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Versus had to finish a Notre Dame game

V

vchimpanzee

The NBC TV-movie "Game Time: Tackling the Past" was scheduled to begin at 8:00 on Saturday, but the Notre Dame game was still on. I noticed at one point that they had a storm where the game was being played. And I finally heard someone promise the movie would air in its entirety.

The movie finally started at 9:00. I was doing something else and occasionally could hear the sound from the TV that was on NBC.

They had a crawl during the movie telling people to turn to Versus for the rest of the game, and then finally another crawl to give the results.

I remember ABC handing off to ESPN in some cases.
 
The only problem is that Versus doesn't have the reach that ESPN does. This will certainly change when all the NBComcastUniversal cable properties are sold together to cable operators as a big "all or nothing" package and when Versus starts picking up more sports franchises. Maybe NBC could pick up the Major League Baseball contract from Fox in 2013 airing the division champ series and World Series and a Saturday package and a weekday package for Versus.
 
I think after The 2012 MLB season, Over The Air Nationally coverage would remain with FOX, while it shares post season coverage with ESPN. TBS will retain The Sunday Afternoon package afterwards.
 
Troy Goodwin said:
TBS will retain The Sunday Afternoon package afterwards.
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Oh boy, yet more Sunday afternoons with TBS showing the the Yankees or Red Sox...
or the Yankees vs. Red Sox. ::)
 
Troy Goodwin said:
I think after The 2012 MLB season, Over The Air Nationally coverage would remain with FOX, while it shares post season coverage with ESPN. TBS will retain The Sunday Afternoon package afterwards.
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ESPN hasn't done postseason since TBS took over. Which was a big surprise when the deal happened. I think ESPN wants to do postseason baseball again. As for FOX and MLB hope they don't get the MLB after 2012, can't stand Joe Buck. Would be great to see baseball on NBC. I'll take Bob Costas anyday to broadcast a game. Does a great job on MLB Network.
 
cd637299 said:
Apparently, nobody has learned from "Heidi."

cd
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The USF/Notre Dame game wasn't really a "Heidi". The game delays had already caused enough shakeups for NBC affiliates on Saturday, and NBC Sports simply decided to finish coverage on another channel--as opposed to the Heidi situation, where they didn't provide that option for an ongoing game.

Now, to your point, there was a Heidi-like switch pulled on college football fans this weekend if you happened to be watching SportSouth (sister RSN to Fox Sports South): I watched the UCLA/Houston game live on SS with about two minutes left in the game, and UCLA down 10 points 38-28. Instead of seeing the game through, Fox Sports pulled the live game feed and went into live pregame coverage for Atlanta Braves baseball.

I'm pretty sure there are contractual issues necessitating Fox Sports' actions there, considering the Braves have a media deal with the Fox RSNs--but I am not a Braves fan, and the football game was way more interesting to me. ??? (UCLA went on to lose 38-34, and I'd have been much more upset if they tied the game to cause overtime.)
 
Meanwhile, lightning had delayed - twice - a Marshall/West Virginia football game on ESPN on Sunday afternoon. Obviously, it didn't finish in time for the scheduled start of that night's NASCAR race from Atlanta on ESPN. I say "scheduled" because that race was delayed until this morning (!) due to inclement weather Sunday night and all day Monday. Interestingly, at one point during the NASCAR coverage, ESPN threw it back to West Virginia when the lightning delay was over. Then - they handed the game off to ESPN3 so they can continue with more NASCAR prerace delay filler until the race was officially called at around 9:45 PM. To paraphrase the late Rodney Dangerfield: I tuned into a race, and a college football game broke out!
 
Oh boy, yet more Sunday afternoons with TBS showing the the Yankees or Red Sox...
or the Yankees vs. Red Sox.
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I thought TBS had a strong connection with Braves Baseball, since BOTH TBS and The Braves are based in Atlanta. WGN in Chicago happens to be the only cable channel with a nationwide presence of showing The Cubs & The White Sox.
 
I do not have either cable or satellite, so I have no dog in the fight, as far as the game in the OP....

But my point is that OTA networks now seem to be under the assumption that everybody *does* have cable/sat, and just the push of a remote button solves the problem. Well, it doesn't.

(I know this is 2011 & we are in a different world, but) You'd think that there would be contingency plans for situations like these. Whatever network has a special sporting event needs to *stay* with it. (That could go with any program, not necessarily sports.)

Although NBC vowed never to pull a Heidi again (as far as I remember), actually they *did* in 1979. Was watching an NBC Baseball Game of the Week, Braves/Padres IIRC. Braves were down 8-1 around the 8th inning, & NBC had commitments to something called the National Sports Festival, whatever that was. So they ended baseball coverage----after all, it was the 1979 version of the Braves (kinda like the 2011 Marlins), and they weren't gonna come back, despite what Yogi Berra said...right? ;) (just joking...)

Why NBC even decided to carry a Braves game in 1979 is another question....

ABC also treated the participants in the Pro Bowlers Tour like dirt as well IMO....."Wide World of Sports" always had to start on time, so the bowlers in the show prior had to finish by the start of WWoS. (Tie games seemed to be panic time for ABC.) Often they bowled during commercial breaks....in 1991 the Firestone Tournament (the Super Bowl of bowling) had a bomb threat, and they could not start for over 30 minutes. The bowlers had to bowl during every break, it seemed, and even *that* didn't work....they had to announce the champion during WWoS, and AFAIK they did not show the final game.

cd
 
Yes MLB Network should carry more live games with it's crews. The World Series should be shown on ESPN so Chris Berman can call it
Sometimes the 11pm Sportscenter or others are moved to other ESPN Networks.
The Braves aren't on TBS anymore and TBS doesn't even carry local news like WGN does.
 
Given the impossibility of pleasing everyone, the decission then needs to turn on what best balances existing obligations and general audience needs. No, everyone doesn't have satellite or cable, but it is factual that the vast majority do. Then you need to look at the different events and decide which one is ultimately more (or less) valuable. (Not to mention ignoring the small group of semi-pro kvetchers, harping on an event that happened decades ago in a very different media world.)
 
imhomerjay said:
Given the impossibility of pleasing everyone, the decission then needs to turn on what best balances existing obligations and general audience needs. No, everyone doesn't have satellite or cable, but it is factual that the vast majority do. Then you need to look at the different events and decide which one is ultimately more (or less) valuable. (Not to mention ignoring the small group of semi-pro kvetchers, harping on an event that happened decades ago in a very different media world.)
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So then, why couldn't Versus or whatever network just carry the whole thing? Splitting airtime of *one* program between two channels really makes no sense. Whatever year this is. BTW, Versus isn't carried on every cable system, certainly not to the extent of ESPN.

Sporting events, big as they can be, are not earth-shattering events. Not like hurricane coverage or whatever.

Some folk like reminiscing....call it kvetching or whatever.

cd
 
>So then, why couldn't Versus or whatever network just carry the whole thing?

Because it was Notre Dame and they think they belong on NBC OTA. The only way a home ND game ends up on cable/sat from beginning to end is when they finally break down and join a football conference. And with the coming re-realignments they might not have a choice.
 
ND football has been a waste of time for several seasons now. They are no more "America's Team" than was Dallas years ago.

Personally, I wish they would lose their contract with NBC so that a worthwhile team could be displayed OTA.
 
cd637299 said:
So then, why couldn't Versus or whatever network just carry the whole thing?
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Because they didn't have a crystal ball when the schedule was developed to know that there would be a rare event leading to that kind of delay. Things happen...that's when it becomes time to put on the big-kid pants and move on.

cd637299 said:
Splitting airtime of *one* program between two channels really makes no sense. Whatever year this is.
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Actually, from a business perspective, it most certainly does. If you have other financial considerations in play, you do what impacts the bottom in the least negative way. Sometimes that means using other resources and accepting that every decision will result in some level of griping.

cd637299 said:
BTW, Versus isn't carried on every cable system, certainly not to the extent of ESPN.
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Understood, and likely one factor that goes into a decision. That said, one factor that may have a strike against it doesn’t necessarily negate the reasons that making the move is still the best one for the bottom line.

cd637299 said:
Some folk like reminiscing....call it kvetching or whatever.
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Potato, potatoe… :)
 
They had to do the same thing a couple of years ago with a Stanley Cup Playoff game that went into multiple overtimes.
(though as a hockey fan you are a bit more used to following your game around to obscure places on the dial).

Notre Dame fans are different. The seas should part for their team as far as they are concerned.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
They had to do the same thing a couple of years ago with a Stanley Cup Playoff game that went into multiple overtimes.
(though as a hockey fan you are a bit more used to following your game around to obscure places on the dial).

Notre Dame fans are different. The seas should part for their team as far as they are concerned.
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My memory is vague...did the shutdown of analog TV have something to do with that Cup series issue?

cd
 
mgsports said:
The Braves aren't on TBS anymore and TBS doesn't even carry local news like WGN does.
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TBS isn't a superstation anymore, they don't want to be locally tied to Atlanta anymore. WGN was going in the same direction but it seems that they still want to be rooted in Chicago with their newscasts and sports. If Tribune sells WGN America, that's a different story. The new operator would go the TBS route and make themselves a cable channel, not superstation.
 
Troy Goodwin said:
I thought TBS had a strong connection with Braves Baseball, since BOTH TBS and The Braves are based in Atlanta...
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What radiojomo said above... Although I understand the current Channel 17 in Atlanta is still available in Canada via cable, so technically, that's a "superstation"... ::)
 
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