Since the showdown between Michigan State's Magic Johnson
and Indiana State's Larry Bird in '79 set a ratings record with a
24.1, the men's NCAA basketball title game has never drawn less
than 18.8, according to Prentis Rogers in Atlanta.  CBS' Jim
Nantz:  "The three most watched games in the history of
basketball are NCAA championship games, and nine out of the 10
highest rated games are in college, not pro."  In the '90s, the
men's NCAA final has averaged a 21.2, and tonight's UCLA-Arkansas
matchup "doesn't figure to hurt that average" (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 4/3).  According to Rudy Martzke, tonight "figures
to rank among the five most watched basketball games in history"
(USA TODAY, 4/3).

     In the debut airing of HBO's "Real Sports," Frank Deford
took a critical look at The Masters tournament and the Augusta
National Golf Club.  Deford:  "The Masters is the last
dictatorship in sport.  It is the American Singapore -- small and
rich, efficient and successful, spotless and humorless, and
totally unforgiving."  After noting CBS golf analyst Gary
McCord's dismissal from the Masters broadcast for saying the
Masters greenskeepers use "bikini wax" to keep the greens fast,
Deford quoted CBS golf producer Frank Chirkinian, who "dares to
speak against" the customary green-jqacket ceremony.  Chirkinian:
"The worst thing in the world to do is go into that cabin.  We
just finished at a high, and all of a sudden there is this
deathly silence because you are down in the catacombs ... This
presentation has always been so sanitized that you could just
hear all the sets clicking off" (HBO, 4/2).
     MORE AUGUSTA INTRIGUE:  As Deford's piece noted, Stanford
star Tiger Woods, last year's U.S. Amateur winner, will play The
Masters this year.  John Feinstein:  "Augusta is a long way from
utopia.  The day that a black golfer dons a green jacket will be
a historic one, for golf, the Masters, and all of us" ("Sports
Reporters," ESPN, 4/2).  Woods is also profiled in NEWSWEEK.
Curry Kirkpatrick writes, "Already he is blessed with first-name
recognition, the signature of legends Pele, Magic, Elvis because,
in his own sphere, at least, he is one" (NEWSWEEK, 4/2 issue)

     "ESPN's Total Sports" is the name of the new sports magazine
to be published jointly by Hearst Corp.'s Magazine Division and
ESPN, according to INSIDE MEDIA's Chuck Ross and Langdon
Brockington.  Hearst and ESPN will test market four issues,
starting with a football preview on August 1.  The second issue
will be a NBA preview, dated October 1.  The dates and content of
the third and fourth test issues are still being decided.  The
original concept was to make "ESPN's Total Sports" weekly -- as a
"younger skewing, hip competitor to Time Inc.'s Sports
Illustrated."  The editorial staff would prefer to go weekly,
"but there are lots of politics here about that," said one
source.  Ross & Brockington note it is hard to test a weekly's
viability by launching preview issues.  The Hearst/ESPN venture
will go up against SI's preview issues as well as Street & Smith.
Said one source: "This will be more of a market test of the pull
of the ESPN brand name" (COWLES BUSINESS MEDIA, 3/31).      ESPN
ONLINE:  ESPN Enterprises Inc. and Paul Allen's Starwave unveiled
their multimedia sports-information service on Sunday during the
Final Four in Seattle.  Announced as ESPNET SportsZone, the
service (formerly Satchel Sports) is on the World Wide Web at
http://ESPNET. SportsZone.Com.  People attending the Final Four
Fan Jam this weekend, as well as the nation's sports media, will
get a chance to experience ESPNET SportsZone through live demos.
It was also announced that ESPNET SportsZone will be a "major
provider" of sports info on The Microsoft Network, Microsoft's
online service planned for release later this year.  Sponsor
involvement includes the "Gatorade Cooler Site."  The site
includes a Michael Jordan section, along with current event
listings, a user bulletin board and facts about personalities and
sports performances (ESPN/Starwave).

     KLSX-FM, the station that carries Howard Stern's nationally
syndicated show, will replace KFI as the Raiders' flagship radio
station.  KLSX signed a multi-year deal with the team on Friday.
Scott Nederlander, President of Nederlander Sports Marketing, who
has sold the Raiders' radio-rights since '93:  "KLSX has a bold,
cutting-edge, forward-looking style that is so well suited to the
dynamic nature of Raider football."  Al LoCasale, the Raiders'
exec assistant, said KLSX will carry a considerable amount of
Raider promos not only surrounding games but also on weekdays.
LoCasale said the Raiders become the seventh NFL team to have an
exclusive flagship deal with an FM station.  Nine others have an
AM-FM combination deal (Larry Stewart, L.A. TIMES, 4/1).

     ESPN, which was to televise last night's opener between the
Mets and Marlins, instead carried an extended "SportsCenter,"
NCAA Final Four films and a tape delay of an America's Cup race.
Other cable and broadcast networks prepared to carry regular-
season games next week, such as TBS, were preparing alternate
programming, including movies, sitcoms and rebroadcasts of other
sports events.  An ESPN spokesperson said the network will carry
minor league baseball on Sunday nights and NHL hockey on
Wednesday nights (Steve Zipay, N.Y. NEWSDAY, 4/2).  As for the
premiere of HBO's "Real Sports," the change in the baseball
situation forced Exec Producer Ross Greenburg and correspondent
Sonja Steptoe to re-dub some of her story on the baseball strike
(ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 4/2).  In New York, Richard Sandomir notes
that if no replacement games are played, TV and radio outlets
would not have to pay rights frees for games not played (N.Y.
TIMES, 4/2).  In Chicago, Steve Nidetz notes that if the season
starts April 26, ESPN's "exclusive coverage of baseball's season
opener -- part of its six-year deal -- also is in jeopardy"
(CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/3).  In another programming note, Jack Craig
in Boston notes that a long-running PGA Senior tournament left
ESPN 15 minutes behind CNN last night in covering the
announcement of the end of the baseball strike (BOSTON GLOBE,
4/3).

     Yesterday's premiere of the NHL on Fox received a 2.5 rating
and a 6 share in Nielsen overnights, according to Fox Sports
spokesperson Vince Wladika.  Wladika noted that their 2.5 is up
47% from ABC's premiere telecast on March 27, 1994.  ABC received
a 1.7 rating a 4 share.  The three top markets for Fox yesterday
were Detroit with a 6.0/13; St. Louis with 5.7/18; and Boston
with 5.0/13 (THE DAILY).  In New York, Phil Mushnick notes that
the best feature was the camera angles on power plays -- "low and
from directly above and behind the short-handed team's goalie"
(N.Y. POST, 4/3).  In Atlanta, Prentis Rogers writes the "much-
hyped" FoxBots, animated robots appearing after goals, "were not
nearly as impressive as those live, low-angle, rink-level views
from behind the goalie" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 4/3).  In Boston,
Jack Craig notes "telltale" signs of Fox's strength with its
affiliates is the fact it obtained clearance from 95% to air the
NHL.  When CBS and NBC covered the NHL in the '70s, the networks
had to "hustle" to reach 80% (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/2).
     AD MONITOR:  According to a survey by THE SPORTS BUSINESS
DAILY, 97 ads ran during the Bruins/Capitals game. During game
action, play was stopped eight times in the 1st period for
commercials, seven in the 2nd period, and five times in the 3rd.
Listed as official sponsors on the telecast: Network MCI, Bud
Ice, Pizza Hut, The New Dodge, Michelin, Pringles, Sharp, and
Mennen.  Ads for Budweiser ran seven times, with a heavy emphasis
on the Bud Ice -- "Proudest Sponsor of the Coolest Game on
Earth."  Pizza Hut ran nine spots, including the Donald/Ivana
Trump ad, Howie Long in Fox gear pushing Pizza Hut, and the
Dennis Rodman and David Robinson ad for the stuffed-cheese crust.
The New Dodge ran seven spots while its sister car, Eagle, ran
two spots.  Other notables: Michelin (4), MCI (4), Mennen (4),
Lexus (4), Texaco (3), the following all ran two: Exxon, MTD Yard
Mach, Coors, Wendy's, Napa, American Express, Lotrimin, Mobil,
U.S. Army, Discover, STP, Nike/Cam Neely ad, Midas and Pringles.
The following brand/companies ran one spot:  Busch, Fisher Nuts,
Sharp, Bold Plus, Head & Shoulders, Int'l Paper, Pert Plus, Geico
and NHL/Nike (THE DAILY).