Comcast viewers may have wondered: Does Fort Lauderdale's fire chief know a good psychic? Own a crystal ball, perhaps?
There he was, in a recent televised interview, discussing what was in store now that voters had approved a $40 million investment in fire stations and equipment.
But the vote was still several days away.
As it turned out, Comcast mistakenly aired an interview recorded long before Election Day but meant to run afterward.
''It was a mistake that we took care of as soon as we found out,'' said Spero Canton, host of the Comcast Newsmakers show and a company spokesman.
``We regret any confusion that this error might have caused the electorate.''
The roughly five-minute segment ran about 10 times over several days before it was pulled Monday, Canton said.
Comcast invited chief Otis Latin in about two weeks ago to discuss the general state of the fire department and its programs, Canton said. One tape included information about the upcoming bond vote.
A second tape, meant to run after the election, included a segment recorded as though the bond had been approved.
''I did an interview with them to let our folks know how important it is that the bond passes,'' Latin said. ``The other one was not supposed to air. They asked me would I do it and I was already there, so I said yes.''
Somehow the tapes got mixed up, Canton said.
Mike Budd, a communication professor at Florida Atlantic University, said the glitch raised questions about the cost of cutting corners, both in terms of program quality and viewer confidence.
''It's not the biggest deal in the world, but the question is whether it's a symptom of a larger problem,'' he said.
``My guess is that kind of thing happens more often than we would like to think...When we find out, we feel a little bit betrayed.''
The mistake came as Fort Lauderdale fire officials push for support of a proposed $40 million bond referendum that would allow the city to overhaul nine fire stations and build one new one.
Whatever the result of today's vote, the interview with chief Latin won't air again, Canton said.
''This is one of the only times we've done this,'' he said. ``It'll be the last time.''
