Nebraska-Oklahoma Game to Be Shown by Channel 7

Football won out over kids’ shows Friday when ABC Sports, bowing to public pressure, announced that it had given the network’s West Coast affiliates the option of showing today’s Nebraska-Oklahoma game.

The game, which was not scheduled to be shown on the West Coast because of conflicts with children’s programming on the Disney-owned network, will air starting at 9 a.m. on Channel 7.

“We want to be responsible to our viewers and our stations, and they have said they want it,” Mark Mandel, ABC Sports vice president, told the Associated Press.

“I’ve been around here 13 years and it’s the only time we’ve done this.”

This will be the first No. 1-versus-No. 2 midseason college football matchup since the inception of the BCS rankings.

“We’ve had a lot of viewers calling all week asking for the game,” said Bill Burton, a Channel 7 spokesman. “It wasn’t our decision not to have it, and ABC now is offering the game to the West Coast.

“We’re thrilled to have it.”

Channel 7’s four-hour block of children’s programming will start today at 5 a.m., with two shows being bumped to Sunday. “Pepper Ann” will be shown Sunday at 11:30 a.m., and “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” will be shown at noon.