Bruin Fans: Quiet, Taping in Progress

You may have heard that UCLA’s game against California at Berkeley on Saturday is not on live television. The immediate reaction is: How can that be?

Couldn’t Fox Sports Net 2 or ESPN2 or something 2 find room for one football game?

It’s not always that simple.

Pacific 10 Conference schools can go up against a 12:30 p.m. ABC game only once a year, and UCLA opted to use that one exception a week from Saturday when the Bruins play host to Oregon State.

For this Saturday, ABC chose Oregon-USC as its 12:30 game, Fox Sports Net has Washington- Arizona State at 7:15 p.m. as its Pac-10 game of the week, and Stanford-Oregon State is FSN’s syndicated game that Channel 9 is carrying at 3:30 p.m.

Cal could have moved the time of its game with UCLA to 3:30 or 7 p.m., but since Memorial Stadium does not have lights, temporary lights--at a cost of $75,000--would have been needed. That expense for a Fox Sports Net 2 telecast couldn’t be justified.

So Fox Sports Net 2 will tape the game, with Bill Macdonald and Mike Sherrard announcing, and show it Sunday at 5 p.m. Of course, there’s always the live radio broadcast with Chris Roberts, Billy Ray Smith and Matt Stevens on KXTA (1150).

MORE SPORTS TALK?

ABC Radio is very close to a deal in which it will purchase KRLA (1110) and turn it into an all-sports station featuring ESPN Radio programming.

That presumably means that Los Angeles will finally get Dan Patrick’s popular 10 a.m.-to-1 p.m. show.

It would also mean a spot for ESPN’s complete postseason baseball radio coverage--a definite need.

Although an ABC Radio spokesperson in New York said it is company policy not to comment until a deal is completed, other sources said this one is imminent.

The plan is to supplement the ESPN Radio programming with two local shows on the new KRLA, with speculation that one will feature Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian in afternoon drive time. They are already in the ABC fold, doing a Sunday night show for KABC Radio.

‘REALITY FOOTBALL’

Vince McMahon was in Los Angeles this week to promote a wrestling show at Staples Center and make a speech at a Hollywood Television and Radio Society luncheon in Universal City.

McMahon’s latest venture is the XFL, the new eight-team football league that begins play Feb. 3, the weekend after the Super Bowl, and concludes with a championship game April 21. Los Angeles’ entry, the Xtreme, will play at the Coliseum.

Games will be on Saturdays and Sundays, with NBC carrying Saturday games at 5 p.m. and UPN--Channel 13 in Los Angeles--televising Sunday games at 4 p.m. A cable outlet for Sunday games has not been determined.

McMahon called the league “reality football.” Apparently, that means the XFL will be a sports version of “Survivor” and “Big Brother.”

“We’ll have cameras and microphones everywhere,” McMahon said. “When a player gets chewed out by a coach, viewers will hear it. Of course, we’ll have to have a slight delay [to bleep out the expletives].

“Everything that takes place in the locker room or anywhere else will be on camera.”

OH MY, ANOTHER OHLMEYER

To generate interest, the Xtreme has turned to an Ohlmeyer. Drew Ohlmeyer, 32, the oldest of Don Ohlmeyer’s four sons, is the team’s media relations director. Ohlmeyer comes from the NBC affiliate in Palm Springs, where he was the sports anchor the last 2 1/2 years.

There, he used the name Justin Drew, his first and middle names. Although he said he does grow tired of people asking if he is Don Ohlmeyer’s son, he said he wasn’t trying to hide his identity. He said the main reason he used Justin Drew is because it sounds better. Makes sense. That’s the reason Dan Patrick Pugh dropped the Pugh from his on-air name.

If Drew Ohlmeyer generates even a fraction of the publicity his father has for “Monday Night Football,” he will have done a fine job.

SHORT WAVES

Arthur Smith, bought in by Fox Sports Chairman David Hill in 1996 to launch and head Fox Sports Net as its executive vice president of programming, production and news, is leaving to start his own production company. “It’s a dream I’ve always had,” he said. Smith formerly was the head of sports for CBC and later ran Dick Clark Productions. . . . Attention soccer fans in need of more 2002 World Cup coverage: Spanish-language Channel 34 launches a new half-hour sports news show Sunday at 9:30 a.m., “Seleccion Deportiva” (“Sports Selection”). The show, with newcomer Francisco Pinto and veteran Bernardo Osuna, will emphasize international soccer. . . . Sunday’s MLS Cup is being televised by ABC at 10:30 a.m., and an audio broadcast is available on internetsoccer.com. . . . The Honda Indy 300 in Australia, shown delayed at 4 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2, is the last CART race before the season finale, the Marlboro 500 at Fontana on Oct. 29. The Australian race probably will determine if Gil de Ferran can wrap up the title. . . . The Outdoor Life network televised an amazing event Wednesday--the 15th Marathon of the Sands, a seven-day, 150-mile foot race across the Sahara. Other playdates include Thursday at 7 a.m., or a tape can be ordered: 800 229-8575.

IN CLOSING

With KRLA about to go all sports and rumors that the new Fox Sports Radio network, a joint venture between Fox and Premiere, may eventually end up on KLAC (570), the question arises: How many sports-talk stations does Los Angeles need? One Arnie Spanier is already one too many.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Oct. 7-8:

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share College football: Arizona at USC 7 3.9 10 College football: Florida State at Miami 2 3.8 11 Baseball playoffs: San Francisco at N.Y. Mets 11 6.7 15 Baseball playoffs: Oakland at N.Y. Yankees 4 3.8 8 College football: Stanford at Notre Dame 4 1.7 15 Golf: Solheim Cup 4 1.1 3

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Cable Network Rating Share Baseball playoffs: St. Louis at Atlanta ESPN 2.5 7 College football: Oregon State at Washington FSN 2.3 4 Boxing: Oleg Maskaev vs. Kirk Johnson HBO 1.6 4 Golf: Michelob Championship ESPN 0.8 2 College football: Tennessee at Georgia ESPN 0.7 2 College football: California at Arizona State FSN 0.7 1 Boxing: Johnny Tapia vs. Paulie Ayala SHO 0.6 1 Hockey: Kings at Buffalo FSN2 0.4 1 Horse racing: Oak Tree Live FSN2 0.3 1 Hockey: Nashville vs. Pittsburgh ESPN2 0.2 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro football: Oakland at San Francisco 2 12.8 27 Baseball playoffs: N.Y. Yankees at Oakland 11 8.2 14 Pro football: Washington at Philadelphia 2 7.5 13 Pro football: Indianapolis at New England 2 5.8 14 Golf: Michelob Championship 7 1.1 2 Golf: Solheim Cup 4 1.0 3

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Cable Network Rating Share Pro football: Baltimore at Jacksonville ESPN 5.8 10 Baseball playoffs: San Francisco at N.Y. Mets ESPN 2.6 6 Horse racing: Oak Tree Turf Championship FSN 0.9 2 Horse racing: Oak Tree Live FSN2 0.8 2 Horse racing: From Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. ESPN2 0.6 2 Auto racing: NASCAR UAW-GM Quality 500 TBS 0.4 1 Auto racing: Formula One Japanese Grand Prix FSN 0.3 1

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: MONDAY: NFL, Tampa Bay at Minnesota, Ch. 7, 16.8/26. TUESDAY: Baseball, Seattle at New York Yankees, Ch. 4, 9.7/17. WEDNESDAY: Seattle at Yankees, Ch. 4, 5.4/15; New York Mets at St. Louis, Ch. 11, 6.3/10.

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.