Responding to "extreme pressure from irate fans," KGO-
ABC in S.F. and other ABC West Coast affils "pulled an 11th-
hour reverse, convincing the powers-that-be" at the net's
headquarters in N.Y. to air Saturday's Univ. of NE-Univ. of
OK game, which began at 9:00am PT, according to Brian Higgins
of the OAKLAND TRIBUNE, who noted that ABC West Coast affils
were originally scheduled for children's programming rather
than the No. 1 vs. No. 2 BCS matchup. KGO Dir of Program
Services Dave Metz: "We turned to the network and told them
we were getting hammered with calls. ... I assume they were
getting hammered in San Diego, Los Angeles and other markets
on the West Coast, as well. We said, 'Is there any way we
can make this happen?'" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 10/28). In San
Diego, Jay Posner cited KGTV-ABC Program Coordinator Vicki
Reichel as saying that the station had received more than 100
phone calls and 40 e-mails from people "complaining about the
missing game" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/28). However,
KEZI-ABC officials in Eugene, OR, "decided to stick with" the
children's programming "to avoid any potential overlap" with
the Univ. of OR-AZ State Univ. game, which began at 12:30pm
PT (Eugene REGISTER-GUARD, 10/28).
CHANGE OF HEART: ABC Sports VP/Media Relations Mark
Mandel "denied that the initial decision was an attempt to
force viewers into using" the PPV network. Mandel: "Our
business is to get over-the-air ratings, and we would never
put a game into an area in order to force people to watch
another game on pay-per-view. That would be suicide for us"
(SEATTLE P-I, 10/30). In L.A., T.J. Simers wrote, "Like you,
I was just as surprised to turn on 'The New Adventures of
Winnie the Pooh' Saturday morning to find Oklahoma
manhandling Nebraska" (L.A. TIMES, 10/29).
