DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 11:10 a.m. August 22, 2008
WATL: Falcons’ tape delay ‘not our decision’
Local TV station forced to follow NFL policy once home preseason game did not sell out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Atlanta fans clicking on their TVs in hopes of seeing rookie QB Matt Ryan’s first NFL start Friday night won’t see the game broadcast live.
WATL will offer a tape-delayed version of the Falcons-Titans preseason game beginning at 10 p.m. The network will air the 1987 movie “Jaws: The Revenge” at 8 p.m.
If a local TV station wants to show a NFL preseason game that hasn’t sold out, they can either buy the remaining tickets and broadcast the game live, or show it on tape delay, according to NFL rules.
“It was not a sell out so we have to tape delay it,” said WATL’s vice president of marketing Laura Hale. “That’s not our decision. It’s an NFL policy. We’d air it live if we could.”
The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at the Georgia Dome. It will be broadcast live on radio on 92.9 FM.
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