analyst: Phil Simms, CBS (29% of vote)
• Best Play-by-Play: Al Michaels, NBC (42%)
• Best Game Crew: Al Michaels / Chris Collinsworth / Andrea Kremer, NBC (35%)
• Best Pregame Show: "Fox NFL Sunday" (33%)
• Best Pregame Host: Chris Berman, ESPN (38%)
• Best Insider: Adam Schefter, ESPN (28%)
• Best Sideline Reporter: Suzy Kolber, ESPN (24%)
• Best Studio Show: "NFL Matchup," ESPN (48%)

(And the link to Michael McCarthy's column and the vote remains active.)

Perhaps most surprising were all ESPN-related results, for different reasons.

First, while people in the TV sports industry and some media critics sometimes see Chris Berman as caricature of himself at this point, he remains popular among those who voted. He's entertaining and has a diverse and strong studio group to work with, so that helps. While some of his cultural references seem dated at times and the Swami routine might have run its course, people still watch.

Next, "NFL Matchup" was selected as best studio show. That reflects a vote from a hardcore audience that clearly likes the in-depth program, which was almost not renewed for this season. Of course, the field in that category might have been the most thin of all the categories -- because three of the shows up for vote air on either NFL Network and Showtime and simply might be seen by as many fans -- but "Matchup" easily thumped the competition. Fans clearly appreciate a show that puts that type of singular focus on a game.

In the Best Insider category, Schefter's success makes sense. He's good, an excellent acquisition for ESPN from the NFL Network a year or so ago. Combining his sources and work ethic with those of fellow insider Chris Mortensen often makes ESPN an unbeatable combination. What's surprising was the Schefter garnered 28 percent of the vote, just ahead of NBC's Mike Florio (27 percent), meaning Mortensen was not in the top two.

Finally, the vote for sideline reporters was surprisingly close and drew less total votes than any other category. While Kolber got 24 percent of the vote, Andrea Kremer of NBC (21 percent) and Tony Siragusa of Fox (21 percent) were close behind. And they're not even close to being the same type of sideline reporter. While Kremer and NBC work to position her as an information source, Siragusa provides just as much comedy as information.

Most interesting, or maybe obvious, was the level of interest in sideline reporters. Make that the lack of interest.

Specifically, the Best Insider candidates attracted more than 9,700 combined votes while the Best Studio Show category attracted 9,358. For Best Game Analyst it was 8,365 and Best Play-by-Play drew 7,298.

For Best Sideline Reporter, the total was 6,980. So people clearly do not care as much about news from the sideline during games. Or at least they do not care enough to share their opinions about the work of the sideline reporters.