The $7.5B Turner-Time Warner merger may face another
lawsuit. Continental Cablevision is considering action to secure
the same terms received by TCI in exchange for its shares in TBS
(N.Y. POST, 9/26). Meanwhile, US West, which has already filed
suit over the deal, is considering joining the Baby Bells
involved in Tele-TV. That move could violate US West's "non-
compete" clause in its partnership with Time Warner (WALL STREET
JOURNAL, 9/26)....HBO Sports will debut "Rebels with a Cause:
The Story of the American Football League" in December. Fox's
John Madden is serving as a consultant on the project
(HBO)....Tom Marsillo, Local Sales manager at SportsChannel New
York, reports that ad sales for the Devils are up 10%. Among the
newcomers buying time: PaineWebber, SkyTel and Six Flags/Great
Adventure. Renewals include: A-B, Discover, GMC Trucks,
American Airlines, Volvo and the U.S. Postal Service (INSIDE
MEDIA, 9/20-10/3). ....Grant Hill makes an appearance on NBC's
Saturday morning series "Hang Time" on October 7 (NBC)....Steve
Zipay notes that NFL officials are "touchy" about anything
related to gambling -- and that includes the Taco Bell spots on
the Hakeem-Shaq match-up which ran during NFL games Sunday. The
ads had a "Trump Taj Mahal" logo. Zipay notes that Fox's promos
for Tyson-Mathis will have an "MGM Grand" logo (NEWSDAY,
9/26)....Chronicle Publishing, owner of the San Francisco
Chronicle, said it has no plans to sell its interest in the paper
to Hearst (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/26)....MCI is petitioning
Congress and the FCC to have an auction for the last remaining
license to provide DBS. Analysts estimate the license could
bring in as much as $300M. MCI would then join DirecTV,
Primestar and USSB in DBS business (WASHINGTON POST, 9/26)....CBS
is expected to renew its U.S. Open contract with the rights fee
averaging $30M a year (Rudy Martzke, USA TODAY, 9/26).... WGN
will use its home page on the World Wide Web for another
"webcast" of a Cubs game Thursday at 1pm CDT. Address:
http://www. wgntv.com (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/26).
