TV Draw For Broncos-Patriots Has Chance To Set Ratings Records

The Broncos-Patriots AFC Divisional playoff game Saturday night on CBS is projected to draw "enormous -- and possibly record-setting -- Nielsen ratings," according to Chad Finn of the BOSTON GLOBE. The barrage of numbers that "suggests this game will be a ratings behemoth is relentless." It is "not out of the realm of possibility that tomorrow’s game tops last year’s Patriots-Jets matchup as the most-watched divisional playoff game ever." CBS' Phil Simms, who will call the game with Jim Nantz, said, "If you took our game, this Patriots and Denver game, and we put it on at 4:30 on Sunday, it would definitely be all time, especially if the outcome is in jeopardy. But it being Saturday night, I don’t know" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/13). USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand notes it "doesn't help" that the game is on "TV's least-watched night." But a close game, "especially if Denver leads early and grabs channel-flippers tempted to stick around for an upset, could put that 27.7% [rating] within reach." And snowstorms in "populous areas would help." Hiestand notes because of the "star power onstage, this is a TV sports anomaly in that CBS won't have to do much to entertain casual fans tuning in" (USA TODAY, 1/13). In Boston, Steven Syre writes the game is "going to knock the Nielsen ratings counter for a loop." The Patriots and QB Tom Brady are "an especially strong national television draw on their own." Combine them "with Tebowmania in an NFL playoff game and you’re bound to set new records" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/13). CBS' James Brown said “the drama is certainly there” with the NFL playoff schedule this weekend (“CBS This Morning,” CBS, 1/13).

TEBOW'S MEDIA MIRACLE: In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes Broncos QB Tim Tebow "forces announcers to make decisions," as they have mostly "not spoken about his religious convictions even though he visually expresses them during a game." During last Sunday's Steelers-Broncos Wild Card, and "during many others, CBS cameras focused on Tebow, head bowed in prayer while sitting alone on the bench." The camera also "showed him looking skyward and pointing." Raissman notes if Tebow gets to the Super Bowl, NBC's Al Michaels "will let the pictures tell the story." Fox' Troy Aikman agrees with that approach, saying, "It’s not something our broadcast would be about." Raissman notes the "kind of ratings produced in that Pittsburgh-Denver OT [thriller] were driven by casual fans." They may be "casual when it comes to following football but not about Tebow and the religious beliefs they share with him." Raissman: "When these viewers see Tebow on the sidelines praying and the broadcasters remain silent they wonder, why?" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/13).

SOMETHING LIKE A PHENOMENON: Fox Sports Media Group Vice Chair Ed Goren, whose network does not regularly broadcast Broncos games during the season, was asked during a conference call this week about the percentage of viewers for CBS' Steelers-Broncos telecast that "were there just because of Tebow." Goren replied, "Boy, huh. A lot. A lot. It’s really been a phenomenon. I have reached out to my (football) guys and asked them if they can ever recall anything quite like it in the NFL." Fox' Jimmy Johnson said that Tebow watchers, "at least many of them, are not NFL fans." He said, "They are people who don’t normally follow the game. They are all in tune with Tim Tebow" (JSONLINE.com, 1/12).

WISHING ILL WILL: The GLOBE & MAIL's Bruce Dowbiggin writes the U.S. media has "always fixated on star athletes," but what sets Tebow apart is "how many reporters and columnists seem to devoutly wish his complete failure as an NFL quarterback." It might be "said that, never on the field of gridiron conflict have so many wished so ill on so few." Dowbiggin: "Why does the media resent Tebow so, even as he trends big time on Twitter? Certainly, the Jesus-is-my-Lord-and-saviour talk wears thin with the secular sorts in the fourth estate. Draft experts are heavily invested in the NFL stereotypes of the ideal athlete, and Tebow flies in the face of their perceived wisdom. ESPN’s total absorption of the story has grated on competitors and social media." Tebow might be the "first athlete to be massively underrated and overrated at the same time" (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/13). ESPN's Trent Dilfer said, "As analysts, we should all be ripped for how we talk about this guy. One week he’s great, the next week he’s terrible. The next week he’s great again, then he’s awful. There’s no consistency with how we look at him because it’s so hard to explain, and it goes against everything we’re trained to understand about football” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/12). Meanwhile, ESPN’s Hugh Douglas said Tebow-mania is "out of control.” Douglas: "When I make my criticism of Tim Tebow, some people say, ‘You’re a hater, you just don’t like him because of his faith.’ That’s why I say it’s out-of-control. ... People are like, ‘If you don’t like Tim Tebow, it’s almost like you’re criticizing his faith.’ That’s not the case” (“SportsNation,” ESPN2, 1/12).

CONSENT DISPUTE: In Ft. Lauderdale, Tom Jicha noted football fans in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, who are "subscribers to DirecTV and are planning their weekend around watching the NFL playoff games had better devise a Plan B." A retransmission consent dispute between WSVN-Fox and DirecTV "could knock all WSVN programming, including the Fox network, off homes with DirecTV as of midnight Friday." The AFC playoff games "air on CBS and are not effected." WFLX-Fox in West Palm Beach is "not involved, so programming will continue uninterrupted." The WSVN negotiations also "involve sister stations in Boston ... which are owned under the Sunbeam Television umbrella." WSVN’s deal with DirecTV "expired at the end of the year but the station extended it for two weeks" (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 1/12).