"FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA" STUDIO SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT
NBC's "FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA" STUDIO SHOW TO BE PRODUCED BY NEAL AND FLOOD
NEW YORK -- December 14, 2005 -- NBC's "Football Night in America" studio show will be produced by David Neal and Sam Flood, who between them have won 32 Emmy Awards at NBC Sports, making them one of the most honored sports production teams working today. The announcement was made today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and executive producer of NBC's "Football Night in America." Neal is Executive Producer, NBC Sports and Executive Vice President, NBC Olympics, and Flood is Coordinating Producer, NBC Sports. Both were promoted to their current positions in July.
"Football Night in America" will encompass more than four hours of NFL coverage on Sunday nights-hosted by 17-time Emmy Award winner Bob Costas, the most acclaimed sportscaster of his generation-including the primetime studio show at 7 p.m. ET followed by the premier primetime game of the week "NBC's Sunday Night NFL Football," beginning with the 2006 NFL season.
"Through the years, network studio shows have only been able to serve as previews to the upcoming afternoon games." said Ebersol. "'Football Night in America' will be network television's first primetime football studio show. It will be the destination for viewers to gather for their first complete look at all the day's games, and be the first to react to news and issues generated that day and to provide highlights and in-depth analysis of the games of the day.
"David and Sam have the passion, creativity and leadership to drive the studio show to a new level, and I know they welcome the challenge. David provides the overall leadership for our Olympics and sports production units. Sam has been the leader of our NASCAR production team for the past five years. It is an absolute privilege for us to have the production leadership of NBC Sports also leading the 'Football Night in America' studio show."
Neal's next production challenge will be the Torino Olympic Winter Games beginning Friday, Feb. 10. Flood will produce the NHL on NBC beginning Saturday, Jan. 14, then shift gears to the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 19, followed by the Torino Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 26.
"Football Night in America"
"Football Night in America" is the National Football League's premier primetime television package. Ebersol negotiated the unprecedented six-year NFL deal, which includes innovative flexible scheduling and continues through the 2011 season with Super Bowls in 2009 and 2012.
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, will strengthen the schedule of Sunday night games over the final seven weeks of the season when many teams' playoff chances are at stake.
NBC's "Football Night in America" will broadcast an NFL studio show from 7-8 p.m. ET followed by the kickoff of "NBC's Sunday Night NFL Football" at 8:15 p.m. ET. Both the game and studio show will be aired in high definition.
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