In Chicago, negotiations for the sale of Chancellor
Media's WMVP-AM to ESPN "have hit a major league impasse,
raising the specter that talks ... may be breaking down,"
according to Jim Kirk of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Chancellor
has been negotiating to sell the station to ESPN for $21M,
but talks "hit a snag" when ESPN and Bulls & White Sox Chair
Jerry Reinsdorf disagreed "on issues concerning control"
over Bulls and White Sox programming. Reinsdorf "wants
control over some White Sox and Bulls programming; ESPN is
balking." Kirk writes that Reinsdorf "has final say over
programming and who announces the games. Though Chancellor
executives would like to see a deal go through, the fate of
any sale apparently remains in the hands of Reinsdorf."
Reinsdorf would not comment (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/28).
ON THE BULLS BEAT: In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes that
"One on One Sports" weekend host Jay Mariotti, who writes
for the Chicago Sun-Times, "torched Sam Smith," the Chicago
Tribune's NBA writer, during his Saturday broadcast over
Smith's reporting on the Bulls/Michael Jordan situation.
On air, Mariotti called Smith "a disgrace. He should go
work for Jerry Reinsdorf as his PR guy." Smith, when asked
about Mariotti's comments: "If you can't outwork somebody,
you try to discredit them" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/28).
