ESPN ACQUIRES MAJORITY INTEREST IN SPORTSTICKER

     Dow Jones & Co. is selling 80% of SportsTicker, its sports
news service, to ESPN.  Dow Jones will retain a 20% interest in
SportsTicker, a 24-hour sports news and information service.
ESPN has "wanted to acquire SportsTicker for several months, but
Dow Jones was not looking to sell."  However, Roger May,
spokesperson for Dow Jones, said, "ESPN made us a pretty good
offer" (Richard Sandomir, N.Y. TIMES, 11/8).  ESPN plans no major
changes at SportsTicker and as part of the agreement, Dow Jones
and ESPN said they will develop TV programming.  Dick Glover,
Senior VP at ESPN Entertainment said the "two companies could
report on sports business or offer ESPN's sports news feed to Dow
Jones's desktop video service" (N.Y. POST, 11/8).  Glover: "We've
bought an experienced well-oiled machine."  SportsTicker
President Peter Bavasi will continue to oversee the operation.
Bishop Cheen, analyst for Paul Kagan Associates, said "he
expected SportsTicker and ESPNet to merge into one computer on-
line service, which would have a growing appeal to gamblers eager
for up-to-date information" (Richard Sandomir, N.Y. TIMES, 11/8).