WPXN to preempt Pax for sports
Net exex concerned for fan base
That decision doesn't sit well with some of the network's executives. Pax TV's senior VP of programming Tim Johnson said, "It's not a good idea" for WPXN to displace the network's bellwether nightly series repeats "Touched by an Angel" and "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" for sports because fans of the shows could become alienated and confused when their habit patterns get broken, even for only five nights.
Can't walk away
But Paxson lost $137 million last year, and its flagship N.Y. outlet can't afford to walk away from the license fees Madison Square Garden agreed to pay to buy out the primetime lineup this past Tuesday for a Devils game and April 14, April 28 and two dates in early May for four Knicks games.
The parties wouldn't comment on the fees, although one network source said they come to far more than the station makes by selling spots on "Angel" and "Quinn."
A spokeswoman for Paxson in West Palm Beach, Fla., said Pax TV looks on the sports preemptions as acceptable business decisions because they could bring new viewers to the station. As part of the deal with MSG, the spokeswoman said, WPXN gets a chance to promote its programs during some of the commercial breaks within the sports event.
Two other Paxson-owned TV stations also sell chunks of their schedule to local sports teams. KPXC Denver has sold eight blocks of time (each of them running for about 2-1/2 hours) to the Denver Nuggets pro basketball team and another eight blocks of time to the pro hockey Denver Avalanche. KAPX Albuquerque has sold 20 three-hour timeslots to the Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball team, most of them on the weekends.
