Orlando TV Station Airs Public Apology For Having To Broadcast Jacksonville Jaguars Games

Orlando CBS affiliate WKMG aired a message during yesterday's NFL action apologizing to viewers for broadcasting the Jacksonville Jaguars-Oakland Raiders game instead of the Manning Bowl between Denver and New York.

"In accordance with NFL policy, WKMG must carry all Jacksonville Jaguars away games. We apologize for the inconvenience," the note said.

Here's a sad screenshot from For The Win:

This isn't anything new.

Orlando has long been designated as a "secondary market" for Jacksonville - meaning all Jaguars games must be aired in the city.

It has been a point of contention for years in Orlando. In 2009, Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel wrote a great rant about it:

"I don't know about the rest of Orlando, but I'm tired of being designated as a 'secondary' market to Jacksonville. Isn't that sort of like the filet at Ruth's Chris being designated as secondary to the country fried steak at the Billy Goat Cafe? We're Orlando, for crying out loud; we're not Yulee. We're not Green Cove Springs.

"We're a bigger city than Jacksonville. We're a bigger television market than Jacksonville. We have much more diverse sports interests than Jacksonville. We are 150 miles and 2 1/2 hours from Jacksonville. And we are even further away when it comes to demographics and diversions."

As this regional broadcast map from Week 2 shows, Jacksonville wasn't the only place to be stuck with the Jags. Northern California, northern Florida, southeastern Georgia, and much of Nevada also had the game.

WKMG's Skip Valet told the AP, "I know it's frustrating, but as a CBS station in this market you have to carry the away games."

The Jaguars are now 0-2 after losing to Oakland. They've been outscored 47-11 this season.