ESPN Radio "has secured the rights to the NBA broadcasts,"
according to this morning's BOSTON GLOBE. In previous years, the
NBA has handled radio in-house then sold broadcast to individual
stations. Sources at ESPN said no decisions have been made on
announcers (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/28). ....Rupert Murdoch's family
stake in News Corp. has dropped from 32.63% to 30.89%, a
reflection of the company's rapid expansion and increase in
equity capital since '93 (REUTERS/ DAILY VARIETY,
9/28)....Bankers and analysts believe that the Turner-Time Warner
deal won't be closed until June or July of next year due to the
"rigorous scrutiny" expected from federal regulators (N.Y. POST,
9/28)....Ted Turner's five-year compensation package under the
deal is said to be in excess of $100M (N.Y. TIMES, 9/28)....In
examining the Turner/Time-Warner merger, "Moneyline" noted CBS or
NBC could join in a "Time-Warner alliance" to bid for sports
"mega-programming" like the NFL. CNN's Steve Young noted the
idea would be that the networks "share the costs, multiply the
viewing audience, and most of all, out-race" Murdoch's News Corp.
(CNN, 9/27)....Fox and Don King have announced formal plans to
return boxing to free TV on a regular basis. A to-be-titled
monthly boxing series will premiere January 27 and continue with
fights on the last Saturday of each month throughout '96
(Fox)....Microsoft and Visa proposed an industry software
standard for on-line payments and transactions (N.Y. TIMES,
9/28)....Marketing plans for the upcoming MCI/News Corp.
Internet-based online service will tap Fox's appeal to young
audiences as they prepare for a November roll-out (BRANDWEEK,
9/25 issue).
