Turning The Page: "MNF" Moves On After 36 Years

Over the past four days, we have celebrated ABC’s 36- year run of broadcasting pro football in primetime on Monday nights. The impact that “MNF” has had on sports television is undeniable, and we have attempted to convey that with our special section.

Now, it is time to look ahead, as “MNF” moves to ESPN next season, and the primetime broadcast package will be Sunday nights on NBC. Some say the Monday night product will be diminished when it moves to cable, but sports’ move away from over-the-air TV has been underway for some time. In ‘02, the NBA signed a cable-heavy TV package, and more and more individual teams are joining the trend.

On a conference call this week, ESPN Exec VP/Content JOHN SKIPPER puts it this way, “Ninety percent of the people who watch ‘MNF’ can watch ‘MNF’ next year without any change to their television set.” He argues that, with the content ESPN plans to put on all its platforms, “the aggregate audience for Monday football is going to be higher than it is this year.” Skipper adds, “If the world’s most powerful league is comfortable moving their most important primetime product to a cable network, I think that differentiation [between cable and free TV] is perceived by sports fans to be very slight and it’s almost invisible to our company. ... That’s an old-fashioned, artificial distinction to us.”

ESPN To Pump "MNF" Across All Platforms

Then-ESPN Exec VP/Programming & Production MARK SHAPIRO at the time of the announcement also touts ESPN’s ability to promote “MNF” across its various platforms: “The Monday night move to ESPN isn’t just about the game. For us, it will begin at midnight eastern Sunday night when CHRIS BERMAN and company debut the original episode of ‘NFL Prime Time.’ ... The following day, from ‘Cold Pizza’ to ‘SportsCenter’ to ‘Monday Night Countdown,’ we will bring full arms to bear, and we will be on-site, on-campus, swarming over the game. We will truly make it an event.”

But even some at the NFL hint that NBC’s new Sunday night package –- enhanced with a flexible scheduling component and highlight exclusivity –- will now be the premier primetime package. At the time of the announcement in April, Broncos Owner and NFL Broadcast Committee Chair PAT BOWLEN says, “The Monday-night product we had with ABC was dwindling. It was broken in a way. ... Monday night isn’t Monday night anymore.”

NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Chair DICK EBERSOL: says, “Our best information shows us that this property will rate higher ... on Sunday nights than it did on Monday nights because you should not have any weak games in the back seven weeks of the season [because of flexible scheduling].” NBC Universal Chair & CEO and GE Vice Chair BOB WRIGHT says NBC’s six-year, $3.6B deal “is going to be a profitable transaction.”

The “MNF” announce team of AL MICHAELS and JOHN MADDEN will split as a result of the new primetime arrangement, with Madden moving to NBC and Michaels remaining on “MNF.”

Michaels And Madden Going Seperate Ways In '06

In Baltimore, Ken Murray writes, "Madden’s arrival at NBC from ABC will formally stamp the transition of the NFL’s top prime-time broadcast from Monday night to Sunday night in the eyes of most experts.”

Ebersol also tries to sign Michaels and says, “The only issue was money. He clearly understood ... this was qualitatively the best package. But we have, at NBC, certain numbers that we won’t go beyond for certain roles.” Michaels responds, “The only issue was not money. ... The ESPN deal was a better deal, and it should have been because I’ve been at [the company] for 29 years.”

Shapiro adds, “To say Al Michaels made the decision based on perks or money he couldn’t get elsewhere is spin from somebody finishing in second place.”

How the new TV arrangement, including the flexible schedule, plays out remains to be seen. But this much is clear: NFL fans are in for some changes next season.