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Cable Broadcast of FAMU Game Was Second Rate

By Marie Frasier
Black College Wire

With a number of students at Florida A&M University in hotels due to poor planning by apartment management and building contractors, and many others suffering delayed financial aid, it's hard to imagine that anything else could go wrong at FAMU.

However, the Aug. 30 football game against Alabama State and its resulting broadcast take the cake. If you didn't make the trip to Detroit, you were forced to experience the game via second-rate programming unworthy of an NCAA Division I-A university.

FAMU's five-year, multimillion dollar deal with the Urban Broadcasting Co. hopes to bring exposure as well as much-needed funds to the only historically black university in the division. Unfortunately, if the Aug. 30 broadcast is an indication of what will be seen for the remainder of this contract, FAMU can forget reaching its revenue goal of $24 million.

The first quarter was plagued by bad tracking, high school-quality sound and incorrect score reports. Once the problem with the score was corrected, the wrong team mascots remained next to the scores for the rest of the game. And these problems were only the most noticeable.

A few mistakes are to be expected on the inaugural broadcast, you might be thinking. Nonetheless, you can be sure that Florida State and University of Miami settle for nothing but the best for their sports coverage, and neither should we.

If FAMU is serious about its move to Division I-A, it must not tolerate anything less than excellence from the companies hired to represent it. If UBC airs another game of the same degrading quality, perhaps FAMU should consider looking for a network dedicated to providing the quality we deserve.

Marie Frasier is a student at Florida A&M University who writes for The Famuan.

Posted Sept. 5, 2003