(The Subhead of the article was "The Dodgers and Angels might be on strike, but in the [literal] world of satellites, everyone has a pitch")
Ronald Howrey thought he had a problem. As a Dodger fan, he mulled over ordering ONTV to get the dozen or so home games carried. The games on KTTV weren't enough. Despite being the only fan in his family, he had convinced them that this was the strongest, wisest move. Some agreed. Some wanted Z Channel, but relented. The decision was made at the start of Spring. But then Ronald, an insurance agent, saw a satellite programming magazine while flying home from a business trip. Purchasing a copy, he'd convinced himself by the time the plane landed. The family, surprised, needed little suggesting. It was settled. Giddiness won over budget. They haven't looked back. The Earth Station was a "go."
"To be honest, I should have done it sooner. It would've been great for the holidays, you know? We all watch a movie or something." That is the past, a time when the Howrey family was sans-satellite. You could almost label it B.S. - before satellite. To be honest, I wasn't ready for his infectious enthusiasm, and was beginning to tire of it was we looked at the dish from his neighbor's yard for comparison. "I worried about how it'd look, but if I put it near the palm tree, maybe he wouldn't notice it as much." Myself, I was in "yeah, I got it" mode when Ronald brought me back inside, giving me the controls and map.
"Here, pick a satellite, let's see what's going on." And so I did: my first scans got much the same that neighborhoods wired for cable can receive. With adjustments I found Home Box Office, The Movie Channel, Home Theater Network. We watched a bit of a newly created channel called Spotlight. He rattle off the pluses "Movie Channel is 24 Hours a Day" (which made me wonder how much the family took in at 4AM) and minuses (seeing a lot of repeats on one).
But we kept digging...and saw programs in Spanish from...somewhere? Jessica Savitch talking to her director and reading the news...and then getting up and leaving? Local TV from Chicago. Now this...I don't know what this is, but it's all in the air and the moment I suspect we're getting somewhere, I find out I'm alone. "Well, that's what's on there. Do you have enough for your story?"
From the driveway, I began to remind him of the whole reason again: no Dodgers, now what? "I don't know. But I'm set!"
Only set, temporarily, are the schedules for the local stations. Check your TV Guide and see this cryptic 1-liner: "At press time, there was a possibility that a baseball strike would cancel scheduled games." Stations that carry games at first considered shifting around programming but then thought better of that and left schedule regular programming and specials in their advertised time slot. If people wanted to watch "The Cannonball Crazies" on Channel 5, it better be on then, yeah?
All of the station programmers I spoke with, usually desiring on-the-record quotes, insisted this time to be off the record. You'd think as a result they'd give me direct answers to questions such as "Why does Wina Sturgeon on Channel 9 always look surprised?" Perhaps it was the situation, more tenuous by the week, it would seem, that made for tight lips.
One station's scheduler, in-person, folded out what at first looked like a teacher's grade book but was in actuality the station's schedule for the summer. Leafing through he said "The best laid plans...but you don't know when it'll end. Sales department would rather that happen pronto. Until then, we wait." And, when baseball returns, the viewers return? "Yes, I figure as much. Course, the longer it goes..." He trailed off and didn't say anything for a few minutes.
Just how many Ronalds, though, are out there: in their own way finding something to pass the time? Will the fandom wane? If the Dodgers remain in first place, will it matter?
