TSN's new venture, "That's Hockey," which replaces "Inside
Sports," debuts Monday, airing at 7:00pm (TORONTO STAR,
8/23)....TBS is considering eliminating between 500 and 1,000
jobs when it merges with Time Warner this fall. The cuts were
suggested in a preliminary report by a transition team and could
save the new company $100M and eliminate overlapping positions
(ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 8/23)....fX's "Baseball, Minnesota,"
premieres Sunday at 7:00pm EDT. USA TODAY's Matt Roush gives the
show three stars, calling it a "pleasant surprise." The L.A.
TIMES' Howard Rosenberg calls it a "down-to-earth look at
baseball" with "allure" (L.A. TIMES, 8/23). CABLE WORLD's Will
Workman calls its a "fine, fine piece of programming" (CABLE
WORLD, 8/19 issue).....NFL preseason ratings on the networks
dropped 23% from a 7.5 to a 5.8. TNT's games fell 8% to 5.1,
while ESPN's were down 5% to a 4.0 (USA TODAY, 8/23). ...NASCAR's
Winston Cup race at the Michigan International Speedway last
weekend did a 4.1 cable rating on ESPN. CART's IndyCar event at
Elkhart Lake, WI, did a 2.2 ESPN rating. On ABC, the IRL True
Value 200 in New Hampshire had a 1.6 rating (PHILA. DAILY NEWS,
8/23)....Mike Ditka will join "Pro Football Weekly," the half-
hour NFL preview show on SportsChannel on Friday's. Ditka is a
analyst on the "NFL on NBC," but added "I won't hold back
anything I know on Friday keep for the Sunday show" (CHICAGO
TRIBUNE, 8/23)....NBC's Sports VP Ed Markey wrote an apology
letter to Chinese groups in response to their criticism of Bob
Costas' comments on China's human rights record and other issues,
during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. The letter apologized
"for any resulting hurt feelings" (AP/N.Y. TIMES, 8/23)....Prime
Deportiva secured broadcast rights to NFL regular season games
for the '96-97 seasons. The deal also gives the network rights
to playoffs and both Super Bowls (INSIDE MEDIA ONLINE,
8/23)....The Jaguars World Wide Web Site at
http://www.jaguarsnfl.com received more than 265,000 hits in its
first two days of operation (Jaguars).
