Well, because sports are live, and if the game goes long, pre-empting the next show is preferable to not showing the end. Doing otherwise would mean millions lost in both viewers and revenue, and then Fox wouldn't have the money to invest in shows like The Inside.
Zoe: Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killing? Book: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.
'War Stories'
The Minearverse 3: The Network Is a Harsh Mistress
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls and The Inside), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath.
Jessica - Mar 08, 2005 4:27:49 pm PST #5186 of 10001
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
Sean K - Mar 08, 2005 4:36:10 pm PST #5187 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
pre-empting the next show is preferable to not showing the end.
This they know from experience. They didn't always used to pre-empt programming.
DXMachina - Mar 08, 2005 4:36:12 pm PST #5188 of 10001
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
Yes, what Jess said. The networks were badly burned by the "Heidi" game, [link] so they'll never do it again.
Sean K - Mar 08, 2005 4:37:05 pm PST #5189 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
Heh.
Televised-sports-history x-post.
DXMachina - Mar 08, 2005 4:40:02 pm PST #5190 of 10001
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.
Hell, I was watching the damn game when they switched over. I was ticked.
Sean K - Mar 08, 2005 4:42:53 pm PST #5191 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
nebermind
arby - Mar 08, 2005 4:45:46 pm PST #5192 of 10001
Guy #1: Man, there are so many hipsters around. I hate hipsters! Guy #2: You're at the wrong place. That's like going to Vegas only to say "I hate titties!" --The Warsaw, Williamsburg (OINY)
Oh, right! Sorry, me dumb. I thought it was a matter of showing a game at all or not, like with the World Series and that extra game they sometimes do. I forgot about plain old game-running-long preempting. (My deep sports aversion makes all information around it trickle right out of my brain.)
OK then, maybe they could schedule one or two disposable shows (like reruns or infomercials) immediately after the game, that way if it ran long they could skip those and go straight to the good stuff?
Either that or cancel the evening news. C'mon, who needs to see Fox news?
Matt the Bruins fan - Mar 08, 2005 5:47:00 pm PST #5193 of 10001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
OK then, maybe they could schedule one or two disposable shows (like reruns or infomercials) immediately after the game, that way if it ran long they could skip those and go straight to the good stuff?
Isn't that what they sort of did with Futurama?
arby - Mar 08, 2005 6:14:44 pm PST #5194 of 10001
Guy #1: Man, there are so many hipsters around. I hate hipsters! Guy #2: You're at the wrong place. That's like going to Vegas only to say "I hate titties!" --The Warsaw, Williamsburg (OINY)
I realized after I posted that they're already doing this - except the only problem is that the networks' idea of "disposable" programming and mine are almost polar opposites.
Nutty - Mar 09, 2005 5:50:34 am PST #5195 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Right now, for day sports, national channels usually just shift, don't they? Which is why, in the autumn, 60 Minutes usually starts at 7:30 or so, but goes its full 60 minutes. And then the local news starts whenever the run of national programming ends.
I do think that FOX should go back to its older tradition of premiering new fall shows in November, AFTER the World Series is over. Because, guaranteed 2 consecutive weeks of preemption, possibly 3. All the in-game commercials in the world can't recover the lost momentum.
Since baseball isn't timed, the networks grab the whole evening (on the east coast), as long as they need it, and don't schedule anything after. And a good thing, too, since this year one playoff game concluded at 1:22am, and several others made it to midnight. Local preemption in my area is kind of -- well, baseball has NESN (cable) and a Friday night deal with the local UPN station; and the Celtics are on Fox Sports Network (cable). I think I've seen college basketball on the local FOX or UPN affiliate, but not recently.
How does the west coast deal with games that starts at, like, 4pm PST? It's primetime for me; but do the local affiliates plan on what they'll air after the game ends, or is that a network decision?