TV MONITOR: Last night's 10:00pm ET 60-minute edition
of FSN's "National Sports Report" led with Expos-Mets,
followed by injury updates on Cardinals 1B Mark McGwire and
Rangers C Ivan Rodriguez. The first non-MLB report, at 7:26
into the broadcast, was news from Panthers training camp.
"NSR" had 6:31 of total NFL coverage. Last night's 11:00pm
ET 30-minute edition of CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight" led with
Twins-Red Sox, followed by an injury update on Rodriguez and
then Yankees-Orioles. The first non-MLB report, at 10:30,
was also from Panthers training camp. "Sports Tonight" had
1:19 of total NFL coverage. Last night's 11:00pm ET 60-
minute edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" led with Yankees-
Orioles, followed by Indians-Blue Jays and Twins-Red Sox.
The first non-MLB report, at 10:54, was from the Bears
training camp. "SportsCenter" had 18:03 of total NFL
coverage (THE DAILY).
WORLD CUP COVERAGE DOESN'T RUNNETH OVER: ESPN2's live
coverage of the July 16 U.S.-Guatemala men's World Cup
qualifying match earned a 0.55 cable rating, translating to
388,900 HHs. Meanwhile, ESPN2's live coverage of the July
23 U.S.-Costa Rica World Cup qualifying match earned a 0.51
cable rating, translating to 360,000 HHs (AP, 7/25).
LEGAL SNAG FOR HTS: In DC, Eric Fisher writes that
after Fox filed suit against Viacom over the sale of Home
Team Sports and Midwest Sports Channel to Comcast (see THE
DAILY, 7/25), HTS' ownership status "will likely remain
uncertain for months while the lawsuit" is litigated. But
the litigation may "prevent any major investments in either
programming or new technology" at HTS. Fisher writes that
Fox is "upset because it claims its all-cash offer of $250
million for HTS alone was spurned for the much-smaller bid"
of $150M from Viacom (WASHINGTON TIMES, 7/26).
SHANNON TO NBC? In Toronto, William Houston cites
sources as saying that former "HNIC" Exec Producer John
Shannon "has been approached by NBC and is a cinch to head
up the network's hockey coverage at the 2002 Olympics in
Salt Lake City" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 7/26).
NOTES: In DC, Lisa de Moraes reports that UPN will be
renamed Paramount Network starting January 1. de Moraes:
"Viacom's merger with CBS is expected to bring more changes
to UPN" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/26). But UPN President Dean
Valentine said that "there are no immediate plans to
repurpose NCAA early-round basketball coverage" on UPN
(ELECTRONIC MEDIA, 7/26)....CBS Sports President Sean
McManus told Rudy Martzke that MLB negotiators "have yet to
approach CBS" about bidding for the league's TV rights.
Martzke added that a doubling of NBC's $80M a year and Fox's
$115M annual deal "might be the limit" (USA TODAY, 7/26).
