ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996 TAG: 9611040116
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: ON THE AIR
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
The first season of new college football telecast contracts is two months old, and already one concern of the conferences and networks has been realized.
There aren't enough quality games for conferences to fill three packages. Ratings are down, and the noon conference syndicators and their stations will learn on a local basis what the networks and ESPN have found in the first two months of the season.
There's too much college football on TV, and not enough good college football on TV.
It's particularly a problem for the ACC and the Big East, which don't have the numbers of the Big 12 or Southeastern Conference. The ACC and Jefferson Pilot Sports, which produces the league's noon schedule, already have discussed trimming what has been a 12-week syndicated package next season.
The ACC and the Big East have had weekly network games on ABC and CBS, respectively, and most Saturdays have gotten another game on ESPN or ESPN2. That doesn't leave much to show in the conference window.
``With three packages, we are kind of extended,'' said ACC assistant commissioner Rick Chryst, who coordinates the league's TV plans. ``That, coupled with trying to do some things scheduling-wise to add more punch to the network packages, leaves you short on some dates.''
Chryst said it is likely the ACC will reduce its JP schedule to no more than 10 but no fewer than eight weeks next season. Another factor is that ABC and CBS are airing more noon games than in the past, when the College Football Association contacts limited such conflicts.
The Big East should consider a similar move with its syndicator, ESPN-rooted Creative Sports. Of the 22 Big East TV network dates this season, half will be filled by Temple, Rutgers and Pitt. That's not a good package to ask a station like Roanoke's WSLS to sell. Channel 10 will end up with as many Temple or Rutgers games as its Virginia Tech and West Virginia total (four).
HOOPLA: The NBA season opened Friday night, and on the tube, the league will look much like it has in recent years, with one exception. Outside of the Chicago region, the Bulls' telecasts on WGN must be blacked out. The NBA has finally won its legal battle to give exclusivity to Turner Broadcasting's TNT and TBS as the league's national cable carriers.
TNT began its 45-game schedule with a Friday doubleheader and will air single games most Tuesday and Friday nights. TBS has a Wednesday night series of 25 games, including three twin bills. NBC remains the league's major network with a regular-season schedule that begins with a Christmas doubleheader and returns beginning Jan.19 with mostly weekend afternoon games.
In the region, Home Team Sports is the Washington Bullets' cable outlet, with 30 games. Danville's WDRG has returned with a portion of the Charlotte Hornets' TV package. The station will air 18 of its 27 telecasts live, beginning with tonight's 7:30 tip-off against Toronto.
With the NBA celebrating its 50th birthday, Turner Sports and NBA entertainment have combined on a two-hour documentary on the league, hosted by Denzel Washington. ``NBA at 50'' makes its debut at 8 p.m. Nov.13 on TNT.
ESPNEWS: With a wry and colorful introduction and a simulcast on ESPN, the 24-hour sports news network, ESPNEWS, signed on Friday night. After the first hour, however, there weren't many viewers.
ESPN has 69.8 million subscriber homes, with 37.9 million hooked up to ESPN2. ESPNEWS begins with agreements with systems totaling 4 million subscribers, with about 1.5 million of those having the launch available. None of this region's larger cable systems is offering the service.
ESPNEWS faces a similar situation as another 24-hour sports news network, CNNSI, which will sign on Dec.12. Many cable systems are close to channel capacity. The new networks are fighting in the same niche for the same audiences. Each also has clout thanks to very popular sister networks with which they can be sold.
ESPN will generate more exposure for ESPNEWS by simulcasting the new network during between-period breaks in NHL games and at halftime of college basketball telecasts on ESPN2. It also has a six-week lead on CNNSI. However, building a large audience rapidly won't be easy.
AROUND THE DIAL: Yes, Fox had the third-lowest Nielsen rating in World Series history for the Yankees' six-game triumph over Atlanta. Still, the prime-time Nielsen for the series was 17.4, which trails only the Super Bowl (46.1), Atlanta Olympics (21.6) and NCAA Tournament final (18.3) in prime-time sports ratings this year. College basketball's start arrives in less than two weeks. ESPN has the opening doubleheader, The Classic, with Connecticut-Indiana and Kentucky-Clemson from Indianapolis at 7 p.m. on Nov.15. CBS has the finale of NASCAR's Busch Grand National Series from Homestead, Fla., at noon on Sunday (WDBJ), with a points race even closer than that on the Winston Cup circuit. A Craftsman Truck race from Las Vegas follows as the network programs six hours of speed against the NFL on NBC and Fox. Cable's fX, which has been carrying a college football game weekly and next baseball season will air two games a week, is getting into the college basketball business, too. The network will air a weekly Pacific 10 game late Thursday nights starting Jan.2. CBS, already with the most extensive golf schedule among the ``Big Three'' networks, is adding to its PGA Tour list in 1997 with the Michelob Championship, the event at Kingsmill in Williamsburg that is moving from mid-July to mid-October.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB