Seahawks-Giants on ‘Monday Night Football’ gets ABC simulcast due to Hollywood strikes

If you’ve kept up with entertainment news lately, you’ll be aware that there are ongoing strikes by both the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). You’re probably wondering what the heck this has to do with NFL football. Well when there’s a void in prime-time programming, you need to fill those voids.

Enter ‘Monday Night Football’ on ESPN. There are probably enough younger NFL fans who have only known MNF as an ESPN staple, but for roughly 35 years it was the go-to evening programming for ABC. Only in recent years have some MNF games been placed back on ABC as part of an ESPN simulcast, but with the strike ongoing, Sports Business Journal reports that virtually the entire slate of MNF games will be on over-the-air television just like old times.

That means the Oct. 2 Week 4 game between the Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants, which was originally meant to air only on ESPN, will also be on ABC. This really wouldn’t have changed much in local Seattle and New York markets, as those games would’ve been picked up by local affiliates per NFL rules. Those outside of those markets now will no longer need an ESPN subscription to watch the game.

Here are the other games previously earmarked just for ESPN that will additionally be on ABC:

• Seahawks-Giants (Oct. 2)
• Packers-Raiders (Oct. 9)
• Cowboys-Chargers (Oct. 16)
• 49ers-Vikings (Oct. 23)
• Raiders-Lions (Oct. 30)
• Chargers-Jets (Nov. 6)
• Broncos-Bills (Nov. 13)
• Bears-Vikings (Nov. 27)*
• Bengals-Jaguars (Dec. 4)*
• Chiefs-Patriots (Dec. 18)*

*Games are subject to flex scheduling.

Besides, there’s no better scripted and dramatically written television show out there than the Natio——sorry, I was hacked.