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Channel 10 seeks to air Pats/Giants game on Dec. 29

The president and general manager of WJAR NBC 10 has written a letter to the NFL commissioner offering to air the Dec. 29th Patriots’ game against the New York Giants to make it available to all Rhode Island fans.

The game is presently scheduled to be shown only on the NFL Network in Rhode Island. As currently scheduled, Boston and New Hampshire will be the only New England areas to see the game on free, over-the-air television. Rhode Islanders and other fans across New England will only be able to view the game if they are paid subscribers to the NFL Network.

According to a news release, NBC 10 said that the Providence DMA, with coverage in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, meets the definition of a home team television station. Traditionally, the NFL has considered stations within 75 miles of the team’s stadium to be home team TV stations; NBC10 is 33 miles from Foxboro.

Lisa Churchville, president and general manager of NBC 10, sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell offering to clear the station’s Saturday prime time schedule in order to air the New England Patriot’s and New York Giants final regular season game. The Dec. 29th game has the potential to culminate in the Patriots having the first undefeated regular season in the NFL since 1972.

“Please consider making this final game available on free, over-the-air television across New England to ensure that the region’s Patriots’ fans will be able to watch this historic game. We know that fans in our state would appreciate the NFL allowing them to enjoy the same access as fans in Boston,” Churchville said.

Posted by Karen Bordeleau  at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

URI hoop team ranked 25th in AP poll

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- The Rhode Island men's basketball team has cracked The Associated Press poll for the first time in nearly a decade.

The Rams are ranked Number 25 in the poll released today. Rhode Island was last ranked during the first week of the 1998-99 season.

The Rams have opened the year at 11-1, their best start since the 1991-92 season. They have racked up wins against Providence, Syracuse, South Florida and Alabama-Birmingham.

The team's lone loss was against Boston College.

Coach Jim Baron says the ranking is a big deal for the school considering how far the program has come in the last few years, when they typically finished near the bottom of the Atlantic 10 Conference.

-- The Associated Press

Posted by Karen Bordeleau  at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments 0