European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 11, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Letters what a behind Afna a new weekend sports 1 have been in Germany since 1978,1 remember when we used to receive sports events on an that were one to two weeks old. We were really glad to get them even though it really Wasny to very exciting to watch a game of which you already knew the outcome. Then came the Experiment with live satellite sports through the Means of buying time 6n existing satellite systems. This was so Well received that Dod gave us our very own satellite system at no Small Cost i might add. Well now Many of us were All set to see regularly broadcast live sporting events. Has that expectation come True not exactly when you consider the an official broadcast Day of 6 . To 1 . Which totals 133 hours per week and the fact that if we arc Lucky we get three hours of live sports on each saturday and sunday six hours total this comes to a whopping 4.5 percent of the broadcast week. Is this situation caused because arts is not sending us a live sports feed i think not since we got to see parts of games in Progress during the Aba playoffs and the same during the football season. The truth is that an arbitrary decision has been made by someone at an to show Only one live sports event on saturday and sunday nights regardless of the feed from arts. Was this decision based on an accurate audience Survey directed by one of the commanders in chief or the result of a couple of past letters to stars and stripes decrying a so much sports on to a the majority of the an viewing audience is being cheated out of a commodity that the Dod is paying big Bucks for. The six hours of saturday and sunday in which arts sends doubleheader events should be blocked for live sports no prime time shows should Ever be scheduled during that time. If arts is not sending a live sports feed then other optional programming should be shown movies specials Etc granted an switches to the arts live feed at 1 . Each night and some sports events Are sometimes broadcast but come on very few people can take advantage of these broadcast times. I truly believe that if a realistic audience Survey were made it would prove the Point i am making. An should be commended for the wonderful variety and timely prime time shows available to the american Community in Germany but we sports fans also deserve a Small portion of that air time with live sports coverage. Please give it some consideration. By the Way since when did a sports program become not suitable for a a family viewing my entire family enjoys Many varied sports events and even my wife complains when live sports Are preempted on saturday and sunday Don Allen a Kaiserslautern Germany reply from col. Zachary s. Fowler commander american forces network Europe pm glad to have the Opportunity to respond to your letter since it coincides with programming changes we Are making Here at an. The question of How much sports is enough too Little or too much plagues armed forces radio and television arts broadcast programmers everywhere. Since we normally have Only one Over a Jav Fite crusader Rabbit we think and touche Turtle. The air Channel we try to strike a balance to serve As Many people As possible. Is particularly vexing Here in Europe since most live weekend games hit the prime time. We Are taking a hard look at our daily schedules while keeping in mind the findings of the most recent arts audience Survey published in 1987 under a department of defense contract awarded to Market facts inc a Washington d.c., audience research firm. Researchers report that the majority of the audience likes four types of programs a very much a in order of preference they Are feature films news and information situation comedies and televised sports. Less than half of the audience likes the following programs a very much a cartoons westerns documentaries dramas music and variety talk and quiz shows game shows children s programs soap operas and religion. When asked How much of total weekly air time viewers would like to see devoted to televised sports events 81 percent favored a mix ranging from 10 to 50 percent of the weekly schedule. Nearly half endorsed a percentage ranging from 10 to 29 percent accordingly we have begun airing doubleheader sporting events in prime time on saturdays and sundays when made available to of on the arts satellite network. This amounts to about 10 percent of our weekly broadcast schedule and allows an to use All games provided each weekend. Further we have adapted our monday through Friday prime time schedules to accommodate programs displaced from weekend nights and to make maximum use of available popular programs in the most favored program categories. I Hope these changes will accommodate More members of our audience. We will continue to do the Best we can to serve As Many members of the audience As possible. Thanks for  Heilbronn go please explain to me and in a sure others Why to plus publishes the theater listings for Many areas not even remotely near Wurzburg including. Munich Schwabish Amund and even Stuttgart but fails to publish movies showing any Heilbronn offerings. Heilbronn has a big theater and they do get the paper there also. It seems mixed up to us. Steve Hale a Schweinfurt reply from Sarah Bottorff to plus editor. We do indeed publish the movie schedule for Heilbronn a and 52 other Heaters in an edition of the newspaper the two Star edition you Don t normally get in Schweinfurt. What you see is the three Star edition which circulates outside the greater Frankfurt area and covers 46 movie Heaters from Belgium to . There a also the one Star edition which covers the really far away places like Uganda no kidding and Turkey and so Forth. You re not Likely to want to go All the Way to Izmir to see a film but since you seem to go regularly from Schweinfurt to Heilbronn Well assume there Are other people who do too. So we be started including the Heilbronn schedule in the three Star As Well As the two Star editions. Please let us know if there Are other american Heaters you go to that you done to see listed in your edition and we can add them. Naming the Rabbit i believe the Bunny in. Last sundays newspaper sept. 16 is crusader Rabbit Era 1950s to 1960s. Let us know if hell be in the cartoons. You did no to say. Its silly rough edges that do you Guys in. . Also really liked the a a observations Section by Rosemary Sawyer. Lynn Stewart a Wiesbaden reply from Sarah Bottorff to plus editor Well we  even figure out who he was we asked readers if they could identify him when we used his picture to illustrate the to schedule. So you think we might be Able to figure out when his cartoon is going to show up in an tvs a just for kids cartoons not Likely. At present we re still trying to find out what an did with quantum leap. . We like Sawyers writings  preferences i want Street frogs to take Over Jem. And i want Garfield to take Over newtons Apple. A Richard Koonce Apo by 09757 Offenbach reply from Sarah Bottorff to plus editor we think you re right about a a Garfield most of us Here at the office like a teenage mutant ninja a dirtiest Best though. Well pass your request on to an. Garfield and Friend and fish. United features Syndicate Page 10 to plus sunday november 11,1990