PROGRAMMING: Mannings Push NFL Package

[Gregg Lengling]

DirecTV said it signed pro football's "first family," the Mannings, as spokesmen for the 2004 NFL Sunday Ticket package. The agreement marks the first official endorsement for University of Mississippi quarterback Eli Manning, projected to be a high pic in this weekend's NFL Draft. Manning will team up with father and former NFL great Archie and brother and current NFL player Peyton in support of the out-of-market sports package.

WGN Joins DISH Hispanic Package - Superstation WGN has been added to EchoStar's DISH Network Hispanic package offerings, DISH Latino Dos and DISH Latino Max. The move for the Tribune TV unit comes on the heels of a recently completed deal that includes distribution of Superstation WGN on DISH's America's Top 100 service as well as retransmission consent for Tribune's owned and operated television stations.

Fox Gets UEFA Cup Coverage - Through an agreement reached between Fox Sports International and UEFA, Fox Sports World will retain exclusive U.S. telecast rights to this year's UEFA Cup final and Super Cup matches, the programmer announced this week. Telecast rights for Spanish-language services on Fox Sports en Espanol in the U.S. and Fox Sports Latin America also are part of the deal. With the addition of Fox Sports World's sister channels, the combined audience for this year's matches will reach 37 million across the Americas, Fox said.

WWE on Spike TV - World Wrestling Entertainment said it will debut a new Sunday morning program on Spike TV called, The WWE Experience. The program is the first step in a multi-faceted campaign directed at attracting younger viewers to the WWE brand, the programmer said. Spike TV is part of the MTV Networks slate.