Steve Wasserman, VP/GM of Houston's NBC affiliate,
KPRC, said that the station will start the season by showing
NFL Oilers games and "will continue to do so as long as
viewers dictate," according to David Barron of the HOUSTON
CHRONICLE. Wasserman: "This is virgin territory for us. We
don't know what will happen. ... If they start losing badly
or if viewers don't like them, we can switch and refigure
our approach to things" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/11).
OTHER NOTES: The Sabres will simulcast this year's
regular season schedule over WHTT-FM, the first time in team
history that the team's radio broadcasts can be heard on FM
(Sabres)....In San Francisco, Susan Slusser wrote that the
A's new TV deal with KRON and SportsChannel Pacific "is
believed" to be worth $10M a year, "right around the major-
league average and close to the A's previous TV contract."
The KRON deal is for two years through '99, while the
SportsChannel deal is for seven years (S.F. CHRONICLE, 8/9).
...MSG President Dave Checketts, asked about the possibility
of future Knicks games going to pay-per-view: "I don't think
Knicks-Bulls will be a pay-per view event (this year).
There are always going to have to be a certain amount of
games on basic cable. But my guess is the day will come
where the really hot games will be in premium packages"
(N.Y. POST, 8/10)....Ratings for the Tigers' first 27 games
on WKBD-TV average 4.8, up 14.3% over '96's 4.2 (Tigers).
