| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, May 8, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| • | “Massive” World Cup Mosaic Drapes Downtown Building In South Korea |
| • | ABC Sports Formally Announces Extension Of British Open Coverage |
| • | McGreevey's $355M Newark Arena Proposal Will Not Tax NJ Residents |
| • | Witness In Jayson Williams Case Claims To Have Received Threats |
| • | Athens Olympic Organizers To Stamp Out Smoking During '04 Games |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/In Other News/Tonight's Events/Daily Stat/Channel Surfing |
SOUTH KOREA UNVEILS “MASSIVE” WORLD CUP MOSAIC
Korea Telecom, South Korea's largest telephone company, today dedicated a "massive World Cup mosaic image on a downtown high-rise building to celebrate the upcoming global soccer tournament." The 427 feet high, 171 feet wide building wrap "shrouded the 54-story glass-fronted Trade Tower" and featured a young soccer fan holding the golden World Cup trophy (AP, 5/8).
ABC SPORTS FORMALLY EXTENDS BRITISH OPEN COVERAGE RIGHTS
ABC Sports and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews formally announced today that the two have reached a multi-year agreement to extend the network's live coverage of the British Open. ABC Sports President Howard Katz said, "ABC Sports is most pleased to be able to extend this long-term relationship with the world's most important golf championship. The British Open, with its tradition and storied history, is the cornerstone of our network's comprehensive golf schedule" (THE DAILY).
MCGREEVEY: NJ ARENA PROPOSAL WOULD NOT TAX RESIDENTS
The AP reports that NJ Gov. James McGreevey outlined his proposal today for building a $355M arena in Newark for the Nets and Devils, insisting the plan "would cost New Jersey taxpayers nothing." Approval of the plan by the Legislature is "far from assured" (AP, 5/8).
WILLIAMS WITNESS CLAIMS TO HAVE RECEIVED THREATS
The Bergen RECORD reports that a Mahwah, NJ, man considered a "key witness in the manslaughter case" against former Nets C Jayson Williams said Tuesday that he "has received threats to his safety and to the basketball camps he operates in Bergen County" (Bergen RECORD, 5/8).
SMOKE OUT: ATHENS ORGANIZERS ADOPT NONSMOKING STANCE
The AP reports that smoking "will be prohibited in the main press center, plus the bleachers and stands at all outdoor sports arenas" during the '04 Olympics in Athens. From a statement released today: "The aim of Athens 2004 is to organize nonsmoking games but without disturbing the delicate balance between the rights of smokers and nonsmokers" (AP, 5/8).
BUZZER BEATERS
After five telecasts, ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" Nielsen ratings have increased 7% (a 1.72 from a 1.61) and viewership has jumped 12%, averaging 1,482,000 homes from 1,323,000 homes (THE DAILY).
The "powered by Compaq" logo present at the top of ESPN.com has been switched to "powered by HP" after the completion of the merger of the two companies (THE DAILY).
XDOGS announced today that it has signed a letter of intent with OK-based bigTime Sports Apparel to acquire their athletic apparel business for stock and assumption of debt (THE DAILY).
ABC Radio's Keith Olbermann, during his "Speaking Of Everything" segment today, said, "Confusion in the NBA? A mass e-mail by the [Nets] offering playoff tickets had as its return address, 'NYNets@YankeeStadium.org'" ("Speaking of Everything," ABC Radio, 5/8).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The Nashville TENNESSEAN's David Climer on varying opinions towards sex appeal as a marketing tool on the LPGA Tour.
The DETROIT NEWS' Kara Morrison profiles several NWFL Detroit Danger players.
The HOUSTON CHRONICLE's Michael Murphy on the expanding presence of int'l players in the NBA.
The TRIANGLE BUSINESS JOURNAL's Dale Gibson on USA Baseball possibly moving its HQs to the area.
The WASHINGTON TIMES' Patrick Hruby on the transition to American culture for Chinese-born WUSA players.
The MIAMI HERALD's Susan Miller Degnan on varying academic standards for collegiate athletes.
The INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY's Reinhardt Krause on declining digital viewer subscriptions among top cable firms.
CNNMONEY's Chris Isidore on negative effects felt by the horse racing industry for shunning television 40 years ago.
See The Daily Insider's Articles Of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will participate in an online chat at NASCAR.com at 5:00pm ET (THE DAILY).
The U.S. men's soccer team "will hold an open scrimmage against the minor-league Richmond Kickers" at 5:00pm ET (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 5/7).
The Alliance for Lupus Research, founded by Jets Owner Woody Johnson, will hold its fund-raiser honoring AOL Time Warner co-COO Robert Pittman at the Waldorf Astoria in N.Y. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, CNN anchor Paula Zahn and actor Michael Douglas are scheduled to attend (THE DAILY).
Eagles coach Andy Reid will be the keynote speaker at the eighth annual Pinnacle Awards Dinner at 7:00pm ET in Voorhees, NJ. ESPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski will serve as master of ceremonies (THE DAILY).
Two Orioles prospects and Class A Frederick Keys manager Jack Voight will sign autographs from 7:00-8:00pm ET prior to the Indians-Orioles game at Camden Yards (THE DAILY).
Seven former MLB Rangers from the past 30 years will take turns as guest analysts for an inning during FSN's White Sox-Rangers telecast from The Ballpark in Arlington (THE DAILY).
IN OTHER NEWS….
The SEC "unanimously approved" new rules today that will "force stock analysts to reveal more about their ties to companies they research, in an effort to stop them touting shares they don't really believe in." The rules would "limit when and how analysts can issue opinions on stocks, restrict their personal investing activities and force banks to disclose more about their ties to companies they research and those of their analysts" (REUTERS, 5/8).
The AP reports that "unexpectedly strong" profits at Cisco Systems set off a rally today as investors "sent the Dow Jones industrials up more than 250 points and the Nasdaq composite index higher by more than 6 percent" (AP, 5/8).
Former CNN Washington correspondent Charles Bierbauer has been named dean of the Univ. of SC's new College of Mass Communications and Information Studies. Bierbauer will assume the new position in July (AP, 5/8).
U.S. playwright Arthur Miller was awarded Spain's Principe de Asturias Prize for Literature today (REUTERS, 5/8).
THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS
The following lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows for the week of April 29 to May 5. Also provided are Nielsen ratings averages season to date for the nets' primetime coverage (USA TODAY, 5/8).
| TOP TEN PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS FOR APR. 29 – MAY 5
|
| RK | | PROGRAM | NET | DAY | RAT/SHR | VIEWERS
(IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | | ER | NBC | Thu | 16.6/27 | 25.8 |
| 2) | | CSI | CBS | Thu | 15.9/24 | 26.2 |
| 3) | | Friends (8:00pm) | NBC | Thu | 15.4/25 | 24.0 |
| 4) | | Friends (8:30pm) | NBC | Thu | 13.1/21 | 20.1 |
| 5) | | NBC 75th Anniversary | NBC | Sun | 12.7/21 | 20.5 |
| 6) | | Law & Order | NBC | Wed | 12.5/21 | 19.3 |
| 7) | | West Wing | NBC | Wed | 11.4/18 | 17.4 |
| 8) | | Survivor: Marquesas | CBS | Thu | 11.3/18 | 19.6 |
| 9) | | Everybody Loves Raymond | CBS | Mon | 11.2/16 | 17.5 |
| 9) | | Law & Order: SVU | NBC | Fri | 11.2/20 | 16.7 |
| |
| NIELSEN AVERAGES SEASON-TO-DATE |
| | | NBC | | 8.8 | |
| | |
| | | CBS | | 8.1 | |
| | |
| | | ABC | | 6.4 | |
| | |
| | | Fox | | 5.7 | |
| | |
| | | UPN | | 2.7 | |
| | |
| | | WB | | 2.4 | |
| |
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air Giants-Mets at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air NHL Conference Semifinals, Maple Leafs-Senators, at 7:00pm ET.
TNT will air NBA Conference Quarterfinals, Celtics-Pistons, at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN will air NHL Conference Semifinals, Avalanche-Sharks, at 10:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Red Sox-A's at 10:00pm ET.
A&E's "Biography" will profile actress Florence Henderson at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile actor Gary Busey at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Will Ferrell |
| "The Tonight Show" | Tom Green |
| "The Late Late Show" | Mark Burnett |
| "Late Night" | Larry King |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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