Sunday's Magic/Suns match up attracted the "largest regular
season audience ever" for a daytime NBA game, according to
Nielsen ratings in the United States' 32 largest cities.  In
today's BOSTON GLOBE, Jack Craig notes while some "picture the
NHL gaining on the NBA as America's winter sport" the
"blockbuster NBA doubleheader on NBC Sunday was reality."  Craig
writes that hockey is at a disadvantage on TV:  "Even Fox
Network, whose approach to sports is fresh, would not think of
launching its new contract with the NHL until the tail end of the
regular season in April."  The NHL did beat the NBA in Boston,
where Sunday's Flyers-Bruins game on WSBK more than doubled the
Magic-Suns.  But, as Craig notes: "Boston is not America" (BOSTON
GLOBE, 1/24).  Overall, the Magic-Suns rated 8.8  (Richard
Sandomir, N.Y. TIMES, 1/24).

     Jim Kaat and Dave Cohen are expected to be the Yankees'
announcing team on MSG according to MSG Exec Producer Mike
McCarthy.  McCarthy: "Unless they come to blows."....Ken
Schanzer, president of The Baseball Network, says there is no
fight between NBC and ABC over who will televise the '95 World
Series.  ABC was scheduled to televise the '94 Series, NBC has
the '95 rights.  Schanzer did say the future of TBN "has to be
discussed soon" (Richard Sandomir, N.Y. TIMES, 1/24)....Toshiba,
Matsushita, Pioneer and Thomson are expected to demonstrate new
home video technology today.  The technology is expected to
involve high resolution movies stored on disks that are similar
in size to CDs (N.Y. TIMES, 1/24)....CNN's "Calling All Sports,"
will be moved back to 1am to accommodate a nightly O.J. Simpson
trial wrap-up show (Baltimore SUN, 1/24)....Liberty Sports'
"Press Box" will include daily live segments from Miami until the
Super Bowl, with 19-year NFL veteran Jackie Slater providing
guest analysis (Liberty)....Smith Barney media analyst John
Reidy, on the Fox/Reuters deal:  "The Fox move is really part of
Rupert Murdoch's plan to make Fox the number one network.  In
order to be number one, you've got to have a strong news
organization, both at the network level and with your TV stations
and clearly Reuters is going to help Fox get there faster"
("Nightly Business Report," PBS, 1/23).