Television coverage for week 8, Pats at Steelers
With the Patriots - Steelers game being without question the NFL's best game next weekend, most out of town Pats fans will once again be able to watch their favorite team on local television. As of right now this game is scheduled to be broadcast on 168 out of 202 CBS affiliates in the US. The only markets that won't get this game are the ones that are tied to carrying the Bengals, Browns, 49ers and Seahwaks, plus Denver, as the Broncos are playing at home at the same time. CBS will utilize its top broadcast team of Jim Nanatz and Phil Simms for the Pats game.
For the second week in a row the slate of NFL games from top to bottom is relatively mediocre due to teams on a bye. This upcoming game between New England and Pittsburgh is the only one during that two week time span that features two teams both with winning records at the time of the contest. The next best games this week are 4-2 San Diego at 3-3 Kansas City, 3-3 Dallas at 2-4 Philadelphia, and 3-3 Washington at 4-2 Buffalo; nothing is close to the 5-1 Patriots at 5-2 Pittsburgh.
As for the other games on TV, New England and much of the rest of the country will get the Dolphins at Giants as the warmup for the early game on CBS. Interestingly an unusually high percentage of markets will get a late game on FOX even though they have the single game this week. The New England game will get Arizona at Baltimore early rather than New Orleans at St. Louis, but much of the nation will get either Detroit at Denver or the Redskins versus the Bills in Toronto, both of which are late games on at the same time as the Pats - Steelers.
Here is a listing of the markets that will not get the Pats game.
Browns at 49ers
California: Bakersfield, Chico, Eureka, Fresno, Monterey, Sacramento, Santa Maria
Nevada: Reno
Ohio: Cleveland, Lima, Toledo, Youngstown
Oregon: Medford
Bengals at Seahawks
Alaska: Fairbanks
Idaho: Boise, Idaho Falls, Lewiston, Twin Falls
Kentucky: Bowling Green, Hazard, Lexington, Louisville
Ohio: Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton
Oregon: Bend, Eugene, Portland
Washington: Kennewick, Seattle, Spokane, Yakima
Denver gets no CBS game due to NFL fan unfriendly rules.
Here is a list of the CBS television markets that will show the Pats game:
Alabama: Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery
Alaska: Anchorage
Arizona: Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma
Arkansas: Fort Smith, Little Rock
California: Los Angeles, Palm Springs, San Diego
Colorado: Colorado Springs, Grand Junction
Connecticut: Hartford
DC: Washington
Florida: Fort Myers, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa, West Palm Beach
Georgia: Albany, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, Savannah
Hawaii: Honolulu
Illinois: Champaign, Chicago, Peoria, Rock Island, Rockford
Indiana: Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, South Bend, Terre Haute
Iowa: Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Mason City, Sioux City
Kansas: Pittsburg, Topeka, Wichita
Louisiana: Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Monroe, New Orleans, Shreveport
Maine: Bangor, Portland, Presque Isle
Maryland: Baltimore, Salisbury
Massachusetts: Boston, Springfield
Michigan: Alpena, Detroit, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Marquette, Saginaw, Traverse City
Minnesota: Duluth, Mankato, Minneapolis
Mississippi: Columbus, Greenville, Hattiesburg, Jackson, Meridian
Missouri: Cape Girardeau, Hannibal, Jefferson City, Kansas City, Kirksville, Springfield, St. Louis
Montana: Billings, Butte, Glendive, Great Falls, Missoula
Nebraska: Grand Island, Lincoln, Omaha
Nevada: Las Vegas
New Mexico: Albuquerque
New York: Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Elmira, New York, Rochester, Syracuse, Watertown
North Carolina: Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Raleigh, Wilmington
North Dakota: Bismark, Fargo
Oklahoma: Oklahoma City, Tulsa
Pennsylvania: Altoona, Erie, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton
Rhode Island: Providence
South Carolina: Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Spartanburg
South Dakota: Rapid City, Sioux Falls
Tennessee: Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville, Tri-Cities
Texas: Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont, Brownsville, Bryan, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, Odessa, San Angelo, San Antonio, Sherman, Tyler, Victoria, Waco, Wichita Falls
Utah: Salt Lake City
Virginia: Charlottesville, Norfolk, Richmond, Roanoke
Vermont: Burlington
West Virginia: Beckley, Huntington, Weston, Wheeling
Wisconsin: Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Wausau
Wyoming: Casper, Cheyenne
Once the visual television maps are available, I will add a link here as well.
Looking ahead to next week I would anticipate about a 50/50 split on coverage for the Pats - Giants game. Even though it is a late start for an east coast game - generally a strong indicator that the matchup will get extensive television coverage - CBS is also carrying the Packers - Chargers at the same time. That is one of only two times that CBS gets to show the defending Super Bowl champions, so at the minimum I would expect it to be shown throughout the west coast, all AFC West markets and all NFC north markets. I am guessing that most of the east coast will get the Pats - Giants and everything west of the Mississippi will be seeing the Packers - Chargers.
Edit: the week 8 TV maps are up now; you can see them here.
