TV MONITOR: Last night's 11:00pm ET edition of CNN/SI's
"Sports Tonight" led with an update on Game Five of the
Yankees-Red Sox, followed by the Saints fining head coach
Mike Ditka for making obscene gestures at the Superdome on
Sunday and Ditka's apology and then an update on the injury
to Dolphins QB Dan Marino. FSN's "Primetime" (Fox Sports
Net NY) led with a report on the Mets-Braves NLCS, followed
by Marino and then the broken finger of Cardinals QB Jake
Plummer. ESPN's "SportsCenter," which aired at 11:30pm ET,
led with Islanders-Canadiens, followed by Rockets-Hornets
and Hawks-Heat NBA preseason games (THE DAILY).
IBM TO SPONSOR OLYMPIC SITE: BRANDWEEK's Terry Lefton
reports that IBM has signed as a sponsor of the joint
NBC/Quokka Olympic Web site (BRANDWEEK, 10/18 issue).
LOCAL MLB RATINGS: In Houston, David Barron reported
that the Astros-Braves NLDS had an average combined rating
on ESPN and KNWS of a 11.6/25. Last year's playoff games
averaged a 14.2, but that included a 21.4 rating on KRIV for
the "lone prime-time game" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/18)....In
Baltimore, Milton Kent reported that the 64 Orioles games on
WJZ-CBS and WNUV-WB averaged a 7.5/15 rating, down 12% from
last year's 8.5/17. HTS' 90-game Orioles package averaged a
4.5, down 17% from last year's 5.4 (Baltimore SUN, 10/15).
NOTES: A new 66-page Canadian-based magazine, Hockey
Forum, is set to debut next week. Publisher Trevor Hill:
"This is very much a grassroots magazine. We're going to
cover everything from the NHL down to the minors, and we're
going to do it in a unique way. ... Eventually, I can see 10
or 15 editions across Canada" (OTTAWA CITIZEN, 10/17)....In
Hartford, Paul Rosano examined ESPN.com's "Insider" premium
service and wrote, "If you're looking for inside information
and insight with a more feature-oriented presentation,
you'll be happy. The stories are not necessarily breaking
news, but they are filled with highly informed, interpretive
writing" (HARTFORD COURANT, 10/17).
