BRITISH OPEN: ABC's coverage of the British Open earned
a preliminary overnight rating of 5.8/17 for Sunday's final
round and a 4.0/13 for Saturday's third round, giving the
event its best numbers in at least the last ten years.
ABC's research goes back only to '89. Saturday's rating is
up 3% from last year's 3.9, and Sunday's is up 4%, from 5.6
(THE DAILY). USA TODAY's Rudy Martzke pans ABC's Open
coverage, giving it a "bogey," and writing that the net "too
often committed the biggest golf TV sin -- failing to
mention whether shots were on tape delay" or being seen
live. He adds that "unlike NBC, ABC didn't personalize the
golfers." However, Martzke calls play-by-play announcer
Mike Tirico "one of TV sports' top emerging talents," and
adds that main analyst Curtis Strange "aced the booth" (USA
TODAY, 7/20). In Houston, David Barron calls ABC's Open
coverage "riveting TV," and writes that analyst Ian Baker-
Finch, in his ABC debut, was a "droll, informative addition"
to the net's golf crew (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/20).
NBC: NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield,
speaking at a meeting of TV critics in CA, said the net
"remains interested in combining with either a cable
network, which would give NBC access to the subscriber fees
that cable networks charge, or with a major TV studio, which
would guarantee NBC ownership of shows that make it into
syndication" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/20). Littlefield: "It
seems to me today that ... size does matter. ... We need
multiple revenue streams" (DAILY VARIETY, 7/20).
OTHER NOTES: Yankee games on WABC-AM have increased the
station's 7-10:00pm ET rating from a 2.2 share in the winter
arbitron ratings report to a 4.6 in the recently released
spring report (N.Y. POST, 7/20)....BUSINESS WEEK's Ron
Grover profiles online fantasy leagues. Although Internet
fantasy sports are "not yet profitable," many sports sites,
including CNN, Fox and TSN, "market their own versions."
CNNSI.com's Steve Zales said the site, which claims "more
than" 290,000 players for its free games, sees fantasy
leagues as "a way to build traffic" and attract users
(BUSINESS WEEK, 7/28 issue)....Former Bengals T Anthony
Munoz "plans to join ESPN as a roving reporter" (CINCINNATI
ENQUIRER, 7/18)....WCW's PPV "Bash At The Beach" telecast,
which featured Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman, topped 600,000
buys at $29.95 each (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/20).
