KTKA pulls off coup in NFL games ■ By taking on Fox network’s football broadcasts, Topeka’s ABC affiliate aims to get viewers, ad revenues. ■ Fox will get airtime in goal of becoming 4th network. By JOE TASCHLER The Capital-Journal T here was a time when the Fox television network was the laughingstock of American tele vision. If Fox officials, for example, had approached Kent Cornish, general manager at KTKA-TV in Topeka, about switching the station’s affilia tion to Fox from ABC, “We’d have laughed at them," Cornish said “They wouldn't have even gotten an appointment.” Then Fox carried the highest bid into the chicken coop and snatched the broadcast rights to National Football League games away from CBS. All of a sudden, Fox’s calling card turned to gold Cornish, like many television station executives across the country, decided to listen to Fox’s sales pitch. The result. KTKA and Fox entered into an agreement allowing the Topeka station, an ABC affiliate, to carry Fox’s broadcasts of NFL foot ball. So, when Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs take on Montana’s old team, the San Francisco 49ers, on Sept. 11 in the Chiefs’ home opener, KTKA-TV will put an exclusive up on the scoreboard. KTKA will be the only station in Topeka on cable or broadcast to carry the much-anticipated — and likely very highly-rated — game The station will carry one other Chiefs game through Fox in addition to other NFL games carried by Fox. Coupled with the Monday Night Football games KTKA will carry via ABC, the deal with Fox appears to be a sweet one. Under the terms of the contract with Fox, the local station can sell 5 minutes of local commercials during the game. That amounts to 11 com mercials, 30 seconds each in dura tion. Whatever KTKA doesn’t sell, it will use to promote its news and other programming, Cornish said. In terms of selling ads, “We will probably get as much revenue off the two Chiefs games that we’d make the entire fall carrying regular program ming,” Cornish said In terms of promoting itself, “Obviously, we’re going to bring new viewers who maybe wouldn’t be watching our programming on Sunday afternoon,” he said. ConfinuedoiTpiiel^Tw^