Just because NBC continues to have the highest rated show and NFL telecast again this year with Sunday Night Football is not reason enough to get away with moving more of their sports programming to a pay tier. Consumers are already paying increasing monthly fees for their cable/satellite programming, which includes NBC. Some pay even more for sports packages which include the NBC Sports Regional Networks. Some pay still more on top of those to receive Peacock, which is being assigned to more and more live sports programming.
This coming Saturday (12/16), Peacock will have exclusive coverage of the Indy Classic college basketball tournament. Exclusive. These are nothing but regular season non-conference college hoops matchups. They expect people not already subscribing to Peacock to pay to get these games. Their live doubleheader starts with Ball State vs. Indiana (12:45 PM ET), and is followed by Arizona vs. Purdue in a battle of two highly ranked teams.
Of course, teams ranked highly this early in the season could be long gone from the top spots by March. That's another story. These regular season games are being treated just like NBC coverage, including assigning Noah Eagle and Robbie Hummel to call both games. However, this telecast is only available to those paying much more than regular season prices.
Wait until NFL fans realize that Peacock will have the Dec. 23rd game between Buffalo and the L.A. Chargers exclusively in prime time. Peacock will also have an exclusive NFL playoff game during Wild Card weekend. Let's face it. If the NFL is able to get away with an extra pay tier for its games, fans of other sports leagues are doomed.
It appears that Al Michaels will not be calling one NFL playoff game for NBC or Peacock despite it being in his contract. The Network isn't saying why. Some critics point to his "boring" call of his playoff game assignment last year, while others speculate it was because of his comment about Taylor Swift being at the game not being a big deal. The NFL figures that Swift being at the games is good for ratings, and for the millions they pay for the rights, they want to keep it positive. Nice work for Michaels, who could be getting paid for not calling a game.
This Saturday, 12/16, is a day featuring an NFL triple header. For the first time, each of the games will be seen live via NFL Network, only simulcast over the air in each of the local markets only for their team's game.
Chris Rose and Jason McCourty will call the Minnesota vs. Cincinnati game, while Rich Eisen and Kurt Warner will describe Pittsburgh vs. Indianapolis. The prime time game between Denver and Detroit will be called by Kevin Harlan and Trent Green.
Back on the college sports scene, the Atlantic 10 Conference announced expanded coverage, especially for basketball, with a group of partners. ESPN, CBS Sports, and NBC Sports will divide the coverage throughout this five year extension.
Meanwhile, ESPN's NHL doubleheader on Tuesday (12/12) produced its highest ratings since Week 2 of the NHL season. The later matchup (starting after 10 PM ET) between Chicago and Edmonton featured Connor Bedard against Connor McDavid drew more than 400,000 viewers around the country.
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