Tony Romo debuts as CBS' lead NFL analyst during Raiders-Titans on Sunday, and it will occur "without a Dallas-Fort Worth audience," as that market will instead receive Jaguars-Texans on KTVT-CBS, according to Barry Horn of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. CBS makes the final call on "which game goes to which markets." KTVT had "asked for Romo's debut after CBS informed the station that it would be sending" Jaguars-Texans to the market, but CBS "denied the appeal." A source said that given the circumstances in Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the net "decided that not sending the Texans ... to D-FW would send a wrong message." Romo's call on Raiders-Titans will go to 23% of the nation as part of CBS' single header (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/8). In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote Romo will be "ripped to shreds" initially as a broadcaster no matter "what he says, or how he says it." There will be "plenty of folks, including some in the business with axes to grind, rooting for him to fail." Others are "already jealous because of his meteoric rise to the top of the NFL analyst ranks with no experience." However, CBS is "giving Romo a long leash." CBS Sports Chair Sean McManus said he is not expecting Romo “to be great out of the box.” Raissman: "That likely means, unless he is truly horrible, Romo will get at least two years to get his act totally together" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 9/3).
