Week 9 NFL Television: Once Again Fox in CT Broadcasts Giants over Patriots

The undefeated Patriots are setting viewership ratings records, but apparently that’s not enough for one network to broadcast the team throughout all of New England.

Fox Sports has WTIC in Hartford broadcasting the 4-4 New York Giants rather than the 7-0 New England Patriots next Sunday. Granted, Hartford is pretty much the invisible boundary between Patriots/Red Sox/Bruins/Celtics fans and those that follow New York/New Jersey sports teams, but there is a bit more to it. Fox owns the contract to broadcast NFC games, and they (much more than CBS with the AFC) are loathe to widely distribute and promote a game involving a team from the other conference. The corporate decision making seems to buy into the idea that a casual fan may like the competitor’s product better; why risk losing an on-the-fence fan to a superior team? What fans and viewers in that area prefer is not necessarily a priority.

Local affiliates do have the option of requesting a change to the game that they are assigned by the network, but that is doubtful to happen here. When there is a conflict between having to choose to air a Giants game or a Pats game, WTIC has always gone along with the corporate wishes and not wavered from a Giants game; conversely, CBS affiliate WFSB always goes with the Pats game. Perhaps there is hope for Hartford-are Patriot though: at one time in these instances the Fox affiliate in Burlington, Vermont (WFFF) would always broadcast the Giants game; for the last several years they now always elect to show the Patriots game instead.

In last Thursday night’s 36-7 drubbing of the Miami Dolphins, the Patriots generated a 45.9 household rating and a market share of 62 in the Boston area, making it the most watched Patriot game of the season. That is the fourth-highest local rating ever for a Patriots game, and it did well outside of 495 as well. Nationally the Pats-Fins game also performed well; the game delivered a 12.6 household rating and a market share of 21, up 8.6 percent from the Patriots 2014 TNF matchup. Ratings measure the percentage of television-equipped households that are tuned into that particular show or game. A share is the percentage of televisions in use at the time that are tuned in.

For those of you in the Hartford area, my condolences. Perhaps it is time to invest in an antenna and point it north, so that you can pick up the Fox affiliate in Springfield? Otherwise, start calling sports bars in the area and find out which one will not only have the Pats game on tv, but also have the audio to that game playing and make it their primary game on their biggest screen.

Here is a list of the stations that will be broadcasting the Pats game. Kevin Burkhardt will call the play-by-play; John Lynch will handle the analyst duties and Pam Oliver will be the sideline reporter.

Maine: Bangor (WFVX), Portland (WPFO), Presque Isle (WAGM)

Maryland: Baltimore (WBFF), Salisbury (WBOC)

Massachusetts: Boston (WFXT), Springfield (WGGB)

Pennsylvania: Altoona (WCCP), Harrisburg (WPMT), Philadelphia (WTXF)

Rhode Island: Providence (WNAC)

Vermont: Burlington (WFFF)

Virginia: Charlottesville (WAHU), Harrisonburg (WHSV), Richmond (WRLH), Roanoke (WFXR), Virginia Beach (WVBT)

West Virginia: Beckley (WVNS), Charleston (WVAH), Clarksburg (WVFX), Parkersburg (WOVA), Wheeling (WTRF)

Washington, DC: (WTTG)

Since the Patriots are playing at home, there will be no early game on CBS in the Boston area per NFL broadcast rules. Most of the nation will get the Raiders at Pittsburgh early on CBS, Broncos at Colts late on CBS, and Green Bay at Carolina early on Fox. Week nine also marks the onset of Thursday night games no longer being broadcast on CBS; from here on in they are exclusively on the NFL Network.

The line on the Pats-Skins game has moved up from an initial 12½ point spread to a full two-touchdown line of 14; meanwhile, thanks to injuries at quarterback for the Jets the line in their game versus Jacksonville has dropped from 8 on Thursday to 2½ as of Monday.

Thursday, Nov 5 at 8:25 pm ET on NFLN

2-6 Cleveland Browns at 7-0 Cincinnati Bengals (-10), o/u 46; Jim Nantz, Phil Simms

4-3 Oakland Raiders at 4-4 Pittsburgh Steelers (-4½), o/u 48

Early game on CBS; Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts

Broadcast in all of the pacific, rocky mountain and central time zones with the exception of Houston, Minneapolis, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee; also broadcast in Alaska, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and DC.

2-5 Jacksonville Jaguars at 4-3 New York Jets (-2½), o/u 40

Early game on CBS; Greg Gumbel, Trent Green

Broadcast in Connecticut, central and northern Florida (Gainesville, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee), western Massachusetts, eastern New York (Albany and New York City), Savannah GA and Vermont.

4-3 St. Louis Rams at 5-2 Minnesota Vikings (-3), o/u 39½

Early game on FOX; Thom Brennaman, Charles Davis

Broadcast in Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota.

3-4 Miami Dolphins at 3-4 Buffalo Bills (-3), o/u 44

Early game on CBS; Spero Dedes, Solomon Wilcots

Broadcast in Florida, Maine, western New York and Rhode Island.

1-6 Tennessee Titans at 4-4 New Orleans Saints (-8), o/u 47½

Early game on CBS; Kevin Harlan, Rich Gannon

Broadcast in most of the southeast: Alabama, Georgia (except Savannah), Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina (except Raleigh), South Carolina and Tennessee.

3-4 Washington Redskins at 7-0 New England Patriots (-14), o/u 52

Early game on FOX; Kevin Burkhardt, John Lynch

Broadcast in New England (except CT), DC, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

6-1 Green Bay Packers (-2) at 7-0 Carolina Panthers, o/u 45

Early game on FOX; Joe Buck, Troy Aikman

Broadcast in Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, southern California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Las Vegas NV, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

6-2 Atlanta Falcons (-4½) at 2-6 San Francisco 49ers, o/u 45

Late game on FOX; Chris Myers, Ronde Barber

Broadcast in Alabama, northern California, Georgia, Louisiana and Reno NV.

4-4 New York Giants (-2½) at 3-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, o/u 47½

Late game on FOX; Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston

Broadcast in Connecticut, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania.

7-0 Denver Broncos (-4) at 3-5 Indianapolis Colts, o/u 47

Late game on CBS; Jim Nantz, Phil Simms

Broadcast in all markets except SF/Oakland and Tampa/St. Pete.

3-4 Philadelphia Eagles (-2½) at 2-5 Dallas Cowboys, o/u 44½

Sunday night game on NBC; Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth

2-5 Chicago Bears at 2-6 San Diego Chargers (-4); o/u 49½