The Magic have inked a three-year deal with Orlando's
WDBO-AM to serve as its flagship radio station (Magic).
...Overnight ratings for ESPN's coverage of the NASCAR
Winston Cup DeVilbiss 400 on Sunday were a 4.3, up from a
4.1 in '96 (NASCAR)....With Fox's MLB ratings up 4%, to 2.9,
Fox Sports Exec Producer Ed Goren says, "We'll finish at
least at 3.0, hopefully at 3.2. That's better than some
prime-time nights for some networks. TV ratings aren't
going through the roof. Our biggest story is that we're up
21% in the 18-34-year-old demographic. That's the reason
baseball came to Fox" (USA TODAY, 8/20)....Fox Sports Net
will launch two NFL shows on Tuesday evenings. Ronnie Lott,
Thom Brennaman and Bill Mass will handle "Hard-Core
Football" at 8:00pm, after Tim Green and Ron Pitts host "NFL
Total Access" at 7:30pm (USA TODAY, 8/20)....Fox Sports
Pittsburgh will produce a live high sports program to cover
regional football action. "High School Extra," a 13-week
series, will run Fridays at midnight and debuts August 29
(Fox Sports Pittsburgh)....The Jaguars-49ers preseason game
drew a 7.7/14 on ABC's "Monday Night Football" (WASHINGTON
POST, 8/20)....ESPN2 has passed the 50 million U.S.
household mark, according to a Nielsen estimate (ESPN2).
...MTV VJ Kennedy will be a CBS Sports correspondent for the
'98 Nagano Olympics. Kennedy will cover snowboarding and
downhill skiing events (VARIETY, 8/24 issue).
