ABC Sports will produce and maintain an "official exclusive
commercial online area" dedicated to MLB throughout the remainder
of the season. The new site, located on ABC Online, a service of
America Online, will be launched by June 24. Offered will be
complete team information and statistics; box scores; league
press releases; a real-time baseball trivia game coordinated by
NTN Communications; chats with players and managers; and
multimedia audio, video and photo galleries (ABC)....The CBC was
forced to cancel coverage of the opening parade of the Calgary
Stampede after a deal with its sponsor, Chrysler Canada, fell
through. The CBC will cover the opening day if a sponsor pays
the $40,000 needed to produce the show (EDMONTON JOURNAL,
6/20)....The Indians and WKNR-AM have agreed on a contract
extension through '99 (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/19)....On the
same day the company announced plans to spin off its DBS unit,
TCI said it "divorced itself" from talks with News Corp. and MCI
about partnerships on DBS programming (THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER,
6/20)....News Corp. has reached a deal with New York City to
"keep and expand" its various operations, including a new 24-hour
news channel, in the city (N.Y. POST, 6/20)....The L.A. TIMES
examines the "digital TV rivalry" among Europe's media giants,
noting rumors that News Corp. might pull out of a deal with
Germany's Bertelsmann and France's Canal Plus to offer a digital
package in Germany (L.A. TIMES, 6/20).
