As the work stoppage in baseball continues, "baseball
advertisers are growing increasingly concerned about the quality
of product they're buying" and the TV ratings that will follow,
according to a piece by INSIDE MEDIA's Langdon Brockington.
After contacting 18 TV stations that hold local rights to teams
in their markets to get "a fix on ad sales,"  Brockington reports
mixed responses.  Some stations characterize "sales as brisk,"
while others report "a lot of wait and sees."  Some "wary
advertisers" have been able to cut deals "containing protective
contingency plans" should replacements be used -- those could
include additional merchandise, guaranteed ratings, or
supplemental spots to "satisfy the advertisers' ratings
delivery."  Many broadcasters are "flexible" by offering
advertisers a two-tiered pricing structure, or allowing them to
withdraw from the telecast if replacements are used.  Whether or
not people will watch is also disputed.  BBDO Dir of Local
Broadcasting Pete Stassi is seeking guarantees for his clients
for a "monetary" refund "equivalent to a ratings decline."
Stassi: "We won't buy otherwise."  Anheuser-Busch has rating
guarantees "chiseled into each of its contracts."  Tony Ponturo,
A-B's VP/Sports Marketing:  "We have a guarantee of delivery; it
makes it simple, and protects us."  Some stations, such as San
Diego's KFMB-TV, won't air replacement games.  Nationally, The
Baseball Network is yet to lose any "long-term" advertisers, and
is reportedly signing on new sponsors (COWLES BUSINESS MEDIA,
1/30).
     NO REPLACEMENT RADIO IN TORONTO:  The FAN 1430, the radio
voice of the Blue Jays, announced that it will not broadcast
games with replacement players (TORONTO STAR, 2/1).  The Blue
Jays' TV partners -- TSN, Baton Broadcasting and CBC -- "are
taking a more cautious, pragmatic approach."  TSN President Jim
Thompson, noting that Labatt owns both the team and TSN, said it
would not be a "collective decision":  "Paul Beeston makes the
decision for the Blue Jays, we make the decision for TSN and
Labatt has to decide, as a sponsor of the product, what's best
for them" (TORONTO SUN, 2/1).

     Fox Sports announced its NHL regular-season schedule --a
regionalized format starting on April 2 and carrying through the
last five Sundays of the season.  Fox will show a total of 28
games -- none involving any of the eight Canadian clubs.  The
only U.S. team that will not be shown is the Hartford Whalers.
Fox Sports Dir of Media Relations Vince Wladika "makes no
apologies":  "We're rated via U.S. markets.  We have to attract
advertisers."  Wladika said Fox will promote the NHL the same way
it did with the NFL:  "We need to get people who have never
watched hockey before -- men, women and children."  Wladika
promised the network would "take the helmets off" NHL players
(Len Hochberg, WASHINGTON POST, 2/1).  Fox Sports Exec VP Tracy
Dolgin denied reports that Fox offered to pay NHL players for
promotional spots to air during Fox's broadcasts.  Dolgin said
Fox will use the spots to highlight players and explain the rules
of the game.  Dolgin:  "We've got to teach people who the players
are, how the game is played.  It's missionary work" (Michael
Hiestand, USA TODAY, 2/1).

     The final rating for the Super Bowl was a 41.3 with a  62
share, officially ranking it 22nd out of the 29 Super Bowl games
(N.Y. TIMES, 2/1)....Ticketmaster's entertainment magazine is
scheduled to be out by the end of the year.  The magazine, still
untitled, will cover all events Ticketmaster serves --
entertainment, sporting and music events.  Alan Citron, a former
L.A. TIMES columnist, will oversee the project (COWLES BUSINESS
MEDIA, 1/30)... "CBS This Morning" profiled the Boston Garden and
the new Shawmut Center today.  New Boston Garden Corp. President
Larry Moulter:  "Anybody that uses [the Shawmut Center] for a
sporting event or a family event will feel at home" (CBS,
2/1)....Prime Sports Radio, the 24-hour all sports network, will
go on air in Boston this month at a frequency of 890, just above
all-sports WEEI-850.  Prime Sports Radio has grown from 12 to 23
cities (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/1).... SportsChannel Ohio has moved to
Coaxial Cable's Standard Service and Warner Cable's Variety Plus
package in OH, increasing subscribers to 75,979 on Coaxial and
175,154 on Warner (GOULD MEDIA).