[BC] Fortune rewards the prepared

[Tom Taggart]

A little story with a moral at the end:

We do a lot of high school football broadcasts, makes money
for us. Also means a fair amount of running around, as we do
two games each week, with a "game of the week" scheduled
each Friday on our two suburban FM stations. 

Last year at this time we bought a third FM inside our
metro; station is an AC that never did sports. That station
is licensed to Williamstown, Wood County, WV. In that county
are 4 high schools, the three public schools are covered by
the three Clear channel FM's, the Catholic high school by a
station in the other big cluster in the market.  In WV there
are three classes: AAA--the largest schools, AA, then A, the
small schools. The Catholic high school and Williamstown
H.S. are Class A, and play our local school in adjoining
Pleasants County.

Most years our local high school makes the playoffs, meaning
a nice revenue bonus in November. But not this year,
especially after they lost to upstart Wirt County, which is
a very rural county on the other side of the market from us,
outside our coverage area. But not outside of the coverage
of our new station. Light comes on: if Wirt County makes the
playoffs, let's do their games, since no-one covers them. 

Two weeks ago today (Sunday), the regular season is over,
and the playoff-pairings are announced. We know all the
games would be played the following Friday and Saturday, but
that sets off a scramble on Monday to make broadcast
arrangements, since we don't know until that Sunday who
plays who and where.  Wirt County plays at home, but there
is no phone line in the press box, and there is only spotty
cell service from Verizon--not our carrier.  So Monday we
order a line in for a Saturday afternoon game. Our fingers
are crossed, we're already over $2K in potential revenue for
this game.  Pretty good pickings from a county seat of only
994 people.

Wednesday we are at the high school, they have a phone in
their bus garage we can use--some 300 feet from the press
box, and near the end zone--in the event our line doesn't
get installed. Friday morning--phone company supposed to be
there--they don't show. My business partner has all kinds of
unkind words about telephone companies, swears to only rely
on cell, etc.  Friday afternoon we go down and plug a 100'
chunk of line into the bus garage phone jack, leave the
spool outside the door, along with an extension cord. 

This gives me two options: use my remaining stash of phone
line to reach the press box, or use a 2 watt Marti link and
an old QKT phone to hop from the press box down to the phone
line. At least we can hear the station off air, so in either
event the play-by-play folks will know if the feed fails. 

Saturday morning--the game is at 1:30, it's 9:30 & I make
the 45 minute drive 15 miles back into the hills to the game
site.  I am stringing phone line--gotten all the way up to
the press box with 200' of line-- when the telco guy rolls
in. He gets his line in, I connect our equipment, check in,
then I coil up my line and go back to the station. Get the
board op started (he's familiar with the format, but not
this console--catches on quickly) then go home. 

Wirt County beats a Catholic school from up near
Wheeling--last year's single A championship winner, by the
way, so the next round game is back at Wirt County's field
this last Friday.  Against Williamstown.  

First, appreciate the irony, we are licensed to
Williamstown, but we are carrying this rival rural school as
the home team. This week, no problems. I am at the station
at 6:00, the crew calls in around 6:30, nice clean feed,
they set-up their pre-game with the board op, he's got all
his commercial copy, so I go home and listen to the game.  

7:00 comes, our guys are off and rolling. I check the other
station in town that normally carries Williamstown. Music.
That's interesting. 7:30-kickoff. Broadcast sound great,
lots of crowd noise (as one would expect)-sideline guy can
barely hear his cues, but his wireless mike works just fine
though. Flip over to the other station--still music!!?? 
Finally, at half-time, they are on, with a bad cellphone
connection.  Seems that lone Verizon cell died, didn't come
back up until almost the end of the first half.

I can't help but gloat a bit.  Shouldn't, but, hey...

This week we play at Point Pleasant High School. Brand new
facility. Only one teeny, weeny little problem.  When they
built the stadium (2 years ago) they didn't run any phone
lines into it.  Nor internet connections.  Nor is there any
way to run any--nearest telco pole is 1200 feet away, and
they would have to fly a line across a road and parking lot.
Cell phone service is supposed to be good, though.....