Posted on: Thursday, June 14, 2001

Viewers, advertisers prefer to see delayed TV

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer

Some sports fans wait for the next .400 hitter, the second coming of Michael Jordan or the Cubs in the World Series.

Here, we wait for something more rare: The end to close-your-eyes-time television. The eventual day when all the major professional sports championships can be viewed live on TV.

You know, the NBA Finals, the World Series. ... All the things that people across the rest of the country have long since come to take for granted as 20th century fixtures.

Meanwhile, we wait. And wait.

Like yesterday, for example. Instead of turning on Channel 8, the NBC affiliate, at 3 p.m. to find the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers live in Game 4 like the other 49 states, we were treated to ...

Back-to-back reruns of "Family Feud?"

Only here could Louie Anderson elbow Shaquille O'Neal into the 7 p.m. time slot.

Nor is NBC alone in this. What KHNL did to us yesterday, KHON (Channel 2) did back in October when Benny Agbayani and the Mets were showcased in the World Series.

After the outcry from that, there had been hope it might lead to something better this time around. Instead, there has been a step back. The College World Series is live, but The World Series isn't. The NHL playoffs were live, but the NBA isn't.

And that's too bad because there was win-win potential in this one. What with KHNL leasing KFVE (Channel 5) and having, for all intents and purposes, two stations, there had been hope that if KHNL wasn't going to show the NBA live during the week (weekends are live), it could put it on KFVE.

It seemed the perfect solution to the ages-old — here at least — problem of live or delay. It had the possibility of being the best of both viewing worlds. People who wanted the game live or wished to tape it would have KFVE as an option. Those who preferred to wait for the delayed version would still have KHNL.

Simple enough, right?

Too simple, apparently, because the NBA wouldn't go for it. John Fink, KHNL president and general manager, said he presented the idea to the network and NBA without success because it would have necessitated paying additional rights fees.

"The financial implications weren't worth it," Fink said. "Basically, it would have set a precedent we couldn't afford."

Last year KHNL tried live NBA telecasts, but Fink said the viewer response was poor. He claimed that more people actually prefer the delayed telecasts. Viewer and advertiser numbers — the two prime constituencies for his stations — weren't in favor of live-only telecasts, Fink said.

So, the wait goes on for Hawai'i's long-suffering television viewers to be allowed to join the 21st century in championship sports.