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SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL [EPISODE CHANGE]
Air Date: Sunday, December 30, 2007
Time Slot: 8:15 PM-11:30 PM EST on NBC
Episode Title: (#2117) "Tennessee at Indianapolis"
[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

TITANS FACE "WIN OR GO HOME" AS THEY FACE THE COLTS ON "NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

TITANS FACE "WIN OR GO HOME" AS THEY FACE THE COLTS ON "NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

SNF's Madden: "There's only one way to play the game."

NBC to Simulcast Pats-Giants Saturday Night

NEW YORK � December 27, 2007 � The Tennessee Titans (9-6), control their playoff fate as they travel to Indianapolis to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Colts (13-2) on "NBC Sunday Night Football." The NFL announced Sunday that this game would be moved to Sunday night as part of the league's flexible scheduling. Coverage begins Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET with the "Football Night in America" studio show.

The Titans (9-6), coming off a 10-6 victory over the Jets, have won three of their last four games and control their playoff fate. With a win the Titans would claim the final Wild Card spot in the AFC regardless of the outcome of the Browns/49ers game earlier in the day, as the Titans hold the tiebreaker (common opponents) over the Browns. A loss by the Titans and the Browns, win or lose, claim the final AFC playoff spot. The defending Super Bowl champion Colts, led by Pro Bowl QB Peyton Manning, have won six straight following two losses to the Pats and Chargers, their only two defeats of the season.

Al Michaels (play-by-play), John Madden (analyst) and Andrea Kremer (sideline reporter) will call all the action from the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Ind. Bob Costas (host) and Cris Collinsworth (co-host), Keith Olbermann (co-host), analysts Tiki Barber and Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, and reporter Peter King of Sports Illustrated, comprise the "Football Night in America" studio team.

MADDEN ON IF INDIANAPOLIS SHOULD REST PLAYERS THIS WEEK: "There's only one way to play the game. I'm old fashioned but I believe you go out to win every game. If it's the regular season then you have to go out and try and win. You cant just say that, 'we don't care.'"

SNF NO. 5 IN ALL OF PRIMETIME:

According to Nielsen Media Research, "Sunday Night Football" is the No. 5 rated program in all of primetime television for 2007.

1) American Idol � Wednesday

2) American Idol � Tuesday

3) Dancing With The Stars � Monday

4) Dancing With The Stars � Tuesday

5) NBC Sunday Night Football

TITANS-COLTS UNDER THE LIGHTS:

This is the Colts fourth appearance on NBC this season. They defeated the Saints 41-10 on the opening Thursday night game of the season, lost to the Chargers 23-21 on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 10 and defeated the Ravens 44-20 in Week 14. The Colts appeared on SNF three times last season winning all three and hold a 22-11 all-time record on the NFL's premier primetime network package (ABC's MNF 1970-2005, NBC's SNF 2006-Present).

This marks the Titans first ever appearance on "NBC Sunday Night Football." The Titans franchise (Oilers/Titans) has an overall record of 16-15 on the NFL's premier primetime package.

TITANS VS. COLTS:

This is the 26th regular season match-up of these two teams with the Colts holding a 15-10 lead in the series including a 22-20 victory in Week 2 this season. Since 2002 the Colts and Titans have met twice each season with the Titans taking both games in 2002 and the Colts sweeping the series from 2003-2005.

PATS-GIANTS SIMULCAST ON NBC SATURDAY NIGHT:

The NFL announced yesterday that it has arranged with broadcast television partners NBC and CBS for an unprecedented three-way national simulcast of the NFL Network telecast of Saturday night's New England Patriots at New York Giants game when the Patriots will try to become the first NFL team to go 16-0 in a regular season.

DICK EBERSOL, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics said: "We're happy to accommodate the NFL's request for a joint national simulcast of this potentially historic game to make it available to the widest possible audience. We are proud to be part of the first joint simulcast, with the NFL Network and CBS, of an NFL game since Super Bowl I with CBS."

NBC and CBS will carry the NFL Network feed of the game with their regular announce team of Bryant Gumbal and NBC Football Night in America's Cris Collinsworth in the broadcast booth. The telecast begins at 8 p.m. ET with kickoff set at 8:15 p.m. ET.

This will be the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first simulcast of any kind of an NFL game since Super Bowl I in 1967 when CBS and NBC both televised the first meeting of the champions of the newly merged National Football League and American Football League.

CBS was the network partner of the NFL at that time and NBC televised the AFL. In that first Super Bowl - in which the NFL Green Bay Packers beat the AFL Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 15, 1967 - Ray Scott, Jack Whitaker and Frank Gifford called the game for CBS while Curt Gowdy and Paul Christman broadcast the game on NBC.

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING:

The 2007 NFL schedule utilized flexible scheduling in Weeks 11-17. In those weeks, the schedule listed the games tentatively scheduled for Sunday night on NBC. Only Sunday afternoon games were eligible to be moved to Sunday night, in which case the tentatively scheduled Sunday night game was moved to an afternoon start time. Flexible scheduling was not applied to games airing on Thursday, Saturday or Monday nights. Flexible scheduling will ensure quality matchups on Sunday night in those weeks and give surprise teams a chance to play their way onto primetime.

As an indication of the success of the inaugural year of flex scheduling, three of the final four games on NBC achieved ratings more than 20 percent higher than the comparable games in 2005.

"NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL":

"NBC Sunday Night Football" the premier primetime game of the week, is preceded by the "Football Night in America" studio show, which kicks off NBC's regular season coverage each Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. NBC has assembled the most honored broadcast team ever: Joining Al Michaels, the commentator called "TV's best play-by-play announcer" by the Associated Press, and John Madden, the most honored NFL broadcaster of all time with 15 Emmy Awards, are Bob Costas, the most honored studio host of all time with 19 Emmy Awards, who hosts NBC's "Football Night in America" studio show alongside co-host Cris Collinsworth, the most honored studio analyst in history with eight Emmy Awards; co-host Keith Olbermann, named one of the Top Ten Most Powerful People in TV News for 2007 by Television Week; and analysts Tiki Barber, a three-time NFL Pro Bowler for the New York Giants, and Jerome Bettis, one of the most popular players in recent NFL history. "NBC Sunday Night Football" coverage also includes sideline and feature reporter Andrea Kremer, whom the Los Angeles Times has called "the best TV interviewer in the business of covering the NFL." Peter King, who covers the NFL for Sports Illustrated and is considered one of the country's foremost NFL reporters, serves as a reporter for the "Football Night in America" studio show.

CREDITS: Fred Gaudelli is the producer of "NBC Sunday Night Football" and Drew Esocoff is the director. This is Gaudelli and Esocoff's second season at the helm of "Sunday Night Football." The Emmy Award-winning duo came from ABC where they worked together for five seasons on "Monday Night Football."

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