For many Kings fans the joy of being one victory away from the team’s first Stanley Cup championship is incomplete because they haven’t been able to hear the play-by-play call and analysis of announcers Bob Miller and Jim Fox, who were relegated to the sidelines after the first round because of the exclusivity clause in the NHL’s television deal with NBC.
Club executives have been working on a solution that would respect complicated broadcast rights issues involving the league and NBC and also allow fans to hear Miller and Fox describe a possible Cup triumph. A solution apparently is at hand.
Mike Altieri, the vice president of communications and broadcasting for AEG Sports, said that starting on Wednesday -- the team’s first chance to win the Stanley Cup -- and going forward if the Cup Final continues past Game 4, Miller and Fox will record a call of each game. “Just so that we have it at the very least,” Altieri said Tuesday.
“There are a lot of rights issues and we will figure out a way how fans will be able to consume it,” Altieri added.
Among the possibilities are playing the duo’s call on the team web site after enough time has lapsed so no one’s broadcast rights are violated, or creating a DVD that would incorporate their call and could be sold to the public.
NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said in a statement, "We have great respect for Bob, but he is not in our current plans for tomorrow night."
Game 4 will be aired on NBC Sports Network. A tweet late Monday from the team’s official Twitter account said the game had been moved to NBC but that’s not true and a correction was later tweeted.
--Helene Elliott
