| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
4:00pm ET | |
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| • | NBC Today Announces Coverage Of Athens Olympics Will Total 1,210 Hours |
| • | IOC Coordination Commission Today Completes Three-Day Visit To Turin |
| • | ESPN Set To Debut Five-Week Sports Trivia Game Show Friday, July 16 |
| • | MLB.com Sets Record Traffic Numbers For 48-Hour Player Draft Period |
| • | Chargers Tonight To Unveil Qualcomm Stadium Redevelopment Plan |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
NBC TODAY DISCUSSES ATHENS PLANS; HD COVERAGE TO BE INCLUDED
NBC today announced that its coverage of the Athens Olympics will total 1,210 hours across the six NBC Universal networks – NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo and Telemundo – as well as an HD platform. The 1,210 total hours nearly triples the 441.5 total hours of coverage from Sydney.
Additionally, NBC today announced that it will provide 399 hours of HD coverage from Athens exclusively for its HDTV affils. The programming will run on a 24-hour loop, usually in eight-hour segments. The coverage will not be duplicative, and will feature separate announcers. NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol said, "We're pretty pleased we were able to do this at the last minute – to answer a request from our affiliates. We didn't think we'd be able to do it, but they have pressed for this for a long time.” Ebersol added that NBC will air the entire ’06 Olympics in Turin in HD (THE DAILY).
IOC COORDINATION COMMISSION TODAY COMPLETES TURIN VISIT
The IOC Coordination Commission today completed a three-day visit to Turin. Coordination Commission Chair Jean-Claude Killy released a statement that read in part: “It was a real pleasure to see the impressive design and execution of the ski jump site, which will start serving athletes in only a few months. Other sites, such as the bob track, give us cause for concern. … The shortfall of accommodation is one area we are working on in particular. The IOC will be working with TOROC to help find a solution before the end of July to accommodate all those who will be coming to Italy for the Games” (IOC).
WHA TODAY UNVEILS DETAILS ABOUT UPCOMING INAUGURAL SEASON
WHA Commissioner Bobby Hull today announced that the league will begin its inaugural season October 29, with Canadian franchises in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Quebec City, Quebec, as well as U.S. franchises in Dallas, Detroit, Jacksonville and Orlando. Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, remain franchises in good standing with the league pending the completion of lease negotiations prior to the July 10 draft (WHA).
ESPN WILL DEBUT “STUMP THE SCHWAB” FRIDAY, JULY 16 AT 7:30PM ET
ESPN today announced that a 30-minute sports trivia game show, “Stump the Schwab,” hosted by ESPN Coordinator Producer Howie Schwab, will debut Friday, July 16, at 7:30pm ET. The winner of the five-week series will be offered a full-time position in ESPN’s research department. Contestants can attend open auditions June 16-18 at Hotel Pennsylvania in N.Y. Produced by ESPN Original Entertainment in conjunction with Diplomatic Productions, the show will be taped at Image Penn Studios in N.Y. (ESPN).
MLB.COM RECEIVES RECORD TRAFFIC DURING 48-HOUR DRAFT PERIOD
MLBAM today announced that it registered more than 74 million page views on MLB.com during the 48-hour period of the First-Year Player Draft on Monday and Tuesday, 75% more than for last year’s draft. Additionally, nearly ten million unique visitors, double last year’s total, logged on during the period. Approximately one million fans watched the site’s video presentation of the draft (MLBAM).
BUZZER BEATERS
Sporting News this week features Eagles WR Terrell Owens on the cover, with the header, “A Team’s Missing Piece, A Player’s Missing Peace: The Eagles, Terrell Owens and a season of expectations.”
Sports Illustrated this week features Reds CF Ken Griffey Jr. on the cover, with the header, “Welcome Back: A Healthy, Happy Ken Griffey Jr. Makes His Run at 500 Home Runs.”
ESPN The Magazine this week features NBA Draft prospect Dwight Howard, with the header, “A Teen, A Husky And A Russian Walk Into The NBA Draft.”
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| Sporting News | Sports Illustrated |
CSTV today announced that Easton Sports will be the presenting sponsor of the net’s on-air and online college baseball and softball coverage through ’05 (CSTV).
The ORLANDO BUSINESS JOURNAL reports that Florida-based insurance company Perry & Perry President Steve Perry has purchased a share of the AFL Orlando Predators (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/9).
BLOODHORSE.com reports that all-sources handle for the Pimlico Racecourse spring meet totaled $266.2M, up from last year’s $265M. On-site handle rose from $22.2M to $24.4M, while import handle fell 18%, from $91M to $73M, which resulted in total in-state handle falling 15%, from $115.2M to $97.4M (BLOODHORSE.com, 6/9).
Texas Tech men’s basketball coach Bobby Knight today agreed in principle to a three-year extension with the school through ’09. Knight’s current contract pays him $250,000 annually over the next two years (LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 6/9).
The AP reports the Int’l Skating Union today approved a new scoring system. In the new system, “each of the sport's aspects – jumping, spinning, footwork, edge quality, choreography, theatrics – would be judged for individuality and not simply as part of an overall performance” (AP, 6/9).
The WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL reports that the PGA Tour Booz Allen Classic will return to Congressional County Club next year. The tournament, formerly the Kemper Open, was played at Congressional from ’80-87 (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/9).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
The Chargers will host a 7:00pm PT community forum at Montgomery High School in Otay Mesa, CA, where Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani and architect Mark Steele will present a redevelopment plan for Qualcomm Stadium (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/9).
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig will attend the Devil Rays’ 7:15pm ET game against the Giants at Tropicana Field as a guest of Devil Rays Managing General Partner Vince Naimoli (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 6/9).
Muhammad Ali, Robert De Niro and Michael Jordan will attend the Boys & Girls Club of America’s President’s Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in N.Y. (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/9).
Lions coach Steve Mariucci will host a celebrity bocce ball tournament at 4:00pm ET. Several Lions are expected to compete, as well as Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo and former Pistons coach Chuck Daly.
Nuggets F Carmelo Anthony will sign autographs at his Celebrity Game from 5:30 to 6:30pm MT at the Pepsi Center.
CHANNEL SURFING
ESPN will air Padres-Red Sox at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Isiah Thomas at 8:00pm ET.
Nets F Richard Jefferson, Raptors G Jalen Rose, Fox’ Kevin Kennedy and actor Anthony Michael Hall are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”
Speed Channel’s reality show “I Wanna Date a Race Car Driver” debuts at 9:00pm ET. Fans will compete for the opportunity to go out with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Jon Wood, AMA Superbike riders Eric and Ben Bostrom and Late Model driver Leilani Munter (SPEED).
Tennis player Andrea Jaeger will appear on CNBC’s “Dennis Miller” at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN will air Reds-A’s at 10:00pm ET.
Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice will appear on CBS’ “Late Show” at 11:35pm ET.
A&E’s “Biography” will profile Bette Midler at 8:00pm ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “The Late Show” | Christopher Walken |
| “The Tonight Show” | Catherine Zeta-Jones |
| “The Late Late Show” | Greg Kinnear |
| “Late Night” | Tom Brokaw |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | George Lopez |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The London OBSERVER’s Barnett, Campbell & Walsh write of England’s national men’s soccer team, “A row over the players' patriotism broke out … after it emerged that David Beckham and many of his teammates are using controversial tax avoidance schemes to minimize the amount they pay the Inland Revenue from the lucrative fees they earn for appearing in TV advertisements for Pepsi, Sainsbury's and other big names” (London OBSERVER).
The Westchester JOURNAL-NEWS’ Sam Weinman writes, “Nine of the top ten players on the PGA Tour money list are at Westchester Country Club this week. And as luck would have it, the one who isn't is Tiger Woods. Go ahead, snicker all you want. You don't want ‘Casablanca’ without Bogart, and you don't want the E Street Band without Springsteen. So why would you choose to watch the best players in the world without the best player of all? The answer is complicated, but let's just say it has less to do with Woods and more to do with the shadow he casts over everyone else” (Westchester JOURNAL-NEWS).
See The Daily Insider’s Articles of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Mindbenders: If you were running a race, and you passed the person in second place, what place would you be in now?
IN OTHER NEWS……
Coca-Cola today announced that President & COO Stephen Heyer will leave the company after a transition period (Coca-Cola).
A Publishers Information Bureau report released yesterday shows that magazine ad pages increased 4.8% in May, “snapping an 11-month streak of declines.” The greatest increase in May was in the public transportation, hotels and resorts category, which experienced a 28.7% boost. For the first five months of ’04, ad pages were down 0.2% compared with a year earlier (N.Y. TIMES, 6/9).
WWE has chosen The Media Kitchen as its media agency of record. Billings are estimated to be $8M (WWE).
THE DAILY STAT: PRIMETIME NIELSEN RATINGS
The following lists the final Nielsen ratings for the top ten primetime shows on broadcast for the week of May 31-June 6 (TV.YAHOO.com, 6/9).
| RK | SHOW | NET | DAY | RAT/SHR | HHs (IN MILLIONS) |
| 1) | CSI | CBS | Thu | 10.2/17 | 11.0 |
| 2) | NBA Finals Game One | ABC | Sun | 9.8/17 | 10.6 |
| 3) | CSI: Miami | CBS | Mon | 9.3/16 | 10.1 |
| 4) | Without A Trace | CBS | Thu | 8.9/16 | 9.6 |
| 5) | Two And A Half Men | CBS | Mon | 8.8/14 | 9.6 |
| 6) | Law & Order | NBC | Wed | 8.7/15 | 9.4 |
| 7) | Everybody Loves Raymond | CBS | Mon | 8.6/14 | 9.3 |
| 8) | Crossing Jordan | NBC | Sun | 7.9/14 | 8.6 |
| 9) | Law & Order | NBC | Wed | 7.1/12 | 7.7 |
| 10) | Miss Universe Pageant | NBC | Tue | 6.9/11 | 7.5 |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
You would be in second place.
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