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“WATCHING TV”
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We head to the final weekend of the NFL regular season schedule.

The TV ratings are staggering, with a few exceptions, oddly involving the Chargers.

A quick look-see at what America is watching (viewership number averages):

CBS-FOX….(24M)…Viewership has jumped up for both networks.  Marquee end of season games in both the AFC-and-NFC have driven both networks to strong finishes.  Tony Romo-Greg Olson have squared off as quality color analysts.

NBC SUNDAY NIGHT (21.8M)…A big bump up on NBC with a series of good games too.  Chris Collinsworth-Mike Tirico, a fine play by play tandem.

ESPN MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (17M)…The weekly numbers are the most watched games since ESPN inherited the schedule decades ago.  Toning down the noise from the broadcast team has helped too.  Joe Buck-Troy Aikman rock solid, but they have tried so long to reinvent Cosell-Dandy Don and Gifford.  No can do.

AMAZON PRIME-THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (11.8M)…Year one was a disaster because of bad games (8M)…but a decent jump in year two, aided by better games.  Still odd Al Michaels left where he was to go to a place not alot of people watch.

PEACOCK..(7.3M)…It’s one time streaming telecast bombed with the Chargers-Bills game drawing poorly.  That came a week after the Chargers-Raiders game on Thursday night, drew just (7.8M) fans.

SUNDAY TICKET-YOU TUBE….They took the package from Direct TV, and promptly cranked up the prices.  What was ($229) a year ago, became ($499) for people signing on for the first time.  You Tube sold (1.3M) subscriptions, but based on paying ($2B) per year, double what Direct TV paid, they need (5M) subscribers, at inflated prices, to break even.  Did not happen in year one.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL…The big event playoff games, Rose-Sugar Bowl, were pretty impressive.  Give the fans an ‘event’ and they will watch.  Michigan-Alabama drew (24M) with a final hour high of (32M) fans.  Wasington-Texas drew (18.7M) with the final hour high of (22M).  Bet next Monday’s Championship game will be really high.

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