NEW LOOK OF THE SPORTING NEWS EXAMINED AS ESPN NEARS LAUNCH

          The re-branding of sports magazines with the impending
     arrival of ESPN Magazine is examined by Stuart Elliott of
     the N.Y. TIMES.  Noting the redesign of SI, Sport and
     editorial changes at Inside Sports, Elliott writes that "the
     most ambitious revamping is being undertaken" by The
     Sporting News (TSN).  TSN has introduced a consumer and
     trade ad campaign by NY-based Christy MacDougall Mitchell. 
     After it spent $500,000 on research, TSN concluded that it
     should remain a "niche publication" for readers known as
     "team loyalists: the true sports fans who want a deeper
     perspective."  The campaign, which features the tagline "See
     a different game," presents TSN as "the publication for the
     most ardent and knowledgeable fans of the so-called Big Six
     sports: baseball, basketball, football, hockey, college
     basketball and college football" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/2).