The head of CBC-TV Sports "doesn't expect the departure
of Blue Jays President Paul Beeston to hamper negotiations
on an extension of the team's television deal," according to
Josh Rubin of the TORONTO STAR. Rubin writes that neither
CBC-TV Sports' Alan Clark "nor the Jays are in any mood for
a repeat of the last-minute chaos which marked negotiations
for the team's current one-year deal, and would like to put
together a long-term package." Clark said Beeston "indicated
it's one of the things he'd like to clear up" before August
1 when he becomes MLB President/COO (TORONTO STAR, 7/25).
RADIO WAVES: The STAR's Rubin reports that negotiations
for the Jays' radio rights "might finally be starting to
move," as rights holder Telemedia "apparently made an offer
which would pay substantially below the current deal's" C$3-
4M a year. But Rubin writes that the Jays "have started
listening to other offers." Terry O'Donovan, a spokesperson
for B.C.-based Western Int'l Communications, "confirmed his
company has had preliminary discussions" with the Jays.
Jays spokesperson Howard Starkman said that the Jays expect
"to take a bit of a hit when it comes to replacing the
current deal" (TORONTO STAR, 7/25).
NORTH OF THE BORDER NOTES: The CBC has sold "major"
sponsorships for the Nagano Winter Olympics to GM, Royal
Bank, Air Canada, Stentor/Bell Quebec, Coca-Cola, Labatt,
Subway, Tim Horton's, Visa, Imperial Oil, Disney and Century
21 (TORONTO GLOBE & MAIL, 7/25)....In Toronto, William
Houston reports that TSN will launch a daily magazine show
in September. TSN VP/Programming Keith Pelley said that the
live show "will consist of interviews and involve issues of
the day" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 7/25).
