FIVE-TIME EMMY WINNER CHRIS COLLINSWORTH NAMED STUDIO ANALYST FOR "NBC'S SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL"

NEW YORK -- July 13, 2005 -- Cris Collinsworth, the most honored studio analyst in sports television, will return to NBC Sports as studio analyst and co-host of "NBC's Sunday Night Football." The announcement of Collinsworth's six-year deal with NBC was made today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. Collinsworth, who was first part of the NBC Sports family from 1990-96, has won a record five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Studio Analyst.

"This is a homecoming for Cris and it delights me to welcome him home to NBC Sports," said Ebersol. "He is simply the best studio analyst in football. Since the day we started talking to the NFL about 'NBC's Sunday Night Football' I knew this studio show was going to be a special place where people will gather for Football Night in America to watch highlights and analysis of the best games and the news and issues of the day. The very first call I made was to Cris."

"This is an opportunity for me to return home to NBC and work with all of the people who taught me this business," Collinsworth said. "Most studio shows rehash and reanalyze what happened in the games the week before, with this primetime game on NBC I will be the first person to comment on the games and issues that happened that day."

Collinsworth has been honored an unprecedented five times by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as most Outstanding Sports Studio Analyst/Personality. He won the most recent of his five Emmy Awards in 2005 in recognition for his work during the 2003-04 season of HBO's "Inside the NFL." He won Emmy Awards in 1998, 2002 and 2003 in the same category for his work on the Fox and HBO studio shows. He won his first Emmy Award in 1997 for his work on the "NFL on NBC" studio show. Collinsworth, known for his candid and insightful analysis, has received consistent critical acclaim throughout his broadcast career.

In 1990, Collinsworth joined NBC Sports as a game analyst for the network's NFL coverage and select college football broadcasts, highlighted by the 1994 Fiesta Bowl and the 1995 Orange Bowl national championship game between Nebraska and Miami. Collinsworth was assigned to the "NFL on NBC" pregame show in 1996, where he provided analysis that led to his first Emmy Award in 1997. While at NBC, Collinsworth proved his versatility and received critical praise while working as a reporter for track and field at the Atlanta Olympic Games.

This past NFL season, Collinsworth returned to the NFL on FOX broadcast booth alongside play-by-play announcer Joe Buck and former quarterback Troy Aikman to form the network's lead broadcast team. Collinsworth first joined FOX Sports as a member of "FOX NFL Sunday" pregame show, in January 1998. Upon completion of an eight-year NFL career as a wide receiver with the Cincinnati Bengals (1981-88), Collinsworth moved smoothly into broadcasting as a reporter for HBO's "Inside the NFL" in 1989. The following season he graduated to the show's studio cast where he continues to serve, now as co-host alongside Bob Costas.

A three-time Pro Bowl selection during his NFL career, Collinsworth played in 107 games, catching 417 passes for 6,698 yards and 36 touchdowns. He had four 1,000-yard seasons, played in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII and ranks first on the Bengals all-time career receptions list.

The Bengals selected him in the second round of the 1981 draft out of the University of Florida, where he graduated with a degree in accounting. Collinsworth later returned to school at the University of Cincinnati Law School, completing his law degree in 1991.

Born January 27, 1959, in Dayton, Ohio, Collinsworth was raised in Titusville, Fla. He now resides in Kentucky with his wife Holly and their four children.

"NBC's Sunday Night Football"

"NBC's Sunday Night Football" is the National Football League's primetime network television package. The six-year deal, which includes innovative flexible scheduling, begins with the 2006 season, continues through 2011 and includes Super Bowls in 2009 and 2012 and Pro Bowls in the same years. The deal also includes a unique GE association with the NFL in the healthcare technology, security equipment, electrical products (including lighting) and financial services categories.

For each of the six seasons, NBC kicks off the NFL regular season with a Thursday night primetime game. The first regular season game of the new agreement, NBC's "NFL Kickoff 2006," launches the NFL regular season on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006 in primetime.

The agreement calls for 16 regular season Sunday night games, each season's "NFL Kickoff" Thursday night primetime game, two postseason Wild Card games and three preseason games in primetime. NBC also will broadcast Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 in Tampa, Fla. and XLVI in 2012, and Pro Bowls in the same years.

Under the new agreement, the NFL provides flexible game scheduling over the final seven weeks of the regular season. The flexible game selection, offered for the first time by the NFL, ensures marquee matchups over the final seven weeks of the season when many teams' playoff chances are at stake.

"NBC's Sunday Night Football" will broadcast an NFL pre-game show from 7-8 p.m. ET followed by the kickoff at 8:15 p.m. ET. Both the game and pre-game will be aired in high definition.