WVII signs deal to air four Pats’ preseason games

For the first time since the late 1970s, New England Patriots fans in the Bangor area will be able to watch all of their team’s preseason games on television.

Bangor station WVII (Channel 7) and Patriots officials have signed a one-year deal to air all four of New England’s 1995 preseason games, plus a weekly, 30-minute show featuring head coach Bill Parcells throughout the season.

“Channel 7 is thrilled to join with the Patriots to bring Eastern Maine viewers these programs,” said WVII general manager Bernard Chase. “The excitement surrounding the Patriots has kept fans on the edge of their seats in anticipation of another trip to the playoffs.”

The first game is against the Detroit Lions Friday, Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. The others are 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 11 vs. Green Bay; 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17 at Philadelphia; and 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25 vs. the Los Angeles Raiders.

NBC announcer Don Criqui has been signed to do play-by-play. The Patriots have not yet picked an analyst.

WVII will take satellite feeds for the games from “flagship station” and fellow ABC affiliate WCVB (Channel 5) in Boston.

WVII, along with WGME (Channel 6) in Portland, are among five New England affiliates airing the games this fall.

The 30-minute Patriots show has been tentatively scheduled to air Sundays at noon.

The last time all Pats’ preseason games were aired in Bangor was the late 1970s, by Portland’s WCSH (Channel 6) and Bangor’s WLBZ (Channel 2).

“I’m not sure the exact years, but it seems we did them for two years around 1977 or ’78,” said Mike Marshall, general manager at WCSH.

Judging from the big numbers posted at the Alfond Arena gate during the North Atlantic Conference women’s tournament, NAC officials’ concerns about television coverage hurting attendance were unwarranted.

Maine’s quarterfinal game with Hofstra Sunday, March 5 drew a crowd of 3,276. The semifinal game with Boston University Tuesday, March 7 attracted 2,499 and 4,808 watched Maine beat Northeastern in the championship game Saturday.

All three games were broadcast by WLBZ and WCSH.

A capacity crowd at Alfond is listed at 6,000 for a basketball game – 5,200 for hockey.

WLBZ’s Jeff Solari has traded in his job as sports reporter for a position in the promotions department. His new title is topical promotions producer.

Solari’s replacement is Glenn Gleason, a 1990 UMaine graduate who interned at WVII (Channel 7) with then-sports director Ron Lisnet.

Gleason is from Stow, Mass. After graduation, he worked at a public cable access TV station in Marlboro, Mass., and New England Cable News in Newton, Mass.

“The job was open, I knew the area, and I liked it up here,” said Gleason about his reasons for returning.