NBC Earns Stout 11.6 Rating For Cowboys-Redskins "SNF"

Writer Believes NBC's Cowboys-Redskins  Telecast Focused Too Much On Romo's Injury

PINKIE & THE BRAINS: In DC, Len Shapiro wrote under the header, "In Redskins-Cowboys Game, NBC Overcovers Romo's Pinkie." During Sunday's telecast, Cowboys QB Tony Romo's injured right pinkie finger was the "main story line of the night, but after a while, there were only so many ways the broadcasters could say he was wearing a splint on his hand and it was probably going to have some effect on how he would throw and hand off the football." But this is "not to say that NBC's Sunday night football extravaganza is not without great merit." With announcers Al Michaels and John Madden in the booth, "you're going to get the most entertaining two-man pro football announcing team on television." Madden's "best work of the night came in the final minutes, right before the Cowboys' last possession of the game." As the Cowboys held a four-point lead, Madden said, "This is a Marion Barber situation," referring to the Cowboys RB. Shapiro noted that is "exactly what happened, with Barber handling the ball on 11 straight plays" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 11/17).

KNOW WHEN TO HOLD 'EM? BOSTON SPORTS MEDIA WATCH's David Scott wrote in covering the conclusion of Sunday's Chargers-Steelers game, in which the officials overturned a touchdown on the last play of the game that impacted the game's betting line, CBS and NBC avoided "direct mention of the point spread." During the game telecast, CBS' Jim Nantz "only alluded to the interest that the final play would draw for some," but he "certainly never mentioned the 4.5 point spread." Later, during NBC's "embarrassingly choppy" halftime coverage of the Cowboys-Redskins game, studio host Bob Costas would "only tiptoe around the point spread issue." Also, ESPN's Chris Berman also "avoided mentioning the off-shoots of the reversed call" (BOSTONSPORTSMEDIA.com, 11/16). In Dallas, Barry Horn noted Nantz and CBS' Phil Simms during the game "didn't really address it," as network broadcasting crews "never do." Gambling is a "taboo in the booth." CBS Senior VP/Communications LeslieAnne Wade indicated that there is "'an understanding' not to talk gambling on the air." Costas during halftime of the "SNF" game "back-doored a reference to the gambling issue when he followed" analyst Cris Collinsworth's comment about the finish to the Chargers-Steelers game. Costas on the show said, "And despite the fact others cared for other reasons about the point differential" (DALLASNEWS.com, 11/17). On Long Island, Neil Best writes it is "always amusing hearing network TV types coyly refer to football betting lines without discussing them specifically." Nantz on the broadcast said, "I know there's a lot of people now who will be happy there was an 11-10 final." A CBS spokesperson said that the NFL "does not instruct the network to avoid direct mentions of gambling but that the network has its own informal policy against doing so" (NEWSDAY, 11/18).

NOTES: The NFL released its final Week 13 schedule yesterday, with NBC opting to keep the Bears-Vikings "SNF" game in place. The only change is the Broncos-Jets game on Sunday, November 30, moving from a 1:00pm ET start time to 4:15pm on CBS (NFL)....In Pittsburgh, Bob Smizik reports NFL Network's telecast of Thursday night's Bengals-Steelers game will also be carried in Pittsburgh on WPCW-TV. While several counties are included in the designated market area, "some nearby counties" are not (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 11/18).

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