The Flyers' season opens in six weeks and they still don't
have a cable outlet, according to Bill Fleischman of the
PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS. The team will have 31 road games
carried by a local over-the-air broadcaster and Fox will air six
games. But 39 home and seven road games, normally televised on
PRISM/SportsChannel, "are available." Since the Flyers and
Phillies will be on the new Comcast all-sports channel in '97,
the Flyers need a TV deal for only one season. Laureen Ong,
PRISM/SportsChannel Senior VP/GM: "We're still talking. ... Our
hope is to do what's right for the fans, since we have the
distribution to deliver the games to them." Sources say the
Flyers' "contingency plan" is to produce the remaining games and
sell them to area cable operators. Flyers COO Ron Ryan
"stressed" they are not considering Pay-Per-View. A "major snag"
to a Flyers-PRISM deal is reportedly at a "higher corporate
level" as Cablevision, PRISM/SC's parent, is "retaliating for the
Flyers' defection by declining to carry some Comcast programming"
(PHILA. DAILY NEWS, 8/23).
NEWS & NOTES: The addition of Charles Barkley is unlikely to
translate into more appearances for the Rockets on NBC's NBA
coverage. NBA rules limit a team to eight network regular season
games and the Rockets are scheduled for seven. Turner has a 14-
game limit for individual teams, with the Rockets scheduled nine
times (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/23)....The Lightning will have all
road games on TV this season, a franchise first. Sunshine
Network and the team's flagship broadcast station, WTTA-TV,
announced their TV schedule for a package of 53 games (Sunshine
Network).
