Many pundits questioned why CBS sent their top NFL broadcast crew of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo to the Colts versus Chiefs matchup Sunday, while the Bills and Dolphins faced off in a game featuring two undefeated teams. 93.7 The Fan host Andrew Fillipponi had the same question and asked CBS sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala how they decide who goes where.
“It was obvious to everybody that Bills and Dolphins was the game of the week yesterday and yet Tony Romo and Jim Nantz were in Indianapolis,” Fillipponi said. “You now work for CBS. Can you tell us how that happens? Why didn’t CBS send their best announcers to the best game yesterday, Aditi?”
“These things are decided several weeks in advance,” Kinkhabwala revealed. “They’re decided two or three weeks in advance, and sometimes what you think is something obviously does not turn out to be that way. For instance, this coming week, the ‘A’ crew — the Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfson crew — are going to Green Bay. Now, part of that is because Green Bay is an NFC team and there’s not always an opportunity for CBS to get Green Bay. It’s a national window, 4:00 PM game, it’ll go to the entire country –“
“And it’s Brian Hoyer for the Patriots!”, Fillipponi interrupted.
“Exactly. My game, which is actually the fifth or sixth game, I think is arguably one of the two best games. Jaguars at Eagles. You’ve got Doug Pederson going back to Philly. Philly is one of the only 3-0 teams. The Jags have won two straight. They’re looking really good. They have a ton of talent on defense.”
According to Richard Deitsch of The Athletic, CBS told their broadcast teams in August where their assignments would be for the first three weeks of the NFL season and didn’t want to shift announcers around this early in the season.
They still should have shifted many parts of the country that got Indy KC to Miami Buffalo even if Nantz and Romo were in Indy. Their is no reason more markets got KC INDY