KJZZ is forever at mercy of networks

NBC giveth to and ABC taketh away from KJZZ, which is sort of weird because Ch. 14 is affiliated with neither network.

But the independent station has to wait and see what networks are going to do before it can finalize its college football schedule. Sometimes that's good for KJZZ, sometimes it isn't.

On the plus side for Ch. 14 is Saturday's Colorado State-at-BYU matchup, which suddenly found itself without a home earlier this week. The folks at NBC decided it wasn't OK with them if their local affiliate, KSL, pre-empted network coverage of auto racing and put the kibosh on Ch. 5's plans to carry the Cougars.

(NBC is airing the NASCAR Nextel Cup event in Concord, N.C., on Saturday at 5 p.m. And it won't be over by the time the BYU-CSU game starts at 8 p.m.)

Yes, NBC did give the thumbs up this past Saturday for KSL to carry the BYU-New Mexico game. But the network was airing a lineup of repeats that night, not a live event.

When KSL had to back out, SportsWest — which actually produces the local BYU telecasts and owns the rights to do so — was free to offer the Cougars-Rams contest to other local stations. And KJZZ jumped at the opportunity.

Of course, things don't always work out so well for Ch. 14. KJZZ had hoped to have at least one if not both of Utah's next two games — hosting San Diego State on Saturday and at UNLV on Saturday, Oct. 22 — on its schedule. But ABC has picked up both games for regional broadcast, meaning the Utes-Aztecs and Utes-Rebels games will be seen locally on KTVX-Ch. 4.

That's because the Mountain West Conference's contract with ESPN/ABC gives those networks first rights to league games.

That contract expires after the current school year.

IF YOU'RE LOOKING for someone to blame for the highly inconvenient kickoff time for Saturday's BYU-CSU game — 8 p.m. in Provo — don't blame the Cougars, Rams, KJZZ or even KSL. Blame ABC/ESPN.

The MWC's TV deal gives ESPN/ABC in all its forms exclusive television windows. Meaning that when a Mountain West game is on an ESPN/ABC outlet of some kind, no other Mountain West games can be.

(That does not apply to, say, NBC, which has the rights to Notre Dame's home games and will air next week's Cougars-Irish game.)

ESPN-plus, which syndicates MWC games to local stations (including Ch. 14), chose to air the New Mexico-Wyoming game Saturday at 1 p.m. ABC is airing Utah-San Diego State at 5 p.m., which knocks out everything from 1-8 p.m.

And that's why UNLV and Air Force will be playing Saturday at 10 a.m. and BYU and CSU will be playing Saturday at 8 p.m. Again, the Mountain West's contract with ESPN/ABC expires at the end of the current school year.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com