Marquee Matchup: Fox Challenges ESPN

Call it the war within the war.

There is ESPN vs. Fox Sports Net, and there also is “SportsCenter,” the reigning champion among sports news programs, vs. “Fox Sports News,” the feisty challenger.

“SportsCenter,” which has been around since ESPN was launched in 1979, has won 25 sports Emmys and 25 Cable Ace awards. It’s considered the flagship program on the ESPN network.

John A. Walsh, ESPN’s executive editor and the man in charge of “SportsCenter,” says, “We were a challenger for years, but now that we are perceived as the leader, our challenge is to continue to act like a challenger.”

Walsh, who comes from a print background, was brought in 10 years ago, first as a consultant, then as managing editor before getting his current title. Under Walsh, “SportsCenter” has flourished.

But look out for the new kids on the block.

“Fox Sports News” was begun with Fox Sport Net

on Nov. 1, 1996, and recently moved to a new state-of-the-art facility on the 20th Century Fox lot on Pico Boulevard. An eight-person New York bureau, headed by veteran reporter and Yankee radio analyst Michael Kay, has also been opened.

Arthur Smith, executive vice president in charge of production and programming for Fox Sports Net, says, “We want to get where ‘SportsCenter’ is, only we want to get there a lot quicker.”

In charge of that is John Terenzio, who in July was brought in as senior vice president and executive producer of “Fox Sports News.” Terenzio, a Northwestern journalism graduate, has a network news background. Also, Associated Press veteran John Nelson was hired as executive editor.

“Fox Sports News” appears on 22 regional sports networks reaching 58 million homes, and separate editions are designed for different time zones. Two one-hour editions of “Fox Sports News Prime Time” generally follow that night’s major event on each regional sports network.

The on-air lineup is made up of nine anchors and four analysts who specialize in different sports. For instance, James Worthy is the basketball analyst.

The anchor lineup provides a good mix. It includes such people as Van Earl Wright, whose distinctive style has generated a national following; up-and-coming Kevin Frazier, former ESPN anchor Suzy Kolber, and veteran Alan Massengale, who worked for ESPN in the mid-1980s and was one of the original cast members of the “Press Box” on Prime Ticket and Prime Sports, the forerunner to “Fox Sports News.”

“It just keeps growing and growing,” Massengale said. “With Fox resources behind it, the sky is the limit.”

MOVING UP

ESPN newcomer Sean Salisbury, who has done impressive work as a college football sideline reporter this season, moves up to the booth Saturday to work with play-by-play man Rich Waltz as the commentator on the Division II championship game between New Haven and Northern Colorado. . . . Salisbury, working with new XTRA partner John Fricke, did a nice job of filling in for the “Loose Cannons” earlier this week. An interview with Dodger Executive Vice President Fred Claire on Wednesday was excellent, with all the right questions asked. Salisbury and Fricke will replace Steve Mason and John Ireland on the early morning XTRA shift sometime after Jan. 1. The Mason-Ireland “Big Show” will be carried only by sister station AM 1150 and Fox Sports West 2.

A GOOD CAUSE

Popular CBS sportscaster Tim Ryan, who probably is best known for his work on tennis, has become a driving force in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Lee Ryan, Tim’s wife of 36 years, is in the late stages of the disease in a nursing home in Santa Barbara. Some of Ryan’s tennis friends, among them John McEnroe and Jim Courier, are donating their time to help stage a benefit event in the Ryans’ honor in Boise, Idaho, this weekend.

SHORT WAVES

Sources have said that the new NFL television contract could be wrapped up by next week, but others say it will be closer to the end of the month. Four years ago, the current four-year NFL deal was finished and announced on Dec. 17, 1993. . . . Fox reportedly has bid $100 million a game to get exclusive rights to the Super Bowl, but the NFL certainly will reject it because such a deal wouldn’t go over well with the the league’s other TV partners. . . . There are two NFL games Saturday, both with playoff implications: Washington at the New York Giants on Channel 11 at 9:30 a.m., and Pittsburgh at New England on Channel 4 at 1 p.m. . . . NBC and the U.S. Golf Assn. have agreed to a contract extension that keeps the USGA’s major championships-- including the U.S. Open--on NBC through 2003.

The first nationally televised women’s hockey game will be shown on Lifetime Television next Wednesday at 5 p.m. when the U.S. national team faces the Canadian national team at Burlington, Vt. . . . Saturday night’s $14.95 pay-per-view boxing card featuring Johnny Tapia against Andy Agosto will be available free to satellite-dish subscribers who have at least one USSB premium package.

The Golf Channel becomes available as a basic service on Time Warner Cable in Orange County and the South Bay area on Dec. 29 and on Comcast in Fullerton on Dec. 31. That will give the channel more than 25 Southern California affiliates reaching about 625,000 homes. . . . Time Warner in the West San Fernando Valley will begin offering the FX channel on Jan. 1, two days before FX televises UCLA-Arizona basketball.

CBS has hired veteran sports journalist Armen Keteyian, who has a newspaper and magazine background. For the last eight years, he has been a reporter for ABC News. He has also been hired by HBO to work as a reporter on “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.” He will begin his two new jobs Jan. 1. . . . HBO executive producer Ross Greenburg and Spike Lee are working on a “Real Sports” segment on the 1968 UCLA-Houston game. There’s one problem, though. “We’ve found tape of the second half but not the first,” Greenburg said. “We’re looking for someone in L.A. who may have recorded the entire game.” He said anyone with a copy should call Max Segal at (212) 512-5780.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for sports programs Dec. 6-8. SATURDAY

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Event Ch. Rating Share College football: Nebraska vs. Texas A&M; 7 6.9 16 College football: Auburn vs. Tennessee 7 6.7 12 College football: Colorado State vs. New Mexico 7 3.8 10 College basketball: Kentucky at Indiana 2 2.3 6 Golf: Father-Son Challenge 4 1.5 4 Hockey: Mighty Ducks at Pittsburgh 9 0.8 2

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SUNDAY

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Event Ch. Rating Share Pro football: Minnesota at San Francisco 11 15.8 35 Pro football: Denver at Pittsburgh 4 12.2 32 Pro football: Green Bay at Tampa Bay 11 8.2 22 Golf: Father-Son Challenge 4 2.6 6 Golf: LPGA-PGA JC Penney Classic 7 0.7 2 College basketball: Kansas at Maryland 7 0.3 1

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MONDAY

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Event Ch. Rating Share Pro football: Carolina at Dallas 7 19.4 29 Pro basketball: Lakers at Portland 9 6.9 10

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Note: Each rating point represents 50,092 L.A. households.