| | The Daily Insider
Afternoon News & Headlines
Monday, August 16, 2004
4:00pm ET | |
| |
| • | News From The Athens Olympics, Day 4: Ticket Sales Surpass 3 Million |
| • | Comcast Today Inks Multiyear Carriage Agreement With NFL Network |
| • | With NFL Now In Fold, Getty Images Has Image Licensing Deals With Big 4 |
| • | Audi Of America Today Announces Sponsorship Of Wachovia LPGA Classic |
| • | Hawks F Josh Childress To Grace The Cover Of “ESPN College Hoops 2K5” |
| • | Buzzer Beaters/Tonight’s Events/Channel Surfing/In Other News/The Daily Stat |
NEWS FROM THE ATHENS OLYMPICS, DAY 4: RATINGS & TICKET SALES
The following presents a day-by-day Nielsen ratings trend for the Athens Games:
| | ‘04 | ‘00 | +/- % |
| Opening Ceremony | 14.4/26 | 16.2/29 | -11.1% |
| 2nd Day | 11.7/23 | 13.1/25 | -10.7% |
| 3rd Day | 15.4/26 | 14.6/24 | 5% |
|
| Cumulative | 14.1/25 | 14.6/26 | -3% |
The rating for the third day, Sunday, represents a fast-national rating. In the 53 metered markets for Sunday, Ft. Myers, Tampa and Orlando are excluded due to Hurricane Charley.
The London GUARDIAN reports that approximately 10 million viewers watched the Opening Ceremony on the BBC, more than three times as many as watched the Sydney Opening Ceremony (London GUARDIAN, 8/16).
NBC’s primetime Olympic coverage tonight will highlight swimming, diving and gymnastics. Click here for a listing of events across the NBC Universal networks.
AROUND THE RINGS reports that in Athens today, a "surge in ticket sales has pushed the total number sold to more than 3 million.” Nearly 80,000 tickets were sold today, about double the 45,000 sold on Sunday, a day “when the ticket sales branches at Alpha banks around the country were closed.” The 3 million sold are “only about 60% of the available seats for the Games, which remain plagued by light attendance in the opening days of the Olympics” (AROUND THE RINGS, 8/16).
SPOILER ALERT: Today’s The Daily Stat is a total medal count.
COMCAST PUTTING NFL NETWORK ON ITS DIGITAL CABLE PACKAGE
Comcast today reached a multiyear carriage agreement with NFL Network, adding the net to its Digital Plus package, which is the basic package for all new digital subscribers. Comcast, which has over 8 million digital subscribers, serves 24 of the 30 NFL team markets, and is the leading cable provider in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Jacksonville, Miami, New England, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, S.F., Seattle and DC. The NFL estimates the agreement will put the net in 15 million new homes over the life of the deal (NFL).
NFL INKS FIVE-YEAR IMAGE LICENSING PACT WITH GETTY IMAGES
The NFL today inked a five-year deal with Getty Images, which receives commercial rights for the licensing and distribution of NFL photography to NFL business partners, including sponsors, licensees and broadcasters. A collection of past and current NFL images will be distributed via gettyimages.com, and an additional NFL-branded Web site will be built and maintained by Getty. Getty has similar deals with MLB, the NHL, NBA, IOC, USOC, Manchester United and the ATP, among others (Getty Images).
AUDI OF AMERICA TO AGAIN SPONSOR WACHOVIA LPGA CLASSIC
Audi of America today announced that it will sponsor the August 23-29 Wachovia LPGA Classic at Berkleigh Country Club in Kutztown, PA. Audi vehicles will be on display throughout the country club, and the company will sponsor a hole-in-one contest for the 15th hole. Players who ace the hole will receive an A4 1.8T valued at $38,120. Audi has sponsored the tournament since ‘97 (Audi).
BUZZER BEATERS
ESPN Videogames today named former Stanford star and Hawks draft pick Josh Childress the cover athlete for “ESPN College Hoops 2K5” (ESPN Videogames).
Former CBS NFL analyst Deion Sanders is “contemplating whether … to make a comeback as the Ravens’ nickel back” (Baltimore SUN, 8/16).
Huffy Corp. today confirmed that the NYSE has suspended trading its stock and will take the necessary steps to remove Huffy as a listed company. The company has fallen below the continued listing standards of the exchange (Huffy Corp.).
A LIGHTER BUZZ
Before Thursday night’s Falcons-Ravens preseason game at M&T Bank Stadium, a security guard motioned to Joe Theismann and said, “This way Mr. Namath,” as he entered the stadium with fellow ESPN broadcaster Suzy Kolber (Baltimore SUN, 8/15).
TONIGHT’S EVENTS
The Dodgers will host Korean-American Community Night prior to and during the team’s 7:05pm PT game against the Marlins at Dodger Stadium. A pregame festival behind the right-field pavilion will feature batting and pitching cages and other interactive games. Pregame ceremonies inside the stadium include a Korean dance demonstration and recognition of the “Future Leaders” in the Korean-American community. MLS Galaxy D Myung-Bo Hung will throw out the first pitch.
The Phillies will host their annual Phestival to benefit ALS patient services and research at 4:00pm ET at Citizens Bank Park (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 8/13).
CHANNEL SURFING
NBC’s “Nightly News” will examine high-tech Olympic gear at 6:30pm ET.
ESPN2 will air “Utilityman: The Quest For Cooperstown,” a documentary following Randy and Jason Sklar in their attempt to enshrine former MLBer Jose Oquendo in the Baseball HOF, at 7:00pm ET.
ESPN will air NFL preseason: Seahawks-Packers at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN2 will air Reds-Cardinals at 8:00pm ET.
ESPN Classic’s “SportsCentury” will profile Jack Nicklaus at 8:00pm ET.
Marlins P Dontrelle Willis and CF Juan Pierre will appear on FSN’s “BDSSP.”
Andre Agassi will appear on Fox' "The Casino" at 9:00pm ET.
ESPN’s “OTL Nightly” examines the state of USA Basketball at midnight ET.
HEADLINERS
Here are tonight’s headline guests on the following talk shows:
| “Late Show” | Matt Damon (r) |
| “The Late Late Show” | Mark Ruffalo |
| “Late Night” | Eric Bana (r) |
| “Jimmy Kimmel Live” | Julie Delpy |
TODAY’S ARTICLES OF INTEREST
The L.A. TIMES’ David Colker writes, “NBC plans to broadcast 399 hours of the Games in the digital format, and makers of HDTV sets are hoping that will produce a much-needed sales boost for a market that's been slow to take off. After all, few things can motivate a couch potato to upgrade his set like a major sporting event. … Although few, if any, studies have been published that link TV sales to sporting events, the anecdotal evidence of a nexus is overwhelming” (L.A. TIMES).
The Cleveland PLAIN DEALER writes of Browns President & CEO John Collins, “He has done his best to make the position and the team his own in that time. He is the image-polisher at work, giving the Browns a makeover and a sleek, new identity. … His focus is on making the Browns the pride of Cleveland and the center of the city's sports universe as never before” (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER).
See The Daily Insider’s Articles of Interest section for more sports business-related links.
TODAY’S TEASER…
Sports: Prior to Puerto Rico’s victory yesterday, what was the last country to defeat the U.S. men’s basketball team in the Olympics?
IN OTHER NEWS……
The CHICAGO TRIBUNE reported that recruiters and companies alike have “focused their sights on at least two Quaker veterans, Gatorade chief Charles Maniscalo and cereals President Polly Kowalek – both ensconced in their top positions since 2002” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/15).
THE DAILY STAT: ATHENS OLYMPICS MEDAL COUNT
The following presents a medal count for the Athens Olympics as of 4:00pm ET:
| COUNTRY | TOTAL | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE |
| China | 15 | 10 | 4 | 1 |
| Australia | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| U.S. | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Russia | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| France | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
…TODAY’S ANSWER
The Soviet Union defeated the U.S. in ’88 in Seoul. The Soviet Union also won the only other Olympic game in which the U.S. men’s basketball team was defeated, in ’72.
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