Changes In Store for NFL on TV

NBC had been the home of the American Football Conferece (AFC) for years. That isn¹t the case anymore. CBS, desperate to get back into covering the NFL since being outbid by FOX four years ago, outbid NBC and took the AFC away for themselves. FOX still retains the broadcast rights to the National Football Conference (NFC). ABC paid a substantial increase in rights fees to keep MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. Sunday night football, which used to split the season between ESPN and TNT is now exclusively on ESPN (a Disney- and ABC-owned company).

There are other changes in store as well. Over at ABC there is a new man in the booth for MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. Former Bengal, Jet and Cardinal quarterback Boomer Esiason joins Al Michaels and Dan Deirdorf. Frank Gifford, the lone member of the broadcast team from the glory days of MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, will host a studio show before the game and at halftime. The reason given is that Gifford wants to spend "more time with his family." No doubt this is in part to try and make up to his wife for their much publicized martial troubles of last year.

There is another change for MNF as well. The start time for the game has been moved up an hour. The game will now start at 8 p.m. on the east coast and 5 p.m. on the west coast. Actual kick-off time will be about 12 minutes after the hour. This will give them time for the pregame show and for the additional commercials that are needed to pay for the increased rights fees ABC had to pay to keep MNF.

Greg Gumbel moves over from NBC and assumes the lead play-by-play role at CBS. Their new studio show will feature host Jim Nantz, future Hall of Fame running back Marcus Allen, former 49ers head coach George Seifert and former Dallas Cowboy Brent Jones.

Pat Summerall and John Madden remain the "A-Team" at FOX. The FOX studio team returns with host James Brown, future Hall of Famer Howie Long, Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw and new team member and former Cincinnati Bengal wide receiver Chris Collinsworth.

Former NBC color commentator Paul McGuire has moved over to ESPN. He joins play-by-play man Mike Patrick and former Redskin quarterback Joe Theisman. McGuire and Theisman are known to be two of the most loquacious men in broadcasting. It will be interesting to see if Patrick can get a word in edgewise to actually do the play-by-play.

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