That part at least makes sense from Sky, most of those were among the worst teams in the league last year.

On paper the Chiefs @ 49ers always looked a better game, and so it proved. I don't think there is much need for Sky to try and show every franchise - they should just pick the best looking match available in each timeslot.

The problem Sky had is that of the other two games:

- One was the 49ers who they have already shown twice on Sundays
- The other was a 9.05pm kickoff and given the Chicago @ Carolina match, they would have missed the first 20 mins.

The 49ers are always likely to be on Sky more often than a lot of the other teams, as their home games kick off at 9.25pm our time due to the 8 hour time difference, so they miss out on the pile up of games at 6.05pm.

Dont get me wrong, if I was choosing one to watch out the 3, I would have picked that one as well. I can just see why they didnt, you dont want to be accused of showing the same sides over and over again even in the late slot with less choice.

I wonder if it's time for Sky to decide to just show the best game, especially if the alternative is likely to be a dud, as was Jets-Chargers. How many UK-based Jets and Chargers fans are there vs total NFL fans in the UK? If the goal is to grow the sport in the UK, the best way to do it is to have what looks like the best match-ups in every time slot.

On an unrelated subject, the Sky studio team do seem a bit better this year. Shaun Gayle is a definite plus, I like how they are dropping in Red Zone highlights and spending less time waffling about nothing. Neil seems a bit more comfortable on camera, and is it just me or is Kev a little more focussed?

Week 6 Commentary Teams

Colts @ Texans - CBS - Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Tracy Wolfson.
Lions @ Vikings - Fox Mike Goldberg, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Peter Schrager.
Cowboys @ Seahawks - Fox - Thom Brennaman, Troy Aikman, Charissa Thompson.
Giants @ Eagles - NBC - Al Michaels, Chris Collingsworth, Michelle Tafoya.
49ers @ Rams - ESPN - Mike Tirico, Jon Grudden, Lisa Salters.



Joe Buck is covering the NLCS Major League Baseball postseason game for Fox and so Thom Brennaman pairs up with Troy Aikman this week. I'm not sure what's happened to Erin Andrews.


His debut has come sooner than expected! I've not heard him call NFL matches before.

Erin is also on the MLB post-season coverage.

Erin Andrews is also covering the NLCS so that's why Charissa Thompson steps in to take her place.

Kevin Burkhardt will be covering it from the studio so Sam Rosen comes in alongside Lynch and Oliver on the No. 2 crew

Goldberg's crew have been called into action a week earlier than originally thought as the NFL cross-flexed New England-Buffalo from CBS to FOX

So the game we're getting early on Sunday will have Fox's number 7 commentary pairing, with 2 guys making their commentary debut. Excellent!

I understand your point. I imagine they have chosen the Lions with the second international series game in mind. Also, the NFC North is generally a strong division although the same could be said for others. Which game do you think they should be showing instead? Pittsburgh @ Cleveland is a good AFC North clash? Carolina @ Cincinnati features two teams with strong starts to the season?


It's a difficult balance between quality games and showing all of the teams. I don't know whether Sky's contract comes with any caveats about showing all of the teams, or if there is a maximum/minimum quota. Of course it's easy with hindsight to judge the games. Who would have predicted Tampa @ New Orleans would have been one of the better matches last week?

Overall I agree that the coverage has improved this year. I wasn't too impressed a couple of weeks back when Sky were flicking between game coverage and Rezone. It was like leaving a two year old in charge of the remote control! That seems to have settled down now and I think with the 6pm slot, sky do a reasonable job of keeping across all of the action during the breaks in the main game. The game itself probably doesn't need to much analysis during the breaks as the Redzone coverage fills in well.

For the 9pm slot when there are not so many games they have more time for analysis, emails, tweets etc. I think Shawn Gayle contributes well and I much prefer him to Cecil Martin. The TNF shows work well with just the American coverage.

Channel 4's production has really sharpened up as well and is not as rough around the edges as it has been in the past. Nat and Mike continue to work well together and the analysis here is important and Mike seems to reinforce some of the excellent points made by Chis Collingsworth in the commentary. I don't feel that "Ask Mike" as been a big loss. The highlights programme on Monday is also improved. Shame it can't be 24 hours later to include the MNF match though!

I noticed watching the Browns game last weekend that CBS have a three man commentating team this season, Andrew Catalon, Steve Beuerlein and Steve Tasker. I thought it worked pretty well, Catalon was a good main commentator.

I can't understand why anyone would watch the Sky coverage - Redzone is absolutely fantastic and no ads! or Neil Reynolds!

Commentary Teams for Week 7.

Jets @ Patriots - CBS - Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Tracy Wolfson.
Bengals @ Colts - CBS - Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts, Jenny Dell.
Giants @ Cowboys - Fox - Thom Brennaman, Troy Aikman, Charissa Thompson.
49ers @ Broncos - NBC - Al Michaels, Chris Collingsworth, Michelle Tafoya.
Texans @ Steelers - ESPN - Mike Tirico, Jon Grudden, Lisa Salters.

If you just show the top teams as you suggest then you have the same problem as we have over here for Premier League games where you get the same teams on TV pretty much every week. It's good to have a mix. Plus I'm a Jets fan...

One difference is the UK TV money is a big part of the PL clubs' revenue, it is linked in part to how often each team is shown on live UK TV. To help competitive balance the league prefers to show all of the teams on a more even basis than they would if it was just about showing the matches most fans want to watch. So, Sky and BT are obliged to show the likes of Burnley, Palace and Leicester more often than the neutral fan probably would prefer.

That's not the case with the NFL. If the teams do get any extra money the more times they are on Sky (which I suspect they probably dont), it's a drop in the ocean. I don't mind if they show the Jets (or any other team) from time to time in what looks to be a close match-up, but I don't see the point in showing the 1-3 Jets at the 3-1 Chargers in a game where the Jets were 7 point underdogs. Obviously there are sometimes upsets, but more often the 7 point favorite blows out the underdog, which happened in that particular game. It's especially annoying when there were two clearly more attractive games on at the same time.

Might well have been their last gig too!! As I Lions fan I got to hear them live as it were, I appreciate it's not an easy job, but still, they were terrible, although kind of funny too! It seems Goldberg hasn't held back in defending the criticism too!

Goldberg has been taken off his assignment this week and replaced by Tim Brando, ex of CBS

Was just reading about Goldberg and his Twitter responses to some of the criticism he received. I don't know why sports networks keep trying out untested and unqualified people in the booth, it almost never works - e.g. Dennis Miller and Tony Kornheiser on Monday Night Football, Michael Vaughan and Chris Evans at the Masters golf.

I dunno but I guess UFC (who have a big tv contract with Fox) may have been pushing for it for cross promotional purposes.

Weird he had a twitter meltdown over it tho.

Commentary teams for Week 8 * One extra game due to the International Series.

Chargers @ Bronco's - CBS - Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Tracy Wolfson.
Lions @ Falcons - Fox - Thom Brennaman, Troy Aikman, Charissa Thompson.
Ravens @ Bengals - CBS - Greg Gumbel, Trent Green, Evan Washburn
Eagles @ Cardinals - Fox - Chris Myers, Ronde Barber, Jennifer Hale
Packers @ Saints - NBC - Al Michaels, Chris Collingsworth, Michelle Tafoya.
Redskins @ Cowboys - ESPN - Mike Tirico, Jon Grudden, Lisa Salters.

It will be interesting to see how America reacts to SMF (Sunday Morning Football). The International series game is being carried nationwide by the Fox network who despite this being a single match week for them will still get two games. FOX's second game will be regional action of one of four other games featuring NFC road teams, or the cross flexed AFC match - Texans @ Titans. CBS, who have the double header this week will have the Seahawks @ Panthers (Cross flexed) and the Colts @ Steelers as their main games.

Reasonable choice of games from Sky, particularly the late game - Eagles @ Cardinals. I'd have chosen the Bears @ Patriots over the Ravens @ Bengals as the Early game, however I'll be travelling back from Wembley at that time so will miss that game anyway!

Fox sending their top team over for the London game. Reflects the NFL's desire to make this 'NFL Breakfast' concept work.

It's going to be a rare afternoon and possibly a first on Sunday, FOX will be showing the game at Wembley while NBC will be covering Man Utd vs Chelsea, two sporting events from over here going live coast to coast on national US television

It is a full national game and a single header week for Fox, it receives the top assignment under their usual rules as a featured game and the highest distribution.

All previous games covered by Fox at Wembley have been when they had a double header. So the late slot always had a featured game, the highest distribution, and so the top announcing crew.

Bit of a bummer for Fox (and the fans going to Wembley) that the Falcons aren't better, a month ago it looked like it might be a really good game. Still could be, I suppose, but after four straight losses Atlanta look dead and buried.

BTW, and not really broadcasting related, all the chatter about a potential London team seems awfully premature. The Evening Standard had it as a front page headline last night. A lot has to happen before there is a team based here, I'd estimate the chances of it happening in the next ten years to be less than 5%.