News-Record.com

OK, so it might not have been on the level of the infamous "Heidi" game. But local CBS affiliate WFMY-2 did befuddle many viewers -- some in this office -- last night by breaking away from the Duke-North Carolina game the instant the clock hit 0:00. Never mind that Coach K wasn't even sure the 71-70 game was officially over when the station practically cut Billy Packer off in mid-sentence to switch to their 11 o'clock news.

I was covering the game, so didn't hear about this snafu/gaffe/case of questionable judgment until this morning. I can only hope that WFMY had one heck of a lead story to their news broadcast.

It is February, and as Colin Smith, a vice president for Raycom Sports, notes, that's sweeps month. So affiliates want to get to their local news as quickly as possible. Raycom and the stations who carry its basketball broadcasts have an unwritten agreement that if the game goes more than 10 or 15 minutes past the two-hour programming window, they can drop off as quickly as they feel necessary.

In this case, it was 15 minutes over when the game ended. So no replays of UNC's final possession: Did Felton blow a chance to drive to the basket? No postgame wrap-up or ACC scoreboard. And, at least in this market, no so-called terminal break, which means something to advertisers if not to most of us.

"We give them the ability to leave our telecast as quickly as possible without interfering with the integrity of the broadcast," Smith said.

You be the judge.