Football_night_in_america

Football Night In America
Format	Sports
Starring	Bob Costas Keith Olbermann Cris Collinsworth Jerome Bettis Peter King Tiki Barber
Country of origin	USA
Production
Running time	75 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Picture format	480i (SDTV), 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	September 10, 2006 – present
External links
Official website

Football Night in America is the studio show preceding NBC\'s broadcasts of Sunday night and Wild Card Saturday National Football League (NFL) games starting in the 2006 and 2007 National Football League seasons.

Show title similarities

The show\'s title closely resembles CBC Television\'s long-running Hockey Night in Canada franchise. Also, NBC (along with ABC and Major League Baseball in a joint effort called "The Baseball Network") had previously (1994-1995) aired baseball games as the similarly-titled Baseball Night in America.

Radio version

Al Trautwig hosts an abbreviated radio version of the pregame called NBC\'s NFL Sunday, which is co-produced with Westwood One and airs before that network\'s coverage of Sunday Night Football.

See also: NFL on Westwood One

Personalities

• Jerome Bettis: (Studio Analyst), (2006–present)
• Cris Collinsworth: (Studio Co-Host and Analyst), (2006–present)
• Bob Costas: (Studio Host), (2006–present)
• Peter King: (Reporter), (2006–present)
• Andrea Kremer: (Sideline Reporter), (2006–present)
• John Madden: (Color Commentary), (2006–present)
• Al Michaels: (Play-by-Play), (2006–present)
• Sterling Sharpe: (Studio Analyst), (2006)
• Tiki Barber: (Studio Analyst), (2007–present)
• Keith Olbermann: (Studio Co-Host), (2007–present)

For the 2006 season, Bob Costas was the host, Cris Collinsworth, Sterling Sharpe, and Jerome Bettis were the analysts, and Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King was the special "insider" reporter.

On September 7, 2006, Jerome Bettis arrived on the exterior set in a school bus. His nickname as a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers was "The Bus." That night, in addition to analysis, Bettis received his ring for winning Super Bowl XL.

Bettis missed the December 3 show to prepare for the funeral of his father, Johnnie, who had died of a heart attack the previous Tuesday. Bettis was replaced by Marshall Faulk of the NFL Network (who at the time was technically still an active player in the NFL, although the St. Louis Rams eventually cut him after a series of injuries).

At the end of the 2006 season, Sharpe\'s contract was apparently terminated, and former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber replaced him in 2007.An NBC press release announcing Barber\'s signing specifically says he will join Costas, Collinsworth, Bettis and King on FNIA. Sharpe\'s name is omitted from the release. MSNBC Countdown anchorman Keith Olbermann was named as another co-host.An NBC press release announcing Olbermann joining host Bob Costas and co-host Cris Collinsworth, and analysts Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber.NBC: Keith Olbermann, Tiki Barber and an innovative new approach have transformed the pregame show from a dull, meandering exercise into a model highlights show that blends humor, news and reasoned commentary without all the bluster and bombast. Olbermann\'s wit has enlivened the show, and Barber -- poised, polished and thoughtful -- has been a huge upgrade over Screaming Sterling Sharpe. By placing Bob Costas and Olbermann on one set to narrate highlights, and Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis and Barber on another to analyze them, NBC has effectively eliminated the temptation for the commentators to shout over each other during highlights. What a novel, and welcomed, concept.

In addition, Costas and Collinsworth hosted the halftime show of the Georgia Tech-Notre Dame game on September 1, 2007. It is unclear if this was a guest appearance or another permanent assignment.

Show format

2006

Show sets

During the 2006 preseason, the Football Night team appeared at halftime from an exterior set at the site of that night\'s game. This is because the set at Rockefeller Center, where the show is based, was still being prepared. It now originates in Studio 8G of NBC\'s New York headquarters.

Original format

The show changed its format by the end of the first half of the 2006 season. Originally, the program began with a video package in which a football seemingly flies throughout the country. Several landmarks were featured in the introduction, including the Gateway Arch, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Empire State Building. After a welcome, the day\'s scores were read off, before a first visit from the game announcers Al Michaels and John Madden.

The simulated landmark flyover was eventually removed and the reading of the game scores was replaced by a round table discussion called The Week (number of NFL week) Buzz. The scores flash on the bottom of the screen during this discussion. Al Michaels and John Madden were now shown only once, on the later segment, Drive to Kickoff. Just before the first highlights are shown, a rundown is on screen with the order in which the highlights will appear. This is similar to the list shown on FSN Final Score.

Originally, the second segment featured several field reports from the day\'s games, more analysis, and inside information about the NFL from Peter King.

Reworked format

The field report segment was eventually eliminated and field reports on the show were limited, supposedly due to cutbacks at NBC Universal.

The second segment now contained an interview conducted earlier in the week, usually by Costas.

In the third segment, the studio team moved to a screening room, in which highlights of the daytime games were reviewed. This is the only show allowed to carry long-form highlights (up to three minutes, twice as long as the usual allowance).

Chevrolet Drive to Kickoff

Shortly before 8 p.m. Eastern time, a segment begins called Chevrolet Drive to Kickoff. Michaels and Madden are shown, followed by closing analysis of the upcoming game. Within minutes, Football Night ends and game coverage begins with the theme sung by Faith Hill, who replaced Pink in 2007.

2007

Some major changes were effected for the 2007 season. Once again, Michaels and Madden are seen in the first segment. The second segment brings in Barber for some analysis. Starting in the third portion of the program, Costas and Olbermann take turns reading the highlights, while Barber, Collinsworth and Bettis are isolated in the "players\' room" on another part of the set. After each set of highlights, the analysts comment on what has been shown. King also chimes in from a location on the main set.

For the last 30 minutes, Collinsworth emerges from the room and joins Costas on the large screen for highlights and analysis of two pre-selected "marquee matchups" (in Week 1, they were New England Patriots at New York Jets and Chicago Bears at San Diego Chargers).

At the end of the show, the panelists reunite for a one-sentence summary before kickoff.

The roundtable segments and screening room have been eliminated entirely. Interviews continue to be run on occasion; for the September 23 show, Chicago Bears star Devin Hester spoke to Costas.

On the other hand, two features have been added: "TKO Report" (the letters stand for The Keith Olbermann) is a mini-commentary by Olbermann on a topic related to the game. "Monday Morning Headlines" summarizes the big stories of the afternoon, according to the panel.

At halftime, a shortened version of this show appears and Olbermann presents a new segment called "Worst Person in the NFL," modeled after "worst person in the world" on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. His first "honoree" was himself, for advocating a light prison sentence for Michael Vick on his debut August 26 during a preseason game. (The next day, Vick pleaded guilty to dogfighting.) On the regular season debut, Olbermann pilloried Jets fans for cheering as Chad Pennington limped off the field with an ankle injury.

On September 16, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell appeared live to discuss the videotape scandal that enveloped the New England Patriots and their head coach Bill Belichick. In the interview, Goodell revealed that the Patriots were asked to turn over all videotape and still photography from previous games and that the team could face further punishment than what had been announced. Olbermann missed this program due an emergency appendectomy, but he returned the following week.

A one-hour version of the show aired on October 28 as Game Four (the deciding game) of the 2007 World Series was played that evening, and the NFL decided not to schedule a game that night. The show aired at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT.

Wild Card Saturday

Prior to the Wild Card Saturday doubleheader a half hour version of Football Night in America is aired with in depth preview of the first game, during the afternoon halftime a version of the Sunday Night Football halftime show is shown. After the conclusion of the afternoon game and before the kickoff of the night game, a version known in 2007 as the Diet Pepsi Bridge Show is shown. At this point, the format becomes very similar to the traditional Sunday Night Football Night in America, with Faith Hill singing a special playoff version of the intro, Al Michaels and John Madden working the booth, and Olbermann doing a segment during halftime. Also, a horse trailer player of the game is named for the night game as well. In 2007, Miami Dolphins player Jason Taylor filled in for Cris Collinsworth in the player\'s room as Cris was in Seattle commentating for the afternoon game with Tom Hammond.

See also

• The NFL on NBC Pregame Show

References

External links

• NBC Sunday Night Football official web site
• Announcement of Bettis\' arrival at NBC
• News of King\'s hiring

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