Major TV Football news: MNF to ESPN, NBC back in game

From ESPN

Holy crap!

They are both owned by disney so is this really a big deal?

The big deal, Stric, is that ESPN is cable, not broadcast. The bigger surprise is that the Sunday game, generally considered be the most boring and least watchable nationally broadcast game in all of the NFL, is going to NBC and broadcast for the first time...well, ever.

Crap. It''s a big deal for me, I just cancelled my cable last month

The big deal, Stric, is that ESPN is cable, not broadcast. The bigger surprise is that the Sunday game, generally considered be the most boring and least watchable nationally broadcast game in all of the NFL, is going to NBC and broadcast for the first time...well, ever.

So does this mean more monday night is going to have more boobies? If so i''m all for it in fact move all the games to HBO and have topless cheerleaders.

Yeah the only big part is that now you *have* to have cable to get MNF

Ack, I don''t have cable. Booo!

I just read that if your local team is playing in MNF by ""law"" it will be shown on your ABC affilate..

weird huh?

Now that I think about it you don''t even get ESPN with basic cable $13/month around here, but you have to get extended cable to get ESPN $40/month. So yeah I guess it is a big deal.

"TheGameguru" wrote:

I just read that if your local team is playing in MNF by ""law"" it will be shown on your ABC affilate..

weird huh?

Yeah, but what if you want to watch good games?

I can''t believe there will be no MNF. I wonder if the Monday night team will move to ESPN, or if they''ll keep those baffoons from the Sunday Night broadcast. I hope Al and John make the jump.

"Sanjuro" wrote:

Crap. It''s a big deal for me, I just cancelled my cable last month :(

You''ve got a year to start saving... (I only mention this because my EA-brainwashed friend thought this season was the 2006 season because ""that''s when it ends"". )

The flip side is that Sunday Night Football is now ON broadcast TV, whereas it wasn''t before.

So broadcast TV still gets one prime-time football game, just on a different night.

Man, MNF on cable just feels.... wrong. I don''t like change.

I don''t know what to make of this.

On one hand, has ESPN gotten so popular that MNF is now theirs?

On the other hand, has MNF dropped so far in the ratings that it has to go to cable ESPN?

I can''t decide if it''s a positive or a negative. ''Cause I know ESPN is by no means floundering, and MNF is by no means the giant it once was.

"sheared" wrote:

I can''t believe there will be no MNF. I wonder if the Monday night team will move to ESPN, or if they''ll keep those baffoons from the Sunday Night broadcast. I hope Al and John make the jump.

ESPN and ABC are both owned by the same company so the plan is to keep the current Monday night team intact.

Other than the crappy deal that you now have to get Cable (and extended cable at that usually) I see this as a good thing simply because the ESPN Sunday night crew was the worst possible announcers in the history of broadcast.

So hopefully all 3 of those jackasses are out of a broadcast job.

I see this as a good thing simply because the ESPN Sunday night crew was the worst possible announcers in the history of broadcast.

Good point. I hope I never have to hear Joe Theisman''s voice again.

Just as a note since it didnt really get mentioned here in the detail that it is. This is a complete and utter philosophy change for the NFL. I listened to an interview with tagliabue and then another one of his henchmen on this. This switch is directly related to the NFL''s refocusing on viewership and bringing more families back into the football fold. This sint just one more game on Sunday kind of thing... The ""event"" that used to be MNF is now going to be on Sunday with NBC - a comeplet focus shift... That ""meh"" Sunday evening game is now what MNF is going to be... The NFL has decided that by switching the ""main event"" to Sunday it will increase viewership especially among families and those people who used to turn the MNF game off at 10-11PM EST to hit the hay. It also believes it will improve viewership on the West Coast as well as improve ticket sales and venue attendance. They also adjusted kickoff times for the games. Another cool idea that was considered at the latest owners meeting was establishing ""permanent"" Superbowl sites that would rotate between a set number of cities each year... So far I had heard Miami, San Diego, possibly Tempe Arizona, Houston and a couple of others that escape me.

I think they''re wrong though. The problem with Sundays is that the families will already be footballed out. I rarely watched the ESPN Sunday Night game because by then I''d already seen at least 3 hours of football. The local game (that''s the real family game unless you live in LA or something) and maybe the game that came before or after it. The NFL and NBC now expect me to watch a 3rd game in a single day? And on Sunday night (a school night)? If you''ll pardon the expression, they''re throwing the baby out with the bath water and this ""family"" thing is just spin.

I think this is a really bad idea.

Oh and Go Packers.

"GamerDad" wrote:

And on Sunday night (a school night)?

Sorta like Monday night? I don''t see much of a point there.

"*Legion*" wrote:
"GamerDad" wrote:

And on Sunday night (a school night)?

Sorta like Monday night? I don''t see much of a point there.

Yes, but ...

NBC will start its Sunday broadcasts with a pregame show at 7 p.m. eastern; games will begin at 8:15

Didn''t MNF games start about 9:15 Eastern/8:15 Central? If they are moving it up an hour to 8:15 eastern/7:15 central and put it on what has traditionally been thought of as ""Family TV Night"" (I SAID traditionally!), I think that will make a HUGE difference. Especially in getting kids to watch.

"*Legion*" wrote:
"GamerDad" wrote:

And on Sunday night (a school night)?

Sorta like Monday night? I don''t see much of a point there.

I think you missed the real point here.

"GamerDad" wrote:

I think they''re wrong though. The problem with Sundays is that the families will already be footballed out. I rarely watched the ESPN Sunday Night game because by then I''d already seen at least 3 hours of football. The local game (that''s the real family game unless you live in LA or something) and maybe the game that came before or after it. The NFL and NBC now expect me to watch a 3rd game in a single day? And on Sunday night (a school night)?

By itself (i.e. without context), the question you quoted might not make as much sense. The real point is that you can''t reasonably spend 6 or 9 hours of your Sunday family-time watching TV... but if the Sunday night game is going to be the ""premiere"" game of the weekend (like the MNF game is currently), then you''re very likely to have to pick between missing your local team or missing the best game of the weekend. To repeat myself, convincing my wife/kids to let me watch (at least) one game each day is alot easier than angling to spend the whole of Sunday afternoon and evening on the couch.

Putting aside the family angle for a minute (because I also agree it''s spin), what about the people who don''t have cable? My friend said almost exactly what Gamerdad did but from the POV of not having cable. Other than football, he doesn''t watch enough TV to justify paying for it... and so he hates the new schedule because before, he''d get two ""days"" of football - Sunday afternoon and Monday night. Now, if he wants to ""maximize"" his football-watching opportunities, he''s going to end up overdosing on football every Sunday and get nothing on Monday.

I also agree that the new schedule if b-a-d, bad.

I like the new schedule and I wish I had the transcript from Adam Shine and John Riggins'' program on serious where they basically broke it down for knuckleheads like me...

Can you summarize or paraphrase, Spy? Or can anyone else tell me why this is a better schedule than before? Thanks.

The schedule COULD be better. I think the suits are thinking it is or they wouldn;t do it. The problem is that this is like New Coke. It''s a cultural shift. People grew up watching Monday Night Football on ABC. Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford, Al Michales, Dennis Miller ...

The schedule COULD make sense on paper ... much like New Coke might have. But once it is implemented ... a backlash occurs. Because you are miessing with something that seemes to be the very fabric of America.

I don''t like it. First because honestly the Sunday night ESPN game was usually my favorite game of the week. ESPN has the best camera work/image quality and contrary to the prevailing opinion in this thread, that was my favorite announcer team. Before we got two good quality games with good announcer teams (ESPN/John&Al), one of those is going away for NBC.

Monday Night Football on cable just seems weird. I guess it has fallen so much that it can get relugated to ESPN while the Sunday night game gets promoted to broadcast. I don''t think NBC''s coverage will be as good as ABC/ESPN between the production values and also the announcer crews.

EDIT: BTW, is this a sports forum now, or still just a sports *games* forum as the forum title implies? I missed the memo, no sports in Everything Else?

"LeapingGnome" wrote:

Monday Night Football on cable just seems weird.

My ""New Coke"" analogy is working.

People didn''t dislike ""New Coke"" because it was new. They disliked it because it sucked. (Or so I hear; I don''t drink Coke.)

No. They disliked that something they had known, something they felt was as part of the American fabric as apple pie and the flag. New coke wsn''t bad. It just tasted more like Pepsi. It was a RADICAL shift of a cultural icon.

Now I am mostly being facetious with all this, BUT for some people Monday Night Football is like Catholic Mass to them. They are devoted to it. Now you take that away, and who knows what can happen.

And yes I am going over the top. But that''s what I like to do: take things to the Nth degree.

I wish I could summarize but my mind grows old :). Maybe someone with google fu could pull up some additional info. It made lots of sense as they discussed it out - as a matter of fact Riggins was dead opposed to it at the start and then as Shine explains it - he sees the light so to speak. It really was a nice piece. I also dont think that there will be 5 games on Sunday. I think there will only be 3 - 1 for each network and then the extravaganza for NBC... The other game being a Monday Night cable game... I may be mistaken on this though.