News

CBS is laying a big bet on Las Vegas for the upcoming Super Bowl.

The week of Super Bowl Lviii will see the network use the famed Fountains of Bellagio as the backdrop of its central broadcast location. CBS will offer weeklong, multiplatform coverage of the Super Bowl in sports, news and entertainment, all leading up to CBS Sports’ presentation of the game on Sunday, Feb. 11.

The location will be home to shows from four CBS divisions across broadcast, cable, and streaming from Monday, Feb. 5 to Sunday, Feb. 11, with four outdoor sets shared across the various shows. The shows originating from Las Vegas are:

CBS Sports

The NFL Today – CBS Sports’ pregame show with host James Brown and analysts Phil Simms, Bill Cowher, Nate Burleson, Boomer Esiason, JJ Watt, and lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones will provide Super Bowl Lviii game analysis, features and interviews.

Super Bowl Live – Host Adam Zucker...

When Amazon’s Prime Video streams a new “Black Friday” NFL game later this year, viewers won’t be greeted solely by a live match.

The company plans to offer commercials featuring its talent around the event, according to Danielle Carney, who heads up NFL sales for Amazon. During remarks made at an industry conference, Carney envisioned different “talent” being tapped to talk to viewers about possible buying opportunities. “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving, is typically seen as the first day of the U.S. holiday shopping season.

“We can be thoughtful about deals we are showing to those who are tuning in,” Carney said, a possible allusion to the fact that streamers can place ads in front of specific audiences by using data about subscribers as well as consumer information from particular sponsors.

Whether “talent” might involve “Thursday Night Football” analysts like Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit or Charissa Thompson...

HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel caps another season of enterprising reporting with a roundtable review of this year’s most memorable moments from the show, debuting Tuesday, December 20 (10:00-11:00 p.m. Et/Pt) on HBO and available to stream on HBO Max.

For up-to-the-minute updates about Real Sports, follow on Twitter at @RealSportsHBO or join the conversation using #RealSports, and on HBO.com/realsports and Facebook.com/RealSportsHBO.

Departing from the show’s regular format, host Bryant Gumbel is joined by veteran correspondents Mary Carillo, Jon Frankel, Andrea Kremer, Soledad O’Brien, and David Scott, as well as newcomers Isobel Yeung, Ariel Helwani and Jonathan Jones, for spirited discussions that recap the most significant and impactful stories of 2022.

Stories discussed in the episode include Deshaun Watson’s accusers, the Ioc’s partnership with China’s repressive regime, sports gambling and addiction, an examination of Wada, the hidden world of Sumo,...

There will be lots of teams worth following this NFL season, be they the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the returning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams. Even so, many people in the media business have their eyes on a very distinctive player: Amazon Prime Video.

The streamer, which once shared “Thursday Night Football” games with Fox, now has exclusive rights to that action and must convince some pigskin Luddites to plug into broadband. Streaming “Thursday Night Football,” after all, will require a different kind of remote — and familiarity with a home screen, not a cable box.

“It is going to be a behavioral shift for people,” acknowledges Jay Marine, VP of Prime Video and its global head of sports. “Our job is to make sure they are able to find ‘Thursday Night Football’ at its new home and make it as easy as possible to get into the Prime Video app and start streaming.

Amazon’s Prime Video — as the new home of Thursday Night Football — is the first streaming service to have a season-long, exclusive national broadcast package with the NFL, as part of a historic 11-year deal. How can you get in on the action for free?

Beginning Thursday, Sept. 15, Prime Video will exclusively stream 15 regular-season Thursday Night Football match-ups (detailed below). If you are an Amazon Prime member (think: free shipping!), you already have access to all of Prime Video’s offerings. If not, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial in time for Thursday Night Football‘s kickoff.

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One week before it debuts its Thursday Night Football NFL game of the week, Amazon is expanding its NFL programming.

The tech giant has ordered The NFL Pile On, a weekly show that will take a comedic look at some moments from the previous week’s NFL games. Produced with NFL Films, The NFL Pile On will be hosted by former Saturday Night Live cast member Taran Killam.

The show will debut on Prime Video Wednesdays at 7 Pm, teeing up the following day’s Tnf game.

Killam will be joined by comedian Sarah Tiana and special guests each week.

Per Amazon, The NFL Pile On “will showcase funny and unexpected moments from across the league, from mic’d up players during pregame warmups to postgame press conference one-liners—everything from studio shows, social media, and fashion faux pas will be fair game.”

In...

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The NFL broadcasting field is about to get a lot more crowded. And loud.

Following the success of ESPN’s Peyton and Eli Manning-led “Manningcast” and Paramount’s Nickelodeon-themed NFL playoff game (and its own experience developing alternate audio feeds for NFL games), Amazon is planning a major push into alternative broadcast streams for the upcoming season of Thursday Night Football.

The tech giant said Monday that the hosts of Dude Perfect, the popular YouTube and social media trick shot personalities, will host an alternate stream this season.

Unlike previous seasons of Tnf, which saw Amazon encourage alternate audio tracks (hosts included Andrea Kremer and Hannah Storm, former NFL scouts, and a variety of Twitch streamers), the Dude Perfect feed will include video of the guys doing challenges and attempting world record tricks in between plays, joined by special guests. The...

The National Basketball Assn. champion Milwaukee Bucks have a new voice as their play-by-play announcer. Also a new gender.

Veteran sportscaster Lisa Byington is the new lead announcer for Bucks television broadcasts on Bally Sports Wisconsin for the 2021-2022 season. She replaces longtime announcer Jim Paschke, who is retiring. Former Bucks All-Star forward Marques Johnson will continue as analyst

Although other women have done one-off play-by-play for games, Byington is the first full-time female play-by-play announcer for a major men’s professional sports team.

“We are so excited to welcome Lisa to the Bucks family and to bring such a talented play-by-play announcer to our broadcast team,” said Bucks President Peter Feigin. “Lisa’s extensive television broadcasting background, including her play-by-play work for high-level NCAA basketball on several national networks,...

CBS, NBC and Fox have all had issues with “Thursday Night Football.” Amazon sees possibilities.

The e-commerce and streaming giant believes a new deal with the NFL that gives it sole control over the league’s Thursday-night franchise lends it an opportunity to create new viewing experiences for streamers and chances to work more expansively with advertisers. In the past, Amazon has streamed Thursday games using the feed of the broadcast network producing the telecast, and has only been able to offer a limited amount of commercial inventory around each event.

“We have already devoted a lot of time to thinking about how to use new technologies to drive viewing experiences,” says Marie Donoghue, Amazon’s vice president of global sports video, in an interview. “We think this will be a great opportunity to continue to do that. The opportunities are endless with this relationship.”

Under terms of the pact,...

With its film line-up previously announced, the SXSW Film Festival has unveiled its keynote and a very robust second round of featured speakers. This year’s online edition of SXSW kicks off on March 16 and continues through March 20.

SXSW will feature Nobel Peace Prize-nominated political leader Stacey Abrams in a Keynote conversation with author N.K. Jemisin.

As for the new round of featured speakers, the roster includes Elizabeth Banks, Mayim Bialik, Mary J. Blige, James Cameron, Bill Hader, Noah Hawley, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Demi Lovato, Desus Nice and the Kid Mero, Amber Ruffin, The Russo Brothers, Jennifer Salke, Cliff “Method Man” Smith among others.

“We’re truly excited about the remarkable range of creative talent and innovators that we’ve announced today as part of SXSW Online,” said Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer. “In the 30 plus years of SXSW, we’ve showcased so many incredible voices who have shown tremendous courage and leadership,...

Amazon has set broadcast crews and other programming on Prime Video and Twitch for what it is billing as a week-long “NFL Holiday Blitz.”

The spree of football starts today and runs through Saturday’s exclusive stream of the San Francisco 49ers-Arizona Cardinals game, which will mark a milestone for Amazon. The company has steadily ramped up its sports offerings in recent years, part of an effort by several major tech firms to leverage the tune-in potency of live game coverage.

On Christmas Day, Prime Video and Twitch (the gaming-centric streaming platform Amazon acquired in 2014) will offer streams of the Minnesota Vikings-New Orleans Saints game. That complementary stream will follow the season’s Thursday night pattern, with Fox and the NFL Network airing the game on linear TV.

Hannah Storm, Andrea Kremer, Bucky Brooks, Daniel Jeremiah, and Joy Taylor will call both matchups on Prime Video. Andrew Hawkins,...

Amazon Prime members will be able to watch the NFL for free this season as Thursday Night Football arrives on Amazon.com.

While you’ll still be able to watch Thursday Night Football (Tnf) on conventional cable — via your cable provider or using a digital antenna that gets you access to Fox — Amazon Prime will carry a live stream of the games that you can watch from your computer, tablet or phone. You can also cast the action to your TV using a streaming device like this Fire TV Stick.

Amazon...

Amazon has set a more aggressive game plan to drive viewers to “Thursday Night Football” streaming for the 2020 season, adding several new features and “shoulder programming” for the NFL games available on both Prime Video and Twitch.

The ecommerce giant’s global “Tnf” streaming coverage kicks off this week, featuring the Chicago Bears hosting Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 8:20 p.m. Et (also available on Fox and NFL Network in the U.S.). Amazon again is making “Thursday Night Football” available to stream on Twitch — for free to anyone.

It’s the fourth year that Amazon is live-streaming “Tnf.” Amazon earlier this year clinched a three-year extension on the “Tnf” digital games package (through 2022), scoring an additional single exclusive late-season NFL game for each season.

The Amazon-exclusive NFL game hasn’t been set yet, but it will be in November or December and...

Saturday night’s “SNL at Home” episode has yielded an additional sketch left on the cutting room floor, capping a 45th season that found the Studio 8H gang working remotely to bring us virtually produced laughs in dark times. The digital exclusive, embedded below, stars “Saturday Night Live” Season 45 newcomer Bowen Yang as Kim Jong-un, North Korean Chairman of the State Affairs Commission and unexpected Michael Jordan superfan. The clip parodies the ongoing ESPN docuseries “The Last Dance,” which looks at the last season of the Chicago Bulls and the legacy of the iconic basketball player.

The clip also features Chloe Fineman — who killed it Saturday night with her impressions of both “Fleabag” creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge and a manically chatty, quarantined Britney Spears — as journalist Andrea Kremer. Mikey Day weighs in as basketball coach Steve Kerr, while Chris Redd chimes in as Atlantic sports writer David Aldridge, all offering...

ESPN’s The Last Dance, a documentary which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the final season of the Chicago Bulls, one of basketball’s all-time greatest teams, also had a few viewpoints that didn’t make it into the film.

One of them was North Korean Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong-un, a fast friend of Bulls forward Dennis Rodman and alleged big-time basketball fan.

In a “trailer” for The Last Dance that didn’t make it into last night’s Saturday Night Live, Andrea Kremer (Chloe Fineman), Steve Kerr (Mikey Day), David Aldridge (Chris Redd) and Kim Jong-un (Bowen Yang) talk about Jerry Krause, Rodman, and, of course, Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

This should be the last word on The Last Dance. Watch the clip above.

Media outlets across the nation are revising their programming schedules to honor Kobe Bryant, after the Los Angeles Lakers legend, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other people died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Calabasas.

ESPN is re-airing the basketball icon’s final NBA game tonight at 9 p.m. Et/6 p.m. Pt. The historic game took place on April 13, 2016, at the Staples Center against the Utah Jazz and Bryant scored 60 points. ESPN’s previously scheduled Big Monday matchup between Kansas and Oklahoma State will move to ESPN2.

Meanwhile, Southern California radio stations went silent at noon today in honor of Bryant. The synchronized tribute was organized by the Southern California Broadcasters Association, which asked its members to take time out to remember the five-time NBA champion. Los Angeles hip-hop station Power 106 FM offered a series of on-air tributes, then immediately after the moment of silence played “I’ll Be Missing You,...

When Katie Nolan hosts an ESPN telecast of Game 2 of the NBA Finals this Sunday, some viewers may think she’s there to rattle off play by play. Others may think she’s ready to laugh with pals.

And executives at the sports-media giant are Ok with that.

Nolan, analyst Jay Williams, Snapchat “SportsCenter” host Gary Striewski and Mike Korzemba, a YouTube influencer who specializes in basketball-related content, will hold forth on a special Game 2 broadcast available only on the ESPN App. They will be superimposed at the bottom of the screen while the game plays above them. – and free to let loose. Viewers will see various emoji-like symbols pop up during game play – like a ‘fire’ graphic if a shooter has a hot hand – or data nuggets about steals, assists, rebounds and more. ESPN executives see the whole thing as an experiment in the ongoing quest by TV networks...

The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (Awmf) the winners of the 44th annual Gracie Awards. Honorees for 2019 include Sandra Oh, Patricia Arquette, Leah Remini, Connie Britton, Rachel Maddow, Elizabeth Perkins, Rachel Maddow, Tisha Thompson, Rachel Bloom, Maura Tierney and Robin Roberts. The ceremony will take place May 21 at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. Local and student award winners will be recognized at the Gracie Awards Luncheon on June 26 at Cipriani in New York City.

“Our leadership is proud to honor the best of the best who embody the spirit and intention of the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation’s Gracie Awards,” said Becky Brooks, Executive Director, Awmf.

The Gracies recognize exemplary programming created by, for and about women in radio, television, cable and interactive media. Honorees are selected in national, local and student markets, including both commercial and non-commercial outlets. This year, the Gracies...

Hannah Storm knows football fans have to take an extra step to listen to her and Andrea Kremer broadcast “Thursday Night Football.” “It is your choice,” she told viewers during last week’s game between the Denver Broncos and the Arizona Cardinals.

You won’t find the duo holding forth on Fox, which owns TV rights to the NFL’s Thursday-night showcase. To get to them, a sports aficionado must subscribe to Amazon Prime, then opt not only to stream each week’s contest, but also toggle the audio selection to “Storm-Kremer” rather than sticking with the default Fox feed.

The results can be astonishing. Where are the deep male tones of a team like Fox’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman or NBC’s Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth? Never before in the history of NFL broadcasting has an all-female team called TV games. On other media outlets, female...

Andrea Kremer and Hannah Storm are set to make history later this week, with Amazon Prime Video announcing Tuesday that the sports media veterans will become the first all-female NFL broadcast team for this week’s “Thursday Night Football” matchup.

Starting with this week’s Vikings-Rams clash, Kremer and Storm will call 11 Thursday games this season for Amazon. The Kremer-Storm team adds another option for Prime streamers — with the service already offering Fox’s Joe Buck and Troy Aikman broadcast, along with a Spanish-language and an often-candid British broadcast.

“NFL fans will hear history made this season – bringing two female announcers together to call an entire NFL game has never been done before,” Greg Hart, vice president of Prime Video, said in a statement. “Our customers around the world love to stream football – we are thrilled to have Andrea and Hannah bring their extensive knowledge of the game to fans on Prime Video.

In February, Tom Brady played the game of his life.

It was all for mom.

If you watch one thing today, make it this.

: @NFLGameDay pic.twitter.com/YjokJc79ya

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) October 22, 2017

As Tom Brady prepared for his showdown with the Atlanta Falcons at the Super Bowl this past February, he was hopeful about the prognosis for his cancer-stricken mother, Galynn.

“You’ll be ready for the Super Bowl,” he reportedly told her. And she was.

Galynn was diagnosed with cancer in June 2016, after battling health issues for several months, CBS Sports reported. Tom revealed earlier this...

Welcome to ‘What Is Your Damage,’ Annie Barrett’s summer shop of all the melodrama and self-absorption she misses from springtime reality TV. Every Tuesday and Friday, she’ll rant about a current offense to her humanity, then assess readers’ damages via video replies. Don’t be shy about admitting what annoys or intrigues you. We’re all in this pop cult together!

What’s your damage, Olympics? Last Tuesday, I railed against poolside interviewer Andrea Kremer among other Olympics offenders like Ryan Seacrest. Friday’s Volume 2 brought spitting in the pool, a lucky towel, and a very special wedgie.

We’ve got questions, and you’ve (maybe) got answers! With another week of TV gone by, we’re lobbing queries left and right about shows including The Newsroom, Pretty Little Liars, The Glee Project and Suits. But first, the Olympics!

1 | Really, NBC, you couldn’t point your camera in a different direction during your interview with Aly Raisman after the qualifying round so a sobbing Jordyn Wieber wasn’t in the background?

Related | Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Himym, Community, Good Wife, Castle, Vampire Diaries and More!

2 | Is NBC’s Andrea Kremer purposely trying to offend this year’s crop of U.

Welcome to ‘What Is Your Damage,’ Annie Barrett’s summer shop of all the melodrama and self-absorption she misses from springtime reality TV. Every Tuesday and Friday, she’ll rant about a current offense to her humanity, then assess readers’ damages via video replies. Don’t be shy about admitting what annoys or intrigues you. We’re all in this pop cult together!

What’s your damage, Olympics? This week I’ve already railed against poolside interviewer Andrea Kremer and NBC’s hideously disjointed men’s all-around gymnastics telecast, so it’s time to lighten up. Today’s all about wedgies,...

Hot dog! This adorable, humble, well-spoken sex god who can’t believe he just struck gold is Nathan Adrian, the first American in 24 years to win swimming’s version of the “fastest man in the world” race — the 100-meter Freestyle. How Cute Is He?

The 23-year-old out-touched another insanely hot intelligent person, Australian world champion James Magnussen, in his first-ever individual Olympic final. “I almost started crying in the water,” Adrian told damage-monger Andrea Kremer after the race. And He Cries, Too! We have found the world’s most perfect person. We did it! Congratulations, everybody.

Move over, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.

To those of us who aren’t big sports fans during normal times, the Olympics provide an introduction to all those sportscasters the rest of you know and love (or don’t) the whole year through. This week I feel like I got to know veteran sports reporter Andrea Kremer. She’s a veteran and a pioneer with all sorts of accolades — but none of that is what impresses me. It’s how she’s able to hold a mic up to these beautiful specimens of the male body, still panting from the races they’ve won or lost, their swimsuits hanging impossibly low on their hips (do they yank them down for the camera?), their hair mussed and free from caps, their skin glistening just so with pool water, and she looks at their Eyes. The Atlantic Wire says her questions are sometimes biting and hard, but we think...

First of all, we don’t want to take away from this moment for you, Conor Dwyer. During your second of two finals at your Olympic debut, you helped make history. As the second U.S. swimmer in the Men’s 4X200m Freestyle, you built off of Ryan Lochte’s initial lead and helped win gold — bringing teammate Michael Phelps‘ medal tally up to a record 19. That is truly awesome. But now we want to pull you aside for a little chat…

As we watched you and the other boys catch your breath as NBC’s Andrea Kremer interviewed you, we could Not pay attention to anything anyone was saying because of your distractingly see-through trunks. What is up with those? And Ok, they feature more opaque briefs beneath the transparent layer, but that actually didn’t help much. Let’s take a closer look, just to see whether my eyes were deceiving me.

Is it possible the 2012 Olympics might’ve peaked on Day 4? There was Allison Schmitt’s Olympic record-setting Gold-medal performance in the 200 freestyle. There was the triumph of the U.S. “Fab 5″ — oh those vaults! and oh the injustice of McKayla Maroney’s imperfect vault score! — in the Women’s Gymnastics Team Final. But for me, the most thrilling part of NBC’s primetime coverage had to be the finals of the men’s 4×200 freestyle relay.

Granted, NBC’s commentators did a great/slightly sadistic job of pumping up the suspense — heralding Frenchman Yannick Agnel as such an enormous threat to...

Could it be anyone else?

We promise tomorrow’s Stud will Not be a swimmer, but as the above merman just became “The Most Decorated Olympian of All Time,” this was a no-brainer. He’s now won 19 medals. That’s 19 pieces of flair!

In the 200 Fly, his favorite event, Phelps “settled for silver” (Andrea Kremer’s fave term — what’s her damage anyway?) after getting out-touched via a last-second half-stroke (his own move!) by South African total cutie Chad le Clos. He later teamed up with Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, and Ricky Berens in the 4×200 Free Relay to win Gold.

Welcome to ‘What Is Your Damage,’ Annie Barrett’s summer shop of all the melodrama and self-absorption she misses from springtime reality TV. Every Tuesday and Friday, she’ll rant about a current offense to her humanity, then assess readers’ damages via video replies. Don’t be shy about admitting what annoys or intrigues you. We’re all in this pop cult together!

What’s your damage, Olympics? Stop making me feel fat! Great, column over. From the back, to the middle and around again…

I already complained about Ryan Lochte’s diamond-encrusted grill (and prognosticated its eventual takeover of the nation) during the trials,...

The second day of the London 2012 Olympics was filled with more teeth-clenching and heart-wrenching moments than last night’s episode of True Blood. At this pace, we’re going to be a ball of nerves by day 17. As anticipated, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team ruled the day, but their world was rocked when world champion Jordyn Wieber failed to advance to the individual all-around finals. In other upsets, France nabbed the gold in the men’s 100-meter freestyle relay, lowering Ryan Lochte’s pedestal while redeeming Michael Phelps. Now for the highs: Dana Vollmer set the women’s...

Dana Vollmer didn’t even qualify for the last Summer Olympics in Beijing and now she’s the queen of the London Games. Finishing under 56 seconds, she broke the world record in the women’s 100-meter butterfly set by Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom (in a since-banned high-tech bodysuit) at the 2009 world championships. Her win also gave the U.S. women’s swim team its first gold medal of 2012.

“I was just thinking about all the work so many people around me have put in, and the belief that everyone had in me,” Vollmer said after her gold-winning performance. “There have...

Just a theory I’ve been floating. Such chiseled faces!

NBC was back with another hour-long prime-time telecast of U.S. Olympic swimming trials Tuesday night. Brendan Hansen (right) and Eric Shanteau finished 1-2 to qualify for the 100m breaststroke as Hansen’s longtime nemesis and Shanteau’s Japanese training buddy Kosuke Kitajima — portrayed as quite the evil troll by commentators Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines — lurked in the shadowy stands above the pool. He even clapped when the race was over. That imp!

Two more finals Tuesday night: Dana Vollmer and first-time Olympian (!) Claire Donahue finished first and second...

Today's TV snacks include a series renewal, a pledge to bolster network programming and a cable network's development plans. Eat up:

New NBC owner Comcast says it will spend big on trying to revive the network's fortunes. CEO Steve Burke says the company will spend $200 million on prime-time programming for NBC this year, along with $100 million on its cable channels. He acknowledges, though, that "the real key is making better shows." Well, yeah. [La Times]

Comedy Central has renewed its new series "Workaholics" for a second season. The show has averaged 1.2 million viewers since premiering on April 6 and reached a high of 1.5 million last week. [Comedy Central]

A&E unveiled its slate for 2011-12 on Wednesday (May 4), including 11 returning unscripted series and a number of new projects, including a "Storage Wars" spinoff set in Dallas and an unscripted show about independent truckers called "Ship Happens." It's also making a miniseries based on Robin Cook's novel "Coma,...

Bryant Gumbel and his reporting team are back for more poignant and illuminating stories of athletes and their accomplishments. One of our favorite segments was the story of Rick and Dick Hoyt, a father and son team who reveal the true bonds of love, loyalty and commitment regardless of the cards your dealt in life: From HBO Winner of 21 Sports Emmys® in 15 years, Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel presents a special roundtable review of 2010 on its 165th edition, debuting Tuesday, December 21 (10:00-11:00 p.m. Et/Pt) and available in HDTV, exclusively on HBO. Departing from the show.s regular format, host Bryant Gumbel leads correspondents Mary Carillo, Frank Deford, Jon Frankel, Bernard Goldberg and Andrea Kremer...

9:00 Am (Pt)

Here on the west coast, you have to wake up early if you want to watch the full slate of NFL games. Well, this is early for me at least.

9:03 Am

I gravitate toward Espn's NFL countdown for my pre-game viewing. When it comes to pre-game hype and post-game analysis, Chris Berman and Tom Jackson have become my multi-decade comfort food. I trust them to cover both conferences equally, and - although I have never given their pre-game shows a completely fair chance - I have a suspicion that CBS and Fox might show preference toward highlighting the games they are actually broadcasting.

9:15 Am

Sure, Espn, you can bring in George Stephanopoulos, but this political-nfl crossover faux election coverage to designate the midseason awards is rather strained. I am usually fairly good at spelling people's names, but I had to look up "Stephanopoulos" to be safe.