It hasn't even registered a Nielsen rating of 1 yet, but Fan TV scored big last week when it broke the Jim Kelly story.
And you know what hit the fan at the mainstream broadcast outlets after the five-month-old afternoon program on the Empire Sports Network announced Jan. 24 that the quarterback's career as a Bill was history.
Fan TV didn't have the whole story, which was revealed at Kelly's emotional news conference on Friday. It didn't know Kelly was going to retire and was negotiating a $1 million bonus.
But it had enough of the story to have its name spread all over Buffalo. All right, Fan TV set an unofficial record for self-congratulation. But other outlets identified it Jan. 24 as the source of the Kelly story.
"I've been waiting for this day for five years," said executive producer Bob Koshinski, who left Channel 7 for Empire that long ago. "The day we had an impact on the local community with a good story. In order to hit a home run you've got to be in the game. Now we're in the game."
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Admittedly, the Bills move wasn't a big surprise. But how Kelly's departure leaked out was a surprise and an embarrassment to the sports departments at the local television and radio stations.
After all, Channel 7's primary sports anchor, John Murphy, is the radio analyst on the Bills broadcasts.
Channel 4's veteran sports anchor, Van Miller, has been the radio voice of the Bills for decades.
Channel 2's sports anchor, Ed Kilgore, is the host of Jim Kelly's television show and a Kelly loyalist.
And yet Fan TV broke the story and the Big Three had difficulty getting anyone to confirm it.
To make matters worse for Channel 7, Fan TV broke the story with the help of Steve Tasker, who has a highlight show on WKBW-TV and also periodically appears on the station's "AM/Buffalo."
To make matters worse for WGR-AM, the supposed voice of the Bills fan carried the first clue that the story was true and didn't appear to know what it had.
The initial kernel for the story apparently came from Tasker, who was at the Super Bowl working for ESPN. Visiting ESPN's Fabulous Sports Babe (who is carried by WGR) on Jan. 24, Tasker said he doubted Kelly would return to the Bills.
Tasker had told Fan TV's Jim Brinson pretty much the same thing in New Orleans. Brinson says he had gotten wind of something the night before. But it was Tasker's broadcast opinion that resulted in Empire staffers Howard Simon, John DeMerle and Koshinski scrambling to get confirmation back home.
The credibility of Tasker's statement was pretty strong since he is a friend of Kelly's and was known to have had dinner with the quarterback in New Orleans along with former teammates Don Beebe (now a Packer) and Frank Reich (now a Jet).
Once Empire was able to pin down the speculation with a key source back home, it went with the scoop.
As luck would have it, Tasker had agreed to be a guest on Fan TV on Friday from New Orleans. (Buffalo viewers might have missed him because TCI lost Empire for more than 30 minutes). Tasker's eyes glistened. He was choked up and appeared to be close to tears when discussing Kelly's departure. Noting the meal they had together, Tasker said: "It was obvious from Jim's demeanor that he didn't think that he'd be back at that point." Tasker's emotions gave the story instant credibility.
To everyone but the local broadcast affiliates, that is. At 6 p.m., their handling of the story was almost comical. One station sent a reporter to Rich Stadium in an attempt to look as if it was in hot pursuit of the story. However, the story was emanating from New Orleans, not Orchard Park.
Kilgore seemed the most reluctant at 6 p.m. to confirm the story, suggesting that Kelly and Bills owner Ralph Wilson had a good meeting and planned another one. By 11 p.m., it looked like Kelly's buddy was closer to conceding the story was true.
Meanwhile, over at Channel 7, sources say that Murphy was reluctant to address a story from another outlet because he was unable to verify it. Sources said he had to be convinced by News Director Bob Longo and a producer that the story had to be addressed and was not just another senseless Kelly rumor.
Murphy says he had spoken with Tasker a few times on Jan. 24 and never got the impression the Bill had strong enough information to confirm the story. Amazingly, he never put Tasker on the air.
If you watched all three local affiliates Friday, you could have gone to bed wondering about the credibility of FAN TV's scoop. Koshinski concedes that the story probably became most believable when this newspaper -- which confirmed it on Jan. 24 -- printed its stories the next morning.
Channel 4's Miller felt Fan TV "was at the right place at the right time. It fell into their lap. I don't think they had any investigative reporters on this."
Longo, Channel 7's new news director, downplays any tension at Channel 7 over being scooped.
"I was surprised that it came out the way it did," Longo said. "I don't think the information shocked anyone. The timing of it, leaking out of New Orleans with less than a mainstream broadcaster, is a surprise and made it more difficult to know how to react. You ask, 'Do you trust it?' "
After this victory by Fan TV, local stations won't ask that question anymore.
Fan TV, which is seen nationwide on satellite television, has put itself on the local broadcasting map, too.
