Cleveland Browns: Columbus TV station changes game after fan revolt

Cleveland Browns (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Cleveland Browns (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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The Cleveland Browns Week 17 finale against the Baltimore Ravens will be broadcast in Columbus after a backlash against a TV affiliate.

In what would’ve been a disaster for WBNS-TV in Columbus, the over-the-air station chose to air the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17, instead of the Cleveland Browns regular-season finale against the Baltimore Ravens.

Both games air at 4:25 p.m.

A Baltimore win gets the Ravens into the playoffs. A Cleveland win earns the Browns their third winning season since 1999.

Don’t blame the suits in New York for this one, either. Apparently, corporate had scheduled the Browns-Ravens for Columbus.

However, according to CBS’ play-by-play man Jim Nance, who appeared Friday on ESPN Cleveland’s The Really Big Show, the local affiliate has the right to reject what New York selects.

Basically, it was the call of WBNS’ general manager.

Naturally, after Nance’s appearance, this had Cleveland South, errrr, Columbus, irate.

Channel 10, as it’s known around Columbus, was bombarded with complains, ultimately helping to right this wrong.

Lots of fans love talking about the Browns getting run on national television, and while this isn’t prime time, the 4:25 p.m. window is the most watched pro football window, according to Nance.

It’s considered a national game because a majority of country will be fed the contest. The only places where the game won’t be shown will be in the Cincinnati, Dayton and Pittsburgh markets, in addition to the west coast markets that house teams playing at that time, such as Oakland- Kansas City and the Chargers-Chiefs.

The contest marks the first time in 17 years the Browns have appeared in this time slot. You’d have to go back all the way to 2001 when the Butch Davis-led Browns blew a 21-7 lead late in the fourth quarter as the last time the Browns were viewed by this much of the nation in this time slot.

Can you imagine half of Ohio not being able to watch the game? This is a place where the Browns have drawn 60,000 people for scrimmages at Ohio Stadium in 2014 and 2015.

As for the game comparisons, the outcome of the Steelers game is meaningless if the Ravens-Browns game carries more weight if you go purely by playoff implications.

Plus, Baltimore and Cleveland should provide a competitive contest, while the Steelers are expected to blowout a an injury ravaged Cincinnati squad.

Browns poised to play spoiler vs Ravens. dark. Next

There’s a ton of Browns’ fans and football fans in general who want to see Baker Mayfield. Nance described this as a coming out party for the Browns because they’ve never played in front of as men eye balls as they will Sunday.