THE GAME IS LOCKED ABC affiliates keep Super Bowl off state’s rural network Station doesn’t want to give away programming, KIMO s general manager says By ALEX deMARBAN Anchorage Dally News When it came time to watch Su per Bowl XL, many residents across the state were miffed — all they could get on their TV screens was “Da Vinci’s Inquest,”-a lame cop drama that’s beamed out of Cana da. That’s because ABC’s so-called Alaska SuperStation wouldn’t let the state-run television network air the big game. Rural residents who had chilled the drinks and grilled the burgers found themselves running to near by houses to watch the show on sat ellite or simply clicked off the boob tube in disgust. “That’s a TV show made in Can ada, for Pete’s sake!” grumbled Ginny Alexander, a retired school teacher in Fort Yukon, near the Arctic Circle. “I mean, come on, the Super Bowl is the Super Bowl. Please!” She and her family had just or-, dered pepperoni pizza supplied by the local tribal organization to cele brate the big event when cops from Vancouver, instead of pregame high lights, burst onto her screen. “It’s like, ‘Tough, folks, you’re re ally not part of the state,”’ she said. “You can watch it in Iraq and Ire land but not here in rural Alaska, which I thought is preposterous.” Sean Bradley, general manager of ABC’s Anchorage-based affiliate, KIMO, said the company has spent a lot of money to create a statewide network with affiliates in Anchor age, Fairbanks and Juneau. That system, which provides ABC pro gramming to more than 50 cable and satellite companies, is threat ened by Alaska Rural Communica tion Service, he said. ARCS is a state-funded system designed to provide a free televi sion station to Alaska’s far-flung vil lages. The network is also used for education. A statewide council dominat ed by rural residents selects pro grams for viewing on ARCS. Net works such as NBC and CBS vol unteer programs in return for their commercials getting out to 125,000 rural viewers. Bradley said his station did not want to give away its programming. See Back Page, SUPER BOWL