Fox Sports Net, which "has considered purchasing New
     England Sports Network [NESN] as part of its national plans
     to control regional sports coverage," has been "scared away"
     from NESN due to the "unresolved legal dispute" between NESN
     and its former partners, according to Howard Manly of the
     BOSTON GLOBE.  NESN is jointly owned by the Red Sox, Bruins
     and UPN affil WSBK-38.  The Red Sox hold majority interest
     with 48%.  Manly writes that the partnership "turned ugly
     two years ago," when WSBK's owner filed suit charging that
     that the Red Sox and Bruins "had reneged on a longstanding
     agreement over how much the teams receive in cable rights
     fees from NESN."  Manly writes that while FSN "would
     consider purchasing NESN when its legal issues are cleared,"
     another "problem" could be that the Red Sox "might not agree
     to sell."  Red Sox VP/Broadcasting & Technology Jim Healey
     said that NESN "is not for sale" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/6).

          HOCKEY ON THE NET: "Hockey Night in Canada" has
     launched its Web site at www.hockey.cbc.ca.  The site
     includes NHL summaries and highlights; a Hotstove Lounge;
     and old CBC radio broadcasts "from the Original Six days"
     (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/3)....The Canadiens launched their official
     Web site at www.canadiens.com.  The site, designed by GE
     Capital's Technology Management Services Division, was
     launched on Christmas and "claims to have received 500,000
     page views in its first 90 minutes."  The site has separate
     English and French areas (GAZETTE, 12/28)....The Nashville
     Predators launched their Web site at Nash-nhl.com.  The site
     was designed by Nashville-based Athena Computer Learning
     Center, and can also be linked from NHL.com (Predators).
          NOTES: In DC, Harry Jaffe writes that Washington Post
     columnist Michael Wilbon "may leave the Post for big bucks
     at his hometown daily, the Chicago Tribune" (WASHINGTONIAN,
     1/98)....In a letter to shareholders, Disney Chair Michael
     Eisner addressed ABC's declining TV ratings.  In the letter,
     Eisner noted that ABC TV represented "only" 8% of total
     profits at Disney's ABC Inc.  Industry sources "suggested"
     that ESPN and ABC Radio "all added more to the company's
     bottom line than ABC TV (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 1/6)....ESPN
     ran promos for "The Tony Kornheiser Show," which debuted
     yesterday on ESPN Radio, during the early "SportsCenter."
     ESPN also promoed "Gamenight," which moved yesterday from
     weekend nights to seven nights a week (THE DAILY, 1/5).

          The Heat's recent TV deal with Silver King Broadcasting
     is examined by Steve McClellan in BROADCASTING & CABLE. 
     Silver King's WYHS-TV "will probably lose millions over the
     five-year deal, but station executives believe that the
     franchise will give them the huge promotional platform that
     will help the station gain a toehold in the market and will
     lead to success in the long term."  Sources say that the
     deal is worth $1.3M per, totalling $6.5M for preseason and
     regular season rights, but not playoff games, which the
     station will pay additional fees for.  The team will receive
     75% of the ad inventory, with WYHS retaining the rest.  The
     station will also produce all of the games it airs, at an
     additional cost of $800,000 per season.  One TV exec: "Look
     around the league; you will not see a rights deal with more
     favorable terms for an NBA franchise" (B&C, 1/5 issue). 

          NBC "plans to sell rights" to the first-day action of
     the 2000 and 2002 Presidents Cups to a cable net, according
     to sources of Langdon Brockinton of MEDIAWEEK.  Negotiations
     for day-one rights "will likely begin late this month or in
     early February."  NBC has rights to the 2000, 2002, 2004 and
     2006 Cups.  CBS, which will broadcast the '98 Cup this
     December, has "delivered sponsorship packages to the seven
     incumbent advertisers: GM, Callaway Golf, MasterCard,
     Acushnet, AT&T, Toyota and Mass Mutual."  Sources say that
     CBS' asking price for a one-fifth sponsorship is $1.15M. 
     Two of the five packages were split in '96 (MEDIAWEEK, 1/5).
          KEMPER'S TOP TEN: Brockinton adds that Chicago-based
     Kemper Funds signed with CBS and the Big Ten Conference to
     be the presenting sponsor of the first Big Ten men's
     basketball tournament this season.  Kemper's two-year deal
     gives it category-exclusivity for financial products on CBS'
     telecasts of the Big Ten Tournament.  CBS reps "declined to
     comment on the financial terms of the deal," but sources
     "estimated its value" in the $4-5M range (MEDIAWEEK, 1/5). 

          There was a combined 10% drop for Fox and NBC in
     overnight ratings for its four NFL divisional playoff games
     last weekend, and USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke writes that it
     "reflected the absence of the popular Cowboys."  Sunday's
     Bucs-Packers posted a 21.4 overnight -- down 25% from last
     year's 28.6 for Panthers-Cowboys.  NBC's Broncos-Chiefs
     Sunday game saw an 11% rise, earning a 25.0 overnight, up
     from last year's 22.6 for Steelers-Patriots.  Both games on
     Saturday saw a drop, with NBC's Patriots-Steelers falling
     13% to 17.8 and Fox's Vikings-49ers falling 12% to 20.2 (USA
     TODAY, 1/6).  In Houston, David Barron notes that the
     Divisional Playoff ratings drop follows a 5% drop for the
     Wild Card games (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 1/6).  
          CT LOVES ITS HOOPS: In N.Y., Harvey Araton notes in his
     column on women's college basketball that Saturday's
     Tennessee-UConn game outrated the Vikings-49ers game by 4%
     in the Hartford, CT, market (N.Y. TIMES, 1/6).
          THE BEST OF THE BEST: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir looks
     at the NFL broadcast teams for both Fox and NBC.  Sandomir:
     "Fox's John Madden still reigns supreme. ... NBC's threesome
     of Dick Enberg, Phil Simms and Paul Maguire, which will
     continue its act through the Super Bowl, is a rather smooth-
     running democracy.  Fox's team is more of a benevolent
     dictatorship, orchestrated by the hyperkinetic Madden, with
     help from the very low-key Pat Summerall" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/6).
          COMING HOME? Sources say that CBS "is expected to tell
     the NFL this week or next what it is willing to pay for
     various TV packages, most likely the AFC package ... and the
     Monday night package," according to BROADCASTING & CABLE.  A
     source adds that once CBS reveals its offer, "deals will get
     done 'within a day or two.'"  Another source says that the
     NFL "wants this done by mid-January, and it will likely get
     done by then" (BROADCASTING & CABLE, 1/5 issue).