NASCAR on KOMO
Published 9:24 am Thursday, May 8, 2008
Sometime back a reader asked me to look into why our local ABC station, KOMO TV channel 4, did not air the pre-race show for the Nationwide race in Talladega on April 26.
Instead of DW and the crew, local viewers were shown a repeat of “The Suite Life of Zack &Cody.”
I tried calling, but KOMO’s phone system sent me into what I will politely term “voice mail purgatory,” so I took a chance and sent an email.
Lo and behold, my email was answered on Wednesday. Here is what Doreen Kaylor from KOMO wrote:.
“Due to time zone differences between Talladega and the Puget Sound area, the NASCAR Nationwide Series pre-race show was scheduled at the same time as ABC’s children’s programming on the West Coast. Broadcasting the pre-race show would have meant pre-empting “The Suite Life of Zach &Cody.”
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) places children’s programming in a special protected category. As such, anytime a station wishes to move a show classified as Educational and Information Children’s Programming, the pre-emption must be accepted by the FCC.
The FCC is not always generous granting those pre-emptions.”
One side note: There are two more Nationwide races that are scheduled to be run on ABC this season: June 28 at Loudon, N.H. and August 9 at Watkins Glen. So, I’m guessing we won’t be seeing the pre-race show for those, either.
