ANGELS' ROAD DOESN'T LEAD TO TELEVISION.

Byline: Tom Hoffarth Staff Writer

The world champion Angels have entered TV's Bermuda Triangle, which might not be a coincidence considering where their travels take them the next two weeks.

All but one of the 12 games of the Angels' current road trip are without television coverage. They include: two in Baltimore and four at Tampa Bay this week, plus three more apiece next week against Montreal in Puerto Rico and at Florida.

ESPN2 made a late decision to carry tonight's Angels-Tampa Bay game at 4 p.m., but only on a regional basis that includes the Los Angeles-Anaheim market.

It's not unusual to have TV gaps in the 162-game schedule when the four broadcasting entities available are contracted to carry only as many as 106 - or about 65 percent of the full slate.

National broadcasters ESPN and Fox, which have first choice when the TV schedules were selected in February, passed on these 12 games for their Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday windows. After that, the Angels' cable home, Fox Sports Net, declined. So did their over-the-air station, KCAL Channel 9.

A combination of the early East Coast time difference, the quality of the opponent and the cost of doing business factor into what games are picked to broadcast by which network.

``Everyone chooses games based on their programming needs, and it's a challenge for all involved to get what they feel is most attractive to their audiences and what can get the best ratings,'' said Jay Lucas, the Angels' director of publicity and broadcasting.

``Unfortunately, this stretch of games really sticks out on the schedule.''

This season, Fox Sports Net has 50 Angels games and KCAL has 44, up from 40 a year ago. ESPN and Fox are able to use the Angels on nine national games.

With a somewhat limited selection, KCAL and Fox Sports Net are more conscious about getting more games early and later in the season rather than in the middle because of their perceived importance.

Lucas said KCAL had an interest in doing the three games June 3-5 in Puerto Rico, but when it was discussed in February, Major League Baseball wasn't clear on what the production facilities would be like or what other logistical problems might exist. By the time the Angels came back to KCAL to ask about those games against the Expos, KCAL said it had to pass since all the advertising had been sold for other programming.