The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

Monday Night Football will have a new home in 2006, but the faces on the telecast team will be familar to prime-time football.

Al Michaels, who will be in his third decade with MNF, will retain his post as play-by-play commentator when the show moves to ESPN in 2006, the network announced in a statement Tuesday.

Michaels, who will also appear on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, NFL PrimeTime and SportsCenter, will be joined by analyst Joe Theisman in the booth, with Suzy Kolber and Michelle Tafoya reporting from the sidelines.

"Monday Night Football and ESPN are the two biggest game changers in our industry in the last 30 years, and we have assembled a talent and production team that will reflect that," ESPN President George Bodenheimer said in the statement. "This team is a true collaboration of ESPN and ABC Sports, and clearly demonstrates the strength and promise of what our company can deliver."

Theisman, who led the Redskins to victory as quarterback in Super Bowl XVII, has been an NFL analyst for ESPN's Sunday Night Football since 1988. Kolber as been a sideline reporter for ESPN's Sunday Night Football since 2001. Tafoya, who joined ESPN in 2000, was named the sideline reporter for ABC Sports' Monday Night Football prior to last season.

"This NFL team will be unsurpassed," said Mark Shapiro, ESPN Executive Vice President, Programming and Production. "ESPN and ABC Sports NFL coverage has won the last two Sports Emmys for live event series, and this team positions us to take game coverage to an even higher level."

In April, ESPN and the NFL reached an eight-year agreement to move the Monday night broadcasts to ESPN beginning with the 2006 season, concluding MNF's 36-year run on ABC after this upcoming season.

I'm not sure I understand why MNF is being moved from ABC over to ESPN.

Is it really just bc the ratings are down? What else is ABC going to put in that time slot? According to Jim?

Hmmm... I thought they were going to have Berman do the play by play and then Micheals was going to go to ABC with John Madden.

And I wonder what will happen to Berman...

hogred wrote:Michaels, who will also appear on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown, NFL PrimeTime and SportsCenter,

All those positions are currently held by Berman so I wonder if Micheals will take his role? But I hope not, Micheals is great for the Play by Play but he is just so dry. Boomer brings energy to the table, plus Berman is like the face of ESPN...

And I also would have like to see Tony Kornheiser in the booth for MNF. I think he would be a great addition.

Tony would make a great addition except the fact that he admittedly shows up late and leaves early for every game he attends.

Also, if Berman was on ANY football broadcast, I would only watch if the Skins were on and only on mute.

"This NFL team will be unsurpassed," said Mark Shapiro, ESPN Executive Vice President, Programming and Production. "ESPN and ABC Sports NFL coverage has won the last two Sports Emmys for live event series, and this team positions us to take game coverage to an even higher level."

Shapiro said Maguire and Patrick are both expected to stay with ESPN. He said Maguire will be part of a two-hour Monday night pregame show to be hosted by Chris Berman, who has hosted the network's Sunday night "NFL Primetime."

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2117146

At least, Berman will have something to do with MNF

These are the two guys I was hoping would get the job. They are the most interesting announcers and are deeper than just saying "BOOM" like Madden.

Michaels is a joke and Theesman is the freaking punchline. I can't wait until the day that DirectTV wises up and puts out a delayed radio broadcast that's in synch with their delayed TV broadcasts.

I've always felt that Kolber is the best sideline reporter in the business (that's not saying much) but the past producers have never maximized her somewhat limited talents.

IMO, They should have left Monday Night Football on channel 7. They would get a lower rating from switching MNF to ESPN.
Channel 7 is a local chanel and more people have access to it.....Now that it's on ESPN, a cable chanel...less people have access to it, which will lead to a drop in ratings, IMO.

It doesn't really matter to me, but I feel for all those who NEED cable.

channel 7 is the weather channel

No one cares about ratings, they care about the billions of dollars ESPN is paying for the broadcasting rights.

JansenFan wrote:No one cares about ratings, they care about the billions of dollars ESPN is paying for the broadcasting rights.

yeah it,s all about the dough aint it.
money hungry-all of them.........

JPM36 wrote:I'm not sure I understand why MNF is being moved from ABC over to ESPN.

Is it really just bc the ratings are down? What else is ABC going to put in that time slot? According to Jim?

Its a money thing. ABC is free, ESPN requires cable access

I think espn covers the games better than abc anyway......Espn offers better camera angles and it seems their coverage is always crisper than the competitior.

JPM36 wrote:I'm not sure I understand why MNF is being moved from ABC over to ESPN.

Is it really just bc the ratings are down? What else is ABC going to put in that time slot? According to Jim?

I thought that MNF had the highest ratings?

I think we can all agree Joe Buck is the best play-by-play guy working today,

We might be missing the point, though... I think they're hiring Collinsworth to do the Analysis.. or was that NBC?

America weeps every time that guy's on TV.

blchizzleke wrote:These are the two guys I was hoping would get the job. They are the most interesting announcers and are deeper than just saying "BOOM" like Madden.

theisman is painful to listen to. i think michaels is a good play by play guy even though he is still overrated based on 1 amazing hockey game.

the bright spot with this team is that we no longer have to listen to paul mcguire.

Fo_Block wrote:the bright spot with this team is that we no longer have to listen to paul mcguire.

The good news is we've cured polio. The bad news is Theisman still has a job.