Ted Turner, on the cable industry fighting Rupert
Murdoch's planned satellite TV venture: "We're going to make
it as tough for him as we possibly can. Kind of like the
Russian army did with the German army" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS,
3/20)....ABC has signed a deal with BIG Entertainment that
will put the network's news, entertainment and sports
programming in BIG's shopping mall kiosks in 28 malls around
the U.S. (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 3/20)....Fox is eyeing a
possible fall series built around stock car racing called
"Steel Chariots." The drama concept is being proposed by
the creators of "Baywatch" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/20).
...SportsTicker announced a long-term agreement with Howe
Sportsdata Int'l to become the primary redistributor of
Howe's minor league sports information (SportsTicker).
...Colts Dir of Football Operations Bill Tobin was upset
about not receiving a preseason game on national TV. The
Colts are one of 11 teams not "given a marquee game on ABC,
NBC, Fox, ESPN or TNT." Tobin, noting the Colts have made
the playoffs the last two years: "You've got a team (Miami)
that won eight games and didn't make the playoffs last year,
but they've got three (national TV games). You've got a
team (Chicago) that hasn't been in the playoffs for two
years, but they've got two" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 3/20).
...USA TODAY's Melanie Wells notes a Competitive Media
Research report shows advertising spending in the U.S.
increased 11.4% to $66.7B, aided by the Summer Olympics.
Soft drink and computer categories were among the top
gainers in ad spending (USA TODAY, 3/20).
