NFL Week #14, CBS runs 8 games Sunday, Fox only 5; Buck and Aikman work TNF, off Sunday

• There are no byes this weekend. All 32 NFL teams play

• Houston, Cleveland and Buffalo get hit with Fox game at 4p of little geographic interest, Chargers at Jacksonville. The Fox affiliates in those markets can only run one game and it has to be in the 4p window because the clubs in those markets are playing at home at 1p and on CBS. By rule, a competitive affiliate can’t run another game against the home telecast. In the interest of stronger ratings in the nation’s largest market, an arrangement was worked out between Fox5 New York and the Jets that will enable the station to run the 1p, Niners-Saints game instead of Chargers-Jacksonville!

• It’s CBS’ doubleheader. The Tiffany Network produces 8 telecasts Sunday, Fox only 5 

• Extra games – extra personnel needed. Cincinnati at Cleveland, not exactly a headliner, will be covered by Beth Mowins and Tiki Barber (See Jake Baskin’s profile of Mowins below schedule)

• Jets-Dolphins have Tom McCarthy and Jay Feely who moves from the sideline to the booth.  Otis Livingston will serve in sideline role. Once a major rivalry, the poor fortunes of these two franchises manifests itself by the game’s limited coverage, just 5 CBS markets

• CBS is not assigning sideliners to Cleveland-Cincinnati or Indianapolis-Tampa Bay games

• A game that would typically go to CBS goes to Fox, Chargers at Jacksonville

• Southern Californian Al Michaels stays home for NBC’s Sunday nighter, Seattle at Rams

• South Floridian Greg Gumbel goes west again for Tennessee at Oakland

Here’s the detailed NFL/Week #14 schedule:

Thursday, December 05, 2019

Dallas Cowboys at Chicago Bears (Thu)  8:20p FOX/NFLN/Amazon Prime

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman on Fox and NFL Network

Hannah Storm, Andrea Kremer on Amazon Prime

Fox penetrates through 99% of the country. NFL Network is in some 70 million homes. Amazon Prime has approximately 90 million subscribers. That’s more homes than ESPN penetrates

Sunday, December 08, 2019

Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons 1:00p FOX

Chris Myers, Daryl Johnston

8% of country/16 markets

A Carolinas-Georgia showing with addition of  nearby Chattanooga, Tenn 

San Francisco at New Orleans  1:00pm

Kevin Burkhardt, Charles Davis

55% of country/143 markets

Pretty much entire country with the exception of NFC North country, the Carolinas, DC, Virginia, Jacksonville, Tampa, Houston, Buffalo, LA and San Diego. In other words, everywhere, other than where the other 4 Fox games are going Carolina-Atlanta, Washington-Green Bay, Detroit-Minnesota and Chargers-Jacksonville. Fox affiliates see only one game this week

NEW YORK CITY, FOX5 WAS ADDED ON THURSDAY AFTER AN ARRANGEMENT WAS WORKED OUT BETWEEN FOX AND THE JETS

Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills  1:00p CBS

Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts

68% of country/169 markets

Largest coverage in the CBS 1p window, Other than New York City, Connecticut, a swath of the Midwest and much of Florida, Texas and the Mountain Zone, these two guys will be rambling away to much of America.

Indianapolis Colts at Tampa Bay Bucs  1:00p  CBS

Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta

4% of country/ 10 markets

Much of Indiana, Eastern Illinois and 2 Western Florida markets

Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns 1:00p CBS

Beth Mowins, Tiki Barber

5% of country/12 markets,

All of Ohio, 2 nearby Kentucky markets, 2 in West Virginia and Erie, Pa.

Washington Redskins at Green Bay Packers 1:00p FOX

Kenny Albert, Ronde Barber

12% of country/28 markets

Illinois, Wisconsin, Marquette, Michigan, Iowa, DC, Virginia, Omaha, Nebraska and Alaska where the game begins 9am, when it’s probably still dark there at that hour

Denver Broncos at Houston Texans  1:00p CBS

Kevin Harlan, Rich Gannon

13% of country/40 markets

All Colorado, all Texas, 4 in Tennessee, 4 in Wyoming, 2 in New Mexico, Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Shreveport, La., Bowling Green, Ky and Rapid City, SD

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings  1:00p FOX

Thom Brennaman, Chris Spielman

6% of country/ 18 markets

Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota plus South Bend, Indiana and Toledo, Ohio

Miami Dolphins at New York Jets   1:00p CBS

Tom McCarthy, Jay Feely

10% of country/ 5 markets

Not much geography for these two wretched teams. Because NYC market is so populated, it’s how CBS gets to 10%. McCarthy did the Mets for a while, so some might remember him there. NYC, Hartford and 3 Southern Florida markets. That’s it

Los Angeles Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars 4:05p FOX

Dick Stockton, Mark Schlereth

15% of country/7 markets

All big cities including LA, plus San Diego, Jacksonville, Tampa, Buffalo,  Cleveland and Houston 

Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots  4:25p CBS

Jim Nantz, Tony Romo

84% of country/201 of the country’s 236 markets

These guys go everywhere other than Tennessee-Oakland (19 markets) and Pittsburgh-Arizona (16 markets)- see details just below

Tennessee Titans at Oakland Raiders 4:25p CBS

Greg Gumbel, Trent Green

9% of country/19 markets

8 mostly Northern California markets, all Tennessee, Western Nevada, Huntsville, Alabama and Bowling Green, Kentucky (home of Fruit of the Loom)

Pittsburgh Steelers at Arizona Cardinals  4:25p CBS

Andrew Catalon, James Lofton

8% of country/16 markets

Arizona, Western Pa, West Virginia and Eastern Ohio

Phoenix, AZ, Tucson, AZ, Yuma AZ,  Youngstown, OH, Cleveland, OH, Columbus, OH, Altoona, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Erie, PA, Harrisburg PA, Scranton, PA, Weston, WV, Wheeling, WV, Huntington, WV, Lewisburg, WV, Parkersburg, WV

Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams  8:20p NBC

Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth

100% of country

ESPN is in approximately 84 million homes

Monday, December 09, 2019

New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles (Mon) 8:15p (ET) 8:15p ESPN

Joe Tessitore, Booger McFarland

ESPN is in 84 million homes

Jake Baskin’s profile of Beth Mowins, working Cincinnati-Cleveland game

Beth Mowins makes her season debut Sunday when CBS televises eight games. She will call the Battle of Ohio between the Bengals and Browns, alongside former Giants running back Tiki Barber. Beth is the second woman to do play-by-play for a regular season NFL game, following Gayle Sierens, who called one game for NBC in 1987. Gayle was a long time television anchor in Tampa.

Mowins, 52, played Division I basketball at Lafayette College, where she is the program leader in assists by a wide margin. She returned to her hometown of Syracuse, New York after graduation and worked in that market on both radio and TV before being picked up by ESPN in 1994 as a play-by-play announcer for the network’s women’s sports coverage. Mowins has called NCAA championships in five different sports, but her longest run has been in softball, where she’s called games at the Women’s College World Series for 25 years.

Mowins followed Pam Ward into the college football lineup at ESPN, calling her first games in 2005 and joining the main Saturday rotation in 2015, where she continues to call a regular schedule. Beth was assigned to the second game of ESPN’s Monday Night Football opening week doubleheader in 2017 and 2018, and in each of the last three seasons has also filled in on CBS’ coverage. In addition to Barber, her NFL broadcast partners have included Rex Ryan, Jay Feely, Brian Griese, and Steve Beuerlein.