WITH NO NCAA, ESPN MAY OPT TO CREATE ITS OWN PROGRAMMING

          Losing out on both the NASCAR and NCAA tournament TV
     packages "leaves ESPN to focus on inventing its own sports
     shows," according to Jennifer Allen of BRIDGE NEWS.  Allen:
     "Think pole climbers and log rollers."  ESPN spokesperson
     Dave Nagle: "We're always trying to see what we can build
     into the next great property.  Proprietary programming
     doesn't have a rights fee" (BRIDGE NEWS, 11/19). In Chicago,
     Ed Sherman lists ESPN as a "loser" in the recent deals and
     writes that if ESPN loses MLB, "you'll be seeing a ton of
     skateboarding" on the network (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/22).  USA
     TODAY's Rudy Martzke writes that ESPN "needs a victory" in
     its legal dispute with MLB over its regular-season MLB
     contract that goes to court on December 6.  To keep MLB and
     "its important" "Baseball Tonight" package, ESPN may need
     "to approach" ABC/ESPN's "whopping" $120M per year NHL
     contract in a MLB deal extension, or "take a chance in court
     and risk its chief summer programming" (USA TODAY, 11/22)