According to Mark Taffet, CFO of Time Warner which owns
TVKO, some cable systems in CA have reported buy rates of more
than 10% for the Oscar De La Hoya-Rafael Ruellas lightweight
championship. With most systems reporting, the national average
is closer to 1.6%. Promoter Bob Arum said he believes the final
numbers will show that the fight reached 425,000 homes. Boxing's
PPV record is Foreman-Holyfield -- 1.4 million homes and an 8%
buy rate (Larry Stewart, L.A. TIMES, 5/12)....The CFL has
completed its TV schedule: TSN will carry 45 games starting June
28; ESPN and ESPN2 will combine to air 22 games, mostly with U.S.
teams; and CBC will carry 21 games, including the November 19
Grey Cup (CP/OTTAWA CITIZEN, 5/12)....A survey has found that the
ratio of men to women on the Internet has dropped to slightly
less than 2-to-1 (AP/ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 5/12). ....Wednesday's
Bulls-Magic game on TNT got a 7.9 rating, a TNT-NBA record of 5
million homes (Rudy Martzke, USA TODAY, 5/12). For the nine
telecasts on the first two weekends of the NBA playoffs, NBC is
averaging a 6.9/19 -- a 13% increase over last year (NBC
Sports)....The CBC flew potential Olympic sponsors to Atlanta for
a reception, causing one of guest to speculate that Olympic sales
"are not going well." However, a CBC spokesperson denies that,
saying '96 sales are on target (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 5/12).
...TBS stock traded at 52-week highs yesterday upon news that CBS
was not for sale (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 5/12).
