WBNS-DT October 23 NFL Information

[TvPat]

1 PM - Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (HDTV)
4:15 PM - Baltimore at Chicago (not in HDTV)

The game shown to most of the country at 4 is Denver at the New York Giants, which IS in HDTV. I'm not really sure why they are showing the other non-HD game instead.

By the way, Detroit at Cleveland is on WTTE at 1 PM. It is in HDTV.

[Scott]

I wonder how long it will be before they have the Browns back on as the feature team for WBNS (possibly waiting for the shoe to drop in Cincy). I noticed they had the Bengals on Sunday with a statement on their website about the Bengals climbing the ratings, blah, blah. I think the truth is that they are currently in first place in the North and they would probably catch all kinds of crap if they didn't show them. I'm not complaining---------but dammit, I wouldn't have got the freaking NFL Sunday Ticket!!!!

[TvPat]

Here are the unfortunate Columbus NFL demographics:
- 60% Browns fans
- 30% Bengals fans
- 10% Steelers fans

WCMH stated this when they used to deal with the Bengals/Browns conflicts every week. The numbers are approximate, but twice as many Browns fans as Bengals fans doesn't seem to far off base.

Here are the remaining conflicts, and my prediction on which game WBNS will pick:

November 6
1 PM Cincinnati at Baltimore (CBS)
-> 1 PM Tennessee at Cleveland (CBS)

November 20
1 PM Miami at Cleveland (CBS)
-> 1 PM Indianapolis at Cincinnati (CBS)

November 27
1 PM Baltimore at Cincinnati (CBS)
-> 1 PM Cleveland at Minnesota (CBS)

December 4
-> 1 PM Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (CBS)
1 PM Jacksonville at Cleveland (CBS)

December 17
4:05 PM Cincinnati at Detroit (CBS)
-> 4:05 PM Cleveland at Oakland (CBS)

December 24
1 PM Buffalo at Cincinnati (CBS)
-> 1 PM Pittsburgh at Cleveland (CBS)

[frenchophile]

Perhaps they are showing ravens because it is and AFC North team
Perhaps they are showing bears because they have big fan base in midwest and don't get on CBS much.
Of course, we all prefer HD game, but we are small niche, and they look at ratings, and from what I recall from previous forum, HD viewers don't count in ratings.

Scott - are you happier having "lost" money on Sunday Ticket and the Bengals doing well, or having "invested" money in Sunday Ticket and the Bengals losing every week...I see this as win-win for you, man!

[bucks17]

Why can't BNS just put both the Bengals and the Browns on in similar fashion to their coverage of the NCAA Tourney? - Usually (not always) neither game is broadcast HD so why not simulcast.

[Scott]

Why can't BNS just put both the Bengals and the Browns on in similar fashion to their coverage of the NCAA Tourney? - Usually (not always) neither game is broadcast HD so why not simulcast.

The number one reason why is that WBNS is simply not allowed to carry both games. Every year they petition the NFL and every year they are denied. And number two--two HD games, one HD game and an SD game, or even two SD games on the multi-cast channels would cause the PQ to be unwatchable. Take a look at WOSU, currently running 2 other channels during their HD broadcast (which I believe is 24 hours/day now), or look at WCMH, even simulcasting their weather channel causes PQ to be less than spectacular--especially during football games (I swithched the NY national feed this past weekend during the ND game. Even HD Lite from DirecTV looked much better).

[TvPat]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NFL-100 10/31/05
KICKOFF TIMES CHANGED FOR THREE NFL GAMES
The kickoff times for three NFL games in November have been changed, the league announced today. The changes are to accommodate CBS and FOX broadcast patterns.

The new times:
• November 13 – Washington at Tampa Bay moves from 1:00 PM ET to 4:15 PM ET (FOX).
• November 20 – Indianapolis at Cincinnati moves from 1:00 PM ET to 4:15 PM ET (CBS).
• November 20 – Pittsburgh at Baltimore moves from 4:15 PM ET to 1:00 PM ET (CBS).

This means the following for WBNS on November 20:
1:00 PM - Miami at Cleveland
4:15 PM - Indianapolis at Cincinnati

This eliminates the Bengals-Browns conflict on November 20. The Bengals game is now the main doubleheader game, so it will probably be in HDTV. That has not been announced yet.

And FYI, for this week, from www.wbns.com:
Sunday November 6:
1:00 PM - Cincinnati at Baltimore
4:15 PM - Pittsburgh at Green Bay

Tennessee at Cleveland will not be shown.