Chargers on the Air (June 23, 2005)

This season, KFMB-TV channel 8 will once again be the home of the last three preseason games broadcast in English.

For the first time ever in this market (spanish on SAP doesn't count), they will be broadcast in Spanish on KBOP-CA channel 43 in San Diego. That's the good news for Spanish-language speakers. The bad news? KBOP-CA is receivable only in South County because an older low-power channel 43, KSKT-CA blankets most of the North County area with Shop at Home and something odd for Gen Xers: reruns of New Zoo Revue from 6-7:06pm. Who's running this station? There's got to be somebody putting in 1/3-century old tapes of Freddie (who sounds like Bart Simpson), Charlie, Henrietta, Doug, and the lovely Emmy Jo (rrraooowww!). Check out the official New Zoo Revue site http://www.newzoorevue.com/.

Anyway, the football feeds will be provided by Fox Sports (on a CBS affilliate?) with Ron Pitts in his third season announcing and former Chargers linebacker Billy Ray Smith proividing the color. KFMB-TV sports anchors Kyle Kraska and Jaymee Sire also will join in the telecast. Pitts and Smith will announce the preseason games in 2006 as well.

“We’re excited to continue our winning partnership with the Chargers,” said Ed Trimble, President & Chief Operating Officer of KFMB Stations. “Coming off of the excitement of last year, San Diego can’t wait for the 2005 season to begin.”

The first pre-season Charger game? The Chargers will be at Green Bay on Thursday August 11 at 5pm San Diego time, and Dismal (I mean Disney)-owned ESPN will televise the game nationally. The next three games will be vs. the Rams on Sunday August 21 at 1:05pm, then at Minnesota on Friday August 26 at 5:05pm, then vs. the 49ers on Thursday September 1st at 7:05pm.

As last season, the preseason games will be retelevised late night the same day. For the two home games, the games must be sold out 72 hours before the scheduled kickoff in order to be televised live in San Diego. During the regular season, if the games are not sold out by the deadline, they're simply not televised locally, which usually means that the local stations suffer in ratings and advertising revenue as alternate games that are substituted for the Chargers are basically a crap shoot in terms of luck (with the station hoping that the other NFL station isn't showing a double-header that week which could dilute the football audience.)

KCAL 9 (viewable in North County only becase a low-power KOXM channel 9 blocks out the KCAL signal in South County) will be televising the last three games for Los Angeles and Orange County, but oddly enough, they're likely to be subject to blackout rules since the NFL says that Orange County is part of the San Diego market. Remember back in the 70s when the L.A. Rams were blacked out on Monday Night Football on both stations in San Diego and Los Angeles because of this weird way the NFL thinks about football markets?

If you live in Palm Springs, the games will be televised on KMIR 36 (cable 6), but that market as I mentioned in the next paragraph is also subject to blackout rules.

During the regular season last year, KCBS 2, a CBS O&O, had to black out the Charger games in their market when the team didn't not sell out, and the blackout rule even reaches Palm Springs where channel 38 (cable 2) is a CBS affilliate there, but the station is so low-powered that nobody in San Diego can get the station from up there, and though it's 80 miles from the Q stadium, the drive is a time-consuming three hours if you obey all speed limits!

The local channels will also be dishing out Charger news, scoops, and other team gossip, thanks to established parterships with the three English-language VHF channels XETV 6, KFMB, and KGTV 10.

“We want to make sure Charger fans always feel connected to their team,” said Jim Steeg, the Chargers Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “We’ve established strong relationships with the stations in San Diego and stations throughout Southern California, making sure Charger fans stay informed about everything the team is doing.”

The Chargers and Channel 10 will produce "Chargers Monday Night Live" to be aired following "Monday Night Football" in its 36th and final season on ABC-TV (the package moves to ESPN next fall). Jeff Cawley (sounds like Jeff's Collie, a syndicated title for old Lassie reruns, doesn't it?) and Ben Higgins will be among the hosts and head coach Marty Schottenheimer will be a weekly guest.

The team has also partnered with Channel 6 to produce "Chargers Power Report," a 30-minute show on Saturday nights at 6pm that will be hosted by C.S. Keys and Katy Temple. Schottenheimer will be a weekly contributor on the Power Report as well.

The NFL Network also will carry 60 minutes of dedicated Chargers programming, including the "Chargers Power Report," every Saturday night at 11. The network joins the Cox Digital lineup next month.