Calling PBR Nation! CBS affiliates in Baltimore and Houston planning to pre-empt BFTS coverage.

Posted Friday, October 2, 2009

NEW YORK, N.Y. (October 1, 2009) - The PBR has worked very hard to secure programming across the country for all of its fans, and 95 percent of the nation will indeed have coverage of the Championship Round of the GoDaddy.com Invitational on CBS this Sunday (please check local listings).

But two stations have unilaterally decided not to air the event.

The PBR has learned that two CBS affiliates, WJZ in Baltimore and KHOU in Houston, have decided not to participate in the nationwide broadcast this Sunday, and instead are planning to run paid programming in its place.

“This is disappointing, when our staff spends this much time, effort, and money to bring television coverage to our fans ,” said PBR CEO Randy Bernard, who learned of the news this morning. “This is a slap in the face to our great supporters in Baltimore and Houston.”

The decision was apparently made without any understanding of the size and passion of the PBR fan base in those markets. Both cities have hosted numerous, extremely well-attended PBR events in the past.

“The PBR needs its fans, friends, and sponsors to voice their opinion now more than ever,” Bernard said. “We cannot continue to air our events if they are not going to get picked up in 100 percent of the markets around the country.

“This is a chance for the PBR Nation to come together and make a difference for the sport. Please call and email KHOU and WJZ. It’s not too late to change their minds.”

When the Versus network was dropped from the DirecTV lineup last month, the CBS broadcast was seen as opportunity for the 8 million cut off PBR viewers to receive at least some television coverage. Unless these two affiliates alter course, fans in Baltimore and Houston will continue to be isolated.

PBR supporters can contact the affiliates at:

KHOU-TV, Houston
Programming Department (713) 526-1111
Lisa Shumate, Programming Director (713) 521-4335
lshumate@khou.com

WJZ-TV, Baltimore
Michelle Dowd-Wood, Programming Director (410) 578-1313 (Front Desk, ask for Programming Department)
Dowd-Wood@wjz.com

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