Monday Night Football

From The TV IV

Monday Night Football

Premiere	September 21, 1970
Finale
Airs	Mondays at 8PM
Creator	Roone Arledge
Network	ABC (1970-2005), ESPN (2006- )
Style	Sports
Company	ABC Sports (1970-2005), ESPN (2006—) NFL
Seasons	40
Status	Currently airing season 40 Renewed through season 43 (2012)
Origin	USA

Monday Night Football is a television broadcast of one of the premier National Football League games of the week. It airs live on the ESPN television network in the United States on Monday nights during the NFL season, and is one of the most popular shows on American television. Monday Night Football (often informally abbreviated as MNF) is currently the second-longest-running prime time show on American television, after CBS's 60 Minutes. Monday Night Football first aired on ABC on September 21, 1970, with a match between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns, in Cleveland, Ohio.On April 18, 2005, the ESPN cable network signed a deal to televise Monday Night Football beginning with the 2006 season, thereby ending the NFL's 36-year partnership with ABC.

1 In-Depth
2 Broadcast Delays
3 The commentators
4 Monday Night Football Schedule (2009)
5 External Links

[edit] In-Depth

Despite high ratings, ABC lost millions of dollars on televising the games during the late 1990s and 2000s. Hence, on April 18, 2005, it was announced that ABC and the NFL had decided to end their 36-year partnership, with Monday Night Football being aired on ESPN starting with the 2006 season. Later in 2005, ESPN announced that its MNF team would consist of Al Michaels and Joe Theismann in the booth with Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber serving as sideline reporters.

ESPN and NBC Sports, which will begin airing Sunday night games at the same time, have each staked a claim to their package being the rightful descendant of the ABC version of MNF as the league's "showcase" game. While the ESPN broadcasts will have the MNF name and heritage, NBC is a broadcast network as is ABC, whereas ESPN is a cable service not freely available to all Americans. For that reason, NBC, not ESPN, will gain rights to the wild-card doubleheader that has traditionally aired on ABC, as well as a share of the rotating rights to the Super Bowl. Also, John Madden has elected to join NBC for its broadcasts, despite the success of the Michaels-Madden pairing.

After initially renewing their NFL television contract, ABC was awarded the telecasts to Super Bowl XXXIV, Super Bowl XXXVII, and Super Bowl XL. Due to the end of ABC's contract with the NFL, the Super Bowl XL broadcast will be their last NFL telecast.

[edit] Broadcast Delays

Monday Night Football has always been broadcast live in all major cities with the exception of both Seattle and Portland ABC affiliates owned by Fisher Broadcasting Company (KOMO TV and KATU TV) delayed the game for one hour to show their local news telecasts and were the only cities in the United States to do this. This practice angered alot of viewers in the Seattle and Portland areas, and the policy was finally changed in 1996 after 25 years. MNF is now broadcast live in all US cities.

[edit] The commentators

Graphical chart of just the announcers of Monday Night Football (1970-2005)

A complete list of broadcasters (many of whom are ex-NFL players), with their period of tenure on the show (beginning years of each season shown, as the NFL season ends in the calendar year after it begins):

Howard Cosell (1970–1983)
Don Meredith (1970–1973, 1977–1984)
Keith Jackson (1970)
Frank Gifford (1971–1997)
Alex Karras (1974–1976)
Fred Williamson (1974)
Fran Tarkenton (1979–1982)
O.J. Simpson (1983–1985)
Joe Namath (1985)
Al Michaels (1986–2006)
Dan Dierdorf (1987–1998)
Boomer Esiason (1998–1999)
Dan Fouts (2000–2001)
Dennis Miller (2000–2001)
John Madden (2002–2006)
Joe Theismann (2006- )
Lynn Swann (sideline reporter, 1994–1997)
Lesley Visser (sideline reporter, 1998–1999)
Eric Dickerson (sideline reporter, 2000–2001)
Melissa Stark (sideline reporter, 2000–2002)
Lisa Guerrero (sideline reporter, 2003)
Suzy Kolber (sideline reporter, 2006- )
Michele Tafoya (sideline reporter, 2004-present)
Chris Berman (halftime host, 1996–1997 and during wild card playoffs and Super Bowls)

[edit] Monday Night Football Schedule (2009)

Week	Date	Teams
Preseason
1	August 13	Arizona Cardinals at Pittsburgh Steelers
2	August 17	Carolina Panthers at New York Giants
3	August 24	New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
4	August 31	Minnesota Vikings at Houston Texans
Regular Season
1	September 14	Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
		San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders
2	September 21	Indianapolis Colts at Miami Dolphins
3	September 28	Carolina Panthers at Dallas Cowboys
4	October 5	Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings
5	October 12	New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
6	October 19	Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers
7	October 26	Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins
8	November 2	Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints
9	November 9	Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos
10	November 16	Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns
11	November 23	Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans
12	November 30	New England Patriots at New Orleans Saints
13	December 7	Baltimore Ravens at Green Bay Packers
14	December 14	Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers
15	December 21	New York Giants at Washington Redskins
16	December 28	Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears