Jim Williams: What would networks program if NFL games are missed?

Maybe a deal will be reached, but it would be interesting to see just what the TV networks would program if there is no NFL season in 2011.

CBS has a deal with the SEC, Conference USA and Mountain West, so maybe they could move a college football game over to Sunday. The network also has plenty of golf and could always use the PGA to fill any NFL gaps.

Fox has baseball and for the first time in a very long time we could see Sunday afternoon playoff games. The network also has a very extensive portfolio of European soccer and could put together a very interesting Sunday package of games that might attract a solid audience.

NBC has plenty of pre-Olympic programming that now airs on Universal Sports. They also have the PGA and Notre Dame football. It might be hard to get the Irish to play on Sundays but nothing is impossible.

ESPN/ABC networks have NASCAR which could be a big winner without the NFL. They also have plenty of college football and could work out deals that would show some of the top teams playing Sunday and Monday nights.

The NFL Network has a massive library of past games for fans that simply can not do without their NFL fix.

The sleeper in all of this is the NHL. The league’s new deal will be done this summer and one broadcast network and likely two cable networks will be able to air their broadcasts. The NHL only really benefits from an NFL lockout if it lasted into October.

The NBA has its own CBA issues. If you think the NFL has problems, then you have not been paying attention to basketball. There is a very good chance that the NBA will lose regular-season games and perhaps an entire season. So you can see why the NHL deal this summer could be a really contested contract.

Let’s just hope we are watching football and not talking about the lockout come September.

Examiner columnist Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this!