Media Notes

Viewers For Thursday's South Carolina-N.C. State Game Up 38% From '08 Opener

MEDIAWEEK's Anthony Crupi reports ESPN's coverage of college football and Vikings QB Brett Favre's national TV debut with his new team set the stage for the net's "ascendancy to the top spot in cable primetime" last week. The August 31 Vikings-Texans broadcast drew 7.9 million viewers, "making it the sports net's most-watched preseason NFL contest ever," while last Thursday's South Carolina-N.C. State college football game drew 3.26 million viewers, up 38% from last year's season opener involving the same teams. ESPN for the week drew an average nightly audience of 3.73 million viewers, and the net "swept the three core TV demos," adults 25-54, 18-49 and 18-34 (MEDIAWEEK.com, 9/9).

CHANNELING THEIR INTEREST: In N.Y., Frank Isola reported the latest rumor involving Cavaliers F LeBron James and the Knicks is that Knicks Owner Cablevision will "circumvent the salary cap by giving LeBron his own channel." Isola: "I don't know exactly how that will work but that's what I've heard" (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 9/9). CBSSPORTS.com's Ken Berger wrote such a plan would "present an interesting twist in terms of how the value of such a channel would circumvent NBA salary cap rules." Berger: "On one level, it would be no different than marketing income that teams in large cities can use to lure free agents. On the other hand, it's not fair that a team that also happens to own an entire cable system serving nearly 3 million residents in one of the largest suburban areas in the nation would be able to dangle that asset as extra compensation not governed by the cap" (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/9).

SHOW STOPPER: ESPN.com's Dan Rafael wrote under the header, "Marquez Steals Show From Mayweather On '24/7.'" During Saturday's episode of HBO's "Mayweather-Marquez 24/7," Juan Manuel Marquez drank his own urine "supposedly to ingest additional nutrients," and Rafael wrote it was "disturbing." Meanwhile, Rafael noted every time he sees a segment from Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s "camp, somebody is wearing a 'Mayweather Promotions' shirt or a sign for the company has been strategically placed in view," though Mayweather Promotions "is not a licensed promoter" (ESPN.com, 9/9).

HORNETS' NEST: Cox Sports Television (CST) will televise 65 of the Hornets' 82 regular-season games this season, beginning with their October 30 home opener against the Kings. CST's broadcast schedule concludes with the Hornets' April 14 regular-season finale at the Rockets. Seventy-four Hornets games will air on either national TV or CST (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 9/10).