REPORTS HAVE WIMBLEDON TV DECISION COMING BY YEAR'S END

          NBC and Turner Sports are "likely to come out on top"
     when Wimbledon's new TV-rights deals are announced,
     according to sources of Jennifer Allen of BRIDGE NEWS, who
     wrote that an announcement is "expected" by the end of the
     year.  Allen reported that NBC/Turner are vying for the
     rights against ABC/ESPN, while CBS and Fox are considered
     "unlikely partners."  Reports have NBC losing money on its
     previous Wimbledon deal, but NBC parent, GE, "uses the
     tournament as a marketing and hospitality event for overseas
     clients."  NBC and HBO's previous Wimbledon agreement is
     reported to have been worth $30M a year, and Allen added the
     event is "not likely to see" a dramatic increase in rights
     fees because "there are only 2 serious bidding parties and
     because of the reported network losses" (BRIDGE NEWS, 12/9). 
     The SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Langdon Brockinton reports that
     ABC/ESPN's bid includes a "mix of wall-to-wall weekday
     coverage on ESPN and ESPN2, together with weekend coverage
     on ABC" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/13 issue).