CBS will air country singer Tanya Tucker's video for "Let's
Go Racing" during the opening of all NASCAR broadcasts, starting
with the Daytona 500 Sunday (Michael Hiestand, USA TODAY,
2/14)....The ESPY awards drew its best ever rating, a 3.1, but
Michael Hiestand notes that "running opposite" was the
Westminster Dog Show on USA Network, which drew a 3.9 (USA TODAY,
2/14)....News Corp. will launch their Web site, a "scaled down
version" of its online service, called I-Guide. No ads have been
sold, as News Corp. "intends to approach advertisers" once it
sees response. The address is http://www.iguide.com (USA TODAY,
2/14).... NetCount, an L.A.-based Web measurement company, cut
its prices yesterday "in what may be the start of a fare war with
chief competitor Internet Profiles Corp." NetCorp will now
charge a basic rate of $195 per month for reports on a small site
with up to 2,000 hits per day (AD AGE ONLINE, 2/14)....Shares in
SFX Broadcasting Inc. rose 9% yesterday to $31 after it agreed to
pay $105M for Prism Radio Partner LP, which owns 16 radio
stations. SFX now operates 51 stations in 16 states (NEWSDAY,
2/14)....The Ultimate In-Line Challenge Presented by Rollerblade
will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2 on a tape-delayed basis, not
live as reported Monday (THE DAILY)....Despite losing out for the
last satellite slot, TCI Chair John Malone still hopes to "become
a high-powered DBS player." Malone said TCI could get involved
with MCI/News Corp., which won the auction (ELECTRONIC MEDIA,
2/12 issue)....NBC is reportedly eyeing a business plan for a
rival to Nielsen Media Research. NBC Network President Neil
Braun has asked researcher SRI to "create a viable national
alternative to Nielsen, at a cost said to be more than $50
million" (VARIETY, 2/5 issue).
