IS IT THE ULTIMATE IN REALITY TV?

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH Media

Don't worry, Mom. The Ultimate Fighting Championships won't be crack-backing The Family Channel lineup soon.

Ultimately, it's a pay-per-view beast, drawing nothing more than a few thousand faithful who don't mind the $24.95 charge to witness contestants such as Kevin ``The Monster'' Randleman and Matt ``The Terror'' Sierra duking it out in the famed Octogon, using holds such as the guillotine choke and the neck crank to put their opponents into submission.

Like a recurring leg cramp, the same loyal viewers will rush home from work tonight to be in front of the tube for the 6 p.m. execution of UFC 31, dubbed ``Locked & Loaded'' from the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, N.J.

But it's that last bit of information that's most important.

Although Nevada has yet to commit, the athletic commissions in more than 40 states sanction the organization's activities. The Taj Mahal has held the last three, and the next one in June will be at the Meadowlands in N.J.

UFC events of the not-so-distant past might have been considered nothing more than illegal-backyard-wrestling bloodlettings held wherever an empty lot could be found. That image is changing.

New people run the show. New combatants have replaced legends such as Tank Abbott and Royce Gracie. Rules have been added to keep it from looking like a ``Mortal Combat'' video game. Eye-gouging and head butting are not optional anymore.

Can you say ``almost legit?''

It might be awhile before the mainstream media takes notice. But the UFC continues to build a TV base and convince state commissions with its spiffed-up image, making it apparent there can be some dignity in trying to determine whether wrestlers or boxers can compete with martial artists. It doesn't call itself ``no holds barred'' anymore.

So with all the reality-based TV shows clogging the airwaves, and a possible actors strike pending, why couldn't this be the next over-the-air answer to ``Survivor''?

``Without question, it's the most misunderstood sporting event in the world today,'' said Lorenzo Fertilla, a former vice chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission who left his position to form a group called Zuffa that took over UFC earlier this year.

``It used to be a brutal event, and that came back to haunt them. It wasn't marketed right. We've made many changes to make it more mainstream. It's all very exciting and we haven't compromised the safety factor.''

Fertilla said although the TV production has improved for these events, the new UFC is ``a proven pay-per-view success'' and he has no plans to try jumping to cable or other advertisement-driven TV. DirecTV, Dish On Demand and various cable companies that carry it report a similar small but loyal number of viewers.

Jeff Blatnick, the former Olympic gold-medal wrestling champ who gives the sport more legitimacy doing analyst work on the UFC TV broadcast, could see more television exposure in the future.

``The more states that adopt the sport, the more it's poised to become not just a pay-per-view event but bypassing that and getting a more normal cable deal,'' Blatnick said. ``There's enough viewership to support it. I get more people asking me these days about the UFC instead of my wrestling. To me, that's a strong signal.

``I wouldn't be involved in anything that is a spectacle or barbaric. I think we've created the right kind of environment to pull this off.''

--Saddle up the peacock: Unfortunately, NBC won't strap a jockey cam on jockey-sized Bob Costas to show what it's like breaking out of the Kentucky Derby gates to mark its first opportunity to cover the most exciting two minutes of TV on Saturday at 2 p.m.

There are, however, a lot of slick things producer David Michaels would like to try on the technical side to make his telecast look different from the ones ABC put out the last 26 years.

Fact is, even though he did a lot of fun stuff for the network when covering the past eight Breeders' Cups, Michaels will go along with the wishes of the Churchill Downs folks and keep it to a simple 38-camera production, including five robotic cameras at the starting gate.

This is NBC's first Derby in a new five-year partnership with Triple Crown Productions. It isn't going in with blinders.

``The track does things differently here,'' said Michaels, sounding like a CBS golf producer faced with doing the Masters. ``When you're dealing with thoroughbreds at the Kentucky Derby, and a lot of these technical devices get too close to the horses, it can get scary. We're taking the traditional approach until things evolve.''

Michaels, the Agoura Hills-based producer whose brother Al was host for the event for ABC for many years, wants to give the NBC show a more live feel.

``ABC did a hell of a job,'' Michaels said. ``A lot of what happens at the Derby happens on the day of the race, and it's up to whoever's doing it to capture that. From our perspective, we'll have the talent and other components very live.''

Kentucky native Tom Hammonds, recovering from surgery to treat diverticulitis that caused him to lose 25 pounds, has the Al Michaels role as overall host with Charlsie Cantey, who did the last 14 Derbys for ABC. Tom Derkin calls the race. Costas plays Jim McKay to do ceremonial interviews, trying to give a big event some credence.

--According to KO: Compounding factual inaccuracies during Ken Burns' PBS documentary on baseball several years ago provided plenty of ammunition for Keith Olbermann, a baseball historian who doubles as a sportscaster on occasion.

So it's with some astonishment that Fox's Olbermann gives Billy Crystal's HBO movie ``61*'' an A- grade for historical accuracy.

``He gets a pass because he did what Ken Burns should've done: put in the disclaimer that some elements and characters were changed for the sake of the dramatic narrative,'' said Olbermann, who grew up in New York watching the Roger Maris-Mickey Mantle chase first hand as a kid.

So what if Yankee Stadium is shown with an auxiliary scoreboard hanging from the upper deck behind third base - Tiger Stadium had that, not New York.

And so what if Washington's Griffith Stadium is referred to as ``Griffith Park'' - not the home of the L.A. observatory.

And so what if Bob Cerv didn't start the '61 season with the Yankees - he was with the expansion Angels and didn't get traded back to New York until about May.

But as for Babe Ruth's rather stout widow, Claire? C'mon.

``As much as I love (actress) Renee Taylor,'' said Olbermann, ``Babe Ruth's widow was a small, sparrow-like woman.''

Even William Bendix knew that.

SOUND BYTES

WHAT SMOKES

-- USC and KMPC-AM (1540) have hooked up for a three-year deal for football and basketball radio game coverage starting in the fall, meaning the 690-AM signal that staggers lethargically through the San Fernando Valley won't be the main source of scorn (although 1540 had been an alternate affiliate the last few years). KMPC says it also will boost its signal and/or USC will create a network throughout Southern California to ensure all the pockets are covered. For now, USC wants to keep the announcers on board, but this switch could mean the eventual sacking of Lee ``Hacksaw'' Hamilton (not his real name) as the play-by-play bellower. The most qualified to replace 'Saw on football would be Rory Markas, who has done the Trojans basketball games the last few seasons.

--Since you have a life and won't be up at 7 a.m. Saturday to watch ESPN's ``The Life,'' at least tape it or try to catch a rerun this week. Shaquille O'Neal takes up the entire half-hour show, as cameras followed him around for five days in March to document such things as his scaring a little kid in another car while waiting in traffic, signing income tax forms ... basically doing what every 7-foot-1, 335-pound guy would do around L.A. without getting arrested.

--Fox suits take note: Keith Olbermann has booked former Dodgers GM Kevin Malone as the ``Evening News'' in-studio guest Sunday night to discuss whatever's on his mind these days, if he hasn't already revealed how scrambled that could be with his bizarre press conference Thursday with the media.

--NBC has put Mike Breen, Bill Walton and Steve Jones on the Lakers- Sacramento series that starts Sunday at noon. The Marv Albert-Doug Collins team moves to the Philadelphia vs. New York/Toronto winner series.

--Jim Rome's annual clone smack-off, today at 9 a.m., AM-1150. Again, invite only. Listen and learn.

WHAT CHOKES

--NBA czar David Stern insists the league will push for a more compressed first-round playoff schedule when the TV contract renewals come up with NBC and TNT - but that won't happen until the season after next. And he's not considering adjusting to a best-of-three or best-of-seven format to help the process. At least promise to end the thing before the next season begins.

--Under the guise of giving viewers a ``behind the scenes'' feel for what their guys go through, ESPN's ``Up Close'' dedicates each show next week to interviewing their own people. Dick Vitale starts the love fest, followed by Stuart Scott, Mike Tirico, Dan Patrick and, the grand finale, sacred boomer Chris Berman. All questions will be lobbed by Nick Bakay instead of Gary Miller - who'd probably be asked to interview himself if he stuck around, so it's best he's not subjected to this.

--Todd Merkow, who ran Fox Sports Net West since Nov., '99, has left to become president and chief operating officer for the Arena Football League's L.A. Avengers. Merkow's constant drive to improve the Southern California Regional Sports Report was obviously overruled by those closer to the production who want a more rah-rah atmosphere. At least he tried.

--Boston Globe media writer Bill Griffith wrote this week that NASCAR fans' ``worst fears were realized'' when local Fox affiliate WFXT edited out a chunk of its tape-delayed telecast of the NAPA Auto Parts 500 from California Speedway. That just isn't right. If we have to watch all of it, they should have to also.

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