* Barely a week goes by without...

* Barely a week goes by without someone announcing their intention to launch a cable TV network to help fill the 500-channel information superhighway into the home. But one of the more interesting ideas to surface recently is a “classic sports” channel with highlight programming from the National Football League and other sports organizations.

The organizers, which include former A&M; Records executive Gil Frisen, are said to be backed by John Malone’s cable TV powerhouse Liberty Media Corp., investment banker Allen & Co. and AT&T.; The proposed channel would also have an interactive, home shopping element that would sell sports team paraphernalia, such as jerseys and mementos. One problem: New cable TV sports channels have had a rough ride the last couple of years, and the industry has been marked by consolidation among some of the big players.

* Paramount Communications Inc. has added a crucial building block in its race with Warner Bros. to launch a fifth broadcast network, signing WDZL-TV in Miami, owned by Renaissance Communications, a station that previously was to join the Warner network. Paramount now has affiliation agreements with 19 TV stations, representing about 40% of U.S. TV homes. Miami is the 16th-largest TV market in the country. Warner is still expected to forge a deal in Miami, however, perhaps with WBFS-TV, owned by Combined Communications.