NFL, CBS Kick Off With More 'Thursday Night Football'
- by Wayne Friedman , January 18, 2015
One of the major TV broadcast networks moves
this past fall will be repeated next year — the NFL and CBS will air more “Thursday Night Football” in 2015. As with the initial 2014 season, the package of games will include 14 on Thursday nights and two late-season games on Saturday. CBS airs the first eight games simulcast with NFL Network; the NFL Network then airs the next eight exclusively.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The full slate of 16 regular-season games will be produced by CBS, with its lead broadcasters and production team on all Thursday night games. The pre-game, halftime and post-game shows will continue to feature NFL Network and CBS Sports hosts and analysts.
"The benefits of ‘Thursday Night Football’ are evident across our corporation, including a strengthened prime-time lineup that has built on its number one position,” stated Les Moonves, president/chief executive officer of CBS Corp.
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The agreement is for the 2015 season with an additional year at the NFL’s option — similar to what CBS struck for the 2014. Next season CBS, which also airs a Sunday package of games featuring AFC contests, will air the Super Bowl.
CBS is estimated to have paid around $275 million to $300 million for the new package of games this past season -- when it averaged 16.5 million for its first seven Thursday games, which were also run on NFL Network.
For the entire 16 game packages, viewership averaged 12.3 million for the CBS and NFL Network for “Thursday Night Football” package -- up 52% from the year before when it only ran on the NFL Network.
When it comes to football in America there has always been a great deal of love and passion for the game. People throughout American get up at the crack of dawn on Sunday to get ready to cheer on their favorite teams. This past season there were a lot more Thursday night games, in which I thought was a great option. Once Sunday is done and there is no more cheering for your team, most people have a whole seven days that they have to wait to see their teams plays. Unless they are unlucky enough to have a popular team that get those Monday and now Thursday night games. After Sunday, people should be happy to look forward to coming home on Thursday and watching some football. In the recent year there has only been college football games that are being played on Thursday. With the TV package that CBS is proposing it would help increase the population of football, but also increase rating for these companies, which means more money from ads and such. So, seeing more games is a win for fans, but also a win for TV ratings.