TV MONITOR: Last night's 10:00pm ET 60-minute edition of FSN's "National Sports Report" led with a report that Chargers coach Mike Riley will be fired and then named football coach at the Univ. of Southern CA, followed by a report that 49ers WR Jerry Rice will be released after the season. The first non-football report, at 3:17 into the broadcast, was motivational speaker Tony Robbins addressing the Wizards. The first MLB report, at 6:58, was Manny Ramirez' press conference after signing with the Red Sox. "NSR" had 2:35 of total MLB coverage. Last night's 11:00pm ET (late due to NHL) 60-minute edition of ESPN's "SportsCenter" led with Univ. of PA-Seton Hall Univ. NCAA men's basketball, followed by Spurs-Suns. The first non- basketball report, at 8:26, was Ramirez. "SportsCenter" had 6:50 of total MLB coverage. Last night's 11:00pm ET 30- minute edition of CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight" was pre-empted due to continuing coverage of Election 2000 (THE DAILY). THE WNBA OFF LIFETIME? ELECTRONIC MEDIA cited sources as saying that as of June 2001, WNBA games will "no longer be carried" on Lifetime TV, "but will be telecast instead" on ESPN2. The move leaves Lifetime, which is in the fourth year of a six-year deal with the WNBA, with a "limited women's sports presence" (ELECTRONIC MEDIA, 12/4 issue). SWEET LOU: Former HBO Sports Senior VP/Programming Lou DiBella signed deals with five U.S. boxers and one Dominican boxer who competed in the '00 Games. The U.S. boxers will appear in four-round bouts at The Theater in MSG that will be shown on HBO's "KO Nation" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/14). INT'L SOCCER NEWS: The European Broadcasting Union signed a $1.4B deal yesterday with the Union of European Football Associations for the TV rights to the '04 European soccer championships. The EBU's 69 national broadcasters from 50 European countries are "guaranteed live coverage" of the 31 final-round matches of the event, to be held in Portugal. Also, the deal ensures that the "entire tournament will be available on free-to-air services across Europe" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 12/14).
