More and more it seems that NFL games are becoming commercials with a little football action occasionally mixed in. The five networks (including the NFL Network) that now air games are more concerned with squeezing every last cent out of a three hour game than with a fan’s experience.
The worst offender, FOX, has begun airing commercials promoting their TV shows between plays. So now, after waiting through two minutes of commercials after a kickoff, the viewer gets treated to yet another promo for “House” between second and third down. Add this to the incessant little promos for their animated shows, which are displayed on the bottom quarter of the screen during game action, and this network’s coverage of football and other sporting events can get increasingly frustrating.
Following FOX in a close second is ESPN’s coverage of Monday Night Football. After a week of completely asinine commercials that promote the game as if it were a weekly Super Bowl, fans are treated to pointless interviews with “stars” from ABC shows. Instead of discussing the game, the commentators talk with cast members from “Desperate Housewives” or “Dancing with the Stars”. The network is too preoccupied with cross-promoting with it’s parent network while it should be concerned with producing a focused broadcast.
CBS and, especially, NBC have more serious and less commercialized coverage. While they, like any network, still have their fair share of commercials (and they would be foolish to not use the commercial time allotted to them), they do not take time away from the game action to promote their other programming in the way that FOX and ESPN blatantly does. There are few to no commercials during game action or pointless interviews with minor celebrities to take away from what’s happening on the field.
The NFL Network has only aired one game up to this point, so it’s too early to judge it’s coverage. This doesn’t mean that the network is exempt from criticism, as it has tried to pressure cable outlets into picking the channel up on a regular package for a high price that would raise every customer’s rate, whether they want it or not. Their goal is essentially to get every customer to pay extra on their bill for one game a week – a game that would normally cost nothing extra if it was on during it’s regular time.
The networks and the NFL have worked out a plan to try to suck as much money out of a game as possible and if they keep pushing it, fans are going to be more likely to turn their Tivo on, wait 10 minutes and fast forward through all the commercials. They need to cool it with the excessive commercial breaks and focus on stronger game coverage.
