A new TV event "is coming to the Senior PGA Tour later
this year," according to Langdon Brockinton of MEDIAWEEK. A
multi-year deal to create a match-play series which will air
on ESPN "is being hammered out" between the Tour and CT-
based Int'l Sports and Entertainment Strategies (ISES). The
event, called the Senior PGA Tour Match Play Championship,
would include the top 12 money winners on Tour and four
wild- card picks, and would air in 15 two-hour installments
on ESPN beginning in November, with the final match
scheduled to air January 3, 1999. ISES, a division of
Clarion Marketing and Communications, "has just begun
pitching packages to advertisers" (MEDIAWEEK, 3/16 issue).
NOTES: Mitsubishi "has decided not to return" as a
sponsorship partner of NBA broadcasts on NBC next season.
Manager of Media Relations and Interactive Marketing Traute
Winters said Mitsubishi "wanted more flexibility" with its
ad dollars, and that it "will probably look at some other
types of sports sponsorships"....NBC "has decided not to
televise AVP events" in '98, citing "declining ratings and
Miller Brewing's decision to drop out as title sponsor" of
its coverage as reasons for the move. NBC, which had
"tentative plans" to air three AVP events this year, instead
will air the U.S. National Swimming Championships, the Acura
Tennis Championship and a WNBA game. The net "does not rule
out" a possible AVP return in '99 (MEDIAWEEK, 3/16 issue).
