Big Ten Signs Deals With Fox, NBC and CBS, Dropping ESPN/ABC

[SS8609 58]

Last I checked, CBS has Paramount+ and NBC has Peacock (free if you have an Xfinity cable subscription). Fox and ABC share Hulu, but that's about it. Maybe if my scenario where Disney swallows up Fox and Hearst gets ABC with a little drug money from Warren Buffett comes true, Fox will have their dream stream, and Big Ten fans can rejoice.

[nomadcowatbk 143]

16 hours ago, danderson500 said:

The Clemson-ND game gave me a taste of that XFL game in 01 (cant remember the teams, just remember how it delayed SNL).  Lorne is going have to get used to it with CFB.

he's near retirement

[WheelWarrior 92]

On 8/13/2022 at 12:11 PM, nycnewsjunkie said:

Awful Announcing reports that in 2023, CBS will keep its 3:30pm SEC window to fulfill its remaining broadcast commitments to that conference. CBS’ final year of the SEC will be concurrent with their first year of Big Ten football.

 

Is there any chance that CBS will extend the scheduled end time to 7:30 or 8:00? CBS has the worst on-time performance of CFB broadcasts because, no matter what time the game ends, they will always do roughly 10 minutes of the Rocket Post Game Show. Most commonly, I notice the game itself ends around 6:55, but affiliates will not begin programming until about 7:10. I have been following this for about four years now, always briefly tuning into a CBS affiliate (usually KYW, which does news at 7:00 during CFB season) at 7:00 or 7:05, and only once (not counting days with cancelled games) have I not seen the fourth quarter still in the homestretch or a table of talking heads. Why doesn't CBS just schedule to 7:30 and encourage its affiliates to do 6:00 news at 7:30/6:30c? With the way it is now, news crews always have to wait for everything to finish (unless they prerecord), or whatever program airs at 7:00 (or 7:30 after news in many cases) never airing in its entirety. Other networks generally only do post game shows similar to CBS's if they have a lot of time to fill.

[nycnewsjunkie 1256]

2 hours ago, WheelWarrior said:

Is there any chance that CBS will extend the scheduled end time to 7:30 or 8:00? CBS has the worst on-time performance of CFB broadcasts because, no matter what time the game ends, they will always do roughly 10 minutes of the Rocket Post Game Show. Most commonly, I notice the game itself ends around 6:55, but affiliates will not begin programming until about 7:10. I have been following this for about four years now, always briefly tuning into a CBS affiliate (usually KYW, which does news at 7:00 during CFB season) at 7:00 or 7:05, and only once (not counting days with cancelled games) have I not seen the fourth quarter still in the homestretch or a table of talking heads. Why doesn't CBS just schedule to 7:30 and encourage its affiliates to do 6:00 news at 7:30/6:30c? With the way it is now, news crews always have to wait for everything to finish (unless they prerecord), or whatever program airs at 7:00 (or 7:30 after news in many cases) never airing in its entirety. Other networks generally only do post game shows similar to CBS's if they have a lot of time to fill.

They could theoretically dump the post-game show if it’s that big of an issue for the network. Besides, I have a feeling most people (myself included) switch over to another Saturday night game by that point anyway.

[Georgie56 2972]

NBC has their Big Ten booth.

 

 

[nickp 279]

Quite a get for NBC Blackledge is the best in the business

[tjt24 289]

3 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

NBC has their Big Ten booth.

 

That's a really solid booth. Blackledge is one of the best college football analysts out there, and Noah Eagle is a really good play by play guy. 

[Georgie56 2972]

Kathryn Tappen is NBC’s B1G sideline reporter.
 

 

[JTT 27]

Why did NBC not want to put some games on the USA network?  I know their priority is peacock, but not even one college football game  and no college basketball games at all.  I thought they wanted to build the USA network with sports programming as well.

[elfuego35 88]

5 hours ago, JTT said:

Why did NBC not want to put some games on the USA network?  I know their priority is peacock, but not even one college football game  and no college basketball games at all.  I thought they wanted to build the USA network with sports programming as well.

 

I think that NBC is only using USA to honor legacy contracts that require television coverage.

 

A-10 Basketball, EPL, NASCAR, Indycar are all contracts that USA inherited from NBCSN. The only non NBCSN content on USA is the USFL, and cable coverage of the Golf Majors, and even then NBC moved the majors from Golf Channel. 

 

I think going forward, NBC is going to fully focus sports rights with Peacock.

[JTT 27]

Why didn't NBC want to air college basketball since they don't have as much sports programming as they used to with the loss of NHL?  It is strange that they have had channels like USA, CNBC, and Bravo, but they were not willing to pay to air sports on these networks in the past, before peacock and streaming became popular. 

Edited March 17 by JTT

[SS8609 58]

It's fair to say that the big winners on Saturdays come next year - local fanbases notwithstanding - will be the ABC affiliates in the South (WSB, WFTV, KTRK, WGNO) and the CBS affiliates in the Midwest (WBBM, WBNS, KCCI, KDKA) and West Coast (KCBS, KFMB, KIRO, KOIN). Fox will also get great ratings in Big 12 markets (KSAZ, KRIV, KDVR, WXIX, WDAF) assuming they are the biggest antenna broadcaster (i.e. not ESPN) in that conference, and B1G Saturday Night will be a boon to NBC affiliates in the Midwest (WMAQ, WTHR, WDIV, KARE, WCMH). If you're an ABC affiliate in the Rust Belt (WLS, WXYZ, WSYX, KETV) or a CBS affiliate in the old Confederate States of America (WANF, WIAT, WWL, WCSC, WKYT), you better have a Plan B ready for 2024. And even if CBS were to eventually get a robust piece of the Big 12 pie, KHOU may or may not get the kind of ratings for a UH game that KTRK will definitely get for a UT or A&M game, since UH may still have issues filling TDECU Stadium as opposed to DKR or Kyle Field.

 

As for the first night of NBC B1G action, I won't be shocked if the biggest winner for NBC's first Saturday night of B1G action is WPXI, since WVU and Penn State are literally in the orbit of western PA. But it really does come down to market by market. If Wisconsin is on Saturday night for instance, WTMJ will probably get good ratings. And when UCLA and USC join, most certainly KNBC and KNSD. And that's not even counting Notre Dame games involving the B1G which certainly will get big national ratings, and most certainly explosive ones for WNDU and possibly WMAQ & even WTHR.

 

But if one were to find a major downgrade anywhere - even in this era of max cable penetration and streaming - it would be in Bryan/College Station. The SEC will be going from full-power KBTX to low-power KRHD. Not that it matters since whichever outlet is airing the Aggies - broadcast or cable - will win Saturday anyway, regardless of whatever game ABC does air on its SEC package.

[jerseyfla 185]

7 hours ago, SS8609 said:

It's fair to say that the big winners on Saturdays come next year - local fanbases notwithstanding - will be the ABC affiliates in the South (WSB, WFTV, KTRK, WGNO)

 

But if one were to find a major downgrade anywhere - even in this era of max cable penetration and streaming - it would be in Bryan/College Station. The SEC will be going from full-power KBTX to low-power KRHD. Not that it matters since whichever outlet is airing the Aggies - broadcast or cable - will win Saturday anyway, regardless of whatever game ABC does air on its SEC package.

This is a great pickup next year for WCJB in Gainesville (the original network affiliate station in Gainesville) who could have easily swapped to CBS when WJXT the de facto CBS affiliate for Gainesville went Independent 21 years ago or even before it when CBS got exclusive rights to include the Championship Game in 2001 due to how important Florida Gator athletics are for the area. ABC has probably the most small market or former single station affiliates in the country between WCJB, WWSB, and WLOX.

Edited August 21 by jerseyfla

[tyrannical bastard 3249]

1 hour ago, jerseyfla said:

This is a great pickup next year for WCJB in Gainesville (the original network affiliate station in Gainesville) who could have easily swapped to CBS when WJXT the de facto CBS affiliate for Gainesville went Independent 21 years ago or even before it when CBS got exclusive rights to include the Championship Game in 2001 due to how important Florida Gator athletics are for the area. ABC has probably the most small market or former single station affiliates in the country between WCJB, WWSB, and WLOX.

WCJB's original reason for going with ABC was because of their contract with the Florida Gators at the time.

 

With ESPN planning on going DTC at some point in the future, would this be a boon or a bust to their SEC coverage?  Alabama would be a key test for this, since many of the CBS affiliates have dominated the ratings there, usually due to their SEC coverage on Saturdays.   Would the prospect of sacrificing an arm and a leg to watch SEC football be detrimental to their fanbase, and the stations that used to carry the games?

[TheRolyPoly 1829]

5 hours ago, jerseyfla said:

This is a great pickup next year for WCJB in Gainesville (the original network affiliate station in Gainesville) who could have easily swapped to CBS when WJXT the de facto CBS affiliate for Gainesville went Independent 21 years ago or even before it when CBS got exclusive rights to include the Championship Game in 2001 due to how important Florida Gator athletics are for the area. ABC has probably the most small market or former single station affiliates in the country between WCJB, WWSB, and WLOX.

 

It wasn't the original. WCJB was with NBC for two years from their 1971 sign-on until 1973. Then, they went with ABC for the reason @tyrannical bastardmentioned... the contract to air Florida Gators football at the time.

[jerseyfla 185]

On 8/22/2023 at 1:43 AM, TheRolyPoly said:

 

It wasn't the original. WCJB was with NBC for two years from their 1971 sign-on until 1973. Then, they went with ABC for the reason @tyrannical bastardmentioned... the contract to air Florida Gators football at the time.

I was meaning original station with a network affiliation for Gainesville. They wouldn't have another one in the market until 1986 when W49AI (now WYKE) was used as a repeater for Orlando's Fox affiliate WOFL until 1991 when WOGX took over. 

On 8/21/2023 at 9:23 PM, tyrannical bastard said:

WCJB's original reason for going with ABC was because of their contract with the Florida Gators at the time.

But what could have stopped WCJB from defying WJXT's place from the neighboring market and going to CBS other than the affiliation contract and maybe ABC themselves not wanting Alachua and Dixie to have to rely on weak station WJXX. Marion would be taken care of by strong ABC affiliate WFTV. Remember this is before WJXT went Independent so WGFL was just a mere affiliate of WB. Or perhaps CBS knowing how dominant WJXT was acted like Gainesville was not a seperate market.

Edited August 23 by jerseyfla

[tyrannical bastard 3249]

On 8/23/2023 at 11:50 AM, jerseyfla said:

I was meaning original station with a network affiliation for Gainesville. They wouldn't have another one in the market until 1986 when W49AI (now WYKE) was used as a repeater for Orlando's Fox affiliate WOFL until 1991 when WOGX took over. 

But what could have stopped WCJB from defying WJXT's place from the neighboring market and going to CBS other than the affiliation contract and maybe ABC themselves not wanting Alachua and Dixie to have to rely on weak station WJXX. Marion would be taken care of by strong ABC affiliate WFTV. Remember this is before WJXT went Independent so WGFL was just a mere affiliate of WB. Or perhaps CBS knowing how dominant WJXT was acted like Gainesville was not a seperate market.

Back in the analog era, strong affiliates that served adjacent markets had a lot more ability to muscle out local competition. 

It wasn't until the digital era when stations could sign on a second network via a subchannel or duopoly/SSA/JSA partner. 

It set a lot more boundaries with the DMAs and markets were able to fill out their choices to satisfy market exclusivity for cable, satellite and streaming services.  Also, some of the old analog stations lost a lot of their excess reach having to convert to digital (usually from VHF to UHF) so their signals became more confined with their home market.

[tyrannical bastard 3249]

With the new Big Ten deal, Columbus, Ohio's playing field may level out a little more after WSYX/WTTE has had explosive success with their coverage of the Ohio State teams.  Now that NBC and CBS have games as well, it's the first time in years where 10TV has aired a Buckeyes football game (even going back to the ESPN broadcasts).  And NBC4 can gain some of the action as well should they land a Buckeyes game.

 

Newswise, 10TV and NBC4 are shells of themselves, but this may put a little more revenue and ratings in their pockets on game days....