Wow. NBC and its parent company Universal must be really desperate to get new streaming subscribers. Or, perhaps, as most angry football fans wrote on social media, they are greedy. Saturday's NFL playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs was shown exclusively on Peacock, which you have to pay extra for to receive.

Not only did you have to subscribe at $5.99/month, the over-the-air network dangled its streaming exclusivity in our collective faces. The Dolphins-Chiefs kickoff was at 5:15pm Pacific Time. NBC did a pregame show, which began sort of like a PBS pledge drive. They told us over and over and over again how your new subscription would allow you to enjoy the game, and all of the other content Peacock has to offer. Practically the only thing missing was complimentary coffee mugs autographed personally by Mike Tirico, Lester Holt, and Jimmy Fallon. They showed how cold it was in K-C. They showed quarterback Patrick Mahomes tossing a ball on the sidelines. They showed Taylor Swift arriving, wearing a Chiefs jacket, and saying how she was preparing to 'brave the elements' while making her way to a luxury box to root on boyfriend Travis Kelce. All of this for three hours, and about 72 dollars a year.

But then NBC's pregame pledge drive approach went into drug-dealer mode. The network stayed on the air until 5:30, showing the game, but not every play, and a slew of commentators trying to talk about what a great night this was going to be. They were giving something for free, hoping it would be a great hook, and then at the bottom of the hour, they pulled the plug on you. If you needed more of a fix, it could simply be had for $5.,99, and your friendly American streamer.

I chose another streaming option, and this one was free. I listened to the Westwood One radio broadcast. There wasn't a local station on my dial carrying the game, so I found their website. Amazingly during the time NBC was still on the air, Kevin Harlan's radio play-by-play was sync'd up perfectly with the TV. When NBC went away and local news appeared on TV, I stuck with audio (Harlan's word pictures were great, including the weather, and even a couple of obligatory Taylor Swift mentions). Fans in the Kansas City and Miami markets were spared the subscription requirement. The NBC affiliates there carried the game (I was hoping Rams-Lions would be the Peacock game for that reason).

The Peacock network is crowing about the numbers they received, boasting that 23 million people forked over the six-dollar ticket price, although they didn't say how many people were new subscribers and signed up just because of the game. They boasted that it was the most live-streamed event ever, although as more than one social media comment pointed out, the audience would have been larger if were on 'television'. NBC's Hallie Jackson said on her news program (on Peacock) days before the game, that they paid 110 million dollars for the broadcast. Twenty-three million viewers at six bucks a pop equals 138 million, minus the 110 million dollar check to the NFL, is 28 million dollars. Not bad for three hours of work, and tons of promoting.

It's easy to make the case for greed, but it smells of desperation. And yes, some corporate-centric self-promotion. Broadcasters still think that streaming is the future. It was great during the pandemic, mostly for tons of content purchased elsewhere, but now, the services are costing more, content is costing more, and there are so many services out there that people are not going to pay for them all. When Peacock debuted in 2023, it was free. Now, it's $5.99 a month, which, by the way, is for their bottom-of-the-line service. The 'Premium Plus' version (whatever that is, likely without commercials) is $11.99. The NBC pregame gang probably thought that would not convince you to get out your credit card moments before kickoff.

While listening to Harlan's descriptions, one thought constantly stayed with me. I wished for a one-sided game, and no significant highlight moment that would instantly become an NFL classic. I got my wish. Kansas City beat Miami 26-7 in a game that had more field goals than touchdowns. Shame on NBC for bilking loyal viewers, and shame on the NFL for allowing it to happen.

Even more shame: Watching CNN's coverage of the Iowa caucuses tonight, I was shocked that the supposed 'down the middle' network cut away from what was supposed to be the highlight of the night. After going through the electronic county-by-county maps and who got what percentage of the votes, winner Donald Trump gave his victory speech at his Iowa headquarters in Des Moines. Trump essentially thanked everyone he knew, and even congratulated his fellow candidates, and then, just as he started to say something of substance, CNN bailed. Trump said if being back in the White House, he was going to "drill baby drill", and "seal up the border." Then the network cut away. Remember, Trump didn't appear in any of the Republican debates, so while no matter how vile or disgusting (or terrific, depending on your point of view) you think he is, we should get to hear what he had to say and get to make up our own minds. I had to (gasp) switch to Fox News to hear the end of his speech.

All about the Hamiltons: There's plenty of shame to go around tonight, and this award goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The baseball team announced their annual 'Dodgerfest' will be held at Dodger Stadium on February 10, but this year, for the first time, they will be charging admission. Tickets are ten bucks, and several players are scheduled to appear, including Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is being viewed as magnanimous for deferring most of his 700-million dollar contract, but the Dodgers have decided instead to stick it to the fans. There's plenty of food, drink, and merchandise to buy, but so far no public explanation for the entry fee.

Beat L-A!: The Rams lost to Detroit in the NFL playoffs on Sunday, but Thursday was a much worse day for Los Angeles teams. In the afternoon, the Kings literally lost in the final second of overtime to the Florida Panthers (the winning goal came with seven-tenths of a second remaining) for their eighth straight loss. About the time that puck found the net, the UCLA Bruins were down by 50 points at Utah, and lost 90-44 to the Utes. If you bailed from that basketball game, you could flip over to TNT to see the Lakers host the Phoenix Suns. L-A was down by 31 points at one point, but rebounded to lose by 18. Entering tonight against Oklahoma City, the Lakers are two games under .500 (19-21), losers of six of their last eight games, and 11 of their last 15. On the brighter side, their regular season is now half over.

Worth watching: Before writing this tonight, I watched the first 15 minutes of the Emmy Awards on Fox, and that first segment alone was 15 times better than the Golden Globe Awards on CBS last week. Anthony Anderson (of Black-ish fame) was the host, and in his opening monologue, paid tribute to TV shows of his youth like Good Times and The Facts of Life (also saying he had a crush on Tootie, and even Mrs. Garrett). He then announced that instead of music playing when speeches got too long, his mama was going to come on stage and tell them to shut up. She then stood up in the audience and yelled at her son to move it along. Laughing, though, quickly turned to misty eyes when first presenter Christina Applegate, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, came out walking with a cane. After presenting the first award, Applegate welcomed comedy legend Carol Burnett, who presented Best Actress in a comedy. Winner Quinta Brunson from Abbott Elementary had nothing prepared, and fell into tears while Applegate and Burnett were on stage with her. A lot of emotion and drama, and all before the first commercial (I'll watch the rest later).