TV MONITOR: Last night's 11:00pm ET edition of CNN/SI's
"Sports Tonight" led with Univ. of Miami/OH St. football
game, and followed with an update of the Braves-Cardinals.
The 11:00pm ET edition of FSN's "Primetime" (Fox Sports Net
South) led with Marlins-Astros, followed by Reds-Expos. The
11:00pm ET edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter," which started
at about 11:38pm due to "Sunday Night Baseball," led with
Braves-Cardinals and followed with Mets-D'Backs. The first
non-MLB story on "Primetime," at 9:18 into the broadcast,
was Tiger Woods' win at the NEC Invitational. The first
non-MLB story on "SportsCenter" was Univ. of Miami/OH St.
game at 9:45 into the broadcast (THE DAILY).
GOING LOCAL: FSN Exec VP/Programming Arthur Smith, on
inserting regional news breaks into its nightly two-hour Fox
Sports News broadcast: "We'll be able to hyper-localize --
give you an extra sound bite or two from your home-team
coach and some extra scores that you wouldn't give to the
whole ... time zone" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/30).
WRITE AND WRONG? In AZ, Jim Gintonio reported that
after FSN's Keith Olbermann signed his name and Fox Sports
affiliation in a Letter-to-the-Editor to the L.A. Times, an
"edict" soon followed from Fox Sports Senior VP/Media
Relations Vince Wladika. Wladika said that the "next time
Olbermann" writes a Letter-to-the-Editor, "it will be as a
member of the general public." Wladika: "He is welcome to
give his opinion and sign it as Keith Olbermann, private
citizen, but signing it Fox Sports was a mistake. ... It's
water under the bridge and won't happen again" (ARIZONA
REPUBLIC, 8/29). Olbermann criticized L.A. Times media
columnist Larry Stewart for his column on local L.A.
sportscaster Claudia Trejos (THE DAILY).
MORE NOTES: ABC Sports President Howard Katz "insisted"
that his decision not to replace "MNF" announcer Dan
Dierdorf "wasn't prompted by saving money." But Katz did
admit: "I'd be less than candid if I didn't say I'm very
conscious of the expense of running a network sports
department" (BOSTON HERALD, 8/29)....In Denver, Sam Adams
reported that John Elway will not join HBO's "Inside the
NFL" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 8/29)....In Portland, Justin Kerr
profiled Jim Rome and wrote that "sports professionals seem
to let down their guard when they talk" to him. WFAN Sports
Dir Dave Shore: "They trust him and see a hip connection
with him" (OREGONIAN, 8/27)....NFL "investigators mixed in"
with Jaguars fans at "some Jacksonville sports bars" last
Thursday, looking for local businesses "violating the
television blackout imposed by the league." NFL Senior
Manager of Corporate Communications Brian McCarthy said that
the league "is considering whether to sue businesses that
caught a satellite signal of" the Chiefs-Jaguars exhibition
game and "illegally showed it" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 8/27).
