FRANCHISES: The Eagles TV Network, the team's in-house
     production and programming arm, will be seen on stations
     throughout PA, inculding flagship WPHL-WB in Philadelphia;
     WPMT-Fox in Harrisburg, York and Lancaster and on WOLF-Fox
     in Wilkes-Scranton.  In addition, Philadelphia's WTXF-Fox
     has also partnered with ETN for one program.  The Eagles
     also named Rob Alberino, formerly of NFL Films, to serve as
     ETN's Exec Producer and named Rich Gentile as Associate
     Producer (Eagles)....CABLE WORLD's Mike Reynolds writes that
     "conversation about local TV carriage" for the Washington,
     DC, and Detroit WNBA teams has "already been tossed out." 
     Team execs say that they've already "begun informal ...
     conversations" with MD-based Home Team Sports and Fox Sports
     Detroit, respectively (CABLE WORLD, 10/20 issue).
          GENERAL: Golf commentator Mark Rolfing, with ABC the
     last five years, will return to NBC to replace Dave Marr,
     who died last month.  ABC has replaced Rolfing with Roger
     Twibell (USA TODAY, 10/23)...In N.Y., Mary Huhn reports that
     Variety will launch a N.Y. edition of its Daily Variety
     (N.Y. POST, 10/23)....Inside Sports Editor Ken Leiker, on
     MLB's popularity: "We did a baseball cover this summer and
     it might be the lowest-selling issue in the 18-year history
     of the magazine" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 10/23).

          AudioNet will provide live radio play-by-play coverage
     of 1,000-plus NHL games annually, as well as original pre-
     and post-game programming on NHL ICE.  AudioNet's game
     address: http://drew.audionet.com/sports/nhl/ (AudioNet).
          DO YOU KNOW THE WAY? The San Jose Arena Management
     Corp. launched its www.sj-arena.com.  The site, which is
     also accessible through the Sharks Web site, features eight
     segments: What's Coming; To Get Here; Inside Experience;
     Operations; FAQs; Group Tickets; Catering Orders; Shout! --
     an e-mail feedback area (S.J. Arena).
          FOR THE YOUNGSTERS: L.A.-based Athlete Network has
     launched  www.athletenetwork.com, to provide information for
     high school and college athletes, along with resources for
     parents, coaches and advisors.  Athlete Network contributors
     include former LSU basketball coach Dale Brown, Fox Sports'
     Ronnie Lott and WNBA commentator Ann Meyers Drysdale.  Areas
     of the site include: High School Network, Recruit Network
     and Parents Network (Athlete Network).
          GIRL TALK: Nike has introduced its "Play Like a Girl"
     area on nike.com.  Five girls, ages 11 to 17, will act as
     correspondents who share their view of sports.  Areas
     include "Sports Report," which is a weekly feature by one of
     the reporters, and "You're Up," an interactive feature where
     other girls can sign on and share their own stories (Nike).

          NBC's coverage of Game Four of the World Series between
     the Marlins and Indians earned a preliminary overnight
     rating of 15.9/25 (THE DAILY).  The national rating for Game
     Three was a 15.6/23, which "makes it the second-lowest
     rating" for a primetime Game Three World Series broadcast in
     MLB history, according to Josef Adalian of the N.Y. POST. 
     But Game Three did help NBC "easily win every" half-hour in
     primetime Tuesday (N.Y. POST, 10/23).  Only Game Three of
     the Blue Jays-Phillies '93 Series, with a 15.2/28, ranked
     lower than Tuesday's matchup (WASHINGTON POST, 10/23).  
          LOCALLY: In Ft. Lauderdale, David Beard writes that
     Game Three "was one of the most watched programs in the
     history" of South FL TV, earning a 41.5/63 (SUN-SENTINEL,
     10/23).  In NE Ohio, WKYC-NBC earned a 49.6 rating for Game
     Three (R.D. Heldenfels, AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 10/23).  
          NOTES: With Cuban-born Livan Hernandez starting tonight
     for the Marlins, the game will be broadcast to Cuba via U.S.
     Government-run Radio and TV Marti (SUN-SENTINEL, 10/23).
     ...Total Sports said its www.totalworldseries.com received
     over 2 million hits during Game Three (Total Sports).
          FINAL NUMBERS: CABLE WORLD's Alan Breznick reviewed
     MLB's '97 season with its national cable TV partners.  For
     the season, ESPN, FX and Fox Sports Net (FSN) "all reported
     more younger male viewers than expected."  ESPN, with 84
     games, averaged a 1.5 final rating, down 6% from its 1.6 in
     '96.  In its first year of MLB coverage, FX and FSN
     "averaged a combined 0.6 for their twice-weekly prime-time
     games."  FX ran games on Mondays, while FSN televised
     Thursday night games (CABLE WORLD, 10/20 issue).