TV: ABC Sports/ESPN President Steve Bornstein said that
the "MNF" pre-game and halftime shows "will relocate from
New York for the entire season," and that the odds are
"better than 50-50" the show will air from the new ESPN Zone
in Baltimore. In Baltimore, Milton Kent writes that while
"it's a pretty good bet" that host Chris Berman "would be a
part of the Baltimore show," it is "not so clear" whether
Frank Gifford would join him (Baltimore SUN, 7/14)....New
Line TV Exec VP Chris Russo said that the company's new
sports entertainment show, being developed with Jeffrey
Pollack, the Founder and former Publisher of THE DAILY,
"likely will be a weekend series that will have two hosts."
Russo, on the show: "It is not going to be focused on a lot
of facts, figures and statistics. We will focus on the
personalities and the glamour of the industry" (BROADCASTING
& CABLE, 7/13)....Germany's public broadcasters, ARD and
ZDF, have jointly offered to pay a "record-breaking" $384M
for the TV rights to the German national league DFB soccer
games for the next five years (DAILY VARIETY, 7/14).
....Saturday's Yankees-Devil Rays game earned a 7.0/15
rating on WPIX, while Sunday's game earned a 6.3/16,
allowing WPIX to win both complete day parts in the New York
City market (N.Y. POST, 7/14).
RADIO: In Boston, Bob Lobel said he will no longer host
his Sunday afternoon WBZ-AM talk show after station program
director Peter Casey ordered that a caller, who was using
obscenities, be cut off in mid-call. Lobel called Casey's
decision to remove the caller "unconscionable," adding that
it was "bordering on censorship" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/14).
