NBC forced to show horse sense

Are there really that many more horse racing fans than there are hockey fans out there? Apparently so.

That must have been why NBC pulled the plug on the Eastern Conference finals game between the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators last Saturday afternoon and switched to the Preakness Stakes. Well, kind of. The network switched to prerace coverage, where the horses and jockeys are introduced to the viewers.

In its defense, NBC stayed with the hockey through regulation time, but switched over when the game moved into overtime. The network "alerted fans both verbally and graphically that the overtime would move to Versus," said NBC spokesman Brian Walker. He added that NBC had a contractual agreement to air the Preakness that predated the hockey game.

And NBC was right in putting its money on the horse racing fans. The Preakness had a 5.4 rating, compared with 1.2 for the hockey game.

The NHL admitted that by having the game air on NBC, it might be caught in a squeeze play since the network was committed to carrying the Preakness. But the league took the risk.

"We were fully aware of NBC's programming commitments, and the challenge overtime could produce," said Jamey Horan, the NHL's vice president of public relations, player development. "However, our decision to schedule the game with NBC was done to provide the broadcast to the greatest number of viewers."

The first two games of the Stanley Cup finals between the Senators and Anaheim Ducks will air on Versus Monday and Wednesday, and the rest will be broadcast on NBC.

Speaking of hockey, the Bruins' broadcasts on NESN will have a new producer next season. Doug Wheeler announced his retirement last winter, but stayed on until the end of the season. Brian Zechello, who has been at NESN since 1995, will take over as producer. Last winter, Zechello was the producer for the station's Hockey East coverage.

The station also announced the promotion of Russ Kenn to coordinating producer of remote productions, including Red Sox, Bruins, and minor league baseball telecasts. Kenn has worked in sports television for 18 years, including stints at Channel 38 and Fox, and joined NESN four years ago.

The Indianapolis 500, to air on Channel 5 Sunday at 1 p.m., will feature four pit reporters, two of whom are women.

Jamie Little will be covering her fourth Indy 500, and also is a reporter for ESPN's NASCAR coverage.

"She's a terrific, enterprising person, and if you see her in action, you'll know what I mean," said Jed Drake, senior vice president and executive producer at ESPN. "She is all over the place, and she works very hard at getting good stories."

Another pit reporter, Brienne Pedigo, is an Indianapolis native.

"Ironically, we were looking to replace Jamie when we moved her over to NASCAR, and Jill Frederickson, our coordinating producer, recalled Brienne," Drake said. "We spoke to her, and looked at her tape, and said she's worth a shot, not just in the Indy 500 but for the entire [Indy Racing League] series, and she has done very well. She's impressed a lot of people, not just inside the company but outside the company."

Local viewers eagerly tuned into ESPN Tuesday night to watch the NBA draft lottery, which averaged a 3.7 rating here compared with 2.0 nationally, according to ESPN. The ping-pong balls, however, were no match for the Red Sox-Yankees game on NESN, which earned a 17.1 rating . . . Like him or not, you can't help but miss Gerry Callahan on WEEI's morning "Dennis and Callahan." Callahan took some time off at the beginning of the month to rest his ailing voice, but what was expected to be a two-week break has turned into twice that. Jason Wolfe, the vice president of programming for Entercom Boston, said Callahan was out for a "minor surgical procedure." Wolfe said Callahan "is recuperating well, but that the best way for him to heal is to rest his voice." The station has used other WEEI hosts to fill in . . . XM Satellite Radio has signed a multiyear contract with Fox Sports to become the exclusive satellite radio network of the Bowl Championship Series, including the national championship game.

Susan Bickelhaupt can be reached at bickelhaupt@globe.com.