NFL to Move National Window to 4:25 PM ET

The highest rated and most-viewed program on television will have a slightly later timeslot starting this year.

The NFL announced Thursday that the NFL national window will move back from 4:15 PM ET to 4:25 PM starting this season. The national window, which airs each week on FOX or CBS, is typically the highest rated and most-viewed program of the week on television.

The rationale behind the move is to prevent overlap between the end of the 1:00 PM ET regional window and the start of the national window.

The move figures to have a major impact on primetime television. The national window typically wreaks havoc on the CBS Sunday night line-up, which starts at 7 PM ET with ’60 Minutes’ and is frequently pushed back several minutes by NFL coverage.

FOX should have less of a problem. The network already has ‘The OT’ postgame show as a buffer between NFL coverage and the network’s primetime slate, which begins at 8 PM ET.

(Thursday’s news from NFL Communications)