All announcers: NFL Week 17 (12/31/2023) (NE-BUF: Harlan/Green/Collins) (maps Wed. AM...maybe)

[chongli]

33 minutes ago, Ryan Simpsons said:

quick question.... so do all CBS's nationally televised games @ 4:25 get CBS #1 broadcasting team of Nantz/Romo/Wolfson? I get it it that it is broadcasted nationally and these are determined at the beginning of the season but it should go week by week basis. In MY opinion (which obviously means nothing) I think KC/CIN is a good game but BAL/MIA deserved CBS's #1 broadcasting team due to the huge implications of the #1 seed and the AFC East division. 

 

In every game this year where CBS has had a doubleheader, Nantz and Romo have gotten the featured (4:25 PM) game. 

 

https://archive.506sports.com/wiki/2023_NFL_Season

 

I would have to do further research to see if there was a time the A-team for CBS did not get that time in previous seasons.

 

BTW, the NFL is allowed to switch late and early slots on the same network, no permission needed (although they do consult with the network). Apparently, CBS told them they were happy with the way it was.

 

I agree MIA-BAL deserves to get the A-team, but for whatever reason, they didn't. It will be a block buster week for CBS no matter what. 

 

EDIT:,Also, the assignment was made when Cincy was in a four-game when streak and before KC's egg against Las Vegas, but still... it was a bad choice. 

Edited December 27, 2023 by chongli

[Buffalo03]

I'm so glad we graduated from Spero Dedes games. I swear that guy did a Bills game every week at some point and he is awful

[RiotAct]

1 hour ago, Buffalo03 said:

I'm so glad we graduated from Spero Dedes games. I swear that guy did a Bills game every week at some point and he is awful

yep the Dedes-Wilcots duo was a frigging mainstay for the meat of the drought years.  I still have frequent flashbacks to the phrase “Buffalo Beewws”

[chongli]

11 minutes ago, Ryan Simpsons said:

So after further research... the one and only 4:25 national game this year that did not have a #1 crew was on FOX week 6 - Eagles vs Jets - they got the #5 broadcasting crew of Kugler/Sanchez/Okmin

 

Good research!

 

Also, notice how FOX assigned the A-team that week to the best game, which was at 1 (San Francisco at Cleveland):

 

https://506sports.com/nfl.php?yr=2023&wk=6

 

FOX has a different style. This week, they are assigning the A-team to a small distribution game, New Orleans at Tampa Bay, where they could have given them the game with the second-most distribution at 1 (Arizona at Philadelphia). The game with the biggest distribution is at 4:05 (Pittsburgh at Seattle), with Kenny Albert. FOX gave him that assignment only because he will broadcast the NHL Classic the next day from Seattle.

Edited December 27, 2023 by chongli

[buffblue]

Can't stand Kevin Harlan's voice. Not a bad play by play guy but it's like nails on a chalkboard listening to him

[Gregg]

Here in the NYC/NJ area we get the Pats at Bills on CBS along with the Rams at Giants (like I care about this one) on FOX at 1:00. We get Bengals at Chiefs 4:25 on CBS and of course the SNF game. The Dolphins-Ravens game will not be shown in the NYC/NJ area on the local channels.

[JDubya76]

13 hours ago, Buffalo03 said:

I'm so glad we graduated from Spero Dedes games. I swear that guy did a Bills game every week at some point and he is awful

Wait, you don’t like the Zapper?

[chongli]

1 hour ago, Gregg said:

Here in the NYC/NJ area we get the Pats at Bills on CBS along with the Rams at Giants (like I care about this one) on FOX at 1:00. We get Bengals at Chiefs 4:25 on CBS and of course the SNF game. The Dolphins-Ravens game will not be shown in the NYC/NJ area on the local channels.

 

NYC switched, AFAIK, to MIA-BAL. Zap2it has changed to them.

Edited December 27, 2023 by chongli

[Gregg]

5 minutes ago, chongli said:

 

NYC switched, AFAIK, to MIA-BAL. Zap2it has changed to them.

 

So, we are getting Dolphins-Ravens in NY/NJ. I would love to watch this game but not at the expense of the Bills game.

[chongli]

2 hours ago, Ryan Simpsons said:

what is a blackout

so if it weren't for Kenny Albert being in Seattle for NHL do you think FOX's A-team would be doing Steelers/Seahawks since it is big distribution?

 

A blackout currently means a network in that time slot is not showing any game. The current rule is home teams have to allow the other network to air a competing game in the same time slot on the singleheader network four times a year, but can enforce a blackout if that number has been or will be exceeded that season. This rule does not apply to the first and last weeks of the season, when both networks show a double-header. Only a few teams this year had that situation (not Buffalo). It used to be for all home games, but in 2019 the NFL allowed two opposite games to be aired, then the current four in 2020 (because of the pandemic). 

 

It used to mean the network could not show your home team if they game did not sell out 72 hours in advance, but that rule was lifted in 2014. The original idea was to incentivize the local fan base to buy tickets to support the home team, but the NFL found they lost more money by the game not being shown on TV than by any loss in ticket sales. Blackouts were common before 2014, especially in Buffalo, with a smaller market and larger stadium. The Wild Card game in 1993 vs. the Oilers was even blacked out.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League_television_blackout_policies

 

EDIT to add my second response:

 

As for the Seattle game, I believe Burkhardt and Olsen would have been there, but FOX is always weird. They do what they want to do time in and time out .NO-TB is a big game, but it's the NFC South with small markets and mediocre records. They really could have been assigned anywhere, with the exception of TEN-HOU.

 

These games all involve big markets:
LAR @ NYG
SF @ WSH
AZ @ PHI

 

These are better games with playoff implications, but smaller markets, and one is a mediocre AFC team:

NO @ TB

PIT @ SEA

 

These are both AFC teams and FOX doesn't like all AFC games, especially in small markets:
TN @ HOU

Edited December 27, 2023 by chongli

[Lagoon Blues]

2 hours ago, JDubya76 said:

Wait, you don’t like the Zapper?

Awesome....lol....Death by snu snu!

Edited December 27, 2023 by Lagoon Blues

[chongli]

On 12/27/2023 at 6:02 AM, Ryan Simpsons said:

so if it weren't for Kenny Albert being in Seattle for NHL do you think FOX's A-team would be doing Steelers/Seahawks since it is big distribution?

 

Kenny Albert said in an interview with Chris Bumbaca of USA Today that when the Sunday NYE day game in Seattle was announced on the schedule this spring, he put in a request with FOX to cover this game, knowing he would be in Seattle the next day to do the NHL Classic:m. Of course, at the time, FOX had no way of knowing that game would be FOX's most distributed game and worthy of the A-team.

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2023/12/30/kenny-albert-nfl-nhl-broadcasting-seattle-seahawks-kraken/72050817007/#

 

"When the NFL schedule came out this year, Albert quickly circled the Seattle-Pittsburgh matchup and relayed the preference to his bosses at FOX. Of course, there was the chance the game could have been flexed to another network at this point in the season. But Albert knew he wanted that game, because the other five NFL games on the network that Sunday are mostly on the East Coast, with the next closest being in Houston. 

 

“I’m looking forward to the next couple of years when the calendar shifts and January first will be mid-week,” Albert said. “That will certainly help, as far as logistics.” 

Edited December 30, 2023 by chongli