On Sunday, an Orlando, Fla., TV station aired an on-screen crawl during the Dolphins-Colts game that read: "In accordance with NFL policy, WKMG must carry all Jacksonville Jaguars' away games. We apologize for any inconvenience."
They ran this message, of course, because the Jaguars' home market, which includes Orlando, was going to be receiving the Jaguars-Raiders game on CBS while most of the country got to watch the Broncos play the Giants.
Many, including FOXSports.com , interpreted the apology as a message to fans who were hoping to see the highly-publicized "Manning Bowl," but apparently that's totally not what WKMG was going for -- or at least that's what they're saying now.
In a Tuesday morning Facebook post, Nikki Kimbleton, an anchor from WKMG's sister station in Jacksonville, offered an explanation from WKMG general manager Skip Valet in which Valet clarified that the apology was not intended for fans hoping to see Broncos-Giants, but rather, Jags fans who were concerned they might be missing their own team's game.
"We didn't apologize for carrying the Jaguars," the statement read, in part. "The CBS Broadcast team on the Dolphins' game repeatedly promoted the NY-Denver game. Our viewers were confused and angry. We clarified why we were broadcasting the Jaguars' game and apologized to viewers who may have been confused by the constant 'Manning Bowl,' promotion."
That's all well and good, and normally an explanation like that might be believable. Problem is, on Sunday, Valet sure sounded like a guy who was apologizing for carrying the Jaguars when he told the Associated Press , "I know it's frustrating, but as a CBS station in this market you have to carry the away games."
So, to clarify, WKMG ran a crawl Sunday explaining that the Jaguars would be on instead of the more compelling Broncos-Giants game, then apologized for the inconvenience, then called it "frustrating" that Orlando has been designated as the Jaguars' secondary away market.
But what they were really trying to do was offer some clarity to the Jaguars fans who were "confused and angry," by the promotion of the Broncos-Giants game -- even though the CBS promos included an express mention that some markets would be receiving the Jaguars game, and Orlando residents were armed with the knowledge that every Jaguars road game for the last 20 years has aired on WKMG.
Right, got it. Apologies all around for the inconvenience this "lazy blog" caused by spewing its "fictitious nonsense" -- WKMG's words, not mine. And just so everyone in Orlando is clear, you'll probably see ads for Colts-Niners or Jets-Bills next Sunday on CBS, but fear not: You'll still be able to find the Seahawks flattening the Jaguars on WKMG.
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