TV MONITOR: Last night's 11:00pm ET edition of ESPN's
"SportsCenter" led with Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de
France, followed by Indians-Yankees. CNN/SI's 11:00pm ET
"Sports Tonight" led with Armstrong, followed by MLB's Hall
of Fame induction. FSN's 11:00pm ET "Primetime" (Fox Sports
Net South) led with MLB's Hall of Fame induction and
followed with Dodgers-D'Backs. "Primetime" reported on
Armstrong 12 minutes into the broadcast (THE DAILY).
GO FISH: USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand reports on the
popularity of weekend outdoor shows among cable programmers,
and writes that ESPN rotates "about" 30 outdoor shows each
year, drawing "about" 1.7 million cable TV HHs to its four-
hour Saturday morning block. Meanwhile, ESPN2 draws "about"
800,000 to its Sunday morning block. TNN rotates "about" 20
different shows annually and its four-hour blocks on
Saturday and Sunday mornings each draw 2.1 million TV HHs.
TNN Programmer Brian Hughes says that "there are always
plenty of pitches" for new outdoor shows, as he gets "about
five a week." ESPN Programmer Gary Morgenstern says that he
also gets "five pitches a week" (USA TODAY, 7/26).
NOTES: In N.Y., Andrew Marchland writes the future of
sports on TV "is microwaved ... quick, easy and without much
taste," as made-for-TV events are "easy money, which is just
how us [Generation] Xers like it." Marchland: "So give us
the X Games, the Gravity Games and any other games we might
have vague interest in. Give it to us our way, right away
... It's where my generation likes it -- in the microwave,
losing its taste" (N.Y. POST, 7/26)....Fox Sports Net
President Jeff Shell, on FSN launching regional sports news
shows: "We told people not to do a cookie-cutter show, but
do what reflects the market. ... Our goal is to be the news
operation of record" (POST-GAZETTE, 7/26). Fox Sports Net
Ohio (FSNO) GM Steve Liverani said FSNO is "looking at a
second channel." Liverani: "We want to go beyond regional
and into local sports and news. We're looking into
interactive programming" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 7/25).
