Television coverage for week 12, Pats at Eagles
After a couple of night games Pats fans get to watch their team during the afternoon this week. The Pats play one of only two late games on CBS, and coverage of the two games is pretty much split by time zones: almost all of the eastern half of the country gets the Pats-Eagles game; almost all of the western U.S. gets the Broncos at Chargers; and San Francisco and Seattle get neither game due to NFL rules.
Fans used to seeing Jim Nantz and Phil Simms announce the Pats game will get a change of pace this week; CBS' number two crew of Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf will call the Pats - Eagles game on Sunday.
Elsewhere almost all of the country will get the Bills - Jets game early on CBS, while the early game on Fox seen by most will be the Vikings at Atlanta.
In an unusual oddity there is only one game on Sunday between two teams that both currently have winning records: the Raiders against the Bears. Often times over the last few years the Thanksgiving day games are clunkers, but this year five of the six teams playing Thursday have winning records, plus we get a good Monday night game between the Giants and Saints.
Here is a list of the television markets that will broadcast the Pats - Eagles game:
Alabama: all
Arkansas: all
Connecticut: all
District of Columbia: all
Florida: all - see edit below
Georgia: all
Hawaii: all
Illinois: all
Indiana: all
Iowa: Mason City
Kentucky: all
Louisiana: all
Maine: all
Maryland: all
Massachusetts: all
Michigan: all
Minnesota: all
Missouri: Cape Girardeau, Hannibal, St. Louis
Mississippi: all
Nevada: Las Vegas
New York: all
North Carolina: all
North Dakota: Fargo
Ohio: all
Oklahoma: all
Pennsylvania: all
Rhode Island: all
South Carolina: all
Tennessee: all
Texas: all - see edit below
Vermont: all
Virginia: all
Washington: Kennewick, Yakima
West Virginia: all
Wisconsin: all
Here is a list of markets that will not get the Pats game, but will instead get the Tebows - Chargers game.
Alaska: all
Arizona: all
California: all except San Francisco (blacked out)
Colorado: all
Idaho: all
Iowa: all except Mason City
Kansas: all
Missouri: Jefferson City, Kansas City, Kirksville, Springfield
Montana: all
Nebraska: all
Nevada: Reno
New Mexico: all
North Dakota: Bismark
Oregon: all - see edit below
South Dakota: all
Utah: all
Washington: Spokane
Wyoming: all
Keep in mind that these lists are the current broadcast designations by CBS. Individual stations can, if they so desire request a change; typically there will be about a half dozen switches each week.
edit: the maps are now up; you can see them here
edit #2, Friday November 25: as mentioned above, some television stations can and do opt to make changes; seven CBS stations have done just that.
First the good news: Portland, Oregon has switched from the Broncos - Chargers game to the Pats - Eagles.
Now the bad news: six television markets, mostly in Florida, have Tebowed dislocated Pats fans there. Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Gainesville Florida have all decided that former local hero Tim Tebow will attract more viewers than the Pats - Eagles would, dropping the Pats game and picking up Denver - San Diego instead. And in western Texas, Amarillo and El Paso have also dropped the Pats game for the Tim Tebow show.
