NBC President & CEO Bob Wright is featured in a Q&A
     with Saylor & Eller of the L.A. TIMES.  Wright said that NBC
     gave up its rights to the NFL because the economics of the
     deal "were so negative that it would foreclose us from doing
     other things that we thought were more meaningful.  We
     thought it would basically put us in a hammerlock."  Wright,
     on reports of a new football league involving GE and Time
     Warner: "We're still trying to do it.  We've got to balance
     the issues of anger over not having football with creating
     something that is attractive to us in a network sense, which
     means we have to be able to generate large enough audiences
     to make it worthwhile for our own television stations and
     our affiliates.  It can't be a hobby."  Wright said that the
     NFL deal will make it "impossible" for other networks "to
     make money. ... When Fox put football on, they guaranteed
     themselves they wouldn't make money" (L.A. TIMES, 5/6).
          SINGING FROM THE SAME HYMN SHEET: NBC Sports President
     Dick Ebersol, on a Hollywood Reporter report that ABC, Fox,
     CBS and ESPN could lose $150M-$200M per year on their NFL
     deals: "I would not be surprised to see those losses become
     much larger by the fall" (USA TODAY, 5/6).

          NCTA President Decker Anstrom urged cable companies "to
     hold prices down to keep the government from changing its
     mind about deregulation," according to the AP's Jeanine
     Aversa.  Anstrom made his remarks at the NCTA Show in
     Atlanta.  Most recent figures show that cable TV prices rose
     7.9% for the 12-month period ending March 31, a period
     during which overall inflation rose "just" 1.4%.  Anstrom:
     "There is not a speech I give or a meeting I have in which I
     don't say to the industry: 'Look, you need to be really,
     really careful about price increases.  We know there is a
     sensitivity there both with our customers as well as policy-
     makers."  Also in Atlanta, FCC Chair Bill Kennard "reminded"
     cable companies that his agency "has an obligation to
     protect consumers," and "urged" them to "show restraint"
     when considering rate increases (AP/PHIL. INQUIRER, 5/6).
          CONVENTION NOTES: TCI CEO John Malone told reporters
     yesterday that he "will refuse" to pass through the HDTV
     formats that CBS and NBC have selected.  Malone: "I'm not
     saying I can't technically carry it, but I'm not going to
     voluntarily do it.  It's not the wave of the future, it's a
     spectrum hog" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 5/6).  TCI "tried to
     soften" Malone's words later in the day, issuing a statement
     that its next "generation" of cable decoder boxes will be
     "capable of passing through" all HDTV formats.  But TCI
     "stopped short of guaranteeing it would pick up those
     signals" (USA TODAY, 5/6)....USA TODAY's David Lieberman
     examines Ted Turner's future in the cable TV industry:
     "Turner still has his passions, of course.  Yet it's hard to
     see them reflected in Time-Warner's business plans.  It's
     too risky to indulge in maverick ideas in a world of huge
     conglomerates where companies that compete in one business
     must co-exist as partners in another. ... Meanwhile,
     Turner's life-long dream of owning one of the broadcast
     networks is slipping away unfulfilled" (USA TODAY, 5/6)

          Lifetime TV has assembled an all-female team of sports
     TV talent to produce its '98 WNBA telecasts.  Lisa Seltzer,
     who has directed ABL games for Fox Sports Net and NHL games
     for ESPN, was named the broadcast Director.  Amy Rosenfield,
     a veteran of ESPN/ABC MLS coverage, was named Line Producer. 
     Denise Cavanaugh, who has overseen Lifetime's "Breaking
     Through" series, will serve as Sideline Producer.  Maureen
     Hassett, who came to Lifetime from NBA Entertainment, will
     serve as Halftime Producer.  The on-air team includes CBS's
     Michele Tafoya handling play-by-play, former UConn player
     Meghan Pattyson as analyst, Summer Sanders as sideline
     reporter and Maura Driscoll as halftime host.  Pacers G
     Reggie Miller is the only male on the broadcast team. 
     Lifetime's first of 10 regular-season games will air on June
     11 at 8:00pm ET with Rockers-Liberty (Lifetime Television).
          WNBA MEDIA NOTES: The Shock will have seven games on
     Fox Sports Detroit and one on WDWB-TV.  Pistons F Rick
     Mahorn will serve as a commentator (DETROIT NEWS, 5/5).
     ...MSG Network will team up with One-On-One Sports' WJWR-AM
     to broadcast 31 Liberty games this season (Liberty).

          The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Pope & Cauley examine the
     efforts of broadcast networks to convince advertisers to buy
     time on the networks, rather than on cable.  CBS has sent
     out a study which shows statistics "suggesting that cable
     viewership is higher than the national average in households
     earning less than $30,000 a year" (WALL STREET JOURNAL,
     5/6)....In Toronto, William Houston reports that the "most
     important" regional cable package in Canada is the Maple
     Leafs' rights, and that rights to the Leafs and Raptors
     could be sold as a package.   Houston: "Insiders predict TSN
     will outbid CTVSN for the Leafs and perhaps also the
     Raptors" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 5/6)....In his final column
     for the HOCKEY NEWS, Al Morganti thanks Editor-in-Chief
     Steve Dryden for "giving me a forum to express my views over
     the years."  Morganti: "As a conflict due to my expanded
     role with ESPN has arisen, I reflect back on how my decade-
     long association with THN has always enhanced my ability to
     gather news" (HOCKEY NEWS, 5/8 issue)....N.Y. media buyer
     Paul Schulman on ABC rebranding "Monday Night Football" to
     include the name ESPN: "[A]s a buyer, I don't think it will
     help in the NFL marketplace.  It takes away from it.  ESPN's
     name means a lot, but ABC's 'Monday Night Football' has
     already got a great name" (Rudy Martzke, USA TODAY, 5/6).

          With the '97-98 Whitbread Round The World Race nearing
     its conclusion, a "little Internet company named Quokka
     Sports has covered the race like never before," according to
     Michael Meyer of NEWSWEEK.  Meyer calls S.F.-based Quokka "a
     company to watch," as they implement plans to "digitize" a
     variety of sporting events "so they can be broadcast on the
     Internet in a new way to far larger audiences than ever
     before."  For the Whitbread, the competing boats "have
     essentially been turned into floating media labs," complete
     with laptops, digital video cameras, microphones and
     satellite telecommunications.  Boat crews are constantly
     submitting "whole libraries of data about themselves" which
     Quokka then posts at its Whitbread site, www.whitbread.org. 
     The site receives nearly a million visits a day, from 177
     countries.  Quokka President Alan Ramadan said the company
     will next launch an Internet Sailing Channel and that it
     "hopes to cover" the Tour de France as well as Formula One
     auto races next year.  A "fully wired" Everest ascent is
     "also in the works" (NEWSWEEK, 5/6 issue).

          ESPN Int'l and the NBA have reached a deal to air NBA
     basketball live on ESPN's international networks through
     2002.  Each year, ESPN Int'l will air 52 regular season
     games, the All-Star game, expanded first- and second-round
     playoff coverage and complete coverage of the Conference
     Finals and NBA Finals.  ESPN Int'l will also carry "NBA
     Action," the weekly 30-minute highlights program, the NBA
     Draft, NBA specials and other programs (ESPN International).