Starting in 1995, officials at Bangor television station WVII have contacted the New England Patriots with the same apprehension Charlie Brown has while running up to kick the football Lucy Van Pelt is holding for him.

And almost every year, after asking about the possibility of airing Patriots preseason games live in the local market, those officials would feel like they were lying flat on their backs after having the ball yanked away at the last second and kicking empty air.

This year, however, Lucy didn’t yank the ball away.

For the first time in 14 frustrating years, WVII (Channel 7) has secured the rights to air Pats preseason football live and in living color.

“I’ve been disappointed for so long, and I know the public has been disappointed for so long, that I didn’t have that much confidence going in that we’d get the deal done, to be honest with you,” said WVII general manager Mike Palmer. “We’re really glad to be able to get it done finally.”

Up until this year, the best WVII – and in recent years sister station WFVX (Ch. 22) – could do was carry the games on a tape-delay basis due to the NFL’s exclusivity policy.

The NFL has always strongly urged its franchises not to allow their games to be broadcast outside a 75-mile radius of each team’s stadium in order to prevent local broadcasts from cutting into national network NFL broadcasts.

Thanks to a revision and relaxation in that policy – and a cash payment of an undisclosed amount from WVII/WFVX – three of New England’s four preseason games will air live in the Bangor market.

For Palmer, it’s akin to the quest for the Holy Grail.

“We’re real happy we have these and pumped up about it,” he said. “I don’t know how many years it’s been, but it’s been quite a few, at least. We offered them a big pile of money, did a little dance, and finally got the games on live.”

The NFL hasn’t yet finalized its preseason schedule, but the Pats’ one-year agreement with WVII/WFVX covers the Patriots’ home games against the Baltimore Ravens (Aug. 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11) and Philadelphia Eagles (Aug. 21-25) and an away-game Super Bowl rematch against the New York Giants on Aug. 28 or 29.

“The Aug. 17 game against Tampa Bay is going to be on the NFL Network, so that one wasn’t available to us,” Palmer said. “As far as which station we’ll put the games on, we might use both. It depends on the schedule and what’s on that night because we don’t want to pre-empt a popular network show.”

The agreement also calls for WVII/WFVX to air all of New England’s hourlong Patriots All-Access weekly roundup/coach’s shows throughout the regular season and as long as the Patriots are involved in the playoffs.

“We’ll probably air it on Sunday mornings before Fox’s football coverage starts,” Palmer said.

Palmer wouldn’t say how much his station paid for the package rights.

“It wasn’t cheap and it’s not a big moneymaker for us because of the fee we pay, but it’s worth it in terms of prestige and to have them on for the public,” he said.

Celtics rebound in ratings as well

The Boston Celtics have engineered the biggest one-year turnaround on the court in NBA history, and now they’ve done the same on television.

Comcast SportsNet New England’s Celtics telecasts are up 106 percent this season.

Through 69 game broadcasts, CSNNE Celtics games averaged a 3.5 rating (80,500 households). Last season, it averaged a 1.7 rating through the same number of games.

aneff@bangordailynews.net

990-8205