PBS Reality Series To Chronicle '09 Rochester Red Wings Season

Campbell Media Group, in association with Rochester-based WXXI-PBS, yesterday announced plans to "produce a 13-episode reality series" on the '09 Triple-A Int’l League Rochester Red Wings "for national distribution on [PBS] stations" in '10, according to Jim Mandelaro of the ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE. The series, called "Minor League," will be available to 385 PBS affiliates in the U.S. and Canada, and the world premiere will be "in Rochester in February 2010." The debut telecast is "likely to run in March 2010 in conjunction" with filmmaker Ken Burns' new film, "The Tenth Inning." The series will "offer a behind-the-scenes look at the Wings," as three videographers will follow players during coaches meetings and as they "sit around their apartments." Campbell Media Group Founder John Campbell: "In some cases, we'll be a player's shadow." Mandelaro reports the Red Wings are an affiliate of the Twins, and the parent club "signed off on the deal with one request: No camera on long bus trips," which means Campbell's crew will be "restricted to one-hour trips to Buffalo and Rochester." While Campbell is "not looking for controversy, he won't stay away from it if an incident follows a particular storyline." Campbell said that if a player "doesn't want cameras following him into [manager Stan] Cliburn's office, the crew likely won't push the issue." Campbell will "retain creative control over the project but insists he is looking to produce a positive, family-oriented series" and not an exposé (ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE, 2/25).