MUST-SEE ME ON TV: The Heat said they were upset when
NBC Sports ran multiple promos of Sunday's game against the
Nets and "highlighted" the debut of new Nets G Stephon
Marbury. Heat coach Pat Riley: "It may have been a little
motivation to our guys" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/15). Heat C Alonzo
Mourning: "NBC! They don't give us NO love." "Fox Sports
News'" Keith Olbermann: "The players and owners throw away
half of the season and who winds up taking the public abuse?
NBC. ... I guess it's a Costas thing" ("FSN," 3/14).
MURDOCH'S OK? DAILY VARIETY's Erich Boehm writes that
News Corp. Chair Rupert Murdoch's $1B takeover of the
Manchester United "is believed to have been cleared" by
England's Monopolies and Mergers Commission, on conditions
that BSkyB "should not be party to negotiations" for TV
rights to the English Premier League (DAILY VARIETY, 3/15).
OTHER NOTES: In Arizona, Mark Armijo reported that
Championship Racing Magazine, formerly Indy Car magazine, has
discontinued its coverage of the IRL and the Indy 500 due to
a recent reader survey which revealed "poor rating numbers"
for the IRL (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/13)....DirecTV customers
will continue to receive CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox programs after
the company reached a settlement with the NAB on which
viewers can watch network programs sent to them by satellite.
Under the agreement, viewers who receive network shows from
satellite TV will still have to obtain local affiliates'
network programming via antennas, but the timetable for that
change has been pushed back and DirecTV will offer a discount
on antennas that must be purchased (AP, 3/14).
