If you have plans for next weekend, want to watch the Chargers in the NFL playoffs, and aren't sure what day or time the team will play, join the club.

The Chargers will play either Saturday (Jan. 13) or Sunday (Jan. 14) at either 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m. or 5 p.m.

That doesn't help much, does it? To get a better read on when the Chargers will play, you either need a crystal ball or you need to think like a TV executive.

As the highest seed in the AFC, the Chargers will play the lowest-surviving seed after this weekend's games.

Let's assume this weekend's AFC home teams -- No. 3-seeded Indianapolis and No. 4 New England -- win. That scenario would send the Colts to Baltimore and the Patriots to San Diego.

Despite the best record in the NFL, despite star players like LaDainian Tomlinson and Shawne Merriman, the Chargers aren't a big national draw. So the best guess is the Colts-Ravens game would get CBS's No. 1 time slot with the Chargers second.

The AFC games, however, will be very much affected by what happens in the NFC this weekend.

Let's assume No. 3-seeded Philadelphia beats the No. 6-seeded New York Giants and No. 4 Seattle beats No. 5 Dallas.

That would send Philadelphia to New Orleans and Seattle to Chicago.

From a network TV standpoint, the Eagles-Saints game is the best match. That probably would put that game at 5 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 13) on Fox.

Again, thinking like a TV executive, the Colts-Ravens game is next-best and would probably go to 1:30 p.m. Sunday (Jan. 14).

That leaves two TV spots open -- 1:30 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 13) and 10 a.m. Sunday (Jan. 14).

The Chargers won't play at home at 10 a.m., so the best guess -- and it's only a guess -- is the Patriots-Chargers game would be played at 1:30 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 13) on CBS with the Seahawks-Bears at 10 a.m. Sunday (Jan. 14) on Fox.

Now, should the Cowboys upset Seattle or if the Giants beat the Eagles, all bets are off.

The Cowboys are the No. 1 draw in TV sports. If they're playing, they will command the premier slot.

The Giants -- and for that matter, the Jets, should they beat the Patriots -- would get feature billing if they play next week.

And those games will affect the Chargers' kickoff time.

So keep your scorecard handy and guess along with the rest of us.

More NFL

- Both of Saturday's NFL playoff games are on NBC and feature the Chiefs at Colts at 1:30 p.m. and Cowboys at Seahawks at 5 p.m. Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth call the first game with Bob Neumeier on the sidelines. Al Michaels and John Madden call the nightcap with Andrea Kremer on the sidelines.

- Sunday's NFL playoff games are Jets-Patriots at 10 a.m. on CBS and Giants-Eagles at 1:30 p.m. on Fox. Jim Nantz and Phil Simms work the CBS game. Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver call the Fox game.

- NBC's "Sunday Night Football" wrapped up its first season averaging 17.5 million viewers -- 1.2 million more viewers than ABC's "Monday Night Football" in 2005. Denver was the highest-rated market for Sunday Night Football with a 21.8 rating and a 32 share of the audience, followed by Indianapolis (18.3/27), Dallas (17.0/25) and San Diego. In San Diego, the Sunday games had a 16.9 rating and a 28 share of the audience.

- New York Giants running back Tiki Barber, who will retire after the season, is drawing interest from NBC, Fox and ESPN.

Bowl wrapup

- Fox will carry Monday's BCS Championship Game between Ohio State and Florida at 5 p.m. with Thom Brennaman, Barry Alvarez, Charles Davis and Chris Myers working the game. ESPN 800 will carry the game on radio, but make sure you get to a TV before kickoff because Brent Musburger has the radio call along with Bob Davie, Todd Blackledge and Lisa Salters.

- Fox's coverage of Boise State's thrilling Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma on Monday night pulled a solid 8.3 rating with a 15 share of the audience and was seen by 13.7 million viewers.

- Monday's Rose Bowl telecast on ABC, matching USC and Michigan, had a 14.5 rating.

Local notes

- The Padres and XX Sports Radio 1090 are close to announcing a five-year extension. The team and station are in the final year of an original five-year contract. The original deal gave the Padres $5 million a season, which made it very hard for the radio station to make a profit. It's unclear at this point if 1090 officials got a break on the new deal. Jeff Overton, vice president of communications for the Padres, said the club has had discussions with 1090 and both parties are happy with each other.

- The timeline to replace Tim Flannery in the Padres' radio booth has been pushed back a bit. Overton said the Padres hope to have a short list of replacements in place by the end of next week, start interviews and name a replacement by the end of January.

- Bill Werndl, who partners with Darren Smith from 3-7 p.m.on XX Sports Radio 1090, worked three college bowl games -- the Chick-fil-A, Fiesta and Orange bowls -- in four days as a spotter for TV or radio. He worked with Matt Vasgersian -- the TV voice of the Padres on Channel 4 -- in the Orange Bowl, and predicted a bright future for Vasgersian on the national level.

- San Diego State's men's basketball game against BYU on Saturday will be carried live at 2 p.m. on Versus.

- With CSTV and the mtn. now on Cox, college basketball fans get three games Saturday on CSTV and two on the mtn., as well as several games during the week.

- The Race & Sports Radio Show, a fixture on Saturday and Sunday mornings on KOGO (600) since 1999, moves to XX Sports Radio 1090. The show will air at 9 a.m., starting Saturday.

Tee it up

The Golf Channel is the new home of the PGA Tour and has full coverage of the Aloha Swing -- this weekend's Mercedes-Benz Championship and next week's Sony Open in Hawaii -- the first full-field PGA event of the year.

Coverage of the Mercedes starts at 3 p.m. today, Saturday and Sunday.

Coverage of the Sony Open starts at 4 p.m. Thursday with Michelle Wie making her 2007 debut in that event.

Around the dial

- ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" series resumes tonight at 6. For the first time, all the bouts will be broadcast in HD.

- The Amp'd Mobile World Supercross Series kicks off its season with a live telecast at 7 p.m. Saturday on SPEED from Angel Stadium in Anaheim. This is only the second live telecast of an Amp'd Mobile Supercross race.

- Mike Wilbon has signed a multiyear deal that will expand his duties at ESPN and ABC. He'll serve as a full-time studio analyst for ABC's NBA coverage. In addition to continuing as co-host on "Pardon the Interruption," he'll do more on-location analysis for ESPN and ABC coverage of the NBA and NFL. Wilbon will continue as a columnist for the Washington Post, but ESPN will now be his first priority.

- ESPN and Little League Baseball have reached a contract extension through 2014. The deal includes the U.S. and World Championship games on ABC. Beginning this year, the ESPN network will carry at least 49 games across all eight divisions of Little League Baseball and Softball and 32 LLWS games from Williamsport, Pa.

- NBC Sports won the Media Eclipse Award for National Television -- Live Racing, for its production of the 2006 Preakness Stakes.

- John Maffei's TV/Radio Column appears every Friday. He can be reached at (760) 740-3547 or jmaffei@nctimes.com.