CABLE: ESPN's '97 NASCAR Winston Cup ratings rose for
the sixth straight year, averaging a 4.3 for 14 races
(ESPN)....Classic Sports Network will be available in more
than 1,000,000 new homes in MediaOne's Western, Central and
Midwest regions of the U.S (CSN)....TNT will televise the
Women's Sports Foundation's 18th Annual Salute to Women in
Sports event by televising "Women & Sports ... Girls Can Do
Anything" on Tuesday, December 2 at 11:00pm ET (TNT)....
Boxer David Reid is about to "sign a long-term contract with
HBO" (Michael Katz, N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/26).
ONLINE: NHL.com relaunched its redesigned online store.
The site carries more than 1,000 items, and can be accessed
at nhl.com (NHL)....Russell Athletic launched its Web site
at www.russellathletic.com. Consumer information is the
primary purpose for the site, with other features including
a store locator and a contest section. Russell has no plans
to sell products directly over the Web (Russell Athletic).
...In Orange County, Barbara Kingsley writes on athlete-
based fan sites on the Web, noting that "[w]hile it's
difficult to provide a specific count, site monitors say fan
[Web sites] for sports stars number in the thousands and are
starting to challenge the all-pervasive Hollywood movie-fan
sites (Barbara Kingsley, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 11/26).
GENERAL: In L.A., Lisa Dillman reviews the December
issue of Conde Nast Sports For Women. Dillman: "This
publication was part Seventeen, Self, Sports Illustrated and
Cosmopolitan, an odd mixture of sass and flash and,
surprise, some thought-provoking material. ... This
publication may eventually be the answer, but the December
issue was not filled with solid, feature profiles" (L.A.
TIMES, 11/26)....In Pittsburgh, WTAE-AM is switching to an
all-sports format and on weekends, the station "might lean
heavily on ESPN Radio" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 11/26).
