The AP's Rachel Cohen reports for the "first time since flexible scheduling came to 'Sunday Night Football' in 2006, the NFL could go an entire season without needing it." There is "no way Cowboys-Eagles gets swapped out in Week 15," because NFC East "showdowns are huge ratings draws." Additionally, Seahawks-Cardinals in Week 16 "keeps getting juicier with Arizona's unexpected run to the league's best record and the defending Super Bowl champs' uncertain playoff hopes" (AP, 11/26).
SUNNY SIDE UP: In Ft. Lauderdale, Craig Davis reports the Heat's regional TV broadcasts with Fox' Sun Sports will "continue well into the next decade." The new deal, announced Tuesday, will "kick in at the conclusion of the current rights agreement" which runs through the '17-18 season. Financial terms and length of the agreement "were not disclosed." But a source said that all of Fox' deals are "more than five years." That would "keep the Heat on Sun Sports beyond" '23, and "continues a television and marketing partnership between the Heat and then-Sunshine Network that began 22 years ago." It is "not known what impact, if any, LeBron James' subsequent departure from the Heat had on finalizing the agreement" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 11/26).
AHEAD OF THE GAMES: CABLEFAX DAILY's Joyce Wang reported Japan intends to "broadcast 8K" by the '20 Tokyo Games. The country’s broadcaster NHK recently said that it is planning 8K trials starting in '16 so it can "move to full-scale service by the Games." NHK’s 8K UltraHD standard has "4 times the horizontal and vertical resolution of the 1080p HDTV format, with 16 times as many pixels overall." Regular broadcasting of 8K signals "could start in" '18 (CABLEFAX DAILY, 11/25).
