We have the press release from NBC regarding the renewal of its deal to air Sunday Night Football. This guarantees that NBC will keep the premier primetime package through the 2022 season. Under the new contract, NBC will air three Super Bowls starting with Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.
It will give up its Wild Card Playoff doubleheader in exchange for picking up one Divisional round playoff game. So NBC will have one WC playoff and a divisional playoff.
Starting next season, it will air the Thanksgiving Night game meaning CBS, Fox and NBC will all air contests on Turkey Day.
NBC gets “TV Everywhere” rights meaning it can now stream Sunday Night Football on tablets. It has been streaming on computers for the last three seasons.
NBC also receives expanded rights to flex scheduling so games could be flexed out of primetime earlier than the Week 11 period.
The press release:
NBCUNIVERSAL’S NEW NINE-YEAR SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL AGREEMENT INCLUDES MORE GAMES, THREE SUPER BOWLS, UPGRADED PLAYOFF PACKAGE & ENHANCED FLEX SCHEDULING
Increased Digital Rights
Annual Thanksgiving Night Broadcasts Begin on NBC in 2012NEW YORK – December 14, 2011 – NBCUniversal today agreed to a new and extensive media rights agreement to extend its NFL rights package through the 2022 season. The new agreement includes many enhancements that broaden the exposure of NFL content on NBC, and across other NBCUniversal platforms.
“This is a great day for NBCUniversal and the NBC Sports Group. There is no more powerful programming on television than the NFL and no better program than Sunday Night Football. The long-term agreement announced today provides us with significant enhancements to our existing NFL package, ensures that we will continue our partnership with the NFL for many years, and adds tremendous value to the many assets of NBCUniversal. We could not be more pleased,” said Steve Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal.
“Sunday Night Football on NBC is the most-watched program on primetime television, and we’re excited to continue our long-term partnership with the NFL,” said Mark Lazarus, Chairman, NBC Sports Group. “The new primetime Thanksgiving game starting in 2012, the upgraded playoff package and the three Super Bowls are all major enhancements to our new agreement. The additional digital and programming rights add tremendous value to the NBC Sports Group portfolio.”
This new and extensive media rights agreement includes many enhancements vs. the previous agreement:
(Beginning with the new agreement in 2014 except where noted in bold)
- NBC will annually broadcast a primetime game on Thanksgiving night beginning in 2012;
- Upgraded playoff coverage, exchanging one of its current Wild Card games for a Divisional playoff game;
- In addition to the 2012 Super Bowl, NBC will broadcast the 2015, 2018 and 2021 Super Bowls;
- Enhanced flexible scheduling;
- Expanded digital rights, including “TV Everywhere” rights;
- Spanish language rights so that games could be shown on Telemundo, mun2 or with an SAP feed.
NBC will now broadcast 19 regular season games including 17 regular season Sunday Night Football games, each season’s opening NFL Kickoff Thursday night primetime game and the new Thanksgiving night game, and two playoff games (one Wild Card game and one Divisional game). NBC’s original Sunday Night Football agreement, which began in 2006, included 17 regular season games. It was increased to 18 in 2010.
Sunday Night Football, the most-watched primetime show of the fall television season for the second straight year, is preceded each week at 7 p.m. ET by the critically acclaimed Football Night in America, which provides comprehensive highlights and analysis of the day’s events in the NFL, along with a preview of that night’s Sunday Night Football contest.
The original six-year Sunday Night Football agreement between NBC Sports and the NFL started with the 2006 season and ran through the 2011 season. The current agreement, which was extended in 2009, expires after the 2013 season.
NBC & THE NFL: NBC’s long history with the NFL dates back 70 years to 1939 when NBC became the first network to televise an NFL game – Philadelphia Eagles vs. Brooklyn Dodgers from Ebbets Field to the approximately 1,000 sets then in New York. NBC first broadcast the NFL Championship Game in 1955. In 1964, NBC signed a five-year contract to televise the AFL. NBC was awarded the AFC package in 1970, an association that would continue through the 1997-98 season. NBC televised the first Super Bowl in 1967 and the historic New York Jets’ upset of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969.
In February 2009, NBC broadcast Super Bowl XLIII, which was, at the time, the most-watched program in television history, and on February 5, 2012, NBC will broadcast Super Bowl XLVI from Indianapolis with extensive coverage all week on NBC Sports Network (to be re-named from VERSUS on Jan. 2, 2012). NBC has built Sunday Night Football into the most-watched primetime show on television.
Fox Sports’ announcement is coming up.
