WHAT WILL BE HBO'S RESPONSE TO THE KING-FOX DEAL?

     Execs at HBO Sports were not returning calls over the
weekend, according to William Rhoden of the N.Y. TIMES.  They
were meeting to determine their response to Don King's "brilliant
and unexpected maneuver" of signing with Fox to put Mike Tyson's
next fight on free TV.  HBO was set to air Bowe-Holyfield on pay-
per-view the same night as Tyson-Mathis.  Rhoden writes, "It
would appear the cable company will certainly have to change the
Nov. 4 date" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/16).  In Boston, Ron Borges reports
that HBO "is scrambling" to shift Bowe-Holyfield to November 3,
but Caesar's Palace -- which has already sold 8,000 tickets to
the event -- "is balking.  The sides continue to talk, but it is
no better than 50-50 that a shift can be made."  Borges adds,
"Bowe-Holyfield III is in jeopardy of becoming the biggest pay-
per-view loser in history because, while the money to the
fighters is guaranteed, the money to Time Warner and the major
cable operators who signed contracts to carry the fight is not"
(BOSTON GLOBE, 9/17).