SPORTS WEEKEND : TV-RADIO / LARRY STEWART : CBS Sees Bright Side for the U.S. Open

NEW YORK —  The mood around the CBS complex at the U.S. Open was fairly upbeat, particularly since it was the day after it had been learned Pete Sampras was out because of a bad back.

Two-time defending champion Patrick Rafter had also defaulted the night before and was gone.

Not good news in the ratings department.

And CBS is coming off a record-low 2.7 rating for last year’s men’s final between Rafter and fellow Australian Mark Philippoussis.

CBS also had to scrap features on Sampras and Rafter.

So where was the silver lining?

“Because the NFL is starting a week later this year, we’ve got seven hours that are virtually unopposed on Sunday,” coordinating producer Bob Mansbach said as he sat in his office in a production trailer. “It gives us a chance to put some new names into the limelight and develop some story lines for the following weekend.”

CBS will also have seven hours of coverage on Saturday and seven more Monday during the first weekend. It will have more than 40 hours in all, counting the late-night highlight shows.

But that pales in comparison to the 86 hours the USA network is doing.

“This is our signature event,” said Gordon Beck, head of USA’s sports production.

This is CBS’ 32nd year of covering the Open and USA’s 16th.

In the early years of shared coverage, USA used CBS’ production team and most of its announcers. Now USA has its own production team and only two announcers, John McEnroe and Bill Macatee, work for both networks.

This is Macatee’s 11th Open for USA, McEnroe’s eighth. Beck, who first hired McEnroe in 1992, was asked if he’d known just how good the volatile former player would be.

“We knew he would be good, but not this good,” Beck said.

Is he the best?

“Hands down,” Beck said.

USA announcer Ted Robinson will have an interesting double on Monday. Robinson, in his sixth season as the television voice of the San Francisco Giants, will work an afternoon Giant-Met game at Shea Stadium and then walk over to the National Tennis Center to call that night’s matches. Robinson says it will be “a labor of love” on Labor Day.

IRELAND, KXTA PART COMPANY

John Ireland has quietly disappeared from the morning show on KXTA (1150). Derrick Hall has been going it alone, with Ken Levine filling in at times.

KXTA did not give Ireland a new contract, but it wasn’t because station management didn’t like him. It was a case of Ireland spreading himself too thin.

KXTA program director Mike Thompson said the problem was that since Ireland also works for Channel 9 as a feature reporter and weekend sports anchor, he was not available to make personal appearances, which is required of on-air talent.

“John’s a great guy, and if I had a chance I’d hire him again,” Thompson said. “But his television job took precedence and meant he couldn’t make personal appearances for us.”

Said Ireland: “During each of the five years I was doing both jobs, I would tell people, ‘This is my last year of doing both jobs.’ I never had a day off. I was working nights and getting up at 4 o’clock in the morning. I was getting four hours of sleep a night.”

Ireland will also be doing radio play-by-play on at least 15 Clipper radio broadcasts next season and his Channel 9 job will require him to travel with the Lakers on West Coast trips. And he’d also like to spend more time with new wife Leasa.

“My years at 1150 were great, the best,” Ireland said. “And Derrick has become a star in a very short period of time. I’m going to miss working with him and everyone else at 1150.”

SHORT WAVES

A new show, “Running with the Pac,” featuring Pacific 10 athletes and teams, makes its debut on Fox Sports West Saturday at 3 p.m. David Norrie will be a regular contributor and local reporters will be used. . . . The first NFL/Comic Relief Celebrity Golf Shootout, taped at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, will be televised as a two-hour special on Fox Sunday at noon. Maybe the most unusual pairing was Peyton Manning and George Wendt. “I was the pulling guard,” Wendt said. The event raised $350,000 for Comic Relief charities. . . . ESPN will move its early “SportsCenter” edition to 3 p.m. from 3:30, beginning Tuesday. “Up Close” will move to 2:30. . . . The “First and Ten” technology--that yellow line--ESPN used on the Oregon-Michigan State game Thursday night will be used on all Thursday and Saturday prime-time games. . . . Channel 11 is inviting viewers to vote on which game its shows as its second NFL game Sept. 12. The choices: San Francisco at Jacksonville or Minnesota at Atlanta. Votes can be made through www.fox11la.com or by calling (900) 990-4533. Calls cost 75 cents.

Del Harris is scheduled to be the featured guest on the “Saturday Sports Showcase” talk show on KRLA (1110) during the 10 o’clock hour. The show, with hosts Fred Wallin and Peter Vent, runs from 9 p.m. to midnight. The 9:30-10 half-hour will mark the return of “Ringside With Johnny Ortiz.” . . . KIEV (870) will broadcast the UCLA women’s volleyball match from Hawaii on Monday at 8 p.m., and apparently it will be the last UCLA women’s event the station will carry. Associate Athletic Director Mike Sondheimer, who serves as the announcer on most of the broadcasts, is trying to create a new four-station network that includes UCLA flagship station KXTA. . . . Long Beach State recently honored former Channel 5 sportscaster Ed Arnold with its University Award of Excellence.

IN CLOSING

Even though adjustments were made to give Fox Sports West 2 a 3 1/2-hour window, that may not be enough to show all of UCLA’s 6 p.m. opener against Boise State and still make the 9:30 kickoff for USC-Hawaii.

What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Aug. 28-29, including sports on cable networks:

SATURDAY

*--*

Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Gymnastics: U.S. Championships 4 4.6 9 Track and field: World Championships 4 3.6 11 Baseball: Chicago Cubs at Dodgers 11 3.5 9 College football: Arizona at Penn State 7 3.3 10 Little League World Series championship 7 3.3 9 Golf: PGA NEC Invitational 2 3.1 9 College football: Kansas at Notre Dame 4 2.9 8 Tennis: WTA Pilot Pen International 2 1.9 6

*--*

*

*--*

Cable Network Rating Share Boxing: David Reid vs. Keith Mullings HBO 1.8 6 Pro football: Exhibition, San Diego at St. Louis FSW2 1.5 4 Auto racing: NASCAR Winston Cup Goody’s 500 ESPN 1.2 3 Little League World Series Home Run Derby ESPN2 0.6 2 College football: North Carolina State at Texas ESPN2 0.6 1 Golf: LPGA Oldsmobile Classic ESPN 0.6 1 Horse racing: Travers Stakes ESPN2 0.5 1 College football: Louisiana Tech at Florida State ESPN2 0.4 1 Little League World Series: All-Star game ESPN2 0.4 1 Soccer: MLS, Galaxy at Dallas FSW 0.4 1 Baseball: New York Mets at Arizona FX 0.2 0

*--*

*

SUNDAY

*--*

Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro football: Exhibition, Denver at Dallas 11 6.7 13 Golf: PGA NEC Invitational 2 6.4 16 Gymnastics: U.S. Championships (tape) 4 6.1 11 College football: Miami vs. Ohio State 7 4.4 11 Track and field: World Championships 4 4.2 12 Baseball: Angels at Boston 9 2.1 6 Horse racing: Pacific Classic 11 2.1 5 Tennis: Arthur Ashe Kids Day 2 1.8 6 Pro basketball: WNBA playoffs, Sparks at Houston 4 1.6 4

*--*

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Cable Network Rating Baseball: Atlanta at St. Louis ESPN 1.6 Horse racing: Del Mar Debutante ESPN 1.0 Golf: PGA Reno-Tahoe Open CNBC 0.7 Golf: LPGA Oldsmobile Classic ESPN 0.4 Pro basketball: WNBA playoffs, Charlotte at New York LIF 0.4

Cable Share Baseball: Atlanta at St. Louis 3 Horse racing: Del Mar Debutante 3 Golf: PGA Reno-Tahoe Open 2 Golf: LPGA Oldsmobile Classic 1 Pro basketball: WNBA playoffs, Charlotte at New York 1

*--*

WEEKDAY RATINGS: Monday--Pro football, exhibition, San Francisco at Oakland, Ch. 7, 9.2/17.

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.