TV MONITOR: Last night's 11:00pm ET edition of FSN's
"Primetime" (Fox Sports Net South), CNN/SI's "Sports
Tonight" and ESPN's 11:30pm ET edition of "SportsCenter" led
with a report on the tragic plane crash involving Payne
Stewart and Robert Fraley. "Primetime" followed with an
update on the injury to Dolphins QB Dan Marino at 4:17 into
the broadcast and had an in-progress score update on Game
Three of the Braves-Yankees World Series at 7:20. "Sports
Tonight" followed with an update on 49ers QB Steve Young's
concussion at 5:00 and had an in-progress score update on
Braves-Yankees at 9:07. "SportsCenter" followed with
Flames-Thrashers at 3:18 and had a score update on Braves-
Yankees at 11:47, as soon as the game concluded (THE DAILY).
THE REAL MCBEAL: Fox's season premiere of "Ally McBeal"
earned a 9.1/21 Nielsen rating among adults 18-49, up 10%
over last year's season premiere and "good enough to win the
hour over 'Monday Night Football' for just the fourth time
ever." ABC's "MNF," featuring the Falcons-Steelers, earned
a 12.5/21 rating, down 14% from last year's Jets-Patriots
game. In adults 18-49, the game earned a 7.7/21.
Meanwhile, Showtime's broadcast of Saturday's Mike Tyson-
Orlin Norris fight "catapulted Showtime to a knockout 10.5
rating in pay TV homes -- Showtime's highest-rated program
of the year" (DAILY VARIETY, 10/27). The fight averaged 3.2
million viewers, up 335% from Showtime's usual rating for
its Saturday night boxing events (WASHINGTON POST, 10/27).
NBC READY TO MOVE: USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke writes that
NBC Sports Chair Dick Ebersol and officials of other
networks "were involved in meetings with NASCAR negotiators
Tuesday." Meetings will be held November 7-8, with rights
fees "likely tripling to about $300 million a year."
Martzke: "This could be the start of a huge month for NBC,
which could wind up with half of the NASCAR package, renew
Wimbledon and possibly announce the launch of its summer
football league with Turner beginning in 2001." Martzke
adds that Fox "wants to buy the entire" NASCAR package, but
NASCAR "probably will have two packages," with CBS/TNN and
NBC/Turner the favorites (USA TODAY, 10/27).
ON THE WEB: In L.A., Helene Elliott reviewed the NHL's
official Web site, www.NHL.com, and called it "informative
and entertaining, and it will keep serious and casual fans
online for hours" (L.A. TIMES, 10/27)....In Toronto, Ann
Perry profiles SportsTrading.com Founders Sumit Arora and
Mark Pullen, whose site "will soon" allow "avid sports fans
... to diversify their stock portfolios with shares in
athletic greats like Mats Sundin, Doug Flutie and Mark
McGwire." Users can buy and sell "shares" with play money
on a "simulated sports stock market." The site so far has a
start-up cost of C$350,000 (TORONTO STAR, 10/27).
