TV MONITOR: Last night's 10:00pm ET 60-minute edition
of FSN's "National Sports Report" led with Astros-Braves,
followed by Cardinals-Mets. The first non-MLB report, at
12:15 into the broadcast, was the Steelers-Cowboys preseason
game. "NSR" had 1:22 of total NFL coverage. Last night's
11:00pm ET 60-minute edition of CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight"
led with D'Backs-Marlins, followed by Giants-Cubs. The
first non-MLB report, at 12:49, was Univ. of Cincinnati
men's basketball coach Bob Huggins considering the Clippers'
vacant head coaching position. "Sports Tonight" had 9:13 of
total NFL coverage. Last night's 11:00pm ET (late due to
MLB) 60-minute edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" also led
with D'Backs-Marlins, followed by Giants-Cubs. The first
non-MLB report, at 11:57, was Huggins considering the
Clippers job. "SportsCenter" had 3:33 of NFL coverage.
DID CBS AND ABC TAKE A PITCH? Sources tell the
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER that MLB has "struck out" in its first
official rights fees offers to CBS and ABC. The report
states the two nets "vetoed" MLB's asking prices for the
package as "too high" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 7/31).
CHARGERS RADIO RIGHTS? In San Diego, Jay Posner wrote
that the relationship between the Chargers and local sports
station XTRA-AM "appears to have reached an all-time low,
with the station refusing to interview any players on its
talk shows." The move is XTRA's "way of protesting the
club's treatment of Lee Hamilton, who's been persona non
grata around Chargerland the last two years." One XTRA exec
said that the station will cover the news but added, "We're
not in the business of selling season tickets" (UNION-
TRIBUNE, 7/28). Hamilton was once the voice of the Chargers.
ESPN'S INFLUENCE HITTING SI? In Daytona Beach, Ken
Hornack wrote that ESPN Magazine "must be making an impact"
on SI, "based on the new look of SI's Scorecard section."
In SI's July 24 issue, the new look included a "burning
question," which "looked similar" to ESPN's "Answer Guy,"
and an "increase in photo content" (NEWS-JOURNAL, 7/30).
DAN PATRICK'S DAY: NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay reported that
Dan Patrick's three-hour ESPN radio show will debut on WEVD-
AM in N.Y., going against WFAN's "Mike and the Mad Dog."
Patrick: "I think I can tap into the stories that are New
York-related and take those nationally and vice versa.
There's sometimes the misconception that New Yorkers only
care about New York, but if you give them a story and
explain why they should care, they often will" (NEWSDAY,
7/30). Meanwhile, ESPN.com will debut Patrick's own Web
site at http://espn.go.com/danpatrick (ESPN.com).
THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL SPORTS NETWORK: Boston WBZ-TV
sports anchor Bob Lobel, on local sportscasts facing
competition from FSN's "Regional Sports Report," which
debuts in the New England market tonight: "I really think
this will cut more into ESPN and CNN. It will take [FSN]
time to build a following and, remember, this is an audience
of habit around here. What works in Chicago and New York
may not work here" (BOSTON HERALD, 7/30).
