There was a certain quote from Ted Black during yesterday’s press conference to announce the sale of the Rochester Americans that really stood out to me.
He said they are going to explore televising Americans games in Buffalo. It makes perfect sense to me. The team is one hour down the road and it will be stocked with all of the Sabres’ blue chip prospects. Why wouldn’t fans in Buffalo want to see the team play?
The question that crops up is, which channel will the games be televised on? MSG, YNN, or a Time Warner public access channel all could work. Of course only MSG is available to all Sabres fans. Perhaps that is the best option. Besides I don’t care to watch the Mike D’Antoni Show.
I feel that the best option is the advent of a WNY sports network. Basically Empire 2.0. Whether it is Fox Sports WNY or a locally run network, this scenario is screaming for a dedicated channel to televise both Amerks and Sabres games. It wouldn’t be all that difficult to fill content throughout the year either.
Between the Bandits, Bills, Bisons, high school sports and talk shows, there would be plenty of content to fill throughout the day. Obviously the summer would have quite a bit of down time, but the Magic Bullet and Ab Blaster Xtreme need TV time to sell their products.
If the network was to embrace the Rochester teams as well, there would be even more ease to filling content. The Red Wings and Knighthawks would just add that much more coverage time. Besides, a Sportscenter-type show would certainly fill hours in the early and mid-morning. In addition, you could take a page out of Empire’s book and televise the afternoon sports talk, although I’m sure there are better options. But shows like Enforcers (TWC) and the old Fan TV set up offer filler for he middle if the day that might not be taken up by infomercials.
The important thing would be he dedication to the hockey teams. Having a dedicated pre and post game shows with additional coverage is a must. Ted Black said it himself, he wants more when Sabres games are over, the fans feel the same way. A regional sports network solves that problem with relative ease.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
