Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503140042
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Long
ACC associate commissioner Fred Barakat works with athletic directors and coaches at the nine member schools and Raycom Sports, which owns the rights to all ACC home games, to create non-conference TV games. The 1995-96 season will have some new dribble dates.
For example, Maryland will play in a December event at USAir Arena with Florida, Massachusetts and George Washington. Virginia will play a Super Bowl Sunday date, probably against a Big East or Pacific-10 foe.
Wake Forest goes to the Naismith Game in Atlanta. North Carolina will face Texas and Villanova. Duke has two Big Ten foes and UCLA again. The Terps may get a Wooden Classic spot in early December in Anaheim, Calif. How does Florida State-Arizona sound?
Barakat makes a maximum of 45 games available to Raycom/Jefferson Pilot for its package and a maximum of 25 games to ESPN. There's also a maximum of 20 team appearances reserved for national television (ABC, primarily, and CBS).
Of the ACC's 72 conference games this winter, 57 were televised. Many of the Raycom/JP games seen over the air in the ACC's backyard also ended up on fledgling ESPN2 outside the league's region for additional exposure.
Today's ACC Tournament semifinals (1:30 p.m., WDBJ) mark the 13th straight year the event has been seen nationally via syndication and cable (the ESPN telecasts are blacked out in the ACC region).
Raycom also owns the rights to all of the college basketball games ABC airs in its 11 regular-season exposures, mostly Sunday regional shows. Of the 60 team appearances in 1994-95, 15 belonged to the ACC, a conference high. ACC teams played in nine of the 11 telecast windows.
``Four things can happen to an ACC basketball game,'' Raycom executive vice president Ken Haines said. ``A game can be played on the Raycom/JP regional network. Or, it can go on ABC as part of our package there, or CBS, which had two games this year. Or, it can be part of the ESPN cable package.
``Or,'' he added, laughing, ``it can be part of a very, very unusual situation and not be on TV.''
ESPN has 51 ACC appearances, with 32 in the shared Raycom-JP/ESPN2 arrangement. The league also shows up on Home Team Sports, SportsSouth and Prime Network. There were 33 non-conference TV appearances by ACC teams this season.
``We handle a lot of college basketball, and we know what other conferences are doing, too,'' Haines said. ``The ACC easily has the most comprehensive television package.
``The reason? Well, it's the only place I know of where I think you can legitimately say a basketball conference is part of the culture. The Big Ten plays good basketball, and there's good interest there, but it's not part of the culture like it is in this region.
``I can tell you that any station we go into to pitch ACC basketball, we're warmly received. People listen to the whole pitch. It's not a tough sell.''
Last year's ACC Tournament was seen by an average, per game, of 3.55 million viewers nationally via Raycom/JP and ESPN. That's one reason why the league will begin receiving more than $18 million in rights fees for hoops from Raycom starting next season.
``The exposure is just as valuable,'' Barakat said. ``Our coaches love what TV does for their recruiting.''
BRACKET TIME: Yes, the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday evening begins a half-hour earlier than those of the past. That doesn't mean viewers are going to learn who's who in the men's 64-team field that much earlier.
CBS Sports (WDBJ, Channel 7) and cable's ESPN each have NCAA Tournament shows at 6 p.m. Sunday. However, when asked what time the team selections will be revealed from that secret room in Kansas City, Mo., a CBS spokesperson said, ``No earlier than 6:28 p.m.''
So, expect a lot of speculation and perhaps some leaking of information until then from the studio teams. It won't be that way when ESPN unveils the women's 64 teams earlier in the day.
That show starts at 12:30 p.m., and Robin Roberts and Co. should be into the field within a couple of minutes.
PREP HOOPS: WROV Radio (1240 AM) gets into its state high school basketball tournament coverage tonight with the Christiansburg-Northside Group AA game from Salem High at 6:50 p.m.
Jim Carroll and Jerry English will call any state games involving the Northside and Glenvar boys or Cave Spring girls Thursday through next Saturday from the Vines Center in Lynchburg.
EXPRESSIONS: The Roanoke Express will not televise any of its upcoming ECHL playoff games. Club president John Gagnon said the logistics of TV production on short notice is too difficult, considering the uncertain playoff dates and sites due to arena availability.
Gagnon said the Express is making plans for six regular-season road games on TV next season after a solid trial-run game last month at Charlotte.
On radio, some upcoming Express games will be aired on a tape-delay basis by Roanoke's WFIR (960 AM), due to the station's contractual commitment to NCAA Tournament coverage from CBS Radio.
The first two of those are the last two home games on Friday and next Saturday nights.
AWAKENING: Wake Forest's broadcast impact in Southwest Virginia will be increased starting with the 1995 football season. The Deacons have switched to WFXF (100.3 FM) as their flagship station, and the signal of the High Point 100,000-watt station booms into Virginia. Wake also has retained WBRF (98.3 FM) of Galax on the network.
Keywords:
HOCKEY
by CNB