AT&T SportsNet Southwest "will pay salaries into mid-April for more than three dozen freelance workers who staff its now-idled Astros game telecasts," according to David Barron of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. The decision "will benefit 38 men and women who handle all aspects of game broadcasts through the Astros' first 10 scheduled home games." AT&T SportsNet will "make similar payments to freelance workers who help produce" Pirates games in Pittsburgh, Rockies games in Denver and Mariners games in Seattle. Int'l Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees rep Kevin Allen said that the decision by AT&T in conjunction with Chicago-based Program Productions, which handles payroll duties for AT&T RSNs, "came as welcome news." NBC Sports Group owns the regional nets in Boston, Chicago, S.F., DC, N.Y. and Philadelphia, and its spokesperson said that the company "has continued to pay freelance production crews for canceled or postponed events, adding, 'We plan to do so for the upcoming weeks.'" The exception is Sinclair Broadcast Group, which said last week that it "would offer $2,500 interest-free loans to about 1,000 eligible freelancers on the Fox Sports Net outlets and the new Marquee Sports Network in Chicago" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/4).
TROUBLE IN THE MIDWEST: In St. Louis, Dan Caesar noted many who work on FS Midwest's Blues and Cardinals telecasts are suffering the "financial pain" of the pandemic. The lack of pay has "created angst for numerous people who work piecemeal for Fox Sports Midwest, with their frustrations pointed at Sinclair Broadcast Group." A common theme among numerous workers was that there has "not been much communication from the company." On the loans offered, there was the "prevailing sentiment, 'this could go on for months, how am I supposed to live on $2,500?'" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 4/3).
