Among weekend TV sports ratings: In N.Y., Sunday's
Knicks-Heat Game Seven posted a 17.6/35. Overall, in 37
markets, the rating was a 10.6 (NEWSDAY, 5/20). In Miami,
the game earned a 21.7, besting the Heat's previous playoff
high this season of 13.0 (MIAMI HERALD, 5/20)....In
Baltimore, ABC's Preakness Stakes coverage earned a 14.1/33
on Saturday. Nationally, overnights of ABC's coverage, from
4:30-6:00pm ET, got a 5.3/13. The SUN's Milton Kent writes
that if the national numbers hold, it could be the highest
rated Preakness Stakes in five years (Baltimore SUN, 5/20).
...Overnights for ABC's telecast of the PGA Tour's GTE Byron
Nelson Classic on Sunday were up 158% from '96. Saturday's
third round was up 67% from '96 (USA TODAY, 5/20)....The New
England Sports Network (NESN) was awarded two Emmys at the
20th Annual New England Emmy Awards on Saturday. For the
third consecutive year, NESN won an Emmy for Outstanding
Sports Play-By-Play Coverage for its Red Sox broadcasts.
Also, "Front Row," NESN's nightly sports magazine, received
an Outstanding Sports Segment Emmy (NESN)....USA TODAY's
David Lieberman, on the failed Sky merger between News Corp.
and Echostar: "[Consumer activists] endorsed Sky as possibly
the last, best hope to find a powerful, national competitor
to cable. Now that Sky has fallen, cable looks invincible
in its core business -- selling TV programming via coaxial
and fiber-optic wires. And cable-controlled Primestar is
positioning itself to become a major power in the business
that posed the biggest threat to cable" (USA TODAY, 5/20).
