This post has been updated.

The Flyers are still extremely popular, at least with the suits at NBC/Comcast.

They'll make an extremely ridiculous 18 (!) appearances on NBC or NBC Sports Network in 2015-16, which to my knowledge is the most they've appeared on the network maybe in their history. A year ago, they made 16 appearances. Chicago will make an insane 21 appearances this year.

The Flyers will be on NBC or NBCSN 18 times nationally, but . NBC gets exclusive coverage on Tuesday, in the early slot on Wednesday, and on their weekend coverage. Other nights they will not override local coverage of the Flyers on CSN Philly.

Here's every Flyers game on NBC Sports in 2014-15. Games that should still be seen on CSN locally are in italics.

Date Away Home Network Time (ET) Wed., Oct. 14 Chicago Philadelphia NBCSN 8 p.m. Tues., Oct. 20 Dallas Philadelphia NBCSN 7:30 p.m. Wed., Oct. 21 Philadelphia Boston NBCSN 8 p.m. Wed., Nov. 25 Philadelphia N.Y. Islanders NBCSN 7:30 p.m. Wed., Dec. 30 Philadelphia San Jose NBCSN 10:30 p.m. Tues., Jan. 5 Montreal Philadelphia NBCSN 7:30 p.m. Thur., Jan. 7 Philadelphia Minnesota NBCSN 8 p.m. Wed., Jan. 13 Boston Philadelphia NBCSN 8 p.m. Sun., Jan. 17 Philadelphia Detroit NBCSN 7:30 p.m. Wed., Jan. 27 Philadelphia Washington NBCSN 8 p.m. Sun., Feb. 7 Philadelphia Washington NBC 12 p.m. Sun., Feb. 14 Philadelphia N.Y. Rangers NBCSN 7:30 p.m. Tues., March 15 Detroit Philadelphia NBCSN 7:30 p.m. Wed., March 16 Philadelphia Chicago NBCSN 8 p.m. Mon., March 21 Philadelphia N.Y. Islanders NBCSN 7:30 p.m. Wed., March 30 Washington Philadelphia NBCSN 8 p.m. Wed., April 6 Philadelphia Detroit NBCSN 8 p.m. Sat., April 9 Pittsburgh Philadelphia NBC 3 p.m.

So the original part of this post, where we were going off of what was reported by Sports Illustrated, is wrong. (You can see it below.) NBC still loves the Flyers.

* * *

ORIGINAL POST

Year-in and year-out, the Philadelphia Flyers are always one of the most-seen teams on national television in the United States. On many Tuesday and Wednesday nights, you can count on catching the Flyers vs. whoever-the-hell-else on NBC Sports Network.

But not in 2015-16 ... or not as frequently, at least.

Via Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitsch, we got a small glimpse into the NBC Sports Network and NBC broadcast schedule for the upcoming season, and here's a rare twist: three Western Conference teams that aren't Chicago will be on NBC more than the Flyers next year.

The Blackhawks, Rangers, Penguins, Red Wings, Wild, Avalanche and Blues will each make 12 appearances across NBC and NBCSN, the most among teams. Rangers-Penguins, Blackhawks-Wild, Capitals-Flyers, Penguins-Capitals and Kings-Sharks are the most featured regular-season matchups, each appearing three times across NBC and NBCSN.

It should be noted that just because they won't be leading the league in national TV appearances, the Flyers will probably still have a decent number of games on NBC next season. Three Capitals vs. Flyers games will be on NBC alone. But the number is definitely going to be at least a little fewer than in years past. In 2014-15, the Flyers had 16 games on the national networks. Now the number is, at best, 11.

Colorado, Minnesota and St. Louis getting more national TV games than the Flyers is absolutely unheard of.

Maybe for most of you, this news is a blessing. You hate NBC and you hate when Flyers games are on NBC. But yes, while fewer games on NBC and NBC Sports Network might be a good thing for those of you who love Jim Jackson and hate Pierre McGuire, it shouldn't exactly been taken as a good thing for the Flyers. Consider the reasons.

The Flyers are popular with a national audience because ... well, people watch them. A lot. They bring an audience and they're typically competitive. But now they're not competitive, and they don't bring an audience anymore. That's just the sad reality. Philly.com reports that for Flyers games on Comcast SportsNet, viewership is down a whopping 36 percent.

This is what happens when you're bad -- yeah, the Flyers will still sell out basically every game next year, and if they make the playoffs, Philadelphia will tune back in. But until then ... this is the reality.