One particular hot mic situation we’ve seen quite a bit over the years is where a channel’s linear broadcast goes to commercial or to the studio, but their streaming broadcast somehow doesn’t, leading to announcer comments that weren’t intended for the public making it to those watching that feed. The latest case of this is with SNY New York Mets’ play-by-play voice Gary Cohen. During the Mets’ game Thursday against the San Francisco Giants, Cohen set up studio host Sal Licata for some highlights, but while the SNY linear feed went there, their streaming app feed did not. So the next thing app viewers heard was Cohen, seemingly while chewing, saying “Why are we showing Yankee highlights?”
Hot mic: Gary Cohen doesn’t want Yankees highlights on his broadcast 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/NaJtBneK8M
— Erich Richter (@erichterrr) April 21, 2022
By contrast, here’s the much smoother way this played out on the linear feed:
Here's how SNY's linear feed did go to the studio, unlike their app feed. pic.twitter.com/9l0ZviBqTh
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) April 21, 2022
It should be noted that the real error here is whatever technical glitch kept the app feed in the ballpark rather than going to the studio. And Cohen’s comments here still aren’t bad, especially compared to many things said on hot mics, and it’s sort of understandable why the long-time voice of the Mets (he’s been on their broadcasts since 1989) might not be thrilled about their network showing Yankees’ highlights. (In fairness to the network’s choice, though, Cabrera’s chase for 3,000 is certainly notable, and there are probably some Mets’ fans happy to see a Yankees’ loss.)
Overall, it’s more funny than anything to hear Cohen questioning why SNY is showing Yankees’ highlights. And we can thank whatever glitch caused this for that. And this is certainly less controversial than, say, the time he criticized Skyline Chili.
[The Big Lead; image from SNY, via Cincinnati.com]
