Test wipes out end of MU telecast
Mar. 12, 2009 4:58 p.m.
Many Time Warner Cable viewers from around the state of Wisconsin missed seeing the end of the Marquette men's basketball game against Villanova Thursday afternoon on ESPN because an emergency broadcast test was initiated, wiping out the last 40 seconds of game action.
Marquette, playing in the quarterfinal round of the Big East Conference tournament, was clinging to a 75-74 lead and had the ball when the test began. By the time the test was over, Villanova had won the game, 76-75. Viewers missed MU's last possession and Villanova's game-winning shot.
"This was a federally required and randomly executed weekly test that ran on 80 analog channels," said Stacy Zaja, a spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable of Wisconsin.
Bev Greenberg, a vice president for Time Warner of Wisconsin, said the cable system does not select the times the tests run.
"They have to be random," Greenberg said. "It's required by law."
For viewers of the basketball game, the timing could not have been worse.
"As someone around here said, it was an unfortunate perfect storm," Greenberg said.
Greenberg said about two-thirds of the Time Warner subscribers in the state of Wisconsin were affected. Viewers in Racine and Kenosha, as well as portions of northern Wisconsin, were not affected by the test. Viewers who were watching the game on ESPN HD also were not affected.
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