Getting More of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms...2014 TNF Co-Produced by CBS and NFLN

[the1andonly3003]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24431657/cbs-to-take-eight-thursday-night-games-in-2014
 
 

 
CBS will televise eight Thursday night games in 2014 and will feature play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and color analyst Phil Simms on every game, according to a Wednesday announcement by CBS and the NFL.

 
It looks like we lose Mike Mayock calling NFL games this season.  This will be a killer to the primetime schedules for ABC and NBC.

 

[glennhoffmania]

I really don't like the Thu. games in general, and more of Nantz is never a good thing.  If they have to play on Thu. why not at least leave it on NFLN?

 

[Bergs]

Ugh. I fucking hate Nance...and Mayock has really grown on me this year (he used to drive me nuts)...not good news.
 
Edit: I spelled Nantz wrong. But fuck him anyway.

 

[mascho]

Well, there will be two Saturday night games, which is cool.
 
NFLN also gets the 8 late season Thursday night games, so there will still be Mayock.

 

[RedOctober3829]

I really don't like the Thu. games in general, and more of Nantz is never a good thing.  If they have to play on Thu. why not at least leave it on NFLN?

If I'm reading it correctly, CBS is only broadcasting the first 8 Thursday Night games and NFLN gets the other 8.  But, the first 8 on CBS will also be simulcasted on NFLN.  That makes no sense to me.
 
The cool part about this deal is there will be 2 Saturday games late in the season like there used to be.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Well, there will be two Saturday night games, which is cool.
 
NFLN also gets the 8 late season Thursday night games, so there will still be Mayock.

Nantz and Simms are broadcasting all 16 of these games(14 Thursday and 2 Saturday)

 

[mascho]

Nantz and Simms are broadcasting all 16 of these games(14 Thursday and 2 Saturday)

 
Crap.  I missed that part.  
 
Screw this then.

 

[ifmanis5]

I do like the Saturday games. I missed those. The rest of this is horrendous.

 

[riboflav]

For Pats' fans this should mean less Nantz and Simms, no? I assume the Patriots will be featured in one or two of these games, but some seasons they're the top draw on CBS as many five times which means a whole lot of Nantz and Simms.

 

[Senator Donut]

I really don't like the Thu. games in general, and more of Nantz is never a good thing.  If they have to play on Thu. why not at least leave it on NFLN?

Quoting directly from Roger Goodell:
"Our goal is to bring these games to more fans on broadcast television with unprecedented promotion and visibility for Thursday Night Football on CBS"

Essentially, they want more viewers on Thursday nights to increase the profile of those games. The extra $200 is pretty good change too.

 

[RedOctober3829]

For Pats' fans this should mean less Nantz and Simms, no? I assume the Patriots will be featured in one or two of these games, but some seasons they're the top draw on CBS as many five times which means a whole lot of Nantz and Simms.

I can see a scenario in which they call a game on Thursday and Sunday.  They did it this year when they called the Thanksgiving Day game then did the Denver/KC game on Sunday.

 

[riboflav]

I can see a scenario in which they call a game on Thursday and Sunday.  They did it this year when they called the Thanksgiving Day game then did the Denver/KC game on Sunday.

 
Ugh. I never really thought of that possibility.

 

[DJnVa]

This is only for the 2014 season, with the NFL having the option to renew for 2015.

 

[glennhoffmania]

Quoting directly from Roger Goodell:
"Our goal is to bring these games to more fans on broadcast television with unprecedented promotion and visibility for Thursday Night Football on CBS"

Essentially, they want more viewers on Thursday nights to increase the profile of those games. The extra $200 is pretty good change too.

 
I waited a long time just to get NFLN, and now that TWC has it they decide now to bring more fans to the Thu. night games?  Fuck them.
 

I can see a scenario in which they call a game on Thursday and Sunday.  They did it this year when they called the Thanksgiving Day game then did the Denver/KC game on Sunday.

 
This is exactly what I assumed.  They'll just take Sun. games away from another broadcast team.

 

[the1andonly3003]

Isn't this also the season where Fox and CBS can trade AFC and NFC games?  I'd assume we would see more of the Broncos on Fox, and maybe Seahawks/49ers on CBS?

 

[CoffeeNerdness]

I'm sure Nantz and Simms are hitting the books with boundless vigor so they can let the viewers know all about players and coaches on the less heralded teams outside of Denver, NE, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh.  Terrific.

 

[canderson]

The Sat night games really hurt abc/espn and its Saturday night college football stranglehold.

 

[trekfan55]

The Sat night games really hurt abc/espn and its Saturday night college football stranglehold.

 
I think those are held after the College Football season is over.  So it shouldn't affect anyone.

 

[RedOctober3829]

The Sat night games really hurt abc/espn and its Saturday night college football stranglehold.

Yes, the Saturday games are actually held on one day with a doubleheader.  The date is December 20th so it has no bearing on college football.

 

[mabrowndog]

 
I think those are held after the College Football season is over.  So it shouldn't affect anyone.

 

Yes, the Saturday games are actually held on one day with a doubleheader.  The date is December 20th so it has no bearing on college football.

 
Wouldn't December 13th be the one Saturday where there wouldn't be any conflict, since the only game would be Army-Navy in the afternoon? That's usually the case on any Saturday immediately following conference championships weekend. It's a 3 pm EST start and since CBS airs it I'm surprised they didn't work something out to have it be a lead-in for later NFL games.
 
This past December on Saturday the 21st the first four bowl games took place, though only one of them (Tulane vs LA-Lafayette in the New Orleans Bowl) aired in prime time and only a smattering of viewers actually gave a shit. I suspect Saturday the 20th will carry a similar schedule this year.

 

[RedOctober3829]

 
 
Wouldn't December 13th be the one Saturday where there wouldn't be any conflict, since the only game would be Army-Navy in the afternoon? That's usually the case on any Saturday immediately following conference championships weekend. It's a 3 pm EST start and since CBS airs it I'm surprised they didn't work something out to have it be a lead-in for later NFL games.
 
This past December on Saturday the 21st the first four bowl games took place, though only one of them (Tulane vs LA-Lafayette in the New Orleans Bowl) aired in prime time and only a smattering of viewers actually gave a shit. I suspect Saturday the 20th will carry a similar schedule this year.

Yeah, those bowl games nobody gives a shit about.  They won't have a game that competes with the NFL games as I believe the NFL games will be at 4 and 8(or something like that).  That leaves a window to have a game in the early afternoon on ESPN.

 

[RIFan]

I waited a long time just to get NFLN, and now that TWC has it they decide now to bring more fans to the Thu. night games?  Fuck them.

Well this is the reason isn't it? The NFL Network charges an average of $1.40/month per subscriber. Now that they have the majority of the cable companies hooked in, they doubled up on revenue by selling some of the rights. It was probably an easy calculation to determine what they are giving up in advertising revenue versus gaining in rights fees and lower production costs.

 

[mabrowndog]

Yeah, those bowl games nobody gives a shit about.  They won't have a game that competes with the NFL games as I believe the NFL games will be at 4 and 8(or something like that).  That leaves a window to have a game in the early afternoon on ESPN.

 
You're right that interest was lackluster across the board. But that's not quite the same as having "no conflict" with college football. I guess what I'm saying is I was surprised the NFL didn't add games on both Saturdays rather than just the 20th.
 
For the record the games that day drew ratings of 2.3 (USC vs Fresno, Las Vegas Bowl, ABC, 3:30 pm EST), 1.9 (Colo St vs Wash St, New Mexico Bowl, ESPN, 2 pm EST), 1.5 (Buffalo vs San Diego St, Potato Bowl, ESPN, 5:30 pm EST), and 1.4 for the New Orleans Bowl on ESPN. All except the New Mexico Bowl were lower than 2012 viewership.

 

[canderson]

I think those are held after the College Football season is over.  So it shouldn't affect anyone.

Good catch, when I saw the dates I thought that was the title weekend.

 

[RedOctober3829]

 
You're right that interest was lackluster across the board. But that's not quite the same as having "no conflict" with college football. I guess what I'm saying is I was surprised the NFL didn't add games on both Saturdays rather than just the 20th.
 
For the record the games that day drew ratings of 2.3 (USC vs Fresno, Las Vegas Bowl, ABC, 3:30 pm EST), 1.9 (Colo St vs Wash St, New Mexico Bowl, ESPN, 2 pm EST), 1.5 (Buffalo vs San Diego St, Potato Bowl, ESPN, 5:30 pm EST), and 1.4 for the New Orleans Bowl on ESPN.

You don't think the bowls will build their schedule around the NFL?  If the NFL wants games on the 20th, the Potato Bowl sponsored by Lay's in Po-dunk, Idaho won't schedule their game then.

 

[Senator Donut]

 
 
Wouldn't December 13th be the one Saturday where there wouldn't be any conflict, since the only game would be Army-Navy in the afternoon? That's usually the case on any Saturday immediately following conference championships weekend. It's a 3 pm EST start and since CBS airs it I'm surprised they didn't work something out to have it be a lead-in for later NFL games.

The NFL is prohibited from televising its games on Fridays and Saturdays until and including the second week of December by antitrust law.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/chapter-32

 

[mabrowndog]

The NFL is prohibited from televising its games on Fridays and Saturdays until and including the second week of December by antitrust law.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/chapter-32

 

 

[gmogmo]

Double header the Saturday before Christmas is orgasmic.  Hate how they'd gone away from the Saturday day games over the last few years, used to live for those growing up.  Hopefully this is a step towards opening it up to the last 2-3 Saturdays of the year eventually. 

 

[rymflaherty]

It seemed like the NFL Network's Thusday philosophy was getting every team in a primetime national game, which resulted in some awful matchups. (Or that may have been out of necessity based on what FOX/ESPN and CBS dictated)
I'm guessing that since they now have a major network partner that changes?

 

[Senator Donut]

It seemed like the NFL Network's Thusday philosophy was getting every team in a primetime national game, which resulted in some awful matchups. (Or that may have been out of necessity based on what FOX/ESPN and CBS dictated)
I'm guessing that since they now have a major network partner that changes?

It was my impression that the NFL did it out of fairness. Every team was assured of exactly one Thursday game following a Sunday game last season.

 

[nattysez]

Has anyone seen how much CBS is paying for this?  Based on ratings trends, these are pretty much guaranteed to be the highest-rated programs on Thursday nights, right?  And if the games are shown 8-11, they'll cover all but one hour of prime time in the East and two hours of prime time in the West, meaning huge, huge ratings for most of prime time on a big TV night.  CBS has got to be paying an outrageous amount of money for the games.  I'll be curious to see how they fill those remaining hours on the West Coast. 

 

[axx]

I'll say they are paying $500M. Which is an awful lot to own Thursday nights.

 

[mauf]

My guess is CBS gets all the ad revenue for the simulcasts; NFLN just wants to make it easy for their subscribers to find the TNF games.

As a RedZone subscriber, I'm disappointed that my exposure to Nantz and Simms will increase dramatically, but it's a good deal for the majority of fans who don't subscribe to NFLN.

 

[RedOctober3829]

@richarddeitsch: Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will still call major games on Sunday (as well as Thur.) but not every Sunday as part of new CBS NFL package.

 

[dynomite]

First of all, I join others in really not liking the Thursday games.

Second, I will be interested to see whether CBS gets some marquee games on Thursdays to guarantee ratings. The 2013 NFLN slate didn't do them any favors in this department: BUF@CLE Week 5, SD@OAK Week 6, and the notably putrid HOU@JAX Week 14 (although they also got unlucky, as some matchups that seemed attractive turned out to be stinkers: NO@ATL, for example).

 

[ifmanis5]

Juts to confirm, we WILL be getting "Hello friends..." every Thursday night.
 

CBS will televise eight Thursday night games in 2014 and will feature play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and color analyst Phil Simms on every game, according to a Wednesday announcement by CBS and the NFL.

 
LINK: http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24431657/cbs-to-take-eight-thursday-night-games-in-2014

 

[Reverend]

First of all, I join others in really not liking the Thursday games.

Second, I will be interested to see whether CBS gets some marquee games on Thursdays to guarantee ratings. The 2013 NFLN slate didn't do them any favors in this department: BUF@CLE Week 5, SD@OAK Week 6, and the notably putrid HOU@JAX Week 14 (although they also got unlucky, as some matchups that seemed attractive turned out to be stinkers: NO@ATL, for example).

 
I kinda wish they weren't doing this because I don't have NFLN and could do without being tempted to watch crappy football.

 

[Senator Donut]

Nantz and Simms will only work on Sundays at 4:25 games during CBS's doubleheader weeks. Thursdays will be their "primary" assignment.
http://sportsvideo.org/main/blog/2014/02/cbs-sports-chairman-sean-mcmanus-thursday-night-football-is-lead-production-teams-number-one-assignment/

 

[the1andonly3003]

Nantz and Simms will only work on Sundays at 4:25 games during CBS's doubleheader weeks. Thursdays will be their "primary" assignment.
http://sportsvideo.org/main/blog/2014/02/cbs-sports-chairman-sean-mcmanus-thursday-night-football-is-lead-production-teams-number-one-assignment/

 
This probably means we will get more of Greg Gumble and his new partner next season.  Guess Dan Dierdorf really missed out eh?
 
I'd think that if they offered the "B" team analyst to Boomer Esiason, he'd take it instead of doing MNF on the radio.  Would give CBS the chance to refresh their pregame show as well.

 

[Vandalman]

Mike Mayock would make a great "B" teamer.  His schedule's pretty open.

 

[the1andonly3003]

Mike Mayock would make a great "B" teamer.  His schedule's pretty open.

 
I think he still does the Notre Dame games on NBC on most Saturdays

 

[RedOctober3829]

The complete pregame and postgame talent roster for Thursday Night Football on NFL Network and CBS is set. Joining the previously announced set featuring host James Brown and analysts Deion Sanders and Bill Cowher will be an additional set featuring host Rich Eisen and analysts Michael Irvin, Marshall Faulk and Steve Mariucci.
 
Every Thursday at 6:00 PM ET on NFL Network, Eisen will kick off the NFL week with Irvin, Faulk and Mariucci live from outside the stadium on NFL Total Access Kickoff. The cast will provide news and analysis of the upcoming matchup, as well as highlight the atmosphere and festivities outside the stadium as fans arrive for every Thursday Night Football game on CBS and NFL Network.
At 7:30 PM ET, Brown, Sanders and Cowher anchor NFL Thursday Night Kickoff from inside the stadium. The show will air on CBS and be simulcast on NFL Network during Weeks 2-8 and air exclusively on NFL Network during Weeks 9-12 and 14-16. During halftime, Brown, Sanders and Cowher host the Lexus Halftime Show on CBS and NFL Network.
Brown, Sanders and Cowher also will appear on NFL Total Access Kickoff in the 6:00-7:30 PM ET window, while Eisen, Irvin, Faulk and Mariucci will appear within NFL Thursday Night Kickoff from 7:30 PM ET to kickoff.
Additionally, throughout the course of the 2014 Thursday Night Football schedule, NFL Network and CBS analysts such as Tony Gonzalez, Kurt Warner, LaDainian Tomlinson, Willie McGinest, Terrell Davis and more will appear on-location on both the NFL Total Access Kickoff and NFL Thursday Night Kickoff pregame shows.
Immediately following each game, the Mazda Postgame Show airs live from the stadium on NFL Network and CBS. Eisen, Irvin, Faulk, Mariucci and Sanders reprise their wildly entertaining postgame show, providing highlights, analysis and live interviews. Each week, a player or coach from the winning team will join the crew on-set to discuss the victory, receive a gift bag which will vary each week and leave their handprints on the Winning Hands wall.
The full slate of 16 regular-season Thursday Night Football games will be produced by CBS with its broadcasters and production team, including Jim Nantz, Phil Simms and Tracy Wolfson. The Thursday Night Football schedule kicks off on September 11 with Steelers vs. Ravens from Baltimore.
 

http://nflcommunications.com/2014/08/18/complete-cast-of-thursday-night-football-pregame-show-on-nfl-network-cbs-announced/

 

[DanoooME]

The last thing anyone needs is more Marshall Faulk.  He's the Harold Reynolds of the NFL without the sexual harassment.