| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday March 26, 2003
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | NFL Owners Today Reject Overtime Proposal, Delay Playoff Vote |
| • | Burk Today Says The Masters Broadcast Is An Insult To Women In Military |
| • | NBA To Premiere "Love It Live" Playoff Campaign Video April 6 On ABC |
| • | Excerpts From Robert Johnson's Speech At The Charlotte Convention Center |
| • | Ford, Local Dealers To Title Sponsor Kentucky Speedway Truck Series Race |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight's Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
NFL OVERTIME PROPOSAL FALLS SEVEN VOTES SHORT
The AP reports that NFL owners today in Phoenix "rejected a proposal to give each team the ball in overtime and delayed until May a decision on expanding the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams." The overtime proposal received 17 votes, seven short of the 24 needed. There was one abstention from the Raiders, "who abstain more often than they vote" (AP, 3/26).
BURK CALLS MASTERS BROADCAST AN INSULT TO MILITARY WOMEN
While speaking at a news conference today in N.Y., NCWO Chair Martha Burk said of CBS, "Broadcasting the Masters now and showcasing a club that discriminates against women is an insult to the nearly quarter million women in the U.S. armed forces. … It's appalling that the women who are willing to lay down their lives for democratic ideals should be shut out of this club. ... Democratic ideals do not include discrimination." Augusta National Golf Club spokesperson Glenn Greenspan "characterized Burk's remarks as 'grandstanding.'" Burk also said that there would be a protest outside CBS on Saturday (AP, 3/26).
CHRISTINA AGUILERA TO STAR IN NBA PLAYOFFS AD CAMPAIGN
The NBA today announced that it will premiere the new NBA Playoffs "Love it Live" video featuring Christina Aguilera on April 6 during ABC's telecast of Wizards-Celtics. The 90-second music video, produced by NBA Entertainment, features Aguilera's single "Fighter," and will serve as a primary vehicle for the NBA's 2003 Playoffs "Love it Live" campaign. Thirty and 60-second versions of the video will run as ads leading up to and during the NBA Playoffs (THE DAILY).
ROBERT JOHNSON ADDRESSES CHARLOTTE THIS MORNING
Charlotte NBA franchise Owner Robert Johnson was the featured speaker this morning at the Charlotte Business Journal's eighth annual Power Breakfast. Johnson opened his remarks in front of nearly 1,500 people by saying, "I am deeply honored to be here in front of 1,498 season-ticket holders." Following laughter from the attendees, Johnson added, "Thirty percent of whom are suite-holders."
Other highlights included Johnson saying, "I did not buy this team to get rich. You did not build the arena to help make me rich. … I want to bring to you, with your help and only with your help, a team for which you can be proud because it fulfills a fundamental purpose of a venue that simply houses a symbol."
Johnson discussed his plans for a Carolina-based RSN: "If you really think about it, the basketball arena is a venue. Think of it as a big production center. Think of it as a big studio. We're going to put all the information we have about our women's game and our men's game. So that's going to be a big part."
When a member of the audience said a young man had inquired to him about how he could try out for the NBA team, Johnson asked, "Is his name LeBron James?" (THE DAILY).
GREATER CINCINNATI FORD DEALERS EXTEND KY SPEEDWAY DEAL
Ford and the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers today announced that they will sponsor the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race July 12 at Kentucky Speedway, which will now be known as "The Built Ford Tough 225 Presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers." While details of the one-year agreement were not disclosed, it does include a one-year renewal option. Sponsorship benefits include corporate suites, venue signage, advertising, grandstand tickets, event specific merchandise, hospitality and other promotional considerations. The event extends Ford's corporate partnership with the track as the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers have provided "The Official Car & Truck" of Kentucky Speedway (THE DAILY).
BUZZER BEATERS
Sporting News this week offers its MLB preview. On the cover, Twins CF Torii Hunter is featured next to the header, "MLB '03 … It's Wide Open, Baby! … How The Twins (Yes, The Twins) Will Win It All."
Sports Illustrated this week also offers its MLB preview. The cover features the header, "You Can't Have Too Much Pitching (Just Ask George)" with Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner surrounded by Ps Roger Clemens, Jose Contreras, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and Jeff Weaver.
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| Sporting News | Sports Illustrated |
The WUSA today announced various improvements to the league's Web site and six of eight teams' Web sites, that are hosted and maintained by NC-based media, marketing and merchandising agency RMG3. Notably, players' bios have been integrated across the network of sites using RMG3's proprietary content management tool (THE DAILY).
With the McDonald's High School All American Games being played tonight in Cleveland, McDonald's today announced that the '04 Games will be hosted by the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. A date has yet to be set (THE DAILY).
The MLB Rangers today introduced their new mascot, Rangers Captain, designed in the fashion of a Palomino horse, at a ceremony at The Ballpark in Arlington (THE DAILY).
Cincinnati-based PSI 20/20 today announced that the company has reached an agreement with the Heat to become an official sponsor of the team, as well as the preferred promotional product supplier (THE DAILY).
LOUISVILLE BUSINESS FIRST reports that The Yum Brands Foundation, the charitable arm of Louisville-based Yum Brands, is donating $500,000 to the planned Muhammad Ali Center for the Advancement of Humanity Worldwide (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/26).
The AP reports that a statue of Wayne Gretzky in Edmonton "was adorned with a sign that read 'U$ Lackey' on Tuesday in protest of the hockey star's recent comments supporting President Bush in the war against Iraq (AP, 3/26).
TONIGHT'S EVENTS
"Xbox Live Hoop Madness" will be held tonight at the four regional sites of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament – Albany, Anaheim, Minneapolis and San Antonio. As part of the event, former NCAA Tournament standouts Sam Perkins, Kevin Freeman, Bobby Hurley, Billy Owens, Charles Smith, Anderson Hunt, Tommy Amaker and Miles Simon will play Sweet 16, Regional Finals and Final Four games on Xbox Live systems, using "Sega Sports NCAA College Basketball 2K3" (THE DAILY).
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air the '03 McDonald's High School All American Game at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN will air Lakers-Rockets at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN will air the NIT: Georgetown-North Carolina at 7:00pm ET and Georgia Tech-Texas Tech at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic's "SportsCentury" will profile Bill Walton at 8:00pm ET.
AFL Desperados QB Jim Kubiak, WWE wrestlers Jeff and Matt Hardy and comedians Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall are scheduled to appear on FSN's "BDSSP."
HBO will air the fourth installment of "Legendary Nights," featuring the '85 Hagler-Hearns bout, at 10:00pm ET.
WWE Chair Vince McMahon will be on CBS' "The Late Late Show" with Craig Kilborn at 12:35am ET.
A&E's "Biography" will profile Dr. Phil at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "True Hollywood Story" will profile The Last Days of John F. Kennedy Jr. at 8:00pm ET.
E!'s "Revealed" will profile John Travolta at 10:00pm ET.
Luke Wilson will guest host CBS' "Late Show" at 11:35pm ET as David Letterman continues to recover from a case of the shingles.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight's headline guests on the following talk shows:
| "Late Show" | Kelly Preston |
| "The Tonight Show" | Adrien Brody |
| "The Late Late Show" | Rachel Ward |
| "Late Night" | Jarod Miller |
| "Jimmy Kimmel Live" | Ashton Kutcher |
TODAY'S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
In a USA TODAY sports section Cover Story, Hal Bodley writes, "Even with the threat of a players strike removed, baseball opens the 2003 season Sunday night facing troubling issues that could become major distractions." Among them, while owners and players "were able to achieve labor peace last August without a work stoppage, … the mistrust continues in areas such as drug testing (a management wish) and collusion (a union contention)" (USA TODAY).
The Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT's Tom Robinson writes of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament: "This season, with much ballyhoo, first- and second-round games were ripped from the highest seeds and placed in 'predetermined sites.' … This development is seen as a toe in the water. A baby step toward a state of even-Steven-ness the tournament committee seeks, and under which the thriving men's tournament is conducted" (Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT).
See The Daily Insider's Articles of Interest section for these and more sports business-related links.
TODAY'S TEASER…
Mindbenders: Which of the following is least like the others? The difference has nothing to do with vowels, consonants or syllables.
Australia – Canada – India – New Zealand
IN OTHER NEWS……
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes that the national box office total for "the just-concluded winter season was $1.55[B], an 11% decline from the record $1.75[B] registered during the same period last year." The winter season is defined as the first 10-11 weeks of the year, beginning the Friday after New Year's weekend (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 3/26).
BRANDWEEK.com reports that Coors Brewing "will bow three interactive label promotions for Coors Original." The first, entitled "High Five," will feature trivia questions about sports, music, movies, television, women and leisure that "will strive to make patrons chatty with queries like list at least five pro sports teams whose names do not end in 's' and list the five best rock albums of all time." The fall promo will tie into Coors' second-year sponsorship of the NFL (BRANDWEEK.com, 3/26).
The L.A. TIMES notes that the "early days of war in Iraq have witnessed a significant ratings surge for the all-news cable networks, along with a slight increase in overall TV viewing" and even "lesser gains for some channels providing a respite from war coverage." Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC have "seen their audience expand dramatically -- in some cases tenfold -- versus the corresponding period a year ago." The networks' nightly newscasts also rose last week, with the "NBC Nightly News" averaging 13.2 million viewers, its "biggest audience since the November 2000 election" (L.A. TIMES, 3/26).
THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS
The following lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows for the week of March 17-23. Also provided are the weekly viewership averages for each net (USA TODAY, 3/26).
| RK | PROGRAM | NET | DAY | RAT/SHR | VIEWERS
(IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | 75th Annual Academy Awards | ABC | Sun | 20.4/32 | 33.0 |
| 2) | American Idol | Fox | Tue | 12.3/18 | 21.1 |
| 3) | Oscar Countdown 2003 | ABC | Sun | 12.6/20 | 19.5 |
| 4) | American Idol | Fox | Wed | 10.4/15 | 17.2 |
| 5) | Survivor: Amazon | CBS | Wed | 9.6/14 | 16.4 |
| 6) | Friends | NBC | Thu | 9.6/15 | 14.9 |
| 7) | Fear Factor | NBC | Mon | 8.4/12 | 14.7 |
| t8) | Judging Amy | CBS | Tue | 9.9/16 | 14.2 |
| t8) | Scrubs | NBC | Thu | 9.3/14 | 14.2 |
| 10) | JAG | CBS | Tue | 9.7/15 | 14.0 |
| |
| NET | VIEWERS |
| ABC | 13.4 |
| NBC | 10.3 |
| Fox | 10.0 |
| CBS | 9.3 |
| WB | 2.9 |
| UPN | 2.8 |
…TODAY'S ANSWER
India is the only country listed that is not part of the British Commonwealth.
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