I've been a reg at PT's since I moved here last July, same as I was when I lived here for a few years in the early 2000's. Their bar network also includes Sean Patricks and Sierra Gold, adding up to around 50 locations in Las Vegas. I'm a steady drinker, and I pop in at all times of the day and night.
A few weeks ago I showed up at the neighborhood PT's to watch the Michael Cohen testimony. I preferred to watch it on CSPAN so I didn't have to put up with reading captions from talking heads. I told the bartender to put on anything except for Fox. He replied that they are
only allowed to play Fox, and that they cannot play any other news network. I wished him a good day and went somewhere else.
At the time, I figured that it was the manager of the local joint who was behind the news embargo, but I returned to the place yesterday (during Happy Hour of course) to confirm it. The bartender told me that--as far as she knew--it is a company wide policy: the other news channels are not programmed into their remote.
Now look: I get my hair cut by a lady who always has a red MAGA hat prominently displayed on her station. She's great, and I won't go anywhere else. And I have no problems eating at Chick-fil-A, though I disagree with some of their social positions. But I won't be setting foot in another PT's Entertainment property.
What's the difference? My barber will still cut my hair and be her usual kind and cheerful self though she knows I'm a lib. And Chick-fil-A will still serve you your sandwich if you're gay and married; these are customer-facing issues, and with a bar, playing a TV station on request is the same.
Why allow only one network, when
any given network is distrusted by the majority of viewers? The best play is either to allow no news networks, or to allow all of them.
If you are conservative, put the shoe on the other foot for a minute. Let's say that just as you're leaving for the bar, something juicy comes up about Uranium One, or Benghazi, or (God forbid) QAnon. You get to the bar and ask them to put it on Fox for a minute, and they tell you that their company only allows them to play clips of Rachel Maddow lobbying for free health care and EBT credits for illegal immigrants convicted of violent felonies. Is this a place where you want to spend your valuable drinking money?
Last edited by suitedjustice; 03-12-2019 at 12:11 PM.