NFL on television
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The television rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any sport. In fact, it was television that brought professional American football into prominence in the modern era of technology. Since then, NFL broadcasts have become among the most-watched programs on American television, and the fortunes of entire networks have rested on owning NFL broadcasting rights.
Currently, four American television networks (CBS, NBC, FOX, and ESPN) are paying a combined total of US$3.1 billion per year to broadcast NFL games. However, the league imposes several strict television policies to ensure that stadiums are filled and sold out, to maximize TV ratings, and to help leverage content on these networks.
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[edit] Current broadcasting contracts
The television rights to the NFL are the most lucrative and expensive rights not only of any American sport, but of any American entertainment property. With the fragmentation of audiences due to the increased specialization of broadcast and cable TV networks, sports remain one of the few entertainment properties that not only can guarantee a large and diversified audience, but an audience that will watch in real time.
Annually, the Super Bowl often ranks among the most watched shows of the year. Four of Nielsen Media Research's top 10 programs are Super Bowls[1]. Networks have purchased a share of the broadcasting rights to the NFL as a means of raising the entire network's profile.[2]
Under the current television contracts, which began during the 2006 season, regular season games are broadcast on 5 networks: CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and The NFL Network. In 2006, CBS announced it would air only 3 games per week in high definition. The move created some outrage and animosity towards CBS, along with accusations of the network being "cheap."[3] FOX, NBC, and ESPN air all of their games in high definition. See main article: NFL on CBS HDTV Controversy
[edit] Regional games
With these current contacts, the regional Sunday day-games are broadcast on CBS and FOX. CBS has broadcast rights to all regional AFC intraconference games, and FOX has all rights to regional NFC intraconference games. Interconference games are given to the network that is the normal broadcast partner for the away team, thus each network gets access to each stadium in the league. Three games are broadcast in any one market each week, with one network getting a "double header" each week (the 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT and 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT games) while the other network broadcasting either the 1:00 p.m. ET or the 4:00 p.m. ET game. The double-header network alternates each week for the first 16 weeks, with both networks having a double-header in week 17.[4] [5] Since 1973, the NFL has what is known as a "Blackout Rule" that has been part of its standard broadcast contract. Any regionally broadcast game is "blacked out" in its home market if it does not sell out within 72 hours of its air time will NOT be shown in the local market, another game will be substituted in its place. This is to encourage ticket sales at stadiums.[6]. The rule is specifically exempted from U.S. anti-trust law (Title 15, Sec. 1292 of the U.S. Code), as it would normally not be allowed under standard laws. Sports bars and taverns in various places in the U.S. have been sued by the NFL for attempting to circumvent this rule. [7] [8]
[edit] National games
National broadcasts of marquee matchups usually occur on Sunday and Monday nights, and later in the season (after the completion of the NCAA football season) on Thursday and Saturday nights as well. NBC has broadcast rights to Sunday Night games. These are broadcast under a special "flexible schedule" that allows Sunday games (from weeks 10-15 and week 17) to be moved from the normal start time of 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT, 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT, or 4:15 p.m. ET/1:15 p.m. PT. to the primetime slot, and possibly move one or more 1:00 p.m. ET slotted games to the 4:00 p.m. ET slots. This is to have the best game of each week broadcast on national over-the-air television. During the last week of the season, the league could also re-schedule games as late as six days before the contests so that all of the television networks will be able to broadcast a game that has playoff implications. Both Fox and CBS have the right to 'protect' 5 games (each) when flexible scheduling for Week 10-15, 17 are in place. This allows Fox and CBS to protect at least one marquee game to show on a national scale. Both networks are also allowed to move a 1:00pm ET slotted game to 4:00pm ET or 4:15pm ET during this time of the season. [9] NBC also has broadcast rights to the opening Thursday Night game, which replaces a game taken away when the league omits a Sunday night game during the opening weekend of the World Series.[5] [10] Monday Night Football has been moved from longtime partner ABC to ESPN (though it should be noted that both are affiliates of Disney). Additionally, the recently created NFL Network will broadcast eight Thursday and Saturday night games for the league starting with a newly-created third Thanksgiving Day game. [11][5]
[edit] NFL Sunday Ticket
Also, satellite broadcast company DirecTV offers NFL Sunday Ticket, a subscription based package, that allows most Sunday daytime regional games to be watched. NFL Sunday Ticket is subject to the same blackout rules as broadcast networks.[12] [13] This package is exclusive to DirecTV in the USA. In Canada, NFL Sunday Ticket is available on a per-provider distriubtion deal on both cable and satellite.
[edit] Broadcasting history
[edit] From infancy to national success
From the very beginning of the TV era, NBC was a prime innovator in football coverage. They became the first major television network to cover an NFL game, when on October 22, 1939, they televised a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers.
In 1950, the Los Angeles Rams and the Washington Redskins became the first NFL teams to have all their home and road games televised. In that same year, other teams made deals to have selected games broadcasted on TV. The DuMont Network then paid a rights fee of $75,000 to televise the 1951 NFL Championship Game across the entire United States.
By 1955, NBC became the televised home to the NFL Championship Game, paying $100,000 to the league. The 1958 NFL Championship Game played at Yankee Stadium between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants went into sudden death overtime. This game, known since as the "Greatest Game Ever Played," was seen by many throughout the country and is credited with increasing the popularity of professional football in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
CBS later became the first network to televise selected NFL regular season games in 1956.
[edit] War with the AFL
- See also: AFL-NFL Merger
When the rival American Football League (AFL) began in 1960, they signed a 5-year contract with ABC to cover their games. This became the first ever cooperative television plan for professional football, in which the proceeds of the contract were divided equally among member clubs. ABC and the AFL also introduced moving, on-field cameras (as opposed to the fixed midfield cameras of CBS and the NFL), and were the first to have players "miked" during broadcast games.
The NFL followed suit in 1962 with its own revenue sharing plan after CBS agreed to telecast all regular season games for an annual fee of $4.65 million. CBS' fee later increased to $14.1 million per year in 1964, and $18.8 million per year in 1966.
With NBC paying the AFL $36 million in 1965 to televise its games, and the increased, heated battle over college prospects, both leagues negotiated a merger agreement on June 8, 1966. Although they would not officially merge into one combined league until 1970, one of the conditions of the agreement was that the winners of each league's championship game would meet in a contest to determine the "world champion of football".
The first ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played on January 15, 1967. Because CBS held the rights to nationally televise NFL games and NBC had the rights to broadcast AFL games, it was decided to have both of them cover that first game. The next three AFL-NFL World Championship Games, later renamed the Super Bowl, were then divided by the two networks: CBS broadcasted Super Bowls II and IV while NBC covered III.
[edit] Post AFL-NFL Merger
When the AFL and the NFL officially merged in 1970, the combined league divided its teams into the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). It was then decided that CBS would televise all NFC teams (including playoff games) while NBC all AFC teams. For interconference games, CBS would broadcast them if the visiting team was from the NFC and NBC would carry them when the visitors were from the AFC. (The effect of this was that CBS televised all non-Monday Night games in which an NFC team was the visiting team, and NBC televised all non-Monday Night games in which an AFC team was the visiting team.) The two networks also divided up the Super Bowl on a yearly rotation.
Also, ABC agreed to televise one regular season game per week on Monday night. ABC aired its first edition of Monday Night Football on September 21, 1970. MNF itself pushed the limits of football coverage with its halftime highlights segment, occasional banter from Howard Cosell and Dennis Miller, and celebrity guests such as John Lennon, Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Clinton. During its 36-year run on ABC, Monday Night Football consistently ranked among the most popular primetime broadcasts each week during the NFL season.
As the league's broadcasters, ABC, CBS, and NBC had their own talent. Announcers such as Cosell, Frank Gifford, and Al Michaels (from ABC); Pat Summerall and John Madden (from CBS); and Curt Gowdy, Dick Enberg, Marv Albert, Jim Simpson, Kyle Rote and Jim Lampley (from NBC), all had their own unique analysis of the game. Even the individual networks' football coverage was innovative. For example, CBS' The NFL Today was the first pre-game show to have a female co-hostess, (Phyllis George). On December 20, 1980 NBC made history by broadcasting a game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins with no announcers. NBC has also tried one-announcer football and even the first female play-by-play football announcer (which in its own way, set the mold for female sportscasters of today).
In 1978, the NFL increased their revenue from both ticket sales and TV by expanding the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams, enabling the league to give another postseason game each to CBS and NBC.
Meanwhile, the Super Bowl became a yearly ratings blockbuster, allowing the network that airs it to generate millions of dollars in advertising revenue. Four of the ten highest rated television broadcasts of all-time (in the U.S.) are Super Bowls.[14] When the league signed a new 5-year TV contract with the three networks in 1982, it allowed ABC to enter into the Super Bowl rotation; Super Bowl XIX was the first that ABC televised. Since then, the network that televises each Super Bowl is determined by the TV contracts that the league negotiates with all of its broadcasters. The network broadcasters generally each get one Super Bowl before any of them gets a second one, and the process repeats before any network airs a third one (although the TV contracts usually expire by then).
[edit] Expansion to cable and satellite television
The middle of the 1980s ushered in the cable era, and the NFL was eager to exploit that opportunity in 1987.
ESPN became the first cable network to broadcast regular season NFL games. Chris Berman helped redefine the pre- and post-game shows when he launched NFL Countdown and NFL Primetime, and they have since become the top-rated pre- and post-game shows on television. The cable network's contract to show ESPN Sunday Night Football marked a turning point for ESPN, transforming it from a small cable network to a marketing empire.
When ESPN first started televising NFL games in 1987, it only broadcasted Sunday night games primarily during the second half of the season (due to the fact that it was televising Sunday Night Baseball until late September). Meanwhile, ABC, CBS, and NBC maintained their rights to Monday Night Football, the NFC, and the AFC, respectively.
By 1990, Turner's TNT network started to broadcast Sunday night games for the first half of the season. The combined 1990 contracts with ABC, CBS, ESPN, NBC, and TNT totaled to $3.6 billion ($900 million per year), the largest in TV history. One major factor in the increased TV rights fee was that the league changed the regular season so that all NFL teams would play their 16-game schedule over a 17-week period. ABC was also given the rights to televise two playoff games per year, which was made possible after the league also expanded it playoff format to include more teams.
In 1994, the league signed an exclusivity agreement with the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service DirecTV to launch NFL Sunday Ticket, a satellite television subsciption service that offers every regular season NFL game.
[edit] Broadcast realignments
When new TV contracts were signed in December 1993, CBS (which had been home to NFC games for 38 years) lost their rights to the then-fledging FOX Network. FOX offered a then-record $1.58 billion to the NFL over four years for the rights, significantly more than the $290 million CBS was willing to pay. FOX was only seven years old and had no sports division, but it began building its own coverage by hiring many former CBS personalities such as Summerall and Madden. FOX's NFL rights ownership made the network a major player in American television by giving it many new viewers (and affiliates) and a platform to advertise its other shows. In the meantime, CBS lost several affiliates owned by New World Communications (mainly to FOX), and ratings for its other programming languished. To this day, CBS admits they have never recovered from the loss of affiliates, having never recovered from damage in Atlanta, Detroit, and Milwaukee, where they were dropped to lower-powered affiliates unable to be received in some markets. (Because of satellite television, the NFL Sunday Ticket in local markets, and rules of the time, satellite subscribers were required to use antennas to pick up local affiliates. The loss of suburbs devastated them.)
Meanwhile, NBC's rebound in their overall ratings in both the 1980s and 1990s (after years in the bottom of the ratings cellar) were attributed in part to its continuing coverage of the NFL. But with television contract re-negotiations in early 1998 ushering in the era of multi-billion dollar broadcasting agreements, an era of pro football broadcasting would soon came to an unceremonious conclusion. CBS, stung by FOX's surprise bid four years earlier, aggressively sought to reacquire some broadcasting rights. CBS agreed to pay $4 billion over eight years ($500 million per season) to air American Conference games. NBC, meanwhile, had indicated a desire to bid for Monday Night Football rights in 1998, but gave up when the financial stakes skyrocketed. And so, after six decades, NBC, the network that helped define pro football on television, lost its rights to air the NFL, thus marking the beginning of a slow decline for the Peacock network's sports division, resulting in the devastating 2004-05 primetime season, when NBC carried no major sporting championships during primetime, something the other networks carried. Like CBS before it, NBC would later decide that not having NFL rights did too much damage to its overall ratings to justify not paying the high rights fees required.
The other networks also signed eight-year deals in 1998. FOX extended its NFC deal by agreeing to a $4.4 billion contract ($550 million per season). ABC retained its longtime rights to Monday Night Football by also paying $4.4 billion over eight years. And ESPN agreed to a $4.8 billion ($600 million a season) deal to become the sole cable broadcaster of NFL games, marking an end with the league's association with TNT. And like previous TV contracts, the coverage of the Super Bowl was divided between the broadcast networks.
[edit] Establishment of the Thursday Kickoff Game
In 2002, the NFL began scheduling a Thursday night special opening "Kickoff" game, which included a pregame concert to start the season. The first one, featuring the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants and televised on ESPN, was held on September 5, 2002 largely to celebrate New York City's resilience in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks [2]. The game was a huge success that the next three Kickoff Games from 2003 to 2005 were given to ABC. Since 2006, NBC has televised the Kickoff game (see below).
The NFL has indicated that the opening game will normally be hosted by the defending Super Bowl champions as the official start of their title defense, as has been the case over the past couple of years.
[edit] Financial losses leads to another realignment
Currently, the NFL's TV broadcasters have suffered annual financial losses because advertising revenue is unable to meet the cost incurred by the purchase of broadcast rights.
Nevertheless, the next broadcast contract, which began in the 2006 season, will result in a sizeable increase in total rights fees. Both FOX and CBS renewed their Sunday afternoon broadcast packages through 2011, in both cases with modest increases. Furthermore, the league and DirecTV signed a five year extension to their exclusivity deal on NFL Sunday Ticket.
But despite relatively high, if declining, TV ratings, ABC decided to end its relationship with the NFL after losing significant sums of money on Monday Night Football. In addition to the fees issue, part of this decision may have been the result of a resurgent ABC primetime entertainment schedule during the 2004-05 season, particularly on Sunday evening; thus ABC would be unable to satisfy the league's reported preference for a Sunday night game on broadcast television as opposed to Monday.
Because of that, Monday Night Football moved to ESPN, with the cable network paying a large sum of $1.1 billion per year from 2006 to 2014 for the rights to the lucrative franchise. Unlike the broadcast networks, however, ESPN can generate revenue from subscription sales, in addition to traditional commercial breaks. The cable network's coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET with a 90-minute pregame show, hosted by Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, Michael Irvin, and Steve Young. The game itself then starts at 8:30 p.m., with Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann, and Tony Kornheiser in the broadcast booths for the games, while Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya reporting from the sidelines. In addition, other shows such as SportsCenter and Pardon The Interruption will be on location from the site of the game that week.
Meanwhile, NBC, after losing their AFC package to CBS in 1997, has reclaimed its share of the NFL broadcast rights with a deal worth an average of $650 million per year from 2006 to 2012 (not much more than ESPN used to pay for the Sunday night package). This new deal gave them the Sunday night package. In addition, the package includes the Super Bowl in 2009 and 2012, a likely means of reversing its current ratings slump. NBC's coverage also includes the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, two other pre-season games, the first two Wild Card playoff games of each postseason, and the annual Thursday opening Kickoff Game. The network will also have flexibility in selecting games in the final seven weeks of the season, consulting with the league and both CBS and Fox as to move one game to the primetime spot in November and December. It is essentially the package ABC previously had.
Coverage of NBC Sunday Night Football starts at 8:15 p.m. ET with Al Michaels serving as the play-by-play announcer, John Madden as color commentator, and Andrea Kremer as the sole sideline reporter. Each telecast begins with a pre-game show airing at 7 p.m. ET entitled Football Night in America, hosted by Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth. Currently, they also serve as co-hosts of HBO's Inside the NFL. Joining Costas and Collinsworth as analysts are Jerome Bettis and Sterling Sharpe.
In addition, the network that carries the Super Bowl will also broadcast the Pro Bowl on the Saturday night following the championship game. In the calendar year 2007, CBS will broadcast both games, followed by Fox in 2008, and NBC in 2009.
Meanwhile, the NFL created a separate package of games to air on its own specialty channel, the NFL Network, which the league launched in 2003. The eight-game package will consist of primetime games airing from Thanksgiving to the end of the regular season on Thursday nights (five games) and Saturday nights (three games, after the end of the college football season). Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth will broadcast the NFL Network games. The NFL could theoretically decide to sell this package to another network should NFL Network broadcasts not generate enough revenue.
The style of pro football broadcasting is ever changing, with its female hostesses/sideline reporters, visual first-down markers, advanced graphics, and new multi-camera angles, all of which will carry football telecasts into the new century.
[edit] Thanksgiving Day games
- For more details on this topic, see Thanksgiving Classic.
The NFL is a major part of Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States. The Detroit Lions have hosted a game every Thanksgiving Day since 1934 (with the exception of 1939–1944 due to World War II), and they have been nationally televised since 1962. In 1966, the NFL introduced an annual Thanksgiving game hosted by the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas has played on that holiday every season since then, except in 1975 and 1977 when the St. Louis Cardinals hosted a game instead.
Unlike the NFL, when the AFL started holding annual Thanksgiving day games, the league circulated the game among several cities. During the 1967-69 seasons, two Thanksgiving games were televised.
After the 1970 merger, the NFL decided to keep only the traditional Detroit and Dallas games. Due to the broadcast rights since 1970, three NFC teams play on Thanksgiving, as opposed to only one AFC team. During even years, the Lions play their Thanksgiving game against an AFC team, and thus are televised by the network holding the AFC package (NBC and later CBS); the Cowboys host an NFC team and are shown by the network with the NFC package (CBS and later FOX). During odd years, Dallas hosts an AFC team and Detroit plays an NFC opponent. Every decade or so, this even-odd rotation is reversed - with Detroit hosting an NFC team in even years and an AFC team in odd years, and Dallas hosting an AFC team in even years and an NFC team in odd years.
When the league created its new TV package for the NFL Network in 2006, a primetime Thanksgiving night game between the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs was scheduled. It remains to be seen if the league will begin an annual tradition of an AFC vs. AFC game, along with the traditional NFC-NFC game and the AFC-NFC game.
[edit] Christmas/New Year's games
Nowadays, the NFL generally schedules games on Christmas, only if it falls on a day normally used for games (Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday). If Christmas falls on a Sunday, as it did in 2005, most of the games will be played on the preceding day (with no games that night or the following afternoon in deference to the holiday), and then one or two games are scheduled for Christmas Night to be broadcast nationally. One game would be held over for the regular Monday Night timeslot.
Prior to 1970 AFL-NFL Merger, the NFL regular season usually ended in mid-December, with the NFL Championship Game being held on the Sunday two weeks later. If that Sunday fell on Christmas Day December 25, the league preferred to move it to the following day Monday December 26; this rescheduling occurred for both the 1955 and the 1960 championship games.
The first NFL games actually played on December 25 was after the merger during the 1971 season. The first two games of the Divisional Playoff Round were held on Saturday, Christmas Day. However, the second of the two contests played that day, the Miami Dolphins versus the Kansas City Chiefs, wound up being the longest game in NFL history. Because of the length of this game, the league received numerous complaints, reportedly due to the fact that it caused havoc with Christmas dinners around the nation. As a result, the NFL decided to not schedule any Christmas Day matches for years afterwards.
This required considerable effort during those years in which Christmas fell on a Saturday or a Sunday, given that ordinarily those days would be days in which NFL playoff games were to be held. In 1976, the NFL opened its regular season a week earlier than they would have ordinarily have been the case (September 12th, the second Sunday of the month, rather than the customary third Sunday) so that the Divisional Playoffs could be held on December 18-19 instead of December 25-26, and thus no games would be needed on Saturday, December 25. In 1977, with Christmas falling on a Sunday, the Divisional playoff games were held in a span of three days: Saturday, December 24 and Monday, December 26. An AFC doubleheader was held on Saturday, and an NFC doubleheader on Monday. No games were played on Sunday as it was Christmas Day.
The NFL continued to avoid Christmas even after it started to increase the regular season and the playoffs. The league expanded to a 16-game regular season and a 10-team playoff tournament in 1978, but it was not until 1982 that the regular season ended after Christmas (Sunday, December 26). In 1983 and again in 1988, the NFL split the first round Wild Card Playoffs between Saturday, December 24 and Monday, December 26 again avoiding a Christmas game. Finally, in 1989, the NFL tried another Christmas Day game, the Cincinnati Bengals at the Minnesota Vikings, but it was a 9 p.m. ET Monday Night Football contest, thereby avoiding interfering with family dinners. In the years since, the NFL has played Christmas Night games, and occasionally a late, late Christmas Day game. But there has not been a Christmas game starting early than 5 p.m. ET since 1971.
The NFL also never plays games on New Year's Day in any year in which January 1 is a non-Sunday, deferrring to the numerous New Year's Day college football bowl games that are traditionally held on that day. However, when New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the traditional bowl games are moved to Monday, January 2 (which becomes a federal holiday), allowing NFL games to be played on the 1st. Previously, the AFL played its first league championship game on January 1, 1961. Thereafter, Pro Football has been played on New Year's Day in 1967 (the 1966 NFL and AFL Championship Games), in 1978 (the 1977 NFC and AFC Championship Games), in 1984 (the 1983 NFC and AFC Divisional Playoff Games), in 1989 (the 1988 NFC and AFC Divisional Playoff Games), in 1995 (the 1994 NFC and AFC Divisional Playoff Games), and in 2006 (the final weekend of the regular season).
[edit] Monday Night Football
Between 1970 and 1977, and again since 2003, there is/was no Monday Night game during the last week of the season. From 1978 until 2002, a season-ending Monday Night game was scheduled. The 2003 revision permits the NFL to have all eight teams involved in the Wild Card playoffs to have equal time in preparation, instead of the possibility of one or two teams having a short week of preparation for their playoff game (if they were picked to play on Saturday, instead of Sunday).
There have been a few occasions when two Monday night games were played simultaneously. In 1987, a scheduling conflict arose when Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins went to Game 7 of the World Series, making the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome unavailable for the Minnesota Vikings' scheduled game that Sunday. The Vikings game was subsequently moved to Monday night, and ABC aired it in a split telecast with the regularly-scheduled MNF game. A similar scenario unfolded in 1997, when the Florida Marlins went to Game 7 of the World Series and the Miami Dolphins' Sunday game at Pro Player Stadium was shifted to Monday night. In 2005, the New Orleans Saints played the New York Giants in a rescheduled game due to Hurricane Katrina; the Saints-Giants game began at 7:30 p.m. before being switched over to ABC's corporate sister network ESPN at 9 p.m. for the regularly scheduled matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins (the Saints-Giants game was seen in it's entirety in New York, Louisiana and other hurricane-affected areas on ABC, with the regularly-scheduled MNF game shown on ESPN until the end of the first game). In 2006, ESPN opened the season with a Monday Night Football doubleheader, with a 7 p.m. game and a 10:30 p.m. both showed in their entirety nationwide. ESPN was able to do this because of its sports-only specialization. The success of this doubleheader has led to speculation that the NFL will try to phase-in more MNF doubleheaders in future years.
[edit] NFL broadcasters
- NBC: 1939, 1955-1963 (NFL), 1965-1998 (AFL/AFC), 2006- NBC Sunday Night Football
- CBS: 1956-1994 (NFL/NFC), 1998- (AFC)
- DuMont Television Network: 1951-1954
- ABC: 1948,1950 (NFL),1960-1964 (AFL), 1970-2006 Monday Night Football
- ESPN: 1987- 2005 ESPN Sunday Night Football (second half of season only, prior to 1998), 2006- Monday Night Football
- TNT: 1990-1997 (first half of season only)
- FOX: 1994- (NFC)
- NFL Network 2006-
[edit] List of NFL television contracts
- Since 1982
| Period | AFC Package | NFC Package | Sunday Night Football | Monday Night Football | Total Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982-86 | NBC | CBS | None | ABC | $420 million/yr |
| 1987-89 | NBC | CBS | ESPN (2nd half) | ABC | $473 million/yr |
| 1990-93 | NBC | CBS | TNT (1st half) ESPN (2nd half) |
ABC | $900 million/yr |
| 1994-97 | NBC | FOX ($395 million/yr) | TNT (1st half) ESPN (2nd half) |
ABC | $1.1 billion/yr |
| 1998-2005 | CBS ($500 million/yr) | FOX ($550 million/yr) | ESPN ($600 million/yr) | ABC ($550 million/yr) | $2.2 billion/yr |
| 2006-2011* | CBS ($622.5 million/yr) | FOX ($712.5 million/yr) | NBC ($650 million/yr) | ESPN ($1.1 billion/yr) | $3.1 billion/yr |
- NBC's contract runs through 2012, and ESPN's contract runs through 2014
[edit] Television policies
The NFL imposes several television and blackout policies to maximize TV ratings and to ensure that stadiums are filled and sold out.
In 2006, CBS announced it would air only 3 games per week in high definition. The move created some outrage and animosity towards CBS, along with accusations of the network being "cheap."[15] FOX, NBC, and ESPN air all of their NFL games in high definition. See main article: NFL on CBS HDTV Controversy
[edit] Sunday regional coverage
Except for Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, games aired on the NFL Network, and other selected contests, most of the regular season games are regionally televised on Sunday afternoon by CBS and FOX. In other words, each game is only broadcasted to certain media markets in the United States instead of the entire country.
Normally, all media markets receive three games during each Sunday of the regular season: two games by the television network (either CBS or FOX) showing the "doubleheader", and one single game by the network showing the single game. The network with the doubleheader televises one game in the "early" time slot (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) and the other game in the "late" time slot (4:15 ET/1:15 p.m. PT). The network with the single game is also assigned contests in both the early and late time slot, but can only show one game in each market. Because of that, the single game network airs the late time slot games ten minutes earlier at 4:05 ET/1:05 p.m. PT.
The designated "doubleheader" network for each Sunday is determined by the league when it creates the regular season schedule, but it is generally roughly split equally between CBS and FOX. In determining this selection, the NFL has traditionally honored the networks' other major broadcasting commitments. For the past few decades, the league has always let CBS be the single game network during the week it televises the Men's U.S. Open Tennis final at 4:05 p.m. ET around the country. In recent years, this has fallen on the first week of the season; prior to 2001, the Men's final fell during the second weekend of the NFL season when the league opened the year on Labor Day Weekend. The NFL also lets FOX (and prior to 1998, NBC) have the single game during the Sunday in mid-October when it broadcasts Major League Baseball's League Championship Series across the county during the "late" time slot (with the other LCS having a game on Sunday night). This will likely end in 2007, as TBS and FOX will each televise one LCS per season. Thus, fewer LCS games are likely to be played in the afternoon.
Starting in the 2006 NFL season, the league modified the doubleheader format. Both CBS and FOX are given eight total doubleheaders during the first sixteen weeks of the regular season. However, both networks will air doubleheaders in the last week of the season to guarantee national coverage of contests with playoff implications (excluding the markets guaranteed their local teams).
Which games get shown in what particular markets are determined by the following factors: First, each home team's "primary media market", the market in which the team is physically located, must televise all of the games involving the local team, provided that home games are sold out (or else, they are subject to blackout, see below). In addition, the league also designates "secondary markets", media markets adjoining primary markets, that are also required to show the local team. Generally, these secondary markets must show the road games, but are not obligated to show the designated team's home games. Their decision on whether to show home games typically depends on whether or not the NFL-designated local team is perceived to be the most popular in the market.
In all other markets, the networks are the sole arbiters of what game gets shown where. However, they usually make their decisions after consulting with all of their local affiliates.
During the afternoon, CBS and FOX may switch a media market's game to a more competitive one, particularly when a contest becomes one-sided. For this to happen, one of the teams must be ahead by at least 18 points in the second half.
However, due to the incident involving the Heidi Game, a primary media market must show its local team's game in its entirety. Furthermore, if the local team's game is in the late time slot on the doubleheader network, the primary market may be required to switch coverage from the early game to the start of the late game regardless of how long the first game still is, so that the local team's contest can be shown in its entirety. This is usually accompanied by an apology that the NFL's TV contract does not allow them to show any more of the early game live. Of course, the network may show highlights as soon as they happen.
For this reason, the New York Giants and New York Jets are never scheduled on the same network on the same day because they both share the same primary media market. The San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders are also never scheduled on the same network on the same day either. Otherwise, the networks could theoretically have to cut away from one team's game to show the other team. In general, the league never schedules the Giants and the Jets to play their games at the same time (unless they play each other). Likewise for the 49ers and the Raiders.[16] The Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens are served by separate media markets, and so they can play at the same time (and if at home, viewers in that team's market will only see that game).
[edit] Sunday bonus coverage
When a media market's regionally televised game ends before the others, the network (CBS or FOX) may switch to "bonus coverage" of the ending of another game. However, the league imposes a couple of restrictions that are designed to maximize the TV ratings of the late games on the doubleheader network, which tend to record the most NFL viewers during the day.
First, bonus coverage offered after any early time slot games cannot be shown past the start of the late time slot (either 4:05 or 4:15 ET). This prevents people from continuing to watch the bonus coverage instead of seeing the beginning of the late doubleheader network's game (which is usually either their local team or the network's featured game). However, the league will allow the networks to continue broadcasting a team's ongoing drive that started before the deadline. The network will then switch away as soon as the drive ends, usually accompanied by similar apology that the NFL's TV contract does not allow them to show any more of the game live. Again, the networks may show highlights of the game after the fact, and usually will at the earliest convenience. The singleheader network will sometimes show each play as soon as it ends as part of its postgame show.
Second, bonus coverage cannot be shown after a late game on the single game network because it will run in opposition to the ending of the late doubleheader network's game(s). However, the single game network usually schedules most of its top games in the early 1:00 ET time slot (except for West Coast teams' home games, and possibly either a Giants' or Jets' road game), so this does not tend to be a major issue.
Also, if the doubleheader network's games all finish before 7:30 ET, it must conclude the postgame show within 10 minutes to protect NBC's pregame show. If any games finish after 7:30, the postgame can run until 8:00 ET. CBS never airs a postgame show after its doubleheaders, because 60 Minutes is one of its signature shows, and every effort is made to start it as close to 7:00 as possible.
[edit] Flexible-scheduling
Starting with the 2006 season, the NFL will use a "flexible-scheduling" system for seven of the last eight weeks of the regular season. The system is designed so that the league has the flexibility in selecting games to air on Sunday night that will feature the current hottest, streaking teams.
Under the system, all Sunday games in the affected weeks will tentatively have the "early" start time of 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, except those played in the Pacific or Mountain time zones who will have the tentative "late" start time of 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. On the Tuesday 12 days before the games, the league will move one game to the primetime slot, and possibly move one or more 1 p.m. slotted games to the 4 p.m. slots. During the last week of the season, the league could re-schedule games as late as six days before the contests so that all of the television networks will be able to broadcast a game that has playoff implications.
[edit] Nationally televised games on cable
To maximize TV ratings, games broadcasted on ESPN, the NFL Network, and any other contest televised on cable television, are simulcast on a local broadcast station in each of the primary markets of both teams. Stations in secondary markets may sometimes also offer these games.
Also, in the beginning years of NFL cable coverage, ESPN Sunday Night Football games would also be shown on all the Fox-owned stations.
In recent years, the NFL has changed to a syndicated package for games on ESPN and the NFL Network, to be bid by television stations in those markets.
To date, the league has never awarded broadcasting rights of a playoff or Super Bowl game to any cable television network or DBS service.
[edit] Blackout policies
Since 1973, the NFL has maintained a blackout policy that states that a home game cannot be televised locally if it is not sold out within 72 hours prior to its start time. Prior to 1973, all home games were blacked out locally regardless if they were sold out or not. Although that policy was successfully defended in court numerous times, Congress passed legislation requiring the NFL to impose the 72-hour deadline. However, the league will sometimes extend this deadline to 48-hours if there are only a few thousand tickets left unsold.
Alternatively, some NFL teams have arrangements with local TV stations or businesses to buy-up unsold tickets (or tickets that the visiting team returns) to ensure a sellout. Tickets in premium "club" sections have also been excluded from the blackout rule in past years. The Jacksonville Jaguars have even gone further and closed off a number of sections at their home ALLTEL Stadium to reduce the number of tickets they would need to sell. However, the NFL requires that this be done for every home game in a given season if a team elects such an option, so that they can't try to sellout the entire stadium only when they expect to be able to do so.
The NFL defines "locally" as within a 75-mile radius of the stadium. Therefore, a TV blackout not only affects the home team's primary market but also any secondary market whose broadcast signal penetrates into the 75-mile radius. Some primary media markets may cover that entire radius and so the blackout would not affect any other markets.
Another policy to ensure a filled up stadium is that no other NFL games can air on local TV at the same time as a team's home game in the club's primary market. This is to prevent ticket holders from opting to watch the other locally televised NFL game instead of showing up at the stadium. Thus when a team's home game is on the network showing a single game, the network televising the doubleheader can only broadcast one game into that club's primary market; instead of showing a second game in the same time slot as the home game, the doubleheader network's local station must broadcast alternative programming (often movies or infomercials). When the doubleheader network has a team's home game, the other station might air whatever programming will air on that network's other affiliates before or after their one scheduled NFL game (CBS and FOX sometimes air bull-riding or other taped sports programming in the non-NFL timeslot).
As a result, the New York and San Francisco Bay Area media markets typically get fewer doubleheaders than other markets since both have two teams, and one of them is at home virtually every week. The main exception is when one of the teams has no game scheduled, or is chosen for a primetime game. This policy only affects the club's primary market, not other ones that penetrate inside the 75-mile radius. It also does not affect viewers of NFL Sunday Ticket in the primary market; all other games remain available.
If a home game is blacked out locally because it is not sold out before the 72-hour deadline, one of the following things will happen:
- If the blacked out home game is a nationally televised game on a broadcast network, like NBC Sunday Night Football, where no other NFL games are played at the same time, all local stations inside the 75-mile radius must broadcast alternative programming (the stations have to program the time themselves, since other affiliatea are carrying the game).
- If the blacked out, nationally televised game is on a cable television network like ESPN or the NFL Network, all cable and satellite television providers in the affected markets must block the cable network's signal to local customers during the game. In addition, the game cannot be simulcast on any of the local broadcast stations in the affected primary market. Local stations would still be able to show highlights on their newscasts after the game has concluded.
- If the blacked out home game is played on a Sunday afternoon, all local stations inside the 75-mile radius must show a different NFL game during that same time slot (the network typically chooses the game, as it does in markets without a team). Also, NFL Sunday Ticket cannot offer the game into that area. Furthermore, the network televising the doubleheader can only broadcast one game into that team's primary market (usually the #1 game, or the next-best game if the blacked-out game was the network's first choice), which is also designed to prevent people from opting to watch the other locally televised NFL games instead of going to the local team's game. Again, the secondary markets would still carry a doubleheader.
Critics claim that these blackout policies are not really effective in creating sold out, filled stadiums. Rather, there are other factors that cause non-sellouts, such as high ticket prices and the fact that people do not want to support a losing team. Furthermore, these critics contend that TV blackouts actually hurt the league; without the TV exposure, it becomes more difficult for those teams with low attendance and few sellouts to increase their popularity and following.
Conversely, supporters argue that the policies do indeed encourage fans and local corporations to buy tickets for their team. Additionally, many teams sellout their entire regular season schedule before it begins (usually through season-ticket sales), and so there is no threat of a blackout in those markets. The NFL claims to have sold-out well over 90 percent of games in recent seasons, and has indicated that every single game in 2006 could sell out, which would be a league first.
In 2005, for the first time in its history, the NFL lifted the blackout policies for a team: the New Orleans Saints. Due to damage by Hurricane Katrina, the Saints split their home games between Tiger Stadium at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (80 miles/130 km from New Orleans) and the Alamodome in San Antonio (540 miles/869 km from New Orleans).
[edit] Leverage over the networks
The NFL's status as a prime offering by the networks has led some to conclude that unbiased coverage of the league is not possible. ESPN attempted to run a dramatic series showing seamier aspects of pro football, Playmakers, but dropped the series after the league reportedly threatened to exclude the network from carrying its games.
The NFL also has a strict policy prohibiting networks to run ads during official NFL programming (pre and post-game studio shows and the games themselves) from the gambling industry, and has rejected some ads from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. It has been reported that if the television program Las Vegas is still on the air when NBC televises Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, they might not be allowed to promote the series during the entire block of programming. [3]
Additionally, the networks and their announcers cannot discuss or run graphics showing point spreads during NFL shows (Al Michaels, among other announcers, has accidentally discussed them on-air). Most teams also insert similar clauses into their radio contracts, which are locally negotiated. The NFL injury report and required videotaping of practice are theoretically intended to prevent gamblers from gaining inside information. In contrast, fantasy football is often free to play.
At the start of the game, "Name of broadcaster welcomes you to this presentation of the National Football League" is announced, while at the end of the game, the message is "Name of broadcaster thanks you for watching this presentation of the National Football League". This NFL-mandated announcement is designed to separate game coverage from news, sports analysis, or entertainment programming not under the NFL contract. Also, since 1998, the NFL has owned the rights to game broadcasts once they air. Currently, the NFL Network reairs selected games.
Further, the NFL imposes restrictions on sponsored-segments during game coverage (this does not apply to national radio broadcasts). These are permitted only before and after the game, plus the halftime studio show. Also, sideline reporters are restricted as to whom they can speak to and when (usually a coach at halftime, players after the game ends). In 2006, CBS decided to no longer use sideline reporters except for some playoff games.
[edit] NFL Films
- Further information: NFL Films
NFL Films, which provides game films to media outlets for highlight shows, is owned by the NFL.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Nielson's Top 10 Ratings: Top 10 Network Telecasts of All Time
- ^ McKenna, Barrie "NBC hoping NFL, Internet will lead comeback", globeandmail.com, retrieved on October 30, 2006
- ^ CBS: The 'C' Stands For Cheap
- ^ "NFL agrees to 6-year extensions with CBS, Fox" ESPN.com, Nov 9 2004
- ^ a b c NFL TV and Radio Broadcast Partner Schedule, NFL.com
- ^ "Please explain the NFL Broadcast rules in NYC area", October 23, 2005 Ask MetaFilter, Retrieved November 3, 2006
- ^ "NFL Sues California Bars for Violating 'Black-out' Rule, November 10, 1999, Sports Law News, Retrieved November 2, 2006
- ^ Maloney, Rick, "NFL blackout crackdown aided by spurned taverns", February 14, 1997, Business First of Buffalo, Retrieved November 2, 2006
- ^ [1]
- ^ "NFL to implement "Flexible Scheduling" during seven of final eight Sundays of 2006 season" NFL.com
- ^ "Bryant Gumbel, Cris Collinsworth to announce NFL Network games", NFL News, NFL.com, April 26, 2006
- ^ NFL Sunday Ticket
- ^ NFL Sunday Ticket
- ^ Top 10 Network Telecasts of All Time from Nielsen Media Research
- ^ CBS: The 'C' Stands For Cheap
- ^ Johnston, Joey. "The Art of Scheduling", Tampa Tribune, March 24, 2001.
[edit] References
- NFL Record and Fact Book (ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
- America's Game: How Pro Football Captured A Nation by Michael MacCambridge (ISBN 0-375-50454-0)
- NFL to remain on broadcast TV
- NFL announces new prime-time TV packages
- CleverDonkey.com: The NFL Should Bench Its Blackout Rules
- NFL Sunday Ticket from DirecTV
- NFL Network to televise regular-season games
- Process of game-time decisions will eliminate TV duds, create chaos by Michael Hiestand, USA Today, April 5, 2006 (Last accessed April 5, 2006)
