Lucent Technologies and the ATP Tour will present the
first U.S. demonstration of LucentVision this weekend at the
Newsweek Champions Cup at Indian Wells, CA. The technology
allows players' on-court movements, speeds and court
strategies to be illustrated on-air. The graphics can also
be seen after each match at www.atptour.com (ATP Tour).
...USA TODAY's Christine Brennan profiles former Georgetown
basketball coach John Thompson's new role as host of a radio
show on WTEM-DC after his contentious relationship with the
media over the years. Thompson, on air: "I put on a press
media badge just out of spite. I played you jokers like a
piano." Washington Post sports writer Leonard Shapiro, who
finds Thompson's "schtick bothersome": "A lot of good people
covered his team and I think we treated him very fairly. I
wish he'd tone it down" (USA TODAY, 3/11)....KTLA-WB's
telecast of Kevin Brown's spring training debut with the
Dodgers drew a 3.7/10 local L.A. rating. In comparison, the
Dodgers' first spring game last year drew a 2.1/6 (USA
TODAY, 3/11)....The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee passed
legislation that sets conditions "under which viewers who
get their TV via satellite can watch network programs," in
an effort to "relieve" satellite customers who have lost
network programming (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 3/11).
SMART STUFF: An AMERICAN DEMOGRAPHICS Cover Story
examines the lure of sports to TV networks and their value
in attracting male viewers. SRI's SMART research showed
that 21% of men ages 18-49 watch sports, while 13% of all
viewers watch sports on TV. Also, 75% of the same group of
men kept their "eyes on" the TV screen three-quarters of the
time they watch sports programming versus 65% for all other
types of programming (AMERICAN DEMOGRAPHICS, 3/98 issue).
