Although fX covered the World Cup of Hockey, tournament Exec
Dir Susie Mathieu said there "was hope" that Game 3 in Montreal
would be shown by the Fox network, according to Richard Sandomir
of the N.Y. TIMES. Mathieu: "There was hope, but not commitment
that it would happen. It was talked about as a possibility."
Sandomir notes Fox could have taken "quick advantage of the
success of the tournament" and pre-empting Saturday's shows
"might have been a smart and sporting idea." Fox Spokesperson
Vince Wladika said by Game 3 "it was too late to pre-empt and pay
the costs. And we felt fX viewers should benefit from seeing all
the finals" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/17).
NBC ON-LINE: NBC is looking to create "a major sports site"
on the World Wide Web, according to AD AGE. One name mentioned
is SportsMachine. The Novo Media Group in San Francisco "had
been contacted about building a site with an extreme sports
theme" to rival ESPN2 (AD AGE, 9/16 issue).
NOT MOVING TO THE COUNTRY: CNN/SI placed sports bureaus in
Chicago, New York, Dallas and L.A. for their fledgling sports
network. Each bureau will be staffed by a reporter and producer
to cover and break news in the region (CNN/SI).
ONCE IN A LIFETIME: TCI's plans to drop the Lifetime TV
network on some basic cable systems will effect up to 300,000
subscribers, according to INSIDE MEDIA ONLINE. TCI subscribers
in effected areas have notified TCI with "formal letters of
protest" against the move to provide space for the Fox News
Channel. Lifetime has signed a deal to cover WNBA games starting
next season (INSIDE MEDIA, 9/17).