Like everyone else in the country, viewers in Washington D.C. were treated to a thrilling NFC Championship Game between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. Unlike everyone else in the country, though, that pleasant viewing experience was interrupted four times for pre-planned Comcast Xfinity commercials.
Most notably, that happened in overtime, causing everyone watching the game in the D.C. market to miss a Giants punt.
It's still not clear whether Comcast or FOX is to blame for the snafu.
It is clear that many, many people were upset about the mistake. Here's a sampling of Twitter as the interruptions were happening.
Is Xfinity offering any deals? I'd like to get an update somehow...
— danny rouhier (@funnydanny) January 23, 2012
Unreal. It happened again. Comcast DCinterrupts the game with another xfinity ad. DC missed the punt this time.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) January 23, 2012
Hey Comcast/Xfinity - WRONG use of Break In the Action!!!!!!!!!
— Pam Chvotkin (@reddusfoximus) January 23, 2012
I want at least one onDemand movie for each Comcast fail. Either that, or Joe Buck doing an apology spot saying "That was a disgusting act."
— Craig Stouffer (@CraigStouffer) January 23, 2012
Comcast is trippin
— Josh Wilson (@TheJoshWilson) January 23, 2012
Shocked Comcast didn't cut away on the snap.
— Gheorghe The Blog (@gheorghetheblog) January 23, 2012
That's just a sampling of tweets. I too am looking forward to my four free On Demand movies.
UPDATE: Comcast just issued the following statement, via John Ourand of Sports Business Journal.
"We know some DC-area viewers missed portions of last night’s NFC Championship game due to additional ads inserted locally, and we sympathize with their frustrations.
Please know that WTTG, the local FOX affiliate in DC, is continuing to investigate the issue, but believes it was due to an equipment failure at the station.
We know they are working to ensure it cannot happen again."
For more on the Giants, visit Big Blue View and SB Nation New York. For more on the Patriots, visit Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston. For more on Super Bowl XLVI, visit SBNation.com.