BRING ON ESPN EAST: DISNEY/TIME WARNER EYE YANKS TV RIGHTS

          Time Warner and Disney "are poised for a bidding war"
     with Cablevision for TV rights to Yankees games -- "a
     contest that could bring" Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner
     "up to" $800M, according to Grant & Cyphers of the N.Y.
     DAILY NEWS.  Cable industry sources said that Time Warner
     and Disney both "want the Yankee cable rights," which one
     "insider" called "the most important product in regional
     sports in the country."  Sources add that Time Warner and
     ESPN want the Yankees "to anchor" their own RSN -- "and will
     make a play for the rights if Cablevision and the Yankees
     don't come to an agreement during an exclusive negotiating
     period."  Grant & Cyphers write that ESPN "is interested in
     the Yankees as a linchpin" of an RSN that could challenge
     Fox Sports in the Northeast.  Another possibility is that
     the team could keeps the rights "and launch their own Yankee
     Channel."  Steinbrenner's current 12-year, $486M deal with
     MSG Network expires in 2000 (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/20).