The NFL Schedule: Maximizing Ratings

Part III:

With the league putting the games together by week following their format, it then becomes the NFL broadcast and cable networks' responsibility to decide which games they will carry. This is all according to their contracts. Currently five American English-language TV networks have the rights to air regular season games (the fewest of any major pro sport), excluding local broadcast networks in team markets, who air games over-the-air when a local team has a game on cable.

The order in which networks get to pick games for air goes according to how many they are under contract to air, starting with the station that has the fewest.

Regular season broadcast rights and scheduling break down like this:

1. The NFL Network (cable channel) has the right to air 13 regular season games as of this year. This network is owned by the NFL, and all games are Thursday night games. They will air one game a week during Week 2 through Week 15, excluding the Thanksgiving week. The network snatched up additional games in the last contract renewals in an effort to gain more national attention, being the youngest network to air NFL games. They get first pick. In doing this, each NFL team is guaranteed one game in primetime starting this year. They are stuck with the games they choose before the season.

2. ESPN (cable channel) has the right to air 17 regular season games. They get next pick. Their contract requires all games to be Monday night games. Because the league made the rule stating all games in Week 17 must be played on a Sunday, ESPN does not get to air any games the last week of the season. Usually then, ESPN will air two games in Week 1, and then one game a week through Week 16. Like the NFL Network, ESPN does not get to change which games they carry once they make their initial picks.

3. NBC (broadcast channel) has the right to air 19 regular season games, one more than last year. They get third pick, but first of the broadcast stations. Their contract requires all games to be Sunday night games, however two exceptions are granted. NBC airs the Week 1 Thursday night game or Kickoff Game, which the league determines, plus they now get to pick and air the Thanksgiving night game (8:20 ET). They choose one game for each Sunday night of the season except for Week 17. The NFL decides which game NBC will air that week, and we don't know until after Week 16. This way, the NFL tries to maximize ratings, since one does not know which teams will be strong at the end of the season.

4. FOX (broadcast channel) has the right to air all remaining NFC road games and one Thanksgiving day game (approx. 110 games). All of these games minus Thanksgiving are played on Sunday afternoons. FOX has the right to determine when their games will start, either at 1pm ET or 4pm ET. They get to pick at the same time as CBS, since their games are pre-determined by contract.

5. CBS (broadcast channel) has the right to air all remaining AFC road games and the other Thanksgiving day game (approx. 110 games). Just like FOX, all of these games minus Thanksgiving are played on Sunday afternoons. CBS also has the rights to determine when their games will start, either at 1pm ET or 4pm ET. They also alternate with FOX by week, determining when national audiences will receive more than one game. We'll have more on that later.

In part IV tomorrow night, we'll discuss something called flex-scheduling and how FOX and CBS choose to air their games since they have the majority of match-ups. Once again, the West Coast teams complicate the process.