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NBC Shifts the Focus of 'Football Night'

  • Variety, Wednesday, August 26, 2009 10:06 PM

NBC is tweaking its Sunday "Football Night in America" pre-game program by focusing more on the "Sunday Night Football" game itself. Bob Costas and the play-by-play team of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will chat up the game in the first 15 minutes of "Football Night" in addition to discussing the NFL news of the day and other sports developments.
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"We want to provide greater context for the game," says NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol. In another change, Costas will host the show from the stadium rather than from NBC headquarters in New York. Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann will remain in the studio offering highlights of the day's games.

The NFL has given NBC the exclusive window to show highlights from 7:15 until 8 p.m. ET, when ESPN recaps the day's action. Fox can also offer limited highlights on its post-game show "The OT," which runs until 8 p.m. ET when the net airs the late game.

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