TV: Davey Johnson is telling friends that he "has TV
offers from Fox and ESPN" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/15)....Pistons
post-game show host Matt Sheppard is the "front-runner" to
do play-by-play for the WNBA Shock this season (DETROIT
NEWS, 3/15)....Fox Sports New England (FSNE) named Derek Rae
and Seamus Malin as the broadcast team for its coverage of
the MLS Revolution this season. FSNE will carry 22 regular
season games and up to four playoff games (FSNE)....The
Mavs' win over the Bulls on Thursday drew a local rating of
5.2 (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/14)....The Coyotes have averaged
a 1.6 rating on 17 over-the-air broadcasts on KASW, and a
2.6 on four telecasts on KTVK, numbers which "mirror" last
year's figures (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/15).
RADIO: WFAN-NY named Howard David as play-by-play man
for Jets coverage next season, replacing Ian Eagle, who will
call AFC games for CBS (NEWSDAY, 3/14)....Sports Byline USA
(SBU) has merged with Prime Sports Radio (PSR), effective
today. SBU's eight hours of nightly broadcasts will become
part of PSR's overnight and weekend programming (SBU).
PUBLISHING: Larry Bird has chosen CNN/SI's Jackie
MacMullan as his co-writer on a book tentatively called
"Full Court Press" (N.Y. POST, 3/15)....SI's "Baseball '98"
preview issue hit newsstands last week. The magazine has 17
regional covers, but the content of each are the same
(SI)....In the first release of its publishing partnership
with NASCAR, HarperCollins released "NASCAR: The Thunder of
America," a celebration of the organization's 50th
anniversary. The 192-page book retails for $40 (NASCAR).
