Red Sox on WHCT

[hmglaz@webtv.net (H Glazer)]

Anybody else notice the Red Sox' unscheduled debut on WHCT Hartford (Ch.
18) Tuesday afternoon? It was unusual, to say the least.

First, it was supposed to be carried on WBNE New Haven (Ch. 59). When I
tuned in and saw "Matlock" instead, I hooked the old twin-lead to the
UHF screws and turned to Ch. 18, which I'd heard would be carrying a
portion of the schedule but is still not carried on Cox cable systems.

And there was the game -- sort of. The audio was barely audible and
there were no graphics at all, not even the score at the end of the
inning.

Curious, I called WBNE, asking about the game but not telling the woman
what I was watching. She said, "The Red Sox couldn't guarantee us a
complete feed, so we declined it." I then told her that the raw feed was
on WHCT. Total surprise!

So WHCT interrupted its round-the-clock infomercials and religion for a
3-hour baseball silent movie, to the surprise of the station that was
supposed to carry the game! Wow! This takes me back to the
nickel-and-dime, tin-can-audio early days of Campbell Sports Network's
radio deal, when WTIC regularly raised a stink about the substandard
audio feeds.

Anybody have any further info on this foulup? Would WHCT have been
offered the game if it were the reglar-season opener?


Howard

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