FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA

'''Football Night in America''' is the studio show preceding NBC's broadcasts of Sunday night National Football League (NFL) games starting in the 2006 NFL season.
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.
At the end of the 2006 season, Sharpe's contract was apparently terminated, and former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber will replace him in 2007.^[1] MSNBC ''Countdown'' anchorman Keith Olbermann was named as another co-host.^[2]
The show's title is a takeoff of 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 under the title ''Baseball Night in America''.
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''.

Contents

Personalities

Show format

See also

References

External links

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)
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).
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

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.
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 (number of NFL week) Buzz'''. The scores flash on the bottom of the screen during this discussion. Al Michaels and John Madden are 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 King. 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 contains an interview conducted earlier in the week, usually by Costas.
In the third segment, the studio team moves to a screening room, in which highlights of the daytime games are reviewed. This is the only show allowed to carry long-form highlights (up to three minutes, twice as long as the usual allowance).
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.
One of Olbermann's new roles was clarified in the 2007 season opener between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. He introduced 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.)

See also

★ ''The NFL on NBC Pregame Show''

References

1. 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.
2. An NBC press release announcing Olbermann joining host Bob Costas and co-host Cris Collinsworth, and analysts Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber.

External links

★ NBC Sunday Night Football official web site

★ Announcement of Bettis' arrival at NBC

★ News of King's hiring