TV MONITOR: Last night's 10:00pm ET 60-minute edition
of FSN's "National Sports Report" led with an update on MLB
playoff races, followed by Angels-A's. The first non-MLB
report, at 5:42 into the broadcast, was an injury report on
Jaguars QB Mark Brunell. "NSR" reported on the Olympics at
14:59 and had 7:02 of total Olympic coverage. Last night's
11:00pm ET 30-minute edition of CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight"
led with Rangers-Mariners, followed by Twins-Indians. The
first non-MLB report, at 6:05, was an Olympic update and
"Sports Tonight" had 3:48 of total Olympic coverage. Last
night's 11:00pm ET (late due to NCAA football) 60-minute
edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" led with Angels-A's,
followed by Rangers-Mariners. The first non-MLB report, at
18:44, was an interview with former Browns OL Orlando Brown.
"SportsCenter" reported on the Olympics at 49:57 into the
broadcast (THE DAILY).
NOTES: Columnist Norman Chad writes that "problems
abound" on ABC's "MNF" telecasts, as Dennis Miller is
"mostly tongue-tied and caught up in turnover differential,"
and sideline reporter Eric Dickerson makes CBS analyst
Beasley Reece "look like Wolf Blitzer" (WASHINGTON POST,
9/29)....CBS Sports' Sam Wyche "is not expected to announce
any more" NFL games this season, because his recuperation
from recent vocal-chord surgery is "going slower than
expected" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 9/29)....SFX, on behalf of
Breeders' Cup Ltd., has reached a three-year agreement with
Premiere Radio Networks, giving Premiere the exclusive radio
rights to broadcast the Breeders' Cup Championship. The
broadcast will be produced by KY-based Host Communications
and Premiere (SFX)....ESPN's Great Outdoor Games will return
to Lake Placid, NY, for the second edition next summer.
Meanwhile, ESPN is "doing some major moving of its outdoor
shows," as the ESPN Outdoors block on Saturdays is moving to
ESPN2 October 7. The "long-running and popular" block will
continue to air from 7:00-10:30am ET (USA TODAY, 9/29).
THE FOX NETWORK: USA TODAY's Hal Bodley reports that as
part of Fox's new $2.5B TV deal with MLB, the network has
"agreed to numerous preview and pre-game shows during the
regular season and for premier events" (USA TODAY, 9/29).
...In S.F., Steve Kroner writes that while FSN's "Regional
Sports Report" has "made some progress," it still has "room
for improvement." Anchors Damon Andrews and Paul Calvisi
"often try to hard to be clever." Kroner adds, "Of the four
shows in the past two weeks, we had no argument with the
placement of the stories. Still, within highlight packages,
there are some glaring errors" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/29).
