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New Chicago WNBA Team To Be Televised ON....WTTW-11!?!?!?!

J

Joseph_Gallant

Guest
The Chicago Sky women's basketball team, which will play in the WNBA beginning next season, will have home games (other than those on national TV) broadcast on noncommercial WTTW-11.

The announcement has proven to be controversial, acording to this Robert Feder column in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Yes, some public-TV stations have broadcast high-school tournaments and college sports. Here in New England, Maine PBS does extensive coverage of the state high-school basketball playoffs, while CPTV in Connecticut (most regular-season games of U/Conn women's basketball) and NHPTV in New Hampshire (ten regular-season home games of University of New Hampshire men's hockey) both cover college sports. CPTV has covered U/Conn women's basketball since 1994; NHPTV's relationship with UNH men's hockey goes back even further, all the way to 1972.

I feel the only way that a Public-TV station should even televise professional sports would be if:

(1) No local commercial station is interested in covering the team.

(2) All costs of production of the games are paid for by business and corporate underwriting, so funds from other areas of the station's operation are not diverted to cover the games.

The likely reason WTTW will only do home games is to hold down production expenses. By only doing home games, WTTW will save money in not having to fly announcers and producers to away games (and related hotel bills), as well as not having to buy satellite circuits to send away games back to Chicago. And if WTTW has it's own large multi-camera remote truck, the station would be able to use it on home games for a small fraction of the cost of renting such a truck for away games.

I believe the only other time I can recall a PBS member station doing professional sports was in the 1970's, when the Hartford Whalers (then still in the World Hockey Association) had some games broadcast on CPTV. When the team first moved to Hartford, commercial station WFSB-3 carried televised games, but within a couple of years, CPTV was the home of the Whalers. I believe the Whalers moved back to commercial TV by the time the NHL and WHA "merged" in 1979.
 
>
> I feel the only way that a Public-TV station should even
> televise professional sports would be if:
>
> (1) No local commercial station is interested in covering
> the team.
>
> (2) All costs of production of the games are paid for by
> business and corporate underwriting, so funds from other
> areas of the station's operation are not diverted to cover
> the games.

Of course, another problem of pubcasters carrying pro sports is the fact that PBS stations don't show commercials during the programs (other than the "underwriting" announcements that bookend the shows and seen during station breaks, which reek of commercials), and since ad companies generally use sports as an advertising tool, their opportunity would be restricted with the Sky on WTTW.
 
Rugrats 1 points out:

> Of course, another problem of pubcasters carrying pro sports
> is the fact that PBS stations don't show commercials during
> the programs (other than the "underwriting" announcements
> that bookend the shows and seen during station breaks, which
> reek of commercials), and since ad companies generally use
> sports as an advertising tool, their opportunity would be
> restricted with the Sky on WTTW.

But on the other hand, WNBA (and NBA) teams generally have ad boards surrounding the court during games (that show different ads at different times during the game). And since WTTW will only carry home games of the Chicago Sky, perhaps it and the team might come up with some sort of in-arena sign plan combined with telecast underwriting.

For example, let's say that three companies called "X", "Y", and "Z" buy into such a plan. At the beginning and end of each telecast, viewers see/hear: "Production of Chicago Sky WNBA basketball on WTTW-11 is funded by grants from 'X', 'Y' and 'Z'". Ad boards surrounding the court at United Center during games will rotate ads from "X", "Y" and "Z", which will give them (indirectly) added exposure on WTTW's broadcasts (and inadvertantly, if the game is being televsied back to the visiting team's home market, the visitors' home city as well).
 
I think it is inapropriate for Public Broadcasters to carry Pro sports of any kind on a regular basis.

If one were to look at the CPB mission statement, pro sports are out of bounds.

I can't wait for WTTW to start carrying pro-wrestling with Bob Sirott doing the commentary.
 
> I believe the only other time I can recall a PBS member
> station doing professional sports was in the 1970's, when
> the Hartford Whalers (then still in the World Hockey
> Association) had some games broadcast on CPTV. When the team
> first moved to Hartford, commercial station WFSB-3 carried
> televised games, but within a couple of years, CPTV was the
> home of the Whalers. I believe the Whalers moved back to
> commercial TV by the time the NHL and WHA "merged" in 1979.

New Jersey Network in New Jersey broadcast some Trenton Thunder (AA baseball) games in the 1990s. There were no commercials and I can't recall the funding situation.<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>
 
> > I believe the only other time I can recall a PBS member
> > station doing professional sports was in the 1970's, when
> > the Hartford Whalers (then still in the World Hockey
> > Association) had some games broadcast on CPTV.

Back in the late 70s, just after the station had undergone a major upgrade to color (and that was a big deal then), KCTS Seattle televised games of the then-NASL Seattle Sounders.

The telecasts were done in the same style as the classic "Football Made In Germany" with the 90-minute game edited semi-seamlessly into a one-hour show, using goal kicks and replays as jump-ahead points. The key difference between the German import where Toby Charles narrated the show after the fact, KCTS had game commentators Steve Fimmel and Cliff McCrath (then soccer coach at Seattle Pacific University) call the game live and on scene at the Kingdome.
 
> I believe the only other time I can recall a PBS member
> station doing professional sports was in the 1970's, when
> the Hartford Whalers (then still in the World Hockey
> Association) had some games broadcast on CPTV. When the team
> first moved to Hartford, commercial station WFSB-3 carried
> televised games, but within a couple of years, CPTV was the
> home of the Whalers. I believe the Whalers moved back to
> commercial TV by the time the NHL and WHA "merged" in 1979.

...I think you're forgetting the European soccer leagues (I can recall the English, Scottish, German and French premier-level leagues at the very least) that were all over PBS stations in the '70s...when was the last time anyone played for Leeds United or Bayern Munchen without getting a nice pile of currency? ;-) ...<P ID="signature">______________
King Daevid MacKenzie
WLSU Wisconsin Public Radio, La Crosse
heard weekly on http://www.radio4all.net/
"Kill Ugly Radio." FRANK ZAPPA</P>
 
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