WPXT to air Giants> FOX affiliate listens to viewer complaints

OK Giants fans. You can put away those pens and pencils, shut off the fax machines, and log off the internet, the people at Portland station WPXT (Channel 51) have heard you loud and clear.

After tinkering with the idea of showing the FOX Network’s `game of the week’ offering instead of the New York Giants game two of the last three weeks, FOX 51 is reaffirming its commitment to the Gotham gridiron team.

Things came to a head Sunday afternoon, when WPXT opted for the Green Bay-Detroit game instead of New York-St. Louis after a 24-hour phone poll showed a preference for FOX’s marquee game of the week instead of the Giants.

“We had gotten some calls and letters from people saying we’re tired of the Giants and there are better games out there we want to see,” said Doug Finck, WPXT’s general manager.

Finck said there was another factor which made him wonder if they might be better off getting away from Giants games: the weekly list of games available from the FOX Network which detailed the “marquee” game of the week and strongly urged affiliates to take that game.

“Those are the ones Pat Summerall and John Madden usually do. Lots of times, the Giants are not the marquee game,” he said. “Our thinking was `Gee, we’re not showing the most popular game and maybe we should be.’ ”

So Finck called the Boston FOX affiliate to see what it does and found out it always airs the marquee games.

“We were thoroughly confused, so we decided to go on the air to promote a 24-hour voting poll last Tuesday for fans to call in and pick which games they wanted to see,” Finck explained.

After almost 200 calls were recorded, the tally showed 65 percent of the respondents were in favor of the Packers-Lions game.

“So we made a promo that said `You voted, we listened, and that’s what will be on,’ ” said Finck, not realizing that the real phone-in campaign hadn’t even begun.

“Starting Sunday and going right on through today [Wednesday], we’ve been inundated with faxes, E-mail, phone call and letters from Giants fans wanting us to return to Giants games,” he said.

So starting Sunday, FOX will return to the same edict that stations like Bangor’s WABI (Ch. 5) and Portland WGME (Ch. 13) followed when CBS televised NFC games: When given a choice, take the Giants.

FOX 51 has modified that rule somewhat: When given the choice, take the New England Patriots first and then the Giants.

WPXT aired the Giants’ games the first two weeks of this season, but decided to try the “marquee game” approach in week three with the Packers-Dolphins game. Two weeks ago, the Patriots hosted Chicago and were on FOX’s schedule, so WPXT grabbed it.

Whenever an AFC team hosts an NFC team, the TV rights belong to the NFC TV network (FOX). When it’s vice-versa, the AFC network (NBC) gets the rights.

“That’s a decision that I would defend to my dying breath,” said Finck. “But obviously, with this Giants thing, we made a mistake and should have stuck with the Giants.”

There’s more good news to report out of Portland for diehard football fans. South Portland’s WPME (Ch. 35) has picked up the rights to seven CBS NCAA football broadcasts.

Since the CBS affiliates in Bangor and Portland have opted not to carry CBS’ late afternoon football broadcasts on Saturdays this year, UPN 35 has stepped in and snatched them up.

Actually, UPN 35 will have aired eight games, including the Tennessee-Florida game it secured just before game time two weeks ago.

Fans in Greater Bangor and Skowhegan are still out of luck, however, as UPN 35 is not yet available in those areas and no other station has stepped in to fill the breach.