Week 1 NFL Broadcast Maps

These broadcast maps from The506.com aren’t as relevant for the viewer as they once were. After all, with NFL RedZone and various other packages, fans can watch pretty much whatever game they want.

But the maps are cool because they give us some insight into which teams, games and players are most important in different markets and around the nation – at least in the eyes of the TV folks who live and die on maximizing ratings.

CBS games
With no single signature game on the docket this week, CBS gives us a largely regional hodge-podge of telecasts. Interestingly, New England-Tennessee also gets widespread distribution through the Mountain States and Pacific Northwest.

The Patriots have been perhaps the NFL’s most widely disseminated team for the past decade. Meanwhile, fans in Colorado, who have to wait until primetime to watch Peyton Manning’s debut against Pittsburgh, will suffer with Bills-Jets in the early game.

Fox early game
The sexy Redskins-Saints game, featuring 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III and 2011 record-setting passer Drew Brees, generates widespread distribution across the country. One-off broadcast of the day: the few folks who live in a tiny sliver of central Nevada will apparently be fed Falcons-Chiefs.

Fox late game
The biggest match-up of Week 1, based upon 2011 success, is 49ers-Packers from Lambeau Field. Broadcast distribution reflects the scope of the game: it will be seen across almost all of the country, with easily the widest viewing area of any game in Week 1.

Panthers-Buccaneers and Seahawks-Cardinals get only limited regional distribution. Fans in the NFC South town of New Orleans will get Panthers-Bucs instead of 49ers-Packers.