NBC fools

[arnfarm@tvsonline.net (Arneal, MaryLe)]

I too have written an angry letter to the address provided by Bentz. I hope
everyone does the same. I'm still pissed!   - Nathan A.

My letter:

I read in USA Today that NBC decided to showcase the Nets-Heat game this
Sunday in response to the recent addition of Stephon Marbury to the New
Jersey roster. I was infuriated when I saw that the game we would be getting
from our local affiliate in Omaha would be the NJ-Miami game. I ask you:
WHY?

You would think that here in the Midwest, we would get to see a Midwest team
such as Indiana play. Also, there is a high proportion of Celtic fans in the
area and you have cheated them out their only chance of seeing their
favorite team this season. This is the one game I had been looking forward
to all season and you decide to show us Stephon Marbury instead??? If people
want to watch him, how come NBC never showed any Timberwolf games? Do you
honestly think that anyone not on the east coast gives a flying rat's tail
about New Jersey and Miami?? I can see showing it on the east coast, but why
would anyone in middle America want to see this game over an Indiana-Boston
game? And as for the west coast, who cares about them, since they get to
watch the freaking Lakers *every single* week. (But this is a subject
deserving of its own angry letter.)

Here's a newsflash: Maybe it is different in the artificial, fast moving
world of the coasts, but people in the Midwest are fans of TEAMS and they
are loyal to these teams. We do not wish to have individual players, such as
Kobe Bryant and Stephon Marbury shoved down our throats. Bob Costas can do
lap dances for Kobe, or whomever you are promoting as "the next Michael"
this week on his own time. Finally we have a chance to watch two teams with
a large local following and you show a game that has nearly no local
interest at all. I would guarantee that if you would count the fans of
either the Celtics or Pacers in the Midwest, that they would exponentially
outnumber the combined total of fans for the Heat and Nets. You grossly
miscalculated when you made this narrow-sighted programming change that
alienated hundreds if not thousands of viewers.

When you ratings are low for this game, it is not due only to the NCAA
tourney competition, but to the fact that your poor decision making drove
fans away from your network. I for one will not watch any more NBA games on
NBC until you stop making programming decisions based on who the Lakers are
playing this week.

The New Jersey Nets and the Miami Heat?? In Nebraska over Pacers-Celtics??
What were you thinking? NEW JERSEY AND MIAMI????  I am done watching NBC.

Nathan Arneal
North Bend, Nebraska



arnfarm@tvsonline.net