TV MONITOR: Last night's 11:00pm ET edition of CNN/SI's
"Sports Tonight" led with Raptors-Suns, followed by Blazers-
Cavs. The first non-NBA story on "Sports Tonight," at 6:34
into the broadcast, was the altercation between Raiders
players and Broncos fans after Monday night's game. The
first NHL story, at 26:12, was Maple Leafs-Penguins, the
only game on last night's NHL schedule completed at the
time. The 11:00pm ET edition of FSN's "Primetime" led with
Blazers-Cavs, followed by Mavericks-Rockets. The first non-
NBA story, at 6:37, was footage of a home video of Chargers
QB Ryan Leaf's participation in a recreational football game
Saturday in CA. The first NHL story was the City Council of
Branford, Ontario, voting unanimously to make the house in
which Wayne Gretzky grew up a national historic landmark.
ESPN's "SportsCenter," which aired at about 12:00am due to
NCAA basketball, led with Blazers-Cavs, followed by Heat-
Hawks. The first non-NBA story, at 7:24, was the NCAA
basketball Maui Invitational. The first NHL story, at
11:43, was Maple Leafs-Penguins (THE DAILY).
NASCAR'S CONTROL: Mike Pride, the Editor of the Concord
(NH) Monitor, contributes a piece in BRILL'S CONTENT
detailing NASCAR's efforts to manage the news and footage
from its races, specifically race weekend at the New
Hampshire Int'l Speedway in Loudon. NASCAR is "an expert in
controlling how the public sees its product. ... What is not
in NASCAR's interest is close-up views of the human toll
auto racing can take" (BRILL'S CONTENT, 12/99 issue).
OTHER NOTES: USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke: "Boomer
Esiason's analysis has improved but ace play-by-play man Al
Michaels shouldn't have to fill in player names Esiason
doesn't know" (USA TODAY, 11/24)....In N.Y., Bill Carter
equates the boost ABC is receiving during sweeps from "Who
Wants To Be A Millionaire?" to the "phenomenon" of the
Winter Olympic broadcasts during February '98. CBS averaged
a 16.3 Nielsen rating for its 17 nights of Nagano coverage,
while ABC is averaging a 14.6 for 16 nights of
"Millionaire." But Carter notes ABC's inability to retain
many of "Millionaire"'s viewership for its other
programming, which is "another similarity between
'Millionaire' and the Nagano Olympics. Nothing much else on
CBS benefited from the Olympic's coattails" (N.Y. TIMES,
11/24). DAILY VARIETY's Tom Bierbaum writes that "despite
its powerful 'Millionaire' lead-in," ABC's Raiders-Broncos
"MNF" 13.0/22 national rating "failed to impress" (DAILY
VARIETY, 11/24). ABC's "MNF" is now even with its average
rating of a year ago at this time (THE DAILY).
