Super Bowl broadcasts over the Internet are examined by
     Stephen Wildstrom in BUSINESS WEEK.  Wildstrom writes that
     "technology still has a very long way to go."  He had
     trouble getting on IBM's home page at www.superbowl.com, the
     official site Super Bowl site, "which was supposed to offer
     such goodies as the opportunity to choose alternative camera
     shots and hear audio from the press box at Qualcomm
     Stadium," but "had apparently all but collapsed."  Wildstrom
     adds that content on the various Super Bowl sites "varied
     widely," calling NBC's "lame" and lagging "far behind" CBS
     SportsLine and ESPN SportsZone.  As the game wore on, the
     NFL's site worked faster, "but the multiple camera views
     turned out to be nothing more than postage-stamp-sized
     stills of the field and were hardly worth the trouble.  NBC
     was quick to offer different replay angles when they shed
     light on a play."  Wildstrom concludes that "there just
     isn't much for a Web site to add" (BUSINESS WEEK, 2/9).

          ABC's Al Michaels and Dan Dierdorf paid tribute to
     Frank Gifford during halftime of the Pro Bowl last night,
     Gifford's final in-booth broadcast before moving to the
     "MNF" pregame show.  Gifford: "This is not a sad day or a
     down day in the Gifford house.  We have thought about this
     day for many years. ... The number that sticks out to me is
     600.  600 games, but that means 1200 airplanes, 100 hotels,
     100 different cities.  I've just about had it with that. ...
     I'm glad I'm finally off the road" ("Pro Bowl," ABC, 2/1).

          LOS LOBOS: In Hartford, Jeff Goldberg criticized a new
     ESPN ad promoting its ESPY Awards which appears to make "a
     joke of sexual harassment in the workplace, an issue that is
     decidedly not funny."  In the ad, ESPY host Norm MacDonald
     and Rebecca Lobo are shown demonstrating basketball
     techniques when MacDonald embraces Lobo "and holds her for
     several seconds.  A clearly uncomfortable Lobo tells
     MacDonald: 'That's a foul.'  MacDonald replies sheepishly
     that he's allowed five of them."  Goldberg: "It's hard to
     imagine the same network that has helped build national
     interest in women's college basketball would promote its
     award show in such a manner.  It's equally surprising that
     Lobo ... allowed herself to be part of it."  In the ad, Lobo
     appears in her WNBA Liberty uniform (HART. COURANT, 1/30).
          HEARING ISIAH: NBC's Isiah Thomas noted a sign during
     the WNBA Finals that said, "Cynthia Cooper -- You are da
     man."  Thomas: "That was the highest compliment that she
     probably could ever be paid, because she transcends" ("NBA
     on NBC," 2/1).  In Chicago, Michael Hirsley writes that
     Thomas "still has an annoying habit of laughing too long at
     his own attempts at humor," but that he "did impart some
     serious analysis Sunday" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/2). 
          NOTES: In Toronto, Rob Longley writes, "Much less
     intrusive than some of its other gimmicks, Fox's miking" of
     coaches Pat Burns and Colin Campbell during its NHL coverage
     Saturday "added something to the telecast" (TORONTO SUN,
     2/2)....In Chicago, Pat Sullivan wrote that the Tribune
     Co.'s decision to move some Cubs telecasts off WGN shows "a
     glaring lack of confidence" in the team (CHICAGO TRIBUNE,
     2/1)....In Montreal, Jack Todd: "[H]as there ever been a
     more wobbly Olympic Eve scandal than the pseudo-Sudafed
     scoop dreamed up by [SI]?"  Todd: "Is SI really that
     desperate to make an Olympic splash?" (GAZETTE, 2/2).
          

          ESPN was profiled by Mark Jurkowitz in the BOSTON GLOBE
     MAGAZINE under the header, "At The Top Of Their Game."  ESPN
     "is a media monster, reaching 73 million homes and
     headlining a sports empire that employs about 1,900 full-
     timers" and is worth an estimated $8B.  Jurkowitz wrote that
     ESPN's brand "represents the elements ... that go well
     beyond the playing field.  Humor.  Satire.  Hipness.  And a
     pop-culture acuity.  In a 500-channel world where every
     outlet must find an identity with which to cut through the
     clutter, ESPN has developed the winning intangible --
     'tude."  ESPN News Dir Vince Doria, on ESPN's humor in its
     ad campaigns and telecasts: "There are times when it works
     and times when it doesn't" (BOSTON GLOBE MAGAZINE, 2/1).
          BRAND IDENTITY: Jurkowitz adds that while women
     constitute "roughly" 30% of ESPN's audience demographic, "it
     is that mother-lode male demographic that is so attractive
     to advertisers: The average viewer is a 40.7-year-old man
     with a $45,634 household income, making him two years
     younger and a few grand wealthier than the average cable
     consumer" (Mark Jurkowitz, BOSTON GLOBE MAGAZINE, 2/1).

          For the "unabashed addicted golf-nut," The Golf Channel
     (TGC) is "nothing less than 'must-see TV' -- sort of what C-
     Span is for the political junkie," according to Joe Logan in
     the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.  Entering its fourth year, TGC
     has expanded from a subscriber base of less than a million
     after the first year to 14 million today, and it is
     "projected" to reach 24 million homes worldwide by the end
     of '98.  TGC's "biggest obstacle" to date has been a limited
     production budget ($35M), but with the subscriber base
     increasing, and the production budget along with it, TGC "is
     salivating over the prospect of having money to bring all
     manner of ideas to reality: weekly magazine shows on women's
     golf, junior golf, college golf, and the various mini-tours. 
     Also being considered is a series on the game's governing
     bodies, such as the PGA and U.S. Golf Association and
     England's Royal & Ancient Golf Club.  A game show, sort of a
     Golf Jeopardy, is a possibility" (PHILA. INQUIRER, 2/1).