Thursday, June 14, 2007

 

I've Got a Lot of Dogs in This Fight

I'm a creature of habit when it comes to watching TV. I don't watch much, but I do have a sort of schedule that I adhere to on weekdays. I watch King of the Hill at 5:30 and The Simpsons at 6:00 on KLWY, a poorly run satellite station that was down for an entire day this week, then I switch to MSNBC in hopes of catching the "Oddball" segment on Countdown with Keith Olberman. At 6:30 (if "Oddball" is over) I flip over to KDEV channel 8 to catch Jeopardy!.

As most of you know, I absolutely love Jeopardy!, it's one of my favorite TV shows and I, unlike someone who likes, oh, say, The Office, I was actually on my favorite TV show a couple of years ago. If any of my three shows are not airing on any particular day, I don't have a fit, I don't send angry letters to the ownership of said stations. With King of the Hill and The Simpsons, I have most likely seen the episode that is running in syndication, and, well, it only TV.

Most of you will also know that I work in television. I've worked in the operations end mostly, I've been the guy who makes sure that what you're trying to watch gets to you TV so you can enjoy it as you should. As cost saving measures, many organizations operate more than one station from their master control position. I'm in favor of this because it gives more viewing options to a market the size of Cheyenne. The down side of this is that, in many cases, one person is running two or more stations at the same time. Their attentions are divided and it makes an already difficult job even more so.

I work in a multi channel environment. On any given night, I may be responsible for any number of channels from a master control standpoint. The differnce between me and KLWY or KDEV is that I'm working in a facility specifically designed to operate more than one channel at a time. Additionally, I'm not alone as most local station master control operators are, I can call for help when I need it.

Today I was back in Cheyenne after a wonderful lunch in Ft. Collins, I turned on the TV and watched King of the Hill and Jeopardy!, I flipped over to MSNBC, but Allison Stewart was hosting Countdown which generally makes the pacing of the show a little differnt, so I didn't see all of "Oddball." Then I turned over to KDEV and caught the beginning of Jeopardy!.

I watched all of the first two rounds of the show. The show was a runaway, the champion would return tomorrow unless he "pulled a Klaven" (a real Jeopardy! term) and I was about to find out what the clue for the final was. At that moment (6:54PM MDT) the video changed to the singing of the National Anthem at game 4 of the NBA Finals.

I consulted the program guide on my cable. The pregame of the NBA Finals was supposed to be airing on KDEV. Someone (not even in Cheyenne, but in Casper) figured out their mistake and immediately went to the proper program.
Jeopardy! was pre-emepted by the NBA Finals, but because they teased me, they showed me 86% of a Jeopardy! episode. The remaining 14% of the show contained the final clue and the outcome of the game. I'd just as soon not seen the show at all. In fact, I have other options to watch Jeopardy! on my cable system, I wouldn't have been able to watch PTI, but I'd live.

My Jeopardy! show aired on a Monday in most of the country, but in Los Angeles it was on KABC on Tuesday, September 30th, 2003 at 5:00PM. Since KABC is an ABC affiliate, my show was pre-empted by Monday Night Football, which is normal on the West coast. KABC runs Jeopardy! on a Tuesday through Saturday schedule during football season. They've planned for that. It works.

None of today's contestants were from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Who's to say that they didn't have any family or friends here? I know how bad I'd feel if my show had not aired in its entirety because of poor planning by the TV station airing it. I'd feel worse if I knew when it was going to be on, double checked the program guide, was positive I was going to see the show and it didn't air.

Of course, I was openly rooting for a Southern California high speed chase during my show. Man, I miss those...

BOJ

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