KEYE to the Rescue

Texas Rangers

on

FREE TV

This morning I was getting over my Time Warner programming sports explosion when friend, fellow baseball fan, former mainstream journalist Larry BeSaw informed me that KEYE TV .2 is broadcasting some of the Texas Ranger games on KEYE TV .2—RTN TV, the station’s second, digital only channel.

KEYE TV .2 Normally airs programming from RTN, cool old shows like “Alfred Hitchcock”, “Airwolf”, “Dragnet”, “Ironside”, “Magnum P.I. and many more. You can find the program schedule on their web site, http://www.austinsrtn.com/.

Now, it is true: The station is adding live sports to the mix.

“FSN (Fox Sports Network) has the rights to the Rangers baseball games, and we thought the Rangers would have some local interest. So, we acquired all the games that did not have airing rights on other channels,” says Amy Villarreal, KEYE TV president and general manager and avid baseball fan.

So, here is the good news: You don’t need no stinkin’ digital cable box. If you have HDTV or a DTV hook-up, you are literally home free. You ask, how does one know when games are on the air. Good question. It is kind of a secret. The Austin American-Statesman sports page lists that the Rangers are playing, but the newspaper does not say the game is being broadcast. Check out today’s (Tuesday) listing. It says the Texas Rangers are playing at Toronto at 6 p.m., and it lists a radio station where you can hear play-by-play. Of course, the newspaper also said last night’s Astro’s game was on Fox SW, but I digress. The newspaper should be saying KEYE TV .2 or something. If you do have digital cable, by the way, you’ll find the game on Time Warner digital channel 1532.

The current season is listed on the KEYE TV .2 RTN web site shown above.

Will there be more sports on KEYE .2? Maybe. “At this time we have all the games that are available and are looking at other opportunities,” Villarreal says.


And you say there is never any good news. This is a breath of fresh air after yesterday. This is good news. Now, you say, Jim, you take this baseball thing too seriously. One more point of explanation about yesterday’s screed: I wrote after my TV, Internet, and phones (Yes, we bought the “bundle”) had been off for some four hours. I was already primed.

© Jim McNabb, 2009