In L.A., Jane Hall reports that all four broadcast networks
are "posting record revenues in terms of advertising dollars
spent" for TV ads in prime time for the new season (L.A. TIMES,
9/13)....Andre Agassi's victory in the men's final in the U.S.
Open "did not galvanize viewers as CBS had hoped." In
preliminary overnight Nielsen ratings, the Open received a 5.5
rating, down 5% from 5.8 a year ago. Football was the
"preliminary culprit" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/13)....The 49ers-Chiefs game
was the highest-rated regular-season 49ers telecast in 10 years.
The game had a rating of 38.9 and a 74 share in the Bay Area. It
was the first regular-season 49ers game on Fox affiliate KTVU
(SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 9/13)....In Atlanta, Kris Jensen notes
that SI's 40th anniversary TV show, scheduled for 10:00pm ET on
NBC, "shows how the magazine is branching into television and
other media." This special is the first show produced by SI's TV
division (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 9/13)....With less than three
weeks to go before the "crucial shareholder vote" on the Viacom-
Blockbuster merger, execs at Blockbuster Entertainment plan to
"hit the road next week to rally support" for the merger (MIAMI
HERALD, 9/12).
