Media Notes

A DALLAS MORNING NEWS editorial in response to Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban's ban on bloggers in the locker room states: "We're befuddled, to say the least, why he felt the need to change the team's locker-room-access policy to bar one blogger, who happens to work for this newspaper." The editorial: "If [Cuban] has a problem with Tim MacMahon, why not just ban Tim MacMahon and have the courage to say so? Why fabricate a 'policy' on bloggers supported by the 'logic' that if the team lets one blogger in, it has to admit them all? ... We can only hope the NBA helps him come to his senses" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/13). DONE DEALS: Startup network La Sexta has acquired the Spanish TV rights to F1 for five seasons beginning in '09. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The auction was coordinated by Mediapro, a partner at film and TV company Imagina, La Sexta's controlling shareholder (DAILY VARIETY, 3/13).... The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) has entered into a partnership with XM Satellite Radio, marking the first time every ALMS event will be broadcast on XM ( AutoRacing1. com, 3/12). NOTES: Comcast SportsNet (CSN) this season will broadcast 103 Phillies regular-season games, including 48 home broadcasts in HD. Tom McCarthy will join the broadcast team of Harry Kalas, Chris Wheeler and Gary Matthews. McCarthy will handle play-by-play duties between the fourth and sixth inning and will report from the field for the rest of the game (THE DAILY) ....The MLS Fire have partnered with Chicago's WPWR-MYT to televise a record 18 games over the air during the '08 season. Fred Huebner will handle play-by-play duties and Chris Doran will serve as color analyst for the telecasts (Fire) ....The AFL Gladiators will have "at least seven of their remaining games televised," including six on FSN Ohio. FSN Ohio's first broadcast will be April 19 at 10:30pm ET (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 3/13).

XM Satellite Radio To Broadcast All Of This Year's ALMS Races