Every local network affiliate in Buffalo has reason to be excited after the NFL announced its schedule last week, even if one of them has reason to cheer about missing the Bills’ big game.
For all the talk before the schedule was announced that CBS affiliates weren’t sure they’d get AFC road games and Fox wasn’t sure they’d get NFC road games, the announced schedule didn’t play out any differently for the Buffalo stations. For years.
As usual, WIVB-TV (Channel 4), the local CBS affiliate, is lined up to carry the most Bills games this season with eight.
Channel 4 has not lost any 1pm or 4.25pm games. However, he lost a number of games he would have gotten if they hadn’t gone to prime time because Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs and company became huge national TV draws.
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WUTV, the Fox affiliate, also did not win the NFC afternoon games it regularly carries.
“The final piece of the puzzle was just the way it came together,” NFL vice president of broadcast planning Mike North said on a conference call. It was not intentional.
While Buffalo is a free agent and not affected by the new rule per game, Washington typically has seven CBS games on the Fox network.
According to sources, Bills games could generate $150,000 in revenue for local stations.
Moneymakers add pregame and postgame shows and also use games to promote their news segments.
Bill’s Games are so profitable because they are easily the highest-rated television shows in Western New York.
The team’s games averaged a 45.8 rating last season, averaging 290,212 households in regularly scheduled prime-time network entertainment programming that did not generate double-digit live ratings in February. And the games last more than three hours, while regularly scheduled entertainment programs last from 30 minutes to an hour.
Even though all pay-per-view Sunday afternoon games are broadcast on their usual local channels, due to prime-time contests on their schedule, you still may not be able to catch the games without getting my scorecard each week.
Now let’s take a site-by-site look at where the games will be broadcast:
YVB: Missing some of the major matches are WGRZ-TV’s (Channel 2) and WKBW-TV’s (Channel 7) gains. The offense includes the season opener against the New York Jets and Josh Allen’s golf buddy Aaron Rodgers on “Monday Night Football” and prime-time games against AFC rivals the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals. But Channel 4 CBS should be pleased to retain several other big games.
They include the Bills’ home opener on Sept. 17 against the Las Vegas Raiders. 4:25 p.m. games at Philadelphia on Nov. 26 and at Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 10; home games against the Miami Dolphins on October 1 at 1 p.m. and the New England Patriots at 1 p.m. on December 31.
According to the CBS release, the Bills’ game against Philadelphia is a national game, while the Bills’ games against the Jets on Nov. 19 and the Kansas City game on Dec. 10 at 4:25 pm are among the “most anticipated games” nationally. window.
The Bills’ games against Miami on Oct. 1 and the New England game on Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. will be among the network’s “headline” games.
WUTV (Channel 29): The local Fox affiliate got the huge 4:25 pm game on Dec. 17 with the Bills against the Dallas Cowboys, but lost out to NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” which was originally scheduled to carry Brian Daboll’s New York Giants on Oct. 15. If played on Sunday afternoon.
WGRZ: The local NBC affiliate will get two of the season’s highest-profile games — the massive Bills-Giants primetime game and a second “Sunday Night Football” game against Joe Burrows and the Bengals on Nov. 5. According to the local NBC affiliate. It’s practically guaranteed to be the local channel simulcasting the Dec. 23 game against the Los Angeles Chargers nationally on NBC’s streaming platform Peacock.
Cable and streaming games are carried by network affiliates in participating markets. “Certainly I expect that NBC, which owns the Peacocks, will choose an NBC partner to broadcast those games,” Hans Schröder, NBC’s chief operating officer, said on the NFL conference call.
WKBW: The local ABC affiliate has the ability to carry four prime-time billed games. The regular season opener will be televised on “Monday Night Football” against the Jets and Rodgers on Sept. 11 on ABC. The Nov. 13 “MNF” game against Denver on ESPN is not scheduled to air on ABC, but may still be on Channel 7. The station is expected to acquire the rights to the “Thursday Night Football” game against Tampa. Bay Oct. 26 on Prime Video Channel 7 owner EW Scripps Co.’s long-term deal with Amazon.
He can also catch the 9:30 a.m. game in London against Jacksonville on NFL Network, which has not yet been assigned to a local channel. Channel 7’s simulation of last year’s NFL Network game against New England could make it a bidding favorite to land this one, too.
The NFL has not announced whether or not the regular season finale will be played on Jan. 6 or Jan. 7 in Miami.
Other interesting tidbits about the schedule from the NFL conference call with reporters:
CBS has the least number of AFC games and Fox has the least number of NFC games to maintain that identity for its affiliates.
Each network can expect one game per week from being flexed. North said that means the second- or third-best game of any given week could be a flex option toward the end of the season if he needs to pull out of a scheduled game. The Bills-Kansas City game is slated to air on CBS.
Each team can play six scheduled prime-time games and the seventh game can be moved into prime time.
Ultimately, North expressed what he felt was the worst thing that could happen to the teams schedule. A three-game road trip, back-to-back Monday games on the road, or the team after them.
“They said it was the worst thing we could do for a team, to have them play the Kansas City Chiefs,” North said.
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