Today's fun and a rant about KATV that involves LOST

Today we went to the Peabody Hotel in downtown Little Rock and saw the famous Peabody ducks march out of their palace and into the fountain at 11 (picture on left at the top). It's been a daily tradition in all three Peabody hotels for 75 years.

After the ducks' march, we went to the Old State House (bottom left picture). The Old State House (oldstatehouse.com) is the oldest state capitol building west of the Mississippi River. It was built in the 1830's to house Arkansas' legislature. The legislature left early in the 20th century for a bigger building. The Old State House became a museum for Arkansas history in 1947 and has been the backdrop for numerous parties for former President Clinton. It's where he announced he would campaign for the presidency in 1991 and where he celebrated his back-to-back elections. Though I don't particularly care for former President Clinton, it was cool to see the history in the building. So that was fun.

Then we went to lunch with my dad at Jason's Deli. It was alright.

And then I rode my bike with my sister. And here I am now. Onto the rant...

Much to my dismay, SEC basketball (not specifically the Razorbacks) takes priority over prime time programming here in the Little Rock area. Now if this basketball took the place of programming on NBC or FOX, it wouldn't be a big deal (other than Heroes on Monday). But it's on ABC, home of my favorite show, LOST. There are two more airings of SEC basketball that take place on Wednesdays. And, of course, one of them is when LOST returns on February 7. That means that if the game (again, it's not even Arkansas sometimes) overruns its two hour allotment from 7-9pm, LOST will be delayed until the game is over. At least LOST is on at 9 now, otherwise it would air at 12:30 the next morning like the block of programming from 8-9pm. But because it's delayed and KATV, the local ABC affiliate, does not have the equipment to tape-delay HD programming, LOST could, and probably will be once, broadcast only in standard definition. One of the reasons I'm getting my HD tuner for my laptop is to watch LOST in beautiful HD. But our second-rate affiliate, KATV, chooses basketball over affiliation. Leave the basketball to an independent station. You're an affiliate of one of the Big Four! (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) I am upset at KATV, but I'm more upset at ABC. That they would allow their original programming to be cast aside until the late hours of the morning is ridiculous.

I have expressed my displeasure to the KATV Program Director while asking what the procedure was if the game overruns. I have e-mailed ABC and asked what their rules were for affiliation and how this is kind of a disgrace to ABC. It's not even Arkansas basketball! The other night it was Tennessee and Mississippi! Now I love basketball. But basketball is on ESPN. It's on ESPN2. It's on CBS on Saturdays. It's on KATV on the weekends. To tape-delay LOST (and other programming) is ridiculous. Maybe KATV will hear the voices of displeasure (I'm not alone in this according to a TV forum). This is the only time I wish I was far away from Little Rock and in between two cities with ABC affiliates (the other ABC towers are over 100 miles away, digital signals travel no farther than 60 miles usually).

So that's my predicament. At least it's only two Wednesdays and at least LOST is on at 9 and will be tape-delayed so I'll get to see it the same night. But still, that's very frustrating.

Are you in the Little Rock area and upset too? E-mail the Program Director at tv7@katv.com. Not in the Little Rock area but wanting to help? E-mail ABC at abc.com. Thanks.

-Kevin C. Burns