WILL MLB'S ALL-STAR CLASSIC STOP RATING SLIDE?

          Fox will broadcast MLB's 68th All-Star Game from Jacobs
     Field in Cleveland tonight starting at 8:00pm ET.  In its
     coverage, the network will debut the "Catcher-Cam," a
     lipstick-sized camera mounted on a catcher's mask.  The game
     will be called by play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, with Tim
     McCarver and Bob Brenly serving as analysts (Fox).
          LOOKING TO REBOUND: NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay writes that
     tonight's game "will provide a tangible sign of which
     direction -- and how strong -- baseball's winds are blowing
     since its damaging labor war."  Over the past two years,
     MLB's All-Star Game has seen its lowest ratings ever, a 13.9
     in '95 and a 13.2 last season.  Zipay: "There are no
     excuses: no competing sports on TV, not even a WNBA or Major
     League Soccer game. ... A 14 rating is the minimum that Fox
     Sports executives should expect" (NEWSDAY, 7/8).  In Dallas,
     Barry Horn notes that despite the lower ratings, tonight's
     game "should be the highest-rated sports program of the
     summer" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/8).   In Detroit, Steve
     Crowe wrote that a 13 rating for the All-Star Game "doesn't
     speak well for a TV event that once regularly received 20-
     something ratings" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 7/7).  For more on
     MLB's All-Star ratings history, see (#28). 
          SOMETHING NEW: The MLBPA and NY-based Think New Ideas,
     Inc. have debuted bigleaguers.com, the official site of the
     MLBPA.  The site links to personal web sites of over 700 MLB
     players (MLBPA).  BRANDWEEK notes the site debuts with no
     sponsors, but MLBPA Category Dir/Publishing & New Products
     Scott Barrett said that "a number of potential sponsors are
     interested in the site and should have a presence by
     season's end."  The MLBPA is the "exclusive broker for such
     deals."  BRANDWEEK's Bernhard Warner: "MLBPA is mulling the
     possibility of allowing brands such as Nike, which has deals
     with Ken Griffey Jr. and Kenny Lofton, to cut deals directly
     with the players' agents to sponsor contents or buy banner
     space on their sites" (BRANDWEEK, 7/7).
          AROUND THE HORN: In N.Y., Michael Starr writes that
     MLB's local ratings for the Mets and Yankees are up from '96
     (N.Y. POST, 7/8).  In Cleveland, David Adams wrote that
     local ratings for the Indians are "still strong, but are
     softening."  WUAB-TV's average "may drop to about 16" after
     ratings as high as 18 in '96 (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 7/6). 
     The Giants-Rockies game on Sunday drew an average rating of
     a 5.5, which was a record for SportsChannel Pacific. 
     SportsChannel ranked No. 1 in audience share during that
     time frame (SportsChannel Pacific)....In Toronto, Ken McKee
     writes that the Blue Jays are "headed for another, not
     unexpected, major league hit on broadcasting rights
     revenue."  Telemedia previously paid $3-4M annually for Blue
     Jays radio rights, but now "speculation is half, at most,
     more likely less" (TORONTO STAR, 7/4)....Primestar will
     sponsor the scorecard section of the All-Star Game program
     and will also be a sponsor of the Pinnacle All-Star FanFest
     National MLB Hall of Fame exhibit and the "This Week in
     Baseball All-Star Daily" show.  Primestar will offer its MLB
     "Extra Innings" out-of-market package for a discounted price
     of $99, down from $139 (Primestar).