SI Presents latest publication, The Boston Collection,
     has a print run of 475,000, according to MEDIA CENTRAL.  Of
     those, 175,000 are for newsstand sales, which launched
     yesterday; 200,000 are to be distributed via local Ford
     dealerships, as Ford divided ad pages in the 160-page issue
     between its national and New England Ford divisions; about
     70,000 copies will be passed out at Sunday's Bills-Patriots
     game at Foxboro; 20,000 will be mailed to "longtime" Boston-
     area SI subscribers; and the rest will be for sale at the
     Boston Sports Museum and the Basketball Hall of Fame in
     Springfield, MA (MEDIA CENTRAL, 10/6).

          RATINGS: The Bucs-Packers game was "the most-watched
     telecast for Tampa Bay" during Fox's four years of NFL
     broadcasts.  The game drew a 32 overnight rating with a 62
     share in the Tampa market, and had a national overnight
     rating of 15.4.  The Bucs-Packers game was seen in 23 of the
     38 overnight markets (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 10/7)....The
     Oilers-Seahawks game drew a 14.7/26 in Houston, a 7.7 in
     Memphis and 11.4 in Nashville (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/7).
          OTHER NOTES: In Philadelphia, Mike Bruton writes on
     Comcast SportsNet's first week of broadcasting under the
     header, "So Far, So Good On New Cable Network."  Bruton:
     "[I]t's clear that live programming is the cornerstone of
     the new 24-hour regional sports cable network" (PHILADELPHIA
     INQUIRER, 10/7)....Fox Sports Net (FSN) Exec VP/Programming
     & Production Arthur Smith said that he "expects" FSN to be
     on SportsChannel NY's cable spot "between" November 1 and
     the end of the year.  FSN hired "Inside Edition" Senior
     Producer Brian Walls as its N.Y. Bureau Chief (NEWSDAY,
     10/7)....The Lakers have added a Chinese broadcast outlet
     this season, with selected games on KAZN-AM (L.A. TIMES,
     10/6)....Final CBC ratings for the Blue Jays games were up 
     "slightly" from '96, with the average of 537,000 for 35
     games this year, up from 526,000 in '96 (GLOBE & MAIL, 10/3)

          A source "close to the camp" of ex-CBS golf announcer
     Ben Wright told GOLFWORLD that Wright is in talks "to join
     the golf broadcast team of another network."  Wright was let
     go by CBS at the beginning of '96 following remarks about
     lesbianism on the LPGA Tour.  The source adds to, "Watch for
     an announcement before Thanksgiving" (GOLFWORLD, 10/3).
          COURTING KORNHEISER? In N.Y., Keith Kelly writes that
     Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser "is the latest to
     turn up in [Disney's] sights" for its ESPN Magazine.  Kelly:
     "Under a deal that is being bandied about, Kornheiser would
     contribute 20 columns a year."  Kelly writes that Disney is
     offering Kornheiser a daily radio show on ESPN Radio, as "an
     incentive."  Kornheiser: "We're certainly talking, but it's
     not done yet" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/7). 
          CHECKETTS TALKS: MSG President Dave Checketts, on the
     possibility of Marv Albert ever returning to MSG Network:
     "I'm going to leave that door open.  I don't want to
     speculate on what his future is with us."  Checketts, on the
     effect the Albert trial may have had on MSG's reputation:
     "When I started to see, during testimony, talk about phone
     calls from the Garden and invitations to a party with
     Patrick Ewing and the Knicks, it is fair to say that I was
     upset. ... I was very upset to have those things we value so
     highly, and work so hard to keep above reproach ... dragged
     through that trial" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/7).

          Johnson & Johnson "struck a deal" with Microsoft for
     its Motrin brand to be the "exclusive sponsor" on MSNBC's
     official World Series site at http://www.mlbworldseries.com,
     according to AD AGE.  The deal includes "sponsored by"
     branding on the site's front page (AD AGE, 10/6).  But
     BRANDWEEK's Terry Lefton reports that since Motrin "chose to
     buy time" on Fox's postseason MLB coverage rather than
     NBC's, "you'll hear no mention of [Motrin's sponsorship] on
     any NBC post-season baseball broadcasts, even those touting
     the site itself."  Lefton adds that the site runs through
     the postseason, after which MLB's official site at
     http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com "will shift" from a Fox
     interactive unit to Starwave (BRANDWEEK, 10/6 issue).

          Last night's Game Five of the Yankees-Indians series
     earned an 11.6/18 overnight rating on Fox.  ABC's "MNF"
     Patriots-Broncos game earned a 15.2/23 (THE DAILY).  
          OTHER NUMBERS: Fox's Sunday night coverage of Game Four
     of the Yankees-Indians series scored a 9.3/15 in overnight
     metered markets, according to Lisa de Moraes of the
     HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.  The broadcast "was on par" with the
     9.4/16 it posted in '96.  In the preliminary nationals,
     Fox's coverage won the 7:00-10:00pm hour in "key male demos"
     including 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, though it finished fourth
     in homes overall (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/7).  In Cleveland,
     Saturday's Yankees-Indians telecast on WKYC-NBC earned a
     29.3, while Sunday's game on WJW-Fox drew a 36 (AKRON BEACON
     JOURNAL, 10/7).  In Baltimore, the combined local rating for
     Game Four of the Mariners-Orioles totaled 31.4/56 share
     (Baltimore SUN, 10/7).  The Marlins-Giants series "drew the
     Marlins' three largest TV audiences ever," topped by the
     22.7 rating for Friday's final game.  Combined local and
     ESPN coverage for Tuesday and Wednesday games earned a 14.2
     and 18.9, respectively, which the HERALD's Barry Jackson
     writes is "impressive considering the games were played on
     weekday afternoons" (MIAMI HERALD, 10/7).
          MORE ON MLB: An MLB source said that MLBUA Exec Dir
     Richie Phillips "protested" to MLB's league presidents about
     the use of Fox's "Catcher Cam," according to Bob Raissman of
     the N.Y. DAILY NEWS.  The MLB source said that Phillips and
     the umpires "resented any use of the camera, because it was
     designed to reflect negatively on their calls," and warned
     that "the umpires would not work any game where the Catcher
     Cam was used" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/7)....In Akron, TV critic
     R.D. Heldenfels writes that ESPN's playoff coverage
     "provides the best balance of old and new in its game
     telecasts," while NBC "looks downright stodgy."  Heldenfels:
     "Fox is noisy when it should be contemplative, revved up
     when it should be thoughtful."  But while ESPN "incorporates
     new techniques ... [it] "has not forgotten the
     traditionalists (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 10/7).