Controlling 93 of the top 100 most watched U.S. TV programming events last year, the National Football League can command an audience of 12 million ESPN viewers just by convening a room full of college-age jocks in suits, sitting around with their families and girlfriends, nervously waiting for their name to be called, as last month’s NFL draft once again revealed. 

So when the most influential content source in all of technology, media and telecom announces the primetime games schedules for three media partners collectively paying it around $4.65 billion a season ... well, it kind of matters. 

Also read: Amazon Touts Vastly Improved 2024 'Thursday Night Football' Schedule Full of Divisional Rivalries, Fewer Turkeys

Below are the 2024 regular season game schedules for ABC/ESPN's Monday Night Football, NBC's Sunday Night Football and Amazon Prime Video's Thursday Night Football. Next TV, which is hopeful that its Seahawks can turn things around in 2024 after sunsetting venerable head coach Pete Carroll, added some notes on how we think each package shapes up as a TV viewing choice. 

Monday Night Football

Disney is paying the NFL an average of $2.7 billion a season for the rights to show the venerable Monday Night Football package on ESPN and ABC. 

It's not only the prestigious and priciest (by far) of the NFL's three primetime TV packages, it also has the most games (23), with five Monday night doubleheaders split across ESPN cable and ABC broadcast. 

Monday Night Football averaged 17.4 million viewers in 2023, up 30% from 2022. 

Our take on the 2024 MNF schedule: The opening night showdown between New York Jets and Aaron Rodgers, playing his first game in a year following achilles tendon surgery, and the Super Bowl runner-up San Francisco 49ers could draw 20 million or more viewers. 

Disney gets the old-world “America's Team,”  the Dallas Cowboys, twice. Like a lot of football fans, we don’t think the Cowboys have actually been relevant since Troy Aikman wore a helmet. But they remain the league’s biggest regular season TV draw. And our analysis here is based on audience potential.

MNF features the “new” America’s team, the Detroit Lions, two times, as well — including in a late season rematch of the 2023 NFC title game against the San Francisco 49ers. The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are on a couple of times, too, hosting the NFC South Division Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 9.

But we don't see a single division rivalry game on the schedule until week 15, when the Chicago Bears and No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams visit the Minnesota Vikings ... in a matchup that may not have playoff implications, with both teams breaking in new quarterbacks. 

Certainly, a lot of things will be learned about the teams from now and Sept. 9, when MNF hosts its first game. But based on what we know right now, there's just not enough on the schedule to get $2.7 billion dollars’ worth of excited about. 

Week 1 (Sept. 9, 2024): New York Jets at San Francisco 49ers (simulcast on ABC)
Week 2 (Sept. 16): Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 3 (Sept. 23): Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Washington Commanders at Cincinnati Bengals (8:15 p.m. ET, ABC)
Week 4 (Sept. 30): Tennessee Titans at Miami Dolphins (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions (8:15 p.m. ET, ABC)
Week 5 (Oct. 7): New Orleans Saints at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 6 (Oct. 14): Buffalo Bills at New York Jets
Week 7 (Oct. 21): Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Los Angeles Chargers at Arizona Cardinals (9 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
Week 8 (Oct. 28): New York Giants at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 9 (Nov. 4): Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 10 (Nov. 11): Miami Dolphins at Los Angeles Rams
Week 11 (Nov. 18): Houston Texans at Dallas Cowboys
Week 12 (Nov. 25): Baltimore Ravens at Los Angeles Chargers
Week 13 (Dec. 2): Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos
Week 14: (Dec. 9): Cincinnati Bengals at Dallas Cowboys
Week 15 (Dec. 16): Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings (8 p.m. ET, ABC)
Atlanta Falcons at Las Vegas Raiders (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Week 16 (Dec. 23): New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers
Week 17 (Dec. 30): Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers
Week 18 (Saturday, Jan. 4): Doubleheader TBA

Sunday Night Football

Comcast’s NBCUniversal unit is paying the league $950 million this season for a package of 18 regular season games. NBC is coming off a 2023 campaign that averaged 21.4 million viewers, up about 8% vs. 2022. 

Our take on the 2024 MNF schedule: NBC will feature the Cowboys three times, including in two history-laden matchups with the Pittsburgh Steelers and 49ers. The Chiefs and Lions will be on SNF twice, as well.

There aren’t many divisional rivalry games, but there are plenty of contests that feel like early conference playoff matchups, including the Los Angeles Rams playing the Lions in the Sept. 8 opener, the Buffalo Bills visiting the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 29, and the L.A. Chargers at the Chiefs on Dec. 8. 

There also aren’t a ton of appearances from teams that didn't make the playoffs last year. And those that did make the cut are in interesting matchups, including the Seattle Seahawks (9-8 last year and barely missing the postseason) hosting the resurgent Green Bay Packers on Dec. 15. 

This seems to be a strong schedule for the licensing money NBCU is paying the NFL. 

Week 1 (Sept. 8, 2024): Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions
Week 2 (Sept. 15): Chicago Bears at Houston Texans
Week 3 (Sept. 22): Kansas City Chiefs at Atlanta Falcons
Week 4 (Sept. 29): Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens
Week 5 (Oct. 6): Dallas Cowboys at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 6 (Oct. 13): Cincinnati Bengals at New York Giants
Week 7 (Oct. 20): New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 8 (Oct. 27): Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers
Week 9 (Nov. 3): Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 10 (Nov. 10): Detroit Lions at Houston Texans
Week 11 (Nov. 17): Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets
Week 12 (Nov. 24): Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles Rams
Week 13 (Dec. 1): San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills
Week 14 (Dec. 8): Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 15 (Dec. 15): Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks
Week 16 (Dec. 22): Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys
Week 17 (Dec. 29): Miami Dolphins at Cleveland Browns
Week 18: TBD

Thursday Night Football

Amazon is paying the NFL an average of $1 billion a season (also through 2033, like all NFL TV deals) for TNF. In the package’s inaugural campaign on Amazon Prime Video in 2022, it was a meme as to how many turkey games were featured matching teams with no postseason relevance. 

Things got better last season, with viewership increasing 24% year over year to 11.86 million streaming fans, on average. And this year, we think Amazon really scored, with 12 of its 16 games featuring divisional rivalry matchups. 

In fact, we think this is the most intriguing of the three primetime NFL game slates. 

Week 1 (preseason, Aug. 22): Indianapolis Colts at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 2 (Sept. 12): Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
Week 3 (Sept. 19): New England Patriots at New York Jets
Week 4 (Sept. 26): Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
Week 5 (Oct. 3): Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons
Week 6 (Oct. 10): San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks
Week 7 (Oct. 17): Denver Broncos at New Orleans Saints
Week 8 (Oct. 24): Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams
Week 9 (Oct. 31): Houston Texans at New York Jets
Week 10 (Nov. 7): Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
Week 11 (Nov. 14): Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 12 (Nov. 21): Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns
Week 13 (Black Friday, Nov. 29): Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 14 (Dec. 5): Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions
Week 15 (Dec. 12): Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers
Week 16 (Dec. 19): Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 17 (Dec. 26): Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears

The College Football Playoff leads the list of live television sports events heading into the New Year.

ESPN will televise the New Year’s Eve Fiesta Bowl between third-ranked TCU and second-ranked Michigan, as well as the Peach Bowl pitting top-ranked Georgia against fourth-ranked Ohio State. The winners of both games will meet in the College Football Playoff Championship game January 9 on ABC.

Other college football bowl games airing on Saturday include the Music City Bowl (Iowa-Kentucky) on ABC, and the Sugar Bowl (Alabama-Kansas St.) on ESPN. On Monday, ESPN2 will air the ReliaQuest Bowl (Mississippi St-Illinois), ABC will telecast the Citrus Bowl (LSU-Purdue) and ESPN will air both the Cotton Bowl (Tulane-USC) and the Rose Bowl (Penn State-Utah).

The NFL enters its penultimate week of regular-season play Sunday with regional coverage on CBS and Fox, followed by NBC’s Sunday Night Football matchup between division rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens.

On Monday night, ABC and ESPN will simulcast the Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals. 

The Premier League returns after a break due the World Cup with nine live soccer game telecasts over the three-day weekend across USA, NBC and streaming service Peacock. On the NHL ice, ESPN on Sunday will air the New York Islanders-Seattle Kraken, while TNT on Monday will televise the Pittsburgh Penguins-Boston Bruins contest. ■ 

The Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin pay-per-view boxing match punches up the list of live TV sports events airing this weekend. 

The DAZN and PPV.com-distributed fight card will pit WBC, WBA WBO and IBF super middleweight champion Alvarez against former champion Golovkin for the third time in the last five years. The first two Alvarez-Golovkin fights in 2017 and 2018 generated a combined 2.4 million PPV buys, according to industry sources. The Alvarez-Golovkin PPV bout retails at a suggested price of $84.99. 

The WNBA Finals continue Sunday with game-four of the Connecticut Sun-Las Vegas Aces. The Aces travel to Connecticut leading two games to one and hoping to close out the best-of-five series.

On the football field, the second week of the NFL season kicks off with Sunday afternoon regional coverage on Fox and CBS. NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast will feature a matchup between NFL North division rivals Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. 

On the college football front, ESPN will offer coverage of top-ranked Georgia’s game against South Carolina, while the SEC Network will telecast second-rank Alabama’s matchup against UL Monroe. In other games, Fox will air third-rank Ohio State-Toledo, ABC will deliver fourth-ranked Michigan-UConn and ACC Network will feature fifth-ranked Clemson-Louisiana Tech. 

The remaining games featuring top 10-ranked schools include No. 6 Oklahoma-Nebraska (Fox), no. 7 USC-Fresno State (Fox), No. 8 Oklahoma State-Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Big 12 Network), No. 9 Kentucky-Youngstown State (SEC Network) and No. 10 Arkansas-Missouri State (ESPN Plus).

Streaming service ESPN Plus will offer a UFC Fight Night card on Saturday featuring a main event bout between bantamweights Cory Sandhagen and Song Yadong. 

The Premier League returns to action with USA Network and NBC airing five live games across Saturday and Sunday.

As the Major League Baseball season winds down, ESPN on Sunday will televise the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Francisco Giants as part of its Sunday Night Baseball telecast. ■  

NBC Sports’ Michele Tafoya will work her 300th regular-season primetime game as a sideline reporter Sunday — extending her own record-setting run.

The Cowboys will play Washington on Sunday Night Football, which will mark the 45th time Tafoya has covered the Dallas team from the sideline.

It will also be the 19th time she’s done a game at Dallas’s home stadium, most of any location.

Over the course of an 18-year career, Tafoya has worked as the sideline reporter in 42 different stadiums. ■

The focus on live TV sports events this weekend starts on the basketball court as several top 10-ranked college basketball teams are in action.

On Saturday Fox will air the game between the NCAA’s fourth-ranked team UCLA and Marquette, while ESPN will televise the game between eighth-ranked Kansas and Missouri as well as the contest between 10th-ranked Kentucky and Notre Dame. ESPN2 will carry No. 9 Alabama’s game against No. 14 Houston. 

On Sunday, second-ranked Baylor takes on sixth-ranked Villanova on ABC, while top-ranked Purdue will look to rebound after an upset loss to Rutgers in its game against NC State, which airs on the Big Ten Network. 

In the NBA, ABC on Saturday will televise the Golden State Warriors-Philadelphia 76’ers contest.  

In the combat sports arena, ESPN Plus on Saturday will distribute the UFC 269 pay-per-view fight card featuring the main event fight between lightweights Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier. 

On the boxing front, ESPN will televise the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Richard Commey lightweight fight, while Showtime will televise the Nontio Donaire-Reymart Gaballo bantamweight title match. 

On the gridiron, CBS will air the annual Army-Navy college football game on Saturday. On Sunday, NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast will feature an NFC Central battle between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. 

NBC and the Golf Channel will air weekend final round coverage of the PGA QBE Shootout golf tournament. NBC, USA and NBCSN will continue its weekend coverage of live Premier League soccer games, while ABC airs a Saturday afternoon MLS game between NYCFC and Portland. 

The list of high-profile TV sports events for the first weekend in December begins on the gridiron as college football enters its conference championship weekend with several top ranked teams battling for College Football Playoff positions.

Top-ranked Georgia will face third-ranked Alabama in the SEC Championship game on CBS, while second-ranked Michigan will face No. 13 Iowa on Fox. Fourth-ranked Cincinnati will face No. 21 Houston in the ACC Championship Game on ABC, while fifth-ranked Oklahoma State will battle ninth-ranked Baylor in the Big 12 Championship game on ABC. 

NBCSN, USA and NBC will continue its coverage of the Premier League with live game coverage on Saturday and Sunday. ABC will offer Major League Soccer doubleheader action on Sunday. 

ESPN on Sunday will televise the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race, while NBC will televise the final round of the PGA Hero World Challenge golf event.

On the combat sports front, DAZN on Saturday will stream the WBC lightweight championship fight between champion Devin Haney and top contender Joseph Diaz Jr. from Los Angeles. Showtime on Sunday offers a pay-per-view fight pitting WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis against Issac Cruz. 

ESPN on Saturday will air a UFC Fight Night Bantamweight title bout between Rob Font and Jose Aldo. 

NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast will feature an AFC West matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos. 

The Thanksgiving weekend lineup of live TV sports events starts Saturday on the gridiron as week 13 of the college football season features several high-profile games among NCAA-ranked teams, highlighted by second-ranked Ohio State against fifth-ranked Michigan on Fox. 

Other games featuring top 10-ranked teams include top-ranked Georgia against Georgia Tech on ABC, third-ranked Alabama against Auburn (CBS), sixth-ranked Notre Dame at Stanford (Fox), seventh-ranked Oklahoma State against 10th-ranked Oklahoma (ABC), and eighth-ranked Baylor and Texas Tech (FS1).

Week 12 of the NFL season features regional coverage on Fox and CBS, followed by an NBC Sunday Night Football contest between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. Also on Sunday, ESPN2 and ESPNews will feature live coverage of Canadian Football League playoffs games.

In the ring Showtime will televise the super bantamweight fight between champion Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton Jr. 

NBCSN, USA Network and NBC will offer live Premier League soccer games on Saturday, while ABC and ESPN will offer Major League Soccer coverage on Sunday over the weekend. ■ 

This weekend’s TV sports lineup steps into the squared ring as ESPN Plus distributes its first major pay-per-view boxing event exclusively. Saturday's Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter welterweight championship fight will steam on the digital service only for a suggested retail price of $69.99. ESPN2 will feature live fights from the undercard of the PPV event. 

ESPN Plus will also feature a live UFC Fight Night event featuring a women’s bantamweight main event bout between Ketlen Vieira and Miesha Tate.  

Week 12 of the college football season finds all NCAA top 10-ranked teams in action on Saturday. Top ranked Georgia battles Charleston Southern on ESPN Plus, while second-ranked Alabama hosts No. 21 Arkansas on CBS. ABC televises games featuring third-ranked Oregon against No. 23 Utah and fourth-ranked Ohio State versus seventh-ranked Michigan State.

The remaining schedule includes No. 5 Cincinnati-SMU (ESPN), No. 6 Michigan-Maryland (Big Ten Network), No. 8 Notre Dame-Georgia Tech (NBC), No. 9 Oklahoma State-Texas Tech (Fox) and No 10 Wake Forest-Clemson (ESPN). 

NBCU -- fresh off its new six-year carriage deal with the English Premier League -- will offer live game coverage from the league Saturday on NBCSN, USA Network and NBC, as well as NBCSN on Sunday. ABC and ESPN will air live MLS action Sunday afternoon. 

Weekend 11 of the NFL season begins with regional action on Fox and CBS, and ends with NBC’s Sunday Night Football contest between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Golf Channel and NBC will offer live weekend coverage of the LGPA Tour Championship, while ESPN will offer Sunday morning coverage of the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix auto race. 

The first weekend of November’s list of live TV sports events begins in the boxing ring Saturday as super middleweight boxing champions Canelo Alverez and Caleb Plant battle in a championship unification pay-per-view boxing event. Showtime will distribute the fight, which will retail at a suggested price of $79.99.

ESPN Plus on Saturday will distribute the UFC 268 pay-per-view mixed martial arts fight card featuring the Kamaru Usman-Colby Covington main event welterweight championship bout.

On the football field, eight of the top 10-rated college football teams will play Saturday on national television, beginning with top-ranked Georgia facing Missouri on ESPN. Second-ranked Cincinnati meets Tulsa on ESPN2, while third-ranked Alabama battles LSU on ESPN. The rest of the schedule features No. 5 Michigan State-Purdue (ABC), No. 6 Ohio State-Nebraska (Fox), No. 7 Oregon-Washington (ABC), No. 8 Notre Dame-Navy (NBC), No. 9 Michigan-Indiana (Fox) and No. 10 Wake Forest-North Carolina (ABC). 

On Sunday night, NBC’s NFL Sunday Night Football telecast will feature the Tennessee Titans against the Los Angeles Rams.

The NASCAR season will conclude this weekend with Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship on NBCSN and Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship on NBC. The broadcast network will also feature on Sunday coverage of motorcycle racing’s FIM MotoGP race.

ESPN2 Sunday morning will offer live coverage of the New York City Marathon. On the soccer field, NBCSN on Saturday will offer Premier League doubleheader coverage on Saturday and Sunday, while on Sunday ESPN and FS1 offer live Major League Soccer game coverage.

Read Also: Live Sports Content Helps Networks Score on October Ratings Charts 

Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady’s first game against his former team, the New England Patriots, highlights a busy first weekend of October in TV sports.

Brady and his defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers will travel to New England Sunday night in NBC’s featured Sunday Night Football telecast. The game marks the first time Brady has faced his former team and coach Bill Belichick since leaving the Patriots in 2019 after playing 19 years and winning six Super Bowl championships with the team.

During the day Fox and CBS will offer regional coverage of the NFL's fourth week of action.

The final weekend of the Major League Baseball season heats up on Saturday night as MLB Network offers tripleheader coverage and Fox will feature a primetime telecast featuring teams battling for playoff berths.

ABC and ESPN on Sunday will offer WNBA playoffs coverage with ESPN airing the Connecticut-Chicago game and ABC telecasting the Las Vegas-Phoenix contest. 

NBC on Sunday will take viewers to the race track with coverage of the NASCAR Cup YellaWood 500 race at Talladega Speedway in Alabama. 

Read Also: TV Sportsplay: NASCAR's Brian Herbst Drops Flag on NASCAR's Future

Most of college football’s top ten-rated teams will appear on national television this Saturday, starting with number one-ranked Alabama as it travels to play number 12 Ole Miss in a much anticipated matchup airing on CBS. Also, No. 2 Georgia meets No. 8 Arkansas on ESPN and No. 3 Oregon battles Stanford on ABC. The rest of the games include No. 4 Penn State-Indiana (ABC), No. 6 Oklahoma-Kansas State (Fox), No. 7 Cincinnati-No. 9 Notre Dame (NBC), and No. 10 Florida-Kentucky (ESPN).

NBCSN, NBC and USA combined will telecast four Premier League soccer games throughout Saturday, while NBCN will return to the soccer field on Sunday with more Premier League coverage.  Also on Sunday, ESPN and FS1 will offer MLS soccer action. 

The list of live TV sports events set for this weekend starts on the football field with the opening week of the 2021 NFL season. CBS and Fox will offer Sunday afternoon regional doubleheaders, while NBC will debut its Sunday Night Football coverage with the Chicago Bears-Los Angeles Rams game. 

ESPN on Saturday will telecast U.S. Open tennis tournament women’s finals match between upstart teen pros Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez, and will return to Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on Sunday for the men’s finals.

On the baseball field, Fox on Saturday will televise the New York Yankees-New York Mets game, which will also commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. On Sunday, ESPN will feature the Yankees-Mets game for its Sunday Night Baseball telecast. 

College football gears up for its second weekend of actions with eight of the top 10 ranked teams playing in nationally televised games. Top ranked Alabama will travel to take on Mercer on the SEC Network, while second-ranked Georgia will play UAB on ESPN2. Other games include No. 3 Ohio State against No. 12 Oregon (Fox), No. 5 Texas A&M-Colorado (Fox), No. 6 Clemson-South Carolina State (ACC Network), No. 7 Cincinnati-Murray State (ESPN Plus), No. 8 Notre Dame-Toledo (Peacock), and No. 9 Iowa State-No. 10 Iowa (ABC).

Read Also: College Football Scores Watch-Time, Impressions Wins for Week One 

In other sports NBCSN, USA Network and NBC will feature Premier League soccer games on Saturday, while on the auto racing track Sunday ESPN (Formula One: Italian Grand Prix), and NBC (IndyCar: Grand Prix of Portland) will feature live races. 

Also Sunday, ABC will air a WNBA contest between the Washington Mystics and the Chicago Sky.  

On the combat sports front, Evander Holyfield will return to the boxing ring for the first time in a decade when he meets former UFC mixed martial arts champion Vitor Belfort in a pay-per-view boxing event Saturday night. 

NBC was the big winner in Sunday prime, with Sunday Night Football giving the net the victory. NBC had a 3.2 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and an 18 share. That beat Fox’s 1.3/7. 

Football Night in America got a flat 1.5 on NBC and the game, Washington versus Philadelphia, a 3.7, level with Titans-Packers the week before. The game would decide if Washington goes on to the playoffs. 

Fox had Packers-Bears leading into prime and The OT at 1.9. The series premiere of Call Me Kat got a 1.3 and the starter for animated comedy The Great North a 0.6. The Simpsons rated a level 0.5, as did the season premiere of Last Man Standing. 

CBS got a 1.0/6. Jaguars-Colts led into prime and 60 Minutes scored a 1.6. NCIS: Los Angeles scored a 0.6 and NCIS: New Orleans a 0.5, both up a tenth from their last fresh airings. An NCIS rerun closed out primetime. 

ABC rated a 0.5/3. America’s Funniest Home Videos posted a 0.6 and the Supermarket Sweep finale a 0.5, both flat. Who Wants to be a Millionaire shot up 33% to 0.4 and the season starter for The Rookie a 0.5. 

Telemundo and Univision both posted a 0.2/1. Telemundo had movies 2 Guns and Cartels. 

Univision had Aqui y Ahora at 0.2 and movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes. 

The CW got a 0.1/0. A Penn & Teller: Try This at Home Too rerun led into the finale of The Outpost at 0.1. 

NBC had the winning score in Sunday prime, thanks to Sunday Night Football. NBC posted a 2.8 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 16 share. In second was CBS at 1.6/9. 

Football Night in America lost 33% for a 1.0 on NBC and the game, Browns versus Giants, got a 3.3. Last week, Steelers-Bills posted a 3.8. 

CBS had Chiefs-Saints at the start of prime, then 60 Minutes at 3.1. Special Garth & Trisha Live! A Holiday Concert got a 0.8. The 22nd Annual A Home For the Holidays got a 0.4, up a tenth from last year. 

Everyone else was playing for scraps. ABC got a 0.5/3 and Fox a 0.4/2. ABC had 1965 classic The Sound of Music, about an Austrian nanny with a gift for song, across prime. The movie got a 0.6 last December. 

Fox had comedy reruns and a repeat of The Moodys. 

Telemundo scored a 0.3/2 and Univision a 0.3/1. Telemundo had movies The Marine 4: Moving Target and Jack Reacher. 

Univision had Aqui y Ahora down 60% to 0.2 and two hours of Enamorandos: Amor En La Navidad at 0.2 and 0.3. Sal y Pimienta got a 0.3. 

The CW rated a 0.1/0. Masters of Illusion: Christmas Magic got a 0.1, as did The Outpost. The Outpost was up a tenth. 

NBC easily won the Sunday ratings battle, with Sunday Night Football pacing the net to a big number. NBC got a 3.2 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 17 share. In second was Fox at 1.8/9. 

Football Night in America lost 21% on NBC for a 1.5 and the game, Steelers versus Bills, a 3.8 as Buffalo came out on top. That was up a tenth from Broncos-Chiefs last week. 

Fox had Packers-Lions at the start of prime, then The OT at 3.0. The Simpsons got a 1.3, up a mile from when it had no NFL lead in last week, and Bless the Harts shot up 50% to 0.6. Bob’s Burgers rated a 0.6 and Family Guy a 0.7, the pair up a tenth of a point apiece. 

CBS got a 0.5/3. 60 Minutes rated a 0.7 and NCIS: Los Angeles grew 25% to 0.5, then NCIS: New Orleans lost 20% for a 0.4. An NCIS rerun closed out prime. 

Univision rated a 0.4/2. Aqui y Ahora tallied a 0.5 and Futbol Central a 0.4, then the Liga MX final a 0.4. 

ABC and Telemundo both rated a 0.3/2. A rerun of The Disney Holiday Singalong started off prime on ABC and Supermarket Sweep dropped 17% for a 0.5. Who Wants to be a Millionaire shed 40% for a 0.3 and Card Sharks lost 33% for a 0.2. 

Telemundo aired movies Tomb Raider and Precious Cargo. 

The CW scored a 0.1/0. The Pandora finale and The Outpost both got a 0.0, the pair both down a tenth. 

NBC had the winning rating Sunday, as Sunday Night Football led the network. Broncos-Chiefs gave NBC a 3.3 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and an 18 share. That was well ahead of CBS’s 1.2/6. 

Football Night in America got a flat 1.9 on NBC and the game a 3.7, down 8% from Bears-Packers last Sunday. 

CBS had football heading into prime, then Dolly Parton special A Holly Dolly Christmas at 0.7. NCIS: Los Angeles lost 33% for a 0.4.

ABC and Fox both scored a 0.5/3. ABC had America’s Funniest Home Videos and Supermarket Sweep at 0.6 and Who Wants to be a Millionaire at 0.5, all three up a tenth. Card Sharks got a level 0.3. 

On Fox, comedy reruns led into The Simpsons, down 17% to 0.5 and Bless the Harts off 43% to 0.4. Bob’s Burgers got a 0.5 and Family Guy a 0.6, both comedies flat. 

Telemundo and Univision both notched a 0.3/2. Telemundo had movies Babylon A.D. and Unstoppable. 

Univision had Liga MX soccer and Aqui y Ahora off 33% for a 0.2.

The CW scored a 0.1/0. Pandora and The Outpost both got a 0.1, the former flat and the latter up a tenth. 

If NBC News’ Steve Kornacki can explain the electoral college on the biggest election night ever, he can probably explain the NFL playoff picture on TV’s highest rated show.

Kornacki will appear during halftime of the Broncos-Chief game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. He will also join the Football Night in America pregame show.

“Steve captivated millions of viewers during election season and we’re excited that this Sunday he will turn his focus to playoff season,” said Sam Flood, executive producer, NBC Sports. “As we push to the playoffs, who better to spot the trends, make the call about division and conference races, and identify the toss-up games that can flip the standings than the man in the khakis.”

Kornacki and his khakis drew attention for his sleepless stints at his big computerized board, where he broke down incoming vote totals from counties in swing states from election day till the contest was called for President-Elect Joe Biden.

“I’ve been a fan of the game since I was kid and SNF has been must-see TV for me since it started back in ’06,” said Kornacki. “Truly a thrill to get this chance, especially as the season reaches its most exciting point. I spent the last year using the Big Board to map out all of the various roads to 270 and I can’t wait to put it to use breaking down all of the paths to the playoffs.”

Kornacki will join the Football Night in America team of host Mike Tirico, Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl-winner Rodney Harrison, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms and NFL Insider Mike Florio. 

NBC was the big winner in Sunday prime, with Sunday Night Football leading the way. NBC posted a 3.5 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and an 18 share. In second was CBS at 1.5/8.

Football Night in America was up 12% to 1.9 on NBC and Bears-Packers scored a 4.0, down 2% from Chiefs-Raiders the week before. 

CBS had Chiefs-Buccaneers starting off prime, then 60 Minutes was way up at 2.1. A rerun of The Neighborhood followed, then 1988 movie Coming to America got a 0.5. 

Fox scored a 0.5/2 and ABC a 0.4/2. Fox had comedy reruns, then The Simpsons at 0.6, way down from when it had an NFL lead in last week. Special Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas got a 0.4 and Bob’s Burgers slid 17% to 0.5. A Family Guy rerun closed out prime. 

On ABC, special Disney Prep & Landing got a 0.4 and Supermarket Sweep was down 38% to 0.5. Who Wants to be a Millionaire dropped 20% to 0.4 and Card Sharks posted a flat 0.3. 

Univision also scored a 0.4/2. Aqui y Ahora got a 0.3 and the finale of Tu Cara Me Suena a 0.4. Sal y Pimenta got a 0.3. All three were level with last week. 

Telemundo tallied a 0.2/1. Al Rojo Vivo got a 0.1 and movie The Fate of the Furious a 0.3. 

The CW was at 0.1/0. Pandora got a flat 0.1 and The Outpost lost a tenth for a 0.0. 

The sports world continues to be challenged by COVID-19 as numerous pro and college sports events have been postponed or cancelled this Thanksgiving weekend due to the pandemic.

In the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers game has been postponed a second time and will now be played on Tuesday night as more Ravens players have tested positive for the virus. At least 18 Ravens players have now tested positive for the virus, including Ravens quarterback and last year’s league MVP Lamar Jackson, according to ESPN.com.

The game was originally scheduled for Thanksgiving night Nov. 26, then earlier this week was moved to Nov. 29 before settling in on Dec. 1. The Ravens’ Dec. 3 Thursday Night Football game against the Dallas Cowboys has also been rescheduled and will  take place on Dec. 7, with Fox airing the game.

The Ravens-Steelers game is the second NFL game to be played on a Tuesday night this season, following the Oct. 13  Buffalo Bills-Tennessee Titans game, which was moved from its original Sunday, Oct. 11 date due to a COVID-19 outbreak within the Tennessee franchise. 

On the college football front, at least 12 games have been cancelled this weekend due to COVID-19, including several games featuring ranked teams. Fourth-ranked Ohio State’s game with Illinois was postponed due to positive COVID-19 test results within the Buckeyes’ program. Other postponed or cancelled games include seventh-ranked Cincinnati against Temple, 11th-ranked Oklahoma and West Virginia and 16th-ranked Wisconsin against Minnesota -- marking the first time those Big Ten teams haven’t played each other in a season since 1906.

College basketball began its 2020-21 season this past week as more than 40 of the 357 Division I programs have paused or have canceled their season altogether due to COVID-19 concerns, including top-ranked schools Baylor and Duke, according to USAToday.com.  

Despite the cancellations, there’s still a lot of live sports action on television this weekend. Third-ranked Clemson will return to the college football field Saturday against Pittsburgh (ESPN), leading a number of rivalry week games that include top-ranked Alabama against 22nd-ranked Auburn (CBS) and fifth-ranked Texas A&M against LSU (ESPN). 

On the pro front, CBS’ Kansas City-Tampa Bay game highlights the league's national afternoon games, while NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast pits Chicago against Green Bay in an NFC North division matchup.

On the pay-per-view front, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson returns to the ring in an exhibition boxing match against Roy Jones Jr. The fight card can be purchased online at $49.99 through FITE.tv and TysonOnTriller.com as well as through traditional cable distributors via In Demand.

NBC won the Sunday ratings derby, with Sunday Night Football leading the way. NBC rated a 3.5 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, with a 19 share. In second was Fox, which had the NFL at the start of prime, at 2.0/10. 

Football Night in America grew 6% to 1.7 on NBC and Chiefs versus Raiders posted a 4.1, up 14% from Ravens-Patriots last week. 

Fox had Packers-Colts at 4.3 and The OT at 4.2. The Simpsons went up 25% to 1.5 and Bless the Harts increased 17% to 0.7, then Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy both lost a tenth for a 0.6. 

ABC did a 0.9/5 and CBS a 0.6/3. ABC had America’s Funniest Home Videos down 29% to 0.5 and the American Music Awards at 0.9, down 47% from last year. Taraji P. Henson hosted the awards.

CBS had 60 Minutes at 0.9, down 55% from last week. NCIS: Los Angeles slid 40% to 0.6, then NCIS: New Orleans tallied a flat 0.5. An NCIS rerun got CBS to the end of prime. 

Univision rated a 0.3/2 and Telemundo a 0.3/1. Univision had Aqui y Ahora at 0.3 and Tu Cara Me Suena at 0.4, both up a tenth. Sal y Pimenta got a flat 0.3. 

Telemundo had movies Mechanic: Resurrection and Death Wish. 

The CW scored a 0.1/0. Pandora and The Outpost both got a 0.1. Pandora went up a tenth and Outpost was flat. 

NBC had the winning score Sunday, thanks to Ravens-Patriots on Sunday Night Football. NBC got a 3.1 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 17 share. In second was Fox at 1.4/7. 

Football Night in America got a level 1.6 on NBC and the game, Ravens versus Patriots, a 3.6, down 8% from Saints-Bucs the Sunday before. 

Fox had Bengals-Steelers starting off prime, then The Simpsons doubled its score to 1.2 and Bless the Harts shot up 50% to 0.6. Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy both grew a tenth to 0.7.

CBS got a 0.9/5 and ABC a 0.6/3. CBS had 60 Minutes down 29% to 2.0 and NCIS: Los Angeles at a flat 1.0. NCIS: New Orleans lost 17% for a 0.5 and led into an NCIS rerun. 

On ABC it was America’s Funniest Home Videos at a flat 0.7 and Supermarket Sweep up 14% to 0.8. Who Wants to be a Millionaire grew 25% to 0.5 and Card Sharks posted a flat 0.3. 

Telemundo and Univision both scored a 0.3/2. Telemundo had movies White House Down and Blood Father. 

Univision had Aqui y Ahora down a tenth at 0.2 and Tu Cara Me Suena and Sal y Pimienta at 0.3, Tu Cara flat and Sal down a tenth. 

The CW scored a 0.1/0 with a rerun of the IHeartRadio music festival.  

NBC won the Sunday prime battle, with Sunday Night Football drawing robust Nielsens. NBC had a 3.3 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and an 18 share. In second was CBS at 1.8/10. 

Football Night in America went up 14% to 1.6 on NBC and the game, Saints against Tom Brady’s Buccaneers, a 3.9. That was a 3% gain over Cowboys-Eagles last Sunday. 

CBS had Steelers-Cowboys at the start of prime, then 60 Minutes at 2.8, way up from last week, when it did not have an NFL lead-in. The season starters for NCIS: Los Angeles got a 1.0 and NCIS: New Orleans a 0.6. 

ABC got a 0.6/3 and Fox a 0.5/3. ABC had America’s Funniest Home Videos and Supermarket Sweep both at a flat 0.7. Who Wants to be a Millionaire dropped 20% to 0.4, as did the special 20/20: Alex Trebek Remembered. 

On Fox, comedy reruns led into new episodes of The Simpsons at 0.6 and Bless the Harts at 0.4, both way down from last week, when they had an NFL lead-in. Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy were both down a tenth at 0.6. 

Univision rated a 0.3/2 and Telemundo a 0.3/1. On Univision, Aqui y Ahora got a flat 0.3 and two hours of Tu Cara Me Suena was down a tenth at 0.3. Sal Y Pimienta got a level 0.2. 

Telemundo had the movies Salt and Hard Target 2. 

The CW got a 0.1/0. Pandora got a flat 0.0 and led into Whose Line Is It Anyway? reruns. 

NBC won the Sunday ratings race, as it does when Sunday Night Football is on. Cowboys-Eagles ruled the roost for NBC. Its 3.2 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and 18 share beat Fox’s 2.2/12. 

NBC had Football Night in America down 22% to 1.4 and the game a 3.8 from 8 to 11 p.m., up 9% from Seahawks-Cardinals the Sunday before. 

Fox had the NFL leading in to The OT at 4.6. The Simpsons got a noisy 2.2 with its annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode and Bless the Harts a 0.9. Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy both got a 0.7. The Sunday animated comedy block was back with the MLB post-season done. 

ABC and CBS both scored a 0.5/3. On ABC, America’s Funniest Home Videos got a flat 0.7 and Supermarket Sweep was down 13% to 0.7. Who Wants to be a Millionaire rated a 0.5 and Card Sharks a 0.3, those two level with last week. 

On CBS it was 60 Minutes at 0.8, down from the previous week’s 2.4, when it had a football lead in and President Trump and Joe Biden on. Movie Star Trek Beyond rated a 0.4. 

Telemundo and Univision both got a 0.3/1. Telemundo had movies Overboard and The Rundown. 

On Univision it was Aqui y Ahora up 50% to 0.3 and movie The Impossible. Sal y Pimenta got a flat 0.2. 

The CW scored a 0.1/0. Pandora lost a tenth for a 0.0 and led into a Whose Line is it Anyway? repeat. 

NBC won the Sunday ratings race, with Sunday Night Football topping the World Series on Fox. Seahawks-Cardinals led NBC to a 3.1 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 16 share. Fox had a 1.8/9 with the World Series. 

Football Night in America shot up 20% to a 1.8 on NBC and the game, a 37-34 barnburner, got a 3.5, up 25% from Rams-Niners the week before. 

Dodgers-Rays on Fox took up primetime. 

CBS got a 1.4/7. Football led into 60 Minutes, featuring President Trump and Joe Biden, at 2.4. 60 Minutes got a 0.8 the Sunday before, with no NFL lead-in and no Trump or Biden. A rerun of The Neighborhood led into 1996 thriller Scream at 0.4 and 0.3. 

ABC got a 0.6/3. America’s Funniest Home Videos grew 40% for a 0.7 and Supermarket Sweep fell 20% to 0.8. Who Wants to be a Millionaire scored a 0.5 and Card Sharks a 0.3, both off a tenth of a point. 

Telemundo and Univision both scored a 0.2/1. Telemundo had Mexican Primera soccer at 0.2 and movie The Hunter’s Prayer at 0.2.

Univision had Aqui y Ahora down a tenth at 0.2 and movie Zookeeper at 0.3. Sal y Pimenta closed out prime down a tenth at 0.2. 

The CW got a 0.1/0. Pandora got a flat 0.1 and was followed by Whose Line Is It Anyway? repeats. 

Sports fans will have plenty to watch this weekend as the World Series marches on, the UFC offers a major pay-per-view event and the Big Ten returns to the football field.

After splitting the first two games, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays each look to take control of the 2020 World Series this weekend beginning with game three Friday night followed by game four Saturday night and game five on Sunday--all airing live on Fox broadcasting. The Dodgers are looking to win their first World Series since 1988, while the Rays are looking to take home the series trophy for the first time in franchise history. 

Also on tap this weekend is the UFC 254 mixed martial arts pay-per-view event from Abu Dhabi featuring a Khabib Nurmagomedov-Justin Gaethje lightweight championship main event. ESPN Plus will distribute the fight card to subscribers of the streaming service in a rare 2 p.m. (ET) start time.

The Big Ten Conference will kick off its 2020 season on Friday with Wisconsin facing Illinois on the Big Ten Network. Other big nationally televised Big Ten weekend matchups include Saturday’s Ohio State-Nebraska game on Fox. The 14-team conference last month decided to launch a conference-only football schedule after initially announcing in August that it would not play this season due to coronavirus concerns. 

The NFL has switched NBC’s Oct. 25 Sunday Night Football telecast to the Seattle Seahawks-Arizona Cardinals game from its originally scheduled Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Las Vegas Raiders contest after the Raiders placed several players on its COVID-19/reserve list. The league said the move was made to ensure a game would be played on Sunday night even though the Raiders-Buccaneers game is still scheduled to be played Sunday afternoon, according to ESPN.com.

For a list of live, televised sports events this weekend, click here.

NBC squeaked out the win in Sunday primetime, Sunday Night Football leading to a 2.5 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 14 share. Fox, with football leading into baseball, was just behind at 2.4/13. 

NBC had Football Night in America at a flat 1.5 and the game, Rams against Niners, at 2.8. Last week, Vikings-Seahawks got a 3.2. 

Fox had Buccaneers-Packers at 3.9 and Game 7 of the NLCS, Dodgers-Braves, at 1.8. 

Everyone else was playing for scraps. ABC got a 0.6/4 and CBS a 0.5/3. ABC had premieres across prime. The season starter for America’s Funniest Home Videos got a 0.5 and Supermarket Sweep, with Leslie Jones as host, a promising 1.0. Who Wants To Be a Millionaire got a 0.6 and Card Sharks a 0.4. 

CBS had 60 Minutes down 33% to 0.8 (it had an NFL lead in last Sunday) and 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at 0.5. 

Univision scored a 0.3/2 and Telemundo a 0.2/1. Univision had Aqui y Ahora up a tenth at 0.3 and movie No Manches Frida at 0.3.

Telemundo had the movie The Mummy at 0.2 and Rush Hour 3 at 0.2. 

The CW got a 0.1/0. Pandora got a flat 0.1 and Whose Line is it Anyway? reruns followed. 

NBC had the top score in Sunday ratings, with Sunday Night Football leading the way. NBC scored a 3.1 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 17 share. In second was CBS at 1.4/8. 

NBC had Football Night in America up 29% to 1.8 and the game, Eagles against Niners, down 17% at 3.5. Last Sunday was Packers-Saints. 

CBS had football starting off prime, Bills against Raiders, then 60 Minutes at 1.1 and then 0.6, after last week’s 0.7. Movie Old School took up the rest of prime at 0.4. 

ABC got a 1.2/7. NBA Countdown got a 0.7 and the NBA finals, Heat versus Lakers, a 1.5. A couple Black-ish reruns closed out prime. 

Fox scored a 0.4/2. An I Can See Your Voice rerun led into animated comedies The Simpsons at 0.5, Bless the Harts at 0.3, Bob’s Burgers at 0.4 and Family Guy at 0.5. With a football lead-in the Sunday before, The Simpsons had a 2.0 and Bless the Harts a 0.8. Bob’s and Family Guy both got a 0.7 last week. 

Univision rated a 0.3/2 and Telemundo a 0.3/1. Univision had Aqui y Ahora at a level 0.2 and the premiere of Tu Cara Me Suena at 0.4. Sal y Pimenta closed out prime at 0.3. 

Telemundo had three hours of Exatlon Estados Unidos at a flat 0.3 and a rerun of The Wall. 

The CW got a 0.1/0. Sci fi series Pandora premiered at 0.1 and a Supernatural rerun followed. 

NBC won Sunday primetime thanks to the NFL. Sunday Night Football led NBC to a 3.5 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 19 share. In second was Fox, with football leading into prime, at 2.3/12. 

Football Night in America dropped 22% to 1.4 on NBC and the game, Packers versus Saints, got a 4.2, a tenth of a point up from last week, when the Emmys were on ABC. 

On Fox, The OT got a 4.8. Its animated comedies had their season premieres. The Simpsons got a 2.0 and Bless the Harts a 0.8. Bob’s Burgers and Family Guy both got a 0.7. 

CBS got a 0.6/3 and ABC a 0.3/2. CBS had 60 Minutes at 0.7, way down from the previous week’s show, which had a football lead-in, and Big Brother at a flat 0.9. Love Island got a level 0.4 and a rerun of NCIS: New Orleans followed. 

ABC had an America’s Funniest Home Videos rerun and special $ellebrity: The Go-To Girls at 0.3 for two hours. A Card Sharks rerun closed out prime.

Telemundo and Univision both got a 0.2/1. On Telemundo, Exatlon Estados Unidos did a flat 0.3 across three hours and a rerun of The Wall closed out prime. 

On Univision, special Enamorandonos: La Primera Boda got a 0.2 and 0.3 across two hours and Futbol Central got the same numbers across its two hours. 

The CW posted a 0.1/0 with IHeartRadio Music Festival. 

NBC won the Sunday ratings race, with the return of NFL action sparking the Nielsens dramatically. Thanks to Sunday Night Football, NBC posted a 4.0 in viewers 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and a 22 share. Fox was runner-up at 2.1/11. 

NBC had Football Night in America at 1.8 and then the game, Cowboys versus Rams, scoring a 4.7. The first night of Sunday Night Football in 2019 saw Football Night in America at 3.0 on NBC and the game, Patriots-Steelers, at 6.6. 

Fox had a football game leading into prime, then The OT, averaging a 4.5 from 7-8 p.m. A Masked Singer special got a 1.3--the season begins September 23--and Fox’s 2020 Fall Preview Special scored a 0.5. 

CBS got a 0.7/4. 60 Minutes, featuring a new Bob Woodward segment and a couple rebroadcasted ones, scored a 0.9 and Big Brother shot up 25% to 1.0. Love Island went up 25% to 0.5.

ABC and Univision scored 0.4/2s. ABC had reruns across prime. 

Univision had Aqui y Ahora at a flat 0.2 and Quien Es La Mascara up 33% to 0.4.

Telemundo got a 0.3/2. Exatlon Estados Unidos grew 50% to 0.3 across three hours and a rerun of The Wall closed out prime. 

The CW got a 0.1/1. The Fridge Wars finale tallied a flat 0.1 and a Supernatural rerun followed. 

As the National Football League gets set to kick off the 2017 season, analyst Michael Nathanson of MoffettNathanson Research is predicting that ratings will be up in primetime, reversing last year’s surprising declines.

THE SPORTS ISSUE:Engineering a Monday Night Comeback at ESPN: Q&A With Burke Magnus

Nathanson sees NBC’s Sunday Night Football rising 5% in total viewers and ESPN Monday Night Football up 11% based on stronger matchups on their schedules.

Down the road, Nathanson said, there could be a shakeup in NFL rights deals, mainly because the Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN is paying much more -- $1.9 billion per year -- for its Monday Night Football package than Comcast’s NBC pays for Sunday Night Football -- $960 million -- even though the Sunday night generates much higher ratings because it gets better matchups.

The NFL is also giving better matchups to shore up its Thursday Night Football packages on NBC and CBS, diluting MNF, he says. Rights fees for those Thursday games are also cheaper than ESPN’s MNF.

When those deals expire in 2021 and 2022, “Disney would be wise to drop MNF and focus on all their energy and resources on securing the preferable SNF package, which is now nearly $1 billion cheaper and includes three Super Bowls,” Nathanson said. “This would then potentially force NBC into bidding for either the CBS AFC package or the Fox NFC package.”

That bidding would drive up the fees and open the door to new bidders for MNF, including either Turner or a digital player like Facebook, Amazon, Google or Apple.

THE SPORTS ISSUE: Sports Streaming Picks Up the Pace |OTT Players Could Change Television’s Sports Game

The season starts Thursday night (Sept. 7) with the champion New England Patriots taking on the Kansas City Chiefs..

Last season's NFL ratings were down 12% up through Election Day (Nov. 8, 2016). They were down 5% the remainder of the season. Reasons for the declines included increased interest in political news, bad matchups resulting in more blowouts and even quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel in protest during the national anthem.

Despite the ratings drop, ad revenue wasup 3% last year to $.35 billion for the NFL season including the playoffs and Super Bowl, according to research company Standard Media Index.

Nathanson noted that for TV, the NFL represents a big chunk of both ratings and revenue. Last year, NFL game and other football programming — including the Super Bowl -- represented 60% of Fox’s live plus same day P2+ GRPs. It was close to 30% for NBC, ESPN and CBS.

The season, Nathanson said, based on pre-season power rankings of the 25 best matchups, nine are headed for CBS, eight for Fox and seven for NBC. ESPN has only two of the top 25 matchups. CBS also has the largest share of the bottom 25 matchup, he noted.

On Thursday night, the average power ranking of the teams involved has improved. NBC’s schedule shows the biggest improvement. CBS’s power ranking is unchanged and the NFL Networks matchups are weaker than last year.

Comcast is teaming up with Emmitt Smith on a Twitter-based live autograph session this Sunday (November 23) that will give football fans a chance to receive a “signed, oversized version of their own personal tweet” from the NFL Hall of Famer.

The virtual event, called “#SignMyTweet,” will kick off Sunday during NBC’s broadcast of the matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. During the first half of the game, Smith will send a tweet to get the giveway started. Over the next 24 hours, fans who want their tweet signed, will be encouraged to tweet to @XFINITYSports with the hashtag #SignMyTweet. Smith will sign selected tweets on Monday evening and mail oversized copies to winners as a souvenir.

According to a Web page that details the promo, Comcast will pick and print out “a few hundred Tweets for Emmitt to sign.”  

“In the U.S., half of all TV-related tweets are about live sports, so we wanted to do something fun that captured that engagement and rewarded fans,” said Peter Intermaggio, Comcast’s SVP, marketing communications, in a statement. “‘#SignMyTweet!’ brings together great technology, an outstanding TV experience and the excitement of live sports, all things that customers have come to expect from Xfinity. The chance to have a tweet signed by the NFL’s all-time leading rusher will draw sports fans of all ages.”

The fifth time was the charm for AMC's walkers.

The season-five premiere of the The Walking Dead on Sunday night delivered  17.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen live + same-day data. That was the largest audience in cable TV history for a drama series episode, surpassing the previous record-holder, the zombie show's fourth-season bow before 16.1 million, by 7%.

AMC renewed the series for a sixth campaign last week.

The Oct. 12 telecast also drew 11 million persons 18 to 49, a 6%, bump from the 10.4 million of those watchers for the season-four premiere, as the show continues to be television's best with the demo Madison Avenue prefers most. Sunday night’s episode outperformed everything else on television in this key demographic, including NBC's Sunday Night Football, by over 2.5 million adults in the aforementioned group.

With time-shifted playback, the season five premiere should exceed 22 million viewers, estimated AMC officials. With seven days of DVR playback included, the season-four premiere delivered 21.1 million total viewers and 13.9 million adults 18 to 49, becoming the most highly-rated episode in cable television history.

Talking Dead, the live aftershow, also enjoyed record ratings last night, as its fourth-season bow on Sunday was the highest-rated premiere in its history with 6.9 million viewers and 4.5 million in the demo, gains of 34% and 35%, respectively, from the start of last season.

“It’s a Dead man’s party. Who could ask for more?” said Charlie Collier, AMC president. “Enormous thanks to our friends and executive producers Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple, Greg Nicotero – who also directed last night’s terrific premiere – Gale Anne Hurd, Dave Alpert and Tom Luse and all of their fellow producers, cast and crew for everything they do to make the #1 show on television such a unique and incredible experience for the fans. The Walking Dead is one of those increasingly rare shows today that can command a live audience not significantly cannibalized by time-shifted viewing. Who would have thought that cannibalized television could be curtailed by cannibal-ized television?”