| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | ESPN To Air Block of 9/11 Coverage Tonight |
| • | NFL Ratings Up 36% on ESPN Through Two Games |
| • | TNT Continues To Show Ratings Growth With NASCAR Coverage |
| • | Chris Berman Delivers PSA About Responsible Drinking |
| • | Ernie Harwell Farewell Tour Continues Tonight In MN |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Daily Stat/Tonight's Events/In Other News/Channel Surfing |
"OTL" AND NFL FILMS DOCUMENTARY HIGHLIGHT COVERAGE
ESPN will air a block of programming tonight centered on the one-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, beginning with "Outside The Lines: 9/11 One Year Later" at 8:00pm ET. The show's four segments are entitled "Team Plays On," "Waking Up To A Whole New World," "Rebuilding Afghan Sports" and "Hero of Flight 93" (THE DAILY).
At 9:00pm, ESPN will air the NFL Films documentary "The Bravest Team: The Rebuilding of the FDNY Football Club." The L.A. TIMES notes that the film includes "moving stories … told of some of the players who were lost." The players' widows, in separate interviews, "talk about dealing with the tragedy of the terrorist attacks and what the football team and its players mean to them" (L.A. TIMES, 9/10). The film "brought laughter and tears when members of the fire department attended a private screening" (USA TODAY, 9/10).
ESPN's block concludes with "Flight 93: A Call To Action" at 10:00pm (THE DAILY).
TEXANS' DEBUT IS FIFTH-LARGEST CROWD IN CABLE TV HISTORY
ESPN's Cowboys-Texans telecast Sunday night earned a 9.6/ (8,334,000 HHs) Nielsen cable rating – the fifth-largest audience in the history of cable TV. It also was ESPN and cable's most-watched program since a December 3, 1995 Bills-49ers game, seen by 8,638,000 HHs. After two games, ESPN's NFL audience is up 38%, from 5,958,000 HHs to 8,248,000, with ratings up 36%, from 7.0 to 9.5 (THE DAILY).
NATIONAL CABLE RATINGS ACCELERATE FOR NASCAR ON TNT
TNT's Saturday night telecast of the Winston Cup Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 with The Looney Tunes registered a 4.2 Nielsen cable rating, up 20% from a 3.5 in '01. Friday night's BGN Funai 250 scored a 2.2 rating, up 47% from a 1.5 in '01. Through six Winston Cup races, TNT is up 9% to a 4.8, compared to a 4.4 in '01. Year to date, the Busch Series is averaging a 1.6 on TNT, up 14% from a 1.4 in '01 (THE DAILY).
BOOMER'S LAST CALL DESIGNED TO KEEP ROADS SAFE
Miller Brewing Company is launching "Chris Berman's Last Call," a PSA that encourages consumers to take advantage of designated driver and taxicab programs. The video – to be shown at sports arenas and stadiums, bars and other venues – is being made available at no cost to venue concessionaries across the country (THE DAILY).
MYERS TO HOST ASGA TOUR BROADCASTS AND WEEKLY SHOW
The ASGA Tour, a professional golf tour for PGA Tour players 45 years of age and older, entered into an agreement with sportscaster Chris Myers to host the Tour's TV broadcasts and weekly "Inside-The-Ropes" magazine show through December '03 (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
Sodexho has signed a five-year contract with the Lions to operate the employee dining services at their Allen Park headquarters and training facility (THE DAILY).
Skechers USA today announced that it expects Q3 '02 revenues to be $245-255M, compared to $287.9M for Q3 '01. Skechers is scheduled to release full Q3 results the week of October 21. In late afternoon trading, shares of Skechers were down $2.00, or 16.42%, to $10.18 (THE DAILY).
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will honor ABC News Chair Roone Arledge with the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award during the 23rd Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards tonight in N.Y. Barbara Walters will present the award (THE DAILY).
The Twins will honor Tigers HOF broadcaster Ernie Harwell before tonight's 7:05pm CT game between the two teams by placing a plaque dedicated to Harwell in the visiting radio booth and by making a donation to a charity of Harwell's choice (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 9/10).
The 49ers will unveil the "49ers Community Recognition Program" at 4:00pm PT at the Young Community Developers Chocolate City II facility in S.F. The program recognizes student leaders for their academic achievement and/or civic contribution (THE DAILY).
The BOSTON GLOBE reports that Globe sportswriter Nick Cafardo will read from his book, "The Impossible Team: The Worst to First 2001 Patriots Super Bowl Season," at 7:00pm ET at a Barnes & Noble in Boston (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/10).
The independent Frontier League Washington (PA) Wild Things will be honored during a 6:30pm ET ceremony at Falconi Field to celebrate their run to the league championship. Autograph signings and a highlights video will be shown. Concessions will be $1 (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 9/10).
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
ELECTRONIC MEDIA's Michele Greppi profiles Arledge, writing that "he's made careers; he's made history – sometimes by helping history happen" (ELECTRONIC MEDIA).
The WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL's Cynthia Hobgood reports on the role of the sports agent, writing that it "is rather simple: Get your clients the money that's possible." The introduction of new regulations and new leagues, however, has made "the playing field for sports agents … more complicated" (WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL).
On the heels of Team USA's sixth-place finish at the World Basketball Championships, CBS SPORTSLINE's Mike Kahn writes that "finishing sixth, the worst ever for an American team, was downright humiliating and proved this group of players quit on themselves, their coach, the NBA and anybody else who actually cared" (CBS SPORTSLINE). And while the Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL's Rick Bozich can imagine that the U.S. "has become more of a power in soccer and bobsledding than it is in" basketball, he cannot imagine "a more lifeless, uninspired, hapless and embarrassing performance" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL).
See The Daily Insider's Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
IN OTHER NEWS……
The AP reports that worldwide sales of PDAs declined 9.3% percent in Q2 compared with the same quarter in '01. About 2.62 million units sold in the quarter, "compared with 2.89 million units a year ago" (AP, 9/10).
H.J. Heinz Co. today reported that quarterly earnings fell 11%, "hurt by higher marketing and other costs." The company said that shipping declines reflect a "shift away from retail trade promotions to more mainstream consumer advertising and moves by big food retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to reduce inventories" (REUTERS, 9/10).
THE DAILY STAT: MOST-SEARCHED ATHLETES ON LYCOS
The following presents the most-searched athletes for the week ending September 7 on the Lycos search engine (Lycos).
| RK | PLAYER |
| 1) | Anna Kournikova |
| 2) | Serena Williams |
| 3) | Daniela Hantuchova |
| 4) | Martina Hingis |
| 5) | Jennifer Capriati |
| 6) | David Beckham |
| 7) | Andy Roddick |
| 8) | Michael Jordan |
| 9) | Allen Iverson |
| 10) | Venus Williams |
CHANNEL SURFING
Jack Ford, Len Elmore, Dan LeBatard and Jimmy Roberts will be on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters II" at 7:30pm ET.
ESPN will air "Outside The Lines: 9/11 One Year Later" at 8:00pm ET. The program will be rebroadcast on ESPN2 at 10:00pm ET.
ESPN will air the NFL Films documentary, "The Bravest Team" at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN will air "Flight 93: A Call To Action" at 10:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Martina Navratilova at 8:00pm ET.
Browns coach Butch Davis and A's P Cory Lidle will be on FSN's "The Last Word."
Angels P Troy Percival, former NFL Giants DL Carl Banks, Browns S Robert Griffith, Dolphins QB Jay Fiedler and Fox Sports Radio's Tony Bruno will be on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
A&E's "Biography" will profile Pablo Escobar at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile Sean Young at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "The Late Show" | Alec Baldwin |
| "The Tonight Show" | Dr. Phil McGraw |
| "The Late Late Show" | Eve |
| "Late Night" | Jimmy Fallon |
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
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