`REPORT’ READY FOR PRIME TIME

Apparently, the hiring of new anchor Dyrol Joyner was just the beginning of changes for “The SportsChannel Report.” Starting Monday, the 30-minute news and highlights show will move to a new time of 10 p.m. as well as move to a new studio set.

“The show’s come a long way,” says SportsChannel General Manager Jim Corno. “Now’s the time to really promote it.”

So instead of competing with ESPN’s “SportsCenter” for viewers, “The SportsChannel Report” will vie with CNN’s “Sports Tonight” in addition to local newscasts.

“Our research showed a majority of cable subscribers and sports fans would rather see `The Report’ earlier,” explained Corno. “Our philosophy has been to let the show prove itself. Now’s the time to take it to the next level. This way (at 10:30 p.m.), it gives viewers the opportunity to get a sampling of sports first. Besides, we feel our coverage is comparable to anybody’s.”

To “enhance” the show’s “presentation,” as Corno said, designer Mary Margret Bartley created a new set that “suggests a sports stadium atmosphere,” according to executive producer John Tuohey. Also, Dome Productions has helped design new openings for “Report,” as it has done for the station’s Bulls and Blackhawks telecasts.

In addition to its new starting time, “SportsChannel Report,” which debuted three years ago and moved to a regular time period one year later, will be seen immediately after every Bulls, Blackhawks and White Sox telecast on the cable station.

“We’ll have a more contemporary look,” said Corno.

– Illinois State has made inroads into the Chicago area by signing a one-year radio deal for WJKL-FM in Elgin to carry all but one Redbirds men’s basketball game, four women’s basketball games and a three-minute women’s sports roundup on Sunday nights. In addition, sister station WRMN-AM will air men’s basketball coach Kevin Stallings’ weekly call-in show on Thursday nights.

– Saturday’s college football TV lineup: 11 a.m., Florida State-Maryland, SportsChannel; 11:30 a.m., Minnesota-Illinois, ESPN; 2:30 p.m., Ohio State-Wisconsin, WLS-Ch. 7; 5:30 p.m., Pac-10 TBA, SportsChannel; 6:30 p.m., Clemson-North Carolina, ESPN. . . . Michael Jordan, fresh from his appearance with Oprah, continues his book tour on CNN’s “Larry King Live” at 8 p.m. Monday. King will recap the event on Tom Shaer’s WSCR-AM morning show Tuesday about 8:10 a.m.

– Although ABC will televise some National Hockey League regular-season and playoff contests, NBC has continued its agreement for TV rights to the NHL All-Star Game, which it has televised since 1990. “With this agreement, NBC becomes the only broadcast network to televise events with each of the four major sports in 1994,” said NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol. NBC also has exclusive rights to the NBA in addition to baseball and NFL games in 1994.

– Nick Charles and Fred Hickman will return to host TNT’s 45 hours of weekday Winter Olympics coverage from noon to 5 p.m. Feb. 14-18 and 22-25. And, like the ’92 Albertville Games, Charles and Hickman will work out of the cable network’s Atlanta studios. Also like two years ago, CBS will have first choice of events to air via tape-delay, which means TNT will be hockey-heavy the first week.

– Former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps rotates with Clark Kellogg as studio analyst on ESPN’s college basketball telecasts. Phelps and Kellogg also will call games during the season, which begins in earnest for the cable network Nov. 17 when North Carolina and Western Kentucky meet in the preseason NIT.

– Al McGuire has signed with CBS for a third season as a college basketball analyst. The former Marquette coach isn’t too happy about the school changing its Warriors nickname. He has a suggestion: “The Marquette Abominable Snowmen. That way, only defrocked monks from Tibet would consider protesting, which, no matter what their reasoning, would be impossible because they simply can’t protest in the snow in sandals.” . . . On a more serious note, the network also has picked its first three telecasts: Louisville-Kentucky, Nov. 27; Kentucky-Indiana, Dec. 4; Duke-Michigan, Dec. 11.

– ABC airs 13 college basketball games on WLS-Ch. 7 this season, including three Sunday double-headers. The Raycom-produced package starts with the Ohio State-North Carolina contest at 12:30 p.m. Dec. 18. . . . The Great Midwest Conference, trying to avoid the glut of Saturday afternoon and night basketball telecasts, has moved its “Game of the Week” to Sunday nights on SportsChannel. . . . WGN-Ch. 9 carries 10 De Paul men’s basketball games this season, starting with the Bradley contest at 7 p.m. Dec. 7 and concluding with the Notre Dame meeting at 3 p.m. Feb. 20.