Ten media-centric ideas, notes and takeaways off the NFL’s championship weekend
1. Community executives by no means root outwardly for groups, however I can guarantee you Fox brass favored seeing the Eagles advance to the Tremendous Bowl on Sunday afternoon. They didn’t like that it got here in a blowout, however I digress.
The Philadelphia media market is the No. 4 largest media market by households within the U.S., as ranked by Nielsen as of 2025, and the Eagles are all the time a powerful tv draw. The NFC Championship was the important thing recreation so far as Tremendous Bowl viewership was involved. Each AFC groups are viewership monsters — significantly Kansas Metropolis. Community execs think about the Chiefs probably the most bankable viewership staff in soccer, and all through all of the networks I’ve spoken with, they mentioned they noticed no indicators of Chiefs fatigue for viewers.
The Chiefs–Eagles Tremendous Bowl rematch on Feb. 9 — Fox has the printed — has an actual shot at setting a Tremendous Bowl viewership document if the sport is tight within the ultimate quarter. The present viewership document got here final yr when an viewers of 123.4 million viewers watched the Chiefs beat the 49ers in extra time. That topped the earlier document of 115.1 million for the earlier Kansas Metropolis-Philadelphia matchup two years in the past.
2. So many glorious moments from CBS announcers Tony Romo and Jim Nantz throughout Kansas Metropolis’s pulsating 32-29 win over Buffalo.
First, Romo instantly recognized how the sport had shifted upon the terrible scene of Buffalo cornerback Christian Benford struggling a concussion, after being in concussion protocol for the week. The Payments have been compelled to usher in backup cornerback Kaiir Elam, who has struggled since being drafted in 2022 as each Payments fan is aware of (however a nationwide viewers may not). Romo used the telestrator to focus on when Elam was in single protection and understood the second when he mentioned of Elam, “He’s definitely feeling the burden of the entire city of Buffalo on him.”
Then as the primary half got here to an in depth, Nantz let the viewers in that the CBS crew was advised by Chiefs coaches throughout their manufacturing conferences that the Chiefs knew Payments quarterback Josh Allen favored to go off the left guard on a quarterback sneak. Nice perception.
The manufacturing staff was fast to acknowledge there have been two completely different official spots on arguably probably the most vital name of the sport — a questionable fourth-down ruling with slightly below 13 minutes left.
And Romo was forward of the play when Mahomes handed on a 2nd-and-9 from the Buffalo 46 with 1:50 left and Kansas Metropolis main by three. Mahomes discovered Isiah Pacheco for an enormous first down.
3. In an uneven first yr on TV for Tom Brady, the place he has supplied vital worth for viewers is when he’s dissecting a quarterback — and the way a protection approaches quarterbacks.
For example, right here was Brady late within the first quarter after Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels fired a 28-yard dart in heavy visitors to Dyami Brown on a second-and-16 from the Washington 48: “I think about {that a} tight window — there may be one fingertip, two fingertips. … That’s one factor about (Jayden) Daniels’ recreation. It’s not simply these easy runs and straightforward perimeter throws. He’s obtained the flexibility to string the needle like he did proper there. …
“They [the Eagles] do such job of their zone coverages,” Brady mentioned. “Everybody has imaginative and prescient on Jayden Daniels’ eyes. So when he does make these throws, they’ll break fairly tight on these throws and power numerous tight window throws, which requires numerous accuracy and focus from the receivers.”
That’s attention-grabbing, and in case you are a viewer, it makes you take note of Daniels looking for these home windows. Within the fourth quarter, Brady foreshadowed the 4th-and-6 name when Daniels discovered tight finish Zach Ertz for a drive-continuing throw.
4. Once more: I imagine with Brady’s part-ownership of the Las Vegas Raiders, Fox Sports activities owes viewers transparency when information presents itself. The franchise simply employed a coach — a VERY FAMOUS coach — and there have been no questions for Raiders minority proprietor Brady within the pregame on it, nor any dialogue through the broadcast. We may have discovered one thing attention-grabbing from the best winner in NFL historical past about why Pete Carroll was the Raiders’ choose. We didn’t.
5. Taylor Swift was naturally on the AFC Championship Sport, and community NFL manufacturing groups have developed plans in the case of probably the most well-known pop star on the planet. NFL groups are often personal about the place well-known individuals might be positioned if they’re visitors to a recreation, however the networks will in the end discover out — it advantages the league above all.
CBS lead NFL director Mike Arnold mentioned his staff scouts suites earlier than the sport to see which digital camera can get one of the best shot of a luxurious field. Issues corresponding to glare, time of day and if the window is up or down all play a task concerning which digital camera operator is assigned.
“If Kelce has a giant play, you inform the digital camera individual if their receiver or participant isn’t concerned within the play to see if you may get a response shot of her, Kelce’s mother and father, Jason Kelce, whomever else is within the field,” Arnold mentioned when requested the way it works in actual time. Viewers noticed Swift celebrating with 4:13 left earlier than halftime. However she was barely on display through the broadcast.
“We after all have had numerous discussions over the past couple of years and we now have a little bit of a standing working process,” mentioned CBS lead NFL producer Jim Rikhoff. “That’s [to show her] when it really works organically. If Travis Kelce scores a landing, you’re going to most likely see Taylor. I’m not going to do it simply to do it. I’m going to do it and it has to play organically. Loads of instances I take advantage of one thing going to business as a result of we taped a fantastic response shot.”
6. CBS had 80 cameras for the sport, together with cameras contained in the pylons of the objective line and the again line of the tip zone. Every goal-line pylon has three cameras in it and the back-line pylon has two. CBS additionally added “doink” cameras within the objective put up, that are mounted.
Arnold mentioned CBS had 35 cameras with individuals working these cameras. For a daily season recreation, it’s about 20 cameras which can be operated. CBS didn’t have a devoted digital camera operator centered on Taylor Swift, which is in line with Chiefs video games it did within the common season. Rikhoff mentioned he’s a giant fan of “Trolly Cam,” which on the suitable play provides you nice perspective on the motion of the sport.
7. Fox had 65 whole cameras for the Eagles-Commanders, together with 30 cameras that have been manned by digital camera operators. A few of the extra attention-grabbing cameras have been two Sky Cams, high and low, digital camera pylons on objective traces and again traces of the tip zone and extra high-speed cameras for recreation motion and participant reactions.
The Sky Cam cameras will be actually efficient, together with offering viewers a line of scrimmage view from the quarterback perspective. The excessive sky cam gives a wider perspective of the sector, and we noticed that view on Jalen Hurts’ ‘Brotherly Shove’ landing to extend Philadelphia’s result in 20-12 in addition to the failed two-point conversion.
8. The CBS crew obtained near half-hour this week with Mahomes and Allen throughout their respective manufacturing conferences, which is a reasonably normal allotment for the networks with star gamers.
“Jim and Tony actually have relationship with each quarterbacks,” Rikhoff mentioned. “There’s mutual respect there as a result of we’ve finished so many video games with them. They know we’ve by no means burned them from one thing they advised us in a gathering to not be revealed earlier than the sport. We might by no means reveal something early till we went on the air. I feel they know our crew has a really excessive credibility normal there and that builds belief and also you get extra info due to that.”
9. These broadcast stats are outstanding:
• Since 2018 (Mahomes Period): CBS’s prime NFL staff has finished 23 video games in Kansas Metropolis (together with 9 playoff video games).
• Since 2020 (Allen vs Mahomes Period): The identical crew has finished seven of the 9 Payments-Chiefs conferences, together with all 4 playoff conferences.
10. We are going to get viewership numbers for each video games early this week. Given the second recreation went all the way down to the wire, Payments-Chiefs has a shot to surpass the 55.47 million viewers that watched final yr’s Chiefs-Ravens recreation. That’s the present document for the most-watched AFC Championship Sport in historical past.
The all-time viewership document for any convention championship recreation (and likewise the NFC document) isn’t going to be topped: In 1982, the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers drew 68.7 million viewers on CBS for the NFC Championship Sport (perpetually remembered for “The Catch” by San Francisco’s Dwight Clark).
(Picture: David Eulitt / Getty Photos)