What NFL Fans Need to Know About TV Channels This Season
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If you’re an NFL fan, you need to know what TV channels will be showing games this season. Here’s a quick guide to help you out.
NFL on CBS
How to watch
The NFL on CBS is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that are produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States. NFL broadcast rights are the most valuable properties of any American sport. Professional football has been broadcast on television since 1939. The first, on September 30, 1939, was a high school game between Fordham Preparatory School and Wayland Academy. NBC aired the first professional football game, an NFL contest between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Eagles, on October 22, 1939. Since then, professional football telecasts have become among the most popular programs on American television; an average of 17.6 million viewers watched the 2015 NFC Championship Game across FOX, NBC, and ESPN.
In-house productions by NFL Films – such as A Football Life and Hard Knocks – air occasionally on CBS as well as other networks such as NFL Network and Amazon Video’s Prime Video service. However, they are not always realistically scheduled due to conflicts with various live sporting events carried by CBS (including Thursday Night Football games during their regular season run).
Since 2000, every AFC game not aired on a national over-the-air network (such as ESPN or Fox) is produced by CBS Sports under contract from the league; this currently includes all Sunday afternoon AFC games not shown regionally (such as those played concurrently with NFC games airing in a team’s home market), any playoff game not aired on a national over-the-air network (including both Wild Card games and all but one Divisional Playoff game; since 2014, both Conference Championship Games have been aired nationally), and Thursday Night Football games featuring AFC teams during the NFL season’s second half (except when Thanksgiving Day games air in which case a different TNF package takes its place). All NFC games not shown regionally or nationally via an over-the-air network are produced under similar circumstances by Fox Sports (with Game Creek Video handling studio production services for its main NFL studio show); these include all Sunday afternoon NFC games not shown regionally (such as those played concurrently with AFC games airing in a team’s home market), any playoff game not aired on a national over-the-air network (including both Wild Card games and all but one Divisional Playoff game; since 2014, both Conference Championship Games have been aired nationally), Thursday Night Football games featuring NFC teams during the first half of the season (except when Thanksgiving Day games air in which case a different TNF package takes its place), and one Monday Night Football game per season.
What to expect
The NFL is back and so is CBS’s Sunday afternoon NFL coverage. Here’s what you need to know about where to find your favorite teams on TV this season.
The NFL on CBS this season features some of the most popular teams in the league, including the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, NFC powers like the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, and rising stars like the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams.
In addition to its regular Sunday afternoon games, CBS will also air a Thursday Night Football game each week, featuring some of the league’s best matchups.
Here’s a look at the complete schedule of NFL games on CBS this season:
Week 1 (Sept. 8): Patriots vs. Steelers; Chargers vs. Colts; Eagles vs. Falcons; Vikings vs. Packers
Week 2 (Sept. 15): Bengals vs. Browns; Chiefs vs. Raiders; Dolphins vs. Bills; Seahawks vs. Steelers
Week 3 (Sept. 22): Bears vs Redskins; Panthers vs Bengals; Texans vs Chargers; Cowboys vs Saints
NFL on FOX
The NFL season is in full swing and FOX is your home for the best games, analysis, and commentary. This year, tune in to see your favorite teams and players on FOX, FOX Sports 1, and FOX Sports Go. Get the channels you need to see every game this season.
How to watch
No matter what team you’re rooting for, you’ll be able to find them on one of the following channels:
-Fox (preseason and regular season)
-NBC (preseason and regular season)
-ESPN (preseason only)
-NFL Network (preseason only)
If you want to catch every game, you’ll need to have access to all of the above channels. Fortunately, that’s not as difficult as it sounds — most major pay TV providers offer all of them. And if you’re a cord cutter, you can still watch NFL games without cable by subscribing to a streaming service like fuboTV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, or YouTube TV.
What to expect
TV network FOX has the broadcast rights to NFL games this season. Here’s what you need to know as a viewer.
FOX will air games on both its network channel and its cable channels, depending on the game. For example, a Packers-Bears game might be on FOX network in the early time slot on Sunday, while a Cowboys-Eagles game might be on FOX’s cable channels in the later time slot.
If you want to watch every game possible, you’ll need to have both a FOX network channel and either Fox Sports 1 or NFL Network (or both) as part of your cable package. You can check your local listings to see what games are scheduled for which channel in your area.
You can also stream NFL games online through the NFL’s website or mobile app. However, you’ll need to be a verify customer of a participating cable or satellite TV provider in order to use this service.
NFL on NBC
The 2018 NFL season is just around the corner, and fans are wondering which channels will broadcast their favorite teams’ games. NBC will once again be the home of Sunday Night Football, the most popular show on television. Here’s what else fans need to know about the NFL on NBC.
How to watch
If you want to catch every game your favorite team plays this season, you’ll need to know a little bit about the NFL’s TV schedule. Here’s a quick guide to help you figure out what channel each game will be on.
The NFL has four main TV partners: NBC, Fox, ESPN, and CBS. Each network has the rights to broadcast games on Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, and Monday Night Football.
NBC will be broadcasting Sunday Night Football games all season long. You can find NBC in most areas by using your local channels listing. Check your TV guide for the channel number in your area, or use an online service like slingtv.com or fuboTV.
Fox will be broadcasting Thursday Night Football games for the first half of the season, and then Sunday afternoon games for the second half of the season. You can find Fox in most areas by using your local channels listing. Check your TV guide for the channel number in your area, or use an online service like slingtv.com or fuboTV.
ESPN will be broadcasting Monday Night Football games all season long. You can find ESPN in most areas by using your local channels listing. Check your TV guide for the channel number in your area, or use an online service like slingtv.com or fuboTV.
CBS will be broadcasting Sunday afternoon games all season long. You can find CBS in most areas by using your local channels listing. Check your TV guide for the channel number in your area, or use an online service like slingtv.com or fuboTV.
What to expect
This fall, NBC will televise NFL action for the 72nd consecutive season dating back to 1955. Here is what viewers need to know if they want to catch all the action.
This season, Sunday Night Football will once again be the premier NFL broadcast on television. The highly-anticipated annual matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants will open the season on NBC on September 8th at 8:20 PM ET. This will be followed by a doubleheader on September 9th featuring the Green Bay Packers at the Chicago Bears at 1:00 PM ET, and then the Seattle Seahawks at the Denver Broncos at 4:25 PM ET.
NBC will also broadcast two Thanksgiving Day games this year. The first game, featuring the Minnesota Vikings at the Detroit Lions, will air at 12:30 PM ET. This will be followed by the Los Angeles Chargers at the Dallas Cowboys at 4:30 PM ET.
In addition to Sunday Night Football, NBC will also air 11 Thursday night games throughout the season beginning in Week 2. These games will be simulcast on both NBC and NFL Network.
Finally, Super Bowl LIII will take place on February 3rd, 2019 at 6:30 PM ET on CBS. However, if either of the NFC teams playing in the game is from a market that is served by an NBC affiliate station, that game will be carried on NBC as well.
NFL on ESPN
ESPN will televise NFL games on Monday nights this season. The network will also televise a game on Thursday night, as well as a game on Christmas night. NFL fans need to know about these TV channels so they can plan their viewing schedule accordingly. Here are the details.
How to watch
There are a few different ways that you can catch NFL games on ESPN this season. You can watch ESPN on cable, through a digital antenna, or with a streaming service.
If you have cable, you can simply tune in to ESPN and watch the game. If you don’t have cable, you can still catch ESPN by using a digital antenna. Antennas are a great way to watch ESPN without having to pay for a cable subscription.
Finally, you can also stream ESPN games through a number of different streaming services. Services like Sling TV, YouTube TV, and AT&T TV Now all offer ESPN as part of their packages. This means that you can watch NFL games on ESPN without ever having to sign up for cable.
What to expect
The NFL is back and so is ESPN’s award-winning television coverage. The biggest games and best stories will once again be featured on ESPN throughout the season.
This season, ESPN will televise Monday Night Football for the 36th consecutive year, continuing the longest-running primetime series in cable television history. MNF will air on ESPN through 2021.
ESPN’s Thursday Night Football schedule begins in Week 2 and runs through Week 16. All games will also be available on NFL Network and can be streamed live on Amazon Prime Video, Twitch, Yahoo Sports and Verizon Media’s Yahoo Sports app.
In addition to its regular-season game telecasts, ESPN will also televise the AFC Wild Card Playoffs and AFC Divisional Playoffs. ESPN Deportes will offer Spanish-language broadcasts of select NFL playoff games.
NFL on NFL Network
The NFL Network will televise seven live games during the 2020 NFL season, including a Thursday Night Football doubleheader on Thanksgiving and three straight nights of live games in primetime on Dec. 21-23. This will be the first time the NFL Network televises live games on three consecutive nights.
How to watch
There are several ways that you can watch NFL on NFL Network this season.
One option is to sign up for a cable or satellite TV package that includes NFL Network. This is the most straightforward way to get access to all of the network’s live programming, including its Thursday Night Football games, as well as its extensive on-demand offerings.
If you’re a cord-cutter or are looking to save some money on your TV bill, however, you’ll be happy to know that there are now a number of streaming services that offer NFL Network as part of their lineup. This includes over-the-top (OTT) services like Sling TV, AT&T TV Now, Vidgo, FuboTV and YouTube TV, as well as virtual MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors) like Hulu + Live TV and AT&T WatchTV.
Prices for these services vary, but generally start at around $45 per month. And if you’re not sure whether you want to commit to a streaming service just yet, most of them offer free trial periods of 7 days or more.
So if you’re looking to catch all the action from NFL on NFL Network this season, be sure to check out one of the streaming options listed above.
What to expect
This season, NFL games will be broadcast on five different TV channels: CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and the NFL Network. Each channel will broadcast games on Sundays, with some channels also broadcasting games on Mondays and Thursdays. Here’s a breakdown of what NFL fans can expect from each channel this season:
-CBS will broadcast 19 NFL games this season, including two Thursday Night Football games. CBS will also broadcast the Super Bowl this year.
-FOX will broadcast 18 NFL games this season, including two Monday Night Football games.
-NBC will broadcast 17 NFL games this season, including two Sunday Night Football games and one Thursday Night Football game. NBC will also broadcast the Thanksgiving Day game between the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.
-ESPN will broadcast 16 NFL games this season, all on Monday nights.
-The NFL Network will broadcast 13 NFL games this season, all on Thursdays.
