ABC will televise Saturday's NFL games, with Fox handling Sundays.
ESPN's Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire and Suzy Kolber will call Tennessee at Baltimore at 4 p.m., with ABC's Monday Night Football crew of Al Michaels, John Madden and Lisa Guerrero calling Dallas at Carolina at 8 p.m. Fox takes over Sunday with Seattle at Green Bay at 1 p.m. Look for a lot of destiny talk by the Fox No. 1 crew - Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Cris Collinsworth - as the miracle Packers come into the playoffs as the team no one wants to play.
"Watching Green Bay struggle through the middle of the season, I can guarantee you that every team in the NFC couldn't wait until the Packers were officially eliminated from the playoffs," Aikman said. "Brett Favre has been telling me all season long, every time I've seen him, that he truly believes this year's team is as good as the 1996 team that won the Super Bowl."
CBS airs Denver at Indianapolis at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Making history
For the first time, NFL games played between Dec. 22-28 were the top-rated program in all 30 NFL markets. The record was 28 markets in the first week of this season and Week 2 of 2002.
For the season, NFL games were the top-rated program in local markets a record 73 percent of the time, up from 69 percent last year and 55 percent in 2001.
Predictably, the Milwaukee market was tops, posting a 45.2 rating for Green Bay-Denver.
The Tampa Bay market rated just a 24.0 for the Bucs finale - by far its lowest rating the past two seasons - as the bandwagon was officially abandoned. In Nashville, the game posted a 34.7.
Kids on the block
If you need a break from the college bowls or NFL playoffs, check out the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Ch. 8 Saturday. Coverage of the national high school all-star football game, which claims to have the top 78 players in the country, kicks off at 1 p.m. from the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Some of the top players also are expected to make their college choices during the telecast.
15 minutes still not up
Fox Sports Net will televise the popular British show Late Night Poker five nights a week at midnight beginning Wednesday.
The one-hour show is taped in a dark studio in Wales with a poker lounge ambiance and promises more drama and action than other poker productions on ESPN, Bravo and the Travel Channel. While the American productions use lipstick cameras to see players cards, Late Night Poker uses under-the-table cameras.
The British show has drawn much praise. Esquire magazine called it "a hidden gem" and "surprise TV hit,", while Card Player Magazine said Late Night Poker is "how poker should be televised."
Odds and ends
NFL Network hired Hugh Douglas (Jacksonville), Donnie Edwards (San Diego), Dhani Jones (Giants) and Patrick Kerney (Atlanta) as playoff reporters. ... NFL Network's flagship NFL Total Access will air special playoff editions the first three weekends in January after each day's second playoff game. ... Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis was added as a contributor to CBS Sports' At The Half halftime show for the regular season.
