Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The new team at NBC’s “Football Night in America” has yet to work a “Sunday Night Football” game in this year’s official NFL season, but they’ve already weathered at least one storm.
During NBC’s broadcast of the 2022 Hall of Fame Game last month, Jason Garrett, the former Dallas Cowboys head coach who is still relatively new to the art of TV sportscasting, got a bulletin in his ear courtesy of producer Matt Casey. “Looks like we have a rain delay,” Garrett recalls being told. “You guys are going to have to fill for half an hour.” Garrett, who has been working NBC’s USFL broadcasts to warm up for his new stint on “Football Night,” took a moment to collect himself: “Oh, this is interesting.” Everything that could have gone wrong with that telecast did, says Maria Taylor, who is taking over as the main host of the program this season.
Teleprompters went blank. Monitors became unreliable. “We survived that,” she recalls. “If we can do that, we can do anything.” NBC is betting she’s right.
The network has assembled a new team for “Football Night,” which, though it’s simply seen as the pre-game show for “Sunday Night Football,” just happens to be the most-watched sports studio show in the business.
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