Saints Host the Colts on NBC Sports SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, 10/23

Quarterback Drew Brees, who leads the NFC in passing yardage, leads the New Orleans Saints, tied for first place in the NFL South, as they host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football.

Calling Colts-Saints will be six-time Emmy Award-winner Al Michaels (play-by-play), in his 26th season as the voice of the NFL's premier primetime package; 12-time Emmy Award-winner Cris Collinsworth, who won the Emmy for outstanding event analyst in both of his seasons in the Sunday Night Football booth; and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, in her first season on SNF.

Coverage begins Sunday with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. ET with 22-time Emmy Award-winner Bob Costas hosting the program live from inside the stadium. Costas is joined on site by Michaels and Collinsworth for reaction to the afternoon games.

Dan Patrick co-hosts Football Night from Studio 8G at NBC's 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios and is joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com. Alex Flanagan will report from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on the Rams-Cowboys game.

NFL TURNING POINT AIRS TOMORROW ON VERSUS, 10 P.M. ET

NFL Turning Point, VERSUS' new weekly show co-produced by NFL Films and the NBC Sports Group, continues this Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. The hour-long program, hosted by Football Night in America's Dan Patrick, will air throughout the NFL regular season and will focus on the crucial ‘turning point' moment in several games for football fans each week in a more in-depth way than ever before by utilizing NFL Films' unmatched cinematography and sideline and on-field audio.

This week's episode features:

49ers vs. Lions - The 49ers handed the Lions their first loss of the season followed by the heated exchange between the two head coaches after the game.

Patriots come-from-behind 20-16 victory over the Cowboys.

The 4-2 Bengals -Rookie quarterback Andy Dalton and rookie wide receiver A.J. Green were wired for sound in Sunday's win over the Colts.

Tony and Rodney look ahead to Colts-Saints game.

NBC SPORTSTALK ON VERSUS FOCUSES ON FOOTBALL ON MONDAY AND FRIDAY, 6 p.m. ET

Hosted by Russ Thaler, NBC SportsTalk, the new daily studio show on VERSUS, previews the NFL weekend on Friday at 6 p.m. ET with two of the most knowledgeable and respected NFL insiders, Peter King of Sports Illustrated and Football Night in America and Mike Florio of PreFootballTalk on NBCSports.com and Football Night. Additionally, Gregg Rosenthal of Rotoworld and ProFootballTalk on NBCSports.com will contribute a fantasy segment each Friday.

Monday's NBC SportsTalk program hosted by Thaler and Florio (6 p.m. ET) will recap the week in the NFL.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL EXPANDS DIGITAL COVERAGE

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ALL-ACCESS. ALL SEASON LONG: For the second straight season, NBCSports.com is providing a destination for fans dedicated to behind-the-scenes content of Sunday Night Football. SNF All-Access includes exclusive behind-the-scenes photos of the Sunday Night Football production, look-ins on SNF production meetings, Michele Tafoya interviews and conversations with SNF talent.

Visit SNF All-Access at: http://snfallaccess.nbcsports.com/

SNF EXTRA: For the fourth consecutive season, the entire Sunday Night Football schedule is streamed live on NBCSports.com, which comes from NBC Sports' broadcast of Sunday Night Football, plus four additional camera angles and several new interactive features. Sunday Night Football Extra features the broadcast from NBC's Sunday Night Football team: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya.

Sunday Night Football Extra employs a full HD-quality player, which includes a draggable picture-in-picture feature for any of the online-only cameras, plus full DVR functionality allowing the user to pause and scroll back-and-forth - even review plays in "slo-mo."

New for the 2011 season, Sunday Night Football Extra features online-only sideline updates and tweets from Tafoya, plus behind-the-scenes notes and images thanks to Sunday Night Football All-Access. Users can also share direct links to any play in the game via Twitter and Facebook, and participate in a Twitter Tug of War with fans of the opposing team.

Sunday Night Football Extra includes expert analysis, including fantasy tips from Rotoworld fantasy experts as well as in-game chats and analysis from ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio. Additionally Sunday Night Football Extra employs online-only in-game analysis from the Sunday Night Football and Football Night in America teams.

SNF ON FACEBOOK: Facebook.com/SNFonNBC - The Sunday Night Football Facebook page provides links, photos and videos exclusive to behind-the-scenes at SNF every week. The page aggregates all SNF-related content found within the NBC Sports digital network, including NBCSports.com, SNF Extra, ProFootballTalk.com, and Rotoworld.com.

This season, Sunday Night Football on Facebook is looking for the Ultimate Sunday Night Football fan. Facebook fans of SNF can enter for a chance to win a VIP trip to Super Bowl XLVI by telling why they are the Ultimate Sunday Night Football fan. Each week, 14 winners will be chosen to receive a SNF Prize Pack. During Wild Card Saturday, the weekly winner with the most votes will be announced and awarded a VIP trip and tickets to Super Bowl XLVI. The contest began on September 8 and contunies throughout the season.

SNF ON TWITTER: twitter.com/SNFonNBC - At @SNFonNBC this year, Sunday Night Football sideline reporter Michele Tafoya is tweeting from the sideline giving her perspective on injury reports to exclusive real-time game updates. Using tweets, twitpics and twitvids @SNFonNBC provides unique content with SNF talent, production crew and NFL players. The Twitter feed also alerts followers about upcoming interviews and features that will appear on Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football broadcasts.

SOCIAL CHECK-INS: Sunday Night Football is new this season on GetGlue and foursquare. Fans watching Sunday Night Football at home have the opportunity to win weekly SNF themed stickers and chances at real-world prizes by checking into SNF on GetGlue every Sunday night. Through foursquare, fans check-in to stadiums and venues around the country and receive tips and tune-in information from SNF as Sunday Night Football rolls into their town.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL VIEWERSHIP NOTES

SNF STARTS STRONG: Through the first six weeks of the NFL season (six Sunday's and one Thursday), Sunday Night Football is averaging 22.2 million viewers, four percent higher than last year (21.4 million) and the most through this point in the season in the six-year history of SNF.

The Adult 18-49 demo rating of 7.9 places Sunday Night Football as the No. 1 show of the primetime television season* in the key advertiser demographic ("live plus same day").

Additionally, SNF currently stands No. 1 among all primetime programs for the television season among Adults 18-34 and all male demographics, and No. 2 among viewers only behind CBS' Two and a Half Men ("live plus same day").

*NOTE: The primetime television season started on Sept. 19 and does not include the first three NBC primetime games (Thursday night NFL Kickoff Opener and first two SNF games). Including those three games, SNF is the most-watched and highest-rated show on primetime television.

SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL THROUGH 6 WEEKS:

2011: 22.2 million
2010: 21.4 million, up four percent
2009: 19.7 million, up 13 percent
2008: 16.6 million, up 34 percent
2007: 16.5 million, up 35 percent
2006: 17.2 million, up 29 percent

The six-week average household rating of 13.3/21 is three percent higher than last year's 12.9/21 and 12 percent ahead of 2009 (11.9/19) through the same point in the season.

The critically acclaimed Football Night in America is averaging 9.2 million viewers and a household rating of 5.6/9 (7:30-8:15 p.m. ET) through the first six weeks, both up 14 percent from last year's first six weeks.

SNF IS NO. 1 SHOW OF SUNDAY NIGHT AGAIN: The Vikings-Bears broadcast was the No. 1 show of Sunday night in households, total viewers and all key adult and male demographics (excluding NFL overruns).

Sunday Night Football powered NBC to a Sunday night primetime win, with the network averaging 14.5 million viewers from 7:30-11 p.m., 6 percent ahead of second-place Fox (13.6 million), which benefited from an NFL overrun.

SNF 7-FOR-7: With 16.6 million viewers for Vikings-Bears, Sunday Night Football starts the season seven-for-seven versus its competition. This continues a trend for SNF dominating Sunday nights. Last season, "Sunday Night Football" was the No. 1 show all 18 nights (100 percent) vs. its competition (16 Sundays, one Tuesday and one Thursday).

2011 - 7 of 7 (Six Sundays, one Thursday - 100 percent)
2010 - 18 of 18 (16 Sundays, one Tuesday and one Thursday - 100 percent)
2009 - 15 of 16 Sundays (94 percent)
2008 - 13 of 16 Sundays (81 percent)
2007 - 11 of 16 Sundays (69 percent)
2006 - nine of 16 Sundays (56 percent)

REMAINING 2011 SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

Sun. Oct. 23 Week 7 Indianapolis Colts at New Orleans Saints
Sun. Oct. 30 Week 8 Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
Sun. Nov. 6 Week 9 Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
Sun. Nov. 13 Week 10 New England Patriots at New York Jets
Sun. Nov. 20 *Week 11 Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
Sun. Nov. 27 *Week 12 Pittsburgh Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs
Sun. Dec. 4 *Week 13 Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots
Sun. Dec. 11 *Week 14 New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys
Sun. Dec. 18 *Week 15 Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers
Sun. Dec. 25 *Week 16 Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
Sun. Jan. 1 *Week 17 TBA

*Flex Week

 

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