I field calls from readers with questions about the Sunday News' TV Week.
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For production reasons, we put the book together a week in advance, which means television channels may change programming after we publish the book and we are unable to print the updates.
We strive to have the most accurate TV listings, so late changes are regrettable, but will occur. The June 14-20 TV Book, however, had an unacceptable level of inaccurate information in the TV grids.
I called Tribune Media Services, the supplier of our information, to find out why there were so many wrong listings for channels.
A Tribune rep named Darlene said the company is frustrated with channels not sending updates on lineup changes. On June 19 the History channel was supposed to show "Patton 360" at 9 p.m., but pulled it at the last minute, Darlene said, giving publications no time to notify readers. She said Tribune is still waiting for Hallmark to send an updated schedule for "ArmyWives," which ran as an unannounced marathon June 19 when the channel listed movies.
Some stations are notorious for having wrong info and changing things at the last minute. These channels, Darlene said, include Lifetime, History, A&E, TVLand, Hallmark and MTV.
I still do not find this acceptable. We need to keep the pressure on Tribune and the channels to provide the most accurate information. Darlene said when Tribune finds out there is a problem, it calls the channel and reminds them to send updates. When you see a discrepancy in the TV listings, let us know the time, day, channel and what was on and we'll call Darlene and keep the pressure on Tribune and the channels.
She also said a new trend is channels starting shows during "off time," meaning they start the program later than it is slated, often 15-20 minutes past what is listed in the grind. Stations do this, she said, to accommodate DVR users who don't want to miss taping the beginning of shows. This seems dumb to me, but it might be worth rechecking a channel 15 minutes past the time it's listed to see if the station started the program late.
Last week a reader called frustrated about our not providing WGAL-TV 8.2 This-TV MGM Movie Network in our TV book.
The short answer is we are trying. Sunday News Editor Marvin Adams and I are looking for ways to fit this channel in our grinds. The problem is space. Every time we add a channel, something must be removed, and unfortunately, someone is upset that we removed a favorite station.
Give us time to find room.
WPVI-TV boosts signal: WPVI-TV ABC6 in Philadelphia got permission from the Federal Communications Commission to quadruple its signal for six months and is seeking to make this power boost permanent.
Kalas honored: Phillies announcer Harry Kalas has been selected as one of three posthumous inductees into the National Radio Hall of Fame.
Joining Kalas are Chicago broadcasting legend Studs Terkel and Jose Miguel Agrelot, known as "The Puerto Rican Bob Hope," who will be the first Latino inducted into the Hall. Online balloting to select the remaining Radio Hall of Fame Class of '09 will begin Monday, June 29, and end at midnight Saturday, Aug. 1, at
http://radiohof.org.
Kalas was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.
Staff writer Eric Stark discusses trends and tidbits in broadcast media each week in the Sunday News. He can be reached at estark@lnpnews.com.
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