CBS' feed of Bills-Dolphins resumed midway through the second quarter after power was lostGETTY IMAGES
A power outage in South Florida meant CBS' feed of Bills-Dolphins was "lost for about 20 minutes during the first half" of yesterday's game, according to Jay Skurski of the BUFFALO NEWS. The feed went out with "1 minute left in the first quarter." CBS aired Broncos-Steelers during the outage (BUFFALO NEWS, 9/21). USA TODAY's Lorenzo Reyes noted the feed "resumed midway through the second quarter" (USA TODAY, 9/21). In Miami, Wilson & Jackson noted CBS did "not have a backup generator at the stadium because networks typically only bring those to games being televised to large audiences," and Dolphins-Bills was seen in "only 6 percent of the country" (MIAMI HERALD, 9/21). THE ATHLETIC's Richard Deitsch notes in addition to the situation at Hard Rock Stadium, technical delays were "all over the place in Week 2, which reminds you of the unprecedented conditions the short-staffed operations teams are working under right now." Fans during the second quarter of Broncos-Steelers heard Rich Gannon’s voice repeat “out there on the corner” seven times on a play. CBS' Greg Gumbel said, “I think Week 2 is the week of the technical difficulties" (THEATHLETIC.com, 9/21).
RADIO FEED LEFT IN THE DARK: In Buffalo, Alan Pergament writes he "couldn’t have picked a better day" to listen to the first half of Bills-Dolphins on radio due to the power outage. Prior to the start of the game, WGR-AM's Steve Tasker noted that it was "probably going to be harder for [John] Murphy to call the game off of a TV feed from Bills Stadium than for him." However, Tasker "didn’t know how right he was going to be." Since Murphy and Tasker "weren’t in Miami and were seeing the same TV feed fans were watching at home, the play-by-play announcer was in the dark to the point he cracked he was getting details via teletype." When the feed was restored, Murphy "understandably had a more difficult time knowing where the ball was after runs and catches than he usually does." Pergament: "It was unfortunate since there were likely more new listeners tuned into the radio call than there had been in years because of the CBS blackout. But Murphy and every play-by-play announcer gets allowances this season because of the difficulties calling games off television" (BUFFALO NEWS, 9/21).
WRONG NEWS TO TEASE: In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal notes ESPN's Adam Schefter took some heat for teasing an upcoming on-air segment with a tweet that read, "NFL’s first notable in-season case of COVID....coming up on Sunday NFL Countdown." The possibility it was a "player or coach threatened to upend a lot of bets and fantasy plays, at least until Schefter reported" it was NFL Senior VP/Officiating Al Riveron. Rosenthal: "Maybe everyone was supposed to guess it wasn’t a player or coach because of how Schefter phrased his tweet. But it’s also worth remembering Schefter works for ESPN, not Twitter, no matter how it sometimes seems" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/21). THE ATHLETIC's Deitsch writes, "A lesson for all of us: Those that cover sports would be wise to avoid using a positive COVID test as part of a tease to hype an upcoming story as ESPN’s Adam Schefter did" (THEATHLETIC.com, 9/21).
