Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 30, 1993 TAG: 9310300115
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The next "Game of the Century" - top-ranked Florida State at No. 2 Notre Dame - is an NBC telecast on Nov. 13. However, it won't air on WSLS (Channel 10), the NBC affiliate in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market.
WSLS will air the Syracuse-Virginia Tech game from the Big East schedule that day at noon. FSU-Notre Dame has a 1:30 airtime. WSLS intended to join the "Poll Bowl" in progress, between 3 and 3:30 p.m., or tape-delay the game and air the game from South Bend, Ind., in its entirety after the Syracuse-Tech conclusion.
Jim DeSchepper, vice president and general manager of WSLS, said Friday afternoon he was informed by NBC that the network is moving the FSU-Notre Dame telecast to WJPR/WFXR (Channels 21/27), the market's Fox Network affiliate.
An NBC spokesman said WJPR/WFXR called the network this week and inquired about the availability of a live telecast of FSU-Notre Dame. The Fox station has picked up ABC's college games with noon kickoffs for the past three years, since those games had to be pre-empted by WSET (Channel 13), which has the ACC package.
The decision, by NBC Sports and the network's affiliate relations department, puts Florida State-Notre Dame on WJPR/WFXR for a live telecast from 1:30-5 p.m.
"The network said it couldn't permit any delayed broadcast," DeSchepper said. "We'll carry five or six NotreDame games this year, and we wish we could carry this one. It's a heckuva game. However, given a choice, our choice is to carry and support the local team. If we're going to be brand loyal, we'll be brand loyal to the local school. Tech is located here, and this is a big year for them. Notre Dame is in Indiana."
A WJPR/WFXR corporate spokesman did not return phone calls Friday about NBC's decision to offer the FSU-Notre Dame telecast to the Fox affiliate.
Rich Hussey, vice president of programming and affiliate services for NBC Sports, said the Roanoke-Lynchburg market isn't unique with this conflict. In Richmond, FSU-Notre Dame is moving to an independent station because the NBC affiliate carries ACC games.
"We have a number of those clearance situations, mostly in the ACC and Southeastern Conference areas," Hussey said. "WSLS has cleared Notre Dame all year long and is a great partner of the network, but we understand that they have a game of local interest.
"Our desire is to get the game aired live in as many markets as possible. Generally, we ask for live clearances of all of our events, and it's a policy to seek as many live clearances for Notre Dame as possible. This game is one in particular that people want to see."
While WJPR/WFXR sought FSU-Notre Dame, it yanked previously scheduled ABC noon games today (Notre Dame-Navy) and Nov. 20 (Ohio State-Michigan). Movies have been scheduled instead.
\ TECH-UVA TV: The potential for a telecast of the Virginia Tech-Virginia football game is very real, unless either or both teams crash the next two Saturdays. There is a lack of quality games on Nov. 20, and ABC and ESPN need at least two games apiece to fill vacancies.
There's also a possibility the scheduled 1 p.m. game at Scott Stadium could become the noon kickoff on the ACC network, if the Florida State-North Carolina State game is taken by ABC or ESPN - the latter more likely.
Miami-West Virginia or FSU-N.C. State figures to be one ABC game, with Texas-Baylor another, because the Southwest Conference needs appearances. That leaves Kentucky-Tennessee and Tech-Virginia as the top candidates. ESPN has games at 4 and 7:30 p.m.
\ HOOPS HERE: The NBA season opens Friday, and telecast plans are similar as in recent seasons. Cable's TNT starts a 50-game regular-season schedule with Friday's 8 p.m. doubleheader of Chicago-Charlotte and Phoenix visiting the Los Angeles Lakers. NBC doesn't open its 22-game schedule until Christmas Day.
NBA club telecast schedules of 30 games again will be aired by TBS (Atlanta), WGN (Chicago) and Home Team Sports (Washington), although most regional cable systems must black out Bullets' games on HTS because of the Charlotte Hornets' regional market.
WGN begins its Bulls' schedule a week from tonight against Miami. The Hawks' opener on TBS is Monday, Nov. 8 at Chicago. The only Virginia market with Hornets' telecasts is Norfolk. However, WROV Radio (1240 AM) is part of Charlotte's radio network and will air approximately 60 games, 35-40 of those live.
\ AROUND THE DIAL: WSLS (Channel 10) has added next Saturday's Virginia Tech-Boston College telecast to its Big East Football Conference schedule, at noon. . . . Michael Jordan is making the talk-show rounds. His next stop comes Monday at 9 p.m. on CNN's "Larry King Live," where Jordan will field phone calls and King questions for an hour. . . . The 1993 World Series, on CBS, finished as the second-lowest Series in Nielsen ratings history. Only the 1989 Series on ABC, interrupted by the Bay Area earthquake, was lower. Of CBS' four World Series ('90-93), three were ranked among the five lowest ratings performances since 1968. . . . It's less than three weeks until the college basketball opener. ESPN starts its schedule of more than 200 games with the Western Kentucky-North Carolina game in the Preseason NIT, on Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. . . . In only two days, Cox Cable Roanoke has gotten 130 subscribers to Home Team Sports, one of its services launching Monday to about one-third of its subscriber base.
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB