Daily Archives: June 21, 2005
Don’t cut funding for public broadcasting
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) 1-202-224-2854
Rep. Ray LaHood (R-18th) 1-202-225-6201
Rep. Lane Evans (D-17th) 1-202-225-5905
Rep. Tim Johnson (R-15th) 1-202-225-2371
Rep. Jerry Weller (R-11th) 1-202-225-3635
Why not put MWL All-Stars on TV?
Tonight is the Midwest League All-Star Game, which is in Peoria for the first time since 1992. It starts with a home-run derby at 6 p.m., followed by the first pitch at 7 p.m. Here’s the roster for tonight’s game.
When the Chiefs played their first game at the new O’Brien Field, it was broadcast on WEEK-TV. It was a very exciting event — they even had Cardinals pitcher Steve Kline pitching that night as part of his rehab. Channel 25 did a good job of covering it — the camera work was professional, the play-by-play was entertaining, and it was just like watching a big-league game.
I can understand why regular-season minor league games wouldn’t be the most exciting television on a regular basis, so I can see why they haven’t broadcast any since O’Brien Field opened. But why not televise the all-star game? WEEK shows regular-season Bradley Basketball games every year, and WTVP broadcasts some of the Lady Braves games. It seems like the MWL All-Star game would be a natural for local sports broadcasting, with all the minor league stars destined for the big leagues right here in Peoria.
Instead, all we’ll see of them on TV will be coverage on the local news tonight, which will probably be about the same length segment as they devote to White Sox highlights. That’s too bad.
Just out of curiosity, I looked up what was on TV tonight that would have been preempted if they showed the All-Star game:
WEEK: “A Katie Couric Special” on Jennifer Wilbanks, the ditz who faked her own abduction (big loss to preempt that); “I Want to Be a Hilton” (Premiere: “Kathy Hilton works with 14 young contestants, who compete for the chance to live a champagne-and-caviar lifestyle for a year”), “Law & Order: SVU” (repeat)
WTVP: “Nova” (repeat), “The Harlem Globetrotters: the Team that Changed the World” (repeat), and “Frontline” (which is new, but will be rebroadcast on the 23rd and 26th)
WMBD: “AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes” hosted by Pierce Brosnan
WHOI: “My Wife and Kids” (repeat); NBA Basketball (okay, that one’s gotta stay)
WYZZ: “Trading Spouses” (repeat); “House” (repeat); News; “M*A*S*H” (repeat, obviously)
WAOE: “All of Us” (repeat); “Half & Half” (repeat); “Girlfriends” (repeat); “The Bad Girls’ Guide” (new); “Becker” (two repeats)
Based on these lineups, I think there are several stations which could have preempted (or time-shifted, in a couple cases) their programming to broadcast the All-Star Game.
Jeff Melbourne recently alerted us that Peoria’s TV station’s FCC licenses are up for renewal at the end of the year. The FCC has established a Localism Task Force to “promote localism in radio and television broadcasting.” I’ve already acknowledged that a couple of our local stations have shown a commitment to local sports by showing Braves games, and of course WTVP does the most local programming of anyone, so I want to be careful to give credit where credit’s due. But I think showing repeats of network shows instead of tonight’s baseball game is a big missed opportunity for more local broadcasting here in Peoria.