Tagliabue Defends Blackouts; Michaels Calls For Flexibility

While in Jacksonville to attend last night's Packers-Jaguars game and tour Alltel Stadium, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said that the league's TV blackout policy "will remain firmly in effect" — no matter "how much of an outcry it provokes among [Jaguars] viewers," according to Bart Hubbuch of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. Tagliabue: "I don't see any changes in the blackout rule. It's been in place for many, many decades and worked very well. It's been a very important part of the league's success going back to the early days of television. We don't want our sport to become a studio sport. That would be the worst thing for the players, the fans and the league." The Jaguars have had their first two regular-season TV blackouts in franchise history this season (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 12/4).

CALLING FOR CHANGES: Last night's "MNF" broadcast on ABC earned a 12.2/19, down 15% from a 14.4/22 for the comparable Redskins-Rams game last year (THE DAILY). In Chicago, Ed Sherman noted the need for a flexible schedule to get better matchups on "MNF" is "an annual refrain for ABC, but there is a little more urgency this year. Ratings are slipping, and the network is losing millions" on its NFL deal. ABC's Al Michaels: "The most important thing for us is to get a flexible schedule. ... It also benefits the league, and the real beneficiaries are the fans. Do fans want to watch matchups that have bad teams?" NFL Senior VP/Broadcasting & Network TV Dennis Lewin said, "We all know the problem. The question is, can we find a system that makes sense?" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 12/3).

A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME: In Boston, Bill Griffith reports that CBS' broadcast of Patriots-Jets Sunday earned a 27.0/56 overnight Nielsen rating in Boston. Meanwhile, Sunday's games gave Fox its best Nielsen overnight rating of the NFL season (13.0 for the entire day, 16.1 for the national Rams-Falcons late game), as Sunday was the first time this season NFL did not face competition from NASCAR. The rating was 12% higher than the same weekend last year. Overall, Fox has "pulled even with last year's numbers" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/4).