Miller Tabak & Co.'s David Joyce and other analysts believe that NBCUniversal "may fetch as much as $600 million in a sale" of its G4 channel to UFC. Sources confirmed that NBCU "is in talks to sell the video-game channel to UFC." Joyce said that G4 "reaches 60 million U.S. homes, and may command $5 to $10 per home in a sale." Still, the sources cautioned that "negotiations are early and a deal may not be reached" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 6/9).
MANNY BEING MANNY: Top Rank Chair Bob Arum said that the May 7 Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley bout "generated more than 1.3 million" PPV buys, Pacquiao's "best box office performance yet." His previous best PPV total was 1.25 million for a December '08 bout against Oscar De La Hoya, and four of his past six fights "have topped 1 million buys." Arum said that Pacquaio-Mosley on Showtime PPV "generated more than $75 million in television revenue with about 700,000 buys coming via cable systems and about 600,000 coming from satellite services" (ESPN.com, 6/9).
MUSIC TO MY EARS: In St. Louis, Dan Caesar reports the Rams and WXOS-FM on Thursday "finalized a deal for the station to remain the team's radio home." John Kijowski, who runs WXOS parent company Hubbard Broadcasting's local operations, said that the contract "is for three years, with mutual options for two more seasons." Play-by-play announcer Steve Savard and analyst D'Marco Farr are "expected to remain in the booth" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 6/10).
NOTES: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic has hired former Univ. of Maryland men's basketball coach Gary Williams as an on-air commentator for next week's U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Potomac, Md. Williams, who plays the course regularly, will be on location from Friday to Sunday. CSN will have a set at Congressional for live shows throughout the week (John Ourand, THE DAILY)....ESPN Thursday unveiled a new logo for "Monday Night Football." Meanwhile, the commentator team of Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and Ron Jaworski will remain intact (ESPN).
GET THE DETAILS ON THE IOC/NBC DEAL: Have a question about how the new Olympic rights deal was done? E-mail it to news@sportsbusinessjournal.com, and SportsBusiness Journal staff writers John Ourand and Tripp Mickle will answer it in our Olympic Mailbag.
