CBS & Tivo

Dear CBS Execs,

I am writing to you today to discuss the details of your Sunday afternoon programming and to inform you that your lack of planning and foresight is causing me marital problems that I shouldn't have to be dealing with. As you are certainly aware, CBS carries a second afternoon football game in many major markets that runs in the 3-6pm CST time slot. As you are also most certainly aware, NFL football games regularly run over the 3 hour window you provide them. While I know that this is not something you can resolve, it is something you can accommodate in your scheduling.

Currently, the football game runs from 3-6pm followed by 60 minutes and then Cold Case. The impact of every game running over the standard 30 minutes is that 60 minutes runs from 6:30-7:30 and then Cold Case from 7:30-8:30. The problem is that this doesn't match up with your programming guide that TV guide, the Prevue channel, and what my Tivo unit receives. The impact of this is that my Tivo tries to record Cold Case from 7-8pm only to get the first half of the show and miss the 2nd half. I noticed this last fall and adjusted my Tivo to accommodate by setting it to record until 8:30pm. I hoped that you too had noticed this and would have adjusted your programming so as to not tick off all of your loyal Cold Case watchers since this is one of the hottest dramas on TV (led by one of the hottest female detectives, I might add).

The problem is complicated this year by the new ABC drama Desperate Housewives that my wife considers a "must see". This would be okay if Cold Case ended at 8pm because my Tivo would allow me to record both Desperate Housewives and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (my wife also loves Vincent D'Onofrio). But, since Cold Case runs over EVERY WEEK, I'm now forced to choose whether to miss the 2nd half of Cold Case or the first half of Desperate Housewives or CI. In other words, I have to choose between Kathryn Morris, Vincent D'Onofrio or a bunch of voyeuristic neighbors. Husbands should not be forced to make choices like this because there's no right answer that makes everyone happy. Alternately, someone has to go watch TV in another room and that takes away some of the limited and valuable couple time my wife and I enjoy each week.

The solution to this problem for me and the rest of your viewing audience is as obvious as it is simple. Adjust your programming to adequately accommodate the NFL. You can do this by moving 60 minutes to some other time slot that wouldn't interfere with Cold Case and Kathryn Morris or renaming the show 30 minutes and only focus on the important issues. Something tells me you have more Cold Case viewers than 60 minutes watchers and if not, it's because many of your Cold Case viewers switched off to watch Desperate Housewives. You're only hurting yourself here by not sticking to your schedule so it's in your best interest, and mine, to adequately resolve this problem. Thank you.

Sincerely,

TexLex, your commercial skipping Tivo addict.