IN THE BOOTH: Irving Fryar will join Philadelphia's
WPVI-TV as a part-time reporter (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER,
2/11)....In Minneapolis, Sid Hartman reports that Paul
Molitor will be paid "about" $200,000 to be a TV analyst for
30-40 Twins games, and will also "help coach" the team
during spring training (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE,
2/11)....Fox Sports Senior VP/Media Relations Vince Wladika
tells DAILY VARIETY's Joseph Adalian that "paperwork has
been exchanged" between Fox and reps for announcer Jerry
Glanville, "indicating" Glanville is "still under contract
to Fox," despite reports that have him joining CBS's NFL
team. Wladika says that Fox is examining its options and
"it'll get interesting from there." Adalian writes that
"most insiders don't expect a major legal tussle to arise
out of the verbal squabble" (DAILY VARIETY, 2/11).
FOX'S QUARTER REPORT: News Corp's Fox Entertainment
Group, which includes the Dodgers, reported a 52% increase
in net income for the second quarter, thanks to the
theatrical success of "There's Something About Mary" and the
successful video release of "Titanic" (N.Y. POST, 2/11).
Despite the film profits, News Corp.'s income fell 14%
during the same quarter because of "weaker results" from
U.S. sports broadcasting and TV start-up losses. Low
ratings for MLB playoff and World Series games "eroded" TV
advertising revenue, while the higher costs of the NFL TV
package "also cut into" network earnings (N.Y. TIMES, 2/11).
Fox's partly-owned cable interests, Fox Liberty Networks and
Fox Family Worldwide, "increased their losses slightly" to
$24M in the same quarter (DAILY VARIETY, 2/11).
IS SI'S SWIMSUIT ISSUE "SHAMEFUL"? In Las Vegas, Dean
Juipe wrote that SI's swimsuit issue is "shameful" and found
it "remarkable" that the country's women's organizations
"have let it prosper" (LAS VEGAS SUN, 2/10).
