NBC did the unthinkable during Eagles-Packers broadcast

Whenever Philadelphia teams draw a national broadcast, it’s safe to assume the network will do whatever it can to show cheesesteak b-roll of Pat’s and Geno’s.

The most infamous example was in 2019, when ESPN went overboard with cheesesteak references during a Phillies game on Sunday Night Baseball. The “cringeworthy” affair, as dubbed by 94.1 WIP’s Rhea Hughes, was capped by Alex Rodriguez calling the Philly staple a “cheese sandwich.”

But during the Eagles victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football, NBC did the unthinkable: They avoided the cheesesteak entirely.

During the first quarter, the broadcast came back from a commercial break showing footage of Reading Terminal Market, quickly pivoting to roast pork sandwiches being made at DiNic’s.

“If you need something other than turkey, have a DiNic’s roast pork,” NBC’s Mike Tirico said. “Been around for more than a century in the Reading Terminal Market.”

One minor note to NBC’s Mike Tirico — you can skip “the” before Reading Terminal Market.

DiNic’s started as a butcher shop at 7th and Reed in 1918, where Gaetano Nicolosi would cook roasts for customers. He and his sons eventually started selling pork sandwiches out of his garage, which quickly became favorites in the neighborhood. The fourth generation of Nicolosi’s currently operate Tommy DiNic’s at Reading Terminal Market. It’s owned by Nicolosi’s grandson, Gartano, who runs it alongside his own son, Joey.

ESPN couldn’t help themselves by referencing Pat’s and Geno’s during the Eagles’ loss to the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football on Nov. 14. They also included another tired Philly trope — Rocky’s training montage up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. But it’s hard to fault them when the Eagles also turn to Rocky at Lincoln Financial Field during Birds games.

On Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders won an overtime thriller against the Seattle Seahawks on a Josh Jacobs’ 86-yard, game-winning TD run.

But most NFL RedZone subscribers ended up missing the action when the subscription service cut off the game at 7:30 p.m. and directed viewers to finish watching on CBS.

The issue? CBS didn’t have the national game Sunday, meaning most media markets across the country went directly to 60 Minutes.

Scott Hanson, the longtime host of NFL RedZone, jumped on Twitter Sunday night to explain that he wasn’t aware that CBS didn’t have the national broadcast, and apologized for unintentionally angering fans.

“Please believe me. I would never intentionally mislead you, our loyal viewers,” Hanson wrote. “There is no one on earth (that I know of) who wants to show you more football than I do. However: I am an employee — not the boss. I have orders just like many of you do at your jobs.”

To be fair, these are the rules NFL RedZone works under every week. It just so happened this one game went longer than the channel’s broadcast window and happened to be on the wrong channel on the wrong night.

By all accounts, it was a pretty good week for Fox, as far as ratings are concerned.

On Thursday, the network drew the highest NFL Thanksgiving Day ratings on record with Cowboys-Giants, averaging 42 million viewers (with the caveat that out of home viewing wasn’t measured until a few years ago).

On Friday, Fox’s broadcast of the World Cup group stage match between the U.S. and England drew 15.4 million viewers, which the network said was the most-watched American English-language broadcast in history (though there’s some debate).

And on Saturday, 17 million viewers turned in to watch Michigan blow out Ohio State, according to Fox, making it the most-watched college football game of the season.