In an odd twist, Disney says that it will simulcast the full “Monday Night Football” season on ESPN and ABC. This will greatly improve the availability of “Monday Night Football,” as ABC is a broadcast TV channel — you can watch it for free using a TV antenna. Not to mention, ABC is included with basic cable and streams on services like Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, and fuboTV.
As you may know, ABC was the original home of “Monday Night Football,” but ESPN inherited the franchise in 2006. Since its move to cable, “Monday Night Football” has never had a full schedule on ABC, so this is a very notable heel-turn. All games slated from October 2nd to December 4th will simulcast on ESPN and ABC, with an additional primetime game on December 30th and a doubleheader on January 6th. And, as previously announced, playoff contests will air on both ESPN and ABC the week of January 14th.
We can thank the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes for this change of pace. Without writers or actors, Disney is struggling to fill out ABC’s schedule. Reality TV is taking the place of scripted shows like “Grey’s Anatomy,” but football is being used to lure additional viewers. It seems to be an effective strategy—the 2023 “Monday Night Football” season opener aired on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 on September 11th and drew a record-breaking number of viewers.
While this is great for football fans, cable companies disapprove of Disney’s “Monday Night Football” scheme. In off-the-record conversations with Sports Business Journal, cable executives complained that “this marks another instance where expensive programming is leaking outside of the bundle.” Cable companies pay more for ESPN than any other channel, and ESPN is often used to upsell premium cable packages. By airing “Monday Night Football” on ABC, a broadcast channel, Disney is reducing the value and appeal of cable television.
If you want to watch “Monday Night Football” for free, go get a television antenna and screw it into the coaxial jack on your TV. Then, scan for channels (your TV may do this automatically) and watch ABC. Use a reception map to make sure that ABC is actually available in your area. Note that ABC is also included with basic cable and streams on services like YouTube TV.
Source: Disney via The Hollywood Reporter
