COVERAGE BEGINS WITH FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA AT 7 PM ET
NFL Turning Point Featuring Bills-Patriots, Michael Vick & Rex Ryan Airs Tomorrow on VERSUS at 10 p.m. ET
NBC SportsTalk Focuses NFL Mondays and Fridays at 6 p.m. ET on VERSUS
NFL Celebrates Breast Cancer Awareness Month
NEW YORK – Sept. 28, 2011 – Rex Ryan goes back to Baltimore for the first time as head coach of the New York Jets to face the Ravens, where he served as a defensive coach for 10 years, the last five as defensive coordinator. This Sunday Night Football matchup of the two AFC Wild Card teams from last season features two of the NFL’s top young quarterbacks in the Jets’ Mark Sanchez and the Ravens’ Joe Flacco.
Calling Jets-Ravens will be six-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 26th season as the voice of the NFL’s premier primetime package; 12-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, who won the Emmy for outstanding event analyst in both of his seasons in the Sunday Night Football booth; and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, in her first season on SNF.
Coverage begins Sunday with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET with 22-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas hosting the program live from inside the stadium. Costas is joined on site by Michaels and Collinsworth for reaction to the afternoon games.
Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from Studio 8G at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com. Alex Flanagan will report from O.co Coliseum in Oakland on the Patriots-Raiders game.
DUNGY ON EMOTION OF THIS GAME: “The Ravens had an emotional letdown going to Tennessee. That won’t be a problem this week. They are going to have plenty of emotion with Rex Ryan coming into town. Rex is going to have his guys pumped up, but John Harbaugh is also a very emotional guy. This is a big game for both teams because someone is going to come out of this game at 2-2.”
HARRISON ON JETS GAMEPLAN: “If I am the Jets, I’m attacking the Ravens secondary, in particular the cornerback position. They have some young corners; they take a lot of chances. They’re not very disciplined, a lot of pass interference calls. That would be a good opportunity for Mark Sanchez to attack these guys.”
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“A CRUCIAL CATCH”
For Jets-Ravens, Sunday Night Football will capture in-stadium efforts supporting “A Crucial Catch.” The National Football League and NFL Players Association will support October’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with their third-annual national breast cancer screening-reminder and fundraising campaign. In collaboration with the American Cancer Society, the initiative, called “A Crucial Catch: Annual Screening Saves Lives,” reminds women 40 and older about the importance of having an annual mammogram. Beginning on October 2 and continuing throughout the month, NFL breast cancer awareness games will feature:
· Game balls with pink ribbon decals used for every down
· Pink equipment for players including: cleats, wristbands, gloves, sideline caps, helmet decals, captains’ patches, chin straps, shoe laces, skull caps, sideline towels, eye shield decals and quarterback towels
· Pink coins used for the coin toss
· Pink sideline caps for coaches and sideline personnel and pink ribbon pins for coaches and team executives
· Pink caps, wristbands, whistles and pins for game officials
· On-field pink ribbon stencils and A Crucial Catch wall banners
· Pink goal post padding in end zones
· Breast cancer awareness track jackets for cheerleaders
Many of these items will be auctioned off at www.nfl.com/auction to raise money for American Cancer Society.
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NFL TURNING POINT AIRS TOMORROW ON VERSUS, 10 P.M. ET
NFL Turning Point, VERSUS’ new weekly show co-produced by NFL Films and the NBC Sports Group, continues this Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. The hour-long program, hosted by Football Night in America’s Dan Patrick, will air throughout the NFL regular season and will focus on the crucial ‘turning point’ moment in several games for football fans each week in a more in-depth way than ever before by utilizing NFL Films’ unmatched cinematography and sideline and on-field audio.
This week’s episode features:
- The 3-0 Bills incredible comeback win over the Patriots, as they overcome a 21-0 deficit to remain unbeaten.
- Eagles QB Michael Vick’s injury, as well as the Eagles short-yardage problems against the Giants, may signal an early-season Turning Point in the NFC East power struggle.
- An in-depth look at the Texans-Saints shootout.
- A look at Jets head coach Rex Ryan as he prepares to face his former team, the Ravens, on Sunday Night Football.
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NBC SPORTSTALK ON VERSUS FOCUSES ON FOOTBALL ON MONDAY AND FRIDAY, 6 p.m. ET
Hosted by Russ Thaler, NBC SportsTalk, the new daily studio show on VERSUS, previews the NFL weekend on Friday at 6 p.m. ET with two of the most knowledgeable and respected NFL insiders, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Football Night in America and Mike Florio of PreFootballTalk on NBCSports.com and Football Night. Additionally, Gregg Rosenthal of Rotoworld and ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com will contribute a fantasy segment each Friday.
Monday’s NBC SportsTalk program hosted by Thaler and Florio (6 p.m. ET) will recap the week in the NFL.
Click here for more details about NBC SportsTalk: http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/sports
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SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL EXPANDS DIGITAL COVERAGE
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ALL-ACCESS. ALL SEASON LONG: For the second straight season, NBCSports.com is providing a destination for fans dedicated to behind-the-scenes content of Sunday Night Football. SNF All-Access includes exclusive behind-the-scenes photos of the Sunday Night Football production, look-ins on SNF production meetings, Michele Tafoya interviews and conversations with SNF talent.
Visit SNF All-Access at: http://snfallaccess.nbcsports.com/
SNF EXTRA: For the fourth consecutive season, the entire Sunday Night Football schedule is streamed live on NBCSports.com, which comes from NBC Sports’ broadcast of Sunday Night Football, plus four additional camera angles and several new interactive features. Sunday Night Football Extra features the broadcast from NBC’s Sunday Night Football team: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya.
Sunday Night Football Extra employs a full HD-quality player, which includes a draggable picture-in-picture feature for any of the online-only cameras, plus full DVR functionality allowing the user to pause and scroll back-and-forth – even review plays in “slo-mo.”
New for the 2011 season, Sunday Night Football Extra will feature online-only sideline updates and tweets from Tafoya, plus behind-the-scenes notes and images thanks to Sunday Night Football All-Access. Users can also share direct links to any play in the game via Twitter and Facebook, and participate in a Twitter Tug of War with fans of the opposing team.
Sunday Night Football Extra includes expert analysis, including fantasy tips from Rotoworld fantasy experts as well as in-game chats and analysis from ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio. Additionally Sunday Night Football Extra employs online-only in-game analysis from the Sunday Night Football and Football Night in America teams.
SNF ON FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/SNFonNBC – The Sunday Night Football Facebook page provides links, photos and videos exclusive to behind-the-scenes at SNF every week. The page aggregates all SNF-related content found within the NBC Sports digital network, including NBCSports.com, SNF Extra, ProFootballTalk.com, and Rotoworld.com.
This season, Sunday Night Football on Facebook is looking for the Ultimate Sunday Night Football fan. Facebook fans of SNF can enter for a chance to win a VIP trip to Super Bowl XLVI by telling why they are the Ultimate Sunday Night Football fan. Each week, 14 winners will be chosen to receive a SNF Prize Pack. During Wild Card Saturday, the weekly winner with the most votes will be announced and awarded a VIP trip and tickets to Super Bowl XLVI. The contest begins on September 8.
SNF ON TWITTER: twitter.com/SNFonNBC – At @SNFonNBC this year, Sunday Night Football sideline reporter Michele Tafoya will tweet from the sideline giving her perspective on injury reports to exclusive real-time game updates. Using tweets, twitpics and twitvids @SNFonNBC, will also continue to provide unique content with SNF talent, production crew and NFL players. It will also alert followers about upcoming interviews and features that will appear on Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football broadcasts.
SOCIAL CHECK-INS: Sunday Night Football is new this season on GetGlue and foursquare. Fans watching Sunday Night Football at home will have the opportunity to win weekly SNF themed stickers and chances at real-world prizes by checking into SNF on GetGlue every Sunday night. Through foursquare, fans can check-in to stadiums and venues around the country and receive tips and tune-in information from SNF as Sunday Night Football rolls into their town.
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“SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” VIEWERSHIP NOTES
SNF STARTS STRONG: NBC’s four-game average viewership of 24.2 million is up four percent over last year’s 23.3 million for NBC’s opening three weeks of the NFL season, the best start in the six-year history of Sunday Night Football.
· The four-game average household rating of 14.5/23 is up four percent from last year (14.0/23).
· The critically acclaimed Football Night in America is averaging 10.0 million viewers and a household rating of 6.1/10 (7:30-8:15 p.m. ET) through the first three weeks, both up 13 percent from last year’s first three weeks.
SNF 4-FOR-4: With 20.4 million viewers for Steelers-Colts, Sunday Night Football starts the season four-for-four versus its competition. This continues a trend for SNF dominating Sunday nights. Last season, “Sunday Night Football” was the No. 1 show all 18 nights (100 percent) vs. its competition (16 Sundays, one Tuesday and one Thursday).
- 2011 – 4 of 4 (Three Sundays, one Thursday – 100 percent)
- 2010 – 18 of 18 (16 Sundays, one Tuesday and one Thursday – 100 percent)
- 2009 – 15 of 16 Sundays (94 percent)
- 2008 – 13 of 16 Sundays (81 percent)
- 2007 – 11 of 16 Sundays (69 percent)
- 2006 – nine of 16 Sundays (56 percent)
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REMAINING 2011 “SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL” SCHEDULE
Sun. Oct. 2 Week 4 New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
Sun. Oct. 9 Week 5 Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons
Sun. Oct. 16 Week 6 Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears
Sun. Oct. 23 Week 7 Indianapolis Colts at New Orleans Saints
Sun. Oct. 30 Week 8 Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
Sun. Nov. 6 Week 9 Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
Sun. Nov. 13 Week 10 New England Patriots at New York Jets
Sun. Nov. 20 *Week 11 Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
Sun. Nov. 27 *Week 12 Pittsburgh Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs
Sun. Dec. 4 *Week 13 Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots
Sun. Dec. 11 *Week 14 New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
Sun. Dec. 18 *Week 15 Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers
Sun. Dec. 25 *Week 16 Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
Sun. Jan. 1 *Week 17 TBA
*Flex Week
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Visit SNF All-Access at: http://snfallaccess.nbcsports.com/
–NBC SPORTS GROUP–
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