HEARST, ESPN LAUNCH MAGAZINE; ESPN LAUNCHES ONLINE SERVICE

     "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).