CTV SPORTSNET FEELING BLUE AS JAYS DEAL OFF REST OF SCHEDULE

          CTV SportsNet (CTVS) signed a three-year deal with the
     Blue Jays to carry "a minimum of 42 games a season,"
     according to William Houston of the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL. It
     "was speculated" that CTVS "overpaid for the rights to the
     Jays, to the tune of [C]$200,000 a game," while the CBC pays
     C$150,000, and TSN "slightly less" than that.  CTVS Senior
     VP Suzanne Steeves said that the C$200,000 figure "was
     high."  Houston writes that the deal gives CTVS a "major-
     league sports property that has specific appeal in the all-
     important Ontario market" and "bolsters" the net's "thin
     summer schedule."  With TSN scheduled to air 80 Jays games
     and the CBC "expected to renew" its 40-game deal, the Blue
     Jays will have all 162 games televised next season.  Houston
     also notes that from an "advertiser confidence" perspective,
     the deal "dispels any doubt about CTVS presenting a serious
     programming challenge" to TSN (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/24).  CTVS's
     Steeves: "It was important for us to get the rights to one
     of the professional Toronto teams" (TORONTO SUN, 9/24).