Television station fails to carry opening minutes of OU-Texas game

<br>(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Untold thousands of Oklahomans missed the Sooners' opening touchdown against Texas today because of a technical glitch at K-O-C-O-T-V. <br><br>Instead of the first 20 minutes

Saturday, October 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- Untold thousands of Oklahomans missed the Sooners' opening touchdown against Texas today because of a technical glitch at K-O-C-O-T-V.

Instead of the first 20 minutes of the O-U-Texas game, viewers saw the game between sixth-ranked Michigan and Purdue before the Oklahoma game was restored.

And while confused viewers checked T-V listings, flipped channels and made angry phone calls, the staff at K-O-C-O-T-V worked to fix the problem.

The station's engineering director David Evans says the problem was caused by a power failure in A-B-C's satellite receiving equipment. While the equipment stayed on, an automatic satellite switch that was supposed to bring the Red River rivalry into the Sooner State didn't happen. Evans says the problem is rare.

Meanwhile, the gaffe caused an uproar at sports bars like O'Connell's Irish Pub and Grill in Norman. Bartender Tina Smithers says there were 150 people in the bar before the game. She says she turned on the radio to listen to the game while the Michigan-Purdue game was on T-V.