THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508250818
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Each summer for the last four years, Washington Redskins fans in Hampton Roads have had two questions about their favorite team that go beyond who's starting at quarterback and whether they are a playoff contender:
Why is Hampton Roads, which has received every regular-season Redskins game on television for as long as anyone can remember, shut out during the summer?
What would it take for a Redskins preseason game that wasn't nationally televised by FOX, NBC, ABC, ESPN or TNT to air down here?
Depending on who's talking, the answer to the second question could be as simple as a phone call or two.
Jim Hollingsworth, executive producer of Redskins preseason games for WJLA in Washington, owner of the Redskins' summer rights, says he'd gladly make arrangements to feed exhibitions to any local station in this market. He says it's not expensive - about $1,000 an hour for satellite time, less for a fiber-optic transmission.
But no one from here has expressed an interest.
``I haven't taken any calls,'' Hollingsworth said, ``and I haven't heard of anyone else at this station taking any, either.''
Hollingsworth remembers a time, not that long ago, when WJLA, an ABC affiliate, had an 18-station regional network of stations in the East and South that showed Redskins exhibition games. But the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles complained to the NFL that Redskins broadcasts were cutting into the ratings their summer games were drawing.
According to Joe Ferreira of the NFL's broadcast division, those complaints - and the networks' increasing desire to air national exhibition games - led to a gentleman's agreement between the owners. If a team that broadcasts its exhibition games live outside of what is considered its ``market'' - for the Redskins, that's Washington and Baltimore only - the team must turn over a chunk of its revenue from those games to the other owners.
Elden Hale, general manager of WTKR, said that in addition to the cost involved in showing Redskins exhibitions live, his station has an obligation to CBS, its boss, to air its programs in prime time.
``People expect that,'' he said. ``If you're a fan of Murphy Brown and Murphy Brown is not on tonight, then you get upset with me, regardless of what I put in there. We try to keep our exemptions to a bare minimum because we are a CBS affiliate. Most of our local or special programming takes place outside the CBS schedule.
``You have to be very careful to make sure that you're providing the best service to viewers. We have the same situation when we show the Tides' games. We make a lot of people unhappy when we show Tides games, so we don't show as many games as maybe we would if we didn't have to preempt CBS for it.''
And while teams have the right to show their exhibition games on a delayed basis without sharing revenue, that idea generally leaves Hale and WAVY general manager Ed Munson cold for several reasons. One is that history shows people are far less interested in watching football games when they already know the outcome.
``Football does not do well delayed,'' Munson said. ``For whatever reason, basketball does better. I'd be much more inclined to carry it live.''
There's also the question of what time the broadcast would begin. If WAVY, an NBC affiliate, were to carry a Friday Redskins exhibition, they might not be allowed to start the telecast until after ``The Tonight Show'' at 12:30 a.m.
In addition, a station can't start a tape-delay broadcast until the game has ended. Most NFL games take slightly more than three hours.
WAVY's Munson is involved in just such an unusual circumstance, however, one that could have a significant impact on future Redskins preseason telecasts.
Earlier this year, WAVY entered into a marketing agreement with WVBT, in which WAVY programs the station and sell its advertising, even though WVBT holds its own license. That arrangement gives Munson flexibility his competitors don't have. He could put Redskins exhibitions on WVBT without disrupting network programming on WAVY.
``I'd be very interested in carrying on channel 43 - live - a game from the Redskins preseason,'' said Munson, who asked for Hollingsworth's phone number at WJLA. ``That's a much easier move for me - and I think we'd get ratings with them.'' by CNB