NFL: Atlanta's Fox affil WAGA earned a 50.6/74 Nielsen
rating for the Falcons-Vikings NFC Championship game. WAGA
VP/GM Gene McHugh said that during the half-hour of overtime
the numbers climbed to 57.5/81: "Those are just unbelievable
numbers. We wouldn't be surprised if the Super Bowl blew
that 81 share out of the water" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION,
1/20).....BBDO "expects" 128 million total viewers for Super
Bowl XXXIII, down from 133.4 million last year. BBDO
Broadcast Research Manager Mike Greco: "The defending Super
Bowl champion, Denver, has a lot of national appeal. But
Atlanta really doesn't." BBDO expects the game to earn a
42.8/64 rating, compared to last year's 44.5/67. Starcom
Media is predicting a 43.0/65 with 133 million total viewers
for Super Bowl Sunday (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/20).
OTHER NOTES: In Miami, Barry Jackson reports that
"barring an unexpected, last-minute change" NBC's first NBA
telecast of the season on February 7 will feature the Heat-
Knicks (MIAMI HERALD, 1/20)....All 29 regular LPGA Tour
events televised in the U.S. will be televised in Se Ri
Pak's native South Korea (USA TODAY, 1/20).....In DC, Orton
& Barr report that Univ. of Cincinnati AD Bob Goin has
"urged" men's basketball coach Bob Huggins to "limit the
number of interviews he grants" following what he termed
ESPN's "hack job" report on the team last week. ESPN's
seven minute report, titled "Bad News Bearcats" and filed by
Curry Kirkpatrick, focused on both Huggins' and the players'
behavior and attitude. ESPN spokesperson Diane Lamb: "We
thought the piece was very fair" (WASHINGTON POST, 1/20).
