Dec 26, 2007 10:10 pm US/Eastern
Patriots-Giants Game To Be On CBS, NBC
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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(file image) Randy Moss and Tom Brady celebrate a touchdown during a game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on September 23, 2007.
Jim Rogash/Getty Images
When the New England Patriots play the New York Giants Saturday night - and go for a perfect 16-and-0 record - the NFL Network's broadcast of the game will also be seen on CBS and NBC in a landmark simulcast.
That means the historic game will be available to every television viewer in the country after months of wrangling.
It was originally scheduled to be shown only on the NFL Network. Fewer than 40 percent of the nation's homes with TVs receive the channel.
The league announced Wednesday that the NFL Network feed will be simulcast on NBC and CBS. It's a major concession by league officials, who repeatedly said they would not show the game anywhere but the NFL Network. The NFL had faced mounting pressure from lawmakers in recent weeks to make the game available to more viewers.
Local TV affiliates in the Boston, Manchester, N.H., and New York areas who were already set to simulcast the game under NFL policy will still air it.
The NFL has feuded with major cable companies, who have declined to carry the network as part of basic packages.
"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," commissioner Roger Goodell said. "What we have seen for the past year is a very strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever."
This will be the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first simulcast of any kind of an NFL game since the first Super Bowl in 1967, when CBS and NBC both televised the first meeting of the champions of the newly merged National Football League and American Football League.
The FOX network, which broadcasts NFC games, was not part of the deal.
You can watch the game, live on WBZ-TV, Saturday at 8 p.m.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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