Courtesy Minneapolis Star Tribune

(April 22, 2010) The Vikings have reached an agreement on a two-year contract with KARE (Ch. 11) that will make the NBC affiliate the franchise's home for preseason telecasts, as well as the team-produced shows "Vikings Weekly" and "Vikings GamePlan."

Both shows run 30 minutes and had previously aired on Fox affiliate KMSP (Ch. 9). KSTP (Ch. 5) had been the home of Vikings' preseason telecasts for several years. "Vikings Weekly" and "Vikings GamePlan" will be expanded from 17 to 27 weeks on KARE. In addition, the Vikings will expand exposure on community and charitable programs via KARE.

The agreement means KARE will have the rights to all four preseason games this year. The Vikings' game on Sept. 22 at San Francisco will be carried nationally by NBC, meaning Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will have the call. The games that will be produced by the Vikings for KARE will be Aug. 14 at St. Louis, Aug. 28 vs. Seattle and Sept. 2 vs. Denver. Announcers Ari Wolfe and Mike Mayock will continue to handle those telecasts and they will be aired in high definition.

Steve LaCroix, the Vikings' chief marketing officer, said having one station carry the games and the weekly shows made the most sense.

"It seemed to be the right combination," LaCroix said. "The other interested parties, FOX9 and KSTP, were pursuing the shows and games as well, so it just seemed to be that's the direction we wanted to go and it seemed like the stations wanted to go in that direction as well. ... KARE was very aggressive in its pursuit and financially it was a more lucrative offer for us."

LaCroix said getting 27 weeks of "Vikings Weekly" and "Vikings GamePlan" cleared on the Vikings' over-the-air partner was important. Fox Sports North had aired "Vikings Weekly" year-round.

"The additional weeks for the shows going from 17 to 27 weeks [on over-the-air] takes us from training camp opening through the end of the NFL season," LaCroix said. "Whether the Vikings are still playing postseason or not we're going to ride the full NFL window [with the shows]."

The agreement with KARE does not mean Fox Sports North is now out of the picture, according to LaCroix. The contract with the Vikings and FS North -- which included all-sports network's production assistance on the preseason games that had aired on KSTP -- is up this summer. Those talks will heat up soon as the Vikings look for the best fit for production of their preseason games and shows.

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