Commentary

Keeping the NFL Love: ABC Needs Its Monday Night Affair

Few things are given in television: broadcast ratings will continue to erode; "Joey" will still have no clue; there'll probably be a "CSI: Hoboken;" and the NFL will always get a rights fee increase from TV networks.

This time around that comes to 25 percent over the respective annual rights fees that CBS and Fox paid in their current contracts that will end at the end of next season. Though 2012, Fox will pay around $700 million a year; CBS about $620 million.

Even at these prices, you can't argue much. NFL ratings have been consistently strong - including the Super Bowl - for a number of years. NFL regular season ratings haven't fallen at the same rate general entertainment programming has on the networks. Not only that, but the NFL gets hard-to-come-by valuable male viewers for which advertisers regularly pay a premium.

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It's some of those male viewers who are now watching ABC's surging hit, "Desperate Housewives" --- with the hope to see these wives get even more desperate. They've already viewed one wet wife washing a car to attract a man, another having an affair with her young gardener, and a third running around naked after being locked out of her house.

ABC is the lone network yet to complete its NFL negotiations for the "Monday Night Football" (MNF) package - and it doesn't want to get locked out of the house either.

ABC, and its sister network, ESPN, shouldn't quibble about paying more for football - even though ABC claimed it has been losing money on "MNF" over the last several years.

The network can now afford to stay in the game as it has three shows posting major, top-drawer 18 to 49 ratings. This includes new shows "Housewives" and "Lost," as well as second year show, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

These days Walt Disney Co. has more pressure to make every inch of the company squeaky profitability clean - but it still needs to play by TV programming rules -- rules, which say sometimes you, have to overpay. NBC didn't play that game, but it had the Olympics and a No. 1 primetime schedule.

Taking in high-profile, male-targeted primetime advertisers for "MNF" is worth its weight in gold. At some $400,000 for a 30-second commercial, "Monday Night Football" continues to be a great association with big name automotive, telecommunications, technology, and financial advertisers. And the good news is the ESPN part of the package makes money.

ABC needs to stay in the football game - or take a shower with some desperate housewives.

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