NBC Sunday Night Football: Difference between revisions
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''NBC Sunday Night Football'' is the beneficiary of [[NFL on television#Flexible-scheduling|the league's new flexible-scheduling system]]. For the final seven weeks of the season (seven of the final eight weeks during the 2006 season because of Christmas weekend), the NFL has the flexibility in selecting games to air on Sunday night. During the 2006 season, '''no''' game was initially scheduled for NBC in the affected weeks—instead, the schedule slot for the NBC game was left blank, with one Sunday afternoon game being moved to the primetime slot (the schedule for the affected weeks simply read 'one of these games will move to 8:15 Eastern'). [[NFL on CBS|CBS]] and [[NFL on FOX|FOX]] could each protect four of its games during Weeks 10-15 and also each protect one of its games for Week 17; however, these two networks had to decide which games to protect in early October 2006, after Week 4 of the NFL season. |
''NBC Sunday Night Football'' is the beneficiary of [[NFL on television#Flexible-scheduling|the league's new flexible-scheduling system]]. For the final seven weeks of the season (seven of the final eight weeks during the 2006 season because of Christmas weekend), the NFL has the flexibility in selecting games to air on Sunday night. During the 2006 season, '''no''' game was initially scheduled for NBC in the affected weeks—instead, the schedule slot for the NBC game was left blank, with one Sunday afternoon game being moved to the primetime slot (the schedule for the affected weeks simply read 'one of these games will move to 8:15 Eastern'). [[NFL on CBS|CBS]] and [[NFL on FOX|FOX]] could each protect four of its games during Weeks 10-15 and also each protect one of its games for Week 17; however, these two networks had to decide which games to protect in early October 2006, after Week 4 of the NFL season. |
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In the 2006 season, there was no game played on the first Sunday night which overlapped with the [[World Series]] ([[October 22]] in the [[2006 NFL season|2006 season]]), along with [[Christmas Eve]] night; NBC broadcast that week's game (Eagles at Cowboys) on [[Christmas]] afternoon instead. However, the broadcast of ''Football Night in America'' continued at its regular time on both occasions each Sunday, with a half-hour version of the program airing before the Christmas game and the two "Wild Card Saturday" games. |
In the 2006 season, there was no game played on the first Sunday night which overlapped with the [[2006 World Series|World Series]] ([[October 22]] in the [[2006 NFL season|2006 season]]), along with [[Christmas Eve]] night; NBC broadcast that week's game (Eagles at Cowboys) on [[Christmas]] afternoon instead. However, the broadcast of ''Football Night in America'' continued at its regular time on both occasions each Sunday, with a half-hour version of the program airing before the Christmas game and the two "Wild Card Saturday" games. |
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In 2007, there was no broadcast on NBC for Sunday, [[October 28]] due to Game 4 of the [[2007 World Series]]. Also, a tentative full-season schedule was unveiled, including games in the last seven weeks of the season. Those games could be replaced under flexible scheduling if the need arose. Three of the games in the last seven weeks were eventually replaced with more compelling matches. This resulted in the unprecedented situation--twice--of having a team playing consecutive Sunday nights. New England had consecutive Sunday nighters: the November 18 New England at Buffalo game was moved to prime time and was followed on November 25 by the already-scheduled Philadelphia at New England game. Likewise, the Washington Redskins played a scheduled game at the [[New York Giants]] on [[December 16]], and their December 23 game in [[Minnesota Vikings|Minnesota]] was moved to prime time. The same rules under which CBS and FOX protect games for their own packages still apply. |
In 2007, there was no broadcast on NBC for Sunday, [[October 28]] due to Game 4 of the [[2007 World Series]]. Also, a tentative full-season schedule was unveiled, including games in the last seven weeks of the season. Those games could be replaced under flexible scheduling if the need arose. Three of the games in the last seven weeks were eventually replaced with more compelling matches. This resulted in the unprecedented situation--twice--of having a team playing consecutive Sunday nights. New England had consecutive Sunday nighters: the November 18 New England at Buffalo game was moved to prime time and was followed on November 25 by the already-scheduled Philadelphia at New England game. Likewise, the Washington Redskins played a scheduled game at the [[New York Giants]] on [[December 16]], and their December 23 game in [[Minnesota Vikings|Minnesota]] was moved to prime time. The same rules under which CBS and FOX protect games for their own packages still apply. |
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Revision as of 06:12, 7 September 2008
| NBC Sunday Night Football | |
|---|---|
| NBC Sunday Night Football logo | |
| Starring | John Madden Al Michaels Andrea Kremer Bob Costas Keith Olbermann Cris Collinsworth |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Production | |
| Running time | 180 minutes+ until the conclusion of the game |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | August 6, 2006 – present |
NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game. Al Michaels serves as the play-by-play announcer, with John Madden and Andrea Kremer serving as the sole sideline reporter. Fred Gaudelli and Drew Esocoff, the lead producer and director respectively, carry over their duties from ABC's telecasts of Monday Night Football.
ESPN, which aired Sunday games from the 1987 through 2005 NFL seasons, took over Monday Night Football from sister network ABC; ESPN aired a doubleheader broadcast on September 11, 2006 and on September 10, 2007, and will do so again on September 8, 2008.
Studio show
The studio show Football Night in America, featuring Bob Costas, Keith Olbermann, Dan Patrick, Cris Collinsworth, Tiki Barber, Jerome Bettis, and Peter King precedes the broadcast each week, featuring a recap of the other Sunday NFL contests. Kremer, Madden, and Michaels also contribute to the studio show from the game site.
Contract
NBC's contract also includes the season-opening Thursday night NFL Kickoff Game and two Saturday games in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The network will also air two Super Bowl games during the six years of the deal, following the 2008 (Super Bowl XLIII) and 2011 (Super Bowl XLVI) seasons, and two Pro Bowl games the week following their Super Bowl telecasts as part of a new contractual policy in which the network with the Super Bowl will air the Pro Bowl.
In addition, NBC is the current home of the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, which begins the NFL's preseason each August. However, the 2007 game aired on the NFL Network because the league had planned to stage the China Bowl just a few days later, to be televised by NBC as a tie-in to its coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in that country. The China Bowl has since been postponed until 2009. Normally, there are two other pre-season telecasts on NBC; however, because of the Beijing Olympics, only two were shown in 2008. The second, on August 28 shortly after the closing ceremonies, started at an early time of 7 p.m. ET so as not to interfere with Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. (It is interesting to note that, usually, there are no national telecasts of pre-season games in the final weekend, which usually just precedes Labor Day.)
During Wild Card Saturday, Tom Hammond (play-by-play), Cris Collinsworth (color commentator), and Bob Neumeier (sideline reporter) call the afternoon game for NBC, with the regular SNF crew handling the evening game. In addition, due to John Madden's fear of flight, Cris Collinsworth commentates the Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii. Madden has stated he would only travel to Hawaii if he had to commentate a Super Bowl there (likely on an NBC charter flight or on General Electric's larger corporate jet; it is mentioned in his book One Size Doesn't Fit All, that his fear was based on commercial flights and not charter or private planes; he never had a problem flying on charter flights when coaching the Oakland Raiders, as was mentioned in the said book).
- Note: For more information on Wild Card Saturday on NBC, see Football Night in America.
Scheduling
The first regular-season game to be shown by NBC under this contract, Miami at Pittsburgh, aired September 7, 2006, followed by the first Sunday-night game—Indianapolis at the New York Giants—on September 10, 2006. The actual first game of the run—the 2006 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between Oakland and Philadelphia—was televised on August 6, 2006.
NBC Sunday Night Football is the beneficiary of the league's new flexible-scheduling system. For the final seven weeks of the season (seven of the final eight weeks during the 2006 season because of Christmas weekend), the NFL has the flexibility in selecting games to air on Sunday night. During the 2006 season, no game was initially scheduled for NBC in the affected weeks—instead, the schedule slot for the NBC game was left blank, with one Sunday afternoon game being moved to the primetime slot (the schedule for the affected weeks simply read 'one of these games will move to 8:15 Eastern'). CBS and FOX could each protect four of its games during Weeks 10-15 and also each protect one of its games for Week 17; however, these two networks had to decide which games to protect in early October 2006, after Week 4 of the NFL season.
In the 2006 season, there was no game played on the first Sunday night which overlapped with the World Series (October 22 in the 2006 season), along with Christmas Eve night; NBC broadcast that week's game (Eagles at Cowboys) on Christmas afternoon instead. However, the broadcast of Football Night in America continued at its regular time on both occasions each Sunday, with a half-hour version of the program airing before the Christmas game and the two "Wild Card Saturday" games.
In 2007, there was no broadcast on NBC for Sunday, October 28 due to Game 4 of the 2007 World Series. Also, a tentative full-season schedule was unveiled, including games in the last seven weeks of the season. Those games could be replaced under flexible scheduling if the need arose. Three of the games in the last seven weeks were eventually replaced with more compelling matches. This resulted in the unprecedented situation--twice--of having a team playing consecutive Sunday nights. New England had consecutive Sunday nighters: the November 18 New England at Buffalo game was moved to prime time and was followed on November 25 by the already-scheduled Philadelphia at New England game. Likewise, the Washington Redskins played a scheduled game at the New York Giants on December 16, and their December 23 game in Minnesota was moved to prime time. The same rules under which CBS and FOX protect games for their own packages still apply.
The 2008 schedule, released April 15, continued the current practice of a scheduled game possibly being moved in favor of a more compelling one during Weeks 11 through 16 (November 16 through December 21), but leaves the slot open on the final Sunday, December 28. The NFL Kickoff Game between the Washington Redskins and defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants that was played on September 4 started at 7:00 p.m. instead of the normal 8:30 p.m. time in order to avoid conflict with the nomination speech that John McCain gave at the Republican National Convention that night.
2008 schedule
Regular Season
| Overtime Result | Subject to change (Flexible scheduling) |
Postseason
| Overtime Result |
| Game | Date | Kickoff time | Visiting Team | Final Score | Host Team | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wildcard Game | Saturday, January 3 | 4:30 PM | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
| Wildcard Game | Saturday, January 3 | 8:00 PM | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
| Super Bowl XLIII | Sunday, February 1 | 6:25 PM | AFC Champions TBD | NFC Champions TBD | Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida | |
| 2009 Pro Bowl | Sunday, February 8 | AFC | NFC | Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii |
Similarity to ABC
Eighty percent of NBC's Sunday Night Football crew comes from ABC/ESPN, including Fred Gaudelli and Drew Esocoff (producer and director, respectively), as ESPN moved most of its Sunday Night production crew to Monday Night Football. Michaels, Madden and Kremer also come to NBC directly from ABC/ESPN, and Football Night in America's Sterling Sharpe was a member of ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown in recent years (calling several Sunday night games for the network in 2005).[1] NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol on using ABC/ESPN talent:
I was not interested in the quote, unquote vanity of starting anew. . . There's not a lot of room for experimentation.[1]
Also, NBC has the starters introduce themselves, much as ABC did in the last few years of its run, and the short postgame show (so affiliates can get to their late newscasts) follows a similar format to ABC's.
Michaels and Madden ended each telecast in the 2007 NFL season by selecting an MVP for that night's game to receive the Horse Trailer award (with a photo of each recipient being affixed to the side of a production truck, also known as a "horse trailer"). This concept originated on ABC's MNF, although in the 2006 season, it was altered to the Rock Star of the Game, with the player's photo mounted on a rooftop display at NBC's headquarters, the GE Building (aka "30 Rock") in New York.
Theme music
Academy Award winner John Williams composed the instrumental theme music[2] for Sunday Night Football. Singer Pink sang the theme song for the broadcast[3]in 2006, a reworking of the Joan Jett song "I Hate Myself For Loving You" retitled "Waiting All Day For Sunday Night".[4][5] Several alternative versions were used throughout the season, substituting different lyrics when appropriate, e.g. "Waiting All Year For Opening Night."
On the selection of Pink, NFL on NBC producer Fred Gaudelli had this to say:
A football fan knows the anticipation of waiting all day for the big game. When you hear this song on Sunday nights you'll know the big game is about to kick off. ... We chose Pink as the signature voice because she is a tremendous talent with a crossover appeal that makes her relevant to all segments of our audience.[4]
Country singer Faith Hill replaced Pink as the singer of the opening theme in the 2007 season; the theme still resembled the Joan Jett song.[6]
Show opening
The song is at the centerpiece of the opening montage, which has also changed in 2007. For the first season, Pink appeared to sing from the top of a skyscraper as a helicopter zoomed down on a city skyline and the field, the results of Computer-Generated Imagery. A television monitor, which resembles NBC's monitor at Times Square, showed game preview footage and opening credits.
In 2007, Faith Hill sings on a stage while some of the key players in the game and announcers Michaels and Madden arrive in limousines and walk on a red carpet as they head to a simulated theater. Also, some of the lyrics have been changed slightly and the musical arrangement tilts toward country more than rock, to reflect the change in singers. The marquee outside the theater shows the logo of Sprint, which paid a product placement fee, and one of the "bystanders" records the red carpet scene on a Sprint camera phone. Access Hollywood co-hosts Shaun Robinson and Tony Potts also appear in the opening.
In both cases, Williams' music then plays in the background over the official welcome.
Graphics
NBC's Sunday Night Football graphics, logos and scoreboard were designed by Troika Design Group, along with the city skyline graphics used in the introductions to both Football Night in America and the game itself.[7] NBC's game telecasts use the same type of bottomline scoreboard that Monday Night Football used in the 2005 NFL season (and was subsequently used by ABC Sports until its demise in August 2006). The bottomline was also used on NBC's own coverage of Notre Dame football and the annual Bayou Classic game, and the package's look and font has also transitioned to other NBC Sports broadcasts such as the network's NHL coverage, Poker After Dark (which airs in the late overnight hours Monday-Saturday), figure skating specials, and video reports on NBCSports.com. All NBC Sports presentations now use the package, with the network's golf coverage using it beginning in early February 2007 with their coverage of the FBR Open, though it has been slightly modified for golf coverage due to readability concerns.
USA Network, a "sister" cable network, also uses the graphics to cover the U.S. Open tennis tournament.
References
- ^ a b Barron, David (2006-09-18). "Grading NBC in prime time". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2006-09-18.
- ^ John Williams Sunday Night Football Theme - Song - MP3 Stream on IMEEM Music
- ^ From Hank to . . . Pink?: NFL Sunday Night Adds Unneeded Girl Power
- ^ a b "'Sunday Night Football' Thinks Pink". Zap2it.com. 2006-08-30. Retrieved 2006-09-19.
- ^ "Multi-platinum pop singer Pink performs "NBC Sunday Night Football" opening music". NBC. 2006-08-30. Retrieved 2006-11-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Faith Hill to sing Sunday Night Football theme". The Associated Press. 2007-08-30.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Troika Design Group Creates New Identity and Packaging for "NBC Sunday Night Football"