Microphone Is Fine With King Coach

The Kings’ game tonight at Staples Center against the Dallas Stars is significant for two reasons.

It is the second-to-last game of the regular season and may determine who the Kings’ first-round playoff opponent will be.

Also, Coach Andy Murray has agreed to wear a microphone, and some of his comments may be used live by Fox Sports Net.

The key here is, Murray doesn’t curse.

“At least not very often,” he said. “My feeling is, if I can help them put on a better telecast and help make hockey more popular in L.A., then I’m glad to do it.

“If you conduct yourself in a respectable manner, I don’t see any problem with it. There really are no secrets in hockey.”

The telecast will be the 100th produced in the new arena’s broadcast center, an 8,200-square-foot facility on the second floor.

It was built by Slingshot Networks, an Anschutz Corp. company in Denver.

The facility is a one-of-a-kind digital media center that has a standard television studio, a high-definition television (HDTV) studio, Internet interactive telecast capabilities, an audio studio that looks like the cockpit of a 747, meeting rooms and much more. It provides networks with uplinks and downlinks and everything else they need. They don’t even have to bring in their own production trucks. They’ve got a spacious studio with state-of-the-art equipment instead.

IS IT TRUE? . . .

Yes, KMPC is back, and it’s all sports. Only you won’t find it at 710 on the AM dial, where it was when it had the Rams, Angels and UCLA and was owned by Gene and Jackie Autry.

It’s at 1540. The One-on-One network bought the call letters from Disney for its Los Angeles station. Disney dropped KMPC in favor of KDIS a few years ago.

“K-M-P-C, those are among the most recognizable call letters in the country,” said Nancy Cole, the new KMPC’s vice president and general manager.

Great idea. Now if only there were a way to bring back Jim Healy.

BROTHER ACT

If you’re unable to make it out to the Great Western Forum for the Davis Cup matches the next three days, you can catch a pretty good brother act on ESPN. John McEnroe, 41, is the U.S. captain, and Patrick McEnroe, 33, is the TV commentator.

Does Patrick worry he might say something to offend his brother?

“Nah, he won’t even hear it,” Patrick said. “And who is John to criticize anyone for what they say on television?”

Patrick, who was a good player and is now a good commentator, has always been overshadowed by his older brother, who was a great player and is now a great commentator, often called the best in tennis.

“He is the best,” Patrick said. “And if anyone compares us, I consider that a compliment.”

BIG GOLF WEEKEND

Of course the Masters is the big event of the weekend. But after the Masters on CBS Saturday at 3 p.m., a taped golf event on ABC is worth checking out. It is the Michael Douglas and Friends Celebrity tournament, presented by Mazda. The nine-hole scramble is produced by Terry Jastrow and Gaylord Event Television, formerly Jack Nicklaus Productions.

The field includes such stars as Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, Joe Pesci, Sidney Poitier and James Woods. The site is Ocean Trails in Rancho Palos Verdes, the course that lost its 18th hole last June when it nearly slid into the ocean. The course is being rebuilt, and a partial opening is planned Aug. 1.

The announcers on Saturday’s telecast will be Al Michaels and Mary Hart.

In only its second year, this event has already raised $1 million for the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

Also Saturday, a new weekly golf show, “Get Golf,” makes its debut on Channel 2 at 4:30 p.m. The host is actor John O’Hurley, an avid golfer who played the role of Mr. Peterman on “Seinfield.”

SHORT WAVES

The naming of the Los Angeles Athletic Club’s John Wooden Award winner as college basketball’s outstanding player will be televised live today at 4 p.m. on Fox Sports Net, with Chris Myers and Kevin Frazier reporting. John Wooden will present the award. Also, Steve Hartman and Bill Werndl will broadcast their 9 a.m.-1 p.m. show on XTRA (690) from the athletic club, interviewing the leading candidates and their coaches.

Bill Seward has returned to Southern California after three years in Bristol, Conn., at ESPNEWS, and will do Saturday segments from Santa Anita for Channel 2’s “Sports Central.” . . . Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby will be live on Channel 11, with coverage beginning at 2 p.m. . . . CBS has given versatile Bill Macatee a new multiyear contract. . . . Showtime’s fifth fight card of the year, Saturday at 10 p.m., delayed from Paris, offers three title bouts.

To clarify matters, Laker forward Glen Rice told Larry Burnett on KLAC’s “Lakers Zone” pregame show Wednesday that neither he or his agent ever indicated he wanted to be traded after the season. “I’d liked to know who started that,” Rice said. “I love L.A., my wife loves L.A., my daughter wants to grow up and become an actress in L.A.” . . . NBC has an NBA playoff preview Saturday at 12:30 p.m., and the Lakers are among the four teams featured. The others are New York, San Antonio and Portland.

Recommended viewing: At 11:30 a.m. Saturday, NBC offers a one-hour special on baseball’s rich Latin heritage, “Baseball: the Latin Passion.” . . . The 2.4 rating that ABC’s telecast of the Kings and Mighty Ducks got last Saturday was the highest rating for a national NHL telecast in L.A. since 1995. . . . Good move by XTRA (690) Monday, farming out the Mighty Ducks to KDIS (710) so it could broadcast the NCAA title game. Otherwise, the game wouldn’t have been on radio in L.A. But XTRA should have farmed out the Ducks on Saturday too, so it could have broadcast the semifinals in total.

The L.A. Avengers’ home exhibition game against Oklahoma at Staples Center Sunday at 5:30 p.m. will be broadcast on KMPC (1540), with Larry Kahn and Mike Lamb reporting.

IN CLOSING

A new format has Vin Scully doing all nine innings on Dodger telecasts when he’s there, with the first two innings simulcast on radio and TV. Good move, unless you happen to be a Ross Porter or Rick Monday fan.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for April 1-2.

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Figure skating: World Championships 7 9.0 18 NCAA men’s tournament: Florida vs. North Carolina 2 6.9 15 NCAA men’s tournament: Wisconsin vs. Michigan St. 2 5.5 14 Golf: PGA, BellSouth Classic 4 2.5 8 Hockey: Mighty Ducks at Kings 7 2.4 6 Baseball: Dodgers at Toronto 5 2.3 7 Golf: Senior PGA, The Tradition 7 1.9 6 Auto racing: Le Mans Grand Prix of Charlotte 4 1.8 5 Tennis: Lindsay Davenport vs. Martina Hingis 11 1.7 5

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*

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Cable Network Rating Share Boxing: Vitali Klitschko vs. Chris Byrd HBO 1.5 4 Baseball: Cleveland at Atlanta TBS 1.0 3 Soccer: MLS, New England at Galaxy FSN 0.5 1 Hockey: Phoenix at Edmonton ESPN2 0.2 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro basketball: New York at Lakers 4 9.7 23 Pro basketball: Philadelphia at Sacramento 4 4.0 11 Figure skating: World Championships (men) 7 3.6 9 Golf: PGA, BellSouth (rained out, playoff) 4 3.5 11 Golf: Senior PGA, The Tradition 7 2.2 6 Auto racing: NASCAR DirecTV 500 2 1.9 6 Tennis: Pete Sampras vs. Gustavo Kuerten 11 1.5 4

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Cable Network Rating Share NCAA women’s final: Connecticut vs. Tennessee ESPN 1.0 2 Hockey: Montreal at Detroit ESPN2 0.4 1

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: MONDAY--NCAA men’s final, Michigan State vs. Florida, Channel 2, 8.8/15; baseball, New York Yankees vs. Angels, Channel 9, 4.0/6, Dodgers vs. Montreal, Channel 5, 3.2/7.

Note: Each rating point represents 51,350 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.