BSKYB IN TALKS WITH CANAL PLUS: The WALL STREET
JOURNAL's Frank & Lippman report that Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB
is "in talks" with France's Canal Plus SA about a possible
merger. Such a merger "would create a programming- and pay-
TV behemoth that would dwarf all its competitors" and would
"help reduce costs" by giving the companies "greater
leverage in acquiring sports rights." Sources familiar with
the situation say talks "are preliminary and may not result
in a deal" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/23)....In Toronto,
Vanessa Lu reports that CBC technicians will not appear in
court until "later this week" to seek an appeal against
picketing the Air Canada Centre, setting up "another last-
minute confrontation" between the union and CBC for this
weekend's "HNIC" broadcasts (TORONTO STAR, 2/23).
BROTHERS IN ARMS? After debuting the feature on the
ESPN/Fox Sports rivalry on last night's "Real Sports,"
Bryant Gumbel asked story reporter Armen Keteyian, "How
sensitive were both sides to you even doing this story?"
Keteyian: "Well, they were very sensitive. Originally,
neither one wanted -- well David Hill wanted to do it, Steve
Bornstein in the past has really tried to stay above the
fray. And really right up until the last minute, where one
of them was talking to the other one, they're both good
friends. One was saying, 'Well, I'm only doing it because
you're doing it.' 'Well, I'm only doing it because you're
doing it.' And we said, 'Hey guys, you gave us your word,
you're both doing it.' And they both sat down" (HBO, 2/22).
OTHER NOTES: Marquee Tollin/Robbins, a division of The
Marquee Group, has finalized deals with both Warner Bros.
and Nickelodeon. The two-year deal with Warner Bros. is for
the development of primetime and kids shows. The
Nickelodeon deal calls for the renewal of the company's
three series currently on Nickelodeon, as well as the
development of a new series for the network (HOLLYWOOD
REPORTER, 2/23)....The L.A. TIMES featured a special report
on athletes and religion, and Chris Dufresne wrote that
reporters face "a judgment call when interviewing athletes
with religious agendas." L.A. Times Sports Editor Bill
Dwyre: "I think we think it doesn't belong. There may be
some sports editors in the Bible Belt that are looking for
that, but the likelihood here is ... that stuff is not going
to fly." NBC reporter Jim Gray: "Evander Holyfield is a
really courteous and gracious man, but you know he's going
to get in his message about his religious beliefs. ... It
just makes you uncomfortable" (L.A. TIMES, 2/21).
ON THE WEB TO SCORE: In Oakland, Tony Kuttner examined
the basketball content around the NBA, ESPN, CNN/SI, CBS
SportsLine and Fox Sports Web sites. Kuttner wrote that
NBA.com's "multimedia goodies almost make up for what it
lacks in getting the news across," but "unfortunately" the
league, "unlike" MLB, "still makes you pay to listen to
games online." ESPN.com broadcasts NBA games through
GameCast, and the score "was about a minute" behind the
action on the radio. CNNSI.com, with "just a 10- to 25-
second delay," was the "fastest site" for getting the game
score online. Kuttner: "For Fantasy team owners, CNNSI's
running boxscore is hard to beat." Kuttner recommended that
users "don't go to" FoxSports.com, as its scoreboard was
almost "five minutes behind" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 2/21).
