Dear dimwit on the phone

You know those callers who complain when there's something not in the TV listings? Well twice now someone has actually complained to us that we're listing a station he doesn't have.

The first time was a few years ago and the guy actually got angry that we were listing sporting events he can't watch. This second guy didn't get pissed, but he actually asked why we were listing a station (the one he doesn't get) when it only covers local/regional sports.

 

I've gotten a couple of those calls before. One guy didn't understand the concept of companies offering different package options, and the other understood it perfectly after it was explained to him.

 

There are so many stations out there now, esp. with cable and satellite, that to list every single event on every single one might require half a page.

 

Yeah our listings get pretty unwieldy, especially when we list all of the college football for the weekend. And we have a regional station that is only on one cable provider, but we list them because they show a lot of prep sports. Haven't heard many complaints, and I am pissed at times that I don't get this station, but I am logical enough to realize that if I really wanted it, I could just switch cable systems. And I like the service I have.

 

This. Even limiting it to what's on the ESPN networks, FS1, NBCSN, the networks and regional sports channels, it takes up a lot of room. And our listing service is of no help, when it provides matchups like "NBA-Los Angeles vs. Los Angeles."

 

Our circulation footprint takes in several different cable systems and at least three different cities with network outlets. My main concern is to make sure we carefully explain how to find games for the games played by the two SEC teams in our area. That can get complicated, as with a basketball game tonight that's only available on a secondary digital channel in one market and not at all in the largest media market in the area - Memphis.

 

We, meaning I, made an editorial decision long ago that our TV sports listings would only cover the main cable provider in our main city of record. We run listings of live events in the major sports in packages that are available to most cable subscribers, that is, non-PPV events. Occasionally, we'll run listings of same-day tape of games in major sports that appear on the basic cable package (usually the late NHL games on Fox Sports South). Even with those qualifiers, our Saturday and Sunday listings can be gargantuan. However, it does make a great filler for our agate page.

 

I typed up our college basketball TV listings yesterday. Including all of the national deep cable channels, there's something like 30 games on tonight and tomorrow (about 15 each), and another 25 or 30 on Saturday. We're going to start breaking them out to run as a box on the agate page Wednesday through Sunday.

Meanwhile, here's a useful link to all of the college basketball TV games, week by week. Just click on the right week and it's got a user-friendly grid to scroll through. It makes sorting through which games you get and don't get pretty easy, and doing up a TV schedule a snap.
http://www.mattsarzsports.com/Season/Contents?sportYear=basketball201314

 

I saw that. It was fantastic, especially how it just sort of wildly swings about.

 

This site is excellent. Others I use are Zap2It and ESPN Media Zone.

Sarz does a damn good job running that site.

 

So, does this guy get paid to put that site up? Same goes for 506sports...I mean, yeah for us to have it as a tool for our TV guides, but is it worthwhile for someone to do it (especially if it's for free).

 

One of the problems is that games are spread out over a whole host of networks. If you're a fan of, say, Kentucky basketball, they might be on CBS on Saturday, ESPN on Tuesday and SEC Network or SportsSouth on some other day. It really does make it tricky to keep up with.

Add in these premium and ppv packages that all the pro leagues and some college leagues offer and it's overwhelming. One weekend a few years back, I counted more than 40 college basketball games (men and women) that could be seen with basic cable plus a small digital tier (like $10 per month) offered by our local cable company. And that wasn't even including satellite or the real expensive tiers one could purchase.