BAD WEATHER MAKES FOR GOOD TV.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH The Media

The numbers 20 and 50 could represent the starting point of the projected Nielsen rating and share that CBS and Fox expect for the last two NFL playoff games before the Super Bowl.

Or more significantly, 20 is the predicted temperature and 50 is the percentage that the National Weather Service gives for the chance of snow in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the sites of the NFC and AFC championship games Sunday afternoon and evening.

As any TV exec would eventually admit if put on the spot: Let it snow, let it snow, and let it snow 'til it can't snow no more.

CBS Sports chief Sean McManus, answering a question on a conference call about his desire for bad weather, initially responded: ``We're not looking forward to it.'' But as he continued, it became clear that if there was any way possible to set up man-made snow machines along the sidelines at Heinz Field, the network would look into it.

``When you have that kind of scene, going back to the 'Snow Bowl' between Oakland and New England a few years ago, to the incredibly cold Tennessee-New England playoff game last year and the AFC title game with Indianapolis the next week, and then the (Indianapolis-New England) game last week, for the viewer at home, especially those who haven't seen a game all season, it just adds to the overall ambience of the telecast,'' said McManus.

``And the ratings seem to bear that out. When the weather is really horrendous, we get a (ratings) spike. It just makes a better scene for folks at home sitting in their warm living rooms watching these players compete not just against each other but against the elements.

``So I'm rooting for terrible weather. I'm not shy about that.''

The 23.2 national rating and 40 share that CBS got for the Indianapolis- New England playoff game Sunday was the highest-rated AFC divisional playoff game since the 1997-98 season.

Likewise, Fox Sports executive producer Ed Goren wouldn't object to seeing Eagles receiver Freddie Mitchell making snow angels at midfield on the Lincoln Financial Field in Philly during pregame warmups.

``I do find things to complain about, and the other day, I may have come on the set and asked, 'How is it possible we get a playoff game in Green Bay (a wild-card contest two weeks ago) in January and it's always sunny, but every time CBS goes to New England they get snow,'' said Goren from his sunny Los Angeles-based office. ``Maybe more care to see (the snow). It does make for great TV.''

And, for more logical problems with those who have to navigate through a snow show telecast.

CBS producer Lance Barrow, more accustomed to the nice-climate golf coverage through most of the year, notes that freezing temperatures have a way of locking up cameras and microphones at inopportune moments, and make the high camera angles obsolete.

``But I agree, I'd like to see a little snow falling Sunday night in Pittsburgh,'' said Barrow. ``It would be a great backdrop to a football game at nighttime in a stadium with a grass field. There'd be nothing better.''

--The blooper reel: Try as they may, CBS couldn't come up with an excuse for missing a touchdown by New England quarterback Tom Brady in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against Indianapolis because the network was in a commercial break.

``Unfortunate is the word for it,'' said CBS executive producer Tony Petitti. ``Basically, we're in a normal break and when we come out, there are four-to-five seconds additionally we get. When we realized the team was breaking the huddle, we pushed out as quickly as we could, but they snapped the ball immediately. There are occasions where we get help from the sideline official and 99.9 percent of the time we get time to do what we want but in this situation, the Patriots' plan was to get over the ball and snap it, so all we had was a wide shot.''

SOUND BYTES

WHAT SMOKES

--Jim Rome will go to a daily ``Jim Rome Is Burning'' show for ESPN starting Feb. 14 in the 1:30 p.m. slot, leading into ``Around the Horn'' and ``Pardon the Interruption.'' The network hasn't made the announcement formal yet, but Rome says: ``After a couple of seasons of doing it once a week, I'm fired up and ready to jump back into two-a-days.'' The radio-TV daily workload will be similar to when he did ``The Last Word'' weekday TV show for Fox Sports Net several years ago while continuing his nationally syndicated radio show from 9 a.m. to noon heard on KXTA-AM (1150) and XTRA-AM (690), soon to move over to KLAC-AM (570) on Feb. 3.

--Trying to spin off the success of going on remotes for the college football ``GameDay'' shows, ESPN tips off a similar eight-week college basketball road show called ``The Three,'' starting Saturday and leading into its coverage of the Pittsburgh-Connecticut contest at 6 p.m. Host Rece Davis (who will do the first four weeks, followed by Chris Fowler for the last four) and analysts Jay Bilas and Digger Phelps are the main components, but they'll have some of their air time sucked away by Dick Vitale throughout the day. It begins with an hour-long show at 8 a.m., another an hour before the game at 5 p.m., then wraps up with an hour that will take them all past midnight on the East Coast. On the Saturday night spotlight games, Vitale will do the telecast with Brad Nessler. However, none of them will be on the West Coast. ``College basketball deserves this,'' said Bilas, who spent his college days before the crazies at Duke. ``I may be biased but college basketball is the best game there is. These games count, building toward the end of the season where they crown a true champion. We showcase the passion around the sport and the students are the heart of the game. But let's make it clear: I get to be the (Kirk) Herbstreit (of this show) and (Digger) is the nutty (Lee) Corso.''

WHAT CHOKES

--Apparently trying to prove that even without the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL that the network can forge a place in the sports landscape, NBC announced that the National Lacrosse League has bought time on the peacock network to air its Feb. 26 All-Star Game from the Calgary Saddledome and its May 14 title game. It has NLL commissioner Jim Jennings so giddy that he has been quoted as saying: ``We believe these broadcasts will serve as the springboard to take our league and the sport of lacrosse to the next level.'' Up a level from what? It has only taken the NLL, which has a team in Anaheim, three years to convince NBC that it's worthy of its airtime. Until this, it was strictly a cable sport, if that. ``It gives us some big exposure,'' said Calgary Roughnecks president Brad Banister in the Toronto Sun. ``It's something that the NHL doesn't even get much of, hardly.'' Especially during a work stoppage.

--Catching up with the NBC-supported Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Search reality-show contest (which carries the ridiculous TV-14 rating): Kerri, Stacy, Jenna and Alicia survived a bitterly contested third round, meaning one more will be eliminated before the final three jet off to Bora Bora for one last photo shoot, setting up the online voting for the winner that gets to celebrate with a spot in the Feb. 3 SI swimsuit semi-pornographic issue. That being the case, it was rather humorous to watch Jenna shed tears because one of the judges didn't really appreciate her photogenic nature. ``They said my pictures ... I look like a porn star. Like, the fact that he said that on national television ... it's so insulting (sniff, sniff),'' Jenna blubbered to Alicia. ``They're just saying you're super, super sexy,'' replied Alicia, who had her own hissy fit during a bikini shoot in the snow, which alienated the rest of the contestants but made her the loose cannon that every reality series needs, reinforcing her selection for at least one more show.

By Tom Hoffarth

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