From nflgetreal.com: Time Warner Cable claims that despite not carrying the NFL Network, “In most areas, Time Warner Cable customers will see more than 100 live NFL games in 2006″.
Really? Let’s do the math, then.
There are 17 weeks in the NFL season. Each week, there are nationally broadcast games on Sunday and Monday nights. On Sunday afternoons, there are two broadcast networks who have two timeslots each – 1pm and 4pm (EST). However, only one network has doubleheader rights for each week. Therefore, the maximum number of games that a cable operator can possibly show in any given week is 5. 5 * 17 = 85.
What about the playoffs, you say? That’s 11 games. 85 + 11 = 96. Still short of 100.
OK, so surely Time Warner’s claim is saved by special weeks, like Thanksgiving and opening weekend. Week 1 had a Thursday night game and an extra Monday night game. There are two games on Thanksgiving. 96 + 4 = 100. What a relief!
But wait! There is no Sunday night game in Week 7 and no Monday night game in Week 17. Subtract 2. Now we’re back down to 98.
So what does this mean? Time Warner can only claim more than 100 games if they count preseason games – and nobody counts preseason for anything meaningful. Or worse yet, it means that Time Warner is claiming the 8 games on Thursdays and Saturdays that the NFL Network is broadcasting – a channel they won’t be carrying on their system.
While it’s only a difference of a couple of games, it’s another example of how Time Warner is fudging the math to deceive its customers. Shameful.