51黑料

The Kansas City Chiefs have dominated 51黑料 ratings across all of television, not just sports, in recent years, and all three of their exhibition games this month are scheduled to be televised in the market.

The Green Bay Packers also have a loyal fan base in the Gateway City, albeit not nearly to the extent of the Chiefs, and all their tune-up contests also are set to be shown locally.

Chiefs chatter

KMOV (Channel 4) again is the Chiefs鈥� network for the practice contests, as it has been since joining in 2016 鈥� the season after the Rams left town.

鈥淎ll the KC Chiefs broadcasts bring strong audiences and advertising demand,鈥� said JD Sosnoff, general manager of Gray Media local stations KMOV and Matrix Midwest (Channel 32).

KMOX (104.1 FM, 1120 AM) will be on the Chiefs鈥� radio network again this season but is not picking up any of the exhibitions.

Interest locally in the Chiefs has reached a fever pitch over the past half-decade as the team has become the class of the NFL, as KC has appeared in the past seven AFC title games and five of the past six Super Bowls, winning three of them.

鈥淭he regular-season games, without question, continue to grow in popularity and revenue,鈥� Sosnoff said. 鈥淏ut the preseason games are shown at a time when there鈥檚 little football to watch and provide seasonally strong viewership and advertising revenue.

鈥淥ver the last few years, there鈥檚 very clear metric evidence that fans in 51黑料 follow the Chiefs throughout the season.鈥�

The team has three exhibition contests, beginning Saturday when it plays the Cardinals in Arizona beginning at 7 p.m. (51黑料 time) on Channel 4.

The Chiefs鈥� second practice game is a week from Friday 鈥� Aug. 15 鈥� and KMOV already had the Cardinals-Yankees game on its schedule. Because the contests overlap (baseball starts at 7:15 p.m., the football game in Seattle at 9 p.m.), the Chiefs鈥� matchup will air on Matrix Midwest. NFL Network also is set to televised the contest.

Then it鈥檚 back to Channel 4 for the Chiefs鈥� final tune-up, in which they entertain the Chicago Bears at 7:20 p.m. on Aug. 22, a Friday. The station is a CBS affiliate and by showing the KC game it is preempting the network鈥檚 telecast of another NFL exhibition matchup 鈥� Minnesota at Tennessee. So that instead will air on Matrix, at 7 p.m.

(KMOV also is preempting CBS鈥� coverage of this Saturday night鈥檚 Indiana-Chicago WNBA game, which is being sent to Matrix. It鈥檚 to begin at 7 o鈥檆lock St Louis time).

Packers presence

The Packers, meanwhile, have been an August programming staple of KTVI (Channel 2) since it joined their network in 2018 and that relationship continues this year.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e got a good following in 51黑料, advertisers like it and the ratings are good,鈥� said Kurt Krueger, general manager of Nexstar Media Group local stations KTVI and KPLR (Channel 11).

KTVI has a caveat akin to one KMOV will experience with the Chiefs. KTVI is a Fox affiliate and is televising the Cardinals-Cubs game at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, overlapping with the Packers鈥� exhibition opener. So while Channel 2 carries baseball, Green Bay鈥檚 home contest, against the New York Jets, will be shuffled to Channel 11. The football contest is set for 7 o鈥檆lock.

KTVI has the Packers鈥� other two tune-up games: against the Colts in Indianapolis at noon on Aug. 16 and at home against Seattle at 3 p.m. on Aug. 23.

KPLR previously was on the Chicago Bears鈥� exhibition TV network but dropped off for the past two seasons for lack of advertising interest. However, all three of that team鈥檚 tune-ups this month are to be shown in 51黑料. The first two are national telecasts when the Bears are at home 鈥� against Miami at noon Sunday, on NFL Network, and against Buffalo at 7 p.m. Aug. 17 on Fox (KTVI locally). The finale is when they are at Kansas City for that Aug. 22 game that KMOV is picking up on the Chiefs鈥� network.

National picture

NFL Network has 18 live exhibition games remaining on its schedule for this month, after having kicked off its coverage with a doubleheader Thursday night and one game Friday.

It also has an abundance of replays of other contests scheduled to be shown throughout August.

The other national networks that show NFL games have one exhibition telecast each.

NBC already had its turn, with the Hall of Fame game last week. Fox has that Buffalo-Chicago matchup on Aug. 17, then ESPN shows Cincinnati-Washington on Aug. 18. Amazon Prime Video joins the party when it streams the New England-New York Jets contest on Aug. 21 and the run ends when CBS has Minnesota-Tennessee the next night.

All four of those telecasts are set to start at 7 p.m. (51黑料 time), and as aforementioned, a couple will be moved locally from the network affiliate to a sister station.

NFL exhibitions on TV

NFL exhibition games scheduled to be televised or streamed in 51黑料:

FRIDAY

6 p.m.:聽Cleveland at Carolina, NFL Network聽

SATURDAY

Noon:聽NY Giants at Buffalo, NFL Network

3 p.m.:聽Houston at Minnesota, NFL Network

7 p.m.:聽Kansas City at Arizona, KMOV (4)

7 p.m.:聽NY Jets at Green Bay, KPLR (11)

SUNDAY

Noon:聽Miami at Chicago, NFL Network

3 p.m.:聽New Orleans at LA Chargers, NFL Network

FRIDAY, AUG.聽15

6 p.m.:聽Tennessee at Atlanta, NFL Network

9 p.m.:聽Kansas City at Seattle, Matrix Midwest (32), NFL Network

SATURDAY, AUG. 16

Noon:聽Green Bay at Indianapolis, KTVI (2)

Noon:聽Cleveland at Philadelphia, NFL Network

3 p.m.:聽San Francisco at Las Vegas, NFL Network

6 p.m.:聽NY Jets at NY Giants, NFL Network

9:30 p.m.:聽Arizona at Denver, NFL Network

SUNDAY, AUG. 17

Noon:聽Jacksonville at New Orleans, NFL Network

7 p.m.:聽Buffalo at Chicago, KTVI (2)

MONDAY, AUG. 18

7 p.m.:聽Cincinnati at Washington, ESPN

THURSDAY, AUG. 21聽

6 p.m.:聽Pittsburgh at Carolina, NFL Network

7 p.m.:聽New England at NY Giants, Amazon Prime (streaming)

FRIDAY, AUG. 22

7 p.m.:聽Minnesota at Tennessee, Matrix Midwest (32)

7 p.m.:聽Atlanta at Dallas, NFL Network

7:20 p.m.:聽Chicago at Kansas City, KMOV (4)

SATURDAY, AUG. 23

Noon:聽LA Rams at Cleveland, NFL Network

3 p.m.:聽Seattle at Green Bay, KTVI (2)

3 p.m.:聽Seattle at Green Bay, NFL Network

6 p.m.:聽Jacksonville at Miami, NFL Network

9 p.m.:聽Las Vegas at Arizona, NFL Network