Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 18, 1993 TAG: 9309180133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Long
UVa, following some of its collegiate brethren in packaging all of its sports properties to maximize profitability in sales, is staying with the Capitol Network of Raleigh, N.C.
A source familiar with the negotiations said the four-year contract, to run through the 1997-98 school year, will pay UVa approximately $3 million. That's an average of $750,000 annually. This school year, in a one-year contract, Capitol is paying the Cavaliers $294,000. That figure could rise to about $400,000 depending on postseason play.
With UVa putting stadium and arena signage, program advertising, schedule cards and other items into the package with broadcast rights, Capitol's bid to keep the Cavaliers' air rights was made in tandem with Host Communications of Lexington, Ky., and Clear Channel Communications, which owns 50,000-watt WRVA of Richmond.
WRVA will continue beaming UVa games across the eastern half of the United States. Financially, UVa also will learn what Florida State, North Carolina and Wake Forest, among others, have found: that combining properties for sale will attract more dollars and remove pressure from the athletic department to sell more than a program.
Capitol's bid topped those by two other North Carolina firms, International Sports Properties of Winston-Salem and Jefferson-Pilot Sports of Charlotte.
\ ROANOKE BROWNS? For years, local media have heard from very vocal Cleveland Browns' fans, transplanted from Ohio, wanting more about their team in print and on the air.
Is that why the Browns' date with the Los Angeles Raiders will air Sunday as the first winner in the weekly "Name the Game" phone poll to choose NFL telecasts on WSLS?
Channel 10 received an excellent response to its democratic process to pick NBC games, with 1,179 votes. It wasn't close. The Browns-Raiders game received 74 percent of the votes, to 26 percent for Houston-San Diego.
The options in the toll-free phone poll for Sept. 26 are Cleveland- Indianapolis and Miami-Buffalo. If the Browns dominate again, maybe Southwest Virginia should be renamed "Dawg Pound South."
\ BIGGER SOUTH: The Big South Conference is moving its men's basketball tournament championship game for ESPN. The league also is negotiating with Home Team Sports for some regular-season exposure.
The Big South title game has started ESPN's "Championship Week" coverage the past two years on a Saturday. This season, it will move two days closer to the start of the NCAA Tournament, at 5 p.m. Monday, March 7.
That also means the format for the tournament in Charleston, S.C., must change. First-round games are scheduled March 4, with semifinals the next day, then an off day. Why? League member Campbell, a Baptist school, does not play sports events on Sundays.
Carl McAloose, Big South assistant commissioner, said the league is seeking a four-game live package on HTS. If it happens, Liberty will play in one of the games; Radford will not.
Among the 10 Big South schools, Radford and Winthrop have chosen not to contribute to the up-front production costs. Those dollars could be recouped through advertising sales by the league.
The Highlanders, who have aired several TV games of their own, put their TV dollars into coach Ron Bradley's show, and feel they get more mileage from that weekly presentation than they would from a one-shot live game.
If HTS cannot clear four live dates, the Big South could have a 10-game tape-delay package on the regional cable network. McAloose said every Big South school would appear on that schedule.
\ CUP RUNNETH: After preview shows last weekend and today on NBC, the Ryder Cup matches finally begin Friday in England.
The Ryder Cup wasn't a big deal, even to some golf-viewing regulars, until the United States lost the Cup to the Europeans in 1985. Now, it's a big deal, as NBC's sales prove.
USA Network has nine hours of live coverage Friday (8 a.m.-5 p.m.). NBC has six hours of taped coverage Sept. 25, starting at noon, followed by 4 1/2 hours live from The Belfry beginning at 8 a.m. Sept. 26.
What NBC did was sell Ryder Cup commercial spots to only five advertisers for $1 million apiece. The commercial breaks will be fewer than on the weekly PGA Tour telecasts, too.
CBS sells its Masters telecasts in similar fashion, to a few exclusive advertisers, removing the event from its regular golf inventory.
As a telecast golf attraction, the Ryder Cup ranks right behind the Masters and the Skins Game.
\ A REAL KICK: On the first two Saturdays of pay-per-view college football telecasts from ABC/ESPN, Cox Cable Roanoke had 50 subscribers and Salem Cable TV had 25 buyers, including the $59.95 full-season package.
The numbers have risen each week on each system, and buys are up 50 percent nationally from last year's first PPV season from ABC. Today, Cox Cable offers Penn State-Iowa and Salem has Syracuse-Texas.
\ WAKE UP: Wake Forest football and basketball is making deeper inroads into Virginia, having added 100,000-watt WBRF (98.1 FM) in Galax to its network. The Deacons' games now can be heard in the Roanoke Valley. WBRF was a long-time Virginia Tech network affiliate.
by CNB