Screen shots of NET's new promo touting the network as "Nebraska's Statewide Home For Sports."
The crowd of 12,276 fans who were on hand at Rosenblatt Stadium Tuesday night for Nebraska's 6-4 win over Creighton game didn't get a chance to see a new promotional advertisement on Nebraska Educational Television (NET) that makes light of an uncomfortable situation for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Athletic Director Steve Pederson.
First, some background:
The broadcast rights for Nebraska baseball broadcasts switched this season from NET, which had carried them for the past 25 years, to Cox Communications. Pederson told the Omaha World-Herald's Tom Shatel that he switched broadcasting teams for one reason - recruiting.
"The wave of the future for sporting events is cable TV," Pederson said in Shatel's column March 28. "We want to find out what is out there with cable TV. NETV (sic) is fabulous. They're great to work with.
"But the fact is, we have to recruit nationally, in all sports. And getting our product on cable is a way for recruits to see it. This might allow us to be on CSTV (College Sports TV), or the sports cable network in Kansas City, Texas or Colorado, where (Nebraska baseball Coach) Mike (Anderson) recruits a lot. We don't know what's out there. This is about finding out."
But what Pederson failed to acknowledge is that for several years, NET has produced broadcasts that have been picked up on CSTV and other sports cable networks for national broadcast coverage.
That brings us back to Tuesday night's promo. Using footage from Creighton's thrilling win over Wichita State last week - a game that NET broadcast live from Rosenblatt - several phrases flash onto the screen:
"Award Winning Sports Television"
"Everywhere in Nebraska"
"National Coverage"
"You Were There"
and the coup de grace:
"Nebraska's Statewide Home For Sports"
A live, post-game "thank you for watching message" also noted that Tuesday night's game was carried live on CSTV to more than 32 million subscribers.
2 comments:
Way to go, NET. Pederson needs to be put in his place. He doesn't care one bit about anything educational. It's all about the almighty dollar for him and the Supreme Chancellor (Emperor) of NU. Wonder if Pederson looks good in a black helmet?
Did you notice that Larry Putney, who normally wears a red shirt during the broadcasts, was wearing a blue shirt instead? I thought it was a nice, subtle jab at Smiley Pete.
By the way, both games have been great broadcasts!
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