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NFL Network is an American specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League (NFL) and is also shown in Canada and Mexico. It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation. The league invested $100 million to fund the network's operations.
NFL Films produces commercials, television programs, and feature films for the NFL. It is a key supplier of NFL Network's programming, with more than 4,000 hours of footage available in their library. Thus, much of the network's highlights and recaps feature NFL Films' trademark style of slow motion game action, sounds of the game, and the talk on the sidelines.
Beginning with the 2006 season, the channel began to broadcast eight prime time regular season NFL games, called the Run to the Playoffs. In addition to live games, the network has covered the NFL Draft since 2006; its coverage has competed with ESPN and ESPN2.
The NFL Network logo changed to match the new NFL logo, which premiered officially at the 2008 NFL Draft. Unlike the updated logo for the league, the NFL Network's new logo saw more subtle changes such as using a darker shade of blue and changing the "NFL" font to match that of the new NFL logo.
The NFL Network broadcasts out of studios in Culver City, California, near Los Angeles.
Steve Bornstein, President and CEO; also, the NFL's Executive Vice President of Media (also the former Chairman of ESPN, and served as president of ABC) Steve Sabol, President of NFL Films (sports filmmaker, winner of multiple Emmy Awards) Howard Katz, Chief Operating Officer of NFL Films (veteran TV sports executive; former president of ABC Sports; former ESPN Senior Vice President) Judy Fearing, Senior Vice President of Consumer Marketing (former ESPN and Pepsi marketing executive)
Live NFL gamesMain article: Run to the PlayoffsNFL Network televises eight live regular season games during the season. They run on either Thursday or Saturday nights, beginning Thanksgiving evening[1]. Five games usually air on Thursday nights and three on Saturday nights. These games also aired on broadcast TV in the primary media markets of the participating teams, although the home team's market broadcasts the game only if it is sold out 72 hours before game time.
Veteran TV announcer Bryant Gumbel was the play-by-play announcer, and former FOX and current NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth was color commentator for six games. In 2006, Collinsworth missed two Saturday games due to his NBC commitments. Dick Vermeil was his replacement in that event. Collinsworth won the Sports Emmy for best game analyst for his work on the NFL Network telecasts. Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders replaced Collinsworth when needed in 2007.
These games are also broadcast on Westwood One Radio in the United States by TSN in Canada and by Sky Sports in the United Kingdom.
In August 2007, the network televised the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints due to NBC wanting to cover, the later cancelled, preseason game in China.
The 2007 schedule began on Thanksgiving night, November 22, with a game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta's Georgia Dome. Gumbel and Collinsworth returned as the booth announcers.
On April 11, 2008, Gumbel resigned as play-by-play announcer. Four days later, the season schedule was released, with the Run to the Playoffs schedule modified. It will now begin the first Thursday in November instead of Thanksgiving and there will be no game in Week 17.
Other football
NFL exhibition seasonNFL Network televises 54 NFL exhibition games each August. Some are aired live, but a majority of these contests air on a tape-delayed basis, using the home team's local broadcast for the first half and the visitors' broadcast for the second half and overtime if necessary. In 2007, eight live broadcasts were scheduled; two of them were produced by NFLN using the Run to the Playoffs production crew and the other six used the format just mentioned.
College footballNFL Network televised the 2006 Insight Bowl between Minnesota and Texas Tech on December 29, 2006, from Tempe, Arizona[2]. The game featured the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I-A bowl history, with Texas Tech coming back from a 38-7 third-quarter deficit to win 44-41 in overtime. The network has made the game available for free online viewing at its site[3].
The network also broadcast the Texas Bowl in Houston, whose promotion rights are owned in part by the NFL's Houston Texans. It was played December 28, 2006. Rutgers defeated Kansas State, 37-10[4].
The network also showed a college all-star games after the season. The Under Armour Senior Bowl, in Mobile, Alabama which was played on January 27, 2007[5]. NFL Network was also expected to show the Las Vegas All-American Classic in Henderson, Nevada on January 15, but the game was canceled due to lack of sponsorship.
On April 14, 2007, the network showed the Nebraska Cornhuskers' spring football game.
The network again aired the Insight, Texas, and Senior bowls in late 2007 and early 2008. In addition, it showed two games between historically black colleges and universities in the 2007 season, one of which was the Circle City Classic at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.
High school footballNFLN aired two broadcasts of high school all-star games in June 2007: the Bayou Bowl between players from Texas and Louisiana on June 9 (NFLN carried the FSN Southwest feed live), and the Big 33 Football Classic between players from Pennsylvania and Ohio on June 16.