Monday Night Football

Guide Note:

The 2008 National Football League season will include the 39th consecutive season of games airing on Monday Night Football. The games originally aired on ABC but moved to ESPN during the 2006 season. The broadcasters are Mike Tirico handling play-by-play, with Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser providing commentary.

Fast Facts

1. First Monday Night broadcast: 1966 on CBS
2. First full season of Monday Night games: 1970 on ABC
3. ESPN Headquarters: Bristol, CT
4. ESPN Continuous partner since [[1987]
5. Theme: All My Rowdy Friends by Hank Williams, Jr.

Where it Began

The first time the NFL experimented with prime time football was in 1966 when CBS broadcast a game between Chicago and St. Louis. During each of the next few seasons, both CBS and NBC would carry one Monday night game. In 1970, as part of the negotiation for new television rights following the league's merger with the American Football League, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle negotiated a full schedule of games on the fledgling ABC network.

Monday Night Mayhem

Sensing an opportunity to have the telecast be more entertainment-filled than just the game, television pioneer Roone Arledge made bold moves to enhance the telecasts. He incoporated heavy use of instant replay and in-game graphics, and most importantly hire a third man for the broadcast booth. And not just any third man, but controversial New York sportscaster Howard Cosell. Along with former Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith and former Giants running back Frank Gifford (who joined in the 2nd season), the trio helped launch the show to unparalleled ratings success. In most weeks in those early years, ABC would net almost 50% of the television audience on Monday nights.

Are You Ready for some Football?

As the years went by, even the replacing of Meredith by several commentators, then his return, and the eventual departure of Cosell in 1983, didn't slow down the popularity of the Monday night broadcasts. Al Michaels eventually took over play-by-play description duties, and Dan Dierdorf was added as an analyst. Still, the games raged on and proved to be a ratings hit for ABC

End of an Era; Start of Another

In the late 1990s and early in the 2000s, the revenues began to sag (despite continued good ratings), and ABC tried different things, even hiring comedian Dennis Miller to serve as a 'Cosellian' influence in the booth. The network even hired the game's best analyst, John Madden, away from FOX Sports. But after several racy promotional attempts to bring in viewers ruffled the league's feathers, on the heels of the Super Bowl XXXVIII Janet Jackson Wardrobe Malfunction, the league decided to move the Monday games onto ESPN in 2006, while making the Sunday Night Football games, now airing on NBC, the premiere games of the week. While ABC is no longer the homr of the weekly contests, Monday Night Football continues to thrive as an American institution.