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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