If you were hoping to catch the Pittsburgh Steelers versus Cincinnati Bengals game from the comfort of your home on your local CBS station this weekend, chances are you won’t be able to do do. According to 506 Sports, the Steelers-Bengals Week 11 broadcast will only be available in the markets surrounding the two cities.
AFC North football is usually a national draw for football fans, but the Bengals are a paltry 3-6, and the Steelers have lost three of their last four games to fall to 5-4. Though, last time these teams played a few weeks ago it was a great game that went back and forth with a final score of 33-31.
The majority of the country will instead be watching the 6-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the 6-3 Buffalo Bills. That’s an understandable matchup to receive attention, but the limited market for Steelers-Bengals shows how far the AFC North has fallen this season.
The Steelers-Bengals rematch will be called by Kevin Harlan, Trent Green and sideline reporter Melanie Collins. The Steelers have been on CBS several times this year but were always covered by J.J. Watt and Ian Eagle. Ben Skowronek is Green’s nephew, so there will once again be familial ties on the CBS broadcast.
Despite the Steelers’ losing skid over the last month, they have remained a strong draw for viewers. Their Week 8 matchup against the Packers pulled roughly 25 million viewers, and their most recent game on Sunday Night Football against the Los Angeles Chargers had 20.6 million viewers.
If it was Joe Burrow, not Joe Flacco, playing in this game, it almost certainly would have received more coverage from CBS. At least they are receiving more attention than the Chargers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, denoted by the green areas of the above map.
If you want to watch the game and don’t have NFL Sunday Ticket, you may have to head out to your local sports bar for the 1 PM/EST kickoff on Sunday.
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