RATINGS: Game One of the Bucks-Pacers playoff series on
Fox Sports Net Midwest (FSNMW) earned a preliminary 9.0 HH
Nielsen rating in the Indianapolis DMA, making it the
highest-rated Pacers telecast in FSNMW's history. Following
the game, "Fox Sports News Primetime" drew a 9.9 HH rating
(FSNMW)....In Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley writes that the Bucks
averaged a 5.3/9 rating for telecasts of their 31 games on
WCGV-UPN, which is up 43% over the last two seasons, which
both averaged a 3.7/6 (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 5/11).
DEALS: SportsWire, a service of Business Wire, has
formed a marketing and promotion alliance with SportsTicker.
As part of the deal, SportsTicker will post daily sports
stories on the SportsWire site, located on Business Wire's
home page, www.businesswire.com/sportslink. SportsWire will
continue to provide sports-related news releases over
SportsTicker's network (SportsWire)....ISL U.S. has hired
Pilson Communications President Neal Pilson to consult on
the TV "component" of ISL's efforts to create a NCAA college
football playoff (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/10 issue).
NOTES: In Boston, Jim Baker writes that the NHL
"assured word that ABC will carry four NHL weekend matinees
next season ... is in line with the five-year deal" (BOSTON
HERALD, 5/11)....In Ft. Lauderdale, Alan Snel profiles ASAP
Sports, which supplies "FastScripts" for sports writers
during news conferences at major sporting events. The
Ericsson Open has used ASAP for the past five years, and the
tournament paid ASAP $25,000 for its work on this past
year's event (Ft. Lauderdale SUN-SENTINEL, 5/11).
...MULTICHANNEL NEWS' R. Thomas Umstead writes that the
legal dispute between ESPN and MLB "couldn't have come at a
worse time for ESPN, which announced a new round of operator
rate increases two weeks ago." Industry execs say that ESPN
"would be hard-pressed to pursue any cost hikes if it loses"
MLB games (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 5/10). USA TODAY's Hal
Bodley: "If the MLB-ESPN deal falls apart, look for ESPN to
suffer more than baseball will. Without MLB, it will be a
long, hot summer for the cable network" (USA TODAY, 5/11)
