In an effort to expand its primetime viewing block for
live events, ESPN will move its 6:30pm ET "SportsCenter" to
6:00pm ET on weekdays beginning September 7. "Up Close"
will be moved to 5:30pm ET. Meanwhile, ESPN2 has added four
consecutive hour-long telecasts of the 2:00am ET
"SportsCenter" on Saturdays beginning at 6:00am ET, and two
hour-long episodes on Sundays beginning at 7:00am ET (ESPN).
MORE FROM BRISTOL: ESPN will use SporTVision's "1st and
Ten" virtual marker during its coverage of college football
games this fall (ESPN)....DAILY VARIETY's Cynthia Littleton
reported that among last season's top five basic cable nets
in "the upscale demo of adults 18-49 in homes with annual
incomes of $75,000-plus, only ESPN and Discovery -- webs
that don't bank on wrestling -- could boast skews toward
that lucrative audience." ESPN had an average rating of
0.88, followed by USA (0.64), TNT (0.62), TBS (0.55) and
Discovery (0.45) in that demo (DAILY VARIETY, 8/23)....ESPN
President George Bodenheimer, on ESPN's legal dispute with
MLB over moving Sunday night games to ESPN2: "We want to be
in the [MLB] business. ... Unfortunately, it's disintegrated
into a courtroom situation. There will be plenty of
programming [if it's not resolved]" (Balt. SUN, 8/31).
Bodenheimer on talk that the NFL "will cut back on made-for-
ESPN events such as the pre-Pro Bowl touch football" game in
which an injury "likely cost" Patriots RB Robert Edwards his
career: "That was a horrendous and freak accident, but the
leagues can't have it all ways. They can't have (huge) fees
and not more product. We must generate more revenue for
these rights fees" (BOSTON HERALD, 8/31).
