Almost while no one was noticing a month ago, the NFL took a giant step toward virtually eliminating coverage of its games by local television stations. At its meeting in Orlando, Fla., the league initiated legislation that would prohibit local station photographers from working the sidelines at its games.
In effect, this means every station in the country will rely solely on the network feed of the games rather than the work of its own people.
It is a stunning blow to local television, although the NFL says otherwise.
"We're being consistent with what every other sport does," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. "They don't allow [local] cameras to shoot their games. We've had the luxury of having more space but that has changed. There's too much congestion on the sidelines.
"Highlights will be fully available and this won't affect the fan."
Needless to say, television stations around the country believe otherwise and are angry.
In Pittsburgh, John Steigerwald of KDKA-TV, who has been covering Steelers games for about 20 years, took exception to the NFL's stance.
"If they don't see the difference between using network video and what we shoot from the sidelines, they're idiots. That's an insult to the intelligence of anyone who knows anything about television."
Stations do use network video, particularly in sportscasts immediately after the game. But throughout the week they rely heavily, if not exclusively on their own footage.
Shawn McClintock, the news director at FSN Pittsburgh, explained. "It really affects our coverage more on Monday through Saturday than on Sunday. We send two photographers to every game, home and away. If we know we're going to do a story later in the week on a specific player or coach, one of our photographers will shoot game highlights and the other will be isolating on a particular player."
Without such footage, the features on the players just aren't the same.
The change affects FSN Pittsburgh more than the other local stations because it produces a 30-minute sports show seven days a week.
Steigerwald pointed out other ways the local coverage is so important.
"When the guy ran onto the field in Cleveland last season, Michael Chalik [the KDKA photographer] had the shot of James Harrison body-slamming him. The network didn't have that."
Steigerwald also pointed to other shots -- Bill Cowher leaving the field; fans hanging over the railing to get closer to the players as they head to the locker room; players speaking to the camera -- that the networks don't get.
"Unlike baseball, there's only one game a week," Steigerwald said. "We need stories for six more days. We need more of a variety of shots."
The Radio-Television News Directors Association, a 3,200-member organization that includes the news director at local stations in every city with an NFL franchise, sent a letter to commissioner Paul Tagliabue, which, in part, said:
"When electronic journalists are denied the ability to report on a news event with their own microphones, cameras and production crews, it allows newsmakers to determine the content of the news, a result that is inconsistent with our society's democratic values."
The banning of local photographers is not yet formalized, but is expected to be before the NFL starts playing games in July
In effect, this means every station in the country will rely solely on the network feed of the games rather than the work of its own people.
It is a stunning blow to local television, although the NFL says otherwise.
"We're being consistent with what every other sport does," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. "They don't allow [local] cameras to shoot their games. We've had the luxury of having more space but that has changed. There's too much congestion on the sidelines.
"Highlights will be fully available and this won't affect the fan."
Needless to say, television stations around the country believe otherwise and are angry.
In Pittsburgh, John Steigerwald of KDKA-TV, who has been covering Steelers games for about 20 years, took exception to the NFL's stance.
"If they don't see the difference between using network video and what we shoot from the sidelines, they're idiots. That's an insult to the intelligence of anyone who knows anything about television."
Stations do use network video, particularly in sportscasts immediately after the game. But throughout the week they rely heavily, if not exclusively on their own footage.
Shawn McClintock, the news director at FSN Pittsburgh, explained. "It really affects our coverage more on Monday through Saturday than on Sunday. We send two photographers to every game, home and away. If we know we're going to do a story later in the week on a specific player or coach, one of our photographers will shoot game highlights and the other will be isolating on a particular player."
Without such footage, the features on the players just aren't the same.
The change affects FSN Pittsburgh more than the other local stations because it produces a 30-minute sports show seven days a week.
Steigerwald pointed out other ways the local coverage is so important.
"When the guy ran onto the field in Cleveland last season, Michael Chalik [the KDKA photographer] had the shot of James Harrison body-slamming him. The network didn't have that."
Steigerwald also pointed to other shots -- Bill Cowher leaving the field; fans hanging over the railing to get closer to the players as they head to the locker room; players speaking to the camera -- that the networks don't get.
"Unlike baseball, there's only one game a week," Steigerwald said. "We need stories for six more days. We need more of a variety of shots."
The Radio-Television News Directors Association, a 3,200-member organization that includes the news director at local stations in every city with an NFL franchise, sent a letter to commissioner Paul Tagliabue, which, in part, said:
"When electronic journalists are denied the ability to report on a news event with their own microphones, cameras and production crews, it allows newsmakers to determine the content of the news, a result that is inconsistent with our society's democratic values."
The banning of local photographers is not yet formalized, but is expected to be before the NFL starts playing games in July
