In L.A., Larry Stewart wrote that NFL Films' upcoming
Lifetime special, "A Woman's Touch in the NFL: Tackling Pro
Football," premiering Friday at 7:00pm, is "wonderfully
produced," and while it is meant to appeal to women, it
"will also appeal to men" (L.A. TIMES, 1/20)....At an
appearance before the Cleveland Advertising Association, NBC
Sports Senior VP/Programming Jon Miller acknowledged that
"it's been a very challenging time" for NBC Sports with the
loss of the NFL and the NBA lockout. But the network has
recently purchased two Le Mans races and "hopes that viewers
will find Indy-style racing as attractive as NASCAR." In
Akron, David Adams indirectly quoted Miller as saying that
soccer and boxing "likely will not become mainstream
programming," as "they just don't have widespread appeal"
(AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 1/21)...."Olympic Glory," a
documentary film on the '98 Olympic Winter Games, produced
by MEGAsystems and the IOC, premieres tonight at NYC's Sony
IMAX theatre. Picabo Street and other athletes are expected
to attend the screening. The film is presented by Olympic
sponsor Home Depot (MEGAsystems)....ESQUIRE's Scott Raab
profiles ESPN's Dan Patrick. Asked about his salary,
Patrick said, "There's no kick in seeing your salary in the
paper or telling everybody how much you make. You either
like me or you don't. If you appreciate what I do, if you
give me respect, then you've given me everything you can
possibly give me." Patrick, comparing ESPN to Fox Sports
Net: "It's all about depth. We may not have any true stars,
but everybody knows their role" (ESQUIRE, 2/98 issue).
WATCH DIRECTV: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Andy Pasztor
reports that DirecTV, continuing its "robust" quarter growth
with 460,000 new subscribers, posted an operating loss of
$94.5M compared to last year's $95.9M. The company's
overall revenue rose 6% from $1.69B to $1.79B (WALL STREET
JOURNAL, 1/21). The N.Y. TIMES reports that DirecTV is "in
talks to acquire" Primestar (N.Y. TIMES, 1/21).
