Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 4, 1993 TAG: 9309040055
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Apparently, the network didn't like the idea of democracy.
WSLS thought it had the OK from NBC, but then the network said that while it could allow viewers to vote via a toll-free phone poll for the Sunday games, the station would only be able to present two options in a time period.
So, after much back-and-forth, WSLS will begin its "Name the Game" poll for games of Sept. 19. Voting viewers (1-800-VOTE-TEN) will have the choice of two games - the one NBC assigns WSLS, and another that the Roanoke station will select as an option. The game that gets the most viewer votes will be aired.
Voters can record their choices until 11 a.m. on the Wednesday preceding the game, and WSLS will announce the Sunday telecast chosen on its Wednesday newscasts.
"We tried," said WSLS general manager Jim DeSchepper. "We wanted to offer viewers more flexibility, but this is what the network told us we could do. They said, `This is our final ultimatum. This is what we allow other affiliates to do.' "
WSLS receives all of NBC's NFL feeds via satellite, on dishes the network wanted its affiliate stations to install. Now, the network - yes, the same one that is trying to tell David Letterman what he can and can't use as material on CBS - is telling Channel 10 what it can and cannot offer from those feeds.
Until the third week of the season, WSLS will air the NFL games assigned to this market by NBC. The situation could be worse. The Sunday opener has Joe Montana in his Kansas City debut at Tampa Bay at 1 p.m. The Sept. 12 doubleheader has KC-Houston and the Buffalo-Dallas rematch of last January's Super Bowl.
\ MONDAY, MONDAY: ABC's "Monday Night Football" opens what should be another big season with Dallas-Washington. In the last four years, four shows have ranked in the prime-time top 10 each year - "Monday Night Football," "Cheers," "60 Minutes," and "Roseanne." MNF has ranked 10th, fifth, ninth and seventh since 1989.
\ HTS-COX UPDATE: Gretchen Shine, general manager of Cox Cable Roanoke, said Home Team Sports placed in the top five in a recent subscriber survey and some viewers may have the regional sports network available by Nov. 1.
Cox's system, currently at channel capacity, is being rebuilt to a 52-channel capability. Shine said about 20 percent of Cox's 52,000 homes have received that upgrade.
Shine said the system plans to make a new tier of service available to those homes with the upgrade. The tier may include HTS, Country Music TV, Court TV and the Sci-Fi network. Negotiations continue with those networks. The likely cost to add the tier would be about $5 per month, Shine said.
Shine said the goal of Cox Cable Roanoke is to make the new tier of service available to homes as the fiber-optic upgrade includes their areas of Roanoke city and county. When the upgrade is completed next June, all Cox subscribers will have access to any new services.
\ ON ICE: Pierre Paiement, general manager of the Roanoke Express, said the new hockey club simply hopes to break even financially on its radio package announced earlier this week. "What's most important for us in the first year is the exposure, just getting on the air," Paiement said.
The ECHL club is buying airtime from two stations, WROV (1240 AM) and WRIS (1410 AM), and selling all of its on-air advertising for a 68-game regular-season schedule. That's similar to the deal baseball's Salem Buccaneers have had with WROV for six years.
The Bucs pay WROV $100 per game. The hockey club, with fewer broadcasts, will pay in the $150 range. WROV will be the primary outlet, with a minimum of 44 live broadcasts and another five games on tape. WRIS has been guaranteed 14 games.
Among the crowded sports schedule on WROV, only Virginia football and basketball and local high school basketball game broadcasts will take precedence over a live Express broadcast. Tim Woodburn, the Express play-by-play voice, will work road games solo, but will likely have guest commentators for some home games.
Paiement said all 19 ECHL clubs have radio packages in 1993-94, although three of those will air only road games.
\ SHARK BITE: Don't expect to see the Express' NHL affiliate, San Jose, on the tube much this season. ESPN and ESPN2 have announced 37 of their 43 NHL telecasts in the first half of the season. The Sharks, Edmonton and New Jersey are the only clubs among the NHL's 26 that aren't scheduled.
\ CAR SALES: "NASCAR Shop Talk" makes its debut Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPN, following the Southern 500 telecast. Motor Racing Network voice Eli Gold is the host,and Bill Elliott is Sunday's guest. The half-hour show's format includes Gold's interview with a Winston Cup driver, meshed with sales of NASCAR clothing and souvenirs via a toll-free number.
Sort of like QVC on pit road.
Six shows are scheduled by ESPN. The second will be Sept. 26, following the Goody's 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Rusty Wallace will be Gold's guest.
\ AIRWAVES: Pro and college football openers won't fill the most hours of sports telecasts this Labor Day weekend. That distinction belongs to U.S. Open tennis, which occupies 28 hours today, Sunday and Monday on CBS and USA Network. . . . Virginia's Jan. 3 basketball date at Nevada-Las Vegas is the finale of the first "Big Monday" tripleheader on ESPN, at midnight. . . . Next Saturday's pay-per-view ABC college football game available from Cox Cable Roanoke and Salem Cable TV has fifth-ranked Texas A&M at Oklahoma.
Keywords:
AUTO RACING
by CNB