| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, February 20, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | Salt Lake City Winter Games: Ratings, Schedules & Additional Links |
| • | Women's Figure Skating Helps Boost NBC's Primetime Average Over Nagano |
| • | Former IOC President Samaranch Gives Salt Lake City, Games Perfect Scores |
| • | Children With Cancer Invited To Attend Week-Long Ski Session In WI |
| • | NTRA Takes To Web To Teach Fans How To Wager Properly |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/In Other News/Articles of Interest/Channel Surfing |
THE SALT LAKE CITY WINTER GAMES, DAY 13: RATINGS, EVENTS
The following presents a day-by-day Nielsen ratings trend for the Winter Olympic Games.
| '02 | '98 | % +/- |
| Opening Ceremony | 25.5/42 | 17.1/29 | 49% |
| 2nd Day | 17.1/30 | 12.3/22 | 39% |
| 3rd Day | 17.6/27 | 20.2/30 | -13% |
| 4th Day | 19.6/30 | 14.8/23 | 32% |
| 5th Day | 18.5/29 | 18.2/30 | 2% |
| 6th Day | 17.5/28 | 15.3/24 | 14% |
| 7th Day | 17.6/29 | 19.3/30 | -9% |
| 8th Day | 15.8/27 | 14.8/26 | 7% |
| 9th Day | 14.0/25 | 15.4/28 | -9% |
| 10th Day | 17.1/27 | 18.0/28 | -5% |
| 11th Day | 17.1/26 | 14.9/23 | 15% |
| 12th Day | 22.3/34 | 13.5/21 | 65% |
|
| Cumulative | 18.5/30 | 16.2/26 | 14% |
NBC's 12-day primetime nightly average stands at a 18.5/30, a 14% increase over CBS' Nagano 12-day average of 16.2/26.
In addition, NBC's Olympic primetime telecast last night, which featured ladies figure skating short program, produced a 22.3/34 for its coverage. Tuesday night's 22.3 rating represents a 7% increase over Nagano's 20.7/32 for the comparable competition night when ladies figure skating began on Day 13. Nagano's Day 12 earned a 13.5/21 when no figure skating was scheduled (THE DAILY).
SAMARANCH GIVES SALT LAKE GAMES A PERFECT SCORE
The DESERET NEWS quotes former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, on the '02 Winter Games: "If we were speaking of figure skating, I would give a '6' to Salt Lake" — a perfect score. Samaranch said that, compared to Lillehammer and Nagano, Salt Lake City has "the best facilities." He also praised Salt Lake's shuttle system. Samaranch: "The drivers know well Salt Lake and the surroundings. That was not the case at other Olympic Games" (DESERET NEWS, 2/20).
Read today's Olympic Articles of Interest, and view today's Olympic Daily Stat.
Click on the buttons below for additional Olympic links:
NFL STARS HOST SKI WEEKEND IN WI FOR AILING YOUTH
Rams DE Grant Wistrom and Bucs OT Jerry Wunsch will host this year's "Circle of Friends Winter Week" in Wausau, WI, beginning tomorrow. The program brings together 30 young cancer patients ages 8-15 for a ski weekend involving cross-country and downhill events, dog sledding and snowmobile rides (THE DAILY).
PHANTOMS AUCTION RAISES BIG MONEY FOR SCHOLARSHIP FUND
The AHL Philadelphia Phantoms Charity Foundation raised $34,700 for the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund on Monday night in the second of three jersey auctions of the season. The Phantoms wore red, white and blue jerseys for the game against the Houston Aeros in celebration of President's Day. Silent bidding for the jerseys was held in the First Union Spectrum concourse and ran through the second intermission (THE DAILY).
NTRA WEB INITIATIVE TO TEACH ITS FANS HOW TO WAGER
The NTRA today unveiled "Bet the Net," an interactive simulation designed to help horse racing fans learn the fundamentals of pari-mutuel and account wagering. The fan education program, available on the association's redesigned Web site, takes users through the basic wager types, educating through lessons and exercises designed to familiarize them with on-track wagering (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
The AP reports that Olympic pairs co-Gold Medalists Jamie Sale and David Pelletier "will give their first post-Salt Lake City skating exhibition in Edmonton on March 12." Northlands Arena GM Ken Knowles: "This is huge. As far as draw and appeal goes, it has to equate with a Garth Brooks concert" (AP, 2/20).
The AP reports that the Univ. of WA Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science is "one step closer to completion" thanks to a $14M gift from its namesake, Trail Blazers Owner Paul Allen (AP, 2/20).
Magnum Sports & Entertainment announced today its common stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market effective on the opening of business on February 25 (THE DAILY).
Sugar Ray Leonard Boxing has signed undefeated heavyweight "Baby Joe" Mesi to an exclusive promotional agreement. Mesi will be featured in the main event at the April 5th "Buffalo Blast," promoted by SRL Boxing and broadcast by ESPN2 (THE DAILY).
STATS Inc. today announced that it will add pitch type, velocity and location to its MLB data collection efforts for the '02 season (THE DAILY).
The L.A. TIMES' Abrahamson & Dwyre on the U.S.' current record-breaking medal count at the '02 Games.
USA TODAY's Sal Ruibal on extreme sports making the leap from Olympic obscurity to the mainstream.
USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand compares the BBC's approach to Olympic coverage with NBC's.
The N.Y. TIMES' Richard Sandomir on SimulCam, which allows Olympic viewers the opportunity to simultaneously watch two replays of athletes competing.
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The FINANCIAL TIMES' Anna Fifield on rumors of "treachery and disloyalty" surrounding challengers to New Zealand for the '03 America's Cup.
The Baltimore SUN's Gregory Kane on author John Hoberman's '97 book that addresses racial stereotypes in the sporting world.
The AP's Jerry Harkavy on successful business practices at New Balance.
The DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL's Paula Moore profiles sports agent and Owner of Denver-based KO Sports, Kurt Overhardt.
See The Daily Insider's Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
Former Vikings DT and current MN Supreme Court justice Alan Page will be profiled in an hour-long special on ESPN at 9:00pm ET (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/20).
IN OTHER NEWS……
McDonald's has hired the Chicago office of Golin/Harris International to combat the company's "sizable problems keeping its hourly employees from leaving." In some cases, McDonald's restaurants "away from large urban areas suffer from 100 percent turnover in a year." Though fees weren't disclosed, the project may be worth anywhere from $3-$5M to Golin, which was "quietly hired to work on the project earlier this year" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/20).
AD AGE reported that ABC sold out the March 24 telecast of "The 74th Annual Academy Awards." ABC recently signed a major deal with J.C. Penney Co. in which Penney will buy six spots in the broadcast. Media execs estimate ABC has averaged $1.2M per 30-second spot aired during the telecast (AD AGE, 2/18 issue).
DaimlerChrysler AG said today its U.S. Chrysler unit "racked up mammoth losses last year and struck a conservative note for the group's prospects this year" (REUTERS, 2/20).
THE DAILY STAT: TRACKING OLYMPIC ATHLETES ON THE WEB
The following lists the top U.S. Olympic athletes searched on the Web according to the Yahoo! Buzz Index for the week ending Feb. 17, 2002.
| RK | YAHOO! |
| 1) | Michelle Kwan |
| 2) | Apolo Anton Ohno |
| 3) | Timothy Goebel |
| 4) | Picabo Street |
| 5) | Sasha Cohen |
| 6) | Danny Kass |
| 7) | J.J. Thomas |
| 8) | Bode Miller |
| 9) | Kelly Clark |
| 10) | John Zimmerman |
CHANNEL SURFING
CNBC will air Winter Olympics coverage – Men's Ice Hockey, U.S.-Germany – at 6:00pm ET.
ESPN's "SportsCentury" will profile Zina Garrison at 7:30pm ET.
ESPN2 will air men's college basketball: Ohio-UNC at 7:30pm ET, and Memphis-South Florida at 9:30pm ET.
ESPN will air men's college basketball, Xavier-Temple, at 8:00pm ET.
NBC will air Winter Olympics coverage – Alpine Skiing, Short-Track, Skeleton and Speed Skating – at 8:00pm ET.
TNT will air Hornets-Raptors at 8:00pm ET.
CNBC will air Winter Olympics coverage – Men's Ice Hockey, Canada-Finland – at 10:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Mickey Mantle at 8:00pm ET.
Raiders WR Tim Brown will be on FSN's "The Last Word."
SI Swimsuit Issue cover model Yamila Diaz-Rahi will appear on NBC's "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno at 11:30pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Kevin Bacon |
| "The Tonight Show" | Mel Gibson |
| "The Late Late Show" | D.L. Hughley |
| "Late Night" | Pre-Empted |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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