USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke reports that Fox has
"indicated an interest in bidding" on the NFL's Sunday night
package, "which the NFL has said would remain on cable."
Fox also "has told the NFL it will bid a huge price, in the
$100 million-a-year range apiece, for four to five Super
Bowls in the new TV contract" (USA TODAY, 12/10)....The
Panthers-Cowboys "MNF" game earned a 39.6 overnight rating
in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 12/10).
....National Cable TV Association President Decker Anstrom
called last week for a regulation of the "soaring" costs of
sports programming: "You've got a sports marketplace that's
out of control" (ELECTRONIC MEDIA, 12/8)....ACTV plans to
launch a strictly digital interactive sports service with
Fox Sports Southwest and Fox Sports West in the first half
of '98. ACTV officials said a test with a select group of
MSOs will begin in January, followed by a first-quarter
rollout with Fox Sports Southwest (B&C, 12/8)....ESPN's
Classic Sports Network will soon be available as part of
MediaOne's expanded basic package in all of the MSO's nearly
one million homes in MA and NH (Classic Sports).
