ESPN has announced that over 70,000,000 fans have
participated in their "Football Phone-atic Sweepstakes" sponsored
by Visa -- aimed at increasing awareness for ESPN's Sunday Night
NFL Telecasts (ESPN)....DirecTV, which signed their one millionth
customer on November 2, is profiled in USA TODAY. It will be
another year before DirecTV breaks even, with Primestar "closing
in" and new challenges from MCI-News Corp (USA TODAY,
11/28)....The recent "noteworthy spate of new sports features and
documentary work" are reviewed by Richard Sandomir of the N.Y.
TIMES. Mentioned: CBS' "World Ride: The Possible Dream," HBO's
"Fields of Fire," and TBS' "Idols of the Game" (N.Y. TIMES,
11/28)....Ted Turner's exclusive interview with the WALL STREET
JOURNAL was noted in many media outlets. In Atlanta, Charles
Haddad calls it the "first of several publicity moves" to win
Wall Street support for TBS' merger with Time Warner (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 11/28). The N.Y. POST runs with the header
"Doomed? Time Rocked by Turner Interview." Tharp & Durie report
Turner "enraged" Time Warner execs "by apparently putting himself
in line to run the entire company" (N.Y. POST,
11/28).....Developers on the internet are examined by Dan Turner
of the L.A. BUSINESS JOURNAL. Santa Monica-based Baby Mogul
Interactive signed a deal in late October to create a site for
the Raiders, to be supported by the team and "by many of the same
advertisers that sponsor football games on television" (L.A.
BUSINESS JOURNAL, 11/20 issue)....Reach for cable networks as of
November '95: ESPN -- 67,248,000; ESPN2 -- 26,180,000; TNT --
65,713,000; TBS 67,029,000; and fX -- 24,029,000 (BROADCASTING &
CABLE, 11/27 issue)....A federal judge ruled yesterday that
bulletin board operators and major Internet access providers can
be held liable for copyright violations committed by one of their
users if they are aware the activity is taking place (L.A. TIMES,
11/28).
