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FOX Switch Leaves Sox Fans in the Dark

April 12, 2008 By

Can’t say as though I’m a big fan of how FOX handled the end of the Red Sox/Yankees game tonight.

With the Yankees down to their last batter, and with two strikes, the picture suddenly switched over to the start of the NASCAR event out in Arizona. After about 30 seconds of the race, the announcers said that the end of the baseball game could be found on sister channel FX.

FOX then went to a commercial.

By the time I fumbled over to FX, the game was over and the players were walking off the field.

I understand FOX has a commitment with NASCAR to show the race, and that fans of that sport understandably want to see the event right from the beginning. However, it would’ve be nice to  a) have gotten a warning that the feed was about to switch and b) if FOX hadn’t gone to a commercial almost immediately upon switching to race coverage.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that this is a extremely busy sports night for the Boston viewers. All at once, you’ve got the Red Sox playing the Yankees, the Bruins in a playoff game with Montreal, the Celtics with a playoff preview in a game with the Atlanta Hawks, Boston College playing in the NCAA championship game, and even the New England Revolution playing on TV38. If you happened to be checking something else out and came back to FOX, you might’ve been lost.
 

Filed Under: FOX
  • sox fan

    This isnt the first time these morons have done this! If anyone can find a phone number or email for the programming director please share! Its disgusting what they do and should loose all their sports contracts because of their poor lack of brain content….. We watch their frickin network for 4.5 hours (Sox vs. Yanks with best ratings!) and they cant leave it on for one more strike!?? What if people dont have cable to watch FX!? Idiots!

  • J Swain

    Fox did state that they were going to cut over to FX just about when the game restarted. I was surprised that they didn’t repeat it shortly before it happened though, because several minutes had elapsed.

    • Bruce

      Right – they did state that, but didn’t give the warning again as they were switching over, which they definitely should have…plus, if you happened to be checking out another game, you could’ve missed that statement as well.

  • BSF34

    I wondered what was going on as well. Luckily, I switched over to FX before the last out was recorded.

  • pk

    the red sox “heidi” moment

  • raccoonradio

    Someone on radio-info.com National TV board pointed out that they have to carry the “green flag” live or pay a huge penalty…NASCAR gets high ratings…NASCAR allowed them
    to delay the start, etc.

    That being said, pretty stupid. Can’t do split screen?

  • Ron Newman

    Which they also didn’t do — by the time they switched over, the race had already begun.

  • duvid

    It’s all about the commercials and $$$. What would the NASCAR nitwits have done if they missed the first lap of what…100, 200 laps. I was quick on the clicker and switched over for the final out.

  • Alessandro

    Didn’t they switch back to FOX, though? I could’ve sworn that both FX and FOX were airing the ninth inning simultaneously (which didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me) …

  • Tony

    As I get ready to watch the NASCAR race, without warning or explanation Fox switches to the Yankees Red Sox game. Okay I’m cool with that. The game is almost over and I can listen to the race on the radio. Then in the top of the ninth with a full count Fox switches back to NASCAR.. What the freak. I’m a diehard motorsports fan, but at this point Fox had me involved in the ball game. I was content to wait another couple of minuets for the race. I can only hope someone at Fox is looking for a new job Monday morning

  • Mini-Mack

    Relax people, I think the Red Sox have like 191 games left. you’ll get to watch plenty of games. missing the end of 1 isn’t going to kill you.

  • Paul

    I wish FOX would just get out of sports altogether. They value the mouthbreathers who will sit and watch cars go around in a circle more than sports fans. Because of FOX all baseball games on Saturday must start after 4:00 PM Eastern time. I know they pay big bucks, but that’s just too much power.

  • sv

    bullcrap mini mack. fox yet again butchers their coverage. i’ve come to expect it when watching a game on fox they will screw something up usually at an important moment. missing the last out or at least not reminding viewers the switch was taking place was a bit of a shock but par for the course. they are the worst across the board on all sports with the coverage of the game itself. consistanly missing action do to crappy direction. truly a shame that they cover major sporting events.

  • http://www.BryanPerson.com Bryan Person, BryanPerson.com

    I was smart enough to switch over to FX as soon as Buck gave the first advanced warning (I think he gave at least or three).

    I *was* surprised that Buck never did say, “Viewers watching the baseball game on Fox should switch over to FX now, as the race …” I assumed they had just held the start of the race by a few minutes.

    One thing we learned about Fox during the extra-long rain delay: Their studio team (Zelasko, Kennedy, Karros) isn’t built for extended — and unscripted — segments. Leave them to ad-libbing, and we’re left with Karros flip-flopping over whether Papelbon or A-Rod would have the “edge” in the at-bat when the game resumed. Brother.

  • http://www.edgarbrown.com Sports Artist

    Who calls a Rain Delay when the other Teams Best hitter comes up to the plate with two on and two out and its a one run game. Thats criminal. Icing the kicker in football is one thing but icing the batter for two hours is insane. That stuff doesn’t slide in New York!

  • Jay

    Split-screen, anyone? Is it that hard? Then replay the start in fullscreen later in the race if you need to. Baffling. I never watch FX so it took me a minute or two to find the freaking channel on Directv.

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