Beginning in May, many Utah viewers will have two chances each evening to see the "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw."
The first, of course, will come weeknights at 5:30 p.m. on NBC-affiliate KSL-Ch. 5, which is right where you'd expect to find the newscast. But you might not expect to see it an hour later (6:30 p.m.) on KUPX-Ch. 30, the local PAX TV-owned station. At least for the duration of the one-month "experiment."However, it might begin to make a little more sense if you remember that a few months back NBC invested $415 million in the struggling PAX network, claiming a 32 percent stake in Paxson Communications.
As you might expect, the folks at Ch. 5 aren't entirely keen on this idea.
"I'm a little concerned about that and the trend concerns me," said Jim Yorgason, KSL's vice president and general manager. "It's a painful issue when you see what has been your franchise placed on another station in your market."
At the same time, he admits to some "mixed emotions" given that KSL owns its own PAX affiliate, KCSG-Ch. 4 in southern Utah.
"I'm making that a positive thing in that respect," Yorgason said. "I can see the value of it, having the responsibility of a Pax affiliate as well."
Other NBC affiliates are less sanguine about these NBC-PAX developments, which include rebroadcasts of the Peacock's prime-time quiz show "Twenty-One" on Pax's Saturday-night schedule as well as some NBC sports programming. (See next item.) The NBC affiliates board is talking to lawyers and some members are urging the stations to sue the network, claiming their contractual exclusivity rights are being violated.
"There's considerable concern," Yorgason understated. "We haven't been a part of any of that. My philosophy in broad strokes is the train has left the building on that."
That would indeed seem to be the case. In the official announcement of the "experiment" with the "NBC Nightly News," the two networks said that, while the one-month period will allow time for evaluation, "It is anticipated that the local and national news bloc will become a permanent part of the PAX schedule when NBC begins its new broadcast season." And PAX President and CEO Jeff Sagansky said, "This is just the beginning of a dynamic programming and distribution partnership with NBC and its affiliates."
NBC's plan is actually to carry this much further than just rebroadcasting a few shows on PAX. In the 11 markets where NBC owns a station, the PAX affiliates will rebroadcast the local early-evening and late-night newscasts and enter into joint sales agreements with their NBC counterparts -- basically combining sales operations for the two stations in those markets. And NBC would like to see that carried into markets like Salt Lake City where it doesn't own a station.
The big question is whether KSL would be interested in any such agreement with KUPX. Yorgason didn't say yes, but he didn't say no.
"I don't want to rule anything like that out," he said. "this is kind of a whole new day coming at us. We have to look at opportunities that maybe a few years ago would have seemed like heresy."
OLYMPIC TRIALS ON PAX: More than just news will be coming from NBC to PAX -- NBC Sports, the home of the Olympics, and the U.S. Olympic Committee will produce 14 two-hour telecasts of U.S. Olympic trials leading to the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney for the mini-network.
The telecasts, which will air Saturday nights beginning June 3, will include a mix of live and tape-delayed trials in sports like archery, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, marathon, rowing, sailing, triathlon, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling. The broadcasts will also feature some highlights that previously aired on NBC -- trials in sports that include diving, gymnastics, swimming and track & field events.
Current plans do not call for PAX to carry any of the actual Olympic events in Sydney, Salt Lake City or beyond. (Those will be seen on the NBC broadcast network and cable channels CNBC and MSNBC.) But you never know what NBC might decide to do before the Games begin.
Television editor Scott D. Pierce can be reached by e-mail at pierce@desnews.com