Cincinnati TV viewers will be watching Opening Day and Bengals preseason games on a different local station.
The Bengals announced a new partnership Monday with WXIX-TV — which broadcasts weekly Fox NFL games, including a few Bengal games — for August preseason game telecasts and other "exclusive team programming" including Bengals Weekly and From The Jungle: Bengals All Access, the team announced.
Stefan Schellhas, WKRC-TV vice president and general manager, confirmed Monday that, in addition to losing the Bengals TV deal, Channel 12 will not be simulcasting the Opening Day with the Reds regional sports network, as it has done for more than a decade.
The Bengals agreement with Fox 19 says the station and team "will collaborate to deliver special post-draft, training camp and season preview shows throughout the multi-year partnership," according to the announcement.
As of now, it's not clear which Cincinnati TV station picked up the Opening Day simulcast from Bally Sports Ohio.
Bally Sports Ohio also has not responded to my email. However, I'm told from knowledgeable local TV folks that the Opening Day game at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 29, will be simulcast by a free over-the-air Cincinnati television station — but that Bally Sports Ohio will not air live coverage of the Opening Day parade as in past years. Diamond Sports Group, which operates the regional sports network, sought bankruptcy protection a year ago.
WKRC-TV had broadcast Bengals’ preseason games for 35 of the past 36 years, according to the Bengals media guide.
Bengals Weekly will air on WXIX-TV every Sunday during the regular season at 10 a.m. followed by From The Jungle: Bengals All Access at 10:30 a.m. Fox 19 will produce a weekly Bengals show that will air every Friday at 11:30 p.m. starting in August.
"It feels incredible to say Fox 19 is THE flagship station of the Bengals," said Jennifer Rieffer, WXIX-TV vice president and general manager in Monday's media release. "We can't wait to start production on new content fans are going to love. We're proud to partner with this amazing team and are so excited for this NFL season."
In the staff memo, Schellhas said he had been "under the assumption for months" that WKRC-TV would give up Bengals programming to another station. He declined to comment for this story.
"The deal was up for renewal, via a bidding process, and the price … to keep the rights deal would have been detrimental to our business model," he wrote.
However, he pointed out that WKRC-TV will air eight to 10 regular season Bengals games and the AFC playoffs from CBS.
"The other stations will have one to three games, and one of the stations will have what we just lost. Ask yourself what will draw more eyeballs and which you'd rather have," he told the staff.
Shellhas sees losing the Bengals deal as a chance to enhance other parts of the station. "I have realized that there is opportunity with the time and resources that we will be getting back," he said.
