ABC affiliates gripe about multiple Super Bowl simulcasts

Stations fear revenue losses as Disney offers several ways to watch game

Once again, ABC and its affiliates are clashing over network programming. But this time, its about how one of the biggest television and sports events of the year is being distributed. 

Disney – which is the parent company of broadcast network ABC – is taking a multiplatform approach to broadcasting Super Bowl LXI, the first time in twent

y years the network is airing the game as it was shut out of the Super Bowl rotation among CBS, NBC, and Fox until 2021 when new media deals took affect, returning ABC to the rotation. 

But there was a catch – the game would also be simulcasted on ESPN, which Disney also owns. Disney agreed to shift Monday Night Football exclusively to ESPN in 2006 after 36 years at ABC, leaving them as the only Big Four broadcast network without the NFL. MNF returned to ABC in 2020, mostly as an ESPN simulcast, and led to ABC receiving at least ten games per year, and Super Bowl XLI from Inglewood, Calif. 

But ABC affiliates are hardly cheering. According to CNBC, several big affiliate groups are not happy with Disney airing the game not only on ESPN, but with numerous altcasts with the Mannings on ESPN 2, Pat McAfee on ESPNU, a stats-focused telecast on NFL Network, and a Sunday Funday theme featuring Star Wars on Disney Channel and Disney XD – not to mention streaming on Disney +. Those groups, according to reports include Sinclair, Nexstar, and Tegna. Hearst, which owns a small stake in ESPN, also has a large number of ABC affiliates.

The issue is a sore spot for ABC stations because they fear the additional telecasts would drain viewers away from their outlets, and perhaps earn lower ad rates, which account for as much as three percent of their yearly revenue. According to a station group CEO, ABC affiliates’ local ad revenue during the big game could decline as much as 35 percent from last year, compared to NBC stations who carried the game as the only other outlets simulcasting the Super Bowl were Peacock and Telemundo (in Spanish.)  Of the four major networks, ABC has the most affiliates (around 220) as the network only owns eight stations, located mostly in large markets like Chicago’s WLS-TV.

Another is stations pay the networks to carry their programming in the form of “reverse compensation” – a complete reversal from what was standard from the 1950s to the 1990s when the networks paid stations to carry programming. When sports rights and entertainment programming became expensive in the 2000s, the networks made the affiliates shoulder the cost. Recently, six Nexstar stations and WPLG Miami dumped their respective CBS and ABC affiliations, as it no longer made financial sense for them. 

This is the latest fight between the networks and affiliates as streaming has become prominent in viewers’ lives – not to mention political changes as the White House and the FCC have become vocal in what type of programming should be airing on broadcasters. Last year, Nexstar and Sinclair stations temporarily pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live from its ABC affiliates after the host made jokes about Charlie Kirk as FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened affiliates’ licenses over “public interest obligations” stations need to meet. This came as Nexstar was in the process of buying Tegna, amid Carr looking to “empower stations against the broadcast networks”. ABC and Disney are currently battling Carr over station licenses amid alleged DEI allegations as they’re saying is a smokescreen as Kimmel continues to make jokes about President Donald Trump.

Disney defended its multiplatform approach. “The Super Bowl is the year’s most-watched telecast, and our broad distribution across ESPN, ABC, and Disney+ will give fans everywhere more ways than ever to enjoy the game,” said a Disney spokesperson to CNBC. “Making marquee live events available via streaming is a well-established industry practice. Fox and NBC have recently offered the Super Bowl on Tubi and Peacock, and we’ve similarly streamed ‘The Oscars’ on Hulu and ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on Disney+, for example. There’s nothing unprecedented about this approach as we are meeting the modern consumer where they are.”

Disney later issued another statement to CNBC as the situation is currently being discussed by the ABC Affiliate Governors Board: “Our ABC affiliates are important partners and we always take that into careful consideration when making these decisions. We’ve successfully navigated similar situations in collaboration with the governing board many times before, and this is no different.”

Regarding the simulcasts, ABC affiliates knew the Super Bowl would be concurrently airing on ESPN when the deal was announced in 2021, and they already have the Mannings on ESPN 2 on most weeks – not to mention past “Funday” events competing with past ABC telecasts, so it isn’t known why they’re showing concern now. CBS affiliates didn’t complain when Nickelodeon offered a kid-focused altcast of the game, which targeted a different audience, as did the Univision simulcast, which targeted Spanish-language viewers. 

As for these altcasts, it’s understandable to offer such an alternative to the main telecast. But altcasts with the Mannings (whose ratings have declined), Pat McAfee (who is overexposed enough as it is) and Star Wars are not needed, as Disney risks cannibalizing Super Bowl XLI with too many ways to watch – with hardly any of these “alternatives” appealing.