Week #3: Buck/Aikman work twice; Gus Johnson’s Fox assignment goes to just 4 markets and 3% of U.S.

NFL Broadcast Notes: Week #3

• Fox has the doubleheader, CBS the singleton.

• Joe Buck and Troy Aikman work both Thursday and Sunday for the first time this season.

• On Monday Night, ESPN2 will again have the Mannings on a side-by-side against the trio of Levy, Griese and Riddick on ESPN mainstream. What kind of an impact have the siblings had to date? ESPN says that for Week #2, the duo drew an audience of 1.9 million. According to Pro Football Weekly, “With the total audience of 13.8 million viewers across all platforms (ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes), it’s 11.9 million for mainstream ESPN and ESPN Deportes audience combined. (The ESPN Deportes audience is low, in the range of 50,000).” From my college algebra, the Mannings represent about 13% of the total ESPN viewership. So while the Mannings have added an intriguing concept, the boys haven’t yet usurped a chunk of the overall MNF audience. Fans on mainstream ESPN haven’t yet outstretched their arms for their remotes.

• Greg Olsen is living up to his billing. We got pretty impressive sampling of his work the last couple of season. He’s a keeper.

• CBS’ largest penetration game this Sunday, LAC @KC goes to 38% of the country and 122 stations. Fox’ Tampa @ LA Raiders, 92% and 183 Stations.

• Gus Johnson gets the smallest distribution, 3% of America and just 4 stations this Sunday. There were more people in my old Brooklyn neighborhood than Gus will reach on his Arizona-Jacksonville screamfest.  No truth to the rumor that Johnson is being slapped on the wrist for his childish yelping at the end of the Minnesota – Arizona game when kicker Joseph missed what would have been a potential game winning field-goal. Was Gus in a professional broadcast booth or in Romper Room. Yikes!

Thursday, Sept. 23 – 8:20 pm ET-  

Carolina Panthers vs. Houston Texans-NFLN

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman

NFLN hits 54M homes

Sunday, Sept. 26 – 1 pm ET

Washington Football Team vs. Buffalo Bills-Fox-Fox

Chris Myers, Daryl Johnston

11%/27 stations

Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns-Fox

Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen

43%/101 stations

Baltimore Ravens vs. Detroit Lions-Fox

Greg Gumbel, Adam Archuleta

7%/14 stations

Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans-CBS

Andrew Catalon, James Lofton

6%/18 stations

Los Angeles Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs-CBS

Jim Nantz, Tony Romo

38%/122 stations

New Orleans Saints vs. New England Patriots-Fox

Adam Amin, Mark Schlereth

24%/53 stations

Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Giants-Fox

Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma

18%/27 stations

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers-CBS

Kevin Harlan, Trent Green

15%, 35 stations

Arizona Cardinals vs. Jacksonville Jaguars-Fox

Gus Johnson, Tariq Aqib Talib

3%, 4 stations

Sunday, Sept. 26 – 4:05 pm ET

New York Jets vs. Denver Broncos-CBS

Spero Dedes, James Lofton

15%/31 stations

Miami Dolphins vs. Las Vegas Raiders-CBS

Ian Eagle, Charles Davis

29%/20 stations

Sunday, Sept. 26 – 4:25 pm ET 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Los Angeles Rams- Fox

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman

92%/183 stations

Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota Vikings- Fox

Kevin Kugler, Mark Sanchez

7% /58 stations

Sunday, Sept. 26 – 8:20 pm ET-NBC

Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49ers-NBC

Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth

100%

Monday, Sept. 27 – 8:20 pm ET-ESPN

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys

Steve Levy, Brian Griese, Louis Tiddick

Approximately 70 million subscribers (The Mannings will be side-by-side on ESPN2

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