Tag Archives: Eric Shanks

Is it possible to get too much of this NFL? Are you kidding? Finally, real games

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Remember that scene in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas where the people of Whoville stand around the tree and sing that song that I now can’t get out of my head?

That’s how I feel about the start of the NFL season.

Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze!

Welcome NFL, Welcome football,

Come this way! Come this way!

Ah yes, our fest begins tonight and doesn’t end until Super Sunday in February. Dallas at New York Giants on NBC and away we go.

Now more than ever before, we can’t get enough of this NFL. The networks keep feeding us more and more, as if that 48-ounce steak they once served now is a mere appetitzer.

Endless pregame shows, endless during-the-week shows on various networks, and a new slate of Thursday night games. Picture Homer Simpson sucking up a dump truck worth of doughnuts. That’s us.

“If the Cowboys play the Giants in a parking lot in March, it’s still going to be tremendous,” said NBC’s Al Michaels. “Football is king right now. The NFL is hotter than any sport than any time in the history of this country. I can’t wait to get started.”

Michaels’ partner, Cris Collinsworth, agreed.

“You can’t give people too much of it,” Collinsworth said. “Look at all the shows, look at all the websites. Look at all the radio shows. How much more people can take? As much as we want to give them they want more and more and more. I just think the interest is not waning at all no matter what happens.”

The NFL felt bullish enough to expand the Thursday night schedule on NFL Network from 8 to 13 games this year, beginning next week with Bears-Green Bay on Sept. 13.

Obviously, an extra primetime game means one less game for CBS and Fox Sports on Sunday afternoon. When you factor in bye weeks, I asked Fox Sports president Eric Shanks if he had any concerns about the inventory of good games being diminished.

Publically, the answer is no, although I’m sure Fox would have liked that Bears-Packers game.

“You can sit around and poke holes at what (NFL scheduling guru) Howard Katz and his guys do,” Shanks said. “But every year they put together a schedule that blows everyone away. It’s magic what they do. They’ve got it down to a science. It’s really hard to throw stones at the NFL right now.”

Nope, all you can do is sing its praises and ask the NFL to keep on feeding us more. And you know they will.

Fah who for-aze! Fah who for-aze!…

 

Live, it’s Saturday night prime time baseball on Fox

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Once upon a time, Saturday night wasn’t a wasteland for television. In fact, it was the best night of the week.

Check out CBS’ lineup for Saturday night in 1973 and say hello to Archie Bunker:

8 p.m. All in the Family

8:30: M*A*S*H

9: Mary Tyler Moore Show

9:30: Bob Newhart Show

10: Carol Burnett Show

Yeah, only five of the best television shows ever, all airing consecutively on Saturday night. Did we ever go out?

However, somewhere along the way, the networks gave up on Saturday nights. It’s there for the taking if anyone wants it.

ABC saw an opening and has done well with its Saturday night prime time football games. Now Fox is looking to up the ante.

Saturday, Fox will begin eight straight weeks of prime time baseball on Saturday night. The slate has the requisite name: Baseball Night in America.

What’s next? Backgammon Night in America?

The baseball games come on the heels of Fox already airing four NASCAR and two UFC events on Saturday night this year.

All told, Fox plans to have 32 primetime Saturdays with sports this year. The package includes 12 regular-season college football games, the Big Ten Championship game, and Game 4 of the World Series.

Package is the key word here, according to Fox Sports Media co-president and COO Eric Shanks. Here’s my Q/A with him.

Why the move to Saturday night?

We were looking to put the puzzle together. We saw the picture and said, ‘Wow, we actually have 32 weeks of prime time sports here.’ There’s a story there. Things always look better when they’re put in a package. Now all of the sudden we have a Saturday strategy. We have a message to sell to our customers.

‘Check Fox out on Saturday night.’ It makes us look smarter than we actually are.

What does this mean for baseball?

The prime time (viewing levels) are much higher. You’re not only going to see your game, but we’ll also be checking into other games. It’ll be an exciting night for fans.

What happened to television on Saturday night?

Saturday night didn’t used to be perceived the way it is now. It’s a chicken-and-egg thing. Is Saturday night being perceived this way because nobody is putting the effort into it? We’re going to try to put something together and find out what people think.

What’s the real reason behind the move?

I’ve got three young kids. What am I doing on Saturday night? I’m not going out. I’m home.