Media Notes

Writer Blasts ESPN For Switching Time Of Sunday's Dodgers-Mets Game

In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes of last Sunday's Dodgers-Mets game being switched from a day game to a night game, ESPN execs "could care less how their schedule eventually affects the quality of play." The net "doesn't give a damn about fans who purchased tickets thinking they were going to a day game, having to change their plans. Or dump their tickets altogether." ESPN for the game also "missed the first pitch" in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the net was airing a promo for ABC's coverage of the Belmont Stakes (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 6/3).

LET'S MAKE A DEAL: In Charlotte, Clay Barbour reports the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (NC) in April agreed to give Speed Channel performance-based tax incentives "designed to keep [Speed] in the region." In exchange for a $967,011 city-county grant, Speed promised to create 34 new jobs and make a $34.9M investment in the area (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 6/3).

ON THE OUTS? CRAIN'S N.Y. BUSINESS' Matthew Flamm reports N.Y. television stations have "begun talking to potential competitors about services that could supplement or eventually replace Nielsen's local people meters, which made their controversial debut in 2004." A TV exec said that one company will "begin presenting preliminary data -- gleaned from satellite set-top boxes -- to a station as early as August" (CRAIN'S N.Y. BUSINESS, 6/2 issue).