Last week, NFL RedZone host Scott Hanson made news for incorrectly telling viewers nationwide to flip to CBS to see the end of the Las Vegas Raiders-Seattle Seahawks overtime game. That game was only available in particular markets, so it couldn’t be seen nationwide without NFL Sunday Ticket.
And CBS could not send the finish of that game nationwide because they had the singleheader game (of which, three of five games were early games, including Cincinnati Bengals-Tennessee Titans for the highest percentage of the country.) Fox had the doubleheader that week.
That meant that CBS stations carrying an early game then went to regular, non-football programming afterwards hands were tied and those who switched to CBS got non-football content were miffed the end of the game wasn’t being shown. And late last Sunday, Hanson offered an apology for that on Twitter and promised that more details would be forthcoming:
…I would never intentionally mislead you, our loyal viewers.
There is no one on earth (that I know of) who wants to show you more football than I do.
However: I am an employee – not the boss. I have orders just like many of you do at your jobs. More later. Thank you.
— Scott Hanson (@ScottHanson) November 28, 2022
Hanson’s comments then caused some eyebrows to rise considering the actual setup here. The “after the show” seemed particularly odd considering that it was known days before the show what markets were getting which games, including which ones were getting CBS early games. It seems like it shouldn’t have been a surprise that CBS wasn’t going to break into non-football content on stations that aired an early game to show a few minutes of overtime.
Granted, Hanson’s instructions likely didn’t have many people missing a game they could watch. NFL RedZone has to go off the air when there’s only one game left. So they weren’t able to show this finish themselves by rule, not by choice. And only those in certain markets or those with NFL Sunday Ticket could actually watch this. (Hanson’s NFL RedZone is not the Sunday Ticket one, which is hosted by Andrew Siciliano, so many of those watching Hanson’s show would not have been able to see this game’s finish in any case.)
But Hanson’s instructions were still incorrect on a national scale, and did cause some confusion and false hope for those who thought they might be able to see the ending. And this Sunday, he offered that “more later” he had promised:
When there is 1 game remaining, CBS wants to bring the NFLRZ audience to CBS. We (I) try and give you a heads up (verbally and via screen graphic) as to when that’s happening.
When CBS has Nantz/Romo on the National 4:25pm game, you should be able to flip over and watch…— Scott Hanson (@ScottHanson) December 4, 2022
…let you know which parts of the country will see the ending of the “last game standing” if it’s not National.
I have Zero control over what CBS shows and doesn’t show to which parts of the USA.
— Scott Hanson (@ScottHanson) December 4, 2022
I have asked repeatedly for more clarification. If/when I get it, I will pass along.
I care about you – our viewers, customers & fellow football fans.
I know how frustrating this is.
As always:
Thank you for watching!
-Scott— Scott Hanson (@ScottHanson) December 4, 2022
Again, the “more clarification” here seems a little odd, considering that it appears predictable that singleheader markets with an early game are not going to break into their following non-NFL programming to show overtime in a late game. And these maps are easily available in advance, particularly through JP Kirby at 506 Sports.
This isn’t exactly a new wrinkle in how this works. These are really the same broadcast rules that have been in place for quite a while now in terms of the alternating doubleheaders, regional broadcasting of most games, and how RedZone has to give priority to networks as well as Sunday Ticket at the very end of the day.
Hanson doesn’t necessarily have to study those maps and broadcast rules himself every week. There’s a lot else on his plate, and this situation doesn’t always come up. But it feels from here like someone on the RedZone team should be able to figure out what markets are actually getting the final game after a switch and which aren’t and relay that on to the host.
And on that front, the “Going forward, I will try to let you know which parts of the country will see the ending of the ‘last game standing’ if it’s not national” seems promising. And Hanson did do that Sunday. Hopefully that continues.
[Scott Hanson on Twitter]
