Note to NBC affiliates: You’ll probably want to run the NFL games instead of local programming

Wednesday presented one of the rarest things in sports history: A Wednesday afternoon NFL game. Because of Covid-19, the Ravens and Steelers met for a midweek matinee, a nice respite for those hoping to watch a bit of football during this holiday season. The Steelers held on for a 19-14 victory to remain perfect this season with an 11-0 record.

But one local NBC affiliate in Quad Cities, Iowa decided that the 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. local newscasts should take priority instead of America’s passion, the National Football League. It did not end well for them.

Here’s the official statement from KWQC TV6 in Davenport, Iowa:

We never want to disappoint our TV6 viewers, especially during a year marked with so many disappointments. However, we acknowledge many area football fans were unhappy today (in fact, some were very angry) with the decision to air our regularly scheduled local newscasts and Jeopardy this afternoon.

Please know this was a difficult decision that was not made lightly.

Airing today’s re-scheduled game would have meant cancelling our 3pm, 4pm, 5pm and potentially our 6pm newscasts.

In addition to providing local news and weather information, these programs also provide the opportunity for local businesses to share their messages.

Although the game was available to our viewers on other streaming platforms, we did not anticipate the difficulty many had accessing those streams.

We appreciate the understanding shown by many of you, our viewers, and appreciate your patience as we continue to navigate through the challenges of 2020.

Let’s check in with Twitter, who doesn’t appear happy with the decision to air The Kelly Clarkson Show (today I learned Kelly Clarkson has a talk show!), and something called the Paula Sands Show.