TV MONITOR: Last night's 10:00pm ET 60-minute edition
of FSN's "National Sports Report" led with a 7:17 report on
the World Series, followed by a report on jury selection in
the murder trial of Rae Carruth. "NSR" had 13:20 of total
World Series coverage. Last night's 11:00pm ET 30-minute
edition of CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight" led with a 4:43 report
on the World Series, followed by the BCS rankings. "Sports
Tonight" had 7:31 of total World Series coverage. Last
night's 12:00am ET 60-minute edition of ESPN's
"SportsCenter" led with a 6:16 report on the World Series,
followed by surgery on Cards 1B Mark McGwire. "SportsCenter"
had 14:12 of World Series coverage (THE DAILY).
THE HALFWAY POINT FOR MILLER: Last night's OT Dolphins-
Jets "MNF" broadcast on ABC produced a 12.6/20, down 17%
from last year's 15.2/24 for Seahawks-Packers. In Chicago,
Rick Telander writes that the "jury isn't in yet" on Miller
and TV ratings "are fickle things, but it does seem to be
true that whether people like Miller or hate him, they are
talking about him." "MNF" Coordinating Producer David
Israel: "Let me pose a question: Is Dennis Miller smarter
than [former "MNF" analyst] Boomer Esiason? Hey, Jake the
Wonderdog is smarter than Esiason" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES,
10/24). In FL, Charles Elmore: "Say what you will about
Miller, but he is an effective counterweight to the
corporate selling that goes on in broadcasts like this"
(PALM BEACH POST, 10/24). ABC's Al Michaels, during last
night's game which was lengthened by penalties and coaches
challenges: "This game is lasting as long as a baseball
game" (ABC, 10/23).
NOTES: In Toronto, James Christie writes that
propsective Coyotes co-Owner Wayne Gretzky was at the Hockey
HOF yesterday to unveil www.coachesclub.net, an Internet
resource for youth hockey coaches. The site will include a
databank of drills for coaches, video clips, an "interactive
mode to share coaching ideas with others and a question-
answer page to seek knowledge from pros and experts"
(Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 10/24)....The SPORTSBUSINESS
JOURNAL's Langdon Brockinton writes that the NBA will become
the first pro sports league to launch an interactive talk
show, when "The NBA Beat" debuts next Tuesday. The show,
which will originate from the NBA Store on N.Y.'s Fifth
Avenue, will be simulcast live on NBA.com TV and nba.com
weekdays from 5:00-7:00pm ET (SBJ, 10/23 issue)....In NC,
Mike Mulhern writes that one year after NASCAR signed a six-
year, $2.4B TV rights fee, Winston Cup team owners are
"becoming more worried about not getting their fair share"
of the new TV money next season, as NASCAR execs "still
haven't announced" how the money will be split. Mulhern:
"There are questions about how much money the TV deal is
actually worth, and NASCAR executives have steadfastly
declined to talk about specific figures." Teams "will get
no share of any" int'l TV rights, "another topic NASCAR has
yet to discuss" (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 10/24).
