LOS ANGELES (AP) — ABC will be airing more “Monday Night Football” games than originally planned.
An additional 10 games originally set to appear only on ESPN will be simulcast on ABC. The additional games will be on network television because of the ongoing strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Disney, Netflix, Amazon and others.
The strikes, which have been going on for months, have delayed most of the upcoming fall television season.
When the NFL schedule was announced in May, ABC had four exclusive regular-season games — including Monday night’s matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers — and five being part of an ESPN simulcast.
Last Monday’s game between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills averaged 22.6 million viewers on ESPN, ABC, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. New York’s 22-16 overtime victory was the most-watched Monday night game since ESPN took over the package in 2006.
The move also means that ABC has a game all 18 weeks of the regular season along with simulcasts of two playoff games.