Media Watch: AFC Championship Game looms as ratings blockbuster

By Bill Griffith, SI.com

Steelers fans will brave the cold for Sunday's 6:30 local time kickoff, while Cards fans will enjoy their dome and 1 p.m. local start. Getty Images

Forty years ago Boston sports radio giant Eddie Andelman was wont to pontificate: "The way TV is taking over sports, some day they'll be giving away the tickets just so they can have a studio audience.''

He had it half right. The fans are still paying (dearly) for their tickets, but this weekend's NFL Championship Sunday schedule shows how utterly the NFL disdains the local paying customer while groveling to maximize every TV dollar.

Any normal-thinking schedule-maker would have slotted the Steelers-Ravens AFC Championship Game in the early TV window at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, with the Eagles-Cardinals NFC Championship Game in prime time at 6:30 ET (4:30 local time in Phoenix).

Would any TV viewer be hurt in the least? No. Neither would the "live audience'' be getting home sometime around the midnight hour, the way the fans will be in Pittsburgh this Sunday.

However, TV isn't a normal-thinking schedule-maker. That late window is a ratings gem, and it belongs to CBS this year. And CBS has the AFC game. So we get the AFC game at 6:30 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the fans in Phoenix will think it's a regular-season game, with a 1 p.m. local-time start.

That's TV's money at work. You have to admire each team's fans -- especially in a cold-weather city like Pittsburgh -- who sit out in the miserable weather and endure the endless TV timeouts in the stadium when absolutely nothing is happening. At home you can channel surf or catch up with the live action if you've been reviewing plays on the DVR. If it snows in Pittsburgh, CBS will love the scene because it will pull in an even bigger TV audience. If the game is close in the final quarter, that's even better because neither the TV audience nor the fans at the game will go away.

Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports said of Sunday's AFC title game, "Outside of the Super Bowl, it should be the second highest-rated game of the year in any time slot. You've got two outstanding teams, and a good scene in Pittsburgh.''

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As big as this Sunday's game is, McManus has another major-coverage event on his plate: Tuesday's Presidential inauguration. "It's a lot like covering a sports event,'' he said this week. "You try to be live as much as possible, cover all the angles, and put your on-air people in positions to do well.'' ... CBS analyst Dan Marino on Ravens QB Joe Flacco: "One of the things you ask about a young quarterback is 'Can he really throw it?' [Flacco] makes the throws seem effortless. He also has pocket presence. He knows how to move in the pocket while keeping his body in position to throw the ball. I've talked in the past about how Tom Brady is able to do it.'' ... ... CBS analyst Phil Simms, who will work the AFC booth with Jim Nantz, on the topic of playing a team three times in a season: "It's hard to come up with new ideas. Bill Parcells had it right when he said, 'The only way to win is to outhit them. You'll see a lot of that in this game.''' ... As much as CBS would like some snow and ice for viewing ambience, that foul weather would put its SkyCam on the DL.

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Fox game analyst Troy Aikman and CBS studio analyst Bill Cowher, both of whom have had outstanding broadcasting seasons, wrap up their NFL playoff work this weekend as their networks cover Championship Sunday, then give way to NBC, which has Super Bowl LXIII on Feb. 1.

Both Aikman and Cowher were in top form this week as the networks held national conference calls to preview the games.

Aikman, arguably the best in the biz these days, will be working with lead announcer Joe Buck and sideline reporters Pam Oliver and Chris Myers.

Aikman's take on:

• Pittsburgh. "A lot of times watching film you don't appreciate how good and physical a team is. The Steelers, on the other hand, show up as soon as you put the film on. Teams just can't put points on the board against them.''

• The Cardinals' running game. "People think they're running the ball better in the playoffs, but actually they aren't running it as well as they did in the regular season. What's happening is they're able to run it more times because of the way their defense is playing. That's the real key -- their defense has to continue to create turnovers.''

• "It's vital for Arizona to play well early and keep the score close. The [home] crowd will help them with that. The crowd can make a road team feel things are worse than they really are. But if the Eagles jump out ahead, it'll be hard for the Cardinals to come back.''

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Cowher will be in-studio with host James Brown and regulars Shannon Sharpe, Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino. Jim Nantz will call the game along with analyst Phil Simms and sideline reporter Steve Tasker.

Some of his thoughts on the day:

• "This rivalry goes back to when the Ravens were in Cleveland, and it's really very simple. They each think they have the best defense. They take pride in being physically tough.''

• "Pittsburgh got away from its running game when Willie [Parker] was hurt. We saw them getting back to it last week. That sets up play-action and negates the rush a bit. Then the defense starts planting its feet a bit. That negates team speed -- especially on Heinz field.''

• "Playoffs expose your weaknesses. One thing about Baltimore is they haven't beaten themselves. They won't put Flacco in a position to make bad decisions early.''

* "Ben Roethlisberger has to be aware of Baltimore safety Ed Reed from the time he gets over center. Reid will jump patterns and overload sides.''

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You know the CBS studio loved having the Cowher-to-the-Jets possibility as discussion fodder during the late season, but Cowher had a good comeback Tuesday in a media conference call: "I coach 'em [Steelers] every week from the studio -- along with 31 other teams. And I haven't lost a game in two years.'' ... CBS studio analyst Shannon Sharpe on playing against the Pittsburgh defense: ``We [Ravens] always ran a lot of double-tight-end sets against them. We always wanted to cover the defensive ends and would never leave a running back or tight end against one of those guys. You'll lose that battle 10 times out of 10.'' ... Will the players stay focused on the task at hand with a Super Bowl trip on the line? Fox analyst Michael Strahan: "If you start thinking about the Super Bowl, you'll wind up watching it on TV.'' ... "After all this, if you don't win the Super Bowl, you really haven't accomplished much of anything,'' said Aikman.

Bill Griffith is the former sports media critic for The Boston Globe.