WILL BLAZERS' BROADCAST PARTNER SPIN THE WHEEL AGAIN?

     In Portland, Jeff Baker writes that the Blazers "are losing
television viewers as they continue to lose games."  Ratings on
KGW have dropped 10% from last season and have fallen "from the
heights they hit three years ago" when the Balzers went to the
finals.  In fact, the Blazers have lost to "Jeopardy" and "Wheel
of Fortune" in three of the last four head-to-head meetings.  The
three-year contract between the team and KGW expires at the end
of this season and "with ratings down, the win-loss record down,
and interest in the Blazers way down, a vital part of the
Blazers' business empire appears to be in trouble."  However, KGW
GM Dennis Williamson is hopeful:  "Our relationship is pretty
solid.  I would hope we think of ourselves as valuable clients to
each other" (Portland OREGONIAN, 2/10).