# Tell me about NFL TV Coverage rules. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-nfl-tv-coverage-rules/420982 "2007-09-29T22:06:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-nfl-tv-coverage-rules/420982/1 "2007-09-29T22:06:35Z")
The title is self-explanitory. I’ve heard that the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area is home to many Pittsburgh Steelers fans, but WHP, the Harrisburg-York area CBS affiliate must show Baltimore Ravens games because Harrisburg is a secondary market to Baltimore. Does something like that happen anywhere else? What else about NFL TV coverage is there to know? ---
**Author:** ![MrFloppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrFloppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFloppy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-nfl-tv-coverage-rules/420982/2 "2007-09-29T22:21:36Z")
It is pretty compicated. Wikipedia has a decent article which should answer your question: > **[National Football League on television](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_on_television)** > > The television rights to broadcast National Football League (NFL) games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any sport in the world. Television brought professional football into prominence in the modern era after World War II. Since then, National Football League broadcasts have become among the most-watched programs on American television, and the financial fortunes of entire networks have rested on owning NFL broadcasting rights. This has raised questions about the impartiality of... ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-nfl-tv-coverage-rules/420982/3 "2007-09-29T22:24:36Z")
My experience from watching the NFL is that there is an early afternoon, and a late afternoon set of games. You get three games on Sunday. One is your markets game, and that is the only one on the national networks at that time for your region. The other two are the top games in their time slot for each network. I’m sure the Harrisburg situation is not uncommon, but there is a lot of money at stake. The NFL and/or the networks do a lot of work to ensure that they get the most viewers possible.