-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
WFXT and WNAC airing different NFL games
- Thread starter ssetta
- Start date
Has to do with Singleheader games. Looks like this past week FOX went with the late game in Boston to avoid the Pats game. Providence showed the early game due to the fixation with Brady.
If the Pats are at home on the DH Network, The SH network MUST show a game in the opposite slot. Outside of Boston there is no rule. Using Minnesota again when the Vikes are at home on the DH net, the SH net MUST show a game opposite the Vikes. Mankato (where I am...90 miles SW of Minneapolis) has shown an early game on the SH Network against the Vikes.
The Pats game is on Monday Night Football so Boston must show it on local TV (only the primary market in each team can show it). That seems odd as usually its WCVB and WMUR that carry the games since they are owned by Hearst (and they get first right of refusal since ESPN is partially owned by Hearst). Guess the refused to buy the rights and WBTS-LD bought it. I know here in Minneapolis WCCO CBS O&O had the rights to Vikes ESPN games for a few years (we do not have a Heart station in Mpls)
Last edited:
Local MNF rights don't necessarily go to the local ABC affiliate. They're available to the highest bidder. Also, despite Foxboro being roughly equidistant between Boston and Providence, it is still in the Boston TV market. The game can only be broadcast OTA in the two teams' home markets, in this case, Boston and Chicago. Adjacent markets, such as Providence and Rockford IL, respectively, are stuck with ESPN along with the rest of the country.
Do Providence cable systems black out the highest-bidder Boston channels for MNF games featuring the Patriots? Of course, there's nothing the NFL or ESPN can do about viewers in the northern part of the Providence market receiving the Boston channels OTA, which is still possible, I'm pretty sure, even in the digital age.
There is a website, 506sports.com, that shows a map of what region gets what NFL game.
*FIVE* times in the first 6 weeks of the NFL season, there has been an instance where the Boston and Providence affiliates have aired different games. In 3 of these instances, the Boston affiliate of the singleheader network aired a 4 PM game, while the Providence affiliate aired a 1 PM game (wasting their only allowed game directly opposite the Patriots).
Last week it was the Fox affiliates (WFXT and WNAC) airing differently-timed singleheader games; 2 weeks ago it was the CBS stations (WBZ and WPRI) doing the same thing! It's great for those who live in SE Mass or northern RI and pick up both sets of affiliates over the air, but horrible for pay-TV subscribers in RI, who can only watch the 4:25 PM game after a 1 PM Patriots game concludes.
Lastly, WBTS broadcasting the Patriots MNF game will certainly cause an uproar. The NFL rule is in place so someone doesn't have to pay for cable to watch their local team, but WBTS brands themselves as "NBC 10 Boston" when they're channel 15 over the air. And worst of all, it means a "limited basic" cable TV subscriber in Concord NH or Brattleboro VT, both very far away from Gillette Stadium, will get the game, but a "limited basic" subscriber in Mansfield MA will NOT, despite being just 5 miles away from the stadium. Comcastic?
*FIVE* times in the first 6 weeks of the NFL season, there has been an instance where the Boston and Providence affiliates have aired different games. In 3 of these instances, the Boston affiliate of the singleheader network aired a 4 PM game, while the Providence affiliate aired a 1 PM game (wasting their only allowed game directly opposite the Patriots).
Last week it was the Fox affiliates (WFXT and WNAC) airing differently-timed singleheader games; 2 weeks ago it was the CBS stations (WBZ and WPRI) doing the same thing! It's great for those who live in SE Mass or northern RI and pick up both sets of affiliates over the air, but horrible for pay-TV subscribers in RI, who can only watch the 4:25 PM game after a 1 PM Patriots game concludes.
Lastly, WBTS broadcasting the Patriots MNF game will certainly cause an uproar. The NFL rule is in place so someone doesn't have to pay for cable to watch their local team, but WBTS brands themselves as "NBC 10 Boston" when they're channel 15 over the air. And worst of all, it means a "limited basic" cable TV subscriber in Concord NH or Brattleboro VT, both very far away from Gillette Stadium, will get the game, but a "limited basic" subscriber in Mansfield MA will NOT, despite being just 5 miles away from the stadium. Comcastic?
The reason why Bristol County is blacked out from NBC10 Boston is that it is part of the Providence DMA. The FCC needs to reassign Bristol County to the Boston DMA. Bristol County does get WBZ, WCVB, WHDH, WSBK in HD, WFXT and WLVI in SD. In addition, Fox national programming is blocked on WFXT. These stations were grandfathered in prior, since they were considered significantly viewed. WBTS came on a few years ago and was blocked because of NBC 10 in Providence. It is ironic, since WBTS NBC 10 Boston is owned by NBC which in turn is owned by Comcast. It is a no-brainer that NBC 10 Boston should be on Comcast in all of MA. It is not their doing, it is the dumb FCC ruling. The only way to remedy this is to have MA Senator Markey (who is on the communications committee) who I reached out to and Senator Warren petition the FCC to reassign Bristol County to Boston. Also during the height of the pandemic, Comcast threatened to remove WCVB from Bristol County due to it having two ABC stations, the other one in New Bedford. Thanks to both Senators this was averted. Honestly I don't care what happens in RI especially during these difficult times. I live in MA and pay taxes here. I should not be blacked out of any Boston stations.
Last edited:
A preliminary look at the broadcast maps for this Sunday (11/20) show WNAC and WFXT airing different games at different times, AGAIN! And once again WNAC is committing "ratings suicide", airing their only game opposite the Patriots (which, coincidentally, will air on WNAC's sister station WPRI).
Fox can air only one game this week since CBS has the doubleheader. The Pats play early and will air on CBS all over New England. The CBS late game is Dallas/Minnesota in most of the country. Since Fox can air only one game, it has to be the late Las Vegas/Denver game in Boston, since they can't air a game opposite the Pats when they're home.
The rest of New England is airing the Lions/Giants game probably because there is more local interest. I doubt that Boston has any interest in the Raiders or the Broncos, but they have no choice in the matter. It's the only late game airing on Fox.
The rest of New England is airing the Lions/Giants game probably because there is more local interest. I doubt that Boston has any interest in the Raiders or the Broncos, but they have no choice in the matter. It's the only late game airing on Fox.
The game might not attract much interest in Las Vegas or Denver, given the way those teams' seasons have gone.
For the Amazon Thursday game on Dec.1 between the Bills and Patriots, WFXT is airing the game in the Boston area. However, in Bristol County, WFXT is only available in SD due to the fact Bristol County is part of the Providence DMA. When Fox programming is on, it is blocked. This game is NOT a Fox national program, it should not be blocked. It is difficult to watch in SD. So to bypass this, I will go off cable and watch over the air with rabbit ears. The FCC needs to reassign Bristol County to Boston DMA so we can get all Boston channels in SD and HD. This problem also affects NBC10 Boston which is not even on in Bristol County. We are stuck with WJAR.
Last edited:
Not sure if I'll be seeing it on Xfinity or YouTube TV here in the Hanover NH/White River Jct VT area. We get all Pats games on the OTA/cable networks, but WFXT is not on either Xfinity or YouTube TV. Anyone know what the situation is with this Pats game on the outer fringe of the team's market?
I don't think any station on the outer fringe will be carrying the game. Providence also falls into this category. The last Patriot Monday night game which was on ESPN had WBTS NBC10 Boston as the local station. In Bristol County, which doesn't have NBC10 Boston, I had to watch the game on ESPN. In the case with the Amazon game, at least we get WFXT in Bristol County only in SD. I will go off cable to watch in HD
I never understand why a local Boston station can show a Patriots game that is nationally on a subscription service but not a Providence station. When the Green Bay Packers are on MNF or TNF, an OTA station in both the Green Bay and Milwaukee DMAs can show the game. Gillette Stadium is about halfway between Boston and Providence. It's so weird that a Pats game will be on "regular cable" in Concord NH and Brattleboro VT but not in Providence.
Also, if you subscribe to Amazon, you get the game in 1080p whereas WFXT's signal is only 720p.
And lastly, the Monday 12/12 game at Arizona is slated to be simulcast on WBZ. Why would WCVB refuse not one, but TWO MNF Patriots games? The market's "news leader" will be the only Big 4 station in Boston to NOT air a Patriots game this season!
Also, if you subscribe to Amazon, you get the game in 1080p whereas WFXT's signal is only 720p.
And lastly, the Monday 12/12 game at Arizona is slated to be simulcast on WBZ. Why would WCVB refuse not one, but TWO MNF Patriots games? The market's "news leader" will be the only Big 4 station in Boston to NOT air a Patriots game this season!
Due to ani siphoning laws cable/streaming games must be shown in the team’s PRIMARY market. Since Foxboro is in the Boston DMA it must be shown there. All other markets (no matter how close it is) cannot show it
The Green Bay situation is because they played games in Milwaukee for decades. It’s an old grandfathered rule
Hearst decided to use its ‘first right of refusal’ option this year. Same with ABC owned stations.
Comcast in Bristol County just committed a major blunder. They are blocking the WFXT broadcast of Thursday night football between the Bills and Patriots even though it is not a national Fox program. No one in Bristol County and in Providence cannot see the game despite being close to Gillette Stadium unless you have Amazon Prime or can watch WFXT over the air which I am doing, Something has to be done about this issue.
Tell it to King Roger. With the exception of the grandfathered Milwaukee, the hard fast rule is that the game is aired OTA in the two teams' home markets only. Period.
Given the (I think) unique situation in your area as far as distance from the stadium to Providence, it would make sense to include that market as a home territory. But TV markets are defined by Neilsen and/or the FCC, and Foxboro is in the Boston market, not Providence.
Just turned on WFXT on Comcast in Bristol County. As of 10:30PM, the Patriot game is on. Comcast must have thought that normal Fox programming was on and blocked WFXT. However at 10PM on a normal night, the WFXT news would be on. This programming must be preset not allowing for any changes. This is not a King Roger, issue, it is the FCC
Last edited:
The fact that Bristol County, being very close to Foxboro (which is in Norfolk county), is part of the Providence market according to the idiots at the FCC is why this mess is occuring. As I said in prior posts. if the FCC would reassign Bristol County back to Boston, none of this would happen and we would receive ALL Boston stations ALL the time.. PERIOD
Can confirm - my 75 year old dad who is not very tech-savvy tried to load the game on his iPad using the Xfinity Stream app. The app’s home page listed this game in the app‘s “recommended for you” section. He was then greeted by a black screen with the message “Comcast is required by law to block this program. Check the guide for alternate program availability”. But if you go into the guide, you don’t see any other channel showing the Patriots game.
What law is preventing Comcast/Xfinity from showing the game? I call BS here - they never blacked out WCVB when they simulcasted Monday Night Football simulcasts of the Patriots going back to 2006.
Comcast/Xfinity has found a way to lose more subscribers in this area. Also, the “Broadcast TV Fee“ is going up to $26 next month.