Fox Broadcasting has announced that it will purchase the
remaining 49% of Boston affil WFXT-TV, owned by the Boston
Celtics Limited Partnership.  The $80M cash purchase gives Fox
full ownership of the station, which has been a Fox affiliate for
the past eight years.  Celtics CFO Joseph DiLorenzo said that Fox
had an option last fall to purchase the Celtics 49% of the
station for $45M but declined: "This was a prime piece of
property" (Nutile & Krasner, BOSTON HERALD, 10/6).  Celtics stock
was up 2 points yesterday.

     ESPN has won exclusive rights to Big Ten Conference football
and basketball games not on a national network beginning with the
'95 football season through 2000-2001 (THE DAILY)....TSN will air
two games from each of the AHL, IHL, and junior hockey leagues
over the the next month (TORONTO STAR, 10/7)....Home Teams
Sports, the MD-based regional sports cable network, is still
offering a full schedule of sports programming.  But HTS, will
take a "significant hit" -- $2M or more in lost ad revenue -- if
hockey is out for an extended period (WASHINGTON POST,
10/7)....NFL ratings were released yesterday:  NBC is up 21%;
Fox's is 1% better than CBS in '93; TNT is up 12%; and ABC is
down 3% (Rudy Martzke, USA TODAY, 10/7).

     The NFL and DirecTV, a unit of GM, are expected to announce
an agreement to air all regular-season football games on
DirecTV's digital-broadcast service.  The "NFL Sunday Ticket,"
will offer the last five weeks of regular NFL games beginning
Nov. 27 for a price of around $50.  In '95, a full of NFL games
is expected to cost $140-$150.  The deal will give a "needed
boost to the fledgling satellite service, which delivers digital
TV signals to 18-inch dishes" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/7).