ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 6, 1996 TAG: 9601100018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: ON THE AIR
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
CBS Sports will televise the Virginia-Virginia Tech football game next season. It will be one of the special dates in the network's return to college football, on Thanksgiving Friday, Nov.29, with a kickoff around 2:45 p.m.
One reason CBS wants the game is that it's a cross-conference rivalry, and with both programs among the nation's elite in recent seasons, it isn't quite as parochial a game as it used to be. In these parts, it's a huge game, as WDBJ (Channel 7) will learn next season.
Just how big is shown by the Nielsen rating in the Roanoke-Lynchburg market for the Nov.18 game at Scott Stadium, televised by ABC Sports. The noon regional telecast did a 20 rating, meaning one of every five households in a 25-county market with about 397,000 TV homes watched the Hokies and Cavaliers on WSET (Channel 13).
The numbers say the game is about twice as intriguing as it was two years ago. In 1993, WSET aired the Tech-UVa game at noon as part of the ACC telecast package. The Nielsen was an 11. In 1994, WSLS (Channel 10) had the UVa-Tech rights through the Big East network. The local rating was a 15.
The numbers climbed in Norfolk and Richmond, too, although percentage-wise, Roanoke-Lynchburg was more interested in the game. The rivalry did an 8 in Norfolk in '94 and a 12 this season. The Richmond number rose from 9 to 15.
The 20 local Nielsen for Tech-UVa this season compares, in the same time period during the November sweeps, to the 6 for ACC football on WSET, and only a 2 for WSLS with the Big East. The ACC number included the Virginia-Maryland game. There was no Tech date on the Big East schedule in November.
The Hokies' other ABC regional appearance during the sweeps period, Nov.4 with Syracuse at Lane Stadium, did an 11 rating in the 3:30 p.m. time slot.
Although the Tech-UVa game hasn't been formally announced by CBS and the Big East hasn't completed its 1996 football scheduling, the state rivalry will share a holiday time period with a Southeastern Conference game as CBS begins airing football from those conferences in five-year contracts. Staggered kickoff times in the 3-3:30 range are likely.
``We expect it [Tech-Virginia on CBS] to happen,'' said Tom Odjakjian, associate commissioner of the Big East and the league's TV liaison. ``In fact, we're counting on it. Something unusual would have to happen for it not to happen.''
CBS also will close the Big East season the following day with a game expected to be for the championship, Miami at Syracuse. Most early prognostications, including those used by CBS and ESPN schedule-planners, figure Miami and Syracuse first and second or vice versa, with the Hokies third.
ACC MOVING: Apparently, WSET will not carry the ACC's noon football TV package starting next season. Jefferson Pilot Sports, which produces and syndicates the ACC schedule, is shopping the package in the market. Albritton Communications, WSET's parent company, informed JP Sports it wouldn't renew in recent weeks.
WSET has been the ACC's syndicated football home since 1984, when the NCAA football plan was voided by the Supreme Court and conference packages sprouted. Channel 13 dropped ACC basketball after the 1993-94 season, and now football follows.
It would be no surprise to see ACC football land on WDBJ, the new home of ACC hoops. Such a move, if the CBS schedule allows ACC clearance, would give WDBJ ACC games at noon, followed by a Big East or SEC game.
WSLS is expected to keep a more limited Big East syndicated noon package than the weekly offerings of the past two seasons. The league has less TV inventory, with CBS, ESPN and ESPN2 scheduled to air Big East games and have selection priority before a noontime schedule from Creative Sports.
BOWLING: For all of the carping about a low Fiesta Bowl rating, the 18.8 Nielsen that CBS received for the national championship game still was the second-highest bowl rating in the 1990s, one-tenth of a point behind last year's Orange Bowl.
And even after CBS lost some viewers with an 8:35 p.m. kickoff following some pregame silliness, the Fiesta had a rating of 23-plus until Nebraska torched Florida with a 29-point second quarter. Some pundits have labeled the Fiesta a college Super Bowl because of the 62-24 score. Actually, it was more like the World Series.
The telecast ran until 12:30 a.m. on a school night.
The Rose telecast on ABC on Monday did a 19.4 overnight rating (top 35 markets), and Southern Cal-Northwestern will finish as the most-watched bowl game this year. The CBS telecast of the Orange Bowl had a 12.5. The national rating for Jan.1 afternoon games on CBS, ABC and NBC won't be available until Thursday.
Virginia Tech's Sugar Bowl victory over Texas performed about as expected in prime time Sunday on ABC, with only a 6.3 national rating, down 58 percent from last year's Florida-Florida State game (14.9). Virginia's Peach Bowl triumph over Georgia did a 3.7 cable rating on ESPN, double last year's Peach (Mississippi State-N.C. State) that foolishly went against the Orange.
Just to show that bowl week is much like the regular season, the same attractions draw the biggest audiences. ESPN's two highest-rated bowls had Big Ten teams - the Alamo (6.3) with Michigan and the Outback (5.0) with Penn State, although the last half of the Nittany Lions' romp over Auburn had Jan.1 bowl competition on three networks.
AROUND THE DIAL: The Kickoff Classic has announced a matchup of Southern Cal and Penn State from Giants Stadium on ABC to start the football season next Aug.25. No word yet on where the Pigskin Classic will be played, involving whom, but an intriguing proposal for Florida vs. Miami at Joe Robbie Stadium has fallen through. ... The ACC's 1996 football TV schedule isn't out yet, but count on Virginia having eight or nine of its games telecast at least regionally, most on ABC. There will be a few more ACC night games the last half of the season than in previous years, due to the ESPN/ESPN2 contracts. tripleheader tipped off by a Big East poll battle between Villanova and Connecticut. ... The increased telecast coverage for the Atlantic 10 will make for a late night Jan.15 at Cassell Coliseum. The George Washington-Virginia Tech game has a 9:37 p.m. tipoff for the A-10 Monday package on ESPN2. ... USA Network's 15th year of ``Tuesday Night Fights'' begins Tuesday at a new time, 10 p.m. Former heavyweight champ Larry Holmes, in his 68th career bout, heads the first card.
LENGTH: Long : 110 linesby CNB