or


[12/14/11 - 12:40 PM]
NBCUniversal's New Nine-Year "Sunday Night Football" Agreement Includes More Games, Three Super Bowls, Upgraded Playoff Package & Enhanced Flex Scheduling
Plus: NBC will annually broadcast a primetime game on Thanksgiving night beginning in 2012.

[via press release from NBC]

NBCUNIVERSAL'S NEW NINE-YEAR "SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" AGREEMENT INCLUDES MORE GAMES, THREE SUPER BOWLS, UPGRADED PLAYOFF PACKAGE & ENHANCED FLEX SCHEDULING

Increased Digital Rights Annual Thanksgiving Night Broadcasts Begin on NBC in 2012

NEW YORK - December 14, 2011 - NBCUniversal today agreed to a new and extensive media rights agreement to extend its NFL rights package through the 2022 season. The new agreement includes many enhancements that broaden the exposure of NFL content on NBC, and across other NBCUniversal platforms.

"This is a great day for NBCUniversal and the NBC Sports Group. There is no more powerful programming on television than the NFL and no better program than Sunday Night Football. The long-term agreement announced today provides us with significant enhancements to our existing NFL package, ensures that we will continue our partnership with the NFL for many years, and adds tremendous value to the many assets of NBCUniversal. We could not be more pleased," said Steve Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal.

"Sunday Night Football on NBC is the most-watched program on primetime television, and we're excited to continue our long-term partnership with the NFL," said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group. "The new primetime Thanksgiving game starting in 2012, the upgraded playoff package and the three Super Bowls are all major enhancements to our new agreement. The additional digital and programming rights add tremendous value to the NBC Sports Group portfolio."

This new and extensive media rights agreement includes many enhancements vs. the previous agreement:

(Beginning with the new agreement in 2014 except where noted in bold)

· NBC will annually broadcast a primetime game on Thanksgiving night beginning in 2012;

· Upgraded playoff coverage, exchanging one of its current Wild Card games for a Divisional playoff game;

· In addition to the 2012 Super Bowl, NBC will broadcast the 2015, 2018 and 2021 Super Bowls;

· Enhanced flexible scheduling;

· Expanded digital rights, including "TV Everywhere" rights;

· Spanish language rights so that games could be shown on Telemundo, mun2 or with an SAP feed.

NBC will now broadcast 19 regular season games including 17 regular season Sunday Night Football games, each season's opening NFL Kickoff Thursday night primetime game and the new Thanksgiving night game, and two playoff games (one Wild Card game and one Divisional game). NBC's original Sunday Night Football agreement, which began in 2006, included 17 regular season games. It was increased to 18 in 2010.

Sunday Night Football, the most-watched primetime show of the fall television season for the second straight year, is preceded each week at 7 p.m. ET by the critically acclaimed Football Night in America, which provides comprehensive highlights and analysis of the day's events in the NFL, along with a preview of that night's Sunday Night Football contest.

The original six-year Sunday Night Football agreement between NBC Sports and the NFL started with the 2006 season and ran through the 2011 season. The current agreement, which was extended in 2009, expires after the 2013 season.

NBC & THE NFL: NBC's long history with the NFL dates back 70 years to 1939 when NBC became the first network to televise an NFL game - Philadelphia Eagles vs. Brooklyn Dodgers from Ebbets Field to the approximately 1,000 sets then in New York. NBC first broadcast the NFL Championship Game in 1955. In 1964, NBC signed a five-year contract to televise the AFL. NBC was awarded the AFC package in 1970, an association that would continue through the 1997-98 season. NBC televised the first Super Bowl in 1967 and the historic New York Jets' upset of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969.

In February 2009, NBC broadcast Super Bowl XLIII, which was, at the time, the most-watched program in television history, and on February 5, 2012, NBC will broadcast Super Bowl XLVI from Indianapolis with extensive coverage all week on NBC Sports Network (to be re-named from VERSUS on Jan. 2, 2012). NBC has built Sunday Night Football into the most-watched primetime show on television.





  [december 2011]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
    


· FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA (NBC)
· SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (NBC)





[10/16/26 - 02:30 PM]
Brewers Triumph on FS1 Delivers Most-Watched LCS Game 3 Telecast Since 2016
On FS1, Game 3 averaged 6,460,000 viewers.

[10/16/26 - 01:12 PM]
ESPN Documentary Film "The Endless Race" Premieres Oct. 29 on Hulu
The film will also air Sunday, November 1 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN and stream afterward on the ESPN App later that day.

[10/16/26 - 12:34 PM]
Season 5 of "True Detective" Starts Production in 2027
Nicolas Cage and Antonio Banderas will star in the anthology's next season.

[10/16/26 - 12:15 PM]
ESPN Collaborates with Ferg on New NBA Marketing Campaign Featuring Unreleased Tracks "Can't Stop Me" & "Aura"
"Aura" debuts in ESPN creative on October 16 and aims to drive awareness of the major star-driven games on ESPN platforms to tip off the season, while the campaign began October 4 with "Can't Stop Me."

[10/16/26 - 11:45 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scores with Show's "Super Bowl Night"
In fact, among Adults 18-49, "Dancing with the Stars" grew for the fourth telecast in a row, hitting a season high and posting the show's best non-finale episode in over nine years.

[10/16/26 - 11:00 AM]
Video: Starz Unveils Opening Scene of Highly Anticipated "P-Valley" Final Season
This will mark the first extended preview for fans ahead of the highly anticipated debut of the third and final season with two new episodes Friday, December 4.

[10/16/26 - 10:42 AM]
ABC News Wins Across Friday Night, Sunday Morning and Late Night
"20/20: Born to Kill" ranked as Friday's No.1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/16/26 - 10:23 AM]
Prime Video Orders "Rally" to Series from Julie Plec, Universal Television, Entertainment 360 and Amazon MGM Studios
Let the games begin!

[10/16/26 - 09:00 AM]
"Lil Kev" Is Back! Inspired by Kevin Hart's Childhood, The Animated Comedy Series Returns for Season Two Wednesday, December 9 Exclusively on Paramount+
Set in 1993 North Philadelphia, "Lil Kev" follows twelve-year-old Kev as his enormous ambition and wild imagination fuel one scheme after another.

[10/16/26 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Tyler Perry's The Gospel of Christmas" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A struggling pastor moves his family to a troubled New York neighborhood, where they must save a neglected church from foreclosure before Christmas.

[10/15/26 - 11:31 PM]
Video: "Chaar Yaar" - Official Trailer - Prime Video
"Chaar Yaar" is a story of four middle-class boys, their dreams, setbacks and friendship being their armour.

[10/15/26 - 05:01 PM]
Video: "Dead-End Job" - Official Trailer - Netflix
Drowning in debt, a young man takes lucrative part-time jobs from a mysterious agency - only to find his hustle for more money turning nightmarish.

[10/15/26 - 05:00 PM]
The Walt Disney Company Goes for Baseball Home Run with Banana Ball Tournament and Documentary in 2027
Following Banana Ball's 10-year journey, from its humble beginnings in Savannah, Georgia, to a phenomenon known as "The Greatest Show in Sports," the documentary will give fans an inside look at the stories, personalities and community behind it all.

[10/15/26 - 02:55 PM]
Super Bowl Season Success: Bills-Rams Thriller Propels "Monday Night Football" to Best Five-Week Start of ESPN Era
The matchup featuring the NFL's two most recent MVPs averaged 19.8 million viewers across ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, NFL Network and ESPN Deportes.

[10/15/26 - 02:52 PM]
Peter Rice Named Netflix Chief Content Officer
He replaces Bela Bajaria, who is leaving Netflix after nearly 10 years, most recently leading the Company's global content team.