@GKJ @Marc the Habs Fan @StreetHawk
As I was watching FOX broadcast one of the AFC only matchups today I remembered back to a time when you knew if the game was on FOX it had an NFC road team and if a game was on CBS the road team was AFC.
When did this change? Like I get that in today's day and age these packages are split up and sliced and diced differently than in the past. But when did it happen?
It’s been a few years. There became agreements between the networks to start moving games around to expose the best matchups regardless of network, and that bled into the playoffs when the Saints/Bears and 49ers/Cowboys games were aired on CBS (wild card round is sliced differently), but with the last media rights deal it’s become basically unchained as more affiliates wanted more access to their local teams. All of these extra national windows, such as on Saturdays, are put up for grabs similar to the Wild Card round. However, CBS and Fox are guaranteed to air at least one divisional matchup each per season, except for Week 18.
It’s good that this came up because the networks are evidently getting upset as they feel Amazon is getting better treatment despite paying less for their package. But the data is apparently telling the NFL that those are the games that attract the youngest audience.