The networks that broadcast NFL games love to market these contests with each team's most well known star - i.e., "(fill in name of player) and the (fill in name of team) take on the (fill in name of player #2) and the (fill in name of team #2) in a contest of AFC rivals", or something similar. This is done in large part to appeal to casual fans who may not know very many players and couldn't name one lineman on other team - but the difference in attracting these people who are on the fence as to whether or not they watch a game is the difference between keeping or losing their jobs. And there has been no bigger rivalry that has appealed to the networks over the last decade than Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning, which gets renewed this Sunday after a one year hiatus.
The Broncos - Patriots game will be broadcast by 158 CBS stations in the US, a whopping 76% of their affiliates. Perhaps the only surprise is that the Tennessee - Minnesota kickoff was not moved to an earlier time to give the markets that air their games a chance to show the Denver - New England game too.
Here is a list of all the US stations that will be broadcasting the Pats game Sunday:
KTVA -- Anchorage, AK
KXD -- Fairbanks, AK
WIAT -- Birmingham, AL
WTVY -- Dothan, AL
WKRG -- Mobile, AL
WAKA -- Montgomery, AL
KFSM -- Fort Smith, AR
KTHV -- Little Rock, AR
KSWT -- Yuma, AZ
KCBS -- Los Angeles, CA
KPSP -- Palm Springs, CA
KFMB -- San Diego, CA
KKTV -- Colorado Springs, CO
KCNC -- Denver, CO
KREX -- Grand Junction, CO
WFSB -- Hartford, CT
WUSA -- Washington, DC
WINK - Fort Myers, FL
WGFL -- Gainesville, FL
WFOR -- Miami, FL
WKMG -- Orlando, FL
WECP -- Panama City, FL
WCTV -- Tallahassee, FL
WTSP -- Tampa, FL
WPEC -- West Palm Beach, FL
WSWG -- Albany, GA
WGCL -- Atlanta, GA
WRDW -- Augusta, GA
WRBL -- Columbus, GA
WMAZ -- Macon, GA
WTOC -- Savannah, GA
KGMB -- Honolulu, HI
KBOI -- Boise, ID
KIDK -- Idaho Falls, ID
KMVT -- Twin Falls, ID
WCIA -- Champaign, IL
WBBM -- Chicago, IL
WMBD -- Peoria, IL
WIFR -- Rockford, IL
WEVV -- Evansville, IN
WANE -- Fort Wayne, IN
WISH -- Indianapolis, IN
WLFI -- Lafayette, IN
WSBT -- South Bend, IN
WTHI -- Terre Haute, IN
KOAM -- Pittsburg, KS
WIBW -- Topeka, KS
KWCH -- Wichita, KS
WYMT -- Hazard, KY
WKYT -- Lexington, KY
WLKY -- Louisville, KY
KALB -- Alexandria, LA
WAFB -- Baton Rouge, LA
KLFY -- Lafayette, LA
KNOE -- Monroe, LA
WWL -- New Orleans, LA
KSLA -- Shreveport, LA
WBZ -- Boston, MA
WSHM -- Springfield, MA
WJZ -- Baltimore, MD
WBOC -- Salisbury, MD
WABI -- Bangor, ME
WGME -- Portland, ME
WAGM -- Presque Isle, ME
WBKB -- Alpena, MI
WWJ -- Detroit, MI
WWMT -- Kalamazoo, MI
WLNS -- Lansing, MI
WJMN -- Marquette, MI
WNEM -- Saginaw, MI
WWTV -- Traverse City, MI
KFVS -- Cape Girardeau, MO
KHQA -- Hannibal, MO
KRCG -- Jefferson City, MO
KCTV -- Kansas City, MO
KTVO -- Kirksville, MO
KOLR -- Springfield, MO
KMOV -- St. Louis, MO
WLOX -- Biloxi, MS
WXVT -- Greenville, MS
WHLT -- Hattiesburg, MS
WJTV -- Jackson, MS
WMDN -- Meridian, MS
KTVQ -- Billings, MT
KXLF -- Butte, MT
KXGN -- Glendive, MT
KRTV -- Great Falls, MT
KXLH -- Helena, MT
KPAX -- Missoula, MT
WFMY -- Greensboro, NC
WNCT -- Greenville, NC
WRAL -- Raleigh, NC
WILM -- Wilmington, NC
KGIN -- Grand Island, NE
KOLN -- Lincoln, NE
KMTV -- Omaha, NE
KRQE -- Albuquerque, NM
KLAS -- Las Vegas, NV
WRGB -- Albany, NY
WCBS -- New York, NY
WKRC -- Cincinnati, OH
WOIO -- Cleveland, OH
WBNS -- Columbus, OH
WHIO -- Dayton, OH
WLIO -- Lima, OH
WTOL -- Toledo, OH
WKBN -- Youngstown, OH
KWTV -- Oklahoma City, OK
KOTV -- Tulsa, OK
KBNZ -- Bend, OR
WTAJ -- Altoona, PA
WHP -- Harrisburg, PA
KYW -- Philadelphia, PA
KDKA -- Pittsburgh, PA
WYOU -- Scranton, PA
WPRI -- Providence, RI
WCSC -- Charleston, SC
WLTX -- Columbia, SC
WBTW -- Florence, SC
WSPA -- Spartanburg, SC
KCLO -- Rapid City, SD
KTAB -- Abilene, TX
KFDA -- Amarillo, TX
KEYE -- Austin, TX
KFDM -- Beaumont, TX
KGBT -- Brownsville, TX
KBTX -- Bryan, TX
KZTV -- Corpus Christi, TX
KTVT -- Dallas, TX
KDBC -- El Paso, TX
KHOU -- Houston, TX
KVTV -- Laredo, TX
KLBK -- Lubbock, TX
KOSA -- Odessa, TX
KLST -- San Angelo, TX
KENS -- San Antonio, TX
KXII -- Sherman, TX
KYTX -- Tyler, TX
KXTS -- Victoria, TX
KWTX -- Waco, TX
KAUZ -- Wichita Falls, TX
KUTV -- Salt Lake City, UT
WCAV -- Charlottesville, VA
WSVF -- Harrisonburg, VA
WTKR -- Norfolk, VA
WTVR -- Richmond, VA
WDBJ -- Roanoke, VA
WCAX -- Burlington, VT
WFRV -- Green Bay, WI
WDJT -- Milwaukee, WI
WSAW -- Wausau, WI
WVNS -- Beckley, WV
WOWK -- Huntington, WV
WIYE -- Parkersburg, WV
WDTV -- Weston, WV
WTRF -- Wheeling, WV
KGWC -- Casper, WY
KGWN -- Cheyenne, WY
Maybe it would have been easier I had just listed the areas that won't be getting this game. That's essentially upstate New York, northern California and the pacific northwest (Bills at 49ers, 13%); Tennessee, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota (Titans at Vikings, 11%); and per NFL rules Jacksonville and Charlotte get no game. The scheduling decision to have Chicago at Jacksonville kick off late is another head scratcher.
Most of the country (including New England) will see the Browns at the Giants for the early CBS game, though I would prefer to watch Baltimore at Kansas City. I guess CBS is cashing in on a rare opportunity to broadcast the Giants to the nation's biggest market. The early Fox game in New England is Philadelphia at Pittsburgh; nationwide that game and Green Bay at Indianapolis are fairly evenly split in amount of coverage. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will be the announcers for the Pats - Broncos game.
♪ ♫ ♩ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯
October 2, 1945:
Don McLean was born in New Rochelle.
Follow on Twitter @AllThingsPats
More News Headlines: