RUPERT MURDOCH'S WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS

     News Corp. Chair Rupert Murdoch is profiled in the latest
issue of BUSINESS WEEK.  He's "fast becoming global sports
fanatic No. 1 as he scours the planet for games to fill the hours
on the worldwide TV mega-network he has spent the last decade
building."  Alistair Smellie, an analyst of European media for
Lehman Brothers, calls sports "the most important ingredient to
increase penetration into homes."  And John Mansell, a media
analyst for Paul Kagan Associates, notes:  "Others have used
sports to boost ratings and ad revenues.  But he's a pioneer in
recognizing the importance of global rights" (BUSINESS WEEK,
12/12 issue).
     NOT IMPRESSED:  During the post-match press conference at
the Advata Tennis Tour Championship at Key Biscayne, John McEnroe
blasted Murdoch, whose Fox TV network is bidding for the rights
to Wimbledon.  McEnroe:  "The person who owns Fox is single-
handedly responsible for a lot of what I find despicable.  These
type of people don't have anything to do with tennis.  I'm sure
he doesn't even know he's getting tennis -- if he gets it.  It's
all about some kind of power play. ... He's a low-life" (MIAMI
HERALD, 12/4).