Broadcasting

Harrumph and grumble. These people are supposed to be classy. They couldn't have their stupid wedding at a civilized hour in the afternoon? No. I have to wake up at oh-dark-30 to watch their excess and indulgence. Didn't we fight a war 230 years ago to get away from this? Such were the thoughts of a curmudgeon sick to death with the buildup and piles of publicity from every two-bit TV organization touting their efforts at Friday's royal wedding, which was almost certainly the most heavily covered event in the history of the world.

BILL KERRIGAN, who was the youngest of eight children of Irish immigrants and went on to become a successful businessman, radio broadcaster and tireless volunteer for Catholic educational programs, died Monday of complications of pneumonia. He was 82 and lived for many years in Drexel Hill and Bryn Mawr. He was a resident of St. Martha's Manor, in Downingtown, at the time of his death. "He lived the American dream," his family said. William Charles Kerrigan Sr. was a salesman of industrial equipment, an Army veteran and devoted church leader.

DON LANCER, whose baritone was familiar to listeners of KYW Newsradio for 37 years, died yesterday of cancer at the age of 68. "He loved putting together an entertaining show, an informative show, and he could do it with style," said longtime friend Harry Donahue, a morning news anchor at KYW. After reporting general news for years, Don got into broadcasting business reports, which he also made interesting, Donahue said on the CBS Philly website....

JOHNNY CALLISON stood there, shivering, at first base. Ghostly pale, kitten-weak, Callison was safe on a pinch-hit single. This was late September 1964 with the Phillies gagging through that nightmarish 10-game losing streak. A batboy scurried out there with a warmup jacket for Callison, and he wriggled into it. And then, weak with the flu, Callison fumbled with the buttons until the Cardinals' first baseman, Bill White, walked over and buttoned them for him. "He was a player," White said the other day. "It wasn't going to help him run. I didn't know it [a non-pitcher wearing a warmup jacket]

For the Union fans yearning for more team exposure, your wish seems to have been granted. The Union and cable giant Comcast are ironing out a deal to have Comcast SportsNet potentially air 18 of 34 league matches, a source told the Daily News. In addition, CSN Philly will air a weekly soccer show, with the host to be announced. As first reported by PhillySoccerpage.net, the show tentatively will be called "State of the Union," which was once the name of CSN's Union blog.

NEW YORK - Charles Barkley has had an agenda for a long time. He's just never had the crown jewel of collegiate athletics as a forum to air his complaints about the NCAA and what he sees as its lack of commitment to educating student athletes. But if the NCAA suits in Indianapolis are holding their collective breath in anticipation - or fear - of what the outspoken Barkley will say during broadcasts of the NCAA Tournament, they have no one to blame but themselves. Barkley said that before he agreed to be a part of the new NCAA broadcast partnership between CBS and Turner Sports, he needed a meeting with NCAA staff to air some private grievances and get assurances that he would have the liberty to air said grievances publicly during the tournament, while the games were being televised live.

ONCE AGAIN, the local meteorologists have dropped the ball. On Wednesday, we woke up to very heavy snow that had been predicted by supposedly the best computer tracking systems to be rain. In Bensalem, we had 5 inches of snow on the ground by 9 a.m. Parents had to scurry when it was announced that all schools would let out early. If that weren't enough, the forecast heavy rains never arrived in Bucks County, but 16.9 inches of snow by Thursday morning did. Philadelphia and most surrounding areas were caught off guard twice in less than a month.

F IVE . . . FOUR . . . three . . . As the countdown commences, Diego Castellanos pats his jacket and sits upright in his seat. Two . . . The cameramen get into position. One . . . Castellanos is quite accustomed to this routine, considering that he has been the host of "Puerto Rican Panorama," a WPVI-TV talk show that deals with Latino issues and culture, for 40 years. "Panorama" reached its uninterrupted four-decade mark on Sept. 13, making it possibly the longest-running television show of its kind.

No need to fly all the way to Turkey to catch Allen Iverson play basketball again, you can do it from the comfort of your home. NBA TV announced yesterday that it will televise the game featuring Iverson's Turkish team, Besiktas Cola Turka, tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. Iverson's team will face the defending TBL champion Fenerbahce Ulker from Istanbul. Calling the game for NBA TV will be Rick Kamla and Chris Webber. Iverson, who returned to the 76ers for 25 games last season before leaving the team because of his young daughter's illness, scored 15 points in his Turkey debut on Wednesday.

Former 76ers guard Eric Snow, who was the starting point guard for the 2001 team that advanced to the NBA Finals, has been named the color analyst alongside play-by-play man Marc Zumoff for all Sixer telecasts on Comcas SportsNet and The Comcast Network. Snow is Zumoff's fourth partner in 4 years, following Steve Mix, Bob Salmi and Ed Pinckney, who left during this offseason to take a job as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls. Snow will debut tonight when the Boston Celtics visit the Wells Fargo Center (7 o'clock)