It’s no secret that WFLA, Channel 8 has been squeezing sports the past couple of years. The post-Chris Thomas era has not been a particularly distinguished one.
Friday night’s segment at 6 p.m. with Dave Reynolds was exhibit A for skewed priorities.
The station wanted to plug its pre-season deal with the Buccaneers in which Channel 8 will make all four games available in high-definition television. They will be available only on Bright House Networks Channel 608 and over-the-air on channel 7.
OK, self-promotion is part of the business. But WFLA had general manager Eric Land in studio for some self congratulation and a further explanation of the obvious.
As a result of the high-def shill, Reynolds had even less time to devote to what he’s supposed to do – inform and accommodate the viewers. So something had to go – and it sure wasn’t going to be NASCAR. He never got around to Lance Armstrong and his farewell ride into history at the Tour de France.
But we got nearly a full minute of Eric Land – and a working definition of how not to best serve your viewers.