CBS yesterday pulled their five-year offer to split MLB
coverage with Fox, according to Rudy Martzke of USA TODAY. CBS
was expected to pay between $80-90M for a deal giving the network
two World Series, but new owner Westinghouse "won't OK those
numbers and a Thursday night regular season package." CBS "could
remain" in the picture, and ABC and possibly NBC "might pay $70
million a year, but that would surely" bring Fox down from its
$110M a year offer to $100M or lower. MLB officials had hoped to
announce a new TV deal during the World Series, but that is now a
remote possibility with news of CBS' withdrawal (USA TODAY,
10/25).
JUST TAKING IN A BALLGAME? Acting MLB Commissioner Bud
Selig and NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol sat together during
last night's Game 3. The two were shown talking and laughing
during NBC's broadcast. Ebersol was outfitted in full NBC Sports
garb ("1995 World Series," NBC, 10/24).
MLB NEWS & NOTES: It appears that Fox affiliates are
"embracing" the possibility of baseball as a vehicle to "boost
their profiles," according to Milton Kent in Baltimore. The
stations may lose some revenue during the regular season, but the
opportunity to present post-season and World Series games would
"make baseball palatable" (Baltimore SUN, 10/25). On World
Series coverage, Barry Horn in Dallas writes that from a
"technical standpoint," the telecasts are a reminder that NBC and
ABC "know how to produce baseball" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 10/24).
