In Indianapolis, Bill Koenig reported that Fox "has
made a bid" for IMS/IRL TV rights and CBS and its cable
network, TNN, also has "a proposal on the table." NBC "is a
latecomer to the Speedway broadcasting fray, having begun
talks about a month ago." But sources said that IMS "has
reservations about NBC," and "doubts about telecasting races
on either" MSNBC or CNBC (STAR-NEWS, 11/15)....USA TODAY's
Michael Hiestand writes that injured Giants CB Jason Sehorn,
who served as an ESPN NFL analyst yesterday, "was so smooth
Sunday he could probably step into a TV weatherman job" (USA
TODAY, 11/16)....ABC's Lesley Visser was profiled in the
N.Y. TIMES. ABC Sports Senior VP/Production Steve Anderson:
"She has excellent credibility, and the players and coaches
respect her. Having Lesley on the sideline is a great
luxury for us" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/15)....Columnist Norman Chad
noted that on last week's "MNF" telecast, Boomer Esiason
"used the expression 'you know' 54 times" (Mult.,
11/13)....The NFL "confirmed" that it is investigating a
tampering charge by the Patriots against Jets coach Bill
Parcells. The charge was first reported by CBS's Mike
Lombardi on "The NFL Today" (Mult., 11/16).
ON THE WEB: In looking at e-commerce on Disney's Web
site, Mary Huhn of the N.Y. POST reported that the "early
returns of ESPN.com ... show some surprises. For one,
people are buying more ESPN logo merchandise than expected.
Secondly, there's a high number of female buyers relative to
the number of women coming to the site" (N.Y. POST, 11/15).
....Holiday shoppers are expected to spend $2.3B online
during the '98 holiday season -- more than double the $1.1B
spent last year. But "only" 16% of online purchases during
this period are "gift-related, leaving a largely untapped
revenue stream" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 11/15)....Today's
WALL STREET JOURNAL technology section examines "how
technology might reshape" the movie, music and sports
industries by 2008. In sports, S.F.-based Quokka Sports and
its "total sports emersion" are profiled, along with the
technological contributions of N.Y.-based SporTVision
Systems (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/16). In Chicago, Ed
Sherman calls SporTVision's "1st and Ten" technology on ESPN
"the one gadget that works" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/16).
