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Are you ready "Monday Night Football" will apparently be back as an afternoon delight for Hawaii fans.
for some live football?
KITV says it won't bother
establishments that show
Monday Night Football liveStar-Bulletin staff
Mike Rosenberg, KITV general manager, said today that his station would no longer actively pursue any broadcast-rights infringement by local bars and restaurants showing "Monday Night Football" telecasts live via satellite.
"We will not pursue it," Rosenberg said, declining to elaborate. "And we will also not supply names to the NFL of those who have been in violation."
Gabi Lindberg, manager of The Shack in Hawaii Kai, said, "That's just fantastic."
"We've been losing big money on Mondays," said Lindberg, who collected more than 500 signatures from patrons to air "Monday Night Football" live.
At the Shack in Kailua, manager Scott Patterson said, "I still get 30 to 40 calls a day asking if we're going to show it."
KITV, the Hawaii ABC affiliate, pays the NFL $250,000 annually for exclusive broadcast rights to bring in the Monday football game. The station then shows it on a tape-delayed basis in prime time.
Last July, Rosenberg sent letters to every venue with a liquor license, saying the station would pursue legal action against violators showing a live satellite broadcast. In addition to it being against the law, Rosenberg said, his station was losing money because viewers were watching the games live instead of on KITV.
KITV had hired Goodenow Associates Inc., a Honolulu investigative company, to track down violators. NFL officials told Rosenberg that they would not pursue the matter legally.
Today's disclosure by Rosenberg "will definitely be a big boost to our business," said the Columbia Inn's manager, Jason Merchant. "A lot of people will be happy about it."