Media Notes

USA TODAY reports "Fox NFL Sunday" viewers ahead of Sunday's Seahawks-Cowboys game on the network "will be the first to see the new trailer" for director James Cameron's film "Avatar," which is slated for a December 18 release. The 3-minute, 30-second trailer will air live at 12:55pm ET (USA TODAY, 10/29). Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, Judd Zulgad reports Fox for Sunday's Vikings-Packers game "will have a camera on the 50-yard line isolated" on Vikings QB Brett Favre "during the entire game." A "constant video stream of the angle will run on foxsports.com and nfl.com" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 10/29).

FIGHTING BACK: In Manchester, James Robinson reports the governing bodies of "some of the U.K.'s most popular sports, including cricket, rugby union and Premier League football, have criticised plans to force BSkyB to wholesale its sports channels to pay-TV competitors more cheaply." The sports bodies have "responded furiously" to U.K. communications regulator Ofcom's "consultation on its plan to ensure Sky makes its premium sport and movie channels available to rivals ... at lower prices, claiming it will reduce the amount of money they receive from selling media rights." Ofcom is "due to make a final ruling early next year after considering the responses to the consultation" (GUARDIAN.co.uk, 10/28).

BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT: In St. Louis, Bernie Miklasz reports MLB Cardinals hitting coach Mark McGwire's "baseball comeback is providing abundant fodder for the media," as he is "filling newspaper columns, blogs, Internet forums, sports-talk radio segments and prime blocks of TV news." It is "all McGwire, all of the time." Miklasz writes, "We criticize and condemn McGwire. But he's pure gold for ratings, website traffic and newspaper readership. Prince or pariah, McGwire is great business for the media" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/29).