NFL alters rules regarding viewing
Home team to share window with another game two times per market
Among my favorite moments each fall have been those special Sundays when the Cowboys have played at the same time as a Texans home game and thus couldn’t be televised in Houston because of the NFL rule guaranteeing home market exclusivity.
The pitiful bleating of the aggrieved Bill “Cowboy” Lamza on such occasions has been like a soothing lullaby on a winter night.
Alas, that won’t be an issue this year. The NFL this week amended its rules to allow a maximum of two instances per market in which a home team will have to share a telecast window with another NFL game.
The plan, in theory, means at least three games will air each Sunday afternoon in each market, providing for more eyeballs on the NFL and more ad revenue for the networks.
The change probably is of most significance in the two-team New York, San Francisco-Oakland and Los Angeles markets but also has an impact in markets such as Houston, given the significant concentration of Cowboys fans here, and in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area with the Ravens and Washington.
Regarding the two Texas team, the only potential TV conflict this year was Sept. 15, when the Cowboys-Washington and JaguarsTexans games kick off at noon. Under the old rule, viewers here wouldn’t have access, other than through NFL Sunday Ticket, to the Cowboys game. Now viewers can watch either or both.
Remembering the Herricanes
You have to be a committed Houston sports fan to remember the Houston Herricanes, who played from 1976 through 1979 in the National Women’s Football League.
Olivia Kuan, a Bellaire High School graduate who is a cinematographer in Los Angeles, is attempting to gather research on a documentary about the Herricanes to be titled “Brick House.” She also is working to raise money for the project through a crowdfunding page.
Kuan’s mother, Basia Haszlakiewicz, played safety for the Herricanes in 1978-79, and Kuan for years has mulled over the idea of making a film about the team. She has conducted some initial interviews with about 15 former players and hopes to begin filming this year.
Kuan also hopes to focus on Anita Martini, the former KPRC (Channel 2) sports reporter who was one of the first female sports journalists in the Southwest and reported on the Herricanes for Channel 2.
“The team is the focus — the individuals and what brought them together — but it’s also about the greater struggle of women trying to do things that haven’t been done before,” Kuan said. “Anita’s story runs parallel to the Herricanes’ story, and it is apt that they are related to each other.”
Kuan, a graduate of New York University who has worked on feature films and documentaries, has been in contact with Martini’s family and with Nelda Pena, Martini’s longtime producer. Material on the Herricanes, however, has been difficult to come by, so Kuan is looking for material about the team and about Martini, with an emphasis on video footage.
Kuan can be contacted through her homepage, oliviakuan.com, or through the Indiegogo page.
Around, but not available
As an aside to Olivia Kuan’s documentary project, the good news is Anita Martini’s work for Channel 2, along with that of the station’s anchors and reporters from the 1960s into the 1990s, exists and has been donated by the station to the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, a 501( c )3 nonprofit in Austin.
The archive, founded by University of Texas professor Caroline Frick, attempts to collect and make available all manner of video, from home movies to material donated by local television stations such as Channel 2. Frick said the archive includes material from about 10 local stations.
Unfortunately, organizing and digitizing film and videotape libraries is a tedious, time-consuming process, so the Channel 2 archive isn’t available for historians or filmmakers to peruse. The fact that it exists, though, is encouraging, Frick said.
“It’s rare for a station like KPRC to understand the value of the collection,” she said. “To partner with a nonprofit to create public access is phenomenal.”
To learn more about the Texas Archive of the Moving Image or to donate to the organization, consult the group’s website. Meanwhile, you can peruse old clips from KHOU’s (Channel 11) video archive from the 1960s through the mid-1970s via the Houston Public Library’s Houston Area Digital Archives.
Back to the World Cup
Glenn Davis is on board for another World Cup, this time the women’s tournament from France that begins June 7.
Davis will join former national team member Angela Hucles to call games from the Fox Sports studio in Los Angeles. Derek Rae and JP Dellacamera are among the other play-by-play voices.
“Most of the World Cups that I’ve called have been men’s events, but this will be my second Women’s World Cup after the event in Canada in 2015,” Davis said. “It's a big honor and a responsibility to do it right.”
Davis continues with his “Soccer Matters” radio show at 7 p.m. Tuesdays on KFNC (97.5 FM) and now does a show at noon Sunday on KTXX (104.9 FM) in Austin.
Four DVRs, no waiting
Michelle Margaux, who worked Rockets games this year for AT&T SportsNet Southwest, has had the field reporter’s post for the White Sox-Astros series this week, spelling Julia Morales. Margaux previously did baseball with Fox Sports affiliates in San Diego and Tampa-St. Petersburg and reported on the Corpus Christi Hooks at KRIS-TV . ... Speaking of which, Astros righthander Justin Verlander’s pursuit of a third career no-hitter Tuesday against the White Sox produced a 4.9 Nielsen rating with 174,000 viewers on AT&T SportsNet Southwest . ...
ESPN unveiled its college bowl schedule Thursday and has slotted the Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium for 5:45 p.m. Dec. 27, as the third of four games that day along with the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Md., the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium and the Cheez-It Bowl in Phoenix . ...
We have on occasion discussed the relative strength or lack thereof of local sports radio ratings. Absent direct comment in this case, you can see where things stand on the Major League Baseball flagship ratings front here, via Mike Kinosian of Talkers.com . ...
ESPN Radio is moving Jason Fitz to its morning “First and Last” show and to the “Golic and Wingo” morning show beginning Tuesday and will give Sarah Spain a weeknight show with Jason Goff and Jordan Cornette . ...
Radio contentiousness in Boston, where former WEEI host Kirk Minihane has parted ways with Entercom this week and took some shots at the company and former morning drive cohost Gerry Callahan . ...
Audiences dropped last week for the Preakness Stakes on NBC and for the PGA Championship in its earlier time slot on CBS. NBC drew 5.4 million viewers for the race segment of the Preakness, down from 7.9 million last year and the lowest since 4.9 million for the 2000 race on ABC. The PGA final round drew 5 million viewers, down from 8.5 million for last year’s traditional August slot . ...
Lance Armstrong has a 30minute, commercial-free sitdown with Mike Tirico that airs at
10:30 p.m. Wednesday on NBC Sports Network . ... The Indianapolis 500 makes its NBC debut at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Sports Emmy winners included the World Series for live event, “Sunday Night Football” for live series, “Inside the NBA” for weekly studio show, “Pardon the Interruption” for daily studio show and Ernie Johnson, Mike Emrick, Kirk Herbstreit, Bill Raftery and Michele Tafoya in talent categories.