A big BOO!!!! to Fox and some Fox affiliates in Texas that broke away from the final seconds of a close Texans-Falcons game before 3:00 pm to go to several minutes of commercials and then to the Cowboys-Cardinals game that had not even started yet. KFXK Tyler-Longview was one of the offenders. Does the network or the station make the call on when to switch from one game to another?
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Get off my TV you dang Texans! This is Cowboys country!
- Thread starter gbranch
- Start date
KDFW should have been the only FOX station in Texas to have gone to the Cowboys game on time, as they are the primary market. The others could have waited.
This was a rare situation where both the Texans and Cowboys were on FOX, so the network should have set up the feeds differently.
I did hear an announcement towards the end of the Texans game that some viewers would be taken to their late games, but that should have only involved the primary and secondary markets for the Packers, Giants, Cowboys, Cardinals, Rams and 49ers. Of course being in Houston, we saw all the Texans game on KRIV, and the Cowboys game had just started when it was joined in progress.
This was a rare situation where both the Texans and Cowboys were on FOX, so the network should have set up the feeds differently.
I did hear an announcement towards the end of the Texans game that some viewers would be taken to their late games, but that should have only involved the primary and secondary markets for the Packers, Giants, Cowboys, Cardinals, Rams and 49ers. Of course being in Houston, we saw all the Texans game on KRIV, and the Cowboys game had just started when it was joined in progress.
How KFXK handled it was right after the announcement that some viewers would be taken to another game, they went to local commercials. I say that they were local commercials and not network as IIRC they were in 4:3 standard def. Typcially, on KFKX the network commercials are HD and the local spots are SD. They showed 2-3 minutes of commercials then cut to the Cowboys broadcast. I guess that KFXK decided that the local spots needed to air before the Cowboys game started so they cut off the Texans regardless of the status of the game.
The game cutoff immediately after the Falcons receiver was flagged for illegal touching after catching a pass inside the 5. I assume that the Falcons got at least one more play, but I had to watch the NFL network scoreboard to find out if the Texans held or not.
Did KDFW even show the Texans game? Typically, Texans games on CBS are not even shown in DFW unless they are playing an NFC East team.
The game cutoff immediately after the Falcons receiver was flagged for illegal touching after catching a pass inside the 5. I assume that the Falcons got at least one more play, but I had to watch the NFL network scoreboard to find out if the Texans held or not.
Did KDFW even show the Texans game? Typically, Texans games on CBS are not even shown in DFW unless they are playing an NFC East team.
KDFW did air the Texans game. This issue is always controlled by the network and their contract with the NFL. Don't blame the affiliates.
dhett said:
Greg Branch said:
With Tyler being closer to D/FW than Houston, it would make sense to switch to the Cowboys game.
***This issue is always controlled by the network and their contract with the NFL. Don't blame the affiliates.***
I DO blame the affiliates because not all of them cut away from the Houston game. Houston's Fox station, KRIV Ch 26, waited for the Houston game to end before joining the Dallas game.
I've heard that only a handful of Fox stations cut away from the Houston game. They're all in big Texas markets.
And I have to say I'm not surprised. I live in east Texas, which is solidly Cowboy Country. TV station owners in Tyler and Longview don't give a damn about the Texans or their fans. Their actions Sunday proved that.
I DO blame the affiliates because not all of them cut away from the Houston game. Houston's Fox station, KRIV Ch 26, waited for the Houston game to end before joining the Dallas game.
I've heard that only a handful of Fox stations cut away from the Houston game. They're all in big Texas markets.
And I have to say I'm not surprised. I live in east Texas, which is solidly Cowboy Country. TV station owners in Tyler and Longview don't give a damn about the Texans or their fans. Their actions Sunday proved that.
FilioScotia said:
Uh..dude. again, not controlled by the affiliate. In this case they were contractually obligated to show the whole Houston game because THEY'RE THE HOUSTON STATION!! Seriously, its not a conspiracy. The affiliates do not control this AT ALL.
fredcantu said:
If the Texans can make a lot of noise in the playoffs while the Cowboys stay home, and the trend continues for a few years, you might find many Texas residents reconsidering their NFL loyalties.
Mediafrog+ said:
I'll believe it when I see the Texans win 5 Super Bowls. That's what it would take for them to supplant the Cowboys in popularity.
Let's look at the some of the top 20 rated football games of this year, courtesy the boys at the506.com.
1 - 19.1 - 28,443,000 dal/ne fox national wk 6
7 - 16.9 - 25,766,000 dal/nyj nbc snf wk 1
10 - 16.1 - 24,516,000 nyg/dal nbc snf wk 14
16 - 15.3 - 30,901,000 mia/dal cbs national-wk 12 tg
18 - 14.9 - 23,308,000 det/dal fox single wk 4
19 - 14.7 - 22,994,000 dal/phi nbc snf wk 8
And the highest rated Texans' game...
34 - 12.5 - 18,898,000 hou/no cbs single wk 3
I'll let those numbers speak for themselves.
FilioScotia said:
First, the week in question (Week 13) is an odd one, because the Texans were hosting the Falcons, an NFC team. This puts the game on FOX, which only happens twice a year, at most.
NFL broadcasting rules direct that teams have primary and secondary markets. Primary markets are required to air all games of their team. Secondary markets are required to air all ROAD games for their team. As you'd expect, Dallas and Houston are primary markets for their respective teams. Tyler/Longview is a secondary market for the Cowboys.
So, here's what happened in each market:
Dallas - When the Cowboys game was scheduled to begin, they were required to stop broadcasting the early game (doesn't matter what teams are involved) and start airing the Cowboys game.
Houston - They are required to air the Texans game to its completion, regardless of the teams playing in the late game. Then, they join the late game (Cowboys) in progress.
Tyler - Because the Cowboys were on the road (@Arizona), they were required to join that game, just like KDFW in Dallas. If the Cowboys were at HOME, they would have the option of joining the Cowboys game in progress.
As an aside, the other secondary markets that were required to do the same at Tyler are: Waco, Sherman, Wichita Falls, Temple.
Houston-Atlanta Bailout Fiasco Explained
I confess that I was wrong in saying Fox stations made the decision to bail out of the Houston-Atlanta game when they did. I've learned that they had to do it, no matter what was happening on the field in Houston. The Fox station in Houston was one of the few that were allowed to stay with the Houston game because it's in the Texans' primary market.
I contacted Houston Chronicle Radio/TV editor David Barron - who writes about sports on TV and radio -- and here's how he explained it to me.
"Fox at midweek each week assembles a list of stations that are must-carries for the opening kickoff of each 3:15 p.m. game. Once the games are programmed in, they can't be changed, and Fox can't adjust for noon games that run late. That's what happened in this case, unfortunately.
On the other end of the scale, each game has affiliates that gets the entire game, no matter how long it runs. That was the case for Channel 26 here on the Texans game, as you note.
It was just one of those perfect storms of bad timing on both ends."
That's essentially what David wrote in his radio/TV blog a day or two after the game.
"But, alas, they still don’t get no respect, to channel Rodney Dangerfield. With the game Sunday running slightly long and the Cowboys and Cardinals in the 3:15 p.m. window, viewers in Austin, Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley and perhaps elsewhere in Texas missed the final play of the Houston game, which ended at 3:14 p.m., because Fox went to pregame folderol and then the opening kickoff of the Dallas game in those markets.
A Fox spokesman said the game was identified as a “mandatory kickoff market” for the Cowboys in Austin and that the network does not have the flexibility to react to events in early games once these markets are locked in.
“Based on general interest in the Texans and Cowboys in Austin we stand by this decision,” the spokesman said. “The Texans rating there yesterday was a 12.1, the Cowboy rating was a 21.7. Unfortunately, it’s just one of those things where the timing of the early game played out in the worst possible way.”
That's what happened, but it still sucks.
I confess that I was wrong in saying Fox stations made the decision to bail out of the Houston-Atlanta game when they did. I've learned that they had to do it, no matter what was happening on the field in Houston. The Fox station in Houston was one of the few that were allowed to stay with the Houston game because it's in the Texans' primary market.
I contacted Houston Chronicle Radio/TV editor David Barron - who writes about sports on TV and radio -- and here's how he explained it to me.
"Fox at midweek each week assembles a list of stations that are must-carries for the opening kickoff of each 3:15 p.m. game. Once the games are programmed in, they can't be changed, and Fox can't adjust for noon games that run late. That's what happened in this case, unfortunately.
On the other end of the scale, each game has affiliates that gets the entire game, no matter how long it runs. That was the case for Channel 26 here on the Texans game, as you note.
It was just one of those perfect storms of bad timing on both ends."
That's essentially what David wrote in his radio/TV blog a day or two after the game.
"But, alas, they still don’t get no respect, to channel Rodney Dangerfield. With the game Sunday running slightly long and the Cowboys and Cardinals in the 3:15 p.m. window, viewers in Austin, Corpus Christi and the Rio Grande Valley and perhaps elsewhere in Texas missed the final play of the Houston game, which ended at 3:14 p.m., because Fox went to pregame folderol and then the opening kickoff of the Dallas game in those markets.
A Fox spokesman said the game was identified as a “mandatory kickoff market” for the Cowboys in Austin and that the network does not have the flexibility to react to events in early games once these markets are locked in.
“Based on general interest in the Texans and Cowboys in Austin we stand by this decision,” the spokesman said. “The Texans rating there yesterday was a 12.1, the Cowboy rating was a 21.7. Unfortunately, it’s just one of those things where the timing of the early game played out in the worst possible way.”
That's what happened, but it still sucks.
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