| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday, June 21, 2004
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | NBC Today Unveils Talent Lineup For Athens Olympics With 52 Newcomers |
| • | Louisiana Legislative Session Ends Tonight As State Owes Saints $7.1M |
| • | NBC Announces Today That Weekend Coverage Of U.S. Open Averaged 5.6/14 |
| • | French Judge Rejects Lance Armstrong’s Request For Denial Inclusion In Book |
| • | RadioShack Pairing Howie Long And Terry Bradshaw In Upcoming Spots |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
NBC TODAY UNVEILS TALENT LINEUP FOR ’04 OLYMPICS IN ATHENS
NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol today announced the net’s 99 Athens Olympics commentators – including 52 newcomers and 28 former Olympians who won a combined 41 medals. Bob Costas will anchor NBC’s coverage, while Jim Lampley, who will tie Jim McKay by working his 12th Olympic Games, will host NBC’s daytime coverage, as well as USA Network’s coverage. Mary Carillo and Inga Hammond will serve as co-hosts on Bravo, while Fred Roggin anchors CNBC’s coverage. Pat O’Brien and Lester Holt will share host duties for MSNBC, while Jessi Losada and Andres Cantor anchor Telemundo’s coverage (NBC).
LOUISIANA LEGISLATIVE DEADLINE LOOMS AS STATE OWES SAINTS
The Louisiana Legislative session ends tonight at 6:00pm CT, and the state faces a $7.1M shortfall on its roughly $15M subsidy payment to the Saints, which is due July 5. The New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE reports that while the state Legislature “hashed over bills Sunday evening, the [Louisiana Gov. Kathleen] Blanco administration was still trying to figure out how to come up” with the money. Among the options the state is considering is a loan to the Louisiana Stadium & Exposition District – the Superdome Commission – to pay the team (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 6/21).
TWO-DAY U.S. OPEN OVERNIGHT RATING AVERAGE SUPRASSES ‘03
NBC today announced that its coverage of the U.S. Open Saturday and Sunday averaged a 5.6/14 overnight Nielsen rating, up from last year’s 5.5/13. Sunday’s rating peaked at 9.2/19 at 7:00pm ET, as Retief Goosen held off Phil Mickelson to win his second U.S. Open championship. The following offers the top six metered markets (NBC):
| RK) | MARKET | RAT/SHR | RK) | MARKET | RAT/SHR |
| 1) | West Palm Beach | 10.9/23 | 4) | Las Vegas | 9.4/19 |
| 2) | Orlando | 9.6/19 | 5) | Ft. Myers | 9.3/20 |
| 3) | Tampa | 9.4/20 | 6) | Jacksonville | 9.2/18 |
BUZZER BEATERS
The AP reports that French judge Catherine Bezio today rejected Lance Armstrong’s suit to force “L.A. Confidential: The Secrets Of Lance Armstrong” publisher La Martiniere to insert a notice with his rebuttal against doping claims made in the book (AP, 6/21).
AD AGE reports that RadioShack is pairing Howie Long with Fox’ Terry Bradshaw in upcoming ads via RadioShack’s in-house Circle R Group (AD AGE, 6/21 issue).
Collegiate Pacific has executed a letter of intent to acquire Richmond, VA-based Dixie Sporting Goods, which specializes in football and team uniforms to institutional markets. Terms of the sale were not disclosed (Collegiate Pacific).
The INDIANAPOLIS STAR reports that the Performance Racing Industry’s annual auto racing trade show is leaving Indianapolis in ’05 for Orlando. The show’s “booming growth coupled with limited space at the Indiana Convention Center and RCA Dome led to the move” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 6/21).
Columbia Records today announced that the “The Bob Dylan Show,” a concert series featuring Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, will tour select Minor League Baseball ballparks beginning at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown August 6 (Columbia).
CHANNEL SURFING
MLB President & COO Bob DuPuy will appear on CNBC’s “Kudlow & Cramer” at 5:00pm ET.
Author Charley Rosen will appear on FSN’s “I, Max” at 6:00pm local time.
ESPN will air the 2004 ESPY Nomination Show at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air the NCAA World Series: Cal State Fullerton-Miami at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN will air Indians-White Sox at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Steffi Graf at 8:00pm ET.
U.S. Open champ Retief Goosen, Rams S Jason Sehorn, U.S. wrestler Rulon Gardner and former Warriors coach Eric Musselman are scheduled to appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”
Pistons coach Larry Brown will appear on CBS’ “Late Show” at 11:35pm ET.
ESPN’s “OTL Nightly” will examine Las Vegas’ bid to be the Expos’ new home at 12:00am ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “The Late Show” | Larry Brown |
| “The Tonight Show” | Keira Knightley |
| “The Late Late Show” | Kyle MacLachlan |
| “Late Night” | The Rock (r) |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Alfred Molina |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE’s Sal Maiorana writes of the LPGA, “Prize money has soared to record levels, corporate sponsorship is rock solid, the depth of talent increases every year, the Web site is humming, television ratings are on the rise, and, of course, there’s Annika Sorenstam” (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE).
The CINCINNATI ENQUIRER’s John Fay writes of Ken Griffey Jr., “He doesn’t hesitate to match loud fans profanity for profanity. What do the TV cameras pick up? Junior yelling at the fans. Griffey also hurts himself in other ways. He rarely signs autographs. He doesn’t sprint to his position in the outfield and wave to fans like Sammy Sosa” (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER).
See The Daily Insider’s Articles of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports: Who was the last foreign-born golfer not from South Africa to win golf’s U.S. Open?
IN OTHER NEWS……
REUTERS reports that Wachovia today agreed to buy SouthTrust Corp. for $14.3B to “expand in the U.S. Southeast, including the high-growth Texas, Florida and Georgia markets.” The merger would give Wachovia roughly $464B in assets and $267B in deposits. The companies “plan over two years to cut 4,300 jobs and shut 130 to 150 branches, mainly in overlapping areas in Florida and Georgia, to help save $255[M] per year” (REUTERS, 6/21).
DAILY VARIETY reports that in “anticipation of the Summer Olympics in Athens, Discovery Networks will give other species a chance to shine.” Discovery will air “Animal Games,” an hourlong Olympics “where birds, mammals, reptiles, fish and insects compete for the gold” (DAILY VARIETY, 6/21).
THE DAILY STAT: N.Y. TIMES BESTSELLING NONFICTION
The following presents best selling nonfiction books for the week ending June 20 (NYTIMES.com, 6/21):
| THIS WEEK |
HARDCOVER NONFICTION
|
| 1) | DRESS YOUR FAMILY IN CORDUROY AND DENIM, David Sedaris (Little, Brown) |
| 2) | EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES, Lynne Truss (Gotham) |
| 3) | BIG RUSS AND ME, Tim Russert (Miramax) |
| 4) | FATHER JOE, Tony Hendra (Random House) |
| 5) | PLAN OF ATTACK, Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster) |
| 6) | BATTLE READY, Tom Clancy with Tony Zinni and Tony Koltz (Putnam) |
| 7) | AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, Richard A. Clarke (Free Press) |
| 8) | ALEXANDER HAMILTON, Ron Chernow (Penguin Press) |
| 9) | ON THE DOWN LOW, J. L. King with Karen Hunter (Broadway) |
| 10) | THREE WEEKS WITH MY BROTHER, Nicholas & Micah Sparks (Warner) |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
Australian David Graham, who won the championship in ’81.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let us know at:
dailyinsider@sportsbusinessdaily.com
The Closing Bell provides an afternoon recap of the latest news and headlines each Monday through Friday at approximately 4:00pm ET. If you would like to sign up for an e-mail alert to the Closing Bell, go to My Account and personalize your e-mail alert options.
