The WORST FOX BROADCASTING CONTROVERSY of the 1994 NFL Season

FOX lied to their viewers. During week 7 of the 1994 NFL season, KMPH, Channel 26, the FOX affiliate in Fresno, California, advertised that they were going to air the game between the New York Giants and the Los Angeles Rams. However, when they got the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles instead, let's just say that a massive controversy ensued, especially between the affiliate and the parent network
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1994 Giants: • The STRANGEST Training...
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[@gorgonsdeathstare]

Ah, Dave Brown. No one hit the wide open defender better

[@CTubeMan]

Except Neil O’Donnell in Super Bowl 30.

[@jagtaggart936]

My first Giants jersey! Still got it!

[@DanStrayer]

Congrats Giants fans: you finally ran Phil Simms outta town. After a Pro Bowl season where he had his best completion % and garnered MVP votes, no less. Hope it was worth it.

[@paulkelly8232]

​@@DanStrayerWhat did the fans have to do with it. The GM and HC gave him the boot. Get a clue before you get to the keyboard.

[@toddbiesel4288]

According to Fox logic, shooting a golf round of 70 in perfect weather conditions is better than shooting a round of 72 in extremely rainy and windy conditions.

[@leogetz3570]

1994 was also the first year of the Sunday Ticket, so if I had to guess, the NFL was probably pressuring networks to do things like this in order for people to break down and get the Sunday Ticket.

[@stevenbauer4799]

'i taught you said the train came tru at 5?' leo getz things done.

[@leogetz3570]

@@stevenbauer4799 I want to watch this commercial, the girl is so hot, she makes me wanna go out and buy rubbers right now!!

[@paulnye6025]

As a lifelong eagles fan I remember that game. Thanks for reminding me how bad they played that day and how they went from 7-2 to 7-9 that season. Rich Kotite was a horrific coach

[@marcusmcgraw3519]

Eh he did everything he could with you guys. 10 wins without Randall year 1, playoff win on road with Randall year 2, 8-8 with no Randall for most of year 3, 7-2 start in year 4. Then he asks for a well deserved extension and gets told “we’re not extending anyone”. He knew he was getting let go at end of season Who would keep trying at that point? Keep in mind, the Jets were quick to hire him for a reason. They just had a burned out roster for him once he got there. Not his fault the Jets threw tons of money at NEIL O’DONNELL. I don’t place almost any blame in Kotite’s corner. History remembers him far worse than he was, due to people like you who perpetuate narratives without facts

[@paulnye6025]

@@marcusmcgraw3519 the team didn’t respect him. They respected Bud Carson as defensive coordinator which is the only reason why they were still competitive. I’ll give you that the owner Braman was horrible too. But Kotite’s soft practices and terrible in game decisions were horrific to watch

[@atworkstation]

Kottite was much worse with the Jets.

[@VanillaLimeCoke]

Rhodes was worse. After Kotite left the Eagles, Rhodes who was at first good immediately took them to the playoffs with a 10-6 record from 7-9. After Kotite left the Jets, Parcells nearly took them to the playoffs the next year at 9-7 from a 1-15 record. However after Rhodes left the Eagles, Reid needed two years to rebuild the team. After Rhodes left the Packers, it still took them another year to get back in the playoffs. Kotite mightve been an idiot, but at least he didn't destroy the teams like Rhodes did.

[@AdamJ617]

Imagine if the CW took the NFL away from CBS. Now, we’d have the big Five.

[@josephallsen3135]

As far as I am concerned, you get extra credit for working a Talking Heads reference into a football story. Maybe we could replace the lyrics to road to nowhere with worse than if you spiked the ball on every play.

[@alexbrangan2885]

Obviously, Fox got cold feet because they figured the Rams game would be a poor ratings draw due to their imminent move to St. Louis. But they couldn't just say that without insulting Rams fans, so they used bozo math to make up an even dumber excuse that (checks notes) still insulted Rams fans.

[@alexbrangan2885]

@@matthewdaley746 L take. Whenever a major sports team threatens relocation, it's not the fans' fault, it's the owners. Poverty franchises stay in poverty because their owners don't care. In some cases, those owners are deliberately sabotaging their teams and their relationships with their home cities to create an excuse to move.

[@atworkstation]

The Rams returned to Los Angeles in 2016.

[@ElFuego35]

Reminds me of the issues WFXI/WYDO, the Fox affiliate in Greenville, NC had. Seemingly every week, instead of the Carolina game that was assigned to the market, we would always get the first 5-30 minutes of the National 1:00 game, when the station would "wake up", and manually override the national Fox feed with the regional Fox feed they were supposed to air. Of course, this is the same station that screwed up airing the Super Bowl XLII... The only reason Fox tolerated the screwups is that there was literally no other station for them to go to in the market.

[@leogetz3570]

What was the issue with broadcasting the Super Bowl

[@ElFuego35]

@@leogetz3570 The station went off the air due to technical issues at half time, and didn't return until Midway through the 3rd

[@leogetz3570]

@@ElFuego35 oh man that sucks!! Had the same issue with the Fox affiliate in Champaign, Illinois for the famous Vikings/Falcons NFC championship game for the 98 season. Station was off the air all day and no one could watch the game

[@kylehuckins213]

So who else said, "This is not my beautiful house." at the same time as the host?

[@TehJew22]

Once in a Lifetime! 🎶🎵

[@steviepusch2166]

Something similar happened to the chicago fox affiliate in 1999 for week 16 where they didn't air the packers late afternoon game despite advertising it.

[@CTubeMan]

That’s odd, considering the Bears were on the road that week.

[@steviepusch2166]

@@CTubeMan fox had the double header that week. Someone on yt has the full game posted of the chicago affiliate and there is a ticker that scrolls by at the end of the chicago game notifying of no gb game

[@CTubeMan]

Another reason why FOX’s explanation was bad, fans who really wanted to watch the Eagles-Cowboys game may not have been watching FOX at that time, thinking they would see the Giants-Rams game. Conversely, fans who really wanted to watch the Giants-Rams game may have turned off the TV when they didn’t see that game.

[@daveporter0217]

My God, what have they done?

[@RetroJR3379]

On the same day when FOX did thier 1st ever NFL game 29 years ago

[@drewzuhosky6826]

The worst FOX Sports controversy occurred last December. On Dec. 18, Lionel Messi guided Argentina to a World Cup Final win on penalties. Due to the length of the game, FOX infamously cut off the trophy presentation to either join a 1 pm ET NFL game or go to local programming on affiliate stations, given that this was a single-game week for _The NFL on FOX._ The remainder of the post-match coverage was shoved to FS1. Worse yet, when it became public knowledge that the World Cup Final would be played at 10 am ET from Qatar, FOX was originally slated to have all of its NFL games that Sunday airing at 4 pm ET. When the schedule came out for last season, this was no longer the case.

[@drewzuhosky6826]

Plenty of Americans care about soccer. Do you know how popular the Premier League has become in the 10 am ET window on Saturdays?

[@samuraibeastwarrior2886]

Hockey is better than Soccer

[@RetroJR3379]

Funny you mentioned the World Cup I was watching Smackdown last night and there was no mentioned of the Women World Cup guess it had something to do with Team USA

[@WaltGekko]

I'm guessing CBS objected to FOX having all of its games at 4:05 PM ET because that would have meant a reverse doubleheader with likely 1-2 games at 1:00 PM and a number of localities on the east coast likely vehemently objecting to being at 4:05/4:25 unless the national game out of concerns of needing more police (and in many cases there being shortages) because of many more drunken fans for 4:05/4:25 PM games.

[@ElFuego35]

@@WaltGekko Interesting that CBS would object, considering that the NFL gave the same treatment to them back in 2020 when The Masters was rescheduled for November, giving Fox all of the 1:00 games, while scheduling all of CBS's games for the 4:05 slot, with Fox having the Doubleheader.

[@chrisguardiano6143]

This is similar to what happened in Seattle in 1990 (in terms of one game being advertised but another being aired instead) during the first season of the NBA on TNT. TNT had planned to air a Friday doubleheader at the midway point of the NBA season as it was right after the All Star break with the first game being a match up between a Larry Bird led Boston & a MJ led Chicago followed by the I-5 rivalry between Portland & Seattle. However while Seattle got the game between Boston & Chicago along with everyone else, they did not get to see their team play on TNT even though it was widely advertised as such. However unlike this, TNT had no control over the situation & had to show the Golden State Warriors taking on the Lakers even though they really wanted to air Portland-Seattle thanks to Prime Sports Northwest (the Sonics RSN which was also in their first season of televising games & now called Root Sports) which got the exclusive rights to air the game in Seattle & Washington state. The main reason why Prime Sports Northwest did this was because they did not want to lose local ad revenue from the game being nationally televised & because they felt as though their ratings per game were way better than TNT's, even though Prime Sports had no data backing that up. The executives at Turner Sports were absolutely livid about all of this & threatened to sue Prime Sports for damages because they felt as though Prime Sports was costing them ratings in one of the top 20 TV markets in the country. They also threatened to never show the Sonics again on TNT. It got so bad that David Stern (the commissioner) had to step in & basically tell Prime Sports to let TNT air their slate of nationally televised games, otherwise he would rip up the RSN contract Prime Sports had with the NBA nationally. As for how Sonics-Blazers turned out, Seattle thrashed Portland 115-85. We will likely never see a controversy like this ever again due to national broadcasters having way more control than they did in 1990 & the RSN's increasingly falling by the wayside especially the Bally's owned ones.

[@marcus813]

I didn't know about this mess. If then-PSNW didn't comply, that would've affected my Magic, which had some of its games on Prime affiliate Sunshine Network (now Bally Sports Sun).

[@SyySteezy]

Glad to know root sports has been a shitshow since the jump. Still to this day the blackouts in the NW are disgraceful. At least Mariners own 60% but all of these local markets have been greedy fuckups for 30+ years now

[@lionsfan7500]

Wow I had no idea that something like this happened. It's so impressive how you find these stories and you do an Amazing job explaining to us the viewers and again another great video my friend and keep up the AWESOME WORK 👌

[@jesterking27]

A Fox affiliate/network lying and then doubling down by defending their lie? No! Never! 😂

[@chadwickwhite6107]

Ah the 1994 Dallas Cowboys... Michael Irvin couldn't tell the DIFFERENCE between Coke lines and Yard Lines

[@BillMorganChannel]

I love your channel. Here are two potential stories. in the 1974 draft, there were two Ohio State linebackers taken back to back. With the 13th pick in the first round was New Orleans' and they took Ohio State linebacker Rick Middleton, who had a poor career. With the next pick, the 14th pick, Denver took Ohio State linebacker Randy Gradishar, who made 7 Pro Bowls (Hall of Famers Andre Tippett made 5, Rickey Jackson made 6, Kevin Greene made 5, Sam Mills made 5, Chuck Howley made 6). Another potential story could be ... equipment failures! When the Bills drafted the great O. J. Simpson in 1969, he showed up to training camp and the Bills did not have a helmet big enough for his head! Keep up the good work.

[@ugolini78]

Gradishar needs to be in the HOF

[@TheVCRTimeMachine]

It wasn’t hard to watch football without having the score on the screen the whole game. If you were paying attention and we’re in the room for the whole game, you just knew what the score was.

[@RetroJR3379]

Im pretty sure that in LA KTTV did the Eagles/Cowboys since Rams wasn't a sellout especially since Rams were pretty much St.Louis bound and by Christmas time I went to the mall in LA and there was hardly Rams stuff as if they never played in LA

[@Fender178]

Man This was 2 years before Bettis became a member of the Steelers. The Steelers got him in 1996. On top of the Rams being absolutely terrible in the early to mid 1990s. What bunch of idiots that FOX had when they were advertising a game pretty much all week then to pull a bait and switch tactic. This is prime example of false advertising.

[@samuraibeastwarrior2886]

In Illinois people got the 49ers Falcons game on October 16 1994

[@barbaracaroll]

I thought Danny Dimes was going to be like Dave Brown thankfully I don't think that anymore

[@royveteto4134]

how soon until there will be a game that in order to see it you must have a streaming service and people are mad for the streaming service isn't available in that market

[@filanfyretracker]

I have seen that game flip before, I even saw a game that the network went to another game before it ended and had some bullcrap answer of "Due to contractual obligations". I dont think some ink on a paper signed a thousand miles away should deny fans the end of their game. Just keep the local affiliate on their team and I doubt the contract people would even know. in 2023 I think people should just be able to tune in the network that time slot is having a game in and pick whatever game that network has at that moment. no blackouts, no geoblocks or blackouts. Because unfortunately even the league apps can still suffer blackouts which are honestly an obsolete concept

[@CTubeMan]

WRT 9:37 I think you’ve proven that NFL broadcasting controversies haven’t come once in a lifetime.

[@joecan]

OMFG. 5 minutes of content (being generous) turned into a 24 minute video...

[@RetroJR3379]

Least Fresno saw another game. In San Diego since the Chargers played at 1pm so San Diego only did the Chargers and the 49ers/Falcons

[@Musicradio77Network]

WNYW-TV (channel 5) in NYC which is a Fox affiliate did aired the Giants Vs. Rams game. No problem, nothing has got to change. No screw-ups.

[@CTubeMan]

The FOX affiliate in New York aired a Giants road game in 1994? That’s worthy of a video at least 45 minutes long!

[@Musicradio77Network]

@@CTubeManThat’s why, the Giants played against Rams was aired at 4PM eastern where the Giants went on a road game, not at Giants Stadium, but at another stadium on the west coast. KMPH-TV in Fresno, CA was scheduled to air at 1PM, but in New York City, they did aired later at 4PM on WNYW-TV, another Fox affiliate in NYC aired the Giants Vs. Rams later, and before that, the Cowboys Vs. Eagles aired at 1PM eastern.

[@Jason_Maier]

Oh, when the Rams made the brilliant move in re-hiring Chuck Knox.

[@titojohnson7141]

Knox and his "Ground Chuck" offense was super outdated by the 90's. With all of the rest of their problems, there was no chance of them emulating their run from 1973-77 when they were a QB away from a dynasty.

[@RetroJR3379]

I like the new format especially when we see you on camera reminds me when Steve Sabol did that on NFL Films

[@JayTemple]

Side question: You mentioned that Fox was the first network to have a score bug at all times. Were they also the first to have the clock there? I watched bits of every Super Bowl to look for it, and it didn't happen until around this time. As a game show fan, I found this surprising because Pyramid had had a clock up for every round since 1973, and Password had had an analog clock since 1962.

[@leogetz3570]

I think the FoxBox had it all when it started... score, qtr, time remaining. I just remember it was a big deal when it started in 94

[@RetroJR3379]

​@leogetz3570 Only thing missing was the downs and yards

[@leogetz3570]

@@RetroJR3379 oh okay, I just remember the box was up and it was something different to see!

[@RetroJR3379]

@leogetz3570 It was unique and I loved the graphics I hope next season FOX bring back for 1 game the old graphics for thier 30th anniversary

[@jaxking904]

I guess we can call it a Dumb Decision double feature.

[@twown]

Was that a Secret Window reference? I love that movie, and just watched it again recently.

[@ahoneyman]

This may sound silly but Fresno is 3 hours from LA and 3 hours from San Francisco. Are Fresno locals Rams fans or Niners fans?

[@luisreyes1963]

Bad enough Fresno didn't get to see the Giants-Rams game, but instead got Cowboys-Eagles. Oops...😂

[@MrTim2031]

This video is killing me with the mid 90s version of Cowboys vs Eagles. I would criticize and say you should show some more positive Eagles plays, but I saw that game when it aired. There were none.

[@dylanandrich1949]

Dolphins vs bills with the ticker saying miami vs raiders and bills vs colts...

[@CTubeMan]

The ticker was for Week 7, while he mentioned the Bills-Dolphins game was in Week 6.

[@marcus813]

That FOX suit misrepresenting those data was so foul. If you're airing an early-window game with competition that gets a rating that's about 0.1 worse than a late-window game without competition, that would effectively invalidate any argument that the late game did better business. FOX 26 got screwed. FOX has had a habit of airing the wrong game in certain markets for a long time. I remember a few years ago when FOX declined to send a Saints game to Mobile/Pensacola and Mississippi and it still doesn't make sense now.

[@stevevernon1978]

I don't agree that KMPH had nothing to do with it, after FOX told them that they would have to show the Dallas game, KMPH continued to advertise the Rams game, "hoping" that they could get FOX to change their decision. KMPH should have come clean to their viewers immediately, and told them that FOX had chosen to show the Dallas game, and had the _VIEWERS_ complain to FOX directly while there was still time to make the change.

[@LegendaryDorkKnight]

The Eagles retroactively disappointing me is a very Eagles thing to do.

[@peacefrog0521]

10:02 I effin’ hate the Plowboys. But this play is still beautiful to watch. I don’t know how many times we’ve seen Emmit Smith leap over the goal line for a TD. Still great. ❤

[@atworkstation]

That was around my senior year of high school.

[@giantsr1eva]

It’s easy to lose a game 8-5, all you do is have one team score a safety and a field goal, then your team scores a touchdown and a two point conversion to make the score 8-5 since they want to be up by a field goal in the game. I’m surprised that you missed that one and claimed that it was weird.

[@leogetz3570]

Unusual score yes, but not that confusing, especially since this was the first season of the 2pt conversion and teams wanted to try it. I don't know why he questioned that

[@kennethhall289]

@@leogetz3570I looked it up it was 2-0 at halftime and Rams kicked a FG in the 3rd and Falcons scored a TD in the middle of the 4th and of course went for 2 and converted it to go up by 3.

[@leogetz3570]

yeah, figured it was something like that@@kennethhall289

[@stevevernon1978]

i checked on scorigami, and that was the ONLY 8-5 game ever... and the only other two games won with a score of 8 to anything, were in 1950 and 1932

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Oh, I wasn't questioning how you lose a game 8-5 in terms of how you score that exactly. I just have never seen an 8-5 score right now

[@effend446]

16:23 Rams/Packers?

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Yeah. Rams/Packers was the game that FOX was comparing it too

[@btone310]

Niners have always been more popular in Fresno than the Rams. Fresno sits between the bay and LA

[@CTubeMan]

This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about the outrage CBS viewers in Salt Lake City felt in 1987 when CBS teased them into believing they would see the 49ers-Saints game.

[@VanillaLimeCoke]

They did this a year or so back. They said they were going to show one particular game..... Then they changed it. I was furious and nearly not only blowing fire but ......id better not go there...... Because i had wanted to see the original game they were going to broadcast.

[@tobiaswilliamson00]

2:43 Actually Fresno isn't even in the Top 50 of TV Markets

[@lindalealphamale]

Man…I hate to be the one to point this out. The alternative of spiking the ball on every play, would also give the team 0 total yards on every play. The statement is only true if the team also recorded zero yards rushing on every play. Could you try changing it to “spike the ball on every single passing play”? Your fans would lose their shit.

[@CTubeMan]

Future video teaser at 11:11?

[@mrmoose6619]

I really hope so. Richie Kotite is a Dumb Decision Machine.

[@BuccaneerBruce]

1994 was the year I opened my sports store.

[@TooterShelby]

Is your sports store still there and where is it at?.

[@BuccaneerBruce]

@TooterShelby No I closed it in 2000.

[@TooterShelby]

@@BuccaneerBruce what made you close it?.

[@damnmarkey]

FOX made a smart move

[@cuginoeddie8677]

Fun fact, Fox started the permanent score on the screen because of the 94 World Cup

[@praketingrichraft6181]

Fox lied? I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you.

[@dondajulah4168]

Well, the Fox statement compared ratings in the LA MARKET, not the Fresno market. I am sure that the Cowboys would be a lot bigger draw relative to the Rams in the Fresno market. The blame lies with the local Fox affiliate for promoting a game where they did not have the authority to make that decision. I will take Fox’s ability to decide which gane is going to be more marketable over a local affiliate.

[@sparklerbc9898]

This another one of those things that looks very different today if you weren’t really alive at the time. Local TV affiliates were an extremely rag tag thing at that tine, especially fox affiliates, which was still very much the upstart. Sure, having nfl games was going to give them a major leap forward, but it had just begun. Ever see the film UHF? I guarantee you the local fox affiliate in Fresno in 1994 was not too far off.

[@guadalupev30]

This year Fox NFL 30th season.

[@werewolffox8918]

I try not to be a hater but you're putting out public contact so expect discord. This is one of the worst videos I have ever watched in my 38 years. It took you so long to built up to the point and yet never actually make it. A game feed was off, you're acting like you found out Oswald didn't kill Kennedy. It's goofy bro.

[@stevenbauer4799]

First year of fox sports/nfl deal. Like fox sports doesn't have a hard on for boys games even when they suck so fox/fresno affiliate probably thought boys/eagle game would get more viewers than rams who sucked at a time georgia was running them into the ground to move to st.L a year later.

[@JavaBum]

This definitely has not been the exception to the rule, as the NFL, NHL, and MLB all pull this stunt on a consistent basis.