Posted in News
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11/9 2010

Eagles Monday Night Game To Air On ESPN, Bumped For Dancing on ABC

Posted by Dan Levy.

I don’t know why the NFL still has the rule where any game on cable — or not on over-the-air TV — has to be rebroadcast in local markets so everyone can see it. I don’t think the NBA nor MLB have that rule, but the NFL sticks with it so everyone can see the game no matter if you have 1500 channels or a set of old rabbit ears. (Note, this could be some FCC regulation but I’m too lazy to look it up. Not really the point of this anyway).

Philly.com reports that this Monday, with the Eagles traveling to Washington for Monday night’s game against the Redskins, fans can see the game on ESPN or MYPHL17 and not 6ABC. Why? Because of dancing:

Since the semifinals of Dancing with the Stars are scheduled for Monday night on 6ABC, the Eagles-Redskins Monday Night Football game will be shown on MYPHL17, including a pregame special produced by the Action News sports team.

The pregame special is set to start at 8 p.m. on MYPHL17, with the kickoff scheduled for 8:30. The game also will be shown on ESPN.

Clearly the thought on ABC’s part is that the Eagles are already on ESPN, so they’d be cannibalizing their audience anyway by showing the simulcast. Still, it’s a pretty easy, if shrewd, move for the local affiliate. Football draws a huge number, but if there’s one group you don’t want to piss off, its the dancing fans.

And who can blame them? For the week ending on Halloween, Dancing with the Stars was the number one show in America, getting more overall viewers than Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football that featured a game between the Giants (NY market) and Cowboys (everywhere else).

Maybe if Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick got into a cha-cha competition at halftime, the local ABC affiliate would think differently. Until then, Kurt Warner wins.

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Posted on November 9, 2010 at 11:15AM

 

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  1. Jim
    11/9 2010

    replacing a standard of Monday night football with an absolute horrible show!! What are these guys thinking. I already don’t watch anything on ABC but I know several thousands if not millions of fans from Philly, Dc, virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and who knows where else that would be done with ABC as well!!!