ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" will broadcast live this week from Pro Football HOFer Jerome Bettis' Grille 36 on Pittsburgh's North Shore to "add even more pregame buildup" to Patriots-Steelers on Sunday afternoon, according to Ben Schmitt of TRIBLIVE.com. The show will "mark the second time" that the Sunday pregame show has "traveled to a regular season game site in the program's 32-year history." Sunday's show is "expected to include special guests on-set, including former Steelers and prominent sports figures from Pittsburgh" (TRIBLIVE.com, 12/12). Patriots-Steelers is the featured game on CBS' Sunday afternoon national window, but ESPN Senior Coordinating Producer Seth Markman said, "We want a piece of this game. This is how we're going to get it. ... This is as close as we come to Super Bowl-type coverage during a regular-season game." Markman said that the net "began seriously kicking around the idea of taking the program on the road about a month ago" when it became clear the teams "were on a collision course." ESPN decided broadcasting live from Heinz Field "wouldn't make much sense" since the pregame show "goes on 6 1/2 hours before kickoff and the stadium would still be empty" (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 12/14).
NUMBERS DOWN FOR "COUNTDOWN": In Pittsburgh, Sean Gentille notes ratings are down for "Sunday NFL Countdown," but figures also are "down for all pregame shows." Markman attributes the ratings decrease to "a lot of factors." Markman said, "I’m proud of our show. I think the show has gotten better and better. We’ve changed the cast entirely over two years, which is almost unprecedented in this industry." He added, "Like anything else, when you make a change like that, it’s different to people. It takes time, sometimes, A, for us for the chemistry to build but also for the audience that might’ve been used to -- and with all due respect, I love these guys -- but Chris Berman and Tom Jackson were on for 30 years, you know? So it becomes comfort food to people. And now it’s gonna take a little more time" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 12/14).
